…e Crown Grill which is a steakhouse, there’s Sabatini’s (which is a really nice Italian restaurant which is extra) and across many of the ships, they also have the Ocean Terrace seafood bar which is sushi, and the Bistro sur la Mer which is a seafood restaurant. They also have a gelato shop where you do have to pay extra for as well. So, of the downsides of the Princess cruise fare is once you’re onboard, there are going to be quite a few extras l…
…g to the code. Of course, the opposite is also true – if you’re going on a nice relaxed cruise, you don’t want to be bringing all your fancy gear because you may not get a chance to wear it. Restrictions Understand if there’s any other restrictions in terms of dress. For example, some cruise lines have banned fancy dress after they had problems with inappropriate fancy dress, and some cruise lines are really strict around fancy dress and clothing,…
…’s some posh brand, you know, Bulgari or L’Occitane or one of these really nice brands, my tip is perhaps put a couple aside in a cupboard or in your bag during the course of the cruise and see if they get replenished. And if they get replenished, then you know it’s pretty safe to take those off with you. Normally, when it comes to toiletries, it’s pretty fine to take it. However, if you’ve got those big bottles that are refilled, it’s probably fr…
…other thing that I recommend you do is always make sure that you’ve got a nice, big bag. Some sort of hold-all bag that you can just chuck anything in that you might have almost left behind and only found on the morning of disembarkation. #3 Booking your flight too early (or too late) The other big blunder that people make is they book their flight home, or to the next destination, either too early or too late. A cruise ship will normally get int…
…cabin. So, when you arrive at your cabin can be decorated, which will be a nice surprise! Some of the ones to look at are the Carnival Fun Shop, which is at carnival.com/funshops, Royal Caribbean have royalcaribbean.com/royalgifts. The Norwegian site is norwegiangiftshop.com. #8 Shops for crew When it comes to shopping and buying things online for cruising, there’s another service which may not be applicable to you (unless you’re crew), but I thou…
…to make sure that you get on with those people. If you’re going somewhere nice and warm, like the Caribbean or the Mediterranean in season, you’re probably not going to spend a lot of time in your cabin anyway. So, instead of getting two cabins, cruise with friends or family and share cabins. It’s a great way of reducing the price. Group cruise The other thing you could do if you really want to go the extra level, is organise a group cruise. If y…
…he great thing about working with an agent, is that they’ll put together a nice document with everything laid out. Step-by-step, day-by-day. So that whole one-stop shop will be a great way of easing back into travel, I think. Expertise and advice Of course, one of the most obvious reasons for using an agent is their expertise and their advice, particularly if you are new to cruise. Agents have lots of experience, they know the cruise lines, and th…
…Caribbean and for several reasons: first of all because it’s still really nice weather that’s not too crazy hot. But, more importantly, it’s past the busy hectic period, so there’s quite a lot of capacity still in the Caribbean. You’ll get great deals, there’s lots of choice, but it’s not manically busy, so you’ll find the ports, destinations and beaches aren’t too crowded. If you’re not restricted because of kids and school holidays, it’s a grea…
…ain place. I prefer to be surrounded on all sides by other cabins. So it’s nice and quiet and I know I’m going to have a good night’s sleep. Some people think I’m crazy because these upgrades don’t worry them, but cabin upgrades can be unpredictable. You can go from a great cabin into the unknown. I’ve had lots of people contacting me saying they went for the upgrade; they were really excited, and it wasn’t a great choice. My advice would be to ch…
…your balcony cabins, which is the bulk of them, and they also have really, nice suites, I think some of the nicest that are around and in terms of price, more realistic for suite accommodation. So certainly, that big change is one that, for me, gets a tick because I think the bigger ships like Regal Princess, Sky Princess are great-looking ships. So personally, I’m quite happy about this trend into the focus on ships like Regal Princess and Sky Pr…
…your own dining room, which is called Luminae. It’s quite fancy and rather nice, and it has its own kitchen. You then have the Retreat Lounge, which is hosted by two concierges who will sort out all your arrangements, and it’s open 24-hours. You can have drinks, afternoon tea, and snacks, all hours of the day. The dedicated Retreat Deck – which on Celebrity Silhouette is on two levels – offers a bar and you can eat there or take a dip in the hot t…
