We have booked a cruise for April 2005, the price seems kinda steep. Is there any chance that the price will go down any?
Also, We have signed up for freestyle seating? any one have any clue of what this means??
We sailed on the Rhapsody of the Seas last year and, being our first cruise, we were very impressed. The food, however, left something to be desired. I think that i have had better buffets' at Golden Corral.
Jaboon, here's a link to a CM article about Personal Choice Dining.
<http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/feature/personal-choice.cfm>
I cruised on the ROS last August and will be cruising on the Grand Princess Feb 05 with the CruiseMates Pirates of the Texaribbean cruise. Check out the perks and prices for this cruise: <http://cruisemates.com/articles/CMcruise/Grand2005.cfm>
I've sailed on the Golden, and chose Personal Choice Dining. The flexibility was very nice, but the trade-off is developing a "relationship" with your waitstaff. Yes, you can reserve the same table and waitstaff with Personal Choice Dining, but then you're back to traditional dining, and tied to a time. Guess for me, it would depend whom I was traveling with, the schedule of the port of calls, and how relaxed I wanted to be.
We signed up for freestyle dining. We discovered that for couples, they did not take reservations. As a result we had to wait up to 45 minutes to get a table.
We also had to wait for a table for 2 for Personal Choice, or Freestyle Dining.We ended up going to a bigger table just to eat! We found that those who wanted a small table for 2 made reservations,like for Traditional, so the tables were full early. When we finally did get seated, we were put way in the back by a wait station,and the waiters were tired.They tried their best to be friendly and nice, which we appreciated, but the later it got, the more frazzled they were. One comment coming through a thread was that with all the different times people were eating,the more difficult it was to serve.Traditional has everyone eating at once.On our last cruise,on a different line,we were at an early seating at a table for 6 and got excellent service, as well as getting to know the wait staff.The six of us were only together the first night.The rest of the week we all had our own schedules and only saw one of the couples.One night they even ate alone. The third couple were newlyweds having gotten married the day of the cruise-so we saw them at a barbeque,and in the Horizon Buffet--more informal-looser schedule.We've been on the Sun, the Grand and the Golden and will be going on the Caribbean in Sept. Lynne
If you liked the Rhapsody you will like the Grand. I'm assuming it's the Grand you are cruising on out of Galveston anyway. Have you looked at the prices for the last sailing in April out of Galveston. It's after Spring Break and the prices are much better than the rest of the April and March dates. Just a thought. I expect you will find the food on Princess to be a bit better as well. The ship definetly has more to offer and a little nicer atmosphere. She will appear newer as well. Rhapsody needs a refurbishment in my opinion. I sailed on her last Nov. and was a little dissappointed with her ruggedness. Enjoy your cruise and shop around a little bit. You may find a better price.
Yes it will get cheaper. We have done cruises for the past 4 years we always go in APril. We are Canadian and January & February are what we call "wave season". To give you an idea.. we did the Grand Western Caribbean. Priced it our before x-mas it was 1800.00 each. Ended up booking end of Jan for 1150.00/each CDN$. We booked a mini suite on the Dolphin Deck. Also, I always source out my own air - it is always cheaper & I can find direct flights with the cruise lines they always have stops.
One hint - April is spring break in the US & found this year the worst time ever for teenagers on board. We are both 35 (no kids) & we have decided we will not cruise in April anymore will start booking in March. The grand had over 3000 passengers on our cruise 758 of them were kids. The last night on board we have kids running up & down the halls at 2:30am knocking on doors yelling fire. Was not a good expereince.
Don't count on the Grand Princess April 2005 sailings to go down in price as the date gets closer. Because this is their first time sailing from Galveston and their stay is limited, all of the sailings are likely to sell out quickly. We are booked on a Nov. sailing and she has been sold out for two months. We booked just in time! If I were you, I would count myself lucky to have a spot. The Grand is suppose to come back to Galveston again the following winter, so if you want a cheaper price you can wait until then. Also, the December 2004 sailings still have some space and the prices are the best if you are interested in changing your dates.
My Parents just booked a November sailing out of Galveston on the Grand don't know the exact dates cause they booked it on Saturday (May 22) so don't understand when you say they are sold out. I think they are on the BAJA deck.
I meant they are sold out for our November sailing. Which happens to be Nov. 13th. I don't think the Nov. 27th sailing is sold out yet and there may be space left on the Nov. 20th sailing. I didn't mean to step on your toes. Sorry!
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Grand Princess April 2005
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