Several Questions on Princess Cruises

[Guest]

1) We are going on our first cruise (to the Mexican Riviera). . The "Anytime Dining" sounds much better than the traditional dining and not as formal. However, my question concerns the dress code. The cruise blurbs say there are "two formal days" and "three semi-formal days". . Does this just refer to dining? If you choose to eat at the buffet every night, for instance, is there still a reason you would have to worry about formal or semi formal clothes? Can you wear shorts or casual pants outfits to the shows and other entertainment?

2) How big are the safes in the rooms? Big enough for a laptop? How available are the "internet cafes"? Long waits?

3) I read a review that said if you don't get a lounge chair on deck by 10am they are all taken. Is that true? What do you have to do, sit on the floor? LOL.

4) I know liquor isn't included. And neither is Pepsi/Coke from what I understand. At dinner what IS included (besides water)? Coffee? Ice Tea? What about the rest of the time? Can you get anything besides water to drink that you don't have to pay extra for (i.e., iced tea). . I have a friend who took 2 cases of her own Pepsi with her! There's an idea!

Any other advice from people who have taken the Princess Mexican Riviera Cruise would be most welcome!

Thanks for help!
Carol

[llund]

What ship are you taking? I can only speak about the Coral Princess that we were on last year. If you eat at the buffet, you do not need to worry about the dress code. The buffets are usually located in the pool area. I have never had dinner in the buffet but I imagine most people are pretty casual. PC dining will have the same dress code as the tradiitonal dining rooms. The safes are not big enough for a laptop. We used the internet cafe on the Coral. It was crowded at certain times, but late at night there were less people. We have been on several different ships, and have not had trouble getting a chaise lounge. But, it depends where you want to be. Usually, the main pool is bad, especially if there is some entertainment going on. We enjoyed the adult pool and never had a problem there. Also, there are other areas around the ship that you can find a place to be. If you want to be by the main pool, then it can be a problem. Coffee and tea were available at dinner. You can always by a soft drink card that you can use throughout the trip.

We will be sailing on the 12/31 Sapphire Princess to the Mexican Riviera. It is a bigger ship than the Coral.

[Gordman]

That's quite interesting, I never been on Princess cruises before and all these informations you provided here are a real help for me. I should also rely on their official website too if there is something else I want to know.