alwalaska

Someone complaining on another cruise lines forum said that with the Princess app, you could see the menus for the whole voyage so that you could pick which nights you would prefer to do specialty dining or the buffet, etc. Is this true or an exaggeration?

Thank you for taking the time to post all of that. It is very helpful.

@XBGuy Do you happen to have a copy of your spreadsheet that you would be willing to share? I tried to look through your older posts, but wasn't able to find it.

I thought on Reserved you would be able to pick different times on different evenings. Way back in 2018, last time we sailed Princess, you could reserve a different time each night. Traditional is same time whole trip, same table, same people, etc. I hope that is what it will be again.

Thanks all. I think we have decided on booking the historical locks. I appreciate all of the info.

I wonder what will happen on ships with only 2 dining rooms, like the Coral Princess?

Thanks. What is DMW? Is that Dining My Way?? If yes, is that different from the previous Any Time Dining?

Thank you so much. That is really helpful. We love the Spirit and Sun and the NCL overall "philosophy", but the Joy was the only ship that met all of the timing and itinerary locations we were looking for. You also confirmed for me without my asking that Elements is the only major show. That is kind of disappointing. I like Elements, but we've seen it many times. I laughed when it was advertised as a "new show" when we were recently on the Spirit. We saw it on the Spirit in 2011.

I'm looking at the deck plans and it is hard to tell where the walls are and if there are any doors. Would this include the International Cafe and the hallway along the photo shop? Is it all one big room?

Thanks. Our small ship option is Princess, not NCL due to times, ports,etc. I know the Joy is big, but how does it compare "crowd" wise to the Explorer and Symphony? I thnk it has as much to do with layout as it does total people. I don't mind making reservations, but I don't want to still have to show up 40 minutes and stand in line after the reservations are made. I hope this makes sense. I do want to sail on the Jewel class ships someday. I just haven't found the right itinerary and timing yet.

Hi! We've only sailed on Princess a couple of times and the Coral Princess to the Panama Canal next Feb is the favorite contender right now out of our final two options. I plan on booking the regular price and not the plus. We sailed a similar itinerary on the Island Princess 1017, which is our most recent. What do I need to know? What will we miss by not having the Plus option. In general, it looks like the cost does not even come close to being worth it for us. Here is a bit about us: 1) We don't drink 2) We don't care about specialty dining, but we do like pizza and burgers by the pool, a decent buffet, a reasonable wait or ability to make reservations for Any Time Dining. 3) We like the shows in the theater and listening to an acoustical guitar or piano player in the evenings. 4) I am very sensitive to cigarette smoke and will get migraines. Are there areas on the Coral Princess for me to avoid?

I guess it depends on who you are and what you like. We loved the entire day and even debated whether or not we should go inside and have lunch of grab food and eat on the balcony, and this was in the middle of the day in the middle of the lake. My husband is an engineer, so that added to his enjoyment. I enjoyed watching the other ships, watching for places I had read about before the cruise, and so much more. We started the day forward and high, sharing the space with a ton of other people. Once we were inside the first lock, we moved to our balcony. We watched the are called a "Cut" , can't remember right now, from the promenade deck, moved back to an outside top deck for the entry to the final lock, etc.

NCL solved that problem. They no longer have cookies period. 😞

We are currently looking at a Panama Canal cruise and our top 2 contenders include one small and one large ship. We have sailed through the "historical" locks once before and loved the experience. I'm thinking I would like to do something different, but not at the expense of doing something significantly "less cool". My husband is an engineer and totally loved the previous cruise. Has anyone sailed both? Can you please share photos, videos, and your opinion? Thanks!

Hi! We are looking at a Panama Canal cruise that is on the Joy. Our one really big ship experience was on the Symphony of the Seas and we did not like it at all. All of the extra bells and whistles aren't really important to us and the few things we enjoyed were far outnumbered by the feeling that everywhere was crowded and we were constantly waiting in line, even though for meals and entertainment, I made all of the reservations I could, on the first day it was available. Quite a long while ago, the second largest ship we ever sailed on was the Explorer of the Seas. We really enjoyed this ship and didn't feel the crowding issues as we did on the Symphony of the Seas. We aren't foodies, but I like to be able to be seated fairly quickly, early in the evening in the main dining rooms. I like to be able to find tables at breakfast in the buffet, especially on port mornings. I like to be able to see non-reserved shows without having to line up outside of the theater to wait for the doors to open because it fills up long before the shows start. Any personal experience with the Joy would be appreciated, especially if you can compare it to these other ships.