talkorpi

Depends on what theme you want - Valor is "USA" themed, and Glory's theme is "Colors."

Both of them are Farcus ships so you will be seeing that theme on steroids for the duration of your cruise. 🤣

33 minutes ago, atabs12 said:

Has anyone heard back in regards to bids being awarded for Ruby Princess 02 April Sailing? Did a late booking and have a bid pending but no news so far. TIA

Yes - I got mine earlier this week.  I believe they assign in the order the bids are placed.

Any speculation on what they're going to name the second ship?

My money's on either Moon, Star, or Sea Princess (probably in that order).

Just hope to God it's not Sphere Princess but with current PCL leadership I wouldn't count it out 😂

Does anyone know if this includes the ice cream cookie sandwiches on the Grand class ships?  Since they don't all have Gelato bars I would hope you could redeem a dessert credit for that.

I wonder where to find these cakes on ships without Gelato.  Maybe the IC?  Hoping they'll have it on Ruby soon - those sundae things don't really appeal to me much, but that chocolate cake sure does... 🤤

4 hours ago, monakayk said:

I guess I've been out of the loop for awhile with Princess menus but I noticed on these new menus that they are charging for the lobster tails. So my question is do they ever serve lobster tails free anymore?

Yes, lobster is still included on the menu on the second formal night. 

3 hours ago, Shippy said:

Is your cruise about 30 days out ?

I have heard that is when most people are notified .

 

25 days out. A big batch of people got their upgrades a few days ago so you may be right 

Got an email overnight - my bid was accepted!  Bid the minimum ($110 pp) to upgrade from an obstructed OV to a standard balcony (7-day cruise).  I had been having tons of technical issues over the past few days with the bidding system and I guess that's why.

Even better - we got one of the only four "triangle balconies" on the entire ship!  We'll be in one of those awesome angled balconies at the aft end on Ruby. SCORE!  Very happy cruiser right now 😄

On 3/4/2023 at 7:11 PM, staceyglow said:

For those of you complaining about the "same old ports", where exactly do you expect Carnival to go from Galveston? The ships can only go so fast, and there are only so many ports they can visit in that time.

Well, I was bored a few weekends ago and did some calculations with speed and distance and whatnot on some voyage planning software and it's definitely possible.  The ships can reach Jamaica and Cayman (haven't really been doing that reliably since Vista is so slow).  They can also go to Key West but they don't stop there very often.

Even if Carnival would just mix up the rotation, it would be nice.  Its always either Cozumel, Belize/Costa Maya, Roatan or Cozumel, Cayman, Jamaica.  Maybe start doing things like Coz, Roatan, Cayman (you get the picture) - I know it would take longer but I would be willing to trade a couple hours of port time for some variety.

If you start getting into 8-day territory you can even do some further out ports.

Well I think I am out of the running.  For some reason when I go to the bidding portal, it now says "Ineligible to Bid."  I have been able to access and manage my bids for two months, and my TA is a confirmed participant in the program.  Of course, Princess live chat was no help.

Oh well

I just purchased a nicer lanyard that looks like a necklace for my mother as opposed to spending $45 for the pendant offered by Princess.  It was pretty cheap and I think it will look great.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BCSHSQG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

I still haven’t heard back about our cruise departing 4/2. I bid the minimum but only because the minimum seemed pretty high ($120 pp just from an oceanview to a standard balcony for 7 nights). Apparently a lot of others received upgrades and I haven’t so not sure.
 

I would cancel and increase the bid but as I’m trying to pay with a gift card I don’t want to place a new bid under the new rules. 
 

Fingers crossed…

19 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

We generally go on longer cruises 8+ days so the number of kids aboard has been very small since cruising started again.  We are going on a 7 day cruise the first of April and expect more kids aboard.  Since Princess is more tuned to the older group and doesn't have the kid attractions like water slides etc., I don't really expect a large number of kids aboard even though it is spring break in many areas.  We really do not mind having kids around as long as they are behaving and not making a scene.  

 

We have been on other cruise lines where one time we had 600+ aboard and never found them to be an annoyance.  Sure they were everywhere as expected and tended to gang together in groups of 4 to 8 or so.  They were having fun and we were having fun sometimes just watching them.  We may be old senior members but still remember when we were young and do enjoy seeing them. 

I’ll be on the same Ruby 7 day as you coming up. Being in my early twenties, I have a sneaking suspicion that I will feel like a kid once I’m onboard 🤣

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/sabatinis-trattoria/sabatinis-trattoria-main-menu.pdf

Here's the new Sabatini's menu.  Looks like a big improvement!  Might have to try on the Ruby in a couple of weeks.

2 hours ago, c-boy said:

 huh,   so all the young people like em' and all the old curmugeon's don't.

 

 

Well, I'm in my twenties and I don't think that they look particularly appealing...

I have been waiting for this for so long! These itineraries honestly look amazing. The 12 Day to the ABC Islands + Grand Cayman looks like my dream itinerary.
 

Too bad I won’t be able to miss that much work in a row… maybe one day…

7 minutes ago, Crystabel said:

Here’s an interesting twist I found on Princess’s site.

 

Premium Desserts

Indulge your sweet tooth each day with two Princess Premium desserts, elaborate confections overflowing with gelato, pastry and candy mixtures that will be available within Gelateria, Swirls or Coffee and Cones.

 

 

Wow, I didn’t expect them to shrink THAT fast!

2 minutes ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

No, and in my experience you don't nor do I expect any. Weather clearly is not under Princess' control. Would have loved to dive today but even if we had been able to dock there's no way our dive boat would have gone out.

 

If you really wanted to make a scene at Guest Services they might give you $25 or so to placate you but for me it's a bonus day to sit on the balcony, have a man soda, and read a book. Hard to complain about that.

Gotcha.  I wasn't expecting anything of the sort - just curious.  I haven't been to Costa Maya in a very long time and I've been very lucky about never having to miss a port so I was just wondering what to expect in case this happens to me in a couple of weeks on Ruby since I've been hearing about this issue a lot lately.

Thank you for your live blog and enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Did y'all get any sort of OBC or any other compensation for missing the port? (aside from a port tax refund of course)

As soon as the ship hits international waters.  Most report that this is ~2 hours from the time that the ship pushes off from Galveston.  If the departure leaves on time, expect the drink package to kick in around 6 PM.

Princess also gives $25 OBC to each person with the drinks package for the inconvenience.

If we placed a bid before Feb 25 and it gets accepted, will I still be able to pay with a gift card? I hope so!

19 minutes ago, travelin.sisters said:

there is a very active, current thread about the new dining room menus that would provide a lot of info on this for you...

Link for the OP?

I wonder what these will look like on the ships without the gelato venue. I guess it will just be the soft serve from lido with all that junk sticking out?

😒

4 minutes ago, HikaruTsuki said:

Am I the only one excited about those cakes?! Nice unexpected surprise, especially since so many of our favorite desserts have gone away or have been reduced in quality. 

The cakes look good, but I wouldn't want it sticking out of a milkshake and skewered with lollipops, candy canes, etc.  If that's the only way to get them (as part of these crazy milkshake monstrosities), then I'm not sure how to feel!

Guess I'll find out for myself in five weeks...

2 hours ago, Jeter02 said:

Ok folks! Someone on the Enchanted had posted the deserts on FB with the following to say..... 

 

"I’m on Enchanted Princess, and today was the rollout of the new “Premium Desserts” menu. If you have the Princess Plus package, it now includes TWO Premium desserts per day.  

 

The ice cream sundaes are enormous and filled with things like brownies and candy. They have giant lollipops as decorations. I was even given a mini bottle of vodka to pour over it! The cake options are giant slices that are close to a foot high. The slice is too tall to stand on its own without falling!

 

In my opinion, this new program is wasteful, since you can’t finish the desserts. It is also VERY time consuming for the people making the sundaes, and lines will be crazy. As cool as these things look, and as delicious as they taste, it just isn’t practical."

 

 

 

Well that looks kind of gross. I wonder if you can just order this as a plain milkshake without all the crap sticking out of the top. 
 

I was really hoping you’d be able to use these “premium desserts” for something more simple like the ice cream sandwiches or gelato that usually come as a nominal fee. 
 

Maybe Princess is intentionally making these unappealing so that people don’t use them. 🤷‍♂️