HaveDogWillTravel

The Diamond has the Izumi Japanese baths and a sushi restaurant. Discovery does not. Discovery has Alfredo’s, International Cafe, Salty Dog Gastro Pub restaurant and a beautiful Gelato shop. Diamond does not ( the gelato shop and Salty Dog have an extra charge but it is quite reasonable) The kiddos would probably prefer the Discovery.

The retreat areas vary a bit from the grand to the Royal class but essentially they are an adult only area with a pool and hot tub or two. On the Discovery there was a bar but on the Grand and Ruby there is not. The loungers are nice and do have padding. The sanctuary loungers are a definite upgrade though. There’s no special menu, no special dedicated attendants, no afternoon tea …… it’s just a (most of the time) quieter space. I have at times experienced loud party type adults there. In the sanctuary it is ALWAYS quiet and peaceful and calm. $20 is a pretty cheap buy in for an afternoon sea day to see if you like the sanctuary or not. You can use OBC. The cabanas are shaded. There are fewer shaded loungers on the Royal class than the grand class (Island has an aft sanctuary that I really love).

I spent a week in the sanctuary on the Discovery this April. The cabanas are very nice and cost $220 per full day and $140 per half day. This covers 2 people in the cabana. No discount for solo. No discount for booking the entire cruise. Loungers are $40 per full day and $20 per half day and are discounted to $30 per full day if booked the entire cruise. Prices are the same on sea days as port days. On Alaska sailings the price of loungers will be increased on scenic cruising days such as Glacier Bay day but the cabanas will stay the same price. Half days are from 8 am to noon and 1 pm to 5 pm. On the Discovery they served afternoon tea on sea and port days. Some other ships have only served tea on sea days. In addition to what you see stocked in the fridge of our cabana we were given a 375 ml bottle of alcohol of our choice (Bombay/absolut vodka/Jim Beam) per half day, so 2 for each full day. Alternatively we could choose a bottle of red or white wine per half day. The menu I posted a picture of is available to all but the soft drinks/booze/bowls of fruit are given only to those in cabanas. Afternoon tea is served to all sanctuary guests. The sanctuary crew will bring drinks from the retreat bar for any sanctuary guest but you will either use your drink package or charge them to your folio. The hot tub is the cleanest on the ship and is for all sanctuary guests. As to whether the sanctuary is worth doing on an Alaskan cruise or not that simply depends on what the weather happens to be like and your personal tolerance for it. I have done the sanctuary for an entire 10 day Alaskan sailing RT out of SF and loved it. I posted one picture from that cruise. Pretty sure you will be able to pick it out.

Welcome to CC and to cruising. I’m pretty new to cruising but I’ve got a couple of hundred days under my belt since 2015. Mostly Princess with a bit on other lines too. I think my value add is I’ve sailed 81 days since the restart… July 25 2021 thru June 9, 2022. Majestic, Discovery and Ruby. Room stewards appreciate passengers who are friendly, pleasant, smile (with their eyes), are basically tidy, state clearly any extra needs, and are understanding of any shortfalls due to supply chain issues and don’t complain about trivial problems. These are some of the hardest working crew on the ship and should always be treated with the utmost respect. I simply can not stress enough how important it is to be nice to the crew. It is important to let your steward know you will always push the “service my room now” button so they don’t come in to clean your room if you’ve just slipped out for a quick promenade, cup of coffee, or whatever……if you are the type to do such a thing. Please understand that even though it may take only 15 minutes or so to do your room that 15 minutes may or may not happen the second you push the service button. I always give my steward at least an hour to get my room done and that seems to work. And if I want my private bathroom available after a short promenade I don’t want my steward in the room. So always using that button and letting them know you will is super useful for both of you. I also designate a particular place for things (glasses, plates etc.) that I want the steward to take. This way my half empty water bottle or glass of wine that I’d like to finish later doesn’t get “cleaned”. Every sailing and every ship will be different so expect some variation in your experiences from what anyone posts especially post Covid. I will only refer to my experiences post Covid. On all but one my sailings a request for evening service was met with an enthusiastic desire to please. On every sailing upon meeting my steward I ask for the same extras….. 6 hypoallergenic pillows, 6 washcloths, 4 cocktail glasses, an ice bucket replenished twice daily and extra boxes of tissues for the nightstands. I know when I began sailing I wondered what were these “special” requests I kept reading about. So just in case you were wondering too what an example looked like. On every last one of my sailings across all ships stewards are always out in the evenings from about 5pm to 9 pm in addition to their morning routine. I’ve never experienced an evening where stewards were not visible in the evening. You raised a great question about how does the steward meet all their new guests on embarkation. It is amazing that they do it and even more amazing that they do it with such joy. Once you’ve done a few back to backs and personally witnessed what they go through to get the ship turned you will have a new appreciation for the insane amount of hard work it takes to accomplish that task. In all my 200 plus days of sailing I’ve gone about my business of starting my vacation and my steward has always just shown up shortly after I land in my cabin. It’s vacation magic! Hope you enjoy your cruise!

My friend (mid 50’s) and her 80 yo dad did a land cruise tour on HAL mid May. Cruise first. Both vaccinated and boostered. They shared a cabin and hotel rooms, went on the same tours, sat next to each other on the bus. He rarely masked, she did (KN95) whenever near others, shows, busses, tours etc…. Very few others ever masked. She got Covid he did not. Getting sick or not has a lot to do with your own physiological make up. Of course viral load in the air matters the most. But some people have systems that are more successful in fighting it off. Masks work when everyone wears them because they keep the viral load low allowing people with varying degrees of immunity response systems to stay healthy.

If there hasn’t been enough information shared regarding the reality of what’s actually happening on board by September I might do a live from. As you know I’m really all about reports that are first hand what’s going on right now on board ships. There’s some CC friends sailing on both my Sept cruises so I’ll have help if it’s needed.

Thanks for saying what I wanted to say but was too tired/lazy to actually write.

@PhotoGal07. Thank you for such a comprehensive and well written review.

@prmssk thank you for getting back to me. I am not surprised by the confusion over what is and isn’t covered. I’m sure it will all get sorted out over the next few months. I am sailing twice in Sept. The first sailing is bare bones ……no plus no CC. The second has both. I’ll probably be able to decide if the package is worth it for me now after those two sailings. I don’t think the premier is a good fit since all I care about is grats and wine. I don’t even need internet. @PacnGoNowthank you for trying to help me. I believe that earlier post you linked is a preliminary menu and they changed since posted

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your holiday to share this news with us. If it’s not too much of a bother would you mind terribly asking exactly what the Plus Wines are for the Sauvignon blanc, Rose and Pinot Grigio? I understand these will probably change from cruise to cruise and from ship to ship but it would give an idea of the basic quality of wine they are serving in plus now.

The sanctuary on Discovery has its own hot tub. The hot tubs just outside your sky suite are used by the general population. I sailed Discovery in April on a warm weather sailing and used the sanctuary daily so I walked by your suite multiple times a day. On that sailing those hot tubs were almost always filled with 4-6 people. I even saw a man on his tip toes looking over the divider to your balcony. The front balcony is completely exposed to everyone on deck below.

My experience has been the same as @symuisailing out of SF. This month I also brought on two 750 ml bottles of Amalga distillery Gin and one 750 ml bottle of their single malt whiskey in Juneau. Security saw it in a bag that was wide open and did not take it. Many more times In the past I’ve brought on bottles of wine as well in port and not asked to pay corkage. One thing I have noticed in SF since the restartis they really do make sure you go to that wine table. Pre pandemic that table was never set up before 11:30 am. Now it’s there when the first folks go thru security. I’ve gone thru embarkation at SF once or twice a month since November with the exception of March. I’m prepared to pay the $20 but they keep charging $15. I don’t know if other embarkation ports are the same or different.

My 8 day sailing in May 2023 cancelled months ago well before final payment. But I have also had others that did cancel or change ships after final. Just sayin……

Yes see my post #7. It’s been getting progressively worse. I’ve sailed quite a bit since the restart. On my May 20-30 Ruby sailing there were only 2 bottles of Whispering Rose on board. Only 2 bottles Nikiara a nice Paso Robles red. I could go on and on. In all likelihood this is because they will completely change the inventory. Then there will be no price comparisons. Can’t say the price went up when all the wines are different.

With the lack of decent dry non Chardonnay and rose wines lately I’ll be bringing my wine on board. Buy a coffee card and a few cases of bottled water pre-cruise. The OBC pays for corkage, internet and auto grats and an occasional crooners cocktail.

I am sorry you had this experience. I sailed the Ruby for the 20 days prior to your boarding……..May 20 thru June 9th. After sailing every month on Ruby for 7 to 20 days each since November I noticed a HUGE improvement. They opened the 3rd dining room May 20 and what a difference that made. I ate 18 out of 20 nights in Michelangelo with Kieron as the restaurant manager. His professionalism and level of service was on par with the Maitre D’hotel I loved from the before times. I sailed solo but sometimes ate with another CC friend couple. The two tops in Michelangelo were nicely spaced as were all the tables…..MUCH better than when only 2 dining rooms were open. Kieron and his assistant managers Albert & Pablo took care to space guests apart. The food was absolutely outstanding. Of course I had a couple of misses but they were quickly replaced with another choice.

I’ve sailed 81 days since the restart with Princess. I was on the very first sailing last July on the Majestic and most recently got off the Ruby 5 days ago after a 20 day B2B. I always kept up to date with all vaccines and boosters. I took the precautions I felt I needed to take under the given circumstances on any particular sailing. I am healthy, 65 with a strong immune system. I had a blast on all sailings. No Covid for me.

I ate dinner every night - well 18 out of 20- in Michelangelo and I have to give a shout out to Kieron the restaurant manager, Albert his assistant manger and the entire team. This was the best non club class dining experience I’ve ever had. They were amazingly accommodating, friendly and professional. Flawless service, tables spaced further apart, food served fast and hot, drinks arrived quickly.

These little muesli GF bites with chocolate were crazy good (in the IC and new for the Alaska sailings). They were gone by 8 am.

I didn’t take pictures of the Alaskan beer and cheese soup but I really loved it and ordered it twice. I also can’t seem to find a picture of the wild Alaskan seared sockeye salmon my friend had. She said that was good too.

Here’s the hot smoked Alaskan steelhead cocktail and the plaice. I was tempted to lick the plate clean. But refrained lol.

Here’s a few pictures of items some friends ordered that I didn’t taste. There’s the Alaskan seafood stew and a fish I don’t remember what it’s called.

This is the Alaskan cod served first night on both legs. It was really excellent.

I just finished 20 days in Alaska on the Ruby and enjoyed many of the new offerings. Here are some pictures of my favorites. this is the halibut. I ordered it with sides from other dishes on the menu this is the lump crab cake. It’s really croquettes with some crab. It was really delicious.