OccasionalSanta

I haven't been a fan of Dine My Way since it was introduced. This is probably because we tend to not want to eat on any particular schedule except for when we hit the specialty restaurants. I kinda hope that the new system, which I hear will be rolling out this Fall, will be a little better. In general, I have found that day 1 of the cruise tends to be a nightmare for walk-ins, but the rest of the cruise is not bad. If I can't make a reservation for a specialty restaurant, I have always had luck chatting with the maitre d' early in the evening and being flexible about coming back an hour or so later

The second dinner was also excellent The menu was the same as were the first appetizer and glass of sparkling wine Mrs. OS had the Seafaring Stew for her appetizer which was served in a huge, crab-shaped dish However, since she had also asked about the Tuna Salade Nicoise, the waiter bought that to the table as well I had the Lump Crabcake For the main, she had the Triple S Platter Which was presented with a large suspended shrimp While I had the Catch of the Day (Sea Bass) For dessert, she had the Chantilly Lace And I had the Delight in the Air

We recently cruised B2B on Discovery (Mexican Riviera and California Coast) and twice we ate at The Catch. While I suspect there will still be the complaints about the noise from the Piazza that were prevalent during the Bistro Sur la Mer dynasty, I have to say the food was excellent. Here is a rundown of the first meal... This is the menu In addition to a glass of sparkling wine, we were served the first appetizer, which is not on the menu. It consisted of bread and dipping/spreading options. I don't remember what the ingredients were, but Mrs. OS seemed to enjoy it. (I was happy with just butter. Mrs. OS' appetizer was the seafood tower. While I had the calamari Mrs. OS had the catch of the day (Swordfish) for her main While I partook of the Concerto (pasta with seafood) For dessert, she had the Mozart's Berry Composition (Yes, it was big) While I had the Chef's Classic (crepes suzette) We did not walk away hungry

If they still exist (and are working) they're near the area circled in red below. Unless you happen to park near them, they are only convenient if you are arriving at Berth 93 since you'd have to walk around the Y-shaped ramp to get there from Berth 92.

There are machines near Berth 93 where you could pay on your way out to your car. But the last couple times we parked there, these machines were not working so we had to pay at the exit gate. Does anyone know whether or not they are still broken?

Personally, I've never had it take more than 48 hours

Standard rates are: $15/day for 1 device $40/day for 4 devices Platinum/Elite get 50% discount Note that the device limit is at any particular time. If you purchase for 1 device you can actually use multiple devices over the course of the cruise but only one at a time

Yes. I have done so on numerous occasions. I have always used a 3-prong (grounded) extension

Which explains why restaurant workers in the U.K. (and other like countries) are happy to serve tourists from the U.S.

We were on the Emerald coming back to L.A. just ahead of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hillary in August and the seas were incredibly smooth ahead of the storm. 20230820_083729.mp4

Overall, I agree with you about playing against other players. The annoying thing about the rake is that the dealer is automated. At a regular casino, there is a person dealing so you know that some of the rake is going to pay for the dealer. With an automated dealer, it's just more money sucked up by the casino. On my last cruise, I played a hold 'em tournament and the casino cut was 20% of the overall payout ($60 to play, $10 went to the casino, $50 went to the prize pool.) In land-based casinos I always seen the casino cut as 10% of the prize pool (for example, $55 to play, $50 to the prize pool, $5 to the casino) I guess you can just look at it as vacation tax.

I don't recall the lobster served in Crown Grill being different from what's served in the MDR other than the fact that Mrs. OS was not impressed with it in the Crown Grill.

We were on this cruise and did not see any mosquitos

You have to call room service once on board to arrange delivery and I bet that you can specify the kind of soda you want

Yeah, we heard about that after the fact. Kinda bummed that BSLM will probably be gone before we get a chance to eat there again..

It's probably just me, but when I'm on a cruise speed of service is not my first concern. I'm there to relax and enjoy the experience.* I found Bistro Sur La Mer to be a very good experience and am disappointed that it is being eliminated. Then again, I said the same thing about Share. Mrs. OS was disappointed with the way they prepared the escargot. Mostly because she likes it covered in butter and garlic like they do in the MDR. But beyond that, we found the food at BSLM to be very good and also thought the location near the piazza made it feel like an alfresco French dining experience *The one exception to this is when we are sharing a table (which we frequently do in the MDR) and one of our co-diners is kind of a pain to be around. But you take your chances and sometimes it doesn't work out.

In the past, we were allowed to customize the pizzas a little.... For instance on the Pizza Hawaiiana, I would remove the chicken and perhaps add mushrooms. Is this still allowable under the new regime?

I would think that would be okay. Then again, I wouldn't put it past Princess to hire extra people to follow you around and make sure you don't share 😊

I was on Discovery and Grand for 5 cruises in 2022. Granted that they were not yet sailing at full capacity, but we never had a problem getting into Alfredo's/Gigi's and several times there was only one or two other tables in use. I'm not sure why they thought it would be a good idea to start charging. The only thing I can conceive is that perhaps they had a lot of pizza orders over the app, because they certainly didn't have many people in the dining area.

We have done the UBD twice this year. Both times I selected the day when I placed the reservation, but also both times they called me on the first day of the cruise to confirm the date. (I assume you can change the date at this time, if needed) and also to set the time. I believe I had the option of 6:30 or 8:00. We had a balcony cabin on the Caribe deck of the Crown and Emerald, which is larger than those on the Aloha or Baja decks. We also had good weather and ate outside both times. My brother tells me that he has done the UBD once or twice in the cabin with no issues. Just be aware that it's a lot of food, so don't eat a big lunch

I will also be on the Aug 5 sailing. Naathan is not scheduled for that cruise. We saw him about a year ago on one of the ships (possibly Discovery) I later found out he knew both of my sons from Fullerton College so we went to see him again at the Magic Castle.

If you are on the Emerald now, I understand that Naathan Phan will be performing. If so, I would recommend seeing his show and would be interested in hearing your review. Thanks

It may depend on the departure port. My August cruise out of L.A. had been telling me that no slots were available (which made no sense at all) so I was just going to show up whenever i happened to get there. Then suddenly a few weeks ago, I was able to chose a spot. My suggestion would be to keep checking and if nothing ever materializes in the app, then just show up whenever it's convenient and if they question it, tell them you tried.

We were also there in March on the Crown, probably right there with you. We were celebrating our 40th Anniversary. We had honeymooned on Maui and Kauai so were disappointed that we missed both of those ports. We're giving it another go on the August 5 departure on the Emerald and hoping we don't miss those ports again.

Your email address is used for logging in and while this is technically not your user id/member ID (as shown on the My Account tab, see below) it's probably difficult to change on the fly depending on how their database is set up. So you probably have to work directly with a Princess rep to get it updated