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Where is Gigi's on Emerald? I don't see it on the deck plan and thought only Enchanted/Discovery had a Gigi's.

Of the ships I've sailed so far, I like the casino on the Regal the best. They converted some of what is Club 6 or Take Five on other ships to a decently sized non-smoking area with no bleed-over of smoky smell from the rest of the casino. That area also has newer machines and a poker table.

On my last three cruises with a plus or premier package, I have always received canned soda when requesting one and wasn't charged any extra. When ordering through OceanNow, you are given a choice between the two and cans are not charged, same as if you'd ordered fountain. From my experience, cans are now part of the package.

It's worked reliably for me, but it's not instantaneous. Just budget for a 30 minute delivery time and be pleasantly surprised if things arrive earlier.

I've found that the beer menu in the Wheelhouse Bar is more varied than at other bars (Chimay, Ballast Point, Pirate, etc.). Since Enchanted doesn't have a Wheelhouse Bar, check out the Crown Grill bar or Salty Dog Gastropub bar menu. They may have a few selections that aren't on the menu at other bars.

For us, the plus vs. premier comes to three things: Length of the cruise. Anything one week or shorter, Premier has more value for us due to the two included specialty dinings. We usually do two per week. Longer cruises, same price difference for still only two SD for entire cruise holds less value. Wine. If you mostly drink soft drinks, liquor, and cocktails, almost everything is covered by Plus. If you enjoy drinking wine, however, the included wines on Premier are far, far better than the wines included in Plus. Internet. If you want to frequently use more than one device without the hassle of switching between devices, and aren't platinum/elite with discounts in internet, Premier has more value. I know the calculations will be different based on what each person values, but that's what it comes down to for us.

Recently returned from a cruise on Crown Princess in E728. Great cabin, nice sheltered balcony of standard mini suite size, but also a lot of thumping bass noise from Club Fusion until it shuts down, around Midnight or 12:30AM.

I don't really see what the maintenance person did wrong – I think they are trained to knock/announce twice, and if no response and no deadbolt or do not disturb sign/indicator, they assume the room is empty so they entered. Once they realized you were in the room, they apologized and attempted to come back later. As for knocking at an hour when many would be sleeping, I think maintenance would be one of the exceptions that would be acceptable to knock during those hours unless a request was specifically made to wait until the next day. Someone might want their issue fixed as soon as possible. I hope everyone will take this as another reminder to always secure the deadbolt when you are in the room.

Wow, one hour to make it across Galveston island from seawall side to port side? Seems like very bad traffic indeed. I'm wondering now if staying on the I-45 side/entrance to the island would be any better traffic-wise.

May I ask what price it gives for the multi-device Wi-Fi upgrade? Wondering if it's the full $40 per day or just the difference ($25 or $20 per day depending on whether they consider the starting price of $15 or $20 per day). Thanks for taking us along with you on the journey!

Princess Premier includes two specialty dining meals per guest and unlimited casual dining. Princess Plus does not include any specialty dining and two casual dining. My question was in reference to the Princess Premier package.

If buying the Premier package onboard to pay for it with OBC, how does it work if you've already pre-paid for specialty dining reservations that are now covered by the package? Would you get a refund of/OBC for the pre-paid amounts?

It has been my experience across multiple TAs that any payments for deposits or cruise fares are listed on credit card transactions/statements as the cruise line itself, not the TA. I would fully expect payments that got charged as Princess Cruises to apply for the purposes of the AmEx offers.

Lack of a sofa in the standard balcony cabin has always been the biggest negative for me when considering Princess versus other lines. At home, to read or watch TV, I don't sit on the bed. On almost every other ship on other lines (even the Carnival Corp's "entry level"/mass market/non-premium Carnival line), standard balcony cabins have sofas. And I do want to choose Princess, as they are the only line that sails from my home port year-round. But in comparison with other ships and lines, this is a big drawback. On the Grand class ships that seem to most often sail on the itineraries I am interested in, I would have to go to a mini-suite to get a sofa. The last two trips we've taken were booked too late to even have availability in the mini-suite category – there are far fewer mini suites than balcony cabins. And most of the mini-suites on those ships have completely uncovered balconies which, to me, are less enjoyable than ones with some shade and privacy. I am encouraged that Princess has created a category of balcony cabins with sofas on the newer ships, and hope they consider making a sofa a standard inclusion in all balcony cabins on future builds.

I have a question that's on a related note. If someone cancels the second person in a cabin after final payment and sails as a solo (essentially paying double, or 100% solo supplement), does the remaining occupant of the cabin earn double captain's circle cruise credits as they would if they had initially booked it as a solo with 100% supplement?