tutumomickey

Clarence from Daktari, One of my favorite shows

We heard less than 7 days out for a 16 day cruise

I think you misunderstood. It is not just their bid that is listed as pending but their actual cabin number. They previously had an assigned cabin number that has now been replaced with pending. This does not happen to everyone. It does not mean, your bid has been accepted but, it could. Or they could be in the process of finalizing cabin assignments especially at 72 hours out.

The only place they cannot be is seated at the bar (or any bar) on the ships. Lounges are perfectly fine. Our granddaughters sat at the bar at Vines and Outrigger always with an adult with no problem. They were allowed to walk through the casino to get from place to place but we tried to avoid it because of the smoke.

Forgot to mention they made friends with the bartenders who always wanted to hear about their day and made them their very own special cocktails (without alcohol ) We never ordered them anything, the bartenders just made them spontaneously )

Our grandchildren often accompanied us to the lounges to listen to music until the kids club opened. They are closed for dinner. Then they couldn't get upstairs fast enough. 15 days to Hawaii and they never stopped looking forward to their time in the clubs.

March 2023 16 day Hawaii bid was accepted 7 days before depature. Cruise sold out. Don't give up hope

We were totally surprised when it arrived. I'm not sure you could even classify my husband's approach as polite. At one point, every time we checked our statement, another gift card had been charged. The total just kept going up and up without any cards showing up. However, we did finally have a supervisor promise resolution and it did come. We had disputed the additional card charges with the bank and they ended up cancelling ALL the AARP charges, even the valid ones so then we had to reverse the reversed charges. The gift card was a nice gesture on their part. They also sent a trunk organizer.

AARP web site crashed once when purchasing gift cards. It took a couple days but they were aware of the problem. A few weeks later we received a 50$ VISA card and an apology letter from AARP.

We have done 11 transits total, both directions. Everything else aside, the time changes always made Westbound, from Florida far more pleasant. Hard to not be sleep deprived on an Eastbound unless you are willing to miss some activities. The bridge view is also best Westbound if it is not obscured by pouring rain. We far prefer old locks to the new. Old locks are a fascinating engineering marvel with lots of history and beautiful landscape. Plus the mules-no mules in the new locks. New locks, for us, were boring by comparison and without jungle views, only lots of concrete and gravel.

We also planned to pay as we ordered for our granddaughters on 15 day Hawaii. Never paid for any drinks. Ordered a lot from the bartender at Vines that was missing his daughter. He and his co worker made special smoothies, for free, every time they walked by. An officer took them from us one day in the Piazza and bought them Gelatos. Every night at dinner they head server brought them whatever they wanted to drink. Similar experience June 2022 on Discovery.

I think those without a tux look out of place. Tony, you look sharp! You can join us at our table any night.

Exactly. The crew has no choice but we do. So when we follow 'suit' , we are supporting them. Not sure why but their smiles always seem even warmer on formal night.

We always receive compliments on our tuxes and ball gowns from both other passengers and crew. I think the crew especially appreciates the effort since they are all in formal dress.

My husband always wears a tux every formal night and especially anniversaries. We appreciate the elegance and the way it makes us feel. We may be in the minority but, we are never alone.

We were also chosen for the Piazza games. We were the first couple out. Probably had something to do with trying to untie the ropes in a long formal. Actually worked out perfect; We had a front row seat in a roped out area and lots of drinks while the games continued. Our little granddaughters were able to join us and Fortuna came and sat and talked with them. It was the only night all 15 day cruise we actually had seats in the Piazza at night. The dancing, the confetti drop and the music- it was so much fun for our whole family.

Ours was on the second formal night on a 15 day cruise.

Lots of us were in white and gold on a 15 night Hawaii in March.That was the night they also had all the Love Boat themed games and trivia. It was probably my favorite night on the ship. we spent a solid 2 hours in the Piazza after dinner listening to the entertainment, playing the games and dancing with our 5 year old granddaughters after a big confetti drop

SF to Hawaii March 2023 on the Royal seems like 65% were participating to some extent. Our party of 7 went all out with gold evening gowns and white tuxes with gold vests. Enjoyed all the Love Boat party festivities from trivia to the games in the Piazza late night. Dance party with confetti drop was a highlight for the 5 year olds. It fell on their birthday so they thought the whole party was for them! IMHO, you get out of something what you put in. The more we participate, the more fun we havw, the more memories we make.

We also had ours on the open bow. It was before noon and they ran out fast. Best pea soup ever.

parents fun zone is not for the younger kids. You drop them off and pick them up at the door (for safety reasons)Basically just closed a couple hours around each meal. Open 9-12; 2-5 and 7-10. Yes 10pm and we drug them out under protest every night at 10. They are in bed at 8 at home. They also hurried every night to finish dinner even though we told them club wasn't open yet. There were a few days times varied when they had pajama party or movie night. The only drawback is there is no snacking in the club(allergy reasons) so we got called early before noon a couple times because someone was hungry.

Pagers are given out when you drop off your child. You may also leave child in kids club while in port you just have to let them know a couple of days in advance so they can staff appropriately. I believe the air hockey table on the Discovery and Royal were in the 7-12 year old section. They really did not need arcade games for the "Tree house" younger kids. They have an indoor and outdoor play areas with lots of climbing/sliding equipment plus organized craft and games. Our granddaughters were 4 in Alaska and 5 in Hawaii and never wanted to leave the club. Be prepared, they came home with multiple crafts ans stuffed animals. Luckily one of the crafts was a backpack that could hold some of their goodies.

We chose Nutridge (not a Princess offering) for our March cruise based on a recommendation from a native Hawaiian on these boards. We were not disappointed.. If you want a Vegas or Disney type production, it is not for you. This is more like a true luau you would experience as a guest of a friend or neighbor. But it is no means not spectacular. There was LOTS of entertainment from fire dancers to games for the guest to participate in. The food was incredible! With a maximum of 60 guests and over a dozen staff, the personal attention is over the top. The view at sunset can't be beat as you can see Pearl Harbor, Wiakiki Diamond Head and the ship. As a bonus, on our trip to the luau from Ala Moana shopping center our driver gave us tour of downtown Honolulu and a brief stop at Puu Ualakaka state park for photo ops and more great views. Also returned us directly to the ship. Defiantly a highlight of our trip.So glad we chose this and spent our OBC on something else, not the ship excursion.

Options were obstructed balcony, deluxe obstructed balcony and standard balcony.

Once the Vines bartender found out we were ordering wine in the MDR, he said we needed to stop at Vines on our way to dinner to get a better quality. He did serve it in the nice glasses and just asked that we return them after dinner which we were happy to do.