Coffeeluvr05

Got it! Good to know! Thanks!

No, the first leg is SF to Vancouver and then the second leg is Vancouver to Seattle. Is that still a violation?

Oh, what would be the violation? I've never done a B2B so I just saw two short itineraries and thought we could combine them. Didn't think that anyone could tell me no.

I've never done a back to back and would like to know from those who have, do you have to get off the ship in between cruises? Like with luggage and all like you are disembarking? Would we have to even vacate our stateroom if we were in the same stateroom on both voyages? I would love to know what the process looks like. By the way, if it matters, this would be a cruise from SF to Vancouver and then Vancouver to Seattle.

It doesn't matter what cruise line we are on...it's THE PATTER! 🤣

For reference, this was on the Carnival Panorama. It is an on demand sort of thing so no, not the night before. While we were getting ready we would just request a table for however many were going to breakfast and we would get a message pop-up (with cute music and all) on our phone to let us know our table was ready and even the table number. Some days it was less than a 10 min wait but on sea days when they had their sea day brunch it could be longer.

Love the medallion. I love that I can leave it in my wristlet and I don't need to get it out to open my door. Was on a recent couple of cruises on NCL and Carnival (I know, I know!) and had cards on both and hated having to dig it out for the door and scanning when leaving/entering the ship. Medallion is where it's at! On that same note, while I likely won't do another Carnival cruise (was for family) I really liked that you can request a table for breakfast in the dining room via the app and they let you know when your table is ready and you can head to the dining room. I was astounded at how many people were actually standing there waiting for a table! Isn't it the young'uns that are supposed to be so tech savvy? 🤣

Are these family friendly events? We will be bringing our kids/grandkids and I think they would like this if it is family friendly.

As far as reservations go, prior to sailing we couldn't get very good dining times in specialty dining. We were able to get reservations once we boarded the ship much easier. On the Bliss, the Teppanyaki restaurant was open during the daytime hours for all reservation needs. You could also make them on your phone via the NCL app throughout your cruise.

We went to one of the specialty restaurants (Q the BBQ place) for dessert one night and we just paid the a la carte price. They had really yummy desserts!

We just came back from a cruise on NCL and when you have the specialty dining package you can ignore the a la carte pricing on the menu. You get to select a course from each section on the menu. At the end they do give you a check showing what your bill would have been but you owe zero. We loved the Italian restaurant the most and went there twice!

I've heard of the Dr. Seuss breakfast...would a 2 yr old like it you think? I'm not sure the older girls would care that much.

Ooh, that's a good question! I hope it is open every day. Not that my grandkids will want to go all the time, but I want them to do whatever they choose. We do have at least one excursion for our whole family, but I know their parents may do at least one alone and one with just the older kids and we will keep the toddler back on the ship with us. It's going to be a whole new cruising experience for us!

Yes, I fully plan on taking the to the Sky Zone! This is our first Carnival cruise. We primarily cruise on Princess and we've cruised on Royal Caribbean when our kids were teens. I cannot wait to spoil the grandkids on the ship!

We are taking our daughter and her family on the Panorama in February and would like to know any information you have about the kids clubs. We heard that they provide you with some sort of communication device when you check your kids in? Any info on that would be appreciated. Also, do they break up the kids by ages so siblings may not be together? Do they allow grandparents to keep the kids on the ship while parents go off the ship on an excursion? I noticed that there are cooking classes and wondered if anyone has taken their kids to them. The pizza making and cupcake or cake decorating look like something my older grandkids would enjoy. Are they worth the price?

I called NCL to ask if I could bring my meal replacement protein shakes and they gave me a liquids exception for that on my account. It shows up on my documents that print out. I don't know if that is needed for all liquids, but I didn't want to chance it.

We paid our beverage package gratuities at the time we booked our cruise. So much for "free"-at-sea! lol I was a little shocked since having had the Princess version I've never been charged like that. Not saying that it's not built into the cost somewhere, but that was a little surprising. This will be my first NCL cruise and I have to say, I'm seeing a lot of nickel and diming so far and we haven't sailed yet. I paid more for the beverage package gratuities than I did for the daily services charges that I prepaid. About $200 more. This might be my only NCL cruise. We will see!

If you travel a lot you should check into an annual travel policy to save money. I think Travel Guard is a common carrier. We have used the Princess insurance and have had to file a claim before. I like to have travel insurance.

I actually had a martini on the Discovery in October that was served in an acrylic "glass". It was hard to tell until you went to pick it up and realized how light it was. Not sure what is going on with their glassware situation. I do remember being served in the glass pictured as well. I do recall it being strange having all the different martini glasses. These things I notice. Princess might not think we do, but we do.

The Discovery is a beautiful ship. We just sailed on her last month for the first time in a mini-suite. If you haven't sailed in 20 years then you will be introduced to the new MedallionClass system. No cruise card to open your door or show for purchases. We enjoyed the food and the entertainment. You will enjoy the mini-suite accommodations which are a little larger than the normal balcony cabins and have a little larger bathroom.

When you are booking reservations for shows are you reserving specific seats or is it general admission?

Just ask your room steward for an extension cord or bring one from home. They will also provide you with distilled water for the cpap machine.

I just did the Mexican Riviera on the Discovery...I can assure you there were no decent response times experienced. We only had good response times when we were in port and turned off airplane mode and used our phones cellular service. At the end of our cruise we asked for a refund of the wifi portion of PP as the internet was so dismal. We received the refund. Something has definitely changed because we were on the inaugural transatlantic of the Sky in 2019 and we had AMAZING internet. We were streaming video, shopping, all the interwebs browsing our hearts desired! I'm thinking Princess needed to save some money and downgraded their bandwidth. Seems like the only logical explanation.

We just got off of the Discovery. You will enjoy her. Do not plan on doing anything other than email on the internet. It's not anything near fast and definitely not the fastest! lol Room assignments can be anytime right up to the day you sail. Just keep checking. I've sailed during Thanksgiving and they have done turkey and stuff in the MDR. Not sure about buffet, but I would imagine it would be in there too. It doesn't matter if you choose a boarding time. You board based on where you are in line when you show up to the pier. Seriously, boarding times are garbage. Rooms will be available around 1:30 so when you Board, just got grab yourself a cocktail and have lunch and they should be ready by then. As far as dinner reservations go, if you like having the same waiter/same table every night, you can ask the head water of the MDR to set that up for you on the first night after dinner. We have done that and they do their best to accommodate. Oh, not sure about beers on tap. I know they have bottles of Blue Moon. I think there is a bar menu somewhere around here.

@azbirdmom We were dining in Sabatini's the evening that your group came through with the violinists playing the love boat theme. We were not sure what the reason was but knew there must have been a special event of some sort. Good to know about the 360 experience. Based upon the social media hint posts I had a feeling it was something like this. How cool that you were able to experience it. Right place, right time!