Z0nker

Makes sense. There’s a lot of metal between the aft dining room and the rest of the ship. Our one and only pager experience involved the DR right off the piazza and a trip to Vines.

All true

Do they still send you away with a pager if you show up at the MDR without a reservation?

If you want a printed Princess Patter every day, let someone know. I believe the default is no patter.

The first time I cruised with the medallion app it was wonky, too. Then I updated the app to the latest version. Been fine ever since. But it is slow sync when you open it so please be patient.

If it says you’re in the blue lane and everything is checked off, you should be fine. Bring your passport, print and attach your luggage tags to your bags. The medallion is your boarding pass and room key. You are allowed to bring aboard at no charge one bottle of wine per adult. Make sure those are in your carry on bag, NOT the checked bags you give to the porter. if you don’t drink wine, that’s ok, just drop it off in my stateroom after you board. 😀

If you are picking up your medallion at the terminal, that's why you're in Blue lane. If you've done already everything else, should still be a quick boarding.

The MDR staff is still lively, including a nightly singalong with a waiter on a tabletop sporting a sparkly red fedora. You know, it kind of grows on you. And yes, the food was good.

If you want good food but are put off by some of your fellow Carnival passengers, Princess might be worth a try. That said, we had a great time on the Carnival Miracle recently. We just went into it knowing we might see some things.

Just read the fine print. “$5 surcharge for a *third* entree.” You could gain some wait on these ships, ha ha.

Say what you will about Carnival, but we've always enjoyed the food and MDR service. Steakhouse was truly exceptional. How does it compare to Celebrity? We sailed the Celebrity Solstice to Alaska in 2019 and it was the best food we’ve had at sea. If they’ve gone downhill that’s a shame.

We waited an hour to get into Alfredo's on the Royal last spring. Something had to be done.

By that logic it was never free. People pay to go on cruises.

Indeed. And mustard.

Bell pepper in chili rellenos? No bueno. 🇲🇽

Thanks. We’ll be in Halifax next month

Outstanding itinerary

Same thing happened to us on the Royal. Completely lost our enthusiasm for Alfredo’s. This needed to be done.

It’s always good to shop around. We’ve tried four cruise lines so far, including Celebrity, which was fabulous. Wish they did more on the West Coast. Princess comes in second of the four for me, but we sail with them the most because they homeport in SF. They also offer an enormous selection of itineraries. Hope we get to try some others, like HAL or Oceana.

Production show was surprising good on carnival so I’d say that’s on par. Musicians in bars, lounges and piazza/atrium much better on Princess. Trivia and other games are fun on both lines. Carnival may have an edge on poolside games but Princess will keep you entertained.

This might improve Alfredo’s. When we were on the Royal this spring, the wait was close to an hour. They’re crazy not to charge for it. As a habitual Plus Package cruiser, Alfredos will still be free to me and hopefully with shorter lines. Do we know if the Salty Dog Grill will still include two entrees?

The changes do make the Plus package more appealing for non drinkers, but is there $60/day of value here?

We recently did 5 day cruises on Carnival and Princess out of SF since they both homeport there now. Relatively cheap way to try out the ships (Miracle and Ruby), service, and gauge the real price. Both ships were nice with good service, good food and good drinks. Entertainment was also fine. Princess was the better deal overall because the Plus package comped drinks and gratuities. Even though the upfront price was more. side note: if you’re a wine connoisseur, Princess is the winner. If you prefer craft beer, Carnival is better. Cocktails: they’ll both take great care of you.

Same here. The Plus package, even at $60/day/pax is a great deal. $15 of that is for gratuities you have to pay anyway. And vacation is so much more enjoyable when you don’t have to worry about every monetary transaction. Looking forward to the Starlink internet.

Glad you survived. I agree, always be nice. In a world where you can be anything, be kind. Thanks for keeping us informed. We’re booked for a September Canada New England, round trip Brooklyn. And we’re coming from the west coast so I feel your pain. Sorry you had a bad experience with Air Canada. They were my go to airline for many flights across the pacific and their business class is fantastic and relatively cheap.