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In answer to your question why Americans wear shorts… probably because the average temperature in the area where I live is over 100 degrees for about 6 months of the year! Last August & September the average temps were over 110 for over 2 months. If you want to avoid heat stroke, you wear shorts…that’s not an obsession, it’s reality!

Going to the Princess website is absolutely worthless…just like calling them on the phone to get an “official” answer. They haven’t updated anything in years. Ask them about shore excursions and they will scare you into booking only with them so you aren’t left waving on the dock (and yes we usually book the ship excursions) looking to Princess for any type of guidance is liking asking my 6 year old grand daughter for financial advice!

And here goes the dress code debate again…insisting that almost all need a coat and tie is not true…insisting that shorts and T shirts are perfectly fine is not true…what actually exists on “formal” night is some where in between for “most” people! There are those on these boards who want to sway opinions on both sides…they ARE the minority…most of us fall somewhere in the middle of those parameters. You don’t need to look like you’re going to a black tie event, but you also don’t need to look like you’re headed to the beach!

A definite hard pass!

Any guesses as to when Fall 2025 schedule will be out…hoping for a Northern Lights itinerary!

I can’t believe it! I emailed my shareholder OBC form this afternoon and it showed up on my booking within 30 minutes…they even sent me a new booking confirmation with the OBC line itemized…could Princess be upping their customer service?

In Honolulu 3 months ago port security refused to let us bring wine and unopened potato chips back on board…one of our waiters grabbed them after the X-ray machine and said they were his and all of a sudden our purchases were allowed…table mates said they had the same thing happen to them. When they pushed it further up the chain, it was “someone from the ship” who decided no food or beverages could be brought back on board…sounded rather “fishy” to me!

New year’s cruise on Royal…room steward was in charge of mini-bar change-out, no more ice buckets or wine glasses (but did replenish drink glasses daily), he said tip rule has changed since restart. Doesn’t make any difference if you keep or remove tips, they can now keep all cash tips, the auto-gratuities are the only ones that are split fleetwide. These were his words, not mine, and he was very grateful when we tipped him in cash on the last evening…even saw him hauling luggage down the hall. I think things have changed since the restart with duties being split among all staff

Does anyone know the difference between a cove balcony and a deluxe balcony?

Where in the Rome airport is the 😂wine store…before or after baggage claim?

We have done Princess hotels in Rome, Athens, Barcelona, London, Bangkok, Lima, & Sydney and have never been disappointed in the location. The price is higher, but the convenience of transfers and booking ease makes it worth it for us!

Even if they do, the food quality has diminished so much, you might want to rethink your dinner choice…ethnic specialties don’t seem to translate well in Princess kitchens…ie turkey with avocado stuffing😂

We had to fly home mid-cruise due to DH medical emergency…last minute new flights cost us upwards of $8k…We had Princess insurance, had to pay upfront for the flights, and were reimbursed in full about 4 months later. Lesson learned-take an extra credit card with a $15k capacity for emergencies!

Does anyone know what a “Cove” balcony is.? Looks like the balconies are all deluxe, except for the cove type

The only time we have ever booked an inside room was on an Alaskan cruise…that was the only cruise we’ve ever not liked because we felt “cheated” on the scenery…we definitely felt we missed out. With that being said, an inside room on a cruise is better than no cruise at all!

Have used Princess hotels both pre and post and the convenience and quality are well worth a little bump in price…if it’s in Rome or Berlin or Athens you are crazy to take the chance on a private transfer…way too many traffic problems to worry about (unless you like getting to the ship 6 hours early just for peace of mind)

Was on the Royal over Christmas…servers were amazing, cabin steward was great…food in buffet was good, dining room portions were smaller than they used to be, but very adequate…Crown Grill was not good—tough, flavorless steak, main dining room food was mediocre at best…winemakers dinner was fabulous…the quality of the Princess brand overall has definitely slipped!

My Princess planner quit…I’ve talked with 4 other planners and they don’t have a clue how to do anything but screw things up…any ideas in finding a new one.

By fixed with reservation I meant that you reserve a time on the app that suits you, but….you can’t change it without going to the app. 2 weeks ago on the Royal we missed our reserved time at Concerto and we told to go to symphony and wait since they were all booked up in Concerto…sorry for the confusion

Symphony is anytime…others are fixed with a reservation

Try booking the Winemakers Dinner….exactly like Chef’s table only no tour of dining room or cookbook and it is $65 cheaper…only $40 per person (recommended by maitre d’ on Royal last month…they had them both at the same time and our servers told us the menus were exactly the same..only 1 of the wines was different)

We were on the same Royal cruise as you and figured out that they were using flat egg noodles instead of fettuccine noodles (from an Italian chef…really?) That cruise had the worst food we’ve ever experienced on Princess…sooooo disappointed!

Food on the Royal 2 weeks ago was sub-par and heard several others complaining…sauce on everything to cover-up the poor food quality…but liked the smaller portions…desserts were really lacking in taste…servers were great!

Biggest laundry problem is getting the token machines to work!

I’d worry about the sub-par quality of the food…dining rooms and waitstaff are all nice!