PRINCESS Sweet Pea

We LOVE the Sanctuary!!!! (hopefully no paying passengers directly affected in that timing area) Also, I would really love to know if X-cite will be onboard for any length of time. We are hoping to be onboard in a few months.... It has been years ago, but they were AMAZING!!!! That was back when the ship band played a lot more time thru-out the cruise. They CARRIED that whole sailing! They literally brought the whole house/ship down with their performance of Hey Jude. Seriously put the Beatle-maniacs to shame.

So, you would get what I would call 'fancy' bottled spring water, instead of the generic plastic bottles of filtered drinking water. We have usually just ordered the bottled water pre-cruse that they leave in your cabin. But, this would be be better!

Yes, just avoid ordering Lobster in Crown Grill.... Learned that by experience! I can remember our Alaska cruise, years ago, where they brought out fresh split crab legs and pulled the lobster out of the shell table-side. OMG!!! Now those were the days! I don't know about the special seafood boil speciality offered. If it is still there. But, seems I read mixed reviews on that?

I hope someone will see this, without posting a separate thread. What specific small bottles of water are included in the Beverage Package. Are these the same filtered drinking water when you buy the water before boarding?

Does anyone here have experience with the testing offered at Port at Fort Lauderdale? Do they have a place set up for this at each ship's terminal?

I wish that Princess would allow a reputable Pharmacy to observe "Proctor" the tests. (I did. hear whispers that they were at least thinking about this) This whole expensive, online, video call thing is too much of a pain. We could stop at the Pharmacy next to the hotel and be on our way.

I will chime in here with my experience, and my take. Unless there is some reason why your travel partners might not be left alone there, (not, mature, normal,l adults) I do not see any real obligation by Princess to let them board. Easy enough for Elite to board, take care of any early boarding stuff/reservations, etc... and simply meet their travel partners somewhere as planned. In our case, we are platinum, so we were able to board earlier. But, we were traveling with our son, who was traveling solo... Cruising with us without a friend/girlfriend. He had turned 18, but there is NO way that we were leaving him alone there. We checked in at the counter, as he checked in with the rep next to us. Our customer service rep, like some others we have seen, was very rude, and should not be working there in that position, at all. She noticed that our son was there. She told us to wait a second, disappeared, came back and handed us our boarding information. We didn't realize it, but because of our son, she went and changed it to regular, non-priority boarding!!! She did that on purpose, because she knew that we would boarding with our sone along with us. YES, THIS HAPPENED. When we realized this, and they announced that passengers with the early boarding pass could go forward, we realized we didn't have that pass. I immediately got up and went to the first person that looked less hostile, and showed them that we were indeed platinum/elite. Luckily she waved us thru, with our son right with us. This meant that we could get reservation spots that we needed, etc... that we would not have gotten without our priority boarding. Bottom line, with things like this, it will depend on the situation and who you end up encountering at check-in and boarding.

Thanks! (and a shout out to the VOLS!) I found this one post, finally.... "I can't remember right now exactly which cabin it was. It did have an angled balcony and think it was deck 9. What I absolutely can tell you was that it was on port side because every night we had trouble getting to sleep due to the bass from Crooners Bar below...it literally vibrated up and we could hear it through our pillows. Strange, I know, but that was our experience. The lights I was talking about are located under the railing on the promenade deck angled up." So, unfortunately, I think that pretty much answers how the noise would be. We were on the other side of the ship, in E405, and I too can complain and attest to those lights angled up towards your cabin/balcony. I wish Princess would address this. I do consider it an issue, and one that could be easily addressed. I can't think of any important reason why those lights have to be that way. That was my ONLY complaint about those extended balcony mid-ship cabins. Otherwise they can be great!

I know a lot of people talk about the larger balconies on these obstructed view cabins, and they can be great. But, I am searching and can't find comments about noise from Crooners, below. Does anyone know if this is a big issue, to be on that side of the ship, above Crooners?

It could possibly have been damaged when the porters were handling it as it was taken onboard. No way to know for sure. NOTE: If you have bottles of wine, or anything else that might warrant further search, this could really delay your bags. It could be pretty late before they get to your cabin. I know a lot of people say that they fly with their liquids in checked bags, but then Princess suggest bringing wine, personally, in your carry on stuff. So you have to move it our of your checked bag. THAT is why... All those checked bags that get flagged for search really can delay your suitcases.

Assuming the testing is somewhat accurate, I think the testing would afford more protection from cases onboard than vaccination!

Wonder what is going on. Will they get it up and running soon? I know they are lame with their IT, but this is frustrating.

Do not have personal experience, but based on our cruise planning, it seemed that PK tours. (I think that is the name) always gets high recommendations. I am not sure about an 'evening' experience' in the morning???? I would want to know if the meal and activities are indoors, out of the hot daytime sun. That kind of thing. And, I would want to know if you actually had time to enjoy some the sights, and not a rushed stop-by or drive-by. Happy Planning!