jimbo1683

On 8/5/2022 at 4:05 PM, terrierjohn said:

Most of what you say make sense, however I think P&O have made a big mistake by not putting water slides on Arvia. As she will winter in the Caribbean and spend her summers mainly in the Med, this would have been a very sensible option.

Similarly if Azura is going to be in the Med all summer and Canaries in winter, she would be an ideal candidate for water slides, and could benefit from a major refit like RCIs Independence of the seas did.

Waterslides will actively turn some potential customers away (me). Presumably RC have this market well covered so P&O are offering an alternative.

Why dont they make it a ticketed event, even if its free - just take bookings on the day and have a standby list like a theatre so that you dont have to waste 45 minutes of the evening which is the equivalent of the brits getting up at 5am to reserve their sun lounger. 

11 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

It varies from ship to ship and according to the itinerary and the whims of the entertainment director. Last December, they were 7:30 and 9:45 on the Caribbean Princess. On my February cruise on the Regal, there were only 1,325 passengers, and they scheduled just one show per night in the theater at 9:15. 

Just thinking about if i booked specialitu dining and wanted the show after - if i booked for 7/7.15pm then i guess i'd be pretty safe for the second showing?

10 minutes ago, PrincessAmore said:

They still have an Italian night, of sorts, in the MDR but the staff is not required to dress in those stripped Italian clothes they use to wear.

Is it just themed as in the food is italian inspired though?

On 8/12/2022 at 5:51 AM, thehowlingroad said:

 

When I told local British passengers about this, though, they all winced at the thought of taking National Express, lol. So I'm thinking that it's a very hit or miss thing.

It's the same look Brits get when they tell an american they are taking Greyhound!

What times are the early and late theatre show typically?

6 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

No one has reported this (that I have seen this year).  They also used to have Caribbean night (in that sector), Italian night (pretty much every voyage I have been one, but I have read the old green & red striped suits are gone), USA night (especially when cruise returning to a US port).  I cannot recall what else.  They do have some themes in the buffet on certain nights and the Patter should indicate those.

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that none of those themes make an appearance🤣

3 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

That seems the safe bet to me.

 

ETA:  The second night may be billed as "Dress to Impress"  (DTI).

Thanks. Would there be a theme for the first formal night?

32 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

There are more upscale MDR menu items such as lobster once (usually the second Formal Night), beef wellington, etc.  Some guests will go to Specialty Dining as they think they need to dress up all formal for the DR (no necessary).   Other folks do it based on the nightly menus.  Hard to know these pre-cruise or which night is which.  You can ask on board to see all the week's menus at the start. 

 

They will never have a formal night on the first night or the last night.  Look for the first one ASAP after night 1 and the second closer to end of voyage.  If you don't have two open sea days, look for one with an early port departure.

Thanks. Our itinery is day 1 embarkation day, 2 sea day, 3,4,5&6 port days, 7 sea day, 8 disembark. Day 6 departs Oslo at 4pm so assume formal nights will be evening 2 and 6?

We have a 7 night scandanavian cruise on Sky booked for May 2023. I also have a short cruise this November with Cunard - which I know is more formal. As I am buying suitable evening clothing now for the November cruise I want to make sure that what I buy is also appropriate for the Princess cruise.

We are a male couple in our late 30s. We would like to take the opportunity to dress up a bit. We have Club Class dining.

My questions for the Princess cruise are:

- the website suggests there are 2 formal nights on a 7 night cruise. Is this the reality?

- How formal is formal - what will be appropriate to wear?

- Which nights will be formal - seadays?

- What happens on formal nights - is there a special menu (in club MDR?) Im trying to figure out which nights we might want speciality dining.

Thanks

20 minutes ago, Mara4166 said:

Did you send all details that are needed?  I sent proof of ownership last Friday morning and had a response the same day in the afternoon (this was the UK office).  The OBC appeared online in my payments section at the same time.  My cruise is in November.

 

I would suggest sending again.  Maybe the first email was lost.

 

I sent the following details in an email

 - redacted copy of proof of ownership (attached to email)

 - My full name

 - Cruise ship name

 - Sailing Date

 - Booking reference

Where is the payments section which shows OBC?

2 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

You're right - there are many other lines that apparently have wonderful food and are very comfortable and that welcome a more casual approach to dress. I think the key is that you say you need a 'different environment' and are happy to leave Cunard to those who 'love the elegance and formality' of it. If you're not interested in such elegance and formality while you're on holiday, avoid the stress and make your changes.

 

 

Wonder why they booked it in the first place

1 hour ago, smilesonfaces said:

We are due to cruise with Princess and Cunard who provide free room service and I will  tip for this. I didn’t give any extra tips on P & O because they charged for room service. I wouldn’t be tipping in the bars or restaurants,  just the room service and cabin steward.

As I say though not a tipping debate. Everyone should just what they think is best. 

That's pretty much the same as what i'm thinking - particularly cabin steward

11 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

One has always used USD, or a mixture of € & $ for tipping.  Plus retained daily gratuities.
As crew’s employment has been reduced, can one suggest going large for good service and substantive for excellent.

Or alternatively, which is becoming more noticeable, take the option to dine in the Buffet on the final evening.

It’s one’s cruise and choice of “customary”.

 

 

We're on a budget. It won't be large and certainly won't be substantive I'm afraid! But i'll take a few low denomination dollars.

I hesitate to post this knowing how tipping threads end up! I'm not interested in what people think about tipping or how much. But I would like to know IF I tip beyond auto gratuities, is it customary to do so in US dollars, GBP (as my cruise starts and ends in Southampton) or Euros (as that is where the cruise sails to)?

23 minutes ago, suekel said:

As of today, I have 9 cruises booked.  None have changed since the pause.  I changed one to another cruise line due to itinerary but so far so good.  

Nine 🙄

On 8/5/2022 at 9:40 PM, Bell Boy said:

Yes , and in Britannia Club. 

Is that everywhere for BC or just in cabin?

Buy online at Next for collection in Southampton. They are £99 and good quality.

All these ball gowns just makes me thing of Disney princesses.

It took an hour and 15 but finally got through and made final payment.

Next time? First and last and i think

So far have been holding for an hour trying to make final payment this morning because i keep getting an error message when trying to pay online. Crazy.

1 minute ago, majortom10 said:

Future Cruise Deposit.

What's it's benefit?

On 8/4/2022 at 9:52 AM, majortom10 said:

Find it rather strange and annoying that FCDs are still not being sold to UK cruiser's but are available to US cruiser's. Another anomaly as well as free drinks packages for Grill suite passengers from US but not UK that seems to favour US over UK.

What is a FCD?

3 minutes ago, rakkor said:

Grills Lounge Menu.pdf 4.36 MB · 335 downloads

 

This is the Grills lounge bar menu, different bars will have different offerings, but it should be a good indicator

Perfect thank you