Martha1974

We often use them on a port day if we don't have an excursion and can stay on the ship until mid-morning. Usually call into the laundry to start the wash on our way up to the buffet for breakfast then call on the way back to the cabin to swap everything from the washer to the dryer. Down to the IC for a coffee and that fills the time until the dryer is finished, than take everything back to the cabin and off the ship for our port day. Usually off the ship by 10am and missing the rush at the gangway.

Cielo would be our first choice too (although I’d be perfectly happy with either of the others). We usually stop for a pre-dinner drink at the Crown Grill bar and when finished I get my glass of wine to take down the aft staircase with me. Have never had to queue for a table (for context we sail in Europe and eat at 7:30) and have always been able to get a 2-top without feeling overcrowded by the tables around us. Usually do 3-4 courses and can be in and out in less than 90 mins.

When we sailed on Sky Princess ex-Southampton last September there was also a US to UK adaptor already plugged into one of the outlets above the desk. We wondered if it had been left by a passenger and missed by the cabin steward, but then found a card stating that it was provided for our convenience and there would be a $25 charge if we took it home! Never seen that before so not sure if it is now standard practice.

Following, and really looking forward to this Live - we're on our first Celebrity cruise on Equinox in October so trying to find out as much as I can about the ship ahead of time.

I was thinking exactly the same! A Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc doesn’t feel particularly ‘premium’ to me (it’s my go-to in our local Wetherspoons!), particularly compared with the Cloudy Bay that we were served on Princess last month.

I have no experience of this with Marella (at least not yet) but we’re recently off a Princess ship (with a drink package) and we weren’t charged any extra but the daily programme stated that any drinks that were being charged to an on-board account while in Spain would have the additional tax added. Sounds like individual lines are handling this differently.

We didn’t use Vines on our Sky cruise in September (too busy and could never get a seat) but I had no problem getting Whispering Angel in the Crown Grill bar which we used on several occasions. Got a very nice Cloudy Bay in there too!

I have found that the web-site version of DMW will let me do things that I can’t do in the app version, (like booking Speciality dining with Princess Premier credits and not charging my credit card!) but as we don’t do ‘TD-style’ dining I haven’t tried to do same time / same MDR for the whole cruise. sorry @CaptainPedantic - looks like we cross-posted!

DH and I were quoted $350 on embarkation day for a 50 minute couples deep-tissue massage on Sky Princess last week (for the treatment to be booked for a port day). We didn’t go ahead with the booking so I’m not sure if the $350 included the 18% grat or if that would have been added on top.

Following - we were on Sky Princess last September and are boarding again Sept 16 this year so interested to know what might be the same or different (other than new charges for RS/Ocean Now etc) and what the productions shows etc are at the moment

We’ve gone from green lane to blue lane in the app and any reference to arrival groups has disappeared.

Fair point - we’re UK based and sail out of the UK so have only sailed on Sky Princess up to now, I had forgotten about O’Malleys and the GastroPub on other ships.

So basically, if some of us are interpreting this correctly, Plus and Premier passengers continue to get exactly what they're getting at the moment (but probably with a related price-hike at some point) and standard passengers are losing several of the "perks" that Princess have been very vocal about publicising (no RS charges / ship-wide delivery / wider inclusive food choices). Can't wait till the debate about whether the changes apply to "old plus/premier" or just "new plus/premier" gets started. We're sailing in September and were planning on buying a couple of FCDs, but now I'm not so sure.

Didn’t even need to wait for someone to go and get our medallions when we sailed from Southampton last year. We were “green lane” - showed our passports, had security photos taken (we uploaded them but apparently they weren’t ok) and were given a slip of paper which we presented at the next desk and were provided with our medallions. Probably 6-8 minutes total from starting the process.

The deck plan shows one port-side on Deck 9. I nearly missed it - looks like it might be a repurposed cabin between 9107 and 9115. Not thinking about booking either of those, but might be reconsidering if I was.

We sail 16 Sept and I did ours yesterday - didn’t get and email to prompt but happened to be looking at the app and it let me do it. No QR code generated though (and we are Green Lane) so guessing the functionality just hasn’t been disabled yet. Got 11:30 group but might risk it and turn up earlier!

Definitely need an empty tummy - we bailed out before dessert last time (another reason to give it another go to see what we missed!) We did all 3 speciality dining options last year (when it was Bistro sue la Mer, before Catch by Rudi) and have booked all 3 again (Sabatinis getting a second chance, Crown Grill worth a second visit and want to try Rudi’s for the first time). Will try for the Chef’s Table when we board and if we’re lucky and get a place something else may have to give!

Apologies if I’m repeating others’ comments as I’ve jumped to the end without reading all posts. We haven’t tried the new menu yet, our only experience of Sabatinis was last September on Sky Princess and it was mixed. The food was excellent and our waiter Matthew was wonderful, very friendly and helpful, but hopelessly over-worked! I don’t know how many tables he was looking after but it was too many! Our food service was very good - all courses presented promptly, hot and very fresh but the drinks service was a very different story. I ordered a glass of wine when we were seated but the wine I wanted wasn’t available so I accepted the alternative that was suggested. The amuse bouche, appetiser and primo were served and finished and the secondi was just delivered when I got my glass of wine, by which time I’d forgotten what I had ordered. We’re sailing on Sky Princess again in September and have booked Sabatinis again to give them another chance - watch this space…!!

Thank you for taking the time to post - I’m UK based and love reading reports from visitors to see my home country through other people’s eyes. Have a fantastic trip - weather reports are very variable for the next week or so, I hope that won’t impact on your enjoyment of the trip. If nothing else it will give you a conversation starter with any British person you meet (“ isn’t it warm / hot /sunny /windy /rainy” **substitute weather conditions as appropriate). Happy cruising 🛳️😁

Please could someone currently on board the Sky Princess let me know if there are any extra benefits when booking another cruise while on board at the moment? We’re looking to book a Canary Islands cruise for Nov 2025 (interior) and can get $100 pp OBC. That’s plenty of OBC for us as we book with the Plus package and aren’t big on shopping, spa treatments or using the sanctuary. We’re sailing on Sky in September and are trying to decide whether to book now and get the $100 OBC or wait and book when we’re on board if there might be more benefits. Any information will be gratefully received.

Sorry to be picky, but you quoted Yorkshirephil quoting me, and my comment was specifically in relation to people comparing Ambassador to Cunard and Silverseas - I think your comparison to P&O takes that comment out of context somewhat so I just wanted to clarify.

We sailed from Tilbury and parking was very easy - booked as part of the cruise fare (but can be added on later) - can’t remember how much we paid but I think it was around £10-£15 per night. Luggage offloaded in the car park then a 2 minute walk across the road to the terminal

Sorry, to be clear that was on Ambience - haven’t sailed on Ambition yet, but I’d say it will definitely depend on the itinerary. As @Britboys said, I understand that Ambassador have meds available at guest services but we packed some so didn’t need to ask for them

We sailed to Iceland in March in an aft cabin on Deck 10 and there was some movement but nothing that I would say was bad (I’ve had worse sailing through the Bay of Biscay). I do get mildly sea-sick but with patches behind my ear I had no symptoms going north or south

We’re really looking forward to sailing on Ambition after 2 cruises on Ambience (just booked for March 2025 😱). Having looked at the deck plans there seem to be a lot of differences but I quite like that the ships are different and will have their own character. We have no problem with the fact that they’re both “pre-loved” ships from other lines. We also sailed with CMV on the Marco Polo and Columbus and loved both of them (lights blue touch paper and retires)!