Lady Arwen

Many of our members have been reporting lately that live chat is basically useless. Some folks waited for up to three hours and still no response. I would try to get a reliable travel agent or call the CVP main number and get assigned to someone who can help.

Aww, thank you Michael.

Sorry, we were posting at the exact same time. I didn’t mean to step on you! lol

To my knowledge, you cannot prebook specialty dining with OBC. You would have to wait until you’re onboard to make reservations. Booking excursions is the exception. Since you were able to reserve MDR times, you should be able to reserve specialty dining as well. Hope this helps!

Agree with you 100%! I didn’t know that Royal had a real non smoking section. We haven’t been on her in years and we assumed all the Royal class ships were the same. Thanks for pointing that out.

Got it! When you have kids with you it’s a whole new ball game. Children cannot wait to have dinner and certainly not after 6:00! My DH and I are seniors, but when we started cruising we just really enjoyed late suppers. We aren’t showroom or trivia people. We prefer a nice lounge with music and some cocktails. We can’t visit the casino on Princess ships because of the smoke, but on Celebrity we close the casino down every night. Of course, just our preference, too.

Sounds just like my British DH! He also appreciates his brownie points. lol

We’re doing the same on our Canada New England cruise from New York in August. We are literally an hour and a half from Toronto to N.Y. and there are loads of flights all day. We booked through EZAir for an 8:00 am flight. We just didn’t want to spend a night in a NY hotel. If something happens, we’ll catch up to the ship the next day.

We’re usually up at 530 am, too. We have a bunch of dogs to walk on the trails and then feed. Then do it all again at 4:00 pm. Wouldn’t change a thing. I sincerely hope you enjoy your dinners, regardless of what time works for you.

Any earlier and it’s called breakfast! lol.

We prefer to have dinner at 7:30. Not really interested in the show. It’s so interesting to me how everybody has such different ideas on the best times to dine. Cruising has something for all of us!

Oh my goodness, you eat dinner at 5:00 pm? I don’t even know what that would look like! Is this a Florida senior thing? I’ve heard about the early bird specials that folks line up for. I guess it applies to cruiseships, too. Well, to each their own. Does the MDR start serving dinner at 5:00?

And Platinum level, as well.

We don’t really care one way or another about the BA parade. We just ignore it for the most part. Some people enjoy it so why not. We rarely eat in the MDR, maybe once or twice per cruise. We prefer the speciality restaurants. Much quieter and peaceful. The service is certainly a step up from the MDR as is the food. We do enjoy a longer dining time. We love to sit with our wine and savour each course and we still love to talk to each other. We always tell our waitstaff that there’s no rush to get us out at a certain time. We have a fast paced lifestyle at home so when on vacation we love to take our time and enjoy every minute. Contrary to what many people think, old fashioned romance is still alive and well.

I was just thinking the same. I saw it somewhere, too.

It’s still really awful stuff. Cheap Dollar Store equivalent at best. Take what you use at home in smaller quantities.

We tried several TAs in Toronto until we moved away in 2015. Never successful with any of them. They were all eager when we initially booked, but then they ignored us unless we pestered them. The worst was a cruise only company who refused to discount our cruise $90.00 to match the Princess price! They said it was because we had to pay extra for their expertise! Bye bye. i wish you luck finding a good travel agent. I would check with family, friends, neighbours, coworkers to get recommendations. Since we left Toronto we use the services of each cruiseline’s personal consultants. So far, so good.

July in Canada can be very hot and humid, so be prepared. The Maritime provinces can be cool in the evenings. Of course, it can rain, especially if it’s humid. They get more rain than here in Ontario. I would pack for summer and take a raincoat and a sweater, a hoody or light jacket.

Do yourself a favour and take your own shower and hair products. The ones in your cabin are, IMHO, awful. If you have only large containers, get some small refill bottles at the Dollar Store and some labels. I then put them in ziplock bags to pack. I also take a small soap bar of Beekman 1802 unscented for DH.

I hope everything turns out well for you. I have a feeling you won’t hear from them again. I doubt if it was a real scam. I believe it was a sales pitch from a contractor and he thought he’d get your attention by referring to a refund, It worked! I do not like this sales approach from Princess at all.

Call them ASAP

lol Bliss cruises are 100% chartered and all passengers must sign a contract and acknowledgment in regards to behaviour prior to booking. Only same sex couples, no singles allowed. No other guests are booked on these cruises, so no worries about being surprised on your cruise. Staff and crew are given the opportunity to not be onboard during these cruises without penalty or loss of employment. We sailed on Equinox after one of these charters and a crew member explained it all to us. Certainly not for us!

Exactly what we do, too. I don’t fret about how Princess distributes the gratuities, that’s between them, the employer, and crew, the employees. They both sign a mutually agreeable contract, so that’s good enough for me. And, like you, we give a little extra to those who go above and beyond our expectations.

Smart casual is just perfect! Enjoy your cruise!

As @voljeep mentioned earlier “ at Princess’s discretion” for additional alcoholic beverages.