Dunk

The Diamond had a full, out of the water dry dock in Marseille 6 months ago. The hull looks pristine. A crew member posted several videos on YouTube you can easily find if you search “Diamond Princess Drydock 2022”. The also did deck, pool and balcony work. Inside the only thing he filmed was adding the dreaded automatic light sensors in the cabins that light things up when you get up in the middle of the night. 

5 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We have had dinner in that space before, we had a group of 12 for a birthday party.  It is just a "private" dining area for Sabatini's.

They may have used it for that in the interim, but I recall seeing a rendering of something that looked like what the event industry would call a “black box”, a space that can be dressed up to whatever you want it to be, using video and audio to create unique experiences. They did something similar in the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan, and Celebrity is as well in their new version of Qsine.  

On early deck plans, there is a space labelled that just forward of Sabatini’s. It’s noted as “360 Restaurant”. 

On 7/28/2022 at 9:46 AM, Lady Arwen said:

Exactly!  There is no comparison at all.  CC is merely a step up from the MDR and it’s a small step.  The food in Blu or Luminae is far superior.  You don’t need a reservation, either.  Separate restaurants from the MDR with very upscale service and ambiance.  Celebrity takes the win.

It should be noted though, that Celebrity full suites typically come at a substantially higher cost than those on Princess. 

I have a similar situation. This week, I booked one of the new summer ‘23 sailings from Los Angeles on the Emerald. Cruise is in my app, I’m green lane, all good. Went to book my dining, and Day 1: Los Angeles. Day 2: Paris (Le Havre). I’m also evidently visiting London, Guernsey, Dublin, and Cabo San Lucas in my 7-day voyage. All I can say is the Emerald is one heckuva fast cruise ship to be able to accomplish that! 

9 hours ago, DiRonT said:

Not seeing anything yet - also did not receive the usual notice to Elites the day before bookings open up.  Anyone know if this is still going to happen?

Booked mine this afternoon. 

On 7/2/2022 at 5:26 AM, deliver42 said:

Princess has nothing even close to the Yacht Club.  Private restaurant, pool, lounge and nice to beautiful suites. That being said, if not in the YC, stay with Princess. No comparison

100 percent agree. I've been in the YC two times, and it's great, but outside of the Yach Club, it's the Italian version of Carnival cruise Line. 

I didn't receive one after either of my post-shutdown cruises. I hate it because it's the best way to recognize great service. 

Has anyone been able to upgrade the drinks portion only of Princess Plus since the Premier package was added? I don’t need the other perks, but I like my top shelf booze. 🙂 If you did, how did you do it and what was the cost?

I think you’d be hard pressed to find a traditional Midnight Buffet on any cruise line these days-and that was the case before COVID as well. 

I have had two great post-Covid cruises with Princess. Is it the same as when I first cruised with them in 1990? No, but what is? I've also had two Carnival and one MSC cruises since the restart. They were fine too. None of these five cruises were perfect, but out of all of them, I had the best experiences on Princess. Do they have problems? Yes, but they all do. Go to every cruise line board here on CC and you'll see the same moaning and complaining. 

So, yes. Princess has always been my first choice, and probably always will be. To quote one of their old slogans, it's "where I belong". 

On 6/22/2022 at 12:08 PM, Alaskanb said:

It's up to you. Just let "Stewart" know of your preferences. 

It's amazing to me how many Cabin Stewards are named "Stewart". As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a koinky-dink!"

I sailed on Costa years ago (in the 90's) out of Miami on the defunct Costa Allegra. The ship was really pretty, but it was a different time (fixed seating only) and no one else at my table spoke English. That was painful! That time, and the times I've sailed MSC, I've enjoyed the European atmosphere but hated all announcements being in a multitude of languages. (On a recent MSC cruise, one droned on for ~20 minutes!) I assume with this new experience, that won't be a thing. 

On 6/16/2022 at 1:40 AM, Cruise Wonderland said:

CROWN

Original: 7-night Alaska voyages, roundtrip Seattle

New: 10-night and 11-night Alaska voyages, roundtrip Vancouver

 

ROYAL

New: 7-night Alaska voyages, roundtrip Seattle, replacing CROWN

 

EMERALD
Original: British Isles voyages, roundtrip Southampton

New (1): Mexican Riviera & California & Hawaii voyages, roundtrip Los Angeles

New (2): Canada & New England voyages, roundtrip New York, replacing REGAL

 

REGAL

Original: Baltic voyages, roundtrip Copenhagen

New: British Isles voyages, roundtrip Southampton, replacing EMERALD

 

SKY / ISLAND / DIAMOND

The Baltic and Japan itineraries will remove Russian ports.

 

 

 

I wonder why the LA cruises aren't for sale yet-and in fact, they're still selling the Southampton sailings...

19 hours ago, jimbo1683 said:

Is Enclave the same as Lotus Spa?

Contrary to what some folks have said, it's not the same thing. The Enclave is in the Lotus Spa, but they are not interchangeable terms. I think some people may confuse The Enclave with the thermal suites, which are on Grand Class ships. 

I had a friend who worked for another cruise line tell me, "There are three kinds of cruise lines: beer & pretzels, wine & cheese, and champagne & caviar". Princess has always been, and remains a "wine & cheese" cruise line. About as middle of the road as you can get. 

I like to fly Alaska First Class because they include lounge access, where American, Delta, United do not (unless you fly Flagship routes), and those are significantly more expensive than Alaska. Their new lounge in Seattle is wonderful. 

38 minutes ago, Wavesprite said:

Definitely, we cruise tomorrow.  My husband and I packed separately  this trip…just in case.

That's a great idea. Seems very wise!

4 minutes ago, Wavesprite said:

But what if that person just hunkers down in their cabin?  I suppose the issue would be the room steward….

Room Steward, yes. But Room Service as well, unless they don't plan on eating or drinking. And of course, unlike a Room Steward, Room Service crew vary, so it wouldn't be just one person. While it sounds like hunkering down is the same as isolation, it isn't-There are a lot of protocols to follow when someone has Covid as opposed to something like a common cold. Yeah, it sucks, and no one wants their vacation ruined, but following procedure is the right thing to do. 

1 hour ago, antsp said:

Why would anyone tell Princess they felt unwell or had covid

Because they're responsible citizens. To get sick in this day and age, not report it and spread COVID is reprehensible. 

I've always hated the soft serve on Princess. I think it's typically ice milk, very low fat content. However, just off the Discovery, and it was great--kind of Dairy Queen level. It was the first time I ever enjoyed it. 

Just off the Discovery Princess a few weeks ago-we were given a 10-pack of surgical masks. 

I haven't gotten a survey for the last two cruises I've taken. 

3 hours ago, mjmalino said:

The only thing that I am going to say is that the once daily cabin servicing is post-covid as they were trying to limit how often the cabin stewards were entering the room. I am hoping that it will go back to twice a day in the near future. That being said, when we were on the Sky over NYE our steward did service the cabin twice a day, which really shocked me.

They still do twice daily servicing. All you have to do is request it in the app, either for a single night or the entire voyage. Or, of course, just ask your steward.