CruiseCrabs

https://www.princess.com/news/backgrounders_and_fact_sheets/factsheet/Royal-Princess-Fact-Sheet.html

Room stewards are usually an amazing team of people who make a million things happen for you while keeping you healthy and tidy during your journey. The good ones are deserving of extra tips and a cruise crab or two during the journey. I’ve only had one bad one who was on the last voyage of their contract and likely would not be returning. The rest have been amazing. Post pandemic, Room stewards have more rooms than ever to take care of and, based on what I have seen, have a LOT to manage for some folks.

Unless you are participating in some mass special event, renewals and weddings are private. This is part of the reason you pay a fee. A portion of the coordination is done in advance, the rest is finalized with a member of staff onboard. Again, both experiences I have had were special, private, and wonderful experiences.

My parents did a renewal many years ago, it was a beautiful “candlelit” ceremony with lovely flowers and additional perks. To be honest, $250 if pretty inexpensive as far as renewals go and Princess can make it a very special moment for the couple and their family/guests. The flowers were beautiful and the photographers also did an amazing job for them. My husband and I were married on a Princess ship. That was far more complicated and some things went well, other things I built contingencies for wisely. Flowers were a bit off but I had a bouquet custom sculpted so I could take it on and off the ship, We had not planned to get photos or video but, again, the on-board photographers really did a great job and we negotiated the price for the final photos.

The OG Nespresso “Classico” machines can take a variety of branded pods. They (and off brands) are ubiquitous in many Italian properties and make great coffee. I prefer Illy but Lavazza isn’t bad.

That ship class has both. I will say that class also has hairdryers in the drawer that are decent if you are looking to save some packing room/weight.

Your post prompted me to look and the same thing happened to us. We opted out of club class this time but it sounds like we will miss club class after al! We never had that problem there.

We like the medallion for drink and food orders and have named it onboard Door Dash. Navigation prompts to get you around the ship and the find your family functions are wonderful, too. However, the app needs a diet. There’s a lot of fluff that is on there at the expense of refining things like the clunkiest activity schedule ever.

There’s a vast difference between steam table slop versus proteins prepped for finishing for a massive dining room. I’ve been on the ship tour, the chef’s table “tour,” have worked in the restaurant industry, and have coordinated my share of massive catered events to know what is and is not possible. If a kitchen is trying to make a huge menu with random options every night, it’s a recipe for a train wreck. The MDR menus we saw in 2022 across three different ships were huge and lacked cohesion. Many “imaginative” dishes fell flat, sometimes because the interpretation of international cuisine was off, sometimes because the plate didn’t live up to the promise of the menu description. Quality control and plating was off—even in speciality dining and chefs table/winemakers dinner (save for Crown Grill on the Royal)—which could be a training issue post re-start but a massive menu just compounds issues. We’ll see how the menu rolls this spring. Fewer options are welcome in our books.

You can ask when you are onboard but the new chef for the line is into technique so deviation from what makes Wellington a Wellington shouldn’t happen.

It is about time that Princess reduced the number of menu offerings per night to potentially ensure that dishes came out correct and consistent! Some of the menus over the past year were less than cohesive with mocktails masquerading as cold soups, random offerings that don’t flow course-to-course, and a deep menu with offerings that can easily be ordered off-menu (shrimp cocktails are thrown together, for example) or belong elsewhere (alfredos seemed like a perfect match for… wait for it… Alfredos). I’d rather have a tight list of well-crafted, fresh plates than a deep list of food that is largely sitting warm somewhere and a deep list is a recipe for food waste, which is never a good thing in any restaurant, let alone a cruise ship. Im not mad at the new menu and, if they can finally work out rendering the ft off the duck breast correctly, I will be happier than seeing a bunch of 1990’s Princess Favorites that are on par with a boring chain restaurant, not an experience.

While we are not keen on amusement-park elements on a ship, the build isn’t bad and resolves some of the issues we have seen with suite/club class minis and poor sight lines in the piazza. We cruise to escape the “real world” and, yes, the passenger max seems like a lot, but if everyone is disbursed across the ship, this may be a good design.

We’re going in May. The DH flies his James Bond freak flag and my level of dress depends on what I am fitting into at the time but it’s always on point. I will say that my heroes are those who just vary up the t-shirt to something more festive but still a t-shirt on formal night. Do you. Don’t apologize. That’s fashion.

I second that. I will say that your comfort is up to you but definitely consider protecting your feet from sharp rocks and freshwater crustaceans. Neither make for a fun experience.

Princess now puts all of your pre-paid reservations (excursions and spa) as a credit on your folio and then your reservations are then “charged” to your folio. This is very different than what was done in the past and, frankly, it’s confusing. It’s not a double charge. You may want to check your folio to see if the bulk credit is there. If it was, the credit card company will not reverse the charges. One tip: visit the spa on embarkation and ask about specials. Reservations are always an available and you may be able to get a great deal and/or add-on to the service. That said, if you must have a service for a particular day or time, definitely book ahead.

You get a referral credit if a friend books a cruise you have already booked. You leverage the “cruise with me” option to send the cruise to your friends.

We have been in this cabin. Dependent on weather, the balcony may be usable throughout the cruise but expect it to be very windy while the ship is in motion. The balcony has little cover so it can get toasty on warmer routes and doesn’t have much shelter if it rains. Portions of the balcony are private but the portion over the wing of the bridge is very open. On the plus side, you can capture great photos from up there. It’s a photographer’s dream cabin. The balcony cabin next door also has a great view of 60% of your balcony so make friends. We had quite a bit of motion and had to pull some loose hangers from the closet to stop the noise. That said, it wasn’t so extreme that we couldn’t counter any concerns with some meclizine. Stewards tuck away the furniture at night so it won’t be a nuisance to you and the bridge. Overall, it’s a nice room that, while a little tight on floor space, feels more like a suite than a regular Princess mini suite.

Yes, it was this past April.

We attended the winemaker’s dinner on the enchanted and thought the menu was better than the chef’s table dinner. You can try to book right when you get onboard or, if in a full suite, the suite concierge will take care of arrangements for you.

We had 12 at one table for our post-wedding dinner. Our TA had to make it happen but it is possible.

If you are in a suite, your suite concierge will make the arrangements for you. Otherwise, you need to ask to get on the list for consideration. If your ship has the Lumiere table and a negligible amount of COVID on board, they may host multiple nights.

Suites have Princess branded umbrellas in the closest—all others generally fend for themselves—but we never take them because nothing says, “I’m a tourist, please pickpocket me,” like the overtly branded umbrellas and totes. The branded umbrellas are huge so, even if you do not care about the risk, it may be more convenient to pack something you can tuck into a bag or backpack until it is needed.

If you want to spurge, a massage and facial combo is lovely. A 100 minute Swedish massage is decadently fantastic unless she has a lot of knots from stress and can handle some discomfort, then it is time for a deep tissue massage. We do those upon embarkation to banish work stress. The hot stones are ok but they can always add that to any massage at the time of service. The higher end facials are technically interchangeable (book any of them) so the tech can provide what she needs based on her skin’s condition. It’s best to do the facial after the massage.

You should be able to book now but the message seems to indicate that your guest’s folio is not fully set up or yours may not be. If you cannot upload vaccinations, passports, etc. without getting the error message, call Princess as something may be wrong with your booking or it may need some other attention. Once you are all set, you should be able to open the dining portion of the app and make reservations for both regular and specialty dining. The Enchanted is beautiful; enjoy your holiday!