Astro Flyer

Based on their press release it’ll be a day earlier: The Total Eclipse Sky Princess Voyage goes on sale May 23, 2024 If like previous openings for cruises to be booked for elite level passengers it’d be a day earlier on 5/22. One thing I like is there are 3 ports I’ve never visited…Cherbourg France, Bilbao Spain & La Coruna Spain.

Also The Catch by Rudi has it’s own kitchen & it was the best specialty dinner I’ve ever experienced. ’jbinbi’…as others have written the Princess specialty restaurants have their own kitchen and the food is not from the MDR galley.

If it’s like our Discovery TSE cruise it quickly sold out even without any real promotion. Now that Princess has discovered how popular the TSE cruises are it’s already being promoted before it’s available to book it. We immediately booked on the one day early elite level booking day. Now that Princess is aware of a TSE’s popularity prices are much more expensive. The beginning $2,199 price per day for an interior is 50% higher than what we paid for a balcony…sticker shock. With our cruise sailing roundtrip LA airfares for most were less than flying to London for the next TSE cruise…even cheaper for those of us who drove to the port. And the weather was much milder than the Iberian Peninsula in August. Even with these differences with the good press from the recent TSE & more promotion it will likely sell out fast due to there being more demand than the limited capacity resulting in these higher prices for what was a once in a lifetime experience for many of us.

It appears that this advisory is affecting more than “small craft”. ☺️

I’ve read posts from other ships that are having the same MTG notification issues…I miss the Captain’s Circle staff who were so much more reliable than the ONE staff.

In post #11 I listed some of the ports included in their press release.

On Discovery’s 10 day r/t LA cruise: Cabo overnight, Mazatlan, Manzanillo & Puerto Vallarta. We had guest speakers including a Q&A with Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak. Another difference from the European TSE is the length of totality…we had 4:26 but the next one is nearly half of that time at 2:18. It was an AMAZING experience & the sun’s corona was very bright, it looked like dusk & the temperature dropped a lot. Crowding wasn’t an issue because all of us on the starboard side could view it from our balconies with the TSE being 70° above the horizon…AMAZING! The small dot to the upper right of the corona in the second photo was a planet visible during totality but I forgot which planet.

This incredible, 14-day Mediterranean cruise sailing takes place August 8-22, 2026, roundtrip from Southampton (London), and visits seven historical and vibrant ports, including: Cherbourg, France - one of France's greatest ports with art and history museums, its basilica, the Ravalet castle and the Cité de la Mer maritime museum. Bilbao, Spain – located in northern Spain, Bilbao is surrounded by green mountains and is the de facto capital of Basque Country, with a skyscraper-filled downtown. It's famed for the Frank Gehry–designed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Malaga, Spain - famous as Picasso's birthplace and the gateway to Spain's Costa del Sol, Malaga mixes warm vacation vibes with Andalusia's indomitable spirit. Cartagena, Spain - founded by the Carthaginians around 220 B.C., the city boomed during the Roman period. Among its many Roman ruins are a 1st-century B.C. theater and Casa de la Fortuna, a villa with murals and mosaics. Gibraltar – this British Overseas Territory and headland is located on Spain's south coast. It's dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, a 1,398-foot limestone ridge. Lisbon, Portugal – the capital and largest city of Portugal, Lisbon is mainland Europe's westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. La Coruña, Spain – in the Galicia region of northwest Spain, it's known for its Roman lighthouse, the Tower of Hercules, which has sweeping coastal views. https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/princess-cruises-sails-prime-viewing-spot-2026-total-solar

Our experience on B2B cruises is we bring the allotted 2 bottles per person at embarkation. I have brought proof of our B2B cruises however have never been questioned about it & when they read Medallions they know we’re on a B2B. Even if bringing more wine we’re prepared to pay corkage on additional bottles however have never been charged. Nearly all of our wine is consumed in dining rooms where it’s also subject to the corkage fee. Whether that’s charged has varied based on our waitstaff’s decision to charge or not…ether way it’s good for us.

On the 2 year old Discovery last month the mini fridge kept our beers, sodas & bottled water cold…it even kept our UBD chocolate dessert cold until we had enough room in our stomachs to eat it the next day. ☺️

Ohana & us go to Paia Fish Market here in Kihei a short drive from our house but maybe the Paia location might be nicer. Kimo’s will be greatly missed & we’ll go to their other restaurants…Hula Grill & Leilani’s…in Ka’anapali. 😋

You'll be too far offshore for me to see Majestic from South Maui. 😎

Thanks…even from the Pacific you quickly share information. ☺️ On Discovery’s total solar eclipse they occasionally had the planetarium set up in the Princess Theater. I heard it only held 12 at a time but not how long the presentation lasted. We decided to skip it to avoid any lines but hopefully it was a good experience for those who went there. 🙂

Sabatini’s Restaurant Manager (Headwaiter) said on 4/12 that the exchange was expected to be completed in 10 days. However disembarking the next day I don’t know if the swap has been completed yet.

A few weeks ago had a good stay at Crowne Plaza with a cruise package that included an overnight stay, buffet breakfast, shuttle to/from the port and parking our car during our 10 day cruise. That was only $100 more than parking our car at the port so it was a good option for us. We took the first shuttle to the ship & instead of taking the shuttle back to the hotel I walked 15 minutes to get our car & returned to the port to pickup my wife and our luggage. There are a couple of restaurants within a short walk from the hotel.

We’ve enjoyed that balcony…just not quite as much as E433/432. 😊

This has been a recurring issue for at least a year on their website…if only 2 are booking a Royal-class Deluxe balcony with a loveseat sized couch in a room that can accommodate 3 then it’s been guarantees only. Some through their TAs have managed to get a cabin assignment for this type of cabin with only 2 passengers booking it.

Looking at deck plans it has the standard 9’x4’ balcony. https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/ov.php?ship=Regal-Princess&cabins=E101-E230

Is lunch the same $39?

Maybe we should 🤫 about it ☺️

E433 - BW - No couch but a good balcony. The chairs recline & have a taller backrest unlike the photos I’ve seen on Sun Princess.

The highest number of elites on a cruise I’ve sailed on was 1500 on the Sky’s inaugural TA in 2019…that’s about 40% of the passengers.

Maybe by not having tips included outside of Australia that is a marketing tool they use as incentive to book their Plus & Premier packages which includes tips, WiFi & other things. For our style of cruising with our elite benefits, packages are not close to being cost effective for us. However as they eliminate more of those elite benefits they’re attempting to push more elite passengers such as us to buy their packages.

Another factor that affects booking MDR fleetwide is the announced transition to reimplementing Traditional dining which won’t be available to make MDR reservations until June 17. All existing MDR reservations (not including SD reservations) from 9/14/25 & beyond will eventually be canceled. Starting with voyages departing September 14, 2024, Princess will designate separate dining rooms aboard every ship in the fleet* to three table service options: Traditional dining offering an early and a late seating every evening Reservable dining times Open seating to support walk-ins anytime