Astro Flyer

Thanks…we don’t participate in many onboard group activities but enjoy a casually elegant cruise experience which no longer describes Princess. Relaxing at sea with good food & service is our top priority which is apparently what O offers. Dining: Our booking confirmation shows the date we can book both specialty restaurants 6+ weeks prior to sailing…is that done by accessing our reservation on the O website? What is the consensus for the best way to attempt booking additional available dates onboard? Is the first night a good time to book a specialty restaurant or are they generally busier? Or is the GDR good enough to dine there on the other nights? In general what times are busiest at the GDR (prefer to minimize lines) and are there many tables for two? Non-alcoholic drinks: Are included sodas in cans or from a bar soda gun? Are there smoothies & blended coffee drinks such as a Frappuccino? Cabins: Are cabin movies relatively recent & free? Are bathroom toiletries good & not in pump bottles? How is the room service menu? Upgrade bidding: Does O have this option? Recently a minimum bid worked great on X but realize it’s based upon availability. I continue to read this board for additional insights about our first O cruise after over 3 decades of sailing Princess as our primary cruise line.

Thanks for all of the great information as we prepare for our first O cruise next year on Regatta…any suggestions specific to this R-class of ship would be appreciated before sailing roundtrip from LA.

We prefer TD but understand why some prefer an anytime system which seemed to work well having both options before implementing the unreliable DMW. However in 18 months the DMW system has failed to provide the promised TD experience. We have booked the same time each day immediately when it’s available & on all 3 of our cruises it’s been greatly changed upon boarding. I feel sorry for onboard crew who are responsible for attempting to make DMW function as promised by management with their unreliable DMW system. The current management has staked their reputation on the Medallion system including DMW which still has too many problems many years after implementation so doubt if real TD will return. We recently returned from our first Celebrity cruise with a relaxing TD & ATD system which worked great…just like it worked previously on Princess before creating the unreliable DMW system. Another plus with Celebrity was having no problems completing their app’s pre-cruise requirements & using it onboard which added to the total experience.

There have been several posts confirming that the cost has increased to those prices.

Appears to be the same offer for military.

This is the adapter I bought on Amazon & used it in a desk socket. I don’t know if it will fit under the bed next to the lamp’s socket or if you’d need to unplug the light. Type E/F Plug Adapter, TESSAN Germany France Power Adapter, Korea Cruise Travel Converter with 2 Electrical Outlet 3 USB Charger, US to Spain Iceland German French Norway Sweden Europe Schuko Adaptor https://a.co/d/ejSprIo

This is from Sky which is likely the same on Discovery but I didn’t check it when sailing on Discovery. Our bed was in the queen configuration & this outlet was on the left side of the bed & you can see the bed’s skirt.

In my opinion X's Tuscan Grille was a slight step up but certainly not worth nearly twice as much as Sabatini's. I felt the same way about all of the Celebrity food...not any better than on Princess but as we know opinions about food are subjective.

Even with those price increases it’s still a bargain in comparison to Celebrity where the Italian restaurant is $55 and steak restaurant is $60…add an automatic 18% tip to both restaurants.

We recently sailed on Celebrity’s Solstice with a 2 level main dining room & found it to be nosier on the lower level that was open to the upper level and it was more difficult to carry on a conversation.

The WMF coffee machines on Royal-class ships make filtered coffee from ground coffee in the buffet & dining rooms which suited my taste buds much more than on older ships where coffee is made from concentrate. ☕️

Just returned from our first Celebrity cruise & their Italian specialty restaurant Tuscan Grille is $55 + 18% tip = $65. Sabatini’s is still a bargain at $35 and is nearly half the price. Their steakhouse Murano is $71 including tip so $39 for Crown Grill is a good price.

We dined there on the first night & thought everything was excellent including our filet mignon entree.

I have not read about it in the Celebrity Today flyer of events nor on the app’s list of activities.

We’ll be in Mazatlan on Discovery Princess in April 2024 for the total eclipse near noon hopefully without fog & like current conditions (11 AM) which is typical haze after the marine layer burns off with clear skies above. Discovery is scheduled to be in port unlike other ships which are at sea. A guy on the roll call is communicating with an upper management contact in an effort to have our ship at sea like HAL.

Same thing on first night at Tuscan Grille at 8:00…few tables occupied. We booked months in advance for the discount paying with OBC. At early dinner the MDR has been at about 50% or less of capacity. But as Jim posted earlier the ship is at about 58% of capacity.

This is our first X cruise & my only time in Vietnam was when flown off the USS Midway 50 years ago into Da Nang to begin my journey home to muster out of the Navy. Performances in the Solstice Theater have been at 1900 & 2100. If anyone is interested in the MDR evening menus I have screenshots of the entrees that I could post.

It should be listed in the Patter but is always a MDR off the Piazza…it was deck 6 on Discovery in April.

And now the onboard versions are even worse. 😟 Since the restart have noticed Norman Love’s name missing from Chocolate Journey. On our Discovery cruises last Spring they were the same great Norman Love desserts. Apparently now that he is no longer associated with Princess their Chocolate Journey’s are quickly going downhill.

Per section 5 of the Passage Contract the current corkage fee is $20. https://www.princess.com/legal/passage_contract/pcl.html

Did you see the Excel document posted earlier with the available cruises? No prices but dates, ships & destinations are listed. In the Princess website for this offer it states “You will be sent your offer via email on December 5, 2022 so that you can book your next cruise”.

Living in San Jose guessing you’re sailing from SF? If from LA this duo are on Crown Princess & are great. I’ve also heard good things about the other Hawaiian Ambassadors sailing from SF. The Princess Aloha Spirit Program has many things to experience. https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/hawaii-cruises/things-to-do/

Many years ago a passenger mentioned a simple way to remember the elevator’s direction of travel even before seeing the arrows…Ding, Dong, down 🛗