Plato123

We got these clips on a recent cruise and did not find them very useful. They sell on the ship for $14 whereas the wrist strap type were only $12, and we probably should have asked if we could exchange the clips for straps. I also noted that the medallion slipped out of the clips a little too easily.

We walked from the Riu Plaza Fishermans Wharf to Pier 27 and were on the ship in less than 45 minutes from leaving the hotel. We did leave early and originally planned to take an Uber but the surge pricing was too much, and even with my bad back the walk was not bad. Here is a picture of the line up that was taken from our balcony..

Are those rocking chairs still there?

We had the Premier package and did d/l to our tablet. We were supposed to get 3 different sized prints each, but ended up getting an extra 3 prints because the app kept saying we still had three left. I note that the resolution of the images that we downloaded seems to be reduced from the print resolution. Anyone else notice this?

We tried the Crown Grill twice on our recent Royal Princess cruise and were disappointed both times. We did enjoy Sabatinis, especially the Osso Buco on the very new menu. We also found their pasta to be excellent. In our view much better value and ambiance than the Crown Grill. We do wish they had more Italian wines by the glass and within the Premier package..

No charge and generous pours. Open 5 to 7 and wines included Decoy Chardonnay and Siverado Sauvignon Blanc. YWMV (Your wines may vary)

Our observations continued: The Premier package wine selection was not bad, with Bel Glos Pinot Noir, Duckhorn Paradux, Stags Leap Chardonnay, Grgich Hill Merlot, Seghesio Zinfandel and a few others. However, there was no sommelier on board to assist in wine pairing if wanted. Often other better wines were available in the Concierge lounge, but avoid the Canyon Road. The medallion. We picked ours up as the pier and it came with a lanyard which may be useful but I find it too institutional, so I did not use it. We also were provided a medallion accessory which was a clip to hold the medallion. We inserted the medallion in the clip then just kept it in our pocket. There was a silicon wrist strap holder for the medallion which was less expensive than the clip to purchase ($12 vs $14) which would have suited us better. I should note that a separate credit card type card was used to access the Concierge lounge, not the medallion. When we used the medallion to open our cabin door, sometimes nothing happened for a few seconds then the door light turned red then finally green, My wife was pleased to use the medallion and the app to order some chips (not french fries) and a Choco Banana drink while reading in a bar. Delivery was quite fast and the drink tasted like a liquid banana split.. We were concerned about ordering drinks in bars as some servers either could not get their readers to read our medallion or did not bother and/or just wrote down our cabin number. First, doing that meant all the orders went to me, the primamry account holder, and were not distributed according to our usage. Second, we had to constsntly monitor our account for orders we did not make which were a few. Also , anyone could just give out our cabin number and we would have been charged which would be fraud. Wifi and the Medallion Net. Wifi was fair to poor in our cabin and most places we went on the ship. Maybe it was because the ship was full. The Medallion App was very buggy and regularly crashed requiring a restart to our tablets. Ordering room service coffee and tea in the morning worked well most times. Personally, I could live without the medallion and the app and get by with a telephone for room service and a regular key card for entering our cabin. And no, we did not win any Princess prizes which I think is a dumb idea anyways. It is like prepaying to gamble. Medical services. This is the first cruise where we had to take advantage of the medical services on board. My wife has a bad sprain after twisting her foot and we were concerned something was broken. We got prompt attention and a bill for it. As we live in Canada, I do not know if the charges were fair and reasonable and will let our insurance take care of that. We did have to cancel two excursions and guest services advised if the medical office stamped our excursion tickets we would be refunded for them. No problem. Will add more observatons if I can think of anything to add.

We recently cruised on the Royal Princess. It was our first on Princess and our 24th overall. We had a full suite and the Premier package as something similar is what we are used to on other cruises. We thought the ship was beautiful and in excellent condition. Our aft corner suite was roomy and well laid out and our balcony was spacious if not a little narrow in places, but for aft corner suites that seems to vary. The provison of 4 mini bottles each of gin and vodka was weird and we gave them away as we were told that if we wanted a bottle of wine instead the whole contents of the fridge which included beer and soft drinks as well as the minis had to be swapped out as a set up. In anticipation of this problem we brought with us two bottles of Spanish Cava which we picked up at Trader Joes and kept in the mini fridge. The bed was softer than we are used to but still very comfortable. Closet space and other storage was very good. Club Class dining in the Concerto MDR was hit and miss and not up to the standard we are used to for suite dining. Specialty dining in Sabatini's was excellent and we had the opportunity to try both the old and new menus as well as the "Tuscan" wine pairing dinner which we enjoyed very much. The ambiance and service was also excellent in Sabatinis. Breakfast in Sabatinis was also excellent with a flute or two of happy juice (mimosa) to start and everything cooked to order. One morning I had eggs florentine with a side of proscuitto and some chunks od Grana Padano cheese. The Crown Grill was another story. We tried it twice and were disappointed both times. The quality of of our steaks was not great and the seasonings did not enhance the flavor of them either. Service was rushed and the ambiance was chaotic and noisey being so close to the open area of the ship. Not sure what good the special salts were but I was glad that bernaise sauce was available on request. The potato with bone marrow was greatly anticipated as a side but was a huge fail. The adjacent Wheelhouse bar was a nice place for an after dinner drink, especially an XO Remy Martin cognac, which is included in the Premier package and the woman who ran the bar was friendly,knowledgeable and helpful. The buffet was laid our in aisles not islands as we are used to and we found the food available to be interesting but of average quality with the exception of some tasty and perfectly cooked and sliced flank steak that beat anything in the Crown Grill. Scrambled eggs in the buffet were actually cold. Dessert selection was not as great and the quality not as good as we are used to. Alfredos for pizza etc. was also a hit. The odd thing was that for Alfredos and Sabatini. as well as the Bellini bar, there was only one kind of Chianti available by the glass in the premier package. Neverrheless the Chianti was a good Frescobaldi Nippozano. The Concierge Lounge and the Concierge Carmen and her staff were a huge hit and the lounge was a relaxing place to socialize and have a top quality scotch or glass of wine amongst other things. Also the assistance provided by Carmen was exceptional and greatly appreciated. The lounge reminded us of Michaels's Club on Celebrity minus the bar. The special margarita night was also a big hit there as were the nibblies which were available all the time. Embarcation was also very smooth. From the time we walked from our Fishermans Wharf hotel with our bags to the time we boarded the ship was about 45 minutes. Disembarcation, walking off, was also pretty smooth. That is it for now. .

We were on this cruise too and our experiences at the Crown Grill were not great. We tried it twice and I had the beef chop once and a Kansas City strip the second. Neither were up to the hype. My wife had a filet that they could not cook properly and eventually ruined it and the second time she had a boring rib eye. Our server was not as accomodating as yours. Sabatinis made up for the Crown Grill both in taste and service. Carmen, Imade and Gloria in the Lounge were the highlights of servive on this cruise for us. Sorry to hear about your COVID. We feel OK back at home but will test to be sure.

It is after 5 PM so, yes, I drink wine and am having a glass of a very nice little Greek wine (Avarino) at the moment, but in our suite I would rather have a bottle of wine instead of a unknown mix of mini bottles of spirits. I can order my scotch or G&T as part of my package anyways and anytime so why do they bother? Thanks for the coffee confirmation.

I am a bit confused by the Coffee Package. Is it not included in the Premier Package? Also what other things can you swap out the mini bar booze setup for?

Thanks for everything you posted so far. We will be on the March 2 sailing and are quite happy to see what wines will be available in our premier package. This willl be our first Princess cruise. One thing I am uncertain about is where we drop off our luggage when we arrive at the cruise terminal. We have an early boarding and hope to get settled and have a nice embarkation lunch in the MDR. Do you know which MDR is open for lunch on embarkation day? Looking forward to more of your posts.

We will be on our first Princess cruise next week and have booked a full suite and the Premier package. We are in the Green Lane on the app but are unable to book any specialty dining reservations, especially for the first night which we understand will be complimentary. I called Princess to see if I could book through them and was told that availablity in the Crown Grill was already very limited and, regardless, we could not make a reservation as this was our first Princess cruise. I was told I would have to wait until we were on the ship to make a reservation. This seems very strange as I have booked excursions with no problem but can not book a dining reservation. Is this just the way it is, or am I missing something?

Last month out of Santiago.

Friends of ours went on their first cruise at our suggestion and encouragement just recently. They had a mini suite on the Dolphin deck. It was a cruise from Chile by Antarctica and ended in Buenos Aires. Besides an embarkation from hell due to delays docking and loading their cabin heat and cooling did not work properly so they were either freezing and used a hair dryer as a space heater or they were baking as they cooling system did not work properly. In addition the rough seas leaked water into their cabin and soaked the carpet and they were told that was a common problem on the Dolphin deck. They had bad rashes and colds from what they expect may have been mold caused by the moisture in the carpet. They were eventually offered another cabin but the cruise was soon to end so they did not bother. In spite off these issues and, apparently, some compensation from the cruise line, they still think they might cruise again but not necissarily with Princess. We have had issues like they on some past "budget" cruises on older ships but would have expected better from Princess. Anyone have a similar experience?

I hope this is still in subject. Our cruise will be in a couple of weeks, and we have the Premier Package and a full suite. We have a green lane on the app and it says to bring our Medallion and other stuff with us when we board. We noted that one of the inclusions in our package is shipping of the Medallion to us but I understood we would instead have to pick up our Medallion at the port, as we live in Canada. Not sure what we should do at the port if we do not have our Medallions. Second, the package includes a free Medallion accessory. Anyone knows what this is and where we would get it? Thanks.

It appears the Sapphire Princess is moored in San Antoni Chile instead of on its way south? Anyone know why? Interested as we encouraged friends to go on this, their first cruise and departure yesterday was delayed as the ship could not dock due to sea swells. Not off to a good start.

We had a similar problem a few years ago on Pullmantur (RIP). We arrived in Europe from Canada at CDG Paris then connected to Barcelona. French customs did not stamp our passport and when we tried to board our cruise in Barcelona the purser was not going to let us board. As we were in a suite we had access to a suite concierge and she had enough clout to tell the purser to get lost, and we boarded.

Adding my two cents, we always stay at Le Soleil which is a 10 minute walk from the cruise terminal.or Skytrain station. Bit of a boutique hotel but comfortable and willing to upgrade if space available. We were upgraded to a spectaculat penthouse suite a few years ago and had a roof top terrace with view all over Vancouver. If your departure is on a Sunday you will find few places for a reasonably priced pre cruise breakfast but a very short walk from the hotel is a place called Joyeaux Cafe (http://www.joyeaux-cafe-restaurant.com/) and they serve a reasonably priced western breakfast plus a full Vietnamese menu. Had Bahn Mi with grilled pork for breakfast with loads of fresh fruit and excellent coffee.

This will be our 24th cruise, mainly in suites on Celebrity, but our first in a PH suite on the Royal Princess, on a 9 day cruise in March. We also have the Premier package. We have a few questions that we would appreciate some advice on. First, we expect to board as early as possible. Will our suite be ready when we board? Also where would be the best place for lunch after boarding? Second, we understand that dinner in a specialty restaurant is included on the first night. Is this one of the two included dinners in specialty restaurants that are part of our package or is this in addition? Third, we understand that a few mini bottles of liquor are provided in our suite on a one time basis. Do we get a choice as to what we like? Fourth, the mini fridge is apparently stocked with extra cost items we probably will not need. Can we ask that it be emptied so we can just use it to store small bottles of water? Fifth, what brand of bath amenities are provided and are separate shampoo and conditioners included? Last (for now) do they sell duty free Scotch on the ship and if so what brands are offered, and are the prices good? Thank you.

The Celebrity Reflection is our favorite ship so far and our last cruise on it in a RS was wonderful. Our next cruise will be in an aft corner PS on the Royal and we are looking forward to it. We had a Sky Suite on the Celebrity Edge and while the ship is amazing our suite did not meet our expectations, and have avoided Edge class ever since. Hope our first Princess experience is good..

We have usually found a pair of binoculars in Suites on Celebrity cruises. Does Princess have these available too?

We stay at Le Soleil, and it is walkable from the Sky Train Waterfront Station (slightly uphill) and to the Cruise Terminal at Canada Place (slighyly downhill). If your departure is on a Sunday morning we recommend breakfast at the Joyeaux Cafe.at 551 Howe. I posted details on the Vancouver forum and Eclipse. nforum if interested.Reasonable and interesting and feww other decent places are open Sunday mornings at 7:30.

Probably Michaels's Club as we just missed him there last week as he was on holiday in Jamaica. He does the pool bar too.

We are just off our Caribbean cruise on the Reflection on Sunday, our first back on Reflection since the last Mardi Gras. Our RS was in near perfect shape and service was outstanding. Many public areas have been refreshed with new furniture or reupholstered furniture. Our last cruise was on the Eclipse in August and the ship was showing a lot of wear and tear in comparison. Even musty in spots. Food was very good on the Reflection but with only minor changes in the menus and fewer obvious supply chain issues in terms of wines. Not listed on the Luminae wine list were a Cakebread Pinot Noir that was outstanding and a Vilarnu Cava which seems to be available only if requested and was also available pre pandemic. We always find Cava a pleaesant change from the Cattier Champagne that is now everywhere (snob appeal?), to the extent that you rarely see Chandon available. Our butler Dominic was always cheerful and could not do enough for us. Our next cruise will be on Princess as we wanted a change from Celebrity based on our Eclipse experience, but our understanding from one of the ship's officers that the Reflection would not be revolutionized for another 4 or 5 years means we will be booking onto the Reflection for mid next year. And one last point is that we just tested again for Covid today and we are still negative.