AlibearNS

As per everyone else commenting, you walk down the ramp, then along to the underground drop off, then up the escalators or use elevator to get to check in/immigration. A taxi will take you to the luggage drop off area. If you stay at the Pan or across the road at the Fairmont Waterfront, they will deliver your luggage for a small gratuity.

Unless things have changed, the Ocean Now ordering side of the app doesn't work in the MDR's. You order drinks with your waiter from the package. They'll have a drinks menu.

We ordered from the app everywhere else, but sometimes simpler to go to the bar or catch a waiter passing by. Like Partybarbie, we'll also pick up a wine to take through from Vines as they have a better menu, but they don't like you taking the fancier glasses as many people don't bring them back. They'll pour your drink in a plain glass to take away unless you can convince them you'll return the nicer glasses.

2 hours ago, coo359a2 said:

We are on the same cruise with you to Hawaii and I would love to go with you to Guest Services for some free tokens.  When I go to ask, the answer has always been the same - no free tokens..  On our last cruise had enough OBC that I did go there to buy 30 tokens.  The GS officer thought that was a weird request and only charged me for 20 tokens.   

We got free tokens on the Sapphire, Royal and Majestic so feeling hopeful but will bring some pods and dryer sheets in the washbag just in case.

Yes, unusable for me today - Canadian too. It's so frustrating!

Update:

Alfredo’s is actually quite busy today at lunchtime, but as the waiter confirmed - ONLY busy at lunchtime. I believe it’s mostly Plus passengers who want to fit in what they’re entitled to without losing their evening MDR meal.

Regarding sharing @Steelers36 here on the Majestic the answer is YES. I spoke with an assistant manager who confirmed that if we’d wished we could use just one fixed at a time enabling the two of us to come 4x. He said to let the hostess know what we intend doing on arrival when she scans us in. He confirmed there is a couple from Canada onboard doing just this. They share the starter, a pizza, and the dessert turning the two fixed meals into 4.

If you don’t want to use your fixed meal, again, just let the hostess know on arrival.

Of course, this might just be the Majestic as we know things can vary ship to ship…

58 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I check in on this thread periodically to see if anyone has posted about the sharing situation with any real-life experiences, but not much lately.  Just reports about largely being empty.  I guess not enough people are going there to hear about anything new/different.

I can ask for you but I’ve a feeling it will be a no to sharing. They checked medallions as we entered telling us we were Plus therefore had a fixed meal each.
Most of the pizzas are 8.50 but there are 4 specials at 12. I asked if I could have one of the specials for my Plus fixed menu and was told no. I argued my case that this choice was a vegetarian pizza and as a vegetarian I have fewer options. He started wavering, then I said I didn’t intend having a starter so surely I could have the higher cost special. I could tell he didn’t want to stray from what was allowed but I got my pizza in the end. We didn’t want desserts but that was a fixed meal each done.

We are sitting in Alfredos on the Majestic right now. We’re on Plus, it’s 7.30pm on a sea day and we’re the only people here! 

50 minutes ago, Jareds_mommytoo said:

I found out about the cake the last two days of our trip

It's like they don't want you to know about them, right? And two a day, ew. 

6 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Didn't know that, about the cake at IC counting a speciality dessert. It that official? That is good because those speciality desserts look rubbish but the IC cake looks pretty good 🙂 

Official on the Sapphire in May, yes. Finding the desserts was a challenge, eating them more so.

Honestly, they're ridiculous, and surely no one could eat two a day. We had one each during a 10 day cruise just because we could - and that was enough.

I chose the ice-cream from Swirls, my husband went to the IC for the cake. It was better than my choice but he couldn't finish it.

Elite get free laundry and have been successful in getting free tokens at Guest Services.
Before becoming Elite we brought along washing pods, and bounce dryer sheets in a sandwich bag. We still had to pay the $3 for using the washer and another $3 for the dryer. It's charged to your medallion in the laundry room.  I have some pictures of the Sapphire laundry I posted previously. Post 143 of a very long thread.

Hope this helps

6 minutes ago, Dudleydog73 said:

The International Cafe serves food that is complimentary and the coffee shop attached would also be complimentary if you have the plus package.  Any coffee you get there takes one of your 15 drinks for the day from my experience.

Coffee at the IC doesn't count as one of the 15

We had the PLUS package on last three cruises and drink a lot of coffee/teas/chocolate. 

Most food at the cafe is complimentary but you pay for a slice of those huge cakes. Unless you have the package, then it counts towards your two specialty desserts a day. My DH had a slice, couldn't finish it.

On 9/11/2023 at 10:26 AM, dogsdogs said:

We are just off the Caribbean Princess and I wanted to mention something that you aren't addressing in this thread.  We were on the Majestic in 2022 with the Plus 40 package and we had a choice of all kinds of nice wine.  When we got on the Caribbean Princess (8/30/23) we discovered that the only choice on wine was the varietal.  We didn't want to pay another $200 for the Premier package.  We really aren't that picky, but the chardonnay wasn't good (IMO) and we might have paid the up charge per glass, but those offerings weren't that good either.  It was really a night and day experience from the Majestic.  Perhaps it was addressed in another thread, but I missed it.

We had exactly the same experience on the Sapphire in May, the wines on PLUS package were terrible. We did pay extra but there wasn't much choice and I disliked having to keep an eye on all the charges, the reason we take a package. They had one wine in the MDR that used to be on PLUS last year but was only available by the bottle, not glass! So frustrating.

Vines was no different, just felt like another seating area rather than a wine bar. Very little choice.

We're not particularly fussy either, and on our two cruises last year the Plus wines were fairly decent and we were quite happy with what was offered. It's such a shame things have changed. The wine they have now for Plus tastes awful (IMO) and gives me an instant headache! 

I guess, unless they drop that Canyon Rd, we'll only be drinking cocktails on the Majestic later this month.

11 minutes ago, teenieleek said:

Harvey’s Bristol Cream is a sweet concoction much loved by elderly ladies, served in tiny little glasses (presumably because that’s quite enough thank you).  Fino, manzanilla, oloroso are a world away from that and are delicious.  It might be my mission now to convert the citizens of Los Estados Unidos to sherry drinking!

You brought back a memory with Commandario.  Years ago we went to Cyprus with my elderly mother and she discovered this brew and insisted on taking a bottle home because it was much cheaper than Harvey’s!  

I was trying to be polite to the OP, but I do associate sherry with old ladies, lol.

We're British, now living in Canada, and if I see any of the above on our cruise from Vancouver later this month, I will try (pre dinner) and report back!

Now I can't get that song out of my head!

On the subject of sherry, my Nana always had a decanter of Harvey's Bristol Cream and glasses set out on a silver tray on the sideboard. Glasses were poured for the adults late afternoon, before dinner (or tea as we called it).
When I first married, I thought this the adult way and bought a bottle of sherry and did the same. Ugh. Horrible stuff. That bottle stayed full a long time; couldn't give it away.
I never drink sherry but we love a glass of Sandeman's port instead of dessert in the MDR. Really disappointed when there was none on our last cruise.

This thread also makes me think of my dad. He was partial to Commandaria after a military posting to Cyprus. I bought a bottle whilst on a European cruise with my parents back in 2010. We had a glass each at sail away out on the deck. Is a lovely memory as he passed on a from sudden illness a few months after that.
 

3 hours ago, teenieleek said:

Port is entirely different to sherry.  The OP asked about sherry which is a pre-dinner drink, port is a post-prandial drink.  I do hope Princess ships, especially those sailing from Southampton, have fino and manzanilla at a minimum.  I will report back in October.  They will be getting serious whines from me if there’s none!

Sorry, I was responding about the lack of port onboard in a earlier comment. I should have added they did have sherry on the Sapphire in May. They tried to offer us it instead of port, claiming it was the same thing. Um no. Can't remember the brand.

We have port instead of dessert every night in the MDR. No problem on the Royal and Majestic last year but none on the Sapphire a few months back.  Really disappointing. 

I thought the rules had changed recently and if you flat out cancelled a non refundable you’d get none of the deposit back. Therefore you have to move the booking to a new cruise whilst paying the penalty to move it. I thought the new booking could be either refundable or non refundable.

This is so confusing. In our case we have two fcd’s to apply within 6 months and we’re going refundable because we don’t have a cruise firmly decided on. We’ll book for 2025 then move it if needed. We were told if we went non refundable we’d lose the lot as the two $100 would be the penalty.

Absolutely no problem on the Sapphire in May this year. We sent out and got tokens from GS.

Plus 50 should be grandfathered in not penalized for early booking. It's petty to those who plan ahead. Our cruise next year is sold out and likely to remain that way so they'll be no repricing for us, if indeed we cruise.
What's the point of budgeting your costs, booking over a year out, then finding you have to upgrade or pay more to get what was promised or what now comes with the package?

17 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

 

I do not have a current booking so can only imagine what you two are describing.  Is it possible the Upgrade banner is there to indicate what you get in addition if upgrade the package to the $60 level?

 

My understanding is that the new benefits only apply for guests who have booked/paid/upgraded at the $60/$80 price-point and don't get them otherwise.  Basically, the old Plus gets the new drink cost limit.  Anyway, they were pretty clear about the new things only applying to those who pay $60/$80.

Under package banner claiming all the new stuff is already purchased is small print that may be missed - "Select items may not be included in your current package. You can review your travel summary for a full list of included items. Please contact us or your travel agent to make changes to your package."

The link takes me to the travel summary. In my case plus 50 with no extras, not even the stupid desserts as I booked last October for next year.

We hover between Celebrity and Princess, Elite now on both. In the last year we've sailed 1x on Celebrity and 3x on Princess because we consider the app features a huge draw, along with the free room service. We also love having Alfredo's as an alternative complimentary dining option.
Now, as I understand it, if you don't have Plus or Premier you have to pay a one off charge just to use the Ocean Now delivery on the app? And, with Plus, we can only use Alfredo's twice for free, even on a longer voyage? 
And they kept those stupid, childish desserts?
I honestly think Princess is going the wrong way with this, devaluing their brand, giving us no reason to choose them now over Celebrity, who, despite the tacky room service charge, do have a classy feel and offer a daily drinks hour for elites. 
Sad times, Princess.

On 7/2/2023 at 4:32 PM, szubieta said:

On the Grand & Royal they carried Almond & Coconut milks at the IC coffee bar.  And the buffet did carry plain Almond milk for my oatmeal.  Going on the Crown for 31 day & I feel pretty confident about eating in the MDR & Buffet.  Like some one mentioned, we won't go hungry.  Though sorbet was the only dessert available, besides fruit, some cookies or pudding would have been nice.

On our cruise on the Sapphire this year they ran out of Almond and Soy milk. I learned I like rice milk - who knew!

On 7/2/2023 at 12:28 PM, chamima said:

Does anyone know if this menu has recently been available on the Sapphire?

Thanks!

They didn't have a specific vegan or vegetarian menu on our April 29th sailing, but I did the survey and put in what I felt about relying on the head waiter's imagination. He didn't have any, and I felt I was a bother. One night I received a plate of mashed potato as a starter. I did say I liked mash but....

I'm not vegan but vegetarian and I struggled when the one mains option was something I couldn't eat.

I'm so glad to learn some of the ships do have a vegan menu; hopefully the Sapphire listened to my very strong feedback and will get it right for your cruise.

A vegan menu should be offered on all ships, not just some.

We had this happen on our last two cruises! As we'd originally booked a GTY, then been assigned a cabin, we thought we'd gone back into the pool for an upgrade. The excitement was there!!! For about two hours on the morning of boarding. Nope, Cabin came back just as we left for the ship. Second time it happened (again we had an assigned GTY), we barely blinked. Again, no upgrade. Think this is just a common glitch, but then again, when I asked, no one else on our roll call said they'd had it, so who knows.

1 hour ago, suekel said:

There must have been a lot of turnover on the Sapphire when it went into drydock.  I got off an 18 day cruise last month on her and it was one of the best cruises ever.  Sorry to hear yours wasn't that way.   I've been reading horror stories about Vancouver.  Doing a RT there in September, hope they get their act together.  

Reading others experiences, I think we were just unlucky. After over 40 excellent cruises, bound to happen at some point. And a lot of new staff which may have added to confusions. Sailing as a vegetarian this time also caused difficulties. 

Vancouver is such a beautiful sail away. I love it!  I don’t think we’ve ever had any long delays or issues at the terminal. I guess immigration slows things down a bit at boarding but we’ve always had easy walk offs! And sailing under the Lions Gate Bridge is always wonderful!