darknightsdespiser

Yes, disappointed with both MDR and buffet on Sky recently; started my own conspiracy theory that budgets are lower on UK departures!

GOOD THINGS

The ship was gorgeous, sparkly, spotless, brilliant bed, lots of seating areas, even in the buffet!

Embarkation and disembarkation - fast and smooth.

Staff - I had forgotten how nice most of them are on Princess.

Entertainment - in tears of laughter at Ed Byrne and tears of delight at The Trawlermen.

WiFi worked OK most of the time as did the app.

Ocean Terrace, Alfredos, Salty Dog, International Cafe, Gelato shop, room service.

Excursions (Copenhagen, Skagen and walking tour of Oslo), expensive but excellent value on this occasion.

Good Spirits, loved Elliot's cocktail shows.

You can WALK on the jogging track without it being frowned upon.

The Retreat Pool, adult only and no pop music.

General, happy atmosphere.

LESS GOOD THINGS

The food in the dining room and the buffet was nowhere near previous Princess standards.

Ditto, the entertainment in the Atrium - the singer, Christian, had a lovely voice but tiny repertoire, the classical duo were ok but only ok and the house band could clearly play but I was never convinced the female singer knew what she was singing about.

Beer supply very patchy, never really knew what was available in which bar and it always seemed a problem for the staff to find out or supply anything other than lager. Bellini's had a lovely IPA but also a slow, constant queue.

Lack of decent music for sailaways, especially from Oslo, just background pop when it called for something more rousing.

Entertainment outwith the theatre seemed based mainly on game shows.

My pedicurist sold me expensive foot cream by slipping into my bag of shoes and not letting on!

Overall, brilliant week!

On 6/18/2023 at 6:52 AM, eltigre said:

I have a white sleeveless,  lace overlay, knee high, dress I really like & have worn on previous formal nights. Now I feel like I should be leaving it at home as "no one looks good in a white dress" "especially if they are not a bride or 6". No need to tear down to build up.

Whatever you are happy with!

2 hours ago, DCThunder said:

 

Maybe you need to get one of those Geri Halliwell (aka Ginger Spice) Union Jack mini-dresses.

 

I have one!

5 hours ago, Crystaltipps67 said:

Haha - are you on the 1st July sailing out of Southampton on Sky? As a British adult I completely agree with your thinking apart from the suggestion of going out to buy something! Not a chance. Hubby has a white tux that he might or might not take, depending on his mood (probably not if he thinks others will be doing the same - he prefers to be different!). I would NEVER wear white or gold so will be wearing whatever still fits from the dresses I bring. If you're on our cruise I will look out for someone dazzling in a glorious purple gown!

Now I never said I would be dazzling, far from it, old and frumpy!

Thanks all, loving some of the comments and looking forward to waving my flag at the British sail away😁😃

5 hours ago, LibertyBella said:

Gosh, I rarely see people complain about potentially having to go out and shop for a new dress. In my book, any reason is a great excuse to go to the shopping mall! (Yes, I even bought a new dress for my nephew's high school graduation party, but the event was quite casual as compared to a cruise night.)

 

I have also NEVER worn the same formal dress two consecutive times on a single cruise.  I pack for all my photo opportunities, so every night is different and special.  We also have clothes specific to the climate of the cruise--heavier and darker in colder places or Winter cruises, lighter and brighter in warmer weather cruises or Summer.

 

Not sure what the big complaint is about white and gold night--you can wear gold, or white, or both, or neither.  I, for one, love sparkle, and I have all of those colors already, as well as silver, copper, etc. We also cruise on Cunard and they have fun theme nights as well, although husband has it easier as the tuxedo works every time. He just changes his bowtie.

 

I am bringing a beautiful new gown with me on the Enchanted Princess next month, and I am taking it in my carry-on so there will be no risk of loss in my luggage. I love that dress and I cannot wait to wear it!

 

 My main packing challenge is limiting my shoe choices in the suitcase!

 

 

At 2 weeks notice there is no time to shop and why would any of us buy something we would never be seen dead in at home?

14 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

You won't be rebellious.  Maybe 5 people will do the white and gold.  Who looks good in white?  So ridiculous.

Exactly, unless you are a bride or 6 years old and sometimes not even then! With the exception of Princess Catherine of course!!

4 minutes ago, BobAnne said:

I agree with DarkKinight - be a rebel! 

 

I have zero intention of wearing white and gold as I have always been terrible about following directions and what I am told. 😛 Besides, would’ve a theme night tied to blue make more sense as it is one of Princess’s primary logo colours? 

Or even a 4th of July night! (said as a USA loving Brit!)

Look forward to reading,on Sky in 2 weeks

On 6/6/2023 at 12:04 AM, pink845 said:

Been on a couple of cruises now since Jan 2023.  Last one was Majestic, Alaska a few weeks back.  Our procedure with respect to Covid is as follows. We wear our masks in crowds; we wear our masks collecting food at the buffet.  We tell our room steward on day 1, not to enter our room for the entire cruise. We leave our dirty towels at the door and he drops off new ones in a clear plastic bag.  We do not need cabin service at all. We book a mini suite balcony so we have plenty of space to roam. Mini suites have a large sofa bed as well and we let the fresh air enter the cabin upon our arrival and several times during the day.   In the dining room, we have always had no issue getting a table for two in a more far way spot so not to have to interact with other passengers too much in that dining space.  We have found there is more space in the specialty dining rooms, so we ate in those 4 out of the 7 nights.   Less chance of room steward spreading germs from cabin to cabin if that room steward is not entering our cabin.  He uses the same cloth to clean each cabin we are sure.  Princess has become super cheap there.  Also, we do not ask the waiters to bring water or any beverage to us when at the buffet (I mean, water, tea, coffee, the free ones) because we notice that the waiter cleans the table of the previous table guest and then uses the same dirty cloth to clean the next table and he /she is not see washing his hands or using hand sanitizer at all between the tables and bringing water, coffee, tea, iced tea, whatever to the fellow passengers that request it.  Funny.  Not really. So if we want coffee, we go get it and let it drip into our own coffee insulated mugs.  Just a few things that we do to prevent coming into contact with Covid.  As an aside, there were quite a few fellow passengers wearing masks on our May sailing of the Majestic, and more and more in crowded spots as there are people who in general show no respect for others when they are coughing and sneezing. We see them and hear them coughing into their hands (yes) not their sleeve, leaving kleenex on the table.  Manners people.    Just a few notes about our recent experiences.   Six vaccine doses and counting.  No Covid in 3.5 years and we have travelled quite a bit.  

I think you should stay at home, where is the fun not mixing with anyone?

What the actual? Cruises are one of the very very few places that are dog free for people like me who hate them and prefer clean environments !

Just now, brucedodge said:

Wear the purple dress!  you'll look good and you'll fell good.

And it is always good to be rebellious!😅

10 minutes ago, bassmk said:

I think you'll find lots of people won't stick to the white and gold theme. Think of the folks who never check their email or that email goes to the junk folder. You're good...wear the purple dress. 😄

I only read the email because someone on Facebook mentioned it! Just annoyed that if they had said this months ago I would happily have ordered something! 

I have been so in favour of retaining the formal nights and was looking forward to 2 evenings wearing my lovely purple dress. Today with less than 2 weeks to go an email arrives saying the 2nd formal is white and gold. No British adult I have ever met would ever go for a night out in white and gold so for many (most?) this would now entail frantic online shopping. My point is that if the existing dress can only be worn once there isn't a lot of point in it taking up space and this could herald the end of many of us bothering which would be sad.

I was wondering this as well but think it may be sushi and gelato! Either that or some Clinique from the shops....

On 5/23/2023 at 8:10 PM, adam7392 said:

Hi, just done this 2 weeks ago specifically to get the 3x.  Took 10 mins from applying on Tesco site to getting email code.  Called the P&O number and was able to apply to a cruise in Feb 2025.  So looks like as long as you purchase the cruise within the expiry of the vouchers it doesn't matter when the cruise is.  I guess you could possibly eke it out to a 2026 cruise.

Thanks so much Adam, looking at Jan 25😀

Sorry if this as been discussed previously!  Thinking of using Tesco vouchers on P and O once again. They are about to change from 3x to 2x but can be used for a year.  What I can't find the answer to anywhere is do you only have to book within a year or do you have to cruise within the year? Anyone found out?

7 hours ago, Lockotron said:

P&O has now cancelled Hellesylt this Wednesday and replaced with Flåm.

Not a bad change in my opinion, but I do wonder what the reasons are. P&O says due to weather, but the forecast for Wednesday is calm. Obviously their itinerary chaos continues….

Wish we had had Flam instead, nothing to do in Hellysylt!

On 6/11/2022 at 1:17 PM, Trevor Fountain said:

My advice to anybody who wants desperately to see a particular place is go and book a land based holiday there.

It doesn't matter which shipping line  or ship you choose, there are many reasons why a port may be cancelled, or even inaccessable on the day of the planned visit.

It is, if I may say, a bit silly to base a cruise around a particular port. What you should look at really is the region you're cruising to, i.e. a Mediterranean Cruise, a Caribbean Cruise, a Scandinavian cruise and so on.

You pay a fare for say a 14 night cruise, and a 14 night cruise is what you get. Talk of compensation for a change of port is imvho nonsense.

Honestly I have had dozens of instances of missed ports for a multitude of reasons, but never have I had a really bad cruise.

Sorry if this upsets people, but just my view.

 

It is one thing to miss ports because of weather quite another to miss out for some unknown, probably financial, reason.

2 hours ago, jon01 said:

The TV is useful for checking the ship's position, the bow camera, on board spend, the news and the weather forecast. 

Suppose, I go on holiday to get away from news!

22 hours ago, CJCregg17 said:

Hi there! I'm on a tight budget, and I'm trying to look at booking one or two independent excursions, in the hope that they'll be cheaper than the P&O ones. Are the arrival and departure times listed anywhere, so I can have some idea of when we'll arrive and leave (eg. looking at booking a ferry from Hellesylt to Geiranger.

 

This is all very new to me - any help would be greatly appreciated 😁

Be careful, you can easily arrive late due to weather or medical stuff.

I thought Aqua and Opal were a bit dull in the decor department.

1 hour ago, BillieJeanKaraokeKing said:

We've just come off Iona on Saturday. Sure, we found things not quite to our preference in some areas, but luckily we are a couple who take them for what they generally always are - minor niggles - and we certainly didn't allow them to spoil our holiday in any way, shape or form (and never do).

 

We enjoyed not being at work (of course 😊), the ship, the itinerary, the weather, the food, and had a fantastic holiday - and would do it all again tomorrow given the chance! 😊

 

Probably the worst thing for us was choosing to watch the magic duo, who we personally thought were poor lol, but even that just became an opportunity to laugh about how bad we felt they were.

One thing I forgot to mention was that a lot of the "activities" were simply talks about shopping!

5 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

What channel were you trying?

Why would anyone have a TV on on holiday???