CU64

On 10/30/2021 at 5:29 PM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I am currently on the Grand Princess in a Baha deck aft facing balcony. I have been smelling cigarette smoke consistently on my balcony. At times it is not tolerable and I must leave my balcony at other times it is moderate and uncomfortable but tolerable. The aft promenade deck has been closed off for a crew smoking area. 
 

I brought it to the attention my steward and then spoke to Sheila the guest services manager. She is a very caring and compassionate person. I told her that I understood there really was no other alternative at the moment for the crew given covid protocols…… department personnel don’t mix off duty increasing the need for the entire aft section, crew have variable schedules precluding set times for smoking, the front of the ship is far too windy to allow smoking…..and so on. I also realize as a 30 year smoker ( 20 years free of it now yeah!) how important smoking is for the crew. They work hard, they are away from their families, they have stress and long hours. I would not want them to be denied this outlet. 
 

I would appreciate if you’ve sailed recently on the Grand or the Ruby (Sheila is going to get back to me but I believe the Ruby has also closed the aft for crew smoking) or as you sail on the upcoming cruises if you’d report back about the smell of smoke or lack of smoke on your balcony. 

I would jus insist on a new cabin

6 hours ago, BrutolMotent said:

Still have not received mine - looks like from the tracking USPS returned the package back to the sender for some reason. Cruise leaves on 12/11, guess I'll have to get it at the port.  

We have not received ours even tho medallion app says shipped….ours also leaves 12/11

On 11/22/2021 at 10:25 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Oh, I am so disappointed and disheartened.  I inspected my first and only medallion.  Without destroying it, I ran my fingernail along the edge....Yes, it is just a sticker.  Princess could not even spot for different colored "embedded" colors.  

 

What is this business world coming to.  First, no chocolate on my pillow, limited butter, and now this.  

Have you ever heard of Covid? Be glad they are willing to provide a cruise for 50% full.

I think they want to be able to move people around and/or upgrade to higher category since ship is not full. People are going to customer service at embarkation & asking for upgrade. Sounds like they do it for them.

8 hours ago, PasadenaDave said:

Enjoyment of food and wine is very subjective.  We find the food and wine to be below expectations.  Alfredo’s is good, but nothing else is worth mentioning.  The wine was box quality but the mixed drinks and International Cafe for snacks and coffee were good.  We are thinking about a good home cooked meal or restaurant on Sunday.  Either would be superior to what we have had this week.

I ate there Oct 8. Food was too rich for me ( & I like butter) and very disappointed. I ordered escargot & it was nothing I had ever seen. Left 1/4 of it. Waitress would have recommended lobster soup but I thought I could have had that here.

I ordered their recommended martini which was also a mistake. Left 1/2 of the chocolate dessert. If you are going to eat there, suggest a lot of wine.

Polenta stick was meh. 

12 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

Interesting.  I'll pass that little tidbit on to Mrs. XBGuy.

 

Our regular embarkation day routine for our first six or seven Princess cruises was after dropping off stuff at our cabin, we would make our way to the Lido deck and get a hamburger and fries from the Lido Grill--now called the Salty Dog Grill.  We would find a table and order some ice teas and then enjoy watching the hustle and bustle of all the excited cruisers.  After learning about Cruise Critic I discovered that the cool cruise absolutely had to have lunch in the dining room on embarkation day.  Being cool cruiser supplicants we decided to try the dining room lunch on embarkation day for one of our cruises.  Being a man of habit, I ordered a cheeseburger and fries.  Mrs. XBGuy ordered a veggie burger.  Our burgers arrived, and I enjoyed mine quite a bit.  Mrs. XBGuy took one bite from hers, and pushed her plate away.  That was all she was going to try.  When the server noticed that my plate was pretty empty but my wife's meal had been barely touched, she knew something was wrong, and asked if she could replace the dish.  My wife declined.  We have a regular sailaway tradition on our balcony, and she just looked forward to that,

Veggie burgers have no fat. Gotta have fat on a burger or it tastes awful

45 minutes ago, redhead9 said:

This might be a stupid question, but is the medallion waterproof? Do you wear it in the pools and hot tubs?

Yes

On 11/24/2021 at 12:07 PM, jimbo1683 said:

There's nightmarish posts further down of people who have taken to camping outside the cruise terminal for weeks before embarkation, trampling overs to race onboard and running like the wind to get to the santuary and still finding it fully booked.

Cannot believe this would be that important to some to fall prey to such ridiculous behavior 

On 11/26/2021 at 5:23 AM, San10s said:

It is very difficult to get the Sanctuary reservations with so many cruisers going on B2Bs… or B2B2Bs.  These folks get first shot at the Sanctuary before new passengers board.  I am on a B2B in February and hope to finally get a couple days in the Sanctuary on one of my cruises.  
 

Judy

I just don’t see why this is so special. Been there. Done that. I guess sitting there and reading for hours is nice. The snacks are ok.We have a balcony so much prefer sitting out there to hear ocean, ….I used it for an hour once, and decided I would rather move around other places on ship.

9 hours ago, Thunderbird19 said:

Thanks for the info.

Glad they have shower area in the fitness center because i usually find these more spacious and comfortable than what's in my cabin.  

Am trying to decide if I should purchase day or week pass to have access to the spa area (it is called Enclave? Thermal Spa?)and the hydropools, sauna, heated lounger that are there.

 

 

Get day pass before you buy. I was not drawn back to Enclave.

10 minutes ago, CU64 said:

Yes, mine is a nice blue variety which just happens to match my blue medallion. 

10 minutes ago, CU64 said:

Yes, mine is a nice blue variety which just happens to match my blue medallion. 

Found it. ZILZARAH wrist keychain. All colors

15 hours ago, kb4683 said:

Does it look similar to this?

 

Yes, mine is a nice blue variety which just happens to match my blue medallion. 

12 minutes ago, CU64 said:

Go to Amazon site. In search line, write in stretch ball bracelets. Many different styles should appear. I think mine was about 25. It looks pretty and I wore it everywhere …if I needed to pull it off for any reason, it was easy. 
 

Zillzerra (sp) wrist key chain. The medallion hooks into the round key holder that is attached to bracelet 

14 hours ago, chamima said:

Can you provide a link, please.

I tried googling it but nothing even close showed up.

Go to Amazon site. In search line, write in stretch ball bracelets. Many different styles should appear. I think mine was about 25. It looks pretty and I wore it everywhere …if I needed to pull it off for any reason, it was easy. 
 

5 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

I recall the bracelet on the ship was $54.  It was a gift but was surprised it was so much.  It might be cheaper to purchase it ahead of time. 

I ordered a pretty stretch wrist bracelet from Amazon. Different color balls….your choice. I used it. Not fond of lanyards 

16 minutes ago, Chad_O said:

Beyond the very large whirlpool (with specialized jets and rainforest fillers) there are the wet and dry heat saunas, there are heated tile contoured loungers and heated gel filled chaises to lie on. During our August sailing they were keeping a census tally for capacity but the cap was never met and traffic was very low. i used the Enclave daily (sometimes twice) and loved every minute of it. 

I would suggest you get a one day pass first. Have always liked heated stone lounges. The Enclave on Majestic did not draw me back. Depends what you wish to do with your day but it is the first time I will not be buying.

On 10/22/2021 at 5:16 PM, dskenn said:

I may be too late to ask this question.  I am wondering if anyone purchased the Enclave suite package.  Do you have to make an appointment to visit or can you go like pre covid anytime it is open. 

I was on 10/6. You can go anytime with the package

How is E425 an oversized balcony?

On 3/16/2021 at 9:34 PM, Bruin Steve said:

We just booked E425 for our October 30 cruise on Majestic...

I figure that "Seawalk" is actually 7 decks above...So around 70 feet or so?  Hard to see how it's an issue...

OTOH, our cabin has an oversized balcony...and, to me, that is worth something...Last January, on Royal, we had E108...and that oversized balcony was nice...This time, we went with E425 since we prefer midship locations...

The deck below us are the shops...so I figure noise from below won't be a major problem either...

On 11/17/2019 at 5:01 PM, clo said:

LOL. Although actually there have been times when I wish I had one. And I appreciate the measurement.

Me too. Thanks all. A regular queen is not that large to be spit.

Queen bed, not king in B1 Sirena. We sleep better in twin. Will it make the cabin really crowded?

11 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Just received the blue book today for this shortie December cruise. So, about 6 weeks+\- pre-embarkation is a good benchmark.

 

Though not "essential," since you'll receive e-docs (your individual registration forms including dining reservations, purchased tours etc) about 2-3 weeks pre-cruise, the "blue book" does have your pre-printed luggage tags and things like the tour descriptions (which come in handy should there ever be disagreement with destination services about what a tour was supposed to be). It also makes a nice "souvenir" and holder of any paper from the cruise we decide to keep as a memento.

I might have thrown this Blue Book away thinking it was another big advertisement from Oceania. 

Check out the dive ship that 39 people died of fire in Calif over Labor Day.

Might not have been an iron but may have been caused by extension cords & too many charging devices on one outlet.

3 hours ago, bbwex said:

Irons are against the rules for a very good reason --- they can start a fire.  The very last thing you would want to do onboard a ship is start a fire.  Just look up the fire on the Star Princess -- 1 person killed, well over 100 cabins damaged.  See the images below.  That was from a cigarette, but the current used by an iron could very possibly start a fire as well.  We are lucky that O does provide irons, but whether they do or not, taking one aboard ship, if you could get it onboard, is only asking for trouble.  The biggest danger at sea is not sinking, it is fire.

 

Excellent idea....opting out. Hard for me to comprehend this being a serious problem.