JimmyVWine

Long thread discussing it here:

I agree with this for sure. So many places in the Gothic Quarter to explore and roam around that are better than the main tourist street.

Depending on where your interests lie, (and how much luggage you have) I would just get in the taxi line (it can be very, very long, but it moves quickly) and then just head to the area or sites you want to see. La Sagrada Familia books visitors in advance so you could have a pre-set time to enter, or take an organized tour (recommended) if that is something you want to see. Or head to a museum. Or stroll de Gracia to gaze at the amazing architecture and Gaudi buildings. You really don't need an organized tour to experience Barcelona. Just a little bit of research and reading. But if you have too much luggage to make that work, you might try contacting a major hotel chain, preferably one with which you have some status, and ask if you can check you luggage there for a few hours. (Tip well). It is harder to do that now, with security issues, but it doesn't hurt to ask. This reads as if it was written by someone with an axe to grind. We were there in October and this could not have been further from the truth. Well, I can't speak to the part about it going downhill, as I don't have a frame of reference of what it was like several years ago. But I can say that in no way, shape or form are "most of the shops closed down", "untidy" or "unsafe."

Maybe a dollop of the now-retired Fettuccini Alfredo? 🤣

Or do the reverse, which is what I do. Use up your already-accumulated loyalty points for a stay at an overpriced hotel that you really aren't using for anything other than a night's sleep between the time the plane touches down and the time you depart for the Port.

Thank you for sharing. I am really enjoying your perspective as a younger cruiser and as someone who hasn’t been jaded by their prior 53 cruises which were all “so much better!”

I am usually a Ribeye guy as is the rest of my family. The last 4 times we dined in the Crown Gill (all pre-pause) we all ordered Ribeyes. Since the resumption of operations we have only dined at Sabatini’s for our Specialty Dining experiences. For our next cruise I booked one night in each. This and other threads has pretty much convinced me that ordering Ribeye is a losing bet. (Especially the photo above.). So….how is the quality of the Filet Mignon? If that is also subpar, I think I am going to cancel my CG reservation so your opinions will dictate my next move. What say you? Is the Filet (plus the other courses) worth a trip to the CG?

Solution: “I would like to start with the Twice Baked Goat Cheese Soufflés as my first course, and for my main course I would like [insert dish of choice].” Problem solved.

Per the first post the options include: "1. gelato 2. Gelato with toppings 3. Monster Sundaes with candy and maybe alcohol if available (they will pour some out of a large bottle) (do not recommend) 4. Cake (chocolate, Black Forest or Carrot) $4.00 if not on your beverage pkg. Personally, I’d not order dessert at the MDR and head over and get a piece of cake (definitely splittable) (recommend)" It sounds like #2 would fall within the category of "nice sundae"

There is absolutely no advantage to booking a FLL hotel through Princess.

Not that anyone should doubt @caribill, but I can confirm that this is the case. I had some leftover from my October cruise and I went to the passenger service desk to ask if it could be rolled over and applied to my May cruise and they said no problem. Clicked a few buttons on the old computer and said that I was all set. Arrived home and four days later a check arrived in the amount of my leftover AARP Gift Card OBC. Nothing shows up on my May cruise account.

I was thinking that perhaps "Flight of the Bumblebee" might make the construction process move more quickly! This is one time where I was hoping for false advertising and that the finished product would look nothing like the artist's rendition.

I'm not sure what a "leftover guide" is. The companies that are being used all have multiple guides. It's impossible to predict if the person assigned to "Tour #2" is going to be better than the guide who is assigned to "Tour #4". It's not like the tour companies are pulling people out of line at the unemployment office. Maybe the "best guide" was scheduled for an off day that day, but pulled back into service because of the need for all hands on deck.

I think that if enough people show interest on a wait list, they try their best to cobble together another group.

Lesson learned. Waiting until this close to the departure date is almost always going to result in disappointment. For my next cruise (UK and Ireland) every single excursion was sold out in certain ports four months in advance with most not having a waiting list. The good news is that most excursions offered by Princess are replicas of other excursions offered privately, sometimes even run by the very same companies. As you know, Princess outsources its excursions to local companies. Most or all of these companies offer the same things privately.

I suppose it might depend on which rabbit hole one’s browser goes down.

Menu on the website shows $29 but the app shows $35. So trust the app.

Crown Grill is $39. Sabatini’s is $29.

I hear you. But try this: DON'T Log In. AT the top-middle of the Home Page, go to "Booked Guests" and once there, find "Get Ready For Your Cruise" toward the top-left. Beneath that click on "Access Cruise Personalizer" Enter your Name, DOB and Booking Number and you should be taken to your cruise information without logging in. I cannot log into my account on my computer and haven't been able to do so for several years. When I use my wife's computer I have no issue at all. So whenever I need to access my cruise(s), I use the method laid out here and it works every time.

I know that sometimes the competence of the crew gets questioned, but I think even Princess can figure out a way for a team of 5 crew members to move this sign in under 4 hours.

Moment Of Silence??

Holy time machine, Batman! Perhaps the past is prologue because in December, 2019 just before the pause, it was on Deck 6.

Same here. On of the best things about cruising as a family is that it causes people to reconnect. Put down the devices, and enjoy some good old-fashioned together time. When my daughter was in her mid to late teens, she enjoyed meeting others in that age group and hanging out with her new posse while on bard, and that was great. But as she aged out of that, we found that cruising caused a sense of togetherness that we missed once she went away to college, then to grad school, and now lives in another country altogether. While this really says nothing about Princess specifically, we find the atmosphere on Princess to be perfect for our needs, without too many distractions. Trivia, Majority Rules, Drinks in Crooners, Dinners together every night. Pretty much perfect for us.

Dang! Now your going to have me obsessing to find some on my next cruise.👀 I know that this is a small thing, but I much prefer the cabin designations on Princess with a letter and three numbers (D214) to a cabin number that looks like a zipcode. (11714).

...and yet...one of the biggest complaints before the Royal Class of ships added a ledge was the impossibly small size of the shower and the attack of the killer shower curtain. Can't tell you how many hacks people posted about how to keep the evil curtain from adhering to the occupant's body. So with all the angst spilled over that issue, I would have to disagree with the premise that people don't care about extra room for showering/bathing. Even if the tub in the MS is not used as a tub and is instead used only as a shower, it is a major upgrade over what is offered in the Grand Class ships and frankly, even the Royal class ships. It's not as if the extra 6 square feet (2 x 3) of bathing space in the MS could have been repurposed toward a greater good.