LACruiser88

Looks like our Medallions were shipped yesterday. Hopefully, they will arrive before we leave home next week. If not, it's not a big deal. Great news - your OceanMedallion™ for your upcoming Princess MedallionClass™ vacation is on its way. Please keep the information below as your receipt. Please be sure to wear your Medallion® device to your port of embarkation to allow for an expedited, contactless arrival experience. ORDER DETAILS Your order number is OCEAN-XXXXXXX. Complimentary Medallion® Device 0.00 Complimentary Lanyard 0.00 Complimentary Lanyard 0.00 Complimentary Medallion® Device 0.00 Subtotal: 0.00 Shipping: 0.00 Sales Tax: 0.00 Total Sale: 0.00

Yeah, I think they meant the Enchanted. We will be on that sailing, 26 days, back to Ft Lauderdale. No worries here, as always we will be as vigilant of our surroundings as we can.

I didn't forget that you guys were originally booked on this cruise. We'll miss cruising with you two! 🍷🍷🍷

Next week we will be leaving for our pre-cruise trip to Madrid prior to sailing on the Enchanted Princess from Barcelona. We booked our Business Class flight via EZair on Air France, LAX>Paris>Madrid. EZair had the lowest BC fares by far! We booked our return non-stop flight, Miami>LAX, directly via American Airlines. This will be my first time in Madrid. Debbie visited Madrid during her three-month long 18th birthday Europe trip. That was many moons ago and she is curious to see how much of the city she remembers. We will be staying at a Hyatt Hotel in the city center. As a Cuban-born Spanish speaker we will not have any language difficulties in Spain. While in Madrid, we have booked an "Ultimate Spanish Cuisine" 4-hour walking (and eating!) tour with "DevourTours.com" We also plan to do a couple of day trips via train to Segovia and Valencia. We have been to Valencia on a couple of occasions and really loved the city. After seven nights we will fly to Barcelona via Iberia Airlines on the morning of embarkation. We booked this flight with our Amex points. We have spent LOTS of time in Barcelona and feel very comfortable with the 1 hr & 20 min flight on embarkation day (embarkation is from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm). Iberia has many flights throughout the day from Madrid to Barcelona. We have arranged for a car service to pick us up at the airport and take us to the ship. We will be using the same car service in Madrid. As a side note, we use the same car service (www.Blacklane.com) worldwide. We booked our cruise as a 26-day voyage. The cruise was also available to book as an 11-day and 15-day back-to-back voyage. After evaluating the fares and all of the OBC scenarios, it was financially advantageous for us to book this cruise as one voyage. We are in a mid-forward mini-suite on the Riviera Deck. This is a location that we have really enjoyed on previous cruises on Royal Class ships. This will be our first time on the Enchanted Princess. We booked with the Princess Plus Package, which for us saves us a ton of $$$! We have only a couple of pre-planned excursions for this voyage. We were on the Regal Princess last year at this same time for 37 days and visited many of the same ports. This will be our 12th westbound transatlantic crossing. We are not fans of excursion groups and prefer to wing-it on our own. In Toulon we have arranged for a private tour for the day to St. Tropez and a couple of wineries in the Provence sub-region of Bandol (known for their Rose wines). We are using the same fantastic guide we used last year for a tour of Marseille. In Naples we will be doing the Naples Underground Tour for the first time. Having been to Naples many times over the years, we had never heard of this tour. We were told about it last year on the Regal Princess by our good friend, Maitre'd Nicola Furlan. Nicola transferred to the Enchanted from the Regal on Oct 8th and will be onboard until January. It will be fantastic cruising with him again! Below is a brief description of the tour: The term underground Naples indicates the dense and complex network of tunnels and cavities, which are found in the Neapolitan subsoil and which form a real city that follows, in negative, the surface city. The underground city extends under the entire historical centre, linked to it are myths and legends still alive today in the collective imagination of the Neapolitans. The galleries underlying Naples have been used in various ways over the centuries. Born following the extraction of tuff for the construction of the city, they were then used as an aqueduct and as a refuge during the Second World War. Descend with us into the bowels of the city to discover its history and mysteries through the most fascinating underground tour of Naples . The guided tour is suitable for everyone and is particularly appreciated by children. It is a real 2400-year journey through time that begins in one of the alleys of the Spanish quarters, near Piazza del Plebiscito , and ends in Via Chiaia, a few steps from the meeting point in Piazza Trieste e Trento . In Genoa we will be visiting with a friend that lives in the city. And there will be shopping, LOTS of shopping! I think Debbie knows the location of all the Zara and H&M stores throughout Europe. She tells me that the European stores have different items than what we have at home. Who am I to argue with a professional shopper? We always look forward to strolling through Rome, Florence, Naples and several of the other ports on this itinerary. We usually take trains, local buses or Uber/taxis to reach our destinations. Along the way we will pick-up local wines to bring back to the ship. Our cabin usually ends up looking like a Total Wines store! We are a little bummed that our day in Corfu will be on a Sunday. We were in Corfu last year, also on a Sunday, and just about everything was closed. It would be great if the cruise lines avoided European ports on Sundays! We are very excited to see our dear friend (and former Maitre'd), Carlos Justina, on this cruise. Carlos is currently the F&B Director onboard the Enchanted Princess. We have known Carlos over 20 years and last saw him several years ago when we were hosted at his home in Portugal. Carlos' wife and youngest daughter will be boarding with us in Barcelona. They will remain onboard until our last European port of Madiera. During the past several weeks, we have had our Flu and RSV vaccines, latest Covid boosters and have our Paxlovid prescriptions. We are also packing a good supply of Covid tests. We are eager and ready to go! Feel free to ask questions and I will try my best to provide answers. I will usually post the "Princess Event Listings" on the daily. To our fellow passengers, I encourage you to add your experiences, observations, and answer questions on this blog as we all have different perspectives and experiences. Cheers! Rafael Date Port Arrive Depart Sun. Nov 12 Barcelona, Spain 07:00 pm Mon, Nov 13 Toulon/Provence (La Seyne), France 08:00 am 06:00 pm Tue, Nov 14 Genoa, Italy 07:00 am 07:00 pm Wed, Nov 15 Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy 07:00 am 07:00 pm Thu, Nov 16 At Sea Fri, Nov 17 At Sea Sat, Nov 18 Kotor, Montenegro 07:00 am 06:00 pm Sun, Nov 1 Corfu, Greece 09:00 am 10:00 pm Mon, Nov 20 At Sea Tue, Nov 21 Sicily (Messina), Italy 08:00 am 06:00 pm Wed, Nov 22 Naples, Italy (for Capri & Pompeii) 07:00 am 07:00 pm Thu, Nov 23 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 05:00 am 07:00 pm Fri, Nov 24 Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy 07:00 am 07:00 pm Sat, Nov 25 Corsica (Ajaccio), France 07:00 am 05:00 pm Sun, Nov 26 At Sea Mon, Nov 27 Gibraltar 09:00 am 06:00 pm Tue, Nov 28 At Sea Wed, Nov 29 Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Spain 08:00 am 05:00 pm Thu, Nov 30 Madeira (Funchal), Portugal 08:00 am 05:00 pm Fri, Dec 1 At Sea Sat, Dec 2 At Sea Sun, Dec 3 At Sea Mon, Dec 4 At Sea Tue, Dec 5 At Sea Wed, Dec 6 At Sea Thu, Dec 7 At Sea Fri, Dec 8 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 05:00 am

Thank you for taking the time for the update. Have a great cruise! We will be on the Majestic in April for its eastbound journey, Sydney to Seattle. 🙂

We always have the Princess insurance as well as a yearly GeoBlue Trekker plan (for international/evacuation coverage). Check out the Cruise Critic Travel Insurance Forum for lots of information, link below... https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

We were surprised that they were moving the Majestic to Europe for 2025. I wonder if they will be changing the Chinese signage onboard and perhaps adding a Sanctuary? I guess we'll see for ourselves as we will be onboard for the Majestic's 51 day voyage, LA to Ft Lauderdale via South America in Dec '24/Jan '25.

October 23, 2023 8:08 PM EDT Discovery Princess to Call Sydney Home for the 2025/26 Australian Summer Season Discovery Princess will be the biggest Princess ship to sail from Australia in its 50-year history cruising from Down Under Link to 2025/26 Summer Program Preview Video Link to Discovery Princess Imagery Princess Cruises yesterday announced that its current flagship vessel – Discovery Princess – will make Sydney its home port in the 2025/26 summer Australia season. Built in 2022, the 145,000-ton ship measuring 330 metres in length, and 19 decks high will be the biggest ship Princess Cruises has ever homeported in Australia in its 50-year history of cruising down under. The 3,660-guest, ship will debut in her home port of Sydney in October 2025, offering a number of itineraries from Australia. Princess Cruises’ President John Padgett in Sydney yesterday to officially welcome Royal Princess on her debut summer season in Australia shared the news in an early reveal of the line’s 2025/26 program. “Nearly half a century has passed since Princess Cruises introduced the Pacific Princess ship to Sydney’s shores. In commemoration of this milestone, we are delighted to unveil the future deployment of the Discovery Princess today, further solidifying our belief in the Australian market,” said Padgett. “We are confident that both our international and Australian guests will be excited about the spectacular experience aboard Discovery Princess as she sails from Sydney in late 2025." Discovery Princess, the third vessel designed from the ground up with Princess MedallionClass and the sixth Royal-Class ship to be built shares all the spectacular style and luxury of her sister ships – Enchanted Princess, Sky Princess, Majestic Princess, Regal Princess and Royal Princess. With an array of spectacular features, guests will enjoy 270-degree sweeping views from the largest balconies in the Princess fleet with the Sky Suites, unwind in the ultimate comfort at the Sanctuary and indulge the senses with world-class dining options including new to Australia 360: An Extraordinary Experience now available for all guests sailing on Discovery Princess. The Award-winning 360: An Extraordinary Experience is exclusively offered on Discovery Princess and Enchanted Princess taking guests on a sensory journey through world-class cuisine with a fusion of master story-telling and visual entertainment. In addition, Discovery Princess elevates the guest experience with an abundance of amenities including 14 restaurants, 10 bars and additional lounges, and entertainment options. Among its dining options is The Catch by Rudi, Crown Grill, Sabatini’s Trattoria and Gigi’s Pizzeria. Other features include the SeaWalk, a breathtaking glass-bottomed enclosed walkway that extends nearly 9 metres beyond the ship's edge, treating guests to awe-inspiring views while suspended 39 metres above the sea. Other notable features include private poolside cabanas, four main pools including two top deck pools, Retreat Pool and Wakeview Pool, 10 hot Tub spas, the Enclave and Lotus Spa featuring Princess’ largest-ever thermal suite, and an exquisite Chef’s Table Lumiere dining option, where guests are magically surrounded by a curtain of light. Meanwhile, more than 82 per cent of the ship’s staterooms offer a private balcony. In addition to the incredible amenities aboard Discovery Princess, guests also enjoy the Princess exclusive MedallionClass experience, offering a level of service personalisation previously only available on small ships now delivered on a large ship, amenity-rich platform. The connected guest experience maximises guests’ time by delivering a host of onboard conveniences including contactless payment for anything on board; expedited embarkation; keyless stateroom entry; muster anywhere; friends and family locator; and ordering food, drinks, retail items or requesting service from their smart device or a crew member and having their order delivered directly to them…even if they move. Padgett added the cruise line is thrilled to announce the addition of Discovery Princess to its Australian fleet for the 2025/26 summer season. The ship will sail in local waters with other Princess ships Crown Princess and Grand Princess as part of the summer program to be revealed in full next month including the longest World Cruise yet. “Discovery Princess will continue to set new standards for premium cruising when she sails from Australia in the 2025/26 summer season. She’s an incredible ship with many wonderful features for our guests, from superb cuisine to world-class entertainment and facilities.” The program will be announced in full on 15 November, 2023 and on sale 29 November, 2023.

We find them too soft. At home we sleep with firm "My Pillow's." We always bring along standard size "My Pillow's" regardless of where we are traveling. They come vacuum sealed and pack nicely. We put them in the dryer for 10 minutes and they are good to go. We frequently leave them on the ship if our bags are full.

We have had issues with the Princess pillows in the past. For many years now we have been bringing our own pillows. I hope you get pillows that you like! 🙂

@sunsetme I believe I saw $165 pp as the price. Maybe someone currently onboard the Discovery or Enchanted can verify.

Too bad we can't start a pool on which ship is next to go! My bet is also on the Grand. 🤷‍♂️

Yes, you can. We have done it many times. The charge will go on the other's account, all you need is their cabin number.

Have a great cruise! The Regal is one of our favorite Royal class ship.

Our first three Maitre'd's in the mid 1990's; Mario Propato, Generoso Mazzone and Nicola Furlan. Now there is a team!

Traditional Cubano has pork and ham, no salami.

Being Cuban- born I have to correct the name of the sandwich, it is a Cubano, not a Cubana. 🤷‍♂️

Stock price has gone in wrong direction this week...

That is the big problem with booking last minute deals that require flights. We only book them when they are roundtrip from our home port of San Pedro.

Nicola said that something happened on the Enchanted and he was moved there from the Regal, Francisco Patricio is no longer on the Enchanted. I'll get the full story when we board the Enchanted on Nov 12th.

To update this list Do not push the "Quote" button. (It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update). Instead: Find the most recent post with the list. Select and copy all of the text in that post except the change notes. (from To update this list up to <Copy to this line . . .>) Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the "Reply to this topic..." box. Paste your copied text into that box to create a new post. Make your modifications to the list. Add change notes at the bottom. Click the Submit Reply button just below your new post. Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes. Ship Captain Cruise Director Entertainment Director Director Restaurant Ops Caribbean Ozren Marelic Sophie Gideon Luke Bonney Oscar Perego Coral Gavin Pears Joshua Thomas Marissa Wurms Herminio Marques Crown Vincenzo Lembo (9/15 - 12/15) Christopher Lye (12/15 - 3/15) Gary Golding Callie Smit Mariusz Czemarmazowicz Diamond Stefano Ravera Esther Shelton & Mikiko Ikemoto Tim Donovan Fahey Jean Paul Musiu Discovery Captain Smith (10/28 - 1/27) Tony Ruggero (now & 1/27 - ~4/27) DuVaul Gamble Caroline Desbuquois (Frenchie) Catalin Ionel Emerald Giuseppe Castellano Fernando Duran Geof O'Rourke Carlos Marques Enchanted Nick Nash Olivia Guthrie Madison Adams Nicola Furlan Grand Michele Bartolomei Karen Rogers Sara Romera Giuseppe Franchina Island Paul Slight Andi Sanders Sue Rawlings Daniele Rosafio Majestic John Foster Kristoff Greyling Kevin Tugwell Douw Steyl Regal Tim Stringer Allie Ambriano Martyn Moss ??? Royal Andrea Spinardi Michael Reitano Kelvin Joy Paul Ciobanu Ruby Steven Lewis Jessica Caballero Lauren Meyer Giuseppe Gelmini Sapphire Todd McBain Paolo Ravera (on leave) Armando Merin Tobias Stewart Mario Propato Sky Marco Fortezze Corinne Steel Aaron Hawkins (11/25) Matt Barnard Ciprian Hoidreag <Copy to this line so there is space to type "change notes" after this line> I got it to work! DRO Nicola Furlan moved from the Regal to the Enchanted on Oct 8th. He will remain until mid-January and is scheduled to return to the Enchanted on April 1st.

Can someone please update the chart for me. I'm currently out of town and only have my mobile phone. The copy feature is not cooperating. DRO Nicola Furlan has been transferred to the Enchanted. He will remain there until January and is currently scheduled to return to the Enchanted in April. Thank you!

October 19, 2023 3:30 AM EDT Royal First for New Zealand as Princess Cruises’ Stunning Royal Princess Makes Her Maiden Visit Royal First for New Zealand as Princess Cruises’ Stunning Royal Princess Makes Her Maiden Visit Royal Princess will be one of five Princess ships that will visit New Zealand this summer season bringing over 100,000 visitors and almost $150m in economic value. Link to Royal Princess Imagery and Broll The city of sails has welcomed a new royal visitor this morning, with Princess Cruises’ spectacular Royal Princess sailing into Auckland on her inaugural season of cruising in Australasian waters. Measuring 330 metres in length, and 19 decks high, the stunning 3560-guest ship is set to become a regular sight in New Zealand ports over the next six months, as she offers three round trip cruises from Auckland as well as a series of trans-Tasman cruises from Sydney. One of Princess Cruises’ largest and most popular ships, the 142,229-tonne Royal Princess has a strong regal connection. The ship was christened by HRH, Catherine, Princess of Wales, in the United Kingdom in 2013, while the late Princess Diana - Catherine’s mother-in-law - christened Princess Cruises’ original Royal Princess in 1984. Princess Cruises Senior Vice President Asia Pacific, UK + Europe Stuart Allison said the cruise line is thrilled to welcome Royal Princess to its Australasian fleet this summer. “Royal Princess set new standards for premium cruising when she was launched and continues to turn heads wherever she sails around the globe,” Mr Allison said. “Not only is Royal Princess a fantastic looking ship, she’s packed with wonderful features for guests, from superb cuisine to world-class entertainment and facilities. We know guests will especially love the Sanctuary and Retreat areas over the summer season.” Royal Princess’ arrival today is significant as she is one of only a handful of international ships making their maiden visits to New Zealand this summer. The ship will sail in Australasian waters with Grand Princess, which spent Tuesday (17 October) in Auckland’s harbour, as well as Coral Princess, which will visit Auckland on October 21, and Majestic Princess, arriving in Auckland on October 30. “Royal Princess will be one of five Princess ships that will visit New Zealand this summer season bringing over 100,000 visitors and almost $150m in economic value. Overall, Princess Cruises will make a total of 186 calls to New Zealand ports over the next six months making this one of our biggest seasons on record.” “To put those visitor numbers into perspective, if Princess was a country we’d be the 4th biggest source of visitors to New Zealand over the past 12 months.” “This summer season, Kiwis will have the opportunity to sail roundtrip from Auckland aboard Royal Princess to see their own backyard on a number of cruises departing from December through February. We’re seeing strong interest from Kiwis keen to circumnavigate their own country!” The inaugural vessel within the cruise line’s Royal Class, Royal Princess elevates the guest experience with an abundance of amenities including 11 restaurants, 9 bars and additional lounges, and entertainment options. Among its remarkable features is the Sea Walk, a breathtaking glass-bottomed enclosed walkway that extends nearly 9 metres beyond the ship's edge, treating guests to awe-inspiring views while suspended 39 metres above the sea. Other notable features include private poolside cabanas, two main pools, 8 top deck spas, the Enclave and Lotus Spa featuring Princess’ largest-ever thermal suite, and an exquisite Chef Lumiere dining option, where guests are magically surrounded by a curtain of light. Meanwhile, 80 per cent of the ship’s staterooms offer a private balcony. In addition to the incredible amenities aboard Royal Princess, guests also enjoy personalised service found throughout the fleet. Exclusive Princess Medallion innovation takes the entire holiday back to the roots of what makes cruising special by creating a personalised, customised and simplified experience for each and every guest. The connected guest experience maximises guests’ time by delivering a host of onboard conveniences including contactless payment for anything on board; expedited embarkation; keyless stateroom entry; muster anywhere; friends and family locator; and ordering food, drinks, retail items or requesting service from their smart device or a crew member and having their order delivered directly to them…even if they move. “We’re excited to have such an impressive regal visitor in our waters this summer and look forward to welcoming our New Zealand guests on board,” Mr Allison added. Royal Princess’ visit to Auckland today comes towards the end of its inaugural 28-night transpacific crossing from Vancouver, Canada to Sydney, Australia. The ship will sail from Auckland at 7.00 pm this evening and is due to arrive in the Bay of Islands around 7.00am tomorrow morning. Her call to Tauranga yesterday was the first of three maiden New Zealand port visits she will make this week. Following her debut in Auckland today (Oct 19) she’ll sail to the Bay of Islands where she will make her inaugural call on Friday (October 20).

Last week, we were able to refare two of our cruises, one in '24 and one in '25, for a substantial savings. Checking our 8 booked cruises today, all had the same pricing from last week.

Recruiting new crew continues to plague the cruise industry. Who knows when this tide will turn? 🤷‍♂️