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Thanks, I recollect seeing the name before but had no real knowledge of him. While his tricks were fine, though no real improvement over other magicians I had seen, his overall performance did seem a bit more polished, maybe a bit higher end.

We are currently on that cruise, arriving back in LA tomorrow. It's been a pretty low-key event so far, just a few folks with special Magic Castle lanyards walking around, a few dedicated, private events in the Vista Lounge, and some hanging signs in the Piazza etc. One magician theater show a few days ago, and a big show last night while docked in San Diego featuring someone named Michael Carbonaro, who I gather is pretty well known. There were some media folks on board, as well as a few Princess head office folks, and the show seemed pretty important. Beyond that, it's been pretty quiet magic-wise, time will tell how well the whole Magic Castle tie-in will work. Logically, one would assume that the magic/illusionist shows will be better than average going forward.

You seem to be asking two different questions, one concerning pricing on Princess cruises, and another on whether Princess gives pricing breaks based on loyalty. We're in the top "loyalty" tier on Princess and are not aware of any pricing deals for cruises based on that fact alone. Like other loyalty programs we get deals on things like on board purchases, priority boarding etc, but not relating to our loyalty level. I'm vaguely aware that some folks get big deals on casino packages, but I know nothing about that. As to getting deals on Princess cruises, a lot will depend on who you book with. Like many others, we prefer to use a travel agent (who cannot be named per the Cruise Critic TOS) and are very happy with them. They have an annual sale which confers significant OBC to us, which can add up to about a 10% savings. Others have TAs who may give even a bit more, but the good old days of perqs like free booze packages etc are long gone. As to comparing the different lines for pricing, we find that things have changed very significantly over the last few years, post-COVID. In searching out the best deals for us, I've found that X and HAL have significantly increased their pricing even more than Princess, and in doing an apples to apples comparison (same cabin type, same itinerary etc) I find Princess to be a much better value with lower pricing.

And what is wrong with showing older movies in addition to the first runs they are also showing? MUTS seems to be mostly newer movies while the TV system has a ton of both old and new.

Sorry, missed a few. I forgot they also show them early in the day: The Flash Gulliver's Travels Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb Ron's Gone Wrong Now You See Me 2 The Little Mermaid UB40 Live at Montreux Shazam Apologies, Bullet Train was in the Vista Lounge, as was John Wick 4. Those are somewhat a bit too much for general audiences under the stars.

On the Discovery this week, so far: Dungeons and Dragons Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Bullet Train Personal History of David Copperfield Top Gun Maverick We're only half way through, so we have no visibility on what comes in the following days.

We just flew out of YUL out to LAX few days ago. All this talk of these new electronic sizing machines had me very concerned, as my wife's usual carry-on is a bit on the fat side. It can be coerced into a metal sizing frame but would easily fail an electronic laser scan sizer. I asked the AC check in agent about these machines, as there were none at the trans-border area at YUL that I could see. Astoundingly, she had never even heard of these machines, let alone knew about them, and there none anywhere in the check-in area or at the gate, though there were the old style frames. There did not seem to be much concern about carry-on bags for our flight, as there were none of the usual threatening voice announcements requesting "volunteers" to check their bags, though they did accept them if someone did want to check their carry-on. Also, the aircraft was a new-ish 737-Max, and the overhead bins were among the largest I've ever seen, the type where carry-ons are supposed to be inserted on their sides to maximize capacity.

A Sunday departure should be even better than when we did it on a Saturday. I timed our trip to be heading down the west side/Hudson for around 9AM, and traffic was quite light and easy to maneuver. We stayed in Teaneck, NJ at a huge Marriott near the NJ side of the GW Bridge, so we had a relatively easy and short drive on into Brooklyn. About 20 miles, an hour in easy traffic

We did the drive last year for our first ever trip out of Brooklyn. Driving down from Montreal, we stayed overnight in NJ then drove that exact route the morning of the cruise, rather than try to drive right to the port the day of. I suspect that a lot may depend on what day of the week you do the drive, but we did it on a Saturday and it was quite easy. Having survived Montreal traffic all my life, New York traffic was nothing. We came over the GW Bridge, down the West side right past the Manhattan Cruise Terminal to the Battery Tunnel and on into Brooklyn. The only area I would consider a bit tough is the short drive from the end of the tunnel to the pier, as it involves some crazy switchbacks and turns through Brooklyn streets. And AFAIK, the parking rate at the Brooklyn pier has recently almost doubled to the same rate as at the MCT. When we parked there, it was only twenty something dollars.

Discovery Princess, 7 Day California Coast out of LA

Thanks for the kind words. I do have a follow-up, having just had a chat with a particularly helpful CSR at Guest Services, who was able to confirm what had been posted on our Roll Call. Take 5 is being modified right now in preparation for a slot pull tournament happening ON THE NEXT CRUISE after ours, so the voyage departing right after we disembark, on October 14. The modifications to Take 5 are temporary and he said Take 5 would revert back to its former glory right afterwards. Thinking out loud, I'm not sure it could be turned back into its former self fast enough to be available to folks embarking on the following cruise, so it may still be out of action for a week or so after this tournament has gone away. I did peek into T5 just now, and the work has started, there being some slot machines already installed, along with some signage about the tournament.

Once you've downloaded and installed the Uber app, you can do dummy/test bookings to see what the various fares would be.

We're currently on our first trip on the Discovery which AFAIK is the newest ship in the fleet. There is no indication of any motion activated floor lighting, there is no card needed to turn the lights on or off, though the card slot is there, and all lights are manually activated by the various switches around the cabin. If we leave a light on, it stays on until we return, though I don't know if somehow the lights in the cabin are "activated" by the presence of the Medallions in the room. I do know that yesterday when we left the cabin to hit San Francisco, we had turned all lights off. When we returned, we noticed that Stewart had accidentally left the bathroom light on when he had done our cabin that morning. So there are many variations of cabin lighting in the Princess fleet

? We arrived in SF this morning on the Discovery. Very calm seas all the way from LA, no problems whatsoever. Never felt the ship's movement at all.

CRASH STOP, ALL BACK EMERGENCY. . Some helpful soul on our Roll call did some better due diligence on this and reported back as follows: Hello all, it’s “temporary” I spoke with ship officers. Princess has a special Gambling Tournament” contract event in a couple weeks just like the recent Magic Castle themed cruise. They will expand the Casino into Take-5 to accommodate the tournament. They will remove the gambling equipment afterwards and Take-5 will reopen.

FWIW, while the Sky does not have a Crooners, both the Enchanted and the Discovery do. It's still in the Piazza though in a different location than on the other ships. We don't care for it as they have reduced the tables for 2 to only four in the entire venue, the other tables being for four to six or eight.

All I could get out of a rather surly CSR at guest Services was that Take 5 was closed "...for the installation of slot machines". It's still possible to peer into a small section of Take 5 through the old glass door that used to lead into it from the casino, and as at right now, there is no evidence that any work is being done. The cynic in me says that they will completely gut Take 5, knock out the adjoining wall and expand the casino into the area now occupied by Take 5. Best case, though unlikely, is that perhaps they will maintain Take 5 as a separate venue but with gambling machines installed. No idea what will actually happen and the crew seem disinclined to talk about it

We never ever use a casino, so I would certainly prefer to keep Take 5 as is.

'fraid it's true. We're currently on the Discovery out of LA, and Take 5 is closed. According to the staff, it's being re-configured for a casino expansion. Someone on our roll call said it's also happening on at least one other ship as well. Huge disappointment, as it was our favorite quiet spot on sea days. Trying to find peace and quiet on this ship right now is hugely problematic.

Not sure whether Princess's various departments are talking to each on this. The Email we received stated that our original 7 day trip out of Galveston originally scheduled to depart Feb 16/25 has been changed to a SIX day trip departing one day later, Feb 17/25.

We also received an Email from Princess a few days ago, changing our 7 day trip on Feb 17/25 to a 6 day trip instead. Stated reason was "... unexpected cruise pier congestion in Galveston" No mention in the Email of a re-faring for the missed day.

Luggage tags are found in the Cruise Personalizer, under the Check In tab, look for "Luggage Tags and Travel Summary" If your trip is in 18 days, they should definitely be there and available for printing. And yes, you should print them out before you go, it's MUCH easier than trying to add tags at the pier, though that is possible, it's not something you would want to do.

Thanks, enjoy yours as well ;o)

As soon as you exit the baggage claim area in T6, turn right and keep walking, hugging the T6 and T7 wall. It was probably about a 10 minute walk. Eventually, you will see the yellow signs and arrows pointing to the taxi stand. The taxi stand is at the far east end of T7, IOW walk past T7 until you see it.

Correct. It was not really a case of someone having to call for us, everyone in the line was calling pretty much at the same time anyway and they just asked for a bunch of taxis to be sent, as there were probably 10+ people in line waiting. Also, as we walked from T6 towards the taxi stand, I asked an airport employee exactly where the taxi stand was, as there are no signs showing it until you are almost on top of it. He replied that we had to take the LAX-It bus, as there is no taxi stand at the airport proper. He was surprised when I told him there was. For some reason, my Bell phone wouldn't connect for a voice call, though when roaming in the US, data and SMS work fine. I'll have to look into my Bell Roaming details, perhaps it doesn't cover voice calling.