Just got on Enchanted Princess for 7 day cruise September 2, 2023

[cr8tiv1]

Is it my imagination or is your cruise whizzing back?  Glad you have been able to enjoy all ports.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, dickinson said:

We are spending a day in Barcelona but it will be an early night as our flight in the morning is 6:05 am which means being at the airport 3 hours earlier.  Almost not worth going to sleep if we have to be picked up at 2;30 AM!!!!!!!

I've never gone to an airport 3 hrs (!!!) before flight and never had an issue.  Especially for that early in the morning when most likely many fewer flights than later in the day.  That is very early for Europe to N.A. most certainly.

[dickinson]

11 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I've never gone to an airport 3 hrs (!!!) before flight and never had an issue.  Especially for that early in the morning when most likely many fewer flights than later in the day.  That is very early for Europe to N.A. most certainly.

I had tried to find out how much time needed on the Spain boards but never got a good answer other than that airport is always busy.  Obviously at that hour every minute of lost sleep counts!  Have you ever been there AND had an early flight?  Our flight from there goes to Rome where we change planes for our long haul flight back to the East coast.

[dickinson]

So far today we have seen a demonstration by the head chef.  He is best friends with the maitre d (restaurant operations now).  They were funny.  We then went through the galley.  Ate a small lunch on Lido deck because they were having a pastry extravaganza (or as the Patter says Extra Vaganza).  Needed room for our desserts!  

 

One thing I have noticed is that we have not seen much of the cruise director, Olivia.  Mostly just announcing the shows in the Princess Theater.  Kind of like the old days before they had an Entertainment director along with a Cruise director.  I'm used to seeing the CD at the game shows, etc but not this one.  I can't rate her because I have barely seen her.  Boy, do I miss Matt O!!!!!

 

I also noticed that on the Lido deck the dishes were not plastic but breakable.  Looked like stoneware.  I may have mentioned this before.  

[AtlantaCruiser72]

@dickinson what time have the evenings shows in the Princess theater been at?  Have they been consistent or changed times daily?

[dickinson]

1 hour ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

@dickinson what time have the evenings shows in the Princess theater been at?  Have they been consistent or changed times daily?

Mostly 8 pm and 10 pm. Tonight is the last night so one show at 9 pm. Watch the patter for AJ Clark in the piano bar. In Crooners. He is the best!!  I’ll try to find out how long he is on for. 

[dickinson]

He is on till September 29. Then onto the Grand around Australia and New Zealand October 28-January 28 approximately. I found it on his websites. 

[lindkn2]

We are having  a difficult time deciding what to do in Naples.   Never been.   We are certainly going to Pompeii.   How long do you think we need to visit Pompeii?  Secondly,  we are debating between Sorrento and a drive along the Amalfi coast  or  the Volcano,  any suggestions or advice ?  

 

[Thrak]

38 minutes ago, dickinson said:

He is on till September 29. Then onto the Grand around Australia and New Zealand October 28-January 28 approximately. I found it on his websites. 

 

Guess we'll find out if he suits us or not as we will be on Grand October 28 - November 29.

[dickinson]

30 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Guess we'll find out if he suits us or not as we will be on Grand October 28 - November 29.

He plays all sorts of songs from mostly the 50’s, 60’s and beyond. He takes lots of requests. One set he did songs from the rat pack. Tomorrow night when we will be off he is doing a show in the main theater. He is a very accomplished musician and has studied (in school) all parts about music. 
 

he does Elton John, Beatles, Glen Campbell. He has thousands of songs in his playlist, just request something. He has a great voice. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by dickinson

[dickinson]

22 minutes ago, lindkn2 said:

We are having  a difficult time deciding what to do in Naples.   Never been.   We are certainly going to Pompeii.   How long do you think we need to visit Pompeii?  Secondly,  we are debating between Sorrento and a drive along the Amalfi coast  or  the Volcano,  any suggestions or advice ?  

 

The first time we were in Naples we were part of a private tour from our roll call and did Pompeii, the Amalphi coast, saw Positano from a distance, and then stopped at Sorrento. Also went to a Limoncello factory. This time did a half day tour to Herculaneum (through the cruise line). It is a smaller town buried by Mt Vesuvius but a little more intact. If you have never been before I suggest what we did the first time we went. Go with a small tour if possible. Having a guide is invaluable!!

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, dickinson said:

I had tried to find out how much time needed on the Spain boards but never got a good answer other than that airport is always busy.  Obviously at that hour every minute of lost sleep counts!  Have you ever been there AND had an early flight?  Our flight from there goes to Rome where we change planes for our long haul flight back to the East coast.

Sorry, cannot help further.  That's a long route home ( I mean east to Rome and then west).  But you get what you can.

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, 1emerald1 said:

He was on one of my Discovery cruises and played John Denver non stop, not for me.

 

Taste can definitely vary. We were on one cruise where the Crooner's guy had a large following and they crammed the place every night. He seemed to think he was the coolest and greatest guy ever. We didn't care for him at all and spent our time listening to the piano player in Wheelhouse. He didn't sing but was a good pianist and would take requests. If he didn't know the song he would know it by the next night. I'm sure the folks who loved the guy in Crooner's wouldn't have liked the guy in Wheelhouse at all but he was definitely more to our taste. We even saw him one evening in the back of the buffet and he asked us to sit and talk a while.

[dickinson]

11 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Taste can definitely vary. We were on one cruise where the Crooner's guy had a large following and they crammed the place every night. He seemed to think he was the coolest and greatest guy ever. We didn't care for him at all and spent our time listening to the piano player in Wheelhouse. He didn't sing but was a good pianist and would take requests. If he didn't know the song he would know it by the next night. I'm sure the folks who loved the guy in Crooner's wouldn't have liked the guy in Wheelhouse at all but he was definitely more to our taste. We even saw him one evening in the back of the buffet and he asked us to sit and talk a while.

This is why they have all kinds of music!  The party band, Static, gets a huge following.  We have heard a little bit and they sound quite good and play songs we would like to hear.  It is just when AJ Clarke is finished the Piazza is so jammed packed there would be no place for us so we listen standing somewhere for a few minutes and then go on to other places.  You will be on a long cruise so hopefully you will find music you like.  FYI- I don't think anyone requested John Denver.  Most of what he plays are requests with some music his choice.  I'm jeoulous of your upcoming long cruise.  Wish I could go too!  Maybe do a Live from?

[Thrak]

17 minutes ago, dickinson said:

I'm jeoulous of your upcoming long cruise.  Wish I could go too!  Maybe do a Live from?

 

I have never even taken my laptop on a cruise in the past and there is no way I am willing to laboriously type stuff out on a tablet or phone. I learned touch typing long, long ago and it's totally counterintuitive to me to "look at the keys" on a keyboard. It's easy to let my fingers do their thing but, when it comes to the small screen and a "touch" keyboard I become pretty lame.

 

I "have" been considering taking my laptop on this trip as it's so dang long I might go into withdrawals but I don't know that my laziness factor would allow for doing a "live from". 😉

[lindkn2]

When you receive information for Disembarking,  could you let me know what is the LAST  possible group  (time)   I mentioned before,  we can't get into our Airbnb until 11:15,  so we will be in no rush to leave the ship.   Just wondering how quick they will get everyone off, and just how late we can stay on the ship.   Loved following you on this trip.   

[cr8tiv1]

1 hour ago, lindkn2 said:

When you receive information for Disembarking,  could you let me know what is the LAST  possible group  (time)   I mentioned before,  we can't get into our Airbnb until 11:15,  so we will be in no rush to leave the ship.   Just wondering how quick they will get everyone off, and just how late we can stay on the ship.   Loved following you on this trip.   

 

Most often, last call is by 9:30 AM.  Sometimes they are much quicker and other times, disembarkation is delayed.  They want to be zero'd out by 10 AM.  I have been on ships that they are asking everyone to leave by 9.  

[dickinson]

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I have never even taken my laptop on a cruise in the past and there is no way I am willing to laboriously type stuff out on a tablet or phone. I learned touch typing long, long ago and it's totally counterintuitive to me to "look at the keys" on a keyboard. It's easy to let my fingers do their thing but, when it comes to the small screen and a "touch" keyboard I become pretty lame.

 

I "have" been considering taking my laptop on this trip as it's so dang long I might go into withdrawals but I don't know that my laziness factor would allow for doing a "live from". 😉

I understand. Me too. I’m on my phone right now so short and sweet answer. We do bring laptop though but it’s now packed. 

[Californian]

Does anyone still have the first day Patter?  If so, would you post it please?  We have a group of 18 and we want to get 3 tables of 6 people for our sailing .  I'm interested in finding out if Princess still offers the opportunity for passengers to meet up with the Maitre d' on embarkation day to make dining arrangements.  I tried doing it on the Princess app, but it says "Please check back closer to your journey date to use this feature."  We are 46 days away (not on the Enchanted Princess).

[cr8tiv1]

Maitre d' no longer holds embarkation day meetings.  Good luck with trying to have set (3) tables for 18.  You might have a little better luck if you plan on the aft dining room (deck 6).  It's larger and most passengers don't care to dine there.  Also, if you choose a later dinner time, it will work more in your favor.  

 

Also, first persons on board should check with the Assistant Managers in the MDR at lunch time.  They might give you a better insight on whether this will be doable.

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, Californian said:

Does anyone still have the first day Patter?  If so, would you post it please?  We have a group of 18 and we want to get 3 tables of 6 people for our sailing .  I'm interested in finding out if Princess still offers the opportunity for passengers to meet up with the Maitre d' on embarkation day to make dining arrangements.  I tried doing it on the Princess app, but it says "Please check back closer to your journey date to use this feature."  We are 46 days away (not on the Enchanted Princess).

 

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Maitre d' no longer holds embarkation day meetings.  Good luck with trying to have set (3) tables for 18.  You might have a little better luck if you plan on the aft dining room (deck 6).  It's larger and most passengers don't care to dine there.  Also, if you choose a later dinner time, it will work more in your favor.  

 

Also, first persons on board should check with the Assistant Managers in the MDR at lunch time.  They might give you a better insight on whether this will be doable.

 

Wow. This is a indeed something of an issue. Despite the changes in personnel (no more Maitre 'd but now called "Director of Restaurant Operations" (what a horrid change) you really should go to the dining room that is open for embarkation lunch and ask anybody and everybody working there exactly who you should speak with. If you get no satisfaction there (although I suspect you will be successful) go to Guest Services and ask who you need to speak with and, at the very least, leave them a written message. If you aren't satisfied there seek out the Captain's Circle Host (sorry, I can't remember offhand what stupid name this has been changed to) and, between these three approaches, your really should be able to contact someone who can assist you. 

 

Make sure that you have linked all of your bookings together - at least in the app. Add the others as "travel companions" (can't remember this late at night/early in the morning what the exact phrasing is in the app) but do that and it can help you to make dinner reservations in common with the rest of the travel group. (It will also, if they grant permission, allow you to find any of your group onboard with a simple search in the app. We easily found our friends - who didn't have a beverage package - in the P/E/S lounge for a nosh and discounted drinks and were able to connect up with them (and some new folks they had met) even though we hadn't originally planned to attend the "event".  I love this feature and have zero issues with either Princess or my wife being able to "find me" on the ship at any time.

[MissP22]

14 hours ago, Thrak said:

I "have" been considering taking my laptop on this trip as it's so dang long I might go into withdrawals but I don't know that my laziness factor would allow for doing a "live from". 😉

Go ahead & bring it.

At the very least you can keep up with all the CC comments and be able to add some humorous input of your own. 🤣

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, Californian said:

Does anyone still have the first day Patter?  If so, would you post it please?  We have a group of 18 and we want to get 3 tables of 6 people for our sailing .  I'm interested in finding out if Princess still offers the opportunity for passengers to meet up with the Maitre d' on embarkation day to make dining arrangements.  I tried doing it on the Princess app, but it says "Please check back closer to your journey date to use this feature."  We are 46 days away (not on the Enchanted Princess).

The meeting time with MD went away when the job changed to DRO and with the introduction of Dine My Way (DMW).  You can still look up the DRO and speak with him (I do think they are still all males, but a change in that would be nice to see someday).  However, each DR has a Mgr and they can also help.  One challenge for your group is going to be that there won't be 3 6-tops all together in a waiter section because the DR's aren't built that way.  Can they re-arrange the furniture - IDK.  You could potentially get 3 6-tops in proximity in the same DR (different wait staff - at least two teams). 

 

Another thing to consider - are 18 diverse people actually all going to dine at the same time in the same place for the full voyage?

 

IDK what you tried on the App because there is nothing in DMW that involves requests to the DRO.  You can try making a res with the Web version, but I would guess that DMW is not setup to book 18 people - even if you had them all set up as Travel Companions and were adding them for dining.  If you want to make a res in DMW ahead of time (and no need to do so IMO for what you want), I would appoint two other "captains" in your group.  You and the other two "captains" each book 3 couples into a 6-top.  One person trying to book 18 people is highly unlikely to be successful.

 

Edited September 9, 2023 by Steelers36

[coo359a2]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

 

 If you aren't satisfied there seek out the Captain's Circle Host (sorry, I can't remember offhand what stupid name this has been changed to) and, between these three approaches, your really should be able to contact someone who can assist you. 

 

 

The Future Cruise Consultant and her/his group are now assigned the duties  once given to the "old title" Captain Circle Hostess or Loyalty Manager.  The Events Manager works out of Guest Services - I believe.  

[dickinson]

All good advice.  On our first day we had lunch in the MDR.  We knew there was a two top against a wall all by itself.  We asked for it and got it.  Not only that they let us have it for all 7 nights of the cruise. For some reason they made us change our dining reservation from 6:20 pm to 6:00 pm.  No problem.  We also discovered about half way through the cruise that for breakfast they put us in a specific area.  We loved the server, Alexa, so much that we asked for her whenever we went for breakfast.