JimmyVWine

Obviously. But the disruption in the venue where there are literally tens of thousands of dollars of chips on the tables in unmatched by any other venue on the ship. Imagine sitting at a poker table when the signal sounds and people heed the call to go back to their cabins as they should. "Hey! Where are you going? Stay here and finish out this hand!" And if everyone does what they are supposed to and heeds the warning, what happens to the chips in the center of the table as the people whose muster station is the casino arrive in a few minutes and start to sit at the gaming tables? None of this is an issue in the theater or in Princess Live.

The biggest negative change is the disappearance of Vines as a venue. A ship with Vines has the ability to serve smaller production wines served only at that venue and only to the people who cared enough to ask. Yes, Vines has a published list, but anyone who has been there knows that they have many other off-list wines on the shelf. While it is certainly nice to have a well-curated list, failing that, striking up a relationship with the crew members in Vines could result in a perfectly satisfactory wine experience for an entire cruise. Take away Vines and you take away the ability to walk into the MDR with a nice glass of wine and the ability to drink well throughout the afternoon and evening.

Could be that the list they submitted is already out of date. Or they could have submitted the Crown Grill list and tried to pass it off as the fleetwide list. The "Award of Excellence" is a joke as it requires nothing more than the submission of an unverified paper list. Only when a restaurant gets to the top award level, "Grand Award Winner" is an on-site inspection required. One thing is for sure--A list that says this should never win an award:

This is all true. And you also have to add in the reality of total consumption. With the introduction of Plus and Premier, guests are probably doubling, if not tripling the amount of wine that they consume each cruise. This leaves PCL in a quandary if it wants to curate a list that is consistent across every ship--a goal that I contend is pointless. To achieve the goal of consistency, PCL has to order only wines that are made in industrial-sized production levels. And doing that results in buying industrial wine. Bleh. But not to further depress anyone...take a look at this! https://www.carnivalcorporation.com/news-releases/news-release-details/cheers-princess-cruises-earns-15-wine-spectator-awards

So much better than the current Flowers Chardonnay.

Greg LaFollette also helped launch that brand (Hartford Court). Great stuff for the price.

That is true today. But when Greg was making the wine, it was top notch. Back then, when it developed its reputation, it was a small production boutique winery. For example, the 1997 Porter Bass Chardonnay had a production level of 180 cases. By contrast, the 2021 Sonoma Coast bottling now surpasses 20,000 cases. Nothing is the same except the name. The current owners are trying to succeed off of the name instead of the product.

Flowers took a nose dive when Greg LaFollette left, and what was left of the brand suffered even more once Joan and Walt Flowers sold the brand to Huneeus. But despite all that tail-spinning, it is still probably the best Chardonnay on board. Not saying much.

Wish I could give you some (or one) but I have my reputation to consider!

Never had any issue and I've a cabin that connects next door at least 3 times. The area of connection is actually the width of two doors, yours and theirs, stacked together. This should provide at least as much protection as a wall.

As an example, here is a promo image for one sold on amazon.

No. Certain manufacturers make them for adults. Sadly, there are adults with cognitive issues that cause them to wander, so equipping them with Air Tags is as useful for them as it is for children. Just do a search that includes the word “adult” and you should find what you need.

All I can tell you is what the app is showing for my booking options on Sun Princess. The fee for each venue is $45 and a gratuity is automatically added on top of that if you book. I was surprised to see Sabatini’s priced the same as Crown Grill. On all other ships there is a price difference between the two.

That is exclusive of tip. 18% would be added to that amount if you are paying out of pocket.

The App shows for Sun Princess that ALL of the Specialty Dining locations are $45. Butcher's Block by Dario Kai Sushi Crown Grill Sabatini's Umai Teppanyaki Umai Hot Pot The Catch By Rudi And Spellbound will be $149.