BamaVol

Haven’t cruised with Princess yet - 40 days out - but share your problem. I will bring a full box of lactase pills and take 3 before any meal that might have dairy. I think there is a fruit option for dessert in the MDRs. That should be good enough for me. BTW, you probably know this, but the lactose dissipates over time. I am just fine with aged cheese. The problem is aged cheese looks just like unaged cheese.

I don’t eat donuts. Where on the Caribbean will I find fresh fruit?

I feel like I spotted a grüner veltliner on a Princess bar menu, but it wasn’t Austrian. Have you tried it? And disliked it? I will be disappointed if I cannot find a wine to enjoy with my seafood dinners in the MDR.

At some point in my life, I realized that my possessions owned me. The less I own, the happier I seem to be.

We all place different values on the individual components. Never having sailed with Princess, I am hoping I will not be disappointed with the dinners in the MDR that I have paid for with my fare. If I am, the next time I run the numbers, specialty dining will receive a higher value. Of course, that means that what comes with the base fare will have a lower value which might mean the next cruise is on another line.

It’s possible you will not be able to fix this. Is it likely that 5:00 in your preferred MDR is fully booked? I would be pretty upset if this was done to me, but I would not let it spoil the cruise. Good luck. I hope you can get it fixed. I going to look at my reservations now. I swear every time I get on CC, I discover something new that Princess might mess up on me.

I plan to pitch a fit when they deny me my 16th drink of the day. Just kidding. But after a 44 year career in accounting, I always run the numbers before making a decision. The Plus package will save us money. Not sure that Premier would. We both use the internet, tip, exercise and drink adult beverages. She might try a dessert. I will not. As with anything, YMMV. And I don’t really care what other people do. I’ll let Princess worry about that. If they see a way to make more money by eliminating, enhancing or shrinking either of those plans, I expect they will. Then I just have to run the numbers again. Most of you seem like sensible people who would do the same thing. But trying to influence Princess beforehand is foolish. We are too small a sample, and unscientifically selected at that, to base line-wide decisions on. They’ve just set this up. It’s too soon to make further changes without data. Let them see at least a few months of actuals.

Hoping for light breezes if I encounter that.

42 days out and I can bookmark the shows in the theatre. Nothing else of consequence. Who cares when the art auctions are scheduled. I’d like to know what movies we might be able to watch.

I looked at the deck plans. Coffee and Cones looks like the only likely place, deck 15. I saw a menu somewhere for a total of 4 different smoothies, with 2 add-ins. One was all veggie, one was all fruit, one was a combo and I dunno about the 4th. Turmeric was one of the two add-ins, ginger might have been the other.

And every piece of luggage in the cargo hold, nothing under the seats or overhead.

I have seen the same discussion repeatedly on Flyer Talk. com. There is a segment of the flying population that longs for the days when everyone dressed up to travel by air. They are slowly dying off and (sadly IMO) being replaced by people flying in their pajamas. But I understand the desire to be comfortable. I threw away all my ties but one or two after I stopped working in offices that required it. I keep a couple for cruise dinners and funerals.

Not trying to be snarky, genuine question: what health code and why does it apply to feet? My feet, shod or bare, never touch anything but the carpet and are probably cleaner than many passengers’ hands. Is there an on-board health inspector and who does he/she work for?

In my case, I have a separate receipt for $1,200 (10 nights X 2 X $60). If you had that, it might help.

I’ve had that happen a couple times but not every time. I always figured it was user error.

That’s pretty funny. I’m sure the MDR eventually got over the snub.

Haven’t been on them all, but I have not seen it enforced on Norwegian or Royal Caribbean. There was usually one guy in shorts, tank top and ball cap every night. I don’t know if everyone else being dressed up bothered him. I’m gonna dress up because I want to. I don’t really care how anyone else is dressed. But I will notice.

Our last cruise, NCL Epic, had 2,000 cosmetic sales ladies from China. That was more than half of the total passengers on the ship. They did occupy some space for private functions, but not much. I would say their presence dominated the entire ship for a week. Culturally, it was not a good fit with the Europeans and North Americans on board with them. Ports were a relief as they always went ashore to shop. It has taken me 6 years to get over it and want to sail again. I certainly resent the lack of pre-cruise transparency by NCL. I’d probably be okay with the music themed cruises. I like Irish music and dance. But I’d be wary of my cabin location.

Currently enjoying a visit from my step sister in law and her husband. They both retired last year, he on 12/31. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet for him. I saw him in the golf course today and he looked relaxed but pale. As much as I enjoy seeing him, I wonder if he didn’t enjoy returning to Massachusetts from Florida more when he worked. He’ll have no one to show off his tan to. But he told me he had called a former coworker this morning. It was 79 here and 17 at home. They are not cruisers but I think I could convince him with a glimpse at the food offerings from our next cruise.

At times, a line may offer to match status. I think it was MSC that did it for us, although we did not take advantage. Interestingly, it was based on a high level airline or hotel chain status, not even another cruise line. But this was quite some number of years in the past. You know what they say, it doesn’t hurt to ask and being told no doesn’t really hurt either. You rarely get what you don’t ask for.

DCThunder has offered good advice on 3 ports. Get familiar with the others. You can always hold off booking excursions until onboard, although some may sell out in advance. We found great differences between Caribbean ports and some European. Rome was a trip - it involved 2 trains and a bus from the port. We did it on our own but I’m not sure I would recommend it. Whereas Nassau or Cannes, for what it’s worth, are a short walk from the pier to the town. If possible, suggest an independent tour on your roll call and see if you get sufficient interest. It may cost less and you will see and do more in a van with 8 than a bus with 50. We did that for Florence and had the time of our lives.

I have made MDR reservations for 6:00 PM on our upcoming Caribbean Princess cruise. It sounds like 6:00 PM may not be compatible with a 7:30 start time for a show. I have requested a 2 top each night and in the Palm, which is the aft MDR. We will probably order a glass of wine to start and won’t order dessert or linger over a cup of “coffee”. I’m a quick eater but Mrs BV doesn’t usually finish an entree and might not appear to be finished. Should I change the reservations to an earlier time?

Excellent suggestion. Until I read this, I was planning Speedo and a crop top. 😆

Call me anything but “elderly”.

I might be tempted by the 20% off liquor. I’ll have to check port prices first.