Pat King

7 hours ago, ryndam said:

. Reflections not online yet

Enjoying your daily updates. Is Reflections online yet?

15 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Last night they did one of the best Classic Rock sets I have ever heard on a cruise ship. 

Whole Lotta Love Led Zepplin cover among others. And the guitarist almost outdid Mark Knopfler!

On 11/13/2023 at 2:12 PM, Crashe said:

 It may be working exactly as planned…to free up space?

If that was the plan, it worked. Now you have another  underused dining space that used to be busy and fun.

Hard to find a superlative good enough for the band aboard. People start to dance almost from the first note. Sweet, personable, approachable band members, and great song lists. Mockingbird is the name.

On a side note, Alfredo's is still serving really good food, but is deserted. We have been twice for dinner in 3 days, and were almost the only patrons there. The new policy does not seem to be working well.

19 hours ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

reconsidering future cruise plans over a venue that isn't even offered on half the fleet?

Yes, exactly.

On 9/30/2023 at 7:39 PM, Shaver John said:

Does making a pizza really cost as much as a full meal in the dining room?

Exactly. Plus the move generated a lot of ill will. We used to love the vibe at Alfredo's.

Now we are reconsidering future cruise plans.

On 9/3/2023 at 2:28 PM, Purdey16 said:

I’m currently on sky princess and been watching the dinning at Alfredo’s and it has been literally empty since boarding day

Any update on this observation? On our 5 Sky Princess cruises, including 3 Trans Atlantics, we ate dinner there at least 4 times a cruise. We liked it as a less stuffy alternative to the MDR, at no additional cost, and we liked the proximity to the dancing and music in the Piazza.
I know on future Sky cruises that the new charges for dining will change our routine. A real shame, in our opinion.

On 9/3/2023 at 3:45 PM, Crystaltipps67 said:

Plus package only gives you two casual dining meals regardless of length of cruise and there are other places to choose from (Vines/Ocean Terrace) to use those credits. I love Alfredos but am unlikely to use my meagre two credits there as I don't want/can't manage a 3 course meal there and so I'll use my credits for sushi instead! Let's hope that the empty tables prompts a re-think.

Let's hope they do reconsider. Alfredo's was always a fun place to go for a dinner when you did not feel like going to the more formal feel in the MDR. The pizza was really very good, and the staff liked working there, and it showed.
(From experience, maybe 20 dinners there.)

On 9/3/2023 at 2:28 PM, Purdey16 said:

I’m currently on sky princess and been watching the dinning at Alfredo’s and it has been literally empty since boarding day only a few people eating in it

I don't get it. The MDR is included in your fare. If it costs you to eat at Alfredo's, why would you not just have a good meal without a charge in the main dining room?

Also, it would probably be less cost to Princess to feed you in the pizzeria thlan the MDRs.
I loved eating at Alfedo's, but....

So, it costs to eat at Alfredo's. I would have thought it would be cheaper for Princess to have folks eating at a pizza place rather than the MDR, where they are going to go to save money.

Achhh. What a shame.

We are booked on the November Sky Transatlantic. Can a fellow cruiser answer this?

Alfredo's is still included in the cruise fare, like the main dining rooms, or there has been a change, and now is a specialty restaurant?

If it is now a specialty restaurant, a real disappointment for us.

Hey, what about Alfredo's? Was that settled?

1 hour ago, rosevew said:

I'm still amazed that they are marketing as added value. On our 24 night cruise, it would cost us over $700 more just to eat in Alfredo's once every day, maybe for lunch. Double that if we wanted to eat there twice a day. I don't call that added value by any stretch.

I don't eat in Alfredo's every day but, equally, I had the choice.

We were on a Trans Atlantic on Sky and were told that they had customers that ate at Alfredo's twice a day.

On 7/27/2023 at 10:32 AM, sunviking90 said:

I was wondering when they would finally start charging for Alfredo’s. We don’t get packages and that was one of our (few) attractions to Royal Class ships. Oh, well.

We think Alfredo's on Sky was almost the best restaurant, and the most fun. Why would they start charging extra when it probably costs less for Princess than the MDR?

I hope it is not true that Alfredo's is not longer one of the free dining options.

Thanks a million to all the posters, and for the link. Wow. Now we think a Princess ship with a promenade and Alfedo's might be just the ticket.
We sailed a lot on Crystal. We now have done 5 Sky cruises, and find we don't mind the size at all. It is almost always the crew and the attitude that makes us happy.
And, the mini suite on Deck 8 of Sky seems palatial, is convenient to the wonderful Piazza, and gives us exercise if we walk the stairs to the upper decks.

We are new to Princess, and really like the ships and the onboard experience. We like Sky, but if there are significant differences in the ships that cruisers prefer, we would be thankful to hear about them.

Topaz was the best party band in my dozens of cruises. But, Blue Jade could play some awesome old rock and roll.

Here is Topaz on the TA.

We just did the TA to Southampton on Sky Princess, and loved the music on board. If any cruisers have  a web address for Blue Jade, the Argentine band, could they please share it?
Matt Baxter and Topaz were terrific too. Everyone for that matter!

11 hours ago, Learningtocruise1 said:

We’re on Sky now in the Caribbean. Internet connectivity is terrible. Don’t count on it for any serious work needs. 

Understood. How about at your ports? If we can access decent internet on the ports of call we can manage.

Thanks for all the replies.

4 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

We disembarked from the Sky 10 days ago, Eastern Caribbean itinerary. The internet service ranged from barely functional to completely unusable. Download speeds were often in the 150Kmps range or worse, vs our usual 500+Mbps here at home. Sea days, of course, were the worst, and the only time it was even tolerable was VERY late at night or very early AM. There are numerous discussions here on CC about Princess's internet issues, it's not pretty.

Well, that's what we needed to know, but did not want to hear it. Thanks. What a shame. Beautiful ship.

Is that the same on the other Royal Class ships I wonder?

We had a bad experience with no internet with Sky Princess on the Spring TA from London to Lauderdale. We want to book a holiday cruise in the south, but are worried about connectivity, since we both need to stay in touch with work. Does anyone have experience with Sky Princess internet in the Caribbean? Thanks, Pat

We took our 2nd TA on Sky Princess last month, and were pleasantly surprised that the MDR was much more enjoyable. The menu offerings and presentation was much better than our first in March. Anyone else think that?

Now, if they could dim the lighting a little.

Pat King

Still considering a TA in October. Does anyone have recent experience about crew masking? Must they still mask?

Thanks for any help.

Pat King

1 hour ago, david63 said:

I have never donea TA with SS but have with other cruise lines and there has never been a problem with Internet connection whilst crossing the Atlantic

I asked because our last TA on Sky Princess had little, or no, internet.

We'd like to do a TA in October on Silver Moon. Does anyone have experience with the dependability of the internet?

Sorry if this has been asked before.

Pat King