caribill

You can always hide your wife by wrapping her in some aluminum foil.

I suspect the sensors are there, but the reporting to you about location is not taking advantage of them. After all, if they plan to deliver a drink you ordered to you, the server needs a better location description than "Neptune Pool area" or "Club Fusion." I have seen this technology in a local restaurant. After you place your order at a counter, you are given a location device and the server brings your food directly to the correct table.

What was your itinerary? What did you like about the Nieuw Statendam itself?

We had a 15 day cruise on the Emerald that ended Jan 3. Although there was no "Welcome Aboard" show, there was a performer at two times in the Princess Theater on embarkation evening. As I remember it, the CD did introduce some of the non-Production shows in the Princess Theater, but to be honest, I do not need the CD to come out and say "Are you ready for a great show?" and then say the name of the performer. The ED was invisible and there was no way that worked to contact her. I do miss the crew talent shows. Often they had better performers than the professional performers.

Was this advertised or did you just come across it accidentally?

You can see our report of an Alaska Princess connoisseur tour from several years ago at https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1656270-details-of-the-tour-part-of-a-princess-alaska-cruisetour/ At that time we felt the connoisseur pricing was definitely worth it.

a) The activities you list during second seating are not new to that time. For years we have not been able to see many of those activities due to having second seating. I asked a CD once why they could not share the pain and schedule some of those one time events during first seating and the answer basically was it was hard to change scheduling since the venues were used for other events going on during first seating. b) As far as the Voice of the Ocean finals, the first time it was on a cruise we were on it was scheduled for 10 PM so that people from both early and late seatings could attend. The second time it was on a cruise for us, it started 30 minutes before second seating so all we could see was the first 30 minutes. c) At least your scheduling allowed you to attend the early show in the Princess Theater if you wanted. On other threads there are posts about the first show not being over until after second seating had started and the later show started before second eating people could possible finish their meal. But your main point is a very legitimate complaint. Whatever the dining times turn out to actually be, there needs to be coordination between the various departments so that when dining times charge, so does the scheduling of other events.

Are you on your cruise yet? If not you do not know what time the early and late seatings will really be. Of course before the recent change in times listed in the personalizer the previously listed times did not reflect reality either.

Actual dining times are really not cast in concrete until relatively close to the cruise. Bookings for cruises (and dining times) starts up to two years before embarkation and there is no way to know that far in advance what the actual dining times will be. Not all other lines manage it. I forget whether it was RCI or Celebrity, but pre-cruise late seating was listed as being 8:30 (very unacceptable), but turned out to be around 7:30.

Carnival Corp has issued a press release which says the following about the Sky Princess: Sky Princess from Princess Cruises – Expected Launch Date in October 2019 Sky Princess will carry 3,660 guests and include the best of the stunning features found on its three Royal-class sister ships – Royal Princess, Regal Princess and Majestic Princess – as well as new offerings that represent an evolution of the current ships' designs, with new innovations designed to exceed guests' expectations. New to Sky Princess are spectacular Sky Suites, centrally located on the top deck. Measuring 700 square feet and with a 270-degree panorama, the suites feature the largest private balconies at sea with a prime view of the ship's Movie Under the Stars screen. Sky Suites have sleeping capacity for five guests and plenty of room for entertaining, making them ideal for families and celebrations. The 143,700-ton Sky Princess is designed to offer more ways for guests to unwind, with a new contemporary design for its relaxing adults-only Sanctuary area, and twice as many private cabanas as its sister ships. Also new for Sky Princess will be the addition of a Wakeview pool on its aft decks, plus two new deep-tank top deck pools, a restorative Retreat Pool and more Jacuzzis than previous Royal-Class ships, including two cantilevered over the deep-tank pools. Other ship highlights will include a soaring central Piazza-style atrium, the iconic Seawalk, Princess Live! entertainment venue with a new café, Camp Discovery youth and teen centers, and a wide variety of guest-favorite dining venues with updated décor and design throughout the ship. Guests will also be able to enjoy the new look of the ship's Vista Lounge complete with a full bar offering, an evolution of the popular lounge on other Princess ships. The inaugural Mediterranean deployment of Sky Princess is set to feature 10 cruise departures on eight unique itineraries, beginning October 20, 2019, with a seven-day Mediterranean and Adriatic cruise from Athens (Piraeus) to Barcelona. On November 17, the ship is scheduled to set sail from Barcelona for Fort Lauderdale, where guests will enjoy tropical holidays in the Caribbean before the ship returns to tour Europe beginning in April 2020. http://phoenix.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2380856

In our case the headwaiter brings the next day's menu to the dinner table and helps us select which items can be made without any added salt. (We do not have to avoid all salt, so items that naturally contain salt, such as cheese, are not a problem.)

All the PM has on it is a code that the ship's computers link to your information. So whether you get it in the mail or at the port terminal it will have the code that identifies you and thus once on board will be 100% ready.

When Princess had more smaller ships in the fleet (even if large at the time they were introduced) there were more special itineraries available. The newest ships cannot be properly accommodated at many of the ports they used to visit. For example, the Royal class rarely can made it all the way to Stockholm while the Grand class ships always did. The number of passengers on the largest ships would overwhelm the available tourist infrastructure at ports that used to be special on Princess itineraries and do so on some ports that continue to be visited. For example, when the Golden Princess went to the Falkland Islands many passengers were disappointed because excursions filled up very fast. When the Royal Princess goes there with about 1000 more passengers than the Golden had, even more passengers will be left out of the excursions they want.

Before the Personalizer recently changed the times listed, the previous times in the Personalizer rarely reflected the times on the ships. I do not understand why so many believe the new times in the Personalizer are any more accurate than the old times were.

Ask this question on your next cruise at the M&G. What is really rare is a TA who will monitor changing prices/perks and notify you when they change to your benefit.