EmilyColwell

7 minutes ago, silver1 said:

Fabulous,  thank you all for your replies,  I will take some pods with me too. 

Worth it to bring your own, whats on the ship is low quality and very expensive.

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

They stored their beers to drink later in the evening. 

I don't understand how that is a bad thing? They still paid.

2 hours ago, shanecindy21403 said:

 

On the Royal, Regal and upcoming Sky they don't offer a thermal suite. They all have the Enclave which can't be purchased by the day. You can only purchase for the entire length of cruise. It's one of the first things I do when I get on board is go to the spa and purchase my pass for the week. Looking forward to December when I'll be on the Sky for 2 weeks and a lot of that will be in the Enclave.

I've been offered the single days. So odd, i've only ever been on the emerald though on 7> day cruises.

I'll be on the Star for the first time in October, but I plan on buying for the full time anyway. 

On 7/8/2019 at 8:05 AM, sandyoftheseas said:

You can't buy a day pass for the Thermal suite on the ships I have been on.  You could only purchase it for the entire cruise.

What cruises have you been on? I've only been on two but it has been options both times i've been on to buy a day or full cruise (at a slightly better rate) even though i've always just booked the full time, it has been offered to me.

On 7/8/2019 at 7:39 AM, grouchomarx said:

I have not sailed Princess in 5 years and will be sailing on the Sky in December.  I have a few questions to get updated on Princess.

-Can you buy a day pass for the thermal suite or is it only for the whole week?

You can buy daily or for the length of the cruise.

-Same as above for the Sanctuary

Same as above.

-How would you generally rate MDR food?  My last cruise (Regal), we were not loving it like we did in the past and did a lot of specialty dining.

I find that its hit and miss, if I don't see anything I like on the menu there is the "Princess Favorites" part which I find are always pleasing, but this is very subjective. I always found the quality of the MDR vs the specialty restaurants pretty similar just the selection is different.  

-How would you generally rate Sabatinis?  I have never tried this "new" menu and it looks quite dull.

Never been, the menu has never really appealed to me or my husband.

-Are drinks still reasonably priced?  We will need to decide on the drinks package, not sure (we drink a good deal).

If you can drink a minimum of 6 drinks a day that hover around the max cost its worth it. Only times i've ever paid for the premium package is repo cruises as I usually get on for next to nothing (Yay for living near a port) other than that I find it very expensive. I just started getting the soda package and ordering bottles to my room and making my own drinks then limiting my "fancy" drinks to 2-3 a day.

Thanks.

2 hours ago, Globehoppers said:

Its one of the highest earning scams for the cruise ship.

How so?

5 minutes ago, fluffybunny22 said:

they sell the jerky I use to coax my dog to eat his food

This made me laugh ridiculously hard.

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Yes.

ouch

On 6/30/2019 at 12:34 PM, TM said:

All ships should have them regardless of the destination.  You sign up once on board and yes there is a cost, maybe $10-15.

Per class?!

On 6/22/2019 at 10:27 AM, atobols said:

We got it for our 15 day cruise last December.  I haven't counted exactly, but I'm guessing we came home with at least 150 photos.  I'm planning on having copies made of the best ones and framing them for the Grandparents as holiday gifts. IMO, it was well worth the money.  I won't buy it for our upcoming cruise, but it was great to get all those family pictures.  You do get a cruise ship USB with all of your photos on it as well as the printed copies.

How do you end up getting so many photos? I want the package but I don't know how there will be that many opportunities for pictures.

16 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

You can not move your lounger. Yes there is common area with super comfy chairs in the shade. In my experience when the Sanctuary had open loungers not booked I was able to “switch” to the sun for an hour and then return to my booked lounger in the shade. Of course you must ask for this and I don’t guarantee it would be accommodated on all ships. 

In my experience on cruises in the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska and Panama Canal there’s always been a suitable cruise long lounger available if I went up upon boarding. I’ve even been able to get a suitable lounger on the spur of the moment on sea days of port intensive itineraries. I haven’t sailed the Royal Class so perhaps my experience is not indicative of that class of ship. FWIW I’ve never had to wait in line. 

 

These photos are from the Island last month. The cabanas were really nice. But I also enjoy the loungers. The service has been universally exemplary across all ships I’ve been on. 

That Cabana is so tempting!

The one I am in for October is pretty dead, hopefully will start filling up soon.

23 hours ago, abbiep said:

As soon as I got on the ship I went straight to guest services and signed up for the Behind The Scenes tour of the ship.

Was this worth it?

On 4/23/2019 at 4:49 PM, gremlinbangles said:

At 71 days out, we recieved an offer from a forward mini suite to a premiere suite, cost was $699 PP, 7 day cruise.  We refused, hopefully we might get another shot at a better price.  

126 days out from my cruise so hopefully I get an upsell offer soon. 🤞

16 hours ago, wineforhealth said:

 

My perks are:

 

Being able to reserve your chair and leave your belongings for the day

 

the staff will get you your drinks

 

they will get you food, ( I get my own) 

 

you can can order food off a menu for a fee

 

cold towel 

 

afternoon tee

 

and as you said peace,  quiet plus away from the crowds

I didn't realize they had food up there!

Probably a dumb question but other than the pool and loungers is there anything else included for the price?

I totally understand peace and calmness is worth its weight in gold (at least to me) but curious if there's any other perks.

I've never been in sanctuary before since i've had bad luck with cruise weather in the past.

Thanks for the detail, cannot wait to get on the Star in October!

How was the events on the ship?

I'm on the star in October!

Probably a dumb question but I haven't seen it directly answered.

I have booked/paid for the soda and more package 2 months ago for me and my husband. Will those still be honored? Will they be honored on the old or new conditions of the package?

I see that smoothies are now included (which I have never seen anywhere other than the sanctuary, so heres hoping the Star has readily available smoothies for us) but what about milkshakes? I have seen them mentioned but not in the terms of the package. My husband is a huge fan of milkshakes so this would be a big bonus for him.

Thanks.

Excited to follow along, i'll be on the star in 139 days!

I am obsessed with the sugared donuts in the IC and a sucker for the pizza!

Thanks for this thread! Excited to be on the Star in October!

When I was on the Emerald last year there were some you could use.

Do they just celebrate US Thanksgiving?

I am a Canadian who will be on a cruise departing from Vancouver during Thanksgiving and wondering if they do anything over that day as well?

2 hours ago, consmarci said:

I feel like I have seen this discussed before, but can't seem to find the thread that explains it, so please forgive me for asking again. We have a combination of OBC from travel agency and shareholder credit. We'd like to use some as tips, but can some be used in the casino? If yes to the casino, how is this done? 

Thanks so much. On the Royal in two weeks! 

We did this on our last cruise with no issue. Just went to get cash as we normally do and just asked for it to be taken with our OBC.