snoozecrooze

I believe in their original post, the table near the bottom shows December 19 and December 20, and I'm assuming the 19th is the early access date.

I feel like no one has really mentioned enough that being in Reserve Collection is what you'd want for something more comparable to a YC-esque service. It means you'll be getting more specialized service -- which sounds like a really high standard akin to MSC's Yacht Club, but it is not. However, you will still be served by a dedicated group of waiters who are predominantly (if not basically always) Reserve Collection and you don't have to have any set dining times (not that Princess has had those since post-pandemic anyways); you can just walk up and be seated at an empty table in your dedicated Reserve Collection section of the particular dining room. It's just for dinner, though, so there's nothing much more to it. Note that Sun and Star Princess have a dedicated Reserve Collection restaurant that makes it more, let's say, distinguished. I personally think that once you make all that effort to be a Reserve Collection guest, the service team does (and hopefully should) make some difference in how dinner feels as an experience (I'm kind of reaching here, but there'll basically be slightly more personable little touches than the generic MDR experience for the rest of the folks, and those are the intangibles you're paying for.) Because you've never been on Princess, you'll probably find a good amount of interesting menu items because they're new to you and you'll hopefully like them too. I never found MSC's food to be particularly memorable in the MDR but it was our service team who made the menu sing anyways. I wish you a pleasant cruise.

Have you been to the newest production shows before? I recommend giving them a try. Hope you have a festive time onboard!

Hmm...I studied the dates for a bit. A few niche takeaways. - Coral seems poised to take over for the 2026 WC if Island is being deployed for this 54-day South Pacific sailing in March - There is a 23-day gap between Emerald arriving in FLL and appearing in LA so it could be just two trips of 16-day + 7-day or...another dry dock; we'll see.

Perhaps I can help jog your memory! I only know of two Matt EDs right now (I could be missing someone else lol) Matt Barnard Matt Thompson

Hi @ConnieTact! What a fun pleasure to see you onboard the Euribia. Love to see you spreading the holiday cheer via duck hiding as well 😄. Really enjoy seeing your recollection from another MSC cruise and hope the rest of your holiday is amazing!

To update this list Do not push the "Quote" button. (It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update). Instead: Find the most recent post with the list. Select and copy all of the text in that post except the change notes. (from To update this list up to <Copy to this line . . .>) Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the "Reply to this topic..." box. Paste your copied text into that box to create a new post. Make your modifications to the list. Add change notes at the bottom. Click the Submit Reply button just below your new post. Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes. Ship Captain Cruise Director Entertainment Director Director Restaurant Ops Caribbean Vincenzo Lubrano (Oct ? - Jan ?) Ozren Marelic (on leave) Olivia Guthrie Luke Bonney Oscar Perego Coral Gavin Pears Joshua Thomas Marissa Wurms Herminio Marques Crown Vincenzo Lembo (9/15 - 12/15) Christopher Lye (12/15 - 3/15) Gary Golding Jody Miles (mid-November 2023 to April 2024) Kylie Chappell (11/18 - ?) Callie Smit (on leave 11/18 - ?) Mariusz Czemarmazowicz Diamond Stefano Ravera Esther Shelton & Mikiko Ikemoto Tim Donovan Fahey Jean Paul Musiu Discovery Alessandro Genzo (11/25 - 1/27?) Tony Ruggero (1/27 - 4/27) DuVaul Gamble Cole Bockman (Nov ??/23) Neil Rose {~Nov 6/8 - ?) Caroline Desbuquois (Frenchie) - on leave since ~11/6 Catalin Ionel Emerald Fabrizio Maresca (dates unknown) Giuseppe Castellano (on leave - dates ?) Fernando Duran Jason Allen (on leave?) Geof O'Rourke Rui Pereira Carlos Marques (on leave) Enchanted Mario Ciruzzi (Nov ?/23 - ?) Nick Nash (on leave - dates?) Jayson Douglass Madison Adams Nicola Furlan (Oct 8 - mid Jan) & (Apr 1 - ?) <????> (mid-Jan - Apr 1) Grand Michele Bartolomei Karen Rogers Sara Romera Giuseppe Franchina Island Paul Slight Andi Sanders (to 11/23) Jaclyn Frielander (11/23 - ?) Sue Rawlings Daniele Rosafio Majestic John Foster (to Jan/24?) Kristoff Greyling Nikki Jayne (taking over soon - when?) Ron Goodman (Nov ?) Carlos Marques Douw Steyl (on leave) Regal Aldo Traverso (Oct ? - Jan ?/24) Tim Stringer (on leave since ~10/1) Allie Ambriano Martyn Moss Francesco Patricio Royal Andrea Spinardi Lloyd Flay Kelvin Joy Paul Ciobanu Ruby Mario Tani Steven Lewis (on leave) Jessica Caballero Michael Kujawski George Drugan Sapphire Todd McBain Paolo Ravera (on leave) Armando Merin Tobias Stewart Mario Propato Sky Marco Fortezze Aaron Hawkins Caitlin Messerschmidt Ciprian Hoidreag Sun Craig Street (Primary) Paolo Arrigo (Relief) Corinne Steel & Dan France (2 CD's) Neil Rose TBA <Copy to this line so there is space to type "change notes" after this line> Added Olivia Guthrie to Caribbean CD. Swapped Fernando Duran and Jason Allen on Emerald CD. Note that the Diamond Princess's listings are all fairly old now and needs some updating.

This is from the Emerald Princess's current cruise (source: @MissiCruzs and her current live blog onboard Emerald). Note that the current CD is now Fernando Duran.

I believe you received two responses in the current live blog from the Emerald:

Very much so. They look like the following:

Just watched you all sail by on the webcam! Have a fun time!

I don't think so. The odds that the Royal will just take the place of Discovery in LA are much higher and it's simpler to execute. There's a higher chance, in my opinion, that Star might become a year-round Caribbean vessel. Just a little instinct of mine, but I could be very wrong still. There's clearly become an even bigger emphasis on the deployment in the region over the past year within the industry.

It's basically a fleetwide change.

I believe the Lotus Spa pool on deck 16 is the closest you'll get to something "enclosed" but all pools are outdoors.

So very much appreciated! I found your photo 🙂 I'm grateful for your generosity and hope others can follow in your footsteps to keep donating any of their ship (or cruise) photos in the future!

Please consider checking the following thread out, beginning on page 6. @partybarbie graciously shared their initial observations while sailing on the cruise immediately after the October dry dock (SFO-FLL Panama Canal) and it turned essentially into a live blog of their experiences by the end of it.

Hi again Paul! If it's not too much trouble, would you mind "donating" (AKA relinquishing your copyright) this picture of the Ascent to Wikimedia Commons (the picture database used for the pictures you see on Wikipedia)? It would require you to start an account if you do not already have one, and basically acknowledge that you accept having your photo having the potential to circulate globally on the internet (there are three different levels of creative licenses you can choose, as shown below). We don't have enough contributors sharing their pictures of cruise ships and ships' features/amenities/etc. on Wikimedia Commons, and for such a new ship, this picture would be a great start. I would really appreciate it but I completely understand if you are not comfortable with doing so. Thank you again 🙂

(A) Accurate. (B) The last sailing you have found is the last one from NYC that the public has access to as of right now. (C) Carnival has no ship set to replace it for now. It could go back to NYC from Port Canaveral the following summer(s), but there's a large chunk of her schedule not yet released. So stay tuned.

I'm positive Princess will put a Royal-class ship at PC following CB's debut (a la Ruby --> Regal in Galveston); considering its main rival, Celebrity, is placing Apex at PC in Fall 2025, I don't think CB's going to cut it long-term competing in the weekly market there. The winners of the PC bloodfest will hopefully be us because the capacity should be even more beyond comprehensible by then.

Your post reminds me of a thought I had when the Sun Princess was announced -- Horizons Dining Room is brilliant for a name of a dining room spanning the aft, but...why oh why is Horizon Court and Horizon Bistro still a thing then within the fleet? Why is the transition to World Fresh Marketplace taking so long? (The transition was very unnecessary anyways). Your point about the signage mess (with no obvious guidance from corporate) also makes me feel so much cringe on behalf of the crew.

@TxTeach79 it was an absolute pleasure to have you on the Princess boards this week. I mean no exaggeration when I say that I genuinely looked forward to your day-to-day recollections and meanderings to get me through the week. There is always such a raw and palpable excitement in your energy and it is so, so contagious. Thank you for sharing all your experiences with us. I also wanted to add in another salute to you for mentoring our next generations; role models like yourself deserve all the praise and then some. And I really look forward to following along on everything coming up! Hope to see you have your socks blown off on that Northern Lights cruise (crossing my fingers you get to pull it off!)

@trinitygirl - I really enjoyed your fun of-the-moment journal-like storytelling. Thanks a bunch for sharing your Live Blog, particularly for a TA itinerary (would love to see more if they're in your plans, but would definitely understand if you plan to relax and take it easy on your trips!). Also loved seeing the spontaneity in your adventures onboard. Safe onward travels on your current and future cruises!

@wallyj please do share any funny or interesting anecdotes about Captain Tuvo if you're at liberty to share! Kind of miss his bye byes these days.

That seems very much like a fake profile made of Captain Tuvo, often used to scam unknowing applicants seeking cruise ship work out of their money or identifying information. Meanwhile, the real Captain Tuvo has posted about his MSC adventures on his Instagram for a while now, if you don't believe it. It's like you can't be a real cruise ship captain these days until you have your impersonators. Like a badge of honor in a way.

Not really seeing any reason to prefer the Caribbean IMO except maybe for her being outfitted with the aft Skywalkers in a special way and for the specially located window suites on deck 6. I really encourage the Sapphire for its flexibility (such as a covered pool) and you'll be endlessly thankful for less overall passengers onboard.