Kay S

The difference being that Sabatini's is an upcharge restaurant in the first place. I quit eating lobster on cruise ships long ago because it has been many a year since I was served a good one. It wasn't unusual for our waiter on some sailings to ask us if we wanted another lobster, even if we didn't ask for it. I had probably given away the first one to someone at my table, so I never asked for a second. When the quality of beef began to decline, I stopped ordering surf and turf altogether. This new nickel-and-dime is part of the larger picture of post-covid cruising. It's annoying, yes, but Princess is not alone in the practice.

Something else you would not have known beforehand is the cheerleading section on Cruise Critic's Princess forum. For whatever reason, there are some who will not hear a bad word about their favorite cruise line. (The head cheerleader changes from time to time, but it's easy to figure out who's who quickly enough.) You are having a less than stellar cruise, which happens to all of us eventually, and I'm sorry for that. If NCL is your "cup of (hot) tea." so to speak, may your next trip with them be perfect!

I remember the hoopla about this several months ago. I had forgotten all about it until now. The idea sounded like a non-starter then.

Is that your historian daughter? Pretty girl.

Maybe it wasn't puppy season...

I think it was a victim of "new" Princess. Probably it didn't make a big enough profit for them.

Yes, we old people are very suspicious of anyone under 80. 🙂 Also, our faces are so wrinkled and twisted that every stare is a DIRTY one. My advice to you is to avoid old people at all costs. 😶

Well, that's confusing. Good thing they are renaming the pubs.

Since the OP is considering December, I wonder if that's a Christmas cruise. I was once told that formal night at that season is more elevated than the rest of the year. Anyone know?

This is slightly off topic, but I was under the impression that ships with an indoor Salty Dog Gastropub did not also call the grill Salty Dog but still Trident Grill. Ships without the indoor venue renamed the grill "Salty Dog." Of course, I could just be imagining the whole thing. 🙂 If our friends are happy with NCL, they should continue with them. The beauty of cruising is that we have choices. (See you very soon, HAL.)

Some fun formal evenings in my experience: guy in denim overalls and a flannel shirt, handsome man in full kilt regalia (sans bagpipes), lady in muumuu and flip flops. If the dining staff let you in, you can wear pretty much whatever you want.

"Guest appearances"? What's that?

I guess it isn't the Emerald that's not impressing you. It's Princess. I hope things improve for you, but staffing and service have been problematic since the restart of cruising.

This. Wonderful lounge with quiet atmosphere. I have never been on the Emerald but have been a bunch of times on Crown. I’m not sure what the speciality restaurants are now.

One advantage to being is a wheelchair is that they take you right up to the front of the crowd. Yo, Lisa!

It's tons of fun! For us, it was in the afternoon and the time was printed in the Patter.

Our other "regular" line is HAL. I prefer the food there and so many other things, but service has suffered across the industry due to staffing shortages and limited training. Will you be disappointed in Princess? I guess you need to decide that for yourself. (BTW, my daughter and family are just back from Carnival, and they said service was good.)

I'm donating my two free to my teenage grandsons who can eat everything all day and still stay skinny.

I don't take a lot of photos because I am really bad at it. 🙂 DH used to take his camera, but then film went away (for the most part.) He is about 90% tech challenged. Sometimes I will ask a fellow passenger to send me a copy of their photos. People are really nice about that. I am not sold on the value of the Medallion or the app, but I use it when I need to, getting in and out of the cabin, etc. I think it's the only use of it DH can handle.😁

LOL. Negative note. The Arc de Triomphe is the only place we have ever been robbed in Paris.!

This is so silly. I was not responding to you, mouse. Our friend from Toronto suggested several post ago that people should avoid the afternoon tea in the buffet and go to the one in the MDR instead. I asked him what this buffet tea was, since his post suggested equal tea venues, buffet vs. MDR. There is no buffet tea service equal to the MDR, and I just wanted to clarify that with him. You correctly pointed out that the food from the MDR tea is also available in the buffet snack area in the afternoon. I agreed with you, but our friend said I was "100% wrong." So the moral to this story is don't ask anyone to clarify what he means.

The original draw for us was Skywalkers. The views and the place was never crowded. The food offerings have always been mediocre. I mostly went for the shrimp fountain, but there was always an interesting assortment of cheeses. I usually ordered a "regular" drink at the "regular" price rather than the sometimes silly concoctions on special. An exception would be Chairman of the Board, which DH loved. The staff was the same each night, and it was nice to get to know them. I learned a lot about some countries I'd never been to by talking to them about their homes. We often met some fun people and had a good time with them, sometimes different people on different nights. (BTW, I don't ever remember any conversation about cruise status or sharing "Elite" stories.) When we had grandchildren with us, we took them along. No one complained. (My kids are well behaved, thank you.) Now we have been on the Royal class ships (for itinerary reasons, mostly) the lounge has gone to Club 6 or whatever it is on other ships. No great views. The last couple of times it has been in Vista Lounge, with a too-loud entertainer, and with everyone all spread out, limiting chances to chat with others. It's nothing like the Skywalkers experience. To answer the question, what's the big deal, I guess I have to say it is not a big deal and not as much fun as it once was.

If you say so... Your experience is yours and mine is mine. I will be up there in the buffet waiting for them to bring me tea and sandwiches on a little tray at the white linen covered tables. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

I know. It's so dumb, but so funny. The people's faces when the door opens and all the roulette players start screaming!

I've seen that but I never thought of it as "tea service." They put the MDR tea leftovers up there in the buffet after the tea service is over.