ScratchTheRat

My passport expires nov (5 months after returning) and I just saw that the policy is that you must have 6 months remaining! None of the countries we visit require this thankfully but am I gonna have an issue?

 

The app has accepted my passport and I’m in the green lane so I don’t know. Panic!!!!

35 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We’ve cruised several times since the new packages came into play .. the drinks have always been offered at the $15 limit since Feb 21st on several different ships.  We’ve tried the juice bar and it’s ok but if not included, will not be going out of my way to get one.  Not sure about the dessert bar either .. but I know the drink limit is $15.  

Even for those who booked the old plus package and didn’t upgrade to the new?

4 minutes ago, wowzz said:

This was confirmed on Saturday in the live Sky blog.

That is what I said, yes...that it was confirmed.

My app is back and still showing limit of $12 😞

On 4/17/2023 at 1:43 PM, rosevew said:

Looks like Vines is going (OMG, what will we do without it) and will be a Salty Dog Gastro Pub, according to new deck plans on Cruisemapper.

Confirmed this is wrong.. Vines is still there and no Salty Dog.

10 hours ago, antsp said:

Nice to see that they adjust menus for uk passengers

I may be the odd one out here and many will disagree but hear me out and at least respectfully agree to disagree...

 

I actually dislike that they adjust things to UK passengers. Here's why.

 

If I wanted to eat British food and have a cup of PG Tips in my room, I would travel P&O or stay on land. 

 

You don't go to Spain and ask for Pie and Mash, you eat Paella, tapas and drink Sangria!

 

Part of the fun for me of travelling different ships and lines is the different foods/shows/services each offer. If they're all homogenised, it becomes no different to how dull the british high streets are. "Oh I fancy Italian, there's Ask, Zizzi or Bella Italia...just like EVERY city in the UK"

 

I want Princess to be Princess, Carnival to be Carnival and P&O to be P&O, but I respect that some are different ❤️

1 minute ago, Nolafan said:

Hi! This will be our 1st Princess cruise. We did purchase the Premier package and will be sailing in June.

 

Where do I confirm the package in the App? When I go to Folio under packages it says we don't have any. Is this the correct place to look for it?

Thanks 

Yes but I think there’s an issue with the system as everyone’s seem to have vanished!

1 minute ago, Catchum said:

On our April Cruise the Juice bar prices were $8 for most and $12 for a couple made with coconut milk. I think we got as much value out of the juice bar as we did the coffees. Be warned take a book when you place an order as it can be a long wait especially for the veg based ones. My favorite was a mix of the Booster and the Rejuvenator over ice. A great way to start the day.

 

 

They all sound amazing

2 minutes ago, gah_cruise said:

Our package was updated to the new drink prices ... check on the app (OceanReady>Folio Packages & Prizes) will show what the drink limits are

My app still shows $12 😞

Hey all.

 

When we booked our cruise, it was a year ago and the limit was $12 on drinks and says it included juices, smoothies etc.

 

Now, the new Plus has a $15 limit and includes "unlimited juice bar"

 

I am wondering if our plus package will be upped to rhe $15 limit and if the juice bar will still be usable on our plus or if we need to upgrade?

Just now, wowzz said:

No, the discussion also covered the ract that the SaltyDog Gastropub was not being added.

My distress is now so  high that I now need to lie down 😃

I have not seen that post so perhaps it was "done to death" but as I was not involved, asking myself seemed wise.

 

Enjoy your lie down, let's hope you wake up a little less cranky, hm? 🙂

Just now, wowzz said:

Surely this discussion was done to death a week or so ago ?

There was a discussion about Vines being removed, not Salty dog being added. Sorry if my question caused you such distress you needed to make a snarky post about it. I shall refrain.

1 minute ago, Alcairns said:

No! Main change is Bistro is going and the Catch is replacing it. This is a seafood restaurant which is getting good reviews on Enchanted. There will also be some layout changes in the Market Fresh buffet. 

Someone needs to tell Cruisemapper 😄

Cruisemapper have listed Salty Dog Gastropub coming to Sky Princess during dry dock.

 

Is this true?

Just now, Jeter02 said:

The source is myself. There is never been talks about removing Vines at all especially during recent times. I was just on the ship not too long ago and when the captains spoke about what was being done in dry dock that was not one of them. The only changes that we're being done was sabatini's being moved to Sur La Mer and the new catch of the Day restaurant opening in sabatini's. Other than that the whole of the ship was getting a new spray job with the airstream bubbles to help with the friction of the ship sailing through the water. Other than that it was just normal routine maintenance on the ship being done for dry dock.

Okay thankyou, not meaning to sound rude 🙂 just the new deck plans on CruiseMapper are making a lot of us worried. Vines and Good Spirits are why I got the drinks package and seeing both disappear worried me

4 minutes ago, Jeter02 said:

No, it's not true. Vines is not going anywhere on the sky princess 

Got a source for that?

 

The new deck plans show it gone.

I am honestly more troubled that the Cruisemapper plans show the loss of Good Spirits at Sea, which frankly is the reason I get the drinks package. I sail next month after dry dock and hope this is not true!

On 2/28/2023 at 9:10 AM, lucas34 said:

Dry dock

Do we know anything about the dry dock as I’ve not seen it mentioned anywhere except on here and no idea what’s happening 🙂

I have now sent evidence to Carnival. Any idea how long it takes to hear back?

Hi all!

 

If you have OBC on your account already (due to rate bookings, cancellations or price protection) can you still have shareholder OBC added on top?

7 hours ago, Aladdin22 said:

Enjoyed reading this, where’s the next part? 

Hehe, patience grasshopper ❤️ I have a full time job and packed social calendar 😄

On 6/27/2022 at 5:12 PM, kwokpot said:

Cultural differences maybe? 

Possibly yes! 🙂

On 6/25/2022 at 1:29 PM, stephenSJ said:

We are from UK doing our first Carnival cruise although we have cruised around 40 times with most of the other similar standard lines.

We have enjoyed the food, Guys burger and fries are a delight and the choice in the MDR is more extensive than most lines,ie 10 starters 9 mains and 6 desserts most nights. 

The disappointment for us are the desserts in lido that are mainly slices of larger cakes full of cream and while looking different manage to taste similar,even the key lime is bland.

We went anytime and have never had to wait for a table.

 

We felt the exact same, they were all lovely to look at but all tasted of nothing lol. It was all cream and sugar with no actual flavour.

2 hours ago, debsjc said:

I want some of that Chocolate melting cake now 😀

Neither of us drink tea, so that's not a problem 

Do the standard balcony cabins have mini fridges in? 

 

Thanks again for all the information, you have all made me hungry!

 

 

They do have mini fridges yes but they dont get super cold!

PRE-TRAVEL AND EMBARKATION DAY REPORT

June 9/10th 2022

 

Here we are, the cruise we had postponed twice since it was originally the Legend in 2020! It was going to happen.

 

June 9th, the day before the cruise and we had a half day at work to finish though in all reality, not much work would be done! As the work portion of the day came to an end, we headed to get our COVID tests and then lunch at IKEA (cheap and easy but gave us a Scandinavian meatball preview!)

 

Once home, I printed our test results, all negative, putting them into our binder of documents before having a lovely bubble bath while the others packed the car. We then drove part way to a nearby shopping mall for shopping, coffee and a cake!

 

 

For dinner, we had the classic here in the UK, Nando's! It's the place everyone seems to go when out and about and though relatively simple food, it's always consistently good!

 

 

 

 

After food, we headed to our hotel which was on the Motorway so we lessened the length of our drive to the port the next morning. We stayed at a cheap hotel as it was just for a sleep and nothing fancy!

 

JUNE 10TH - EMBARKATION DAY

 

When we awoke, we showered and had breakfast, simple english muffins and such, before getting in the car for the short 1 hour drive to Port Parking. When there, we parked up, gave our keys to the attendant and then they took our luggage from us and loaded it into the minibus which swiftly took us to the cruise ship! Oh that feeling when you see the funnel in the distance and it all becomes real! 

 

 

We headed into the terminal and were surprised with just how quiet it was. My guess is that most US visitors would want to board later so they could see Dover first, plus there were a lot of B2B'ers from the previous cruise.

 

Our boarding time was 11am but we got to the terminal around 10:20 and we were onboard and sat on the Lido deck by 10:45! Wow! That's a new record.

 

When I sat down, I saw a familiar face at Guys Burgers, John Heald, Carnival's Brand Ambassador! So of course I got a selfie!

 

 

(Not sure why it keeps posting upside down though hah!)

 

We then grabbed a sandwich from the deli and some cake to share.

 

We headed to our room shortly after to drop off our bags and we found that our luggage was waiting so that was great! We checked out our view from our balcony and shared some delicious chocolate covered strawberries which had been delivered to our room as a gift from a fan of my Youtube Vlog! (Thankyou!!!)

 

 

 

Then, 2 of us left so the organised one could unpack. Where else, but the bar for the first cocktail of the cruise! I opted for "The Cruiser" and was provided with an edible chocolate straw which I thought was great!

 

 

After unpacking, we completed our Muster which was super easy. We headed to the muster point and had our cards scanned before watching a brief demonstration of lifejacket usage then we were done!

 

We watched sailaway from our balcony and got dressed for dinner after a good explore of the ship!

 

DINNER MENU FOR NIGHT ONE:

 

 

For our Appetisers, we ordered the Quesadilla, Smoked Poblano Soup, Fried Calamari and the Rare Find option of Cured Salmon between us!

 

 

All was great but the Cured Salmon was AMAZING 😄

 

For Entree/Main Courses we ordered the Sweet and Sour Shrimp, the Grilled Mahi Mahi and the Roasted Vegetable Ricotta Lasagna.

 

 

Then finally, for dessert we ordered the Tiramisu, the Strawberry Cream and the Cheese Plate!

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we walked round the ship taking in the views and settled in for an early night. Join me soon for the next post! 🙂