Sox Fan Cruiser

I am 2 weeks away from our sailing. There are still 4 celebrity suites available for purchase outright. Made the absolute minimum bid. Of course I check every day. Not hopeful but I obsess anyway. Never got an upgrade. Currently in an Aqua class cabin and totally happy with that. Especially on an un-revolutionized ship.

No. I hit the muster station as soon as I get on the ship. Then watch the video when it’s convenient. Doesn’t have to be done first.

Instead of getting up really early, isn’t the sail out the same? I’d be okay grabbing a burger on deck for dinner and skip a true dinner to watch the same thing in reverse. Sailing Norway in 3 weeks!

Celebrity is VERY gay friendly. We never go to the LGBTQ+ meetings and meet tons of queer people throughout our cruise, every time.

Dress however you want. The cruise line won’t care. As someone said, the guidelines are because they don’t want shorts in the dinning room. They aren’t specifically “gender” rules. Be proud in who you are. I don’t know you and I’m proud of you.

We are the opposite. Pre dinner cocktail time isn’t until 7pm!

I never go to the gay meet and greets. I use my own gaydar to find friends to hang out with.

FOD? Really!?! It’s 2025. All cruise lines will have LGBTQ+ gatherings in the activities listing (either online or hard copy). Most are unhosted meaning there won’t be a crew member organizing it. Usually it’s at a bar and just a way for us to meet each other. Seriously though, gaydar is an easier way to meet other queer folk on a ship.

Champagne. Pizza. Then a Beverly Hills Ice Tea. (I sing the opening number from Titanic the Musical as I get on the ship as a safeguard. The only time I didn’t was the Star Princess fire cruise.)

Have the pizza making class on The Eclipse later this month. We make awesome grilled pizza at home with my husband’s amazing pizza sauce. Not doing it to learn but just something different to do on a sea day. Can’t wait. Glass blowing also. You won’t ever find me in the theater or the silent disco. So these are things that are different that interest me. Cruising is different for all of us!

Also one cruise, pre-pandemic, there was this chocolate station set up outside the martini bar late night. It wasn’t announced and I’ve never seen it again. Was that a regular thing or just something special they did.

Here’s something to stir things up…. I miss Revolutionizing the older ships. I refuse to book the Retreat on the ships not updated. All the brown and maroon accents are so dated. Michaels is depressing. And no dedicated sun deck. I know that they are “sort of” updating them soon but nothing to the extent of the Revolution effort. It’s Aqua class and Blu for me on the Eclipse next month. I also miss Q-Sine. The Petite Chef is not for me.

100% not true these days. Having been on the Star Princess fire cruise, they haven’t allowed smoking on balconies for almost two decades.

I don't really think there is a "timeframe". On some ships and pools, they will put a net over it at night but that's really late. I've watched the late football game and people were still in the pool. And I'm never up early enough where the net is still there. Chair hogs get their really early and no one says anything. 🙂 If there is no net over the pool, no one is going to stop you from going in. They do pack up the chairs at night and put them back out in the morning but that's done pretty early. From the noise above my cabin on the Sun, they were fixing the lounges at 6:30am

We have sailed with Princess for about 35 cruises. After cruise 25, we started to sailed on Celebrity as well and have done so about 10 times. We have 2 more Princess cruises and then we are done. Princess service is not anywhere near the level of elegant service that you get with Celebrity. Princess does feel more "friendly" but we feel we are constantly "forgiving" mistakes that the crew makes. Does anything ruin our cruise? Absolutely not. But they constantly make mistakes. And the service in the dinning room is ridiculous. They have NO idea how to course pre dinner cocktail, appetizer, wine and main course. Pre dinner cocktail will arrive with the main course! Now I won't even give my appetizer order until the cocktail comes. And then I give my main course order when my appetizer comes. They can't figure it out. I'm done. And don't get me started on the suite experience. Princess has NO idea how to treat suite guests compared with other lines. Even the suite cabins are a joke. Everyone has their own opinion/experience with cruise lines. So don't take my views as the final word. Other people will definitely disagree with me. Just giving you my thoughts. We are moving to X and not looking back. ( after 2 more Princess cruise of course. 🙂 )

It's not a balcony. The patio is on the interior of the ship. You walk out your second floor door to the retreat sun deck and there is a little patio with table and chairs. It's completely covered.

That is crazy!! Imagine the chaos on the bridge! There is another video from the gangway. They were open when it happened! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZyVlS-1brQ

Nervous about the bad disembarkation information. We are supposed to dock at 8 and have a private excursion booked for 9. I'll just inform them that we may be a little late. It's not a long excursion so we will make it back in plenty of time. Keep the information coming!! This is extremely helpful!

There are also many threads about the medallion use. It's MUCH different than Celebrity. One thing is that your medallion unlocks your cabin door as you approach. Handy when your hands are full.

I find that desserts on Celebrity aren't really "worth it". They don't satisfy my sweet tooth. Desserts on Princess are much better (my own humble opinion) so save some room at the end of the meal! 🙂

For Zepbound, it makes me less hungry and also eat VERY small portions as I get full very quickly. I only eat one meal a day and can't finish my plate. I talked to the head waiter and asked him to make the portions smaller as I won't finish my plate and don't want to waste food. I do that on land as well. I've lost 90 pounds in 18 months. Even before starting this medication, I was happy to see smaller portions in the dinning rooms. I leave satisfied without being stuffed.

That's why I love cruising! Everyone's vacation is different and we all can coexist on the same ship. We don't even do cocktails until 7pm with dinner at 8. We are still in the pool at 5:45!!

I never rely on the in flight entertainment for any flight. I always download plenty of content on my ipad so I can watch what I want.

You had me all excited! I thought that I was going to finally meet the infamous Ken. I saw the Norway portion and said “Yes!!” But alas, we are on the 7/27 sailing. Can’t wait to follow along and get some tips for the Eclipse and Norway.

Title of this thread is misleading. None of the questions have anything to do with the Sky Princess. Moderator will probably move it to the Port of Calls section if you do.