snapdragon7

And I would guess that these select days are listed in the Patter (and I just missed it?)

We almost missed it the first time. At least for our sailing, the pub lunch was listed in the regular list of times and events in middle of the patter; the Alfredo's pizza event was in a little box of its own on the back page.

Sea days are normally the time for the Pub Lunch, typically served in the Crown Grill on the CB. Did they offer both Alfredo's in Sabatini's and the Pub Lunch in the Crown Grill on both sea days!

They offered both :)

We were on the CB last March and they did not have it in Sabatini's. We did have it on the Island Princess several years ago when we did the through canal. It is nice to know however that they are doing it now and hope they do it next month when we are on the ship. I do like Alfredo's for lunch. Thanks.

Sounds like it must be very new on the CB. We tried it on the first sea day, and it was quite good! I haven't been on a ship with a regular Alfredo's restaurant yet, though, so I couldn't say how it compares.

No on the TV system.

Only on the.....

Royal

Regal

Sapphire

Diamond

 

As far as I know the sea days Alfredo's in Sabatini's was on the Coral. I was not aware of it being on the CB. I am sure someone can chime in that know's otherwise.

We were on CB on the last sailing, and they did offer Alfredo's pizza in Sabatini's on both sea days.

We were also on the CB 7/7-7/19, and overall we really enjoyed our cruise. Food and service were usually very good. Our toilet worked fine for the entire cruise - I was a little worried about that after reading reports about toilet problems here. To be very clear, I'm glad we went.

However, I will say that we had a slow but constant leak in our bathroom that prevented us from storing anything on the shelves or the right side of the sink. We had to keep some rather gross sodden towels on the shelves at all times to prevent overflow. Sometimes drops came from right over the sink, which you'd have to dodge when brushing your teeth. We politely called it in three times, each time we were told someone would come to check it out, and no one ever showed up or contacted us. We finally stopped trying a few days into the cruise. We didn't let it ruin our trip, by any means, but it made me wonder how overloaded the CB maintenance people are (and if they just hadn't had time to deal with it, I would have preferred to be told THAT, instead of getting absolutely zero response). We also noticed some sewage smells in public areas at times. Honestly, we enjoyed our trip, but just to be on the safe side I'm inclined to try one of the newer ships next time.

We like to dress for dinner - I usually wear a dress and heels on casual nights also - but I can't be bothered to worry about what everyone else is wearing. So long as you're clean, clothed, and kind to your tablemates and waiters, I'll happily sit with you.

The first formal night was the second evening - the day of the Guernsey port call, the second formal night was the evening of the first sea day.

Thanks! :)

I checked the patters and the seafood buffet was the evening of the Edinburg (Queensferry) stop . . . in the patters it is called Neptune's Buffet. It is in the Horizon Court from 530pm until 11pm - no charge and self-serve.

 

We ate there instead of the MDR because the only thing that interested us on the MDR menu that evening was the goat cheese soufflé.

If you don't mind me asking, were the formal nights on the two sea days?

Thanks!

We cruise on both Princess and HAL. We have booked every cabin type from inside to full suite, depending on the itinerary and how much time we expect to stay in the cabin. I definitely think there should be perks and incentives for booking expensive cabins, but I really dislike the idea of obtrusively segregating public spaces (including the MDR) by class. This concept is one reason we've had zero interest in Cunard. Not the end of the world, obviously, but if Princess continues in that direction, it might push me more towards HAL. We already prefer that HAL allows any cabin type to order room service from the MDR, while Princess only allows full suites to do this.

 

It's not usually that crowded except at peak times.

Right, and when there's plenty of room I don't think anyone will care. But the person you originally responded to was clearly talking about not being able to sit anywhere during peak breakfast and lunch times, because people have parked there for the day whether they're eating or not. Seems inconsiderate to me.

I don't see anything wrong with that as long as they're using the seat. It's a little different then someone laying down an article & leaving for hours.

The buffet can get very busy at meal times, though. If someone is no longer eating (and perhaps hasn't been for hours), I would think they would make way for people roaming with plates full of food and nowhere to sit.

EXACTLY!

Whenever we see this behavior, in the buffet restaurant or the main lobby, we always say "Look, the inside people!". :)

We book inside cabins about half the time... we would never use a buffet table unless we were actually eating at the time :(

There are plenty of other places to socialize without preventing others from enjoying venues meant for eating and drinking.

So very sorry for your loss. We don't know you or Virgil personally, but these updates have been absolutely heart-wrenching to read. I hope you find comfort during these difficult times.

I really like you!!! I'm with you on refusing to be bullied:)

 

Glad you are able to take your hubby and yourself on an anniversary cruise. Enjoy and ignore the comments here. What we see here on these boards in a speck of dust compared to the people on the ships. Someone mentioned a while back that CC members are only about 2% of actual cruise passengers, I believe it and ignore the regular anti- smokers who take offense at what we find to be an enjoyable habit. I find that the more we present our case(s) for our smoking, the more vocal some become against us. So, just grin and bear it and know it will not be like this on your cruise:)

 

Joanie

Joanie, why is it "bullying" when others take offense at what you find to be an enjoyable habit, but not "bullying" when you lobby to ban wearing perfume? Honestly, I wouldn't object to seeing both go, but I assume perfume wearers also find that to be an enjoyable habit. Simply objecting to either habit is not bullying.

As to smokers actually trying to force non-smokers off their balconies and vice versa, I have never seen anything like that. I believe most people in both groups are able to behave like adults despite their differences... I don't think "bullying" is a major part of this issue on either side. :o

I'm not sure I see a huge contradiction between supporting "Race for the Cure" and selling tobacco products. On the one hand, yes, they are profiting from sales of a product known to cause cancer. On the other hand, those customers are going to buy and use tobacco products either way. That is their choice. I admire what CVS is doing, but most companies haven't made that move.

I see more of a potential disconnect with allowing smoking in casinos and bars, which exposes employees to indoor secondhand smoke. As a nonsmoker, I can choose to avoid smoking areas on cruise ships; employees may not have that option. One way to show you're very serious about fighting cancer is to protect your employees as much as possible. :o

Why take the chance? If you have allergies related to cigarette smoke, the last thing you should do is spend any part of your vacation sat in an ashtray.

There's plenty of choice out there, do yourself a favor and enjoy smoke free balcony cruising.

If it's anything like our previous experiences on HAL, we'll be fine :) Just wondering if we should expect a major change since our last HAL cruise a few years ago... I wasn't sure if the policy changes on other lines had significantly affected HAL's demographic. If I had asthma or another serious issue, I would just keep cruising on Princess, but it only bothers my eyes and nose. Either way, I'll live. The itinerary and price were enough to entice us back at least one more time.

I like both HAL and Princess. I'd go with price and itinerary.

Same here. We slightly prefer Princess's food and smoking policy; on the other hand, the service on HAL can't be beat. We also like that HAL allows room service from the MDR menu, which Princess only provides for full suites. As to age... we're 30 and have never had a bad time on HAL. :) We choose each time based on price and itinerary.

I'm a non-smoker with allergies, but I try to be respectful and flexible. In the past, if someone was smoking by our balcony, I simply went inside for a few minutes. No big deal. They enjoyed their balcony, I enjoyed mine. But now that HAL is the only major line that allows balcony smoking, I'm worried there will be a great deal more of it. Has anyone found that to be the case? We have a Europe cruise planned for this summer, and if we can't enjoy our balcony for a reasonable portion of time, it will be our last HAL cruise.

It was a pleasure meeting you Mark. I do not feel I am holding up the cleaning of the cabin when I do as asked which is vacate by 0830. At that time they had different lounges assigned according to your disembarkation time. It was my observation that people predominately had carry off without assistance which seemed normal for a 3 night cruise. e were assigned the Explorers lounge which was packed to capacity.

Since that is what Princess indicated in your letter, it seems reasonable to me. I just would never put pressure on our steward (even by asking politely as I'm sure people do!) to allow a later time than policy dictated. I also wouldn't assume 8:30 on other ships or other sailings unless Princess communicated that to me.

Room service is available plenty early enough to vacate by 8am, and the policy is the same for suite passengers. When you ask for favors like this, you put the onus on the steward to refuse, and of course they want to please the passengers. How often do they say no except to the most egregious of requests? The stewards work extremely hard, especially on turnaround day, and I wouldn't want to risk interrupting their workflow.

Doesn't the wait staff already go between dining rooms/specialty restaurants to retrieve leftover open bottles of wine for people to enjoy with their dinners

Good point!

Read the attachment again. Composer seems to have change it to more then the OP. There are always going to be exceptions to every rule.

I saw the wording. I think it's a reach to assume they also mean special requests for health reasons.

Ok so what you are saying is anyone with special needs should not try the specialty restaurants. I have always found that if at all possible the staff is more then willing to make your cruise enjoyable. They want you to come back. Just give them some time to prepare.

I don't really think that "we like fish better than shellfish, but we like other fish better than seabass" is a special need.

Many of you will probably disagree with me but why are so many people being so picky and want food that is not on the menu. With 2800 passengers or more on the ship, can you imagine what it would be like if half of them asked for something extra for dinner. The poor crew works hard enough the way it is and lately more and more people want someone that is not on the menu and then a crew member has to go search for and spend extra time preparing it.

Sabitini's at breakfast is a little different.

I kind of agree. Health-related requests are one thing, and I can see making special requests in the MDR based on foods they have readily available, but I would be uncomfortable asking this. I wouldn't want to make extra work for multiple very hardworking people just because I prefer another fish over seabass.

Honestly, I think the new policy makes a lot of sense. It's more practical for Princess and fairer for the passengers.