Californian

Looking forward to reading about your trip.

Thanks so much for all the postings.  

I have signed up for a cruisetour for October 2023 with the Diamond Princess.  Reading reviews does not give me a good feeling about this ship.   Has this ship undergone any refurbishment or upgrades?

With the new prices for the steakhouse, did the menu also change?  Does anyone have the current menu? Does it still have the chocolate sphere?

29 minutes ago, Californian said:

Thanks so much for doing the test run!  What steps did you take though?  Where on the the app did you go to do the test run?  I guess I'm a little computer challenged.  If I wanted to make a reservation for Sabatini’s, how would I do that?  Thanks very much in advance.

40 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I tried a test run.  Looks like the ultimate balcony dinner is a form of room service and you'll have to wait until you're onboard.  I guess that makes sense, it's not like you're booking a table in one of the restaurants.

d9704011:  Disregard my reply.  I was able to find what you did.  “Dine My Way”, then “View or book individual daily reservations”, then “+ Add Reservation,” then “Contiinue,” and select specialty restaurant.  Your help was much appreciated.

3 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I tried a test run.  Looks like the ultimate balcony dinner is a form of room service and you'll have to wait until you're onboard.  I guess that makes sense, it's not like you're booking a table in one of the restaurants.

Thanks so much for doing the test run!  What steps did you take though?  Where on the the app did you go to do the test run?  I guess I'm a little computer challenged.  If I wanted to make a reservation for Sabatini’s, how would I do that?  Thanks very much in advance.

We sail in December and want to make reservations for an ultimate balcony dinner.  I am having trouble in figuring out how to do it on the app. I hit the order button on the bottom and it tells me “Please connect your phone to the internet….…to Order Food.  Drink. Retail. Service.  I am on the internet at home, but it doesn't work.  What am I doing wrong?  Do I need to wait until I'm on board?

11 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

Someone else posted this a while ago.  I was on the Discovery inaugural, 7 day Mexico, and the link below is exactly what I had, every day.

 

Discovery Princess Restaurant Guide With Menus - Eat Sleep Cruise

The dinner menu for Day 2 says “Welcome” so I don’t know if these menus are in order.  Which days are the formal nights?

If someone is currently on the Discovery Princess, would appreciate pictures of the current menus.  Thanks!

Thanks very much for spending time to share your cruise with us.  I thoroughly enjoyed following you on the journey.

I'm enjoying your trip reports and pictures.  Thanks very much for sharing.

Look forward to following along with you.

When you have time, I would be interested in knowing if/where they show sports at any of the bars on board.  Thanks!

Does the ship have a sports bar where you can watch football or basketball games?

Do they show any games on the big screen on the Lido deck?

Experienced cruisers, advice, please…..

We are going on a round trip Mexican Riviera cruise from Los Angeles.  We live in the LA area, so there's no air or hotels involved.  Stops are Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta.  Should we just get The Princess Vacation package or do you recommend getting third party insurance?  Thanks very much in advance….

Experienced cruisers, advice, please…..

We are going on a round trip Mexican Riviera cruise from Los Angeles.  We live in the LA area, so there's no air or hotels involved.  Stops are Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta.  Should we just get The Princess Vacation package or do you recommend getting third party insurance?  Thanks very much in advance….

On 7/29/2022 at 10:58 AM, ABQrobin said:

Its usually on the top aft section of the ship, outdoors, no reservations.  Some larger ships have a food area there including the bar, with their own selections found just there.  We liked the Serenity on the Vista as they had a great salad bar at lunch.  

I believe the Serenity area is at the front of the ship up on top.

On 7/28/2022 at 7:41 PM, Jancruz said:

Thank you

The adult only Serenity lounge does it have to be booked ahead??

Jancruz1

The adults only Serenity area is free and it's first come first served.  There are two levels of it on the Radiance.

On 7/28/2022 at 6:14 PM, Jancruz said:

Best place to eat if I dont like buffets..??

Jancruz1

On Embarkation Day, you could also try the Pig and Anchor for lunch.  Pig & Anchor is only available on embarkation day and sea day and it's seating outside.  If it's open, Cucina del Capitano is indoors and free at lunch time.

On 6/7/2022 at 3:53 PM, crystalspin said:

You have to first sign up for the Rewards Program, then go to the Rewards and scroll and scroll! I just bought five for a HAL cruise. I could not find a way to search for the specific Reward.

I didn't know you could use them for other cruise lines.  Were you successful in applying the gifts cards to HAL?  

“Meanwhile, we had excellent experiences consistently in the MDR (even with the loss of brunch filet!), good service and food we liked, and in the Marketplace buffet,”

We were on the Radiance the last week of April and we had the steak and eggs (filet mignon) on sea day brunch.  Really good.  I specifically asked if they had the filet before I ordered it; so, I hope you will be able to get it on your cruise.  

Thanks for taking us along on your journey.  Hope you are safely home.

12 hours ago, Grambler said:

Sorry if this has been asked but I can’t find a link to purchase Covid test kits on carnival page or in their testing and vaccine info,  can someone tell me where to find it? Thank you!

You can buy them at EMed.com.  They only sell 6-packs.  The Optum Store sells 2 and 3-packs.  https://store.optum.com/shop/category/tests-devices/covid-19-home-tests/

We are sailing today (Monday) and took the CVS PCR test Saturday morning at 11:15.  It had  1-2 day turnaround.  We had a back up plan to use eMed home test if we didn’t get the results in 48 hours.   
We had not gotten the results when we went to bed at 11 p.m. Sunday, so I was getting a little nervous.  When I woke this morning, I found a text that came in near midnight  with negative results.  Hurrah!

Next time I will just do the proctored home test since results will be quicker.  Or we would take it in the 3 day window since we are vaccinated and boosted.  A little too stressful for me though.

I also had a problem with CVS cancelling an appointment for the rapid antigen when we took a cruise in early March.  Luckily, we found an alternate CVS site, but it was 30 miles away.

Yes.  The price was $30/day for two for a 4 day cruise.    So, I should be looking for $20/day for two and $15/day if going solo?

What is the lowest RU1 rate that you have been offered?  I got one that averaged $30 a day.  Is that the best offer and I should jump on it or is it best to wait?

On 12/4/2019 at 11:46 AM, ScubaCat3 said:

Royal Caribbean just tweeted the recipe (including a video) for the coconut ranger cookies. Note that it is different (simpler) than the recipe posted previously on the Royal Caribbean Blog. Here it is:

 

Coconut Ranger Cookies

(recipe from Royal Caribbean tweet 12/04/20)

 

Ingredients:

· 500g Butter

· 500g Brown Sugar

· 600g Flour

· ½ Teaspoon Baking Powder

· 6 Eggs

· 100ml Coconut Milk

· 80g Dried Coconut

 

Directions:

· Beat butter and sugar until smooth

· Add eggs one by one into the butter and sugar mix

· Add coconut milk

· Fold flour, baking powder and dried coconut into the mix

· Shape cookies and bake at 350ºF until slightly puffed but barely golden, 9-12 minutes

I never saw these cookies at the Cafe Promenade and wanted to try them.  Has anyone made these cookies?  It calls for 2-1/4 cups of butter — that's over a pound of butter!!  I found the same recipe on their website, but I was wondering if there's an error in the amount.