jondfk

OP asked for recent experiences, here’s ours, currently on Ruby. Staff are masked, most wearing the mask nominally correctly, a few mustache diapers, the definite minority. Pax are masked about 40% a variety of surgical, cloth and N95 alternatives. The vast majority of folks slip one on in elevators. We wear ours when moving around the ship. We’ve avoided crowded venues though the boarding hall at San Francisco was probably the largest crowd we’ve been a part of in two years.

Yes, I know the medallion can, theoretically tell them who’s nearby, but it feels as though we’re on some sort of list too. It’s true that we have an anniversary while onboard. I took special care not to make note of this (I can’t eat the cake, and don’t enjoy the singing) but I do know that the information is nonetheless in the profile, so perhaps that explains all. Fingers crossed my mention here doesn’t jinx us for the remainder of the sailing…

Currently onboard Ruby. This is the cruise where we’re finally using up the fcc issued when our February 2020 Grand cruise landed us at Travis. We’re in a suite, aside from boarding frustration in SF, the cruise has been wonderful. What’s strange is that everyone we interact with seems to know our names, first names mind you. Everyone. CC reception, CC host, suite breakfast, steward, everyone everywhere, they keep bending over backwards asking if we need anything. Examples, steward chased me down the hall today asking if I need laundry done, knocked on the door within seconds of entry to deliver ice and bottled water. Housekeeping manager came to the cabin to spend 5 or so minutes asking if everything is okay. It’s all very nice, but after about 25 Princess cruises I know it’s not in any way normal. I’m sort of looking forward to this level of service when we sail Seaborne next year, but on Princess, never? So my question is, has anyone else experienced this? Is this some sort of “thanks for hanging in there” related to the Travis experience? Is this a new level of suite service? Maybe we’re just fortunate being seen to by an exceptional service team.

Hypothetically, of course, you’re right. I suppose someone who fully paid two months ago may cancel now, 30 days out, at a substantial penalty, and hypothetically, an unvaccinated person could book that cabin. But I’m not worried about that, it requires person one to walk away from most of their money, and person two to have the first position on the waitlist, even though they are not vaccinated. Possible? Sure. Likely? Not very.

We will, nonetheless, test for our Sept 9 sailing. As for unvaccinated, I’m not worried as the sailing has been sold out for month, presumably to people who knew the had to be vaxed. We won’t sail O in the foreseeable future given the changed requirements for vaccination, we saw it coming though and cancelled our Dec PC sailing at final payment.

Value, or the perception of same is quite a personal judgement. I’ll comment on the 18 days we spent in a PH room in April on Regatta. We thought the room was generously spaced for two, we never felt pinched or tight. Butler service satisfied us, there was nothing I could have asked for in a Vista that wasn’t provided in my PH (full bottles of booze excluded). Other factors: we enjoyed the more central location near to the aft elevator, we didn’t (and generally don’t) order food aside from breakfast for in room dining (if you do you might benefit from a Vista). We probably could spring for a Vista if we wished but honestly we’d prefer do additional sailings instead.

My mouth is watering, we board Ruby tomorrow, avocado omelette for breakfast on Tuesday! Suite breakfast is by far the best and most meaningful benefit imho.

Having sailed our first on O in April I’ll add a food tip that it took me 7 days to discover. On the lunch menu, lower right, is an option called “Taste the World” which was basically a regional tasting menu that changed day to day. Taste the World Lebanon was my favorite, hummus, lamb, olives and 4 or 5 other two bite options. Order one to share as a starter or one for yourself as an entree. Truly unlike anything I’ve had on any other cruise. Yum. Already salivating for our September sailings.

It’s been a few years but when we last sailed Crown in a suite the breakfast was in Sabatinis which made for some spectacular views.

Regarding parking. We've had vandalism issues parking in SF in the past (not the cruise ship garages mind you) therefore, we park at SFO and take a Uber / taxi to the pier. Prepaid parking at SFO, in the long term garage, is cheaper than the pier - by enough to cover the Uber. Somewhat less convenient, yes, but we've never had an issue with the car at SFO. Just one cruisers opinion.

San Pedro, pier 93 in our recent experience.

You probably won’t recognize many of the wines, but fear not, if you can describe your preferences to the sommelier in the GDR you’ll home in on a new favorite pretty quickly. I found both a very pleasing red and white. And if you don’t like your choice not a big deal, just ask for something different.

For a bit of Israeli flair I’d suggest the Dan Panorama and don’t miss their most excellent “Israeli breakfast” a feast to start the day. https://www.danhotels.com/JerusalemHotels/DanPanoramaJerusalemHotel jon

We've sailed in the OV cabins at least 10x on most Princess Grand class ships, I've become quite expert at choosing between lifeboats, but we've taken truly obstructed rooms on some occasions, the value proposition was just too good to ignore. As I told DW, I'd rather sail twice with an OV than once with a balcony (that she won't use, even for a minute). On the other hand, it has to be said that the "obstruction" in question is generally a lifeboat and that these become shore tenders in most ports where the ship has to anchor. That means raising and lowering the boats, often very early and occasionally quite late, there's little doubt you'll hear some amount of noise both in the preparation and raising / lowering process - if this will bother you I'd steer clear. With that caveat I'd reiterated, I'd take that upgrade.

I wish, I had 5 sailings booked on Pacific when we went to Travis off the ill fated Grand cruise. The first couple were cancelled while we were in quarantine, the remainder, when she was sold off. Perhaps we've just been active on the same threads...

We ported in Honolulu, Hilo and Kauai in April (albeit on Oceania not Princess, not that that matters to this question I think). Honolulu, taxis readily available. HOHO shuttles operating, more or less as "normal" pre pandemic. Hilo, taxis were available but less obvious that in the past. Look left when you leave the building, or just ask, plenty of local help on hand. Shuttles I didn't pay attention to. Nawiliwili (Kauai). Taxis were available. The free shuttle to Anchor Cove (the walkable shopping center near the pier) did not appear to be operating though we were there on Easter Sunday and that may have played a role. Likewise, the shuttle to Kukui Grove shopping center was not operating, but we were told this was due to Easter and the shopping center being closed - nothing related to Covid. Realize that many, many businesses in Hawaii (and especially on Kauai, which was fully closed for a year) simply couldn't survive. Even long term staples like J.J.'s Broiler, which had been successful for something like 25 years, couldn't out last Covid. Best to call before you go back to an old favorite.

I too remember you too from the Princess board. In fact I have a distant memory of meeting at an M&G at some point in the past . . . This weekend we booked our first Viking Oceans voyage RT from LAX to Hawaii, a run we've done on princess something like 7 times. It's good to see some of the more premium lines pay a bit more attention to the West Coast. Sure, Florida is the cruise capital of the universe but we, and many others, cruise more when the offerings are closer to home. Here's hoping Oceania uses some of their new fleet capacity to scoop up more west coast market.

We've sailed Princess nearly 25x, recently completed our first sailing on O in April of '22. Daytime dress was essentially identical to Princess. More or less anything goes, we sailed from Tahiti which meant lots of shorts, polo's and tee shirts. Similar common sense policy's no swimwear in the food venues and the like. In the evening folks dressed up a bit, but especially on our very warm weather itinerary, I saw few jackets on gents. Be it Princess or Oceania it was fairly clear the ladies took more pleasure in getting glammed up in the evenings. A few gents put on a tie but that was about as far as it went. As for our comparative experience I'll say this. We sail again with Princess in August and then again with O in September. We have no FCCs remaining with Princess and I'm unlikely to purchase one while onboard. On the other hand we have an FCC with Oceania and will certainly add one or two during our upcoming sailing. The only thing that is likely to bring me back to Princess is their year round west coast presence, we prefer to drive to the pier and O offers a scant few spring / fall west coast sailings.

This response from someone who lived through the onboard and Travis AFB quarantines on Grand at the very start, here’s what we’ve changed since. 1. Bring all of the Rx you have at home. There’s nothing more useless than meds you have no access to. This includes things like vitamins and other supplements. Have no illusions the ship may assist, but don’t rely on them for anything life critical. 2. Recognize that you may not have access to foods of your choice at times if you choosing. We bring things like granola bars and nuts with no intention of using. In addition we stock the fridge with yogurt and the like asap after boarding. Meals on Grand came at midnight or not at all, at Travis we missed 6 meals over 14 days, you learned to eat enough and save the rest. Aside from that, little has changed. We always carried wipes and scoured the cabin first thing even before. jon

It’s even worth stopping by the desk on the way to the GDR. Cancellations happen even to the last minute and we saw people get a “right now” booking multiple times on our recent R class sailing.

First sailing with O in April in a PH mini. We found our butler useful, especially good for room service breakfast, aside from that meal we really don't prefer to eat in the room so can't say about served meals from the dining room. We did ask for help getting an additional reservation in Toscana. He did so, but choose a time I'd never have requested (8:30 or 9PM) and a sharing table, which again I'd never have requested given the level of Covid on the ship. What was odd is he didn't asked our preferences for either, just booked it, my impression was the minimum of effort was expended. For example, he could have asked our preference, or to offer more seamless service he might have checked our other existing reservations and noticed the clear pattern (7:00, dining alone). Still we appreciated the effort. BTW, what happens if you skip a specialty booking and go to the GDR - they graciously call you out - 'you have a booking in Toscana tonight don't you, shall we cancel that for you'? Our butler proved his value when our shower door closure broke on night 1. He coordinated (repeated) efforts to get it properly repaired and shared my frustration at the first 2 halfhearted attempts. Not having ever had a butler before we could surely muddle through without, but the extra service was appreciated, understanding how it works and what is possible, we will make fuller use on our September sailings.

Upgrade was $20 / day on Regatta in April. As for the value proposition, I enjoyed having the full package though I probably didn’t do much better than break even. Still, I enjoyed not having to play games (like carefully timing the 2 for 1 hour), just go sit down and get a drink when I like. Try a few new things I might not like etc. to each their own.

We’ve stayed over at the Novotel, quite basic but sufficient for a night. We actually took the bus from Heathrow (not many sailing Oceania would consider this I think but it worked great) the walk to Novotel was quite doable. Large shopping center across the road, we walked to a nice pub for a pre sail meet & greet though the name escapes me.

Recent O newby here with lots of Princess experience. As mentioned the most apparent difference is the butler, we used a small fraction of what he could have done, but felt there was real value in the added service. Breakfast in the cabin became our norm, something that really doesn’t appeal to me on larger lines. Additionally he handled a few small requests, like lime wedges for my water for example. We could have asked for so much more. in addition you effectively have two cabin stewards though I can’t say their combined service was especially superior. That said we ended up feeling that the standard gratuity was appropriate for the service received. We added a bit for our butler but none for the stewards. I tipped one especially helpful bartender and bar server but no one else.

At the risk of wading in at an unwelcome point in the thread I'll share my observations from our April 6 sailing on Regatta. Please note that we didn't develop covid on the ship (though many, many did) we didn't test positive until one and two days later after we drove home from the pier. What I observed onboard was: Positive cases were isolated in their cabins (it may be that quarantine cabins were filled first, I have no way of knowing for certain). Quarantine cabins were quite easy to spot since each received some sort of tray stand or table outside the room for food delivery. Crew (medical) in "bunny suits" could be seen entering / exiting rooms very occasionally. As for level of service, I don't really know first hand, but here's what I observed on deck 8, in the penthouses: The butler brought food by the tray with all of the usual set up including a table cloth, this was left outside the door. A call was made to alert the passengers that their meal had been delivered the process was reversed for tray collection. Our butler was reluctant to talk about covid, protocols or procedures but confined that his duties included providing door side service to passengers who had tested positive. Friends we met on board who had members of their parties isolated elsewhere described a similar system for passengers in other categories HOWEVER the reality is, you still have your butler, (s)he remains responsible for you in quarantine and it's easy to imagine that the standard of service is higher than elsewhere on the ship. I'm not suggesting this is okay, acceptable or something to celebrate, only that the extra person assigned to provide services to this part of the ship surely equates to somewhat more responsive service. More generally, Oceania and Regatta in particular did a completely lousy job managing the large outbreak on our sailing leading to a variety of complaints. There was zero communication about the ongoing situation much of which you can read about in the "50 cases" thread.