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SHIP TRAVELER

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  1. Lots of good ideas here. We are light packers but find room for 2 strong magnetic hooks and 2 small pinching clamps for keeping the black out curtains closed. For longer cruises I print out a one page blank generic calendar that we post on the wall to help us keep the schedule straight. None of these items take up any room and they make life easier for us. The fun thing I like to bring is a couple of strings of colorful Mardi Gras beads because that means there will be a Cruise Critic roll call sail away event and we will get the party started earlier.
  2. We paid extra for Reserve on a future cruise on the Regal in hopes the dining situation would be better. My DH thinks that the dining experience sets the tone for the success of the cruise No one should dread heading out for dinner.. Not everyone feels this way of course as evidenced by people that eat every night in the buffet. We have been disappointed in the the service and seating more than the food on recent cruises on Princess. We would like to cruise more on Princess and are hoping that club class dining will make a difference. This is the dining available to the top suites so it should be an improvement. We are hoping for something at least like BLU dining on Celebrity. I know this does not answer your question but it will let you know that it was a good question. Let's hope you get some good replies.
  3. Yes Thanks for taking the time to report back.
  4. Thanks for posting. We will be on the Regal from Galveston next year. The Premier package is new to us. I was wondering what casual dining venues were available. I am hoping for some pop ups like the crab night in buffet or pub night. Was there anything like a sports bar/Gastro pub with the casual dining. Where did you use your specialty dining nights and what menu items do you recommend. We have not sailed Princess recently so any comments on getting the most out of the the Premier would be welcome. We would also appreciate any tips about must see areas or events on the Regal,
  5. One thing I saw in some of the sideways bed photos of an ocean view on an on line site showed a door. The inside door between some adjoining door cabins is back by the window wall which would put it in the middle of the bed with the twin set up. When there is a connecting door the bed is sideways (at least sometimes). We have cabin 4501 on a 16 day cruise is August. Hope it is OK. We usually get a balcony but the ship is nearly booked out and the balcony cabins are expensive. This is Amsterdam to Boston with Iceland and Greenland so a great cruise at least on paper. There is supposed to be a dry dock in April.
  6. Thamks for the replies. I have a friend who will only play the cash games.
  7. We had an ugly (free dining) surprise on Celebrity. Our on line TA advertised free specialty restaurant for two with a booking. When we got on board no voucher was in the room so we contacted the TA who had paid Celebrity for the dining. We went to guest services and after being handed off three times we were told that we had $45 per person OBC to use toward a specialty restaurant. Since Celebrity has no specialty restaurant for under $55 (plus a required 20% gratuity) this was not what we expected. We would never have known that this refundable OBC was a restaurant. I know this is a Royal board (Diamond plus here) but I wanted others to know this. I felt it was Celebrities mistake for not honoring something they offered to TAs at a discounted rate. I did follow up with the TA after returning home. We did not use the $90 to dine because we would have had to add another $55 to eat in Murano's. Sort of felt like it was a trick.
  8. Have not sailed with Princess in a long time and can't remember if there is a live cash game on board like on Celebrity and Royal. If so what are the limits and rake. Thanks to anyone who may know the answer.
  9. Yes we did order a couple of times from the MDR menu. I ordered Chiquita Chicken which is one of my MDR faves and it was OK. DH ordered a fish dish one day and was not happy with it. We saw that others ordered from MDR more often but we dine more often in the MDR than in Blu so we wanted to try more of their choices this time. Oddly, one of the Blu dishes I liked was called lamb chop salad. I had no idea what to expect. Turns out it was three small lamb chops cooked to order on a bed of greens. It tasted great. Our service in Blu was great. They seemed very willing to accommodate requests. A lady dining next to us had her own special request off menu salad every night as a starter. We saw lots of double shrimp cocktails being served. I think your husband will have no problems.
  10. We were on this cruise and in Aqua and wanted to add some of our experience here. I agree with the OP that this was a great cruise and we really enjoyed it. We had foot stools on the balcony, two waters a day and excellent service in our cabin. Blu was great service wise, we ordered off the BLU menu almost exclusively. We had planned to a specialty but at $72 extra per person (with required tip) Murano just did not seem worth it when we were so well treated in BLU. We had a window seat for two multiple times but we tend to arrive early and never had any wait to be seated. BLU added a lot to the cruise experience. We booked this cruise a long way in advance and got a good price for Aqua, we did not go near the SPA or fitness classes so it was all about the BLU dining for us. We liked the Casino but do not play slots. There was a good 2 for 3 BJ games for $15 bets which is a far better game than on the Las Vegas strip and the NON SMOKING casino is wonderful. We though the entertainment was so so, not bad, not outstanding. Unique 3 Ladies trio was the most entertaining in our opinion. Our shore excursion through the ship was very disappointing, I don't know why we keep trying their over priced crowded bus trips. Other than that and having to hustle a little for seats in buffet during peak times we have no complaints. The Pool area was crowded outside but we usually got seats in the Adult Solarium with out a problem. Very few kids and not a lot of sick people in our opinion. We came home healthy and now of the wagon to recover from the premium drink package.
  11. We were on the Silhouette Feb. 12, until Feb. 22, 2024. We were in AQUA 1523. We had a two nice foot stools on our comfortable sized balcony. We enjoyed the balcony nearly every day. Our service was great in the cabin and included towels to use to cover the balcony chairs.
  12. I have seen 7-5 Bonus Poker on Princess but I have never ever seen anything even that good on X. Even for a dollar (X 5 bets) recently I have only seen 6-5 Jacks or Better which is a miserable 95%. I found a a slightly better dueces wild game buried in a three play/ ultimate X type game but very hidden. I still play but I think the miserable black jack game paying 6 for 5 is better odds than the video poker. All this said the slot machines are probably under 90% but there is no way to know that. Craps is the only game they can't mess with in the Casino and non-smoking counts for a lot.
  13. I think "kids sail free" is what makes the RCL super Ships such a zoo. I hated to see this promotion on Celebrity.
  14. I agree with this suggestion to get a cab. We were in a suite from the Reflection to the Apex and it was a similar nightmare. There is NO hurry so stay on the first ship as long as you can because you will just be in line outside waiting until all of the people with airport transfers are gone and then probably outside at the second ship because the terminal there will not be open even for suites. Pack your patience and expect nothing will work if you do a "free transfer" because you will be waiting outside until the last bus goes to the airport and they will drop you off. Be sure the bus driver knows you are Side by side so he can put your luggage in the front of the hole.
  15. I agree that there are a lot of bad lists out there and that there are some changes. I thought I recently saw Tito's vodka change to premium. We upgraded on a sale for our February cruise because I like Jack Daniel's Black and Baileys Irish cream. Pretty pedestrian choices but not on the classic package and no real substitutes in my opinion. Also a Jim Beam Old Fashion can't hold a candle to a Maker Mark Old Fashion, (again in my humble opinion)
  16. If you go without a package, sometimes you can get free drinks in the Casino while gambling. This is good regardless of your casino Blue Chip level or your captains club level and it is avaiable later in the evening. We used this perk on our last cruise without a package and it worked well. If you tip the waiter will keep an eye out for your the next evening.
  17. Since I think the OP is wanting discussion about the availability of "free" drinks without the downgraded AI package, I wanted to add that sometimes complimentary drinks are available to player in the Casino regardless of CC status or Blue Chip Status. We found this helpful for an after the show night cap the last time we sailed without a drink package. This hit a sweet spot because we don't usually drink alcohol at the morning Coffee House event or before 5:00 PM most days but we like a drink later in the evening before or after the show. A vote for El Bacio, the coffee there is hotter and better than at the Coffee House event if you are E+..
  18. I like the fact that Aqua cabins are limited to two people. We have only dined in BLU on one cruise and it was OK. We have dined in Luminae on multiple cruises. We have been on several on those Luminae cruises where there were big family groups with unruly children. I can see that it may be a good idea to sleep several children on the fold out sofa in the living room of a Royal Suite compared to having them in drop down bunk beds in a veranda where ladders and kicking the walls are fun. I realize that one adult and one child might share a cabin and dine in BLU but they would be quieter to dine with than two children. I remember our request in Luminae was to be as far away from the families as possible or to try to avoid the times they dined. Unfortunately the best family table is halfway between the two sections of Luminae on S class so the noise goes both ways. Just some thing to consider if you allergic to children not related to you.
  19. I liked the effort to listen but I heard nothing about correcting service issues for the MDR. The very long times to finish a meal and the very long times to be seated in MTD are service management issues. The food not served hot is a service issue. My DH is easy to please at home, hot food served in a reasonable amount of time, he doesn't even care if it is just tilapia.
  20. We have a cruise on the Brilliance in May and are concerned about the reactions here. Many say their service was good but I submit service can't be good if food is cold and there are long waits between courses. Food gets cold waiting to he picked up in the kitchen or setting under a cover in the MDR service stand. This may come back to dining room service MANAGEMENT but it is still a service problem. The MTD tables do not turn so that new people can be seated. When the MTD people are seated at empty tables in the traditional set time dining area it greatly interrupts the service of those already being served there who are are totally different course. This causes delays and cold food and makes the tables slow to turn compounding the stress on both the diners and servers. I think the managers of the dining service came up (were promoted) in the old system and they have no idea how to make the bean counter ideas work. That's my two cents as a former manager.
  21. We have booked the SS Victoria for August 2nd 2024 and I have signed on to the travel portal but do not see a date when the shore excursions can be booked. I know I am far in advance but it seems unusual that a start date is not shown. Maybe there will just be availability for the entire ship and I am concerned about nothing. We are obviously more used to ocean cruises. Thanks for your input.
  22. We booked a cruise yesterday for August of 2024 on the SS Victoria. It is in place of the River Queen on the Moselle. We viewed the Crystal Bach videos and are really looking forward to this ship. The cabins (base) look to be larger for one thing and there will be fewer passengers for another. The base cabins are above the water line and have a full wall french window. The bar on the top deck looks very cool.
  23. Off the topic of Elite but I am adding a suggestion for anyone without a drink package that gambles. The casino has free drinks (well quality) for those actively playing in the casino. This is a little hit and miss but we found that if you tip a bit the server will keep an eye out for you in the future. There are no strings attached (no blue chip club or Captains Club status required) except the obvious Vegas one that tipsy people gamble more and might lose more. We could usually play a little and pick up a drink (or water) to carry to the show after dinner.
  24. Speaking of trying other lines, I just got the most hysterical photo as part of a Silverseas promotion. It showed four people in their early 30s that look like the came out of an upscale perfume ad with an arty leaning. The women are pencil thin in slinky long sheaths and very tall stiletto heels and the men look like buff male models and are in Tuxs with the ties undone. They are sitting by the swimming pool drinking champagne. This is not the image of I had of Silverseas. I think a more appropriate photo would be of a 60s very rich, very country club casual couple with a little silver in their hair (at least his hair). They are on their balcony, gazing into one another eyes while toasting a perfect sunset. They might be enjoying a well earned retirement. I would not even want to cruise with the people in this ad. The guys look like they might light up a cigar at any second. LOL. I guess Silverseas doesn't want older cruisers either.
  25. Yes, all is well, I sneak a peak at your "Sillie" roll call with Schmoe regularly. LOL
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