Astro Flyer

We’re on your cruise & we just added the Princess app to our Apple devices & thankfully everything transferred. We decided to wait as long as possible to hopefully get some of the glitches out & so far, so good. 😊

As has been mentioned in this thread, those who don’t use common sense about their door decorations results in punishing even the responsible people like for your Dad.

So you don’t believe the post about an 18% service charge being added for reservations made after 12/1/23? Or don’t you agree that it’s a gratuity which it is & Princess is just calling it an 18% service charge?

Will bookmark this discussion to share our experience in early April. Although as you wrote there can be different experiences on different ships…they can be consistently inconsistent! 😉

That’s also my guess & in a couple of weeks will learn if that’s true. We prepaid for The Catch & Sabatini’s at $39 & $35 but don’t know if they’ll add the 18% tip onboard…having already paid hopefully not. 🤞

Thanks for your review & we had some of the same opinions as you. Although thankfully some of our experiences on our Regatta 7-day CA Coastal cruise were better than yours on Nautica. I’d like the GDR to open earlier than 6:30 & when arriving when it opened we were immediately seated & quickly served which might not be the same experience when arriving later. We greatly enjoyed their steakhouse & Italian restaurants which as you know are complimentary (number of times is based on cabin category & maybe length of cruise) and based upon availability can dine there more often. Taste is subjective but to me these 3 dining options had much better food than on Princess. That was our first O cruise so don’t know if there has been a decline or not but we enjoyed the food more than on Princess. To me, Waves Grill food was far superior to Princess’ pool deck grill…steak & lobster and Reuben sandwiches were a couple of our favorites. We only ate at Terrace Cafe a few times but it was nice to have grilled steaks & lobster available. We booked a standard fare in an oceanview cabin but rarely spent time in there. Instead we enjoyed a covered area reclining on a well padded lounger for 2 on the pool deck…it was quiet & out of the elements. We only went to one performance but our type of cruising requires little entertainment & activities…mostly relaxation, good food & being on the beautiful sea. We never sailed on the popular Pacific Princess (same type of R-class ship as on O & Azamara) but Regatta was renovated just before the pandemic & we enjoyed their decor…it was casual elegance which previously was a Princess advertising slogan. We greatly enjoyed our first O experience & have booked 15 days on Sirena in November from NYC to MIA. That was also booked with a standard fare (includes taxes & fees) which includes the things we use…specialty dining, internet, non-alcoholic drinks (canned sodas & all coffee) and shakes/malts, smoothies & ice cream on deck. They allow unlimited spirits, beer & wine to be brought onboard to be consumed in cabin or to pay $25 corkage for a bottle of wine in a dining room. With twice nightly BOGO drink offers that was a good option. Although our TA sponsored a cocktail party for her group & with the Captain’s cocktail party there were enough mixed drinks for us. All of these things work well for our style of cruising however that is not what others will desire…it’s good to have options. Unfortunately they have eliminated their standard fares to be replaced by Simply MORE with the only option being with or without airfare (EZair is much, much better!). Basically they are forcing passengers to buy their tours (SM OBC is for tours only) and their beer/wine at lunch & dinner program. Thus unless they reinstate standard fares our next O cruise might be our last one which would be disappointing for us. Next month we’ll be on Discovery again which will be our first Princess cruise since Discovery’s first 2 cruises 2 years ago. Hopefully our experience will be as good as previously but after 500 days on Princess we’re experiencing a few more cruise lines. Julie, my thoughts are merely to show our experiences. We’ll never sail on a luxury line but for us O was a premium experience. Maybe one day we’ll sail on one of their 1,200 passenger ships which good friends enjoy even more by having more options. Any day at sea is great…just some days are better than other days. 😊

Those were the same as we received 2 years ago & our Travel Summary shows them (Cruise Night Coupon Books) for next month…if I recall correctly 2 years ago they were digital coupons. 🤔

For a ship that holds 700 more people than Royal-class ships the Arena appears to have fewer seats. It’ll be interesting to read about passengers experiences with finding seats when the Arena opens for performances.

Hopefully someday we’ll get to join you! 🤞😊😋

It’s one thing to ask about a policy but it’s rude to argue about it with a captain who does not set policy but must follow what might be an unpopular policy established by Princess’ management…IMHO a M&G & MTP event is not the proper time to argue about policies. The few times we’ve been invited, AnyMajorCruiseDude would see us at our lowly table. For our only lunch we had a nice chat with the Captain’s Circle hostess. 😊

Maybe that is the real Sanctuary & someone mistakenly mixed up the names with the regular loungers with a blue pillow packed next to each other exposed to the sun. 🤔

Thanks for sharing the food options…after 5 meals at Catch you have researched the menu quite well. 😊 Have a great cruise…ours was one of our favorite cruises! 😃

True..however me & others do not have the drink package so it’s a valid point for us.

If like me you drink wine it includes “vino rosso”…for me the meal with wine at $45 is a good deal. While the Caymus Winemakers dinner has more upscale food & wine it also comes with a $140 fee plus 18% tip which is now added to specialty dining.

Thanks for sharing your well cruised opinion about The Catch & we’re eager to enjoy dining there next month. I’ve read posts from those who cruise on luxury lines who rave that The Catch was as good or even better. Any particular recommendations? Reading about dining changes since Rudi moved over from HAL, I’m encourage for more improved dining experiences. Since Alfredo Marzi retired I’ve been disappointed in some of the dining changes even pre-pandemic but it appears that Rudi is improving dining. We have no plans to sail on Sun/Star however some of the new dining options could result in trying those ships in the future. Checking Majestic’s April cruises you might be sailing Australia & the South Pacific…in 2009 we greatly enjoyed sailing 30 days from Sydney to LA on Star. Next March we’ll circumnavigate Oz & cruise back from Auckland. Have a great cruise on Majestic! 😊

You’re very welcome…’cruisedoctor’ provides great details & Butcher’s Block appears to be a wonderful meal at $45 including a glass of wine. Being a pop up location in the aft area of the buffet’s seating area the location might not be the best & hope it’ll be available on other ships. The Catch by Rudi is the other pop up restaurant on Sun which is available as a stand alone restaurant in the Piazza on a few ships. That is getting rave reviews & I’m looking forward to dining there on Discovery next month & even pre-purchased it to ensure our preferred date & time. 😋

Thanks

On the primary Sun Princess thread Butcher Block is being discussed with helpful info from ‘cruisedoctor’.

Skagway - Embarkation Lunch.pdf

I happened to see an answer posted earlier in this lengthy thread…yes except for as I recall at most table games. It was stated that there are still people who will sit in front of a machine to smoke without playing them.

You’re welcome…we bring our Purex 3-in-1 sheets for washing delicates that we don’t want to send to the ship’s laundry which we receive for free as an elite level benefit.

Immediately

Agree & on Royal-class ships the midship DW/BW balconies are categorized as “obstructed” yet when looking out from the blue glass there is no obstruction & only when looking downward…like those cabins you expressed your opinion about. And the obstruction on the DW/BW balconies are a deck below & not merely a few feet away.

There is a fee for washer & dryer ($3.50 each?) in addition to purchasing detergent.

My first ones were Mondavi but more recently Silverado…as you wrote same idea & we enjoyed both versions.