rodndonna

I really didn't mind the 1 year as opposed to longer durations more typical (at least on other lines) - as it should refund by then if not used. I agree with you though, if you have another cruise with Princess booked coming up - no reason to buy more FCD's.

Like others on this tread - we were on the Discovery - indeed - amazing experience! The only other element I thought worth bringing up was the incredible speakers brought on board for this cruise by Princess for the enrichment session and nightly stargazing. They were both really top notch and very entertaining. And then having Steve Wozniak on the cruise and sitting in on one of his talks was quite an unexpected bonus. This was our first Princess cruise and the only problem with it was that it had so many unique highlights that I'm not sure it was very representative of a typical Princess cruise. We purchased cruise deposits so we can test out another "standard" Princess sailing. 🙃

It's the only one HAL carries, so I expect the same. Not a fan.... but it's OK ... always looking at more options for less or no-alcohol drinks as we get older ....🙄

Do you know if they have anything other than Heineken "0" for non-alcohol beer?

I know - that's how MSC Yacht Club got on the list to start with - lol! (I am pretty "frugal") Not on all ships apparently, but some do have YC insides cabins and that would be what we will book.

We "think" when we bite the bullet top try MSC - we are going to go Yacht Club. It's a departure for us typically being insiders with the odd splurge but never higher than an aft. I don't "think" MSC would be a preferred line for us, but it seems the cheapest way to check out "ship within a ship" experience (which I also "think" is not really for us). I would be curious what you think of Disney - for the price point. Soooo many lines to sample and compare ...😀

Thanks for your detailed report. We've done a couple of CCL cruises before Covid and enjoyed them very much - even as introverts ! Since Covid we are trying to make our way through all the mainstream lines - have made it on HAL, Celebrity, and NCL. Princess is in 2 days. Still need to work back in CCL, Marella (our most cruised before Covid) and curious about MSC. To make matters worse (or better?) we are attempting to cruise each line in a relatively newer (larger ship) and an older (smaller) ship within the fleet as I think that has a big impact. It's an ongoing study that works well within our dog friendly short (12 days or less) cruise itinerary options. 🤔

We are about to sail on our first Princess cruise (Discovery) and wondering how booking the Sanctuary works. I know it can't be reserved in advance. We are looking at booking it for a just day or an afternoon, not the entire cruise. Do they take bookings for all/any days as soon as we board or do they open some bookings daily? Is it bookabale on the app (Medallion) or do we head to the Sanctuary? Any tips or advice appreciated!

We did NCL Viva (our first since Covid) in January and based in that cruise would say you can expect better food on HAL. Certainly more entertainment options on NCL. As others have said, maybe try a shorter cruise to test HAL out before committing to a 28 day cruise. You never really know until you try it, and HAL is definitely a different vibe which may or not be your cup of tea.

Have you checked your roll call? We are on a Princess eclipse cruise and glasses are provided. Would be really surprised if HAL wasn't providing them.

Thinking along the same line as you. New Florida embarkation, ship home porting in Florida year round and or 3/4/ day sailings. All good news if you live in Florida. Certainly 3/4 daily sailings are great for residents of Florida and other lines like Celebrity have been adding those. Kinda interested in the new New York roundtrip stuff.

Indeed - if you don't sail Carnival brands ... owning 100 shares for OBC would make no sense. I had "presumed" since this was a HAL board, that you sail with HAL (which is a CCL brand).

For an "investment" of 100 (peanuts) you effectively get tax-free dividends in the form OBC. If you sail any CCL brand regularly, hard to beat it.

Give him the Stink eye!!!!

They don't status match, but I "think" Casino clubs are somehow shared within CCL brands. Not entirely sure of this, but in my experience, my CCL Casino perks make no sense unless they are based on our Casino play with HAL. About to do our first Princess cruise next week ... so widening the Casino net to test the theory ....🤔

All cruise lines have changed over the years as the world continues to change, and they will continue to do so . No one say's you can't complain .... just not realistic to think things shouldn't change with time.

Not sure when you are cruising, but we are Apr 3-13 and intend to do a session of the stretch classes. We are just "Plus" package so have 2 classes of which I am very interested in the Stretch class. I currently do ad-hoc stretch routine daily (based on elements from a variety of sources) and really find they help and becoming increasingly necessary as I get older. If you do some searching in Youtube - you can find a plethora of routines you can try at home - try searching something like "best stretches for 60 year olds" (or similar) and you will start to find unending sources of info. Generally, I find the ones given by physiotherapists who specialize in stretching and/or fitness for healthier aging best. We watch video's from a PT guy who's whole channel is for over 55's - we really like it, but there are no shortage of other options out there. https://www.youtube.com/@HT-Physio

Just bumping my post from Fall 2022.... still have not seen any discussion or mention of Costa's "Cruise and Golf" program.... giving it another try 🤞

We've has similar flights and when we checked our luggage in at the desk we were asked if we wanted to check it through to final destination or not. Not sure what the time boundary is for when they can and can't do that though.

We had an 8th deck AFT on the Eurodam (2021) and don't recall having issues with vibration or soot. If they were there, I was too enthralled with the view and and wake to notice.

OK thanks - you're a higher level player than us, but similar pattern to what has happened on HAL. Coming out of Covid we received a number of "free" interiors cabin offers, but those dried up and now we receive a standard 30% fare discount for most cruises which works for us. I expect "maybe" for the same level of play with Princess we would get the 15% fare discount and some OBC. I continue to get Carnival free cruises which started after Covid and only very paltry level of play on a couple of cruises many years ago ,... so I suspect they share info from HAL. Doesn't sounds like there is any cross coupling between HAL and Princess though (even though they are both CCL)

Are there are any Casino players that sail both HAL and Princess that can provide a comparison? For the same level of play, would you see likely see a comparable benefit? We are low level casino folks, but get a decent discount rate with HAL at our level of play. I have not heard anyone mention Casino discounts rates with Princess, only free cabins and Come back and Sail offers which are pretty elusive to us on HAL at our play level, so I wouldn't expect any from Princess. Just wondering if we should just skip the Casino on our upcoming Princess cruise (our first) and just spent it the Casino on our next HAL cruise 🤔 (Who am I kidding, I am on holiday ... and we are going to go the Casino regardless 🙃)

We received ours in about 2 days but others have mentioned not getting that email, but going in and seeing it was approved. Worth just checking if it was approved so you can then do the next step to request to apply it to your cruise(s).

I think we are in the minority, but certainly not the only ones who generally eat "family style" when eating at a "buffet" (which we try to avoid). We bring different plates to the table and share from them rather than each getting individual plates of food which is more like eating family style. I've certainly seen others eat this was as well when in the buffet. Maybe by calling it "family style" they are trying to encourage more plate saring? maybe less waste?

What your TA suggested might "work" .... BUT, if I was the Casino comped Guest, I would then not at all be surprised if they didn't extend any further offers to me (and I would totally understand why) Essentially, if it CAN be done, the comp reservations are effectively "transferable" which defeats the whole purpose of offering a comp to a Casino player.