nini

Thank you for noting that. I always said that it would be nice if we could be charged a deposit on the Riedel and then have it negated when returned. Also, I have suggested that it would be lovely if Princess sold "souvenir" Riedel Princess stemware (engraved). That could bring in some bucks!

@Hobby3333 Please also keep in mind that the Sun Princess is a whole different species! However, I am assuming that the crew will be fantastic as they are 99.9% of the time! No seasoned Princess cruiser is too sure what to expect. It is quite an innovative design. For us, there are no aft balconies (which we swear by). So, it would be tough to make a booking decision until we hear back from the pioneering Princess hang on CC.

I TOTALLY agree!!! It needs to be chef's preferences and creative! It sounds like we will not be participating again. We have enjoyed two memorable Chef's Tables.

We were on the Emerald in May of 2022 and it worked well for us. (Very aft corner cabin)

There are many threads regarding the Sky. I suggest you look to those. This thread only addresses the shows on the Sky. Personally, we loved the Sky as we were on her last June for Iceland and Norway.

Reservations are NOT required. We always do Anytime Dining and just show up. Often, we are asked if we would like to share a table and we really enjoy that because we chat with people form so many different places. We have never had to wait long, however, we typically show up in line about 5:30 or 6:00

You have excellent points!

The Riedel and other thin lip glasses were standard on the Sky last June. Vines should have them and that is where you will be served wine in those. They may or may not let you "borrow" them. We were chased down like criminals on the Grand in September 2022. No lie!

Yay!

Another reason to not use Viator. They are a BROKER!!! We know of several other cruisers who have had their tours cancelled with basically a one-day notice. Then they are hard pressed to book something and the ship's excursions are usually totally booked by then.

I am not disabled but I am 5"3" and have weak calves due to needing knee replacements. It was a bit challenging using the steps into and out of the train. They are far apart and from each other as well to ground level.

Follow this link and in the upper right hand corner is a green tab that says "Book Now". https://www.norwaysbest.com/the-flam-railway/round-trip-with-the-flam-railway/

And I also agree regarding using Viator. They are a BROKER! We have witnessed many cruisers becoming disappointed that their excursions were cancelled with very short notice; like the day before the excursion.

We used Saga Travels for a Golden Circle tour. The driver was fine; just not a fun sparkly personality. However, as with the other ports in Iceland and Norway; they are not really ready for the "Big Time" and handling tourists. It was difficult to follow their vague instructions on where to meet. We did eventually hook up. They were on the late side for pick up but it really was a good tour.

Our ship was basically right there! It is a tiny town. We directly pre-purchased our tickets online.

That was why I told the other poster that the train was not a great option from LHR- which is what they were referring to.

Exactly! We have always had a large balcony and will not even book a cruise if that is not an option.

@Thrak is correct!!!

Thank you for your clarification. I seem to remember otherwise, however, that sounds like a great plan. Is it easy to board the train from LHR?

You can go to the deck plans on the Princess website. You will be able to click on each deck your would like to view. For example: https://www.princess.com/deckPlans.do?shipCode=XP&version=1 Go to the above link and select the deck you wish to view. You can easily compare them that way. Aft cabins on the Emerald and Dolphin deck are quite different. The aft cabins on the Emerald deck are very narrow and have no cover. One deck above, the Dolphin deck is deep and partially covered. Here is a link to a photo. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Discovery+Princess+aft&atb=v215-1&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cruisemapper.com%2Fimages%2Fships%2F2157-2f911d7c260.jpg

We loved our 14-night itinerary out of Vancouver, BC on the Grand! The Grand also has a fantastic covered viewing area in the front of the ship. I want to say it is on the Promenade deck. The very knowledgeable guest Naturalist would always tell us where she would be on the ship to direct us to wildlife.

Thank you for your response, encouragement and additional information. We are on the very edge of the state of Washington. Flying to Europe is quite the effort. A non-stop flight to LHR is 9 hours and 20 minutes. And it is tough to get non-stop.

We always book an aft balcony when possible. You may want to do a search to see if that one is covered at all. It is one of the larger aft balconies, they are not all created equally. For example, the balconies below on the Aloha deck are super small. If you have motion sickness issues, it may not be for you.

Hello fellow Washingtonian! You may find more detailed airport information on the "Cruise Air" board. You can do a search for "Gatwick". We have flown into LHR twice when we had departures from Southampton. I really do not know much about Gatwick. If you are using EZAir, does it offer Gatwick? Have you been in LHR? We basically despise that airport, but it is what it is. Taking the train to Southampton from London is not advised, as it really is a pain. I learned this on this board.

You are so correct! In Rome, we easily booked our transfer to the port. It was a shared ride and we stopped at two different hotels to pick up some riders- we did not know these other people. It was so economical and a breeze. For some reason, this concept is unknown in London/ Southampton. One time, we were able to arrange sharing a transfer from the ship to LHR. We did this from our Roll Call, but this can be complicated. People can cancel on you, etc and then you are stuck with the entire fee. There were to be 6 of us, but one couple canceled, due to the husband getting covid and the wife deciding to stay with him at the quarantine hotel, instead of flying home. We did not reimburse her; she said not to but I don;t think the other couple would have wanted to anyway. Therefore, in order to share, this needs to be pre-arranged and is possible, making it more affordable. But, it is tough. The National Express is super cheap from the airport. Of course, we will need to get a cab from the bus station to the hotel but they are very reasonable.