L11

I can relate to this completely. My dad seemed to unlearn not only his manners but his use of grammatically correct English as well when he got older, despite the fact that he insisted on both when I was young. As for the bathing suits and robes in dining areas...just don't...please...just don't. Thank you.

Also a new HAL cruiser. I tried searching for this info but no luck. How and when are boarding times assigned? Does HAL strictly adhere to the assigned boarding times? Thanks for your help! I warn you in advance - I may have more question in the weeks to come. Linda

Daryl @Mcobean, I received a similar error message. Linda

You remind me a bit of my husband with the Spinal Tap reference. We have several amps in our music room and he replaced every single knob with aftermarket knobs that "go to 11". Sigh. Linda

@BrandiGreg, that dish just looks nasty. Hope that was just a "one off" mistake. I am concerned since that is one of my favorites too. Looks like, on the new menus on many ships, they may be in the process of doing away with the fettuccine Alfredo which is my husband's go-to. I am sure we we find something to eat on our next cruise, but still...

When we were on our last Viking cruise, we were contacted by, I believe, the restaurant manager (could have been a different title, but definitely someone in authority) by phone on our first day. We are generally vegetarian as well, though occasionally we will eat fish (no shellfish). The manager had a menu of the evening's offerings sent to our room every day so that we could make our selections or tell them if we wanted something changed to accommodate our needs. If we had reservations in the specialty restaurant, that menu was sent to us for comments. We gave our marked up menus to The Restaurant host at breakfast and our preferences were always accomodated. We had one of the best vegetarian meals ever at Chef's Table one night. I do have say that, more often than not, their vegetarian selections already on the menu were our choice. There was always a good selection at lunch at the buffet of items we could eat. Unfortunately, pasta, pizza and gelato are weaknesses of mine though they did have healthier vegetarian selections as well. I envy you the world cruise. Enjoy!

We are doing essentially the same cruise in less than 2 months. So excited! If you get the chance, could you share the name of the transport/car service you used to get from Santiago to Valparaiso? Thanks in advance and have a terrific cruise. Linda

I am a long time follower of your Gentleman's Seafaring Journals (and, for most of that time, a world class lurker on these boards). Love following your travels and really enjoy your incredible photos. I read every one of your journals during the "pause" to help sate my travel hunger. Didn't you manage to finally make it to the Bayreuth Festival this year? I know, way off topic, but I remember you and Carol were looking forward to it so I had to ask. Ok, back to lurking and to delighting in another Norris report, this one from my neck of the woods. Carry on, sir. Linda

Looks like its availability may vary ship to ship. @ceilidh1 is posting live from the Ruby and I do not see it on any of the menus.

@cr8tiv1 I was able to order it in November but menus I have seen posted in the past week don't seem to show it. Weird.

I have been following several threads where menus have been posted. I have not seen fettuccine Alfredo offered every night as it has been for many, many years. Is this no longer an option at every dinner?! My DH will be crushed since that is his "go to" most nights. Maybe someone on board could check for me? Thanks in advance!

We did not go so I have no info. Linda

Oops. Meant to say February 2023 not 2022. Caught my error too late to edit. Sorry about that. Linda

@photopro2, are you by any chance booked on the Chilean Fjords and Southern Atlantic cruises beginning in February 2022? If so, we are too! Linda

Does anyone have any current information about the day passes at Las Hadas? I have been able to find little about them online or on this site other than pre-2020 reviews. I assume they still offer day passes but how much are they currently charging? What all is included with the cost of the pass (drinks, food, etc.)? Are there umbrellas available? Any info would be appreciated. We will be in Manzanillo on the Royal Princess in about 2 weeks. I did try to contact the resort directly but never received a reply. Thanks in advance for any input. Linda

If you want one of the ukuleles handed out by Dave on the first day of the lessons, get there NO LATER than 30 minutes ahead of time but 45 minutes might be even better. Sounds like he is short on instruments and Dave's classes are very popular, deservedly so. If you think you might be interested in continuing to play after the cruise, getting your own instrument is the way to go. Be sure to pick up a tuner and bag (many come with a light duty bag but if you are going on an airplane, be sure the bag has at least a little padding since the overhead bins can be hard on your uke). Kala and Islander both have starter ukuleles priced between $100-$150. Our first ukuleles were Islanders. I can attest that they are good instruments. We learned to play from Dave many years ago on a Princess cruise and have been playing ever since. Dave is a phenomenal instructor! We have cruised with him several times. You don't want to miss his class (or the hula class his wife, Leialoha, teaches). If you have anything other than really tiny fingers, you probably don't want to get a soprano (small) ukulele. You will want a concert (medium sized) or tenor (the biggest of the "regular" ukes). Avoid the larger baritone ukulele for right now--they are tuned differently from the ukes you will be learning in class. Good luck and happy playing. If you see Dave, tell him Gerald and Linda send their best. Linda

I had a similar experience with my casino comped cruise on 11/13. I bid to go from a regular mini suite to a club class mini suite. When my bid was accepted, I contacted the casino department. They took my payment by phone and immediately sent me updated booking info showing that I am paid in full for my new cabin. The process was quite straightforward. Linda

Another vote for Path Between the Seas. Absolutely fascinating. I read it before my second trip through the canal and it made a huge difference for me in my excitement level and enjoyment of that trip. He is an engaging writer so, even though it is a thick book, it is not boring.. It reads a little like a novel in many places. Enjoy! Linda

I know I am terribly late to the party, but it took a while to finish all 85 pages. I echo all of the positive comments about your report, your photography, etc. But I wanted to add one thing - thank you for your smiles. They are contagious. Every time you posted a picture of yourself or Iain, I had to smile too. Iain in particular has that devilish grin. Thank you so much for spending your time on this report. My prayers are with you for your eye surgery. Hope we sail together one day. Linda

I saw that on the deck plan, but even the description in the upgrade offer said they were subject to strong wind when underway. I like to sit outside and embroider on part of every sea day so no bueno for me. I was tempted though. That big balcony does look nice!

I just got an upgrade email for our November 13 cruise on Royal. Interesting, since this is not one of the ships listed for the initial roll out. Anyway, we are currently in a mini. We were offered several different types of suites and 2 types of club class minis. The suites were a little pricy but the club class upgrades were minimum of $130 and $175 PP depending on the type selected. Not interested in a forward facing club class mini (didn't know that was a thing). However, the other club class minis are around midship and located between passenger decks. That meets our needs no matter which cabin we are assigned to in that class. So, I placed a bid. There are a lot of them available for this cruise. They say you will be advised regarding the success your bid no later than 3 days before sailing. I will post when we hear back. By the way, they do require you to enter a credit card to secure the bid but state you still need to contact customer service to finalize the payment. Wish me luck!

On our recent Ruby cruise, I had paid to book Sabatini's not realizing that my package had given me a specialty dining credit. I was successful at Guest Services in getting the amount I paid credited back as OBC. YMMV. Linda

On Ruby last week, the internet was absolutely abysmal. I had the plus package so no refund or offer of OBC when I complained. Ended up missing an online appointment because the website I needed to access took literally 20 minutes just to load the log in screen and never got me on to the site at all. I even tried the computers in the Internet Cafe which were slightly faster but not by much. Princess needs to work on this. @CruzerDeb, we went to Rome several years ago. We toured with Rome in Limo and, if I recall correctly, also has Stefano as a guide. We even stayed in the same hotel, Albergo del Senato. One of my favorite memories is of the Piazza della Rotunda at night from in front of the hotel. I look forward to reading your final thoughts on your cruise. Linda

@zentraveler, the casino was exceptionally busy on this cruise because there was a large slot machine tournament onboard for invited casino guests, so a disproportionate number of cruisers were gamblers on comped cruises. I agree completely with @blubberwon. Don't gamble on your vacation just in the hopes of a comped cruise. It can get expensive to get that free cruise if you aren't lucky. Now if I just listened to my own advice!😁 Linda

Like cruzin4us, I also stopped posting because of the very slow internet. And like many others, my DH and I tested positive for Covid when we got home. DH had a fever but I was (and am) virtually asymptomatic. I may have gotten it in the casino where I spent long hours at the tables. Interestingly, on my return I received a notification from some state agency in Nevada which indicated that my phone had been in close contact with the phone of someone who was positive for Covid. I have little to add to what others have said. The ship is old but most of the interior looks well maintained. They were doing some hull painting in one of the ports on the starboard side. I did notice a fair amount of rust on the exterior but the ship is in a corrosive marine environment so rust is not really surprising, even on newer ships. It was a pleasant surprise to find that lines on board were not too bad and that staffing seems to have improved over prior sailings. Our sailing was at or near capacity too. The worst line I saw was outside the Effy store the night they were giving out free rum punch. Go figure. I was not planning on booking another Princess cruise in the near future but we got a great casino offer delivered on the last day of the cruise so we decided to take advantage of it and are now booked on Royal in November. Hopefully our experience will be comparable to this cruise. Despite some hiccups, I give it overall a solid B (and I am a tough grader). Linda