BabySarge

My personal opinion is they are ice cream glop and there is no way I can possibly imagine being able to eat two of them per day; but again, that is just MY personal opinion.  

This link talks about the casual dining options Casual Dining Guide for Princess Cruises (including updated menus) – Brits On A Ship

Hope this helps.

I take pods because they are easy to pack and my own dryer sheets; oh, and because my DH tends to be a stain magnet, I also take spray and wash in stick/solid form.  I have seen others use the laundry detergent sheets with mixed results (not always dissolving).  

Best explanation is there is no explanation for DMW!

Vines has always been one of our very favorite places and we have spent many an hour sipping and chatting with old and new friends.  We also are disappointed that there is no Vines on Enchanted for our November TA but as we have done on other ships with no Vines we will find one of the many bars on board that will be a adequate substitute and adapt.  I'm sure the wine won't taste any differently 🙂

Emerald and Ruby are two of our favorite ships and we have sailed on both several times for 30+ days and for 7 to 10 days.  I don't think you will go wrong with whichever one you choose.

I've done it with my own devices but never using my devices as a hotspot for someone else to use with their device(s).  However, with that being said, there is no guarantee it would be a consistent connection or the best way to go.  There is a time to pinch pennies and there's a time not to 🙂

Just want to say if there is some way to check that the VPN will work for you before you get it maybe do that, because while I did a ton of research and thought I had all my bases covered and did buy Nord VPN because it looked like the best; it did not work for me with MY bank.  It could just have been my inexperience with using a VPN and the possibility I did not install it correctly on my computer or my bank, but even after contacting Nord for technical assistance and them advising that everything was right, I was still unable to access my bank account when I was connected to the internet through/using routing through Nord.  This was all whilst I was in the US, with a US bank, and choosing US Nord VPN routing.   Nord never could explain to me why my bank would not allow me to access the site and since I could not login at all and I was still here in the US in my living room trying to look at my bank account and not able to do it with the VPN turned on what the heck was going to happen when I was on a cruise ship or overseas?

40 minutes ago, skynight said:

I'm not certain if that is shown in the app.

If memory serves me correctly, and no guarantee that it does, I'm pretty sure it does show in the app but I remember really having to dig deep to find out where and I remember thinking at the time they sure don't make it easy for you to look the information up.  I "think" it was in an area that didn't make sense but sort of made sense like maybe the area where you order food/drinks to be delivered?

Just a thought but if Bob Woods is an Australian Tour Company you may want to pop over to the Australia page/forum here on CC and see if anyone there can help you out with info or contacting them.  Also they may be able to help with some of the questions about the airlines, hotels, and use of your Visa.  In our recent travels we were surprised to find that some countries were no longer accepting Visa but Master Card was now preferred.

Uluru is awesome!!

Honestly, I've had it go both ways when we have had a cabin directly across from or within two or three doors of the laundromat.  Sometimes we've heard absolutely nothing and other times it has been passengers talking or arguing loudly or the doors slamming, if we hear anything at all, and that has always been in the morning.  I will say that the one thing we have never heard though are the machines oddly enough.  Never have had a cabin directly underneath and I don't think there are too many of them as they seem to stack the laundromats on top of each other by deck - probably for the drainage and plumbing runs or something.

We've had the Plus Package for our last two cruises, which was before they added things on to it and upped the price and at least for those cruises the Plus Package at the price we paid and what we got seemed to be a decent value.  Currently have it booked for our upcoming 26-day cruise and there have been lots of changes to it since we booked so I'm going to actually pay much more attention to costs and things so I can determine if it really is worth it for DH and me.  There are so many items included with it now that we will never use that I'm not sure it is a value for us or not especially since we find ourselves not consuming as much alcohol as we did a few years ago.  Although there is a wine bar on our upcoming cruise so that may change our consumption.  I really just don't like the appearance of paying for things I won't use like those ridiculous (to me) so called premium deserts and the exercise classes to name two things and now with the other changes I'm seeing posts about but don't have all the info on I'm not sure what's included, what's not, what's an up charge, etc.  

We've been loyal Princess cruisers since the early 90's but with so many changes I'm not sure how much longer we'll stay as it is becoming not a good fit for us anymore and I'm not sure if that is because of us and the way we have changed or if it is because of how Princess has changed.  This next cruise will be a good indicator.

Been having the same problem since Sunday this week.  Thought at first, they might be doing updates again as it was fairly late in the evening but when the problem continued up to and including this morning, I doubt they are still doing updates.  More like they did an update, and it has hosed something up somewhere along the line.  

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something on this discussion but is the implication that at some future date Military OBC will be per cabin and not per person?  I am totally fine with it not being refundable, never thought it should be and have always made a point of spending both mine and DH's whilst on board.  However, if it ends up being per cabin how on earth are they going to decide that if both individuals in the cabin are veterans such as DH and myself?  By rank when retired or left service?  Years of service?  Win, win for me as I both outrank and have more years of service but that totally negates and devalues my DH's 20 years which is just not right.  Again, I think I may have misunderstood something in all the replies and discussions, I surely hope so.

To the OP maybe send an email or make a call to your CVP if they are back from vacation and you can speak with them and tell them about the service you received from a member of their "support team".  If you have been happy with the service you received from your CVP previously, I would give them the chance to make it right with you and at the very least for them to possibly have that individual removed from their support team in future.  If nothing else they should be made aware that a member of their "support team" isn't being very supportive and may be costing them business.

I have had hit and miss experiences with CVP's at Princess over the years but for the last six years I have had a wonderful CVP with Princess and when he goes on vacation, I have to say his support team is just as good as he is. 

Hope you get it all sorted and have a wonderful cruise.

20 plus years ago I can remember making fun of my mother-in-law when I saw her packing her own cleaning rags, bottle of lysol, and spray can of disinfectant as she got ready to go on vacation to Europe and while I'm not quite that bad I must admit I do pack Lysol or Clorox wipes and am one of those that wipe things down in the cabin when we first arrive.  The cabin stewards do a good job of "with a lick and a prayer" type cleaning but I have found that the older I get the more germophobic I get. Plus, they are so busy on turn around day and have so many cabins to take care of there is just no way they can do a really good cleaning job of every little surface and object that needs to be cleaned.  Besides, I'm the crazy lady that used to clean my house before the cleaning team came.

37 minutes ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Does anyone take a stapler with them for luggage tags?

We use these instead - find them on Amazon of course. -

43 minutes ago, georgemoe said:

We just fully paid and I just set up dining via the phone app. There are two other couples on the cruise with us and the earliest dining I could set up for the 6 of us was 7:40 or 8:00pm in Concerto or Allegro. If I set dining for just my wife and I we could book any of the main ding rooms startinfg at 5:00pm. The time works for us as we plan to do the theater shows at 9:30 but would liked to have eaten a little earlier. We'll have to stand in line for that or try to book an earlier time on each day.

You can try booking the dining room and time you want as a table for two and then go back in and add the other people to your reservation as your traveling companions which will then make you a table for six at the time and dining room you want.  To do this you will need their booking numbers and to add them in the app as "Travel Companion", then go back to your reservation in the Dine My Way portion of the app and select "Add Guests", just follow the steps from there.  You may have to do it for every day and for each couple separately which is what I had to do to set up our table for 8 on our 111-day WC recently - it's a real pain but it can be done.  

I am currently on board Island Princess for the WC and I can assure you I have seen everything from stretch pants to sweat pants to shorts to tennis or golf type skirts to yoga pants to jeans to slacks to you name it.  So far I have not seen pajama pants or fuzzy slippers but it is early days so I'm not ruling that out yet.  

Do you by any chance know who the Director of Restaurant Operations is (used to be called the Maitre de) and if they will be on board for the World Cruise?  Thank you.

This is from the Princess site.  Don't know how accurate or good it is, but worth a shot.  Good luck and prayers for your brother.

To provide greater peace of mind while you're away from home, give friends and relatives the following information on how to telephone you. Contact your phone company directly for rates, your phone company will charge you directly for calls made to the ship. When calling, please include guest name and stateroom number to ensure quick delivery.

Guests may use their personal mobile devices onboard while at sea in international waters and in other areas where such use is permitted. A compatible mobile device and a service plan capable of roaming internationally with Maritime Communications Partners AS is required. Please contact your wireless service provider for availability and rates. 

For calls originating outside of the US and Canada, the following numbers should be used, preceded by your country's International Direct Dialing (IDD) code and the global ocean code 870. Please contact your long distance service provider for pricing. For example, if you would like to call the Diamond Princess in the Pacific Ocean from the United States, dial 011 870 773 933 441.

From when we started cruising back in the early 90's I've always carried some type of small shoulder bag because I never carry anything in my pockets - my hips and backside are wide enough on their own without adding anything to that area - and I always seem to have something to carry; tissues, lipstick/chapstick, cruise card, nail file, Advil, pencil/pen, band aid.  Fortunately, my cell phone fits along with all the other stuff I still seem to need to carry - I might have issues 🤣 

I certainly hope so!!  I think so much of what has gone south with Princess can be placed squarely on his doorstep - from the poorly designed, implemented, and continually flawed and glitching Medallion App to the abysmal customer service wait times and poorly trained agents along with the grasping at straws efforts to "modernize" and "youthify" the customer base with ridiculous reality TV shows, partnering with "boutique fitness brands", and finally a real grasp at straws with the most recent partnership with SMiZE Cream and D- Celebrity Tara Banks who, for a supposedly world class former high fashion model, couldn't even wear an outfit that fit to the announcement.  Please Mr. Padgett, go back to Disney and rejoin the rest of your cartoon pals. 

Is it possible to use those FCC's for someone else to take a cruise?  If so, might be a nice birthday, Christmas, "just because I have to use them" gift.

Have always been a dreadful "what if" and "just in case" over packer in the past but really started paying attention on the last cruise or two at the items we brought that either were never worn or simply sat in the drawer and were never used and have removed them from the packing list.  Unfortunately, due to DH's increasing physical limitations the lifting, loading, and moving of the luggage now falls primarily with me so the lighter I can keep it the better.

The one thing I always do though is carry our medications in our hand luggage along with an extra pair or two of clean knickers...you know, just in case 😁

Get an e-reader (Kindle, Nook, etc) sign up for your local library card and check out a book or two before you go.  Another alternative is to sign up for a free service such as BookBub which will send you an e-mail each day with free and/or very inexpensive books in the genre(s) off your choice.  Price for books ranges from .99 to 2.99 US generally.  https://www.bookbub.com