Dar & Bob

We were on the Grand this summer on our anniversary and got absolutely Nothin, nada, zilch We will be on the Sky for my birthday and we will see.

Which ship?

Specifically on X website : No contra betting permitted on Roulette or Baccarat. Promotional Chips cannot be used at the Texas Hold’em table. Promotional chips Chip denominations are subject to availability. Guest must present SeaPass at table play for Casino recording. Cancellations can only be made pre-cruise via Cruise Planner; refunds will be made to the original form of payment. After Cruise Planner closes for the sailing, all sales are final. Pre-Cruise purchases made that exceed the maximum purchase amount will be refunded to the credit card originally used for purchase within seven business days after the original charge was made. Offer is subject to availability and change without notice and may be withdrawn at any time. This promotion will not count towards Blue Chip Club loyalty points accumulation. Celebrity Cruises reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions. ©2019 Celebrity Cruises Inc.

You can win some free play if not picked. So for $50 each we won a total of $45 - fun once but won't do it again.

We recently cruised on the Edge with X - we just became platinum on Princess. We loved the Edge since it is so different. We have booked two more cruises on Celebrity and have one on Sky Princess coming up. To us Princess is a little more laid back than Celebrity which we weren't expecting. As far as the Holiday situation, we have been on two NYE cruises with Princess. The last one was a 10 day cruise and there were many passengers with in our book too many kids. They were up late in the evening - running through the ballroom dancers in the Piazza and around the piano bar. We noticed many of them were Europeans so not sure if the longer length of the cruise made it more appealing. It was just our observation and we have opted not to go at NYE again for that reason. BTW we have no problem with the kids, but it was the parents who didn't supervise them,

Glad you found it. We like making our reservations in advance also. Already booked for both January and May 2023.

Yes Alfredo's is the pizza place. On the Regal they had an awesome shrimp salad but it wasn't offered on the Grand. Not surets if it was a positional thing or Royal vs Grand thing. The Good Spirits at Sea had a full menu of different drinks to try. I really liked the Sandia en Fuego which was a spicy fruity drink. https://www.facebook.com/PrincessCruises/videos/252979523421463/

Can't believe you haven't been on Princess - your posts are always so helpful. We haven't sailed on the Emerald but were on the Grand in July. We enjoyed trying different cocktails at Good Spirits at Sea and we enjoy Crooners with the piano players for before dinner cocktail and after the shows. The plus package has a limit of $12 per drink but like X you only pay the difference in the price. Vines is very nice to try some different wines and some of the best will be over the $$ limit. For lunch try Alfredo's for something different from the buffet or dining room and the International cafe is good for a quick breakfast sanwich especially on sea days. Also with the Plus package the coffees there are included. That's about all the generic Princess info I can give you. I know you will have a great report of your experience and look forward to it. Our experience on the Grand was our worst experience on Princess and I hope the Emerald is in better condition.

Per the FAQs Guests are only permitted to bring alcohol onboard under the following circumstances 1.) Embarkation day when each guest is permitted to bring onboard with them up to two (2) bottles of wine (which are subject to a corkage fee) per guest. A corkage fee does not apply to guests with the Classic Beverage Package or Premium Beverage Package. Security may inspect containers (including water bottles, soda bottles, mouthwash, canteens, etc.) at any time and will dispose of alcohol concealed in such container. 2.)Alcoholic beverages that are purchased from onboard shops or in ports of call (which must be presented to security upon re-boarding), will be secured by ship's personnel. Alcohol secured by ship's personnel will be returned to guests just prior to the conclusion of their cruise vacation.

I tried to link 2 other couples to our reservation as well. I think both are booked with a TA. After several attempts the two couples reservation numbers showed as linked to ours. However, I was still not able to make reservations for them. We have anytime dining and each couple made their own reservation. Now I have one couples reservation showing up on our "manage my reservation" page. I clicked on it when I was going to make our final payment without realizing it was theirs. Thankfully I discovered it before going any further. I have emailed my CVP twice now with no response. I guess I am going to have to call in to get things resolved.

Thank you - I wonder how long after signing up they will give it to us. I am going to search the code on the website to see if there is any additional info

That one is for bookings, the one I got was just for opting in on X text messages.

Did anyone else receive an email offering $100 OBC for opting in to receiving text messages from X? I opted in and have been receiving texts but I don't remember the details of receiving the OBC and of course, now cannot locate the email.

$1 vs $100 refundale deposit - if $100 fully refundable is too much to make you jump on a cruise you want (which will most likely increase before the $1 deposits come back) maybe you shouldn't be cruising 🙂 Just sayin'

I am interested to see the activities on the Equinox. We are sailing in January with friends and curious about the various things to do. We missed some things we would have liked in April on the Edge.

We'll participate, it's better than the same ole - same ole.

Anyone know if the walls are magnetic on the Equinox, I thought in one of the YouTube videos the person showed using magnets. Before I order a bunch it would be nice to know.

I notice Budget has other locations at the Hilton hotel and Irausquin do you happen to know if those are within walking distance. How is the island to drive around? Lots of traffic. We haven't been there in ages.

I am assuming you are stating this in jest but if not I hope your toothbrush is used to clean your toilet 🙂

We are on a November 26th on the Sky and got ours I think 2 days ago.

For us it was only $40 pppd extra on our last 2 cruises. The gratuities were $15 pppd -so that left us at $25 pppd - one coffee and a couple of glasses of wines and we were at break even. Bottles of water, sodas and several other cocktails made it a deal for us. I also don't like to think about the fact of spending money once on board. It's one and done.

Unfortunately on our last cruise they had increased the price of some of the glasses of wine. They were already over the Plus but still a couple of $$ more than the cruise in January.

As others have said they are looking for smuggling. People will bring on water or soda in bottles and some of the bottles will have been filled with liquor, so they just ban all bottles and if you want your own soda or water you bring on cans. It's stated in their policy and you agree to abide by their policy no matter what their reasoning. So if you want water find it in cans. 🙂 It's been this way for a number of years with CCL corporation

Thank you for your response. I had read that the weather could be more rainy in the summer months. We have booked the Apex for May 7th out of Amsterdam which should be very nice.

We brought on smoked salmon from a port in Alaska and I always bring nuts and snacks for our room. I don't think you would have a problem. Usually the only issue with food is entering the country with food that isn't packaged, like fruits and vegetables or raw meat.