hiccups

We are boarding on Saturday for our first Princess cruise, so thanks for all the tips!

If you like to snorkel, book Woodwind in Bonaire. Best snorkeling we’ve done anywhere. We’ve gone with Woodwind twice and would go again!

I hope OP does bring it up, because they could save someone else from a similar situation. IMO Celebrity would address this concern. If they don’t know about it, they can’t correct it. I don’t drink, either, and typically I just say “No thank you” once and the glass is removed. Clearly the sommelier needs more training, but won’t get it if the issue isn’t raised.

We had a regular Sky Suite on Beyond last week, and really enjoyed the experience. Lots of great staff on board! We have some cabin noise, unfortunately (9203). It wasn’t every night, though.

We’ve done one Yacht Club cruise on Divina and one Retreat cruise on Beyond. We thought Beyond was much better in terms of food and service. We did a four-day sailing on MSC, and never met our butler. We don’t need a butler, but we certainly expected he would introduce himself. We were also forgotten when it came to disembarking—finally we asked and were told to just go ahead and leave. We never received any information about disembarking, either. Every staff member on Beyond just went above and (ha) beyond. We were really impressed. We’re willing to try Yacht Club again, but we preferred the beyond Sky Suite; our suite on MSC felt like a regular balcony. Whenever we left the Yacht Club, it was a completely different experience than sailing on X, and not in a good way.

We are sailing on Enchanted Princess in July on a family cruise, and we made our specialty dining reservations at the end of March. About a month ago, I checked the app and our reservations had disappeared! I did a chat with Princess, and they verified they were gone. Luckily I’d taken a screen shot, because the entire family was booking the same reservations. We had originally combined our dining reservations with my BIL (using his booking number along with ours), and got all our specialty dining credits applied from both bookings, so we didn’t have a charge. In trying to re-book, the Princess rep said we’d have to pay for the second reservation, because despite all four of us having the premier package (and two booking numbers), our four included meals would be used on the first reservation, and there was no way to apply BIL’s dining credits. After an hour-long chat, we got our reservations restored, and eventually my BIL figured out how to use the app and get his reservations booked. No one else in our family group had their reservations cancelled, so I’m not sure what happened. I keep checking now!

Just off Beyond this morning, and shows were 7:30 and 9:30 PM.

I’m very puzzled by the number of comments saying a six-night cruise (Sunday to Saturday) is likely to be a “party” cruise. It’s only one night shorter than a standard week-long cruise! As I mentioned earlier, I’m on this cruise and haven’t felt it’s any different in terms of atmosphere than a usual X cruise. The solarium, however, is much hotter than we’ve found it to be on other ships. I’ve heard comments from other passengers that the ship is warm in general, and I agree. As we all know, the crew is always going to avoid conflict with a passenger, even when someone is violating a rule. X (and other cruise lines) need to realize they are upsetting a lot more people by not dealing with inappropriate behavior. Definitely a change in the review and reward process is in order.

We’re on this sailing, but I’ve only been in the solarium today at lunch and it was okay (port day). I would go to guest services and ask to fill out a comment card or speak to the hotel director, but I’m not sure they can do much about the level at which people are speaking, unfortunately. But they won’t know about it unless it’s brought to their attention.

I hope you have luck getting another suite! Using a TA will also get you OBC for your booking, so that’s an advantage, too!

Just curious how you will track down housekeeping? Are you planning on asking for the same wait staff every night? Really, it’s better for the staff if you don’t do a breakdown and just tip above to those you normally add extra.

Just leave the auto gratuities on and tip above if you wish. That’s easiest.

Have you ever even taken a river cruise? I doubt it, if you describe it as a “snore fest.”

I handle all the utensils at any buffet with a napkin. This is where Oceania's always been best by having servers.

I’ve always assumed that now with MoveUp bids, we’ll get the lowest level cabin. Last month we booked a suite guarantee on Beyond for this month, and our TA said to be prepared to be assigned an MC Sky Suite. We were much more quickly than I expected assigned to a standard Sky Suite. Of course we would have loved a Celebrity Suite (or higher!) but since we didn’t get the MC Sky Suite, can’t complain. The savings were worth it.