First night

[espmass]

It doesn't look like my question went through ao I'll try again- I am sailing on the Star Princess 2/27. We leave at 4PM. This is my first Princess cruise as I usually take Celebrity. Can anyone tell me if they have a deck party or anything the first evening? I was wondering if we'd miss anything or if it would be too rushed if we tried for Sabatini's reservations the first night. Opinions?

[calikak]

If you are doing traditional dining, the first night is usually a good night to make it to the dining room, so you can meet your waiters and the other people at your table, but if you're doing anytime dining, I see no reason not to go to Sabatini's the first night. Just make sure not to have a big lunch when you get onboard, because you want to show up at Sabatini's with an empty stomach, because they feed you a ton of food and it's pretty much all delicious.

 

I'd check the patters on CruiseClues.com for your itinerary to see what the first night activities usually are.

[tom-n-jules]

There's sailaway, which is informally a "deck party" of sorts.

 

Island Night is the BIG deck party. :D

[CruiseFever]

Sure, there's a sailaway party as you leave port (or just about any port for that matter). On our Caribbean Princess Cruise last month it was from 5:00 to 7:00pm. After that there was a lull in activities and events until the shows and lounges started up, some at 8:00 and some at 8:30pm.

 

Personally I think doing Sabatinis early in the cruise is a great idea. I get tired of all the volume of food by the end of the cruise and doing it up front when appetites are at their peak is a good idea. This is a huge meal.

 

It's also easy to get into on the first night as most people run around bumping into walls trying to figure out where stuff is. If it were me I'd get on the ship,, check out my cabin and then check the Princess Patter (A daily guide to cruise activities) to see if Sabatinis would fit in the evenings plans for me. I would NOT want to miss the Welcome Aboard show, traditionally at 8:30 and 10:30 and I think you could do it all.

 

Sailaway party/Sabatinis/Welcome Aboard show ( in that order ) could work.

 

Welcome to Princess. Do yourself a favor and DON'T compare your cruise to any others or this line to other lines. You'll have a fabulous cruise all on its own.

[espmass]

Thanks. These were some of the nicest, most straightfoward responses I have gotten to questions. We will try to get to Sabatinis the first night. Does anyone know if it's possible to make reservations before sailing? We're in a balcony cabin but not a suite. Also, I hate to sound dumb but I have been unable to figure out how to view current copies of the Star Patters for the Western Itinerary. The only ones I see are older ones or ones for LA to Sidney. Can anyone help me with this? Thanks again.