JimmyVWine

I simply said that I don’t want to dine at chain restaurants. If there is a Sabatini’s in Times Square or Vegas, I missed them.

And I am disappointed for the same reasons. I don't want my cruise ship to have restaurants that one can go to in Vegas, Times Square or South Coast Plaza. I don't want Johnny Rockets, or anything from Guy Fieri, or Shake Shack, or meat on a stick. But that's just me. I'm sure that there must have been some marketing research done that suggests that I am in the minority. That said, I was not a fan of the location of Sterling, and when on Sapphire, confined my Specialty Dining to Sabatini's...a trend that will continue if I am ever on that ship again.

The definition of insanity. Waiting in a 20 minute line at Guest Services to complain about having had to wait in a 10 minute line at dinner the night before. Never quite understood the whole "reduce the crew gratuity because one issue arose or one crew member failed" thingy Since the gratuity is spread across the entire crew, the act of trying to punish one crew member results in the entire crew feeling it. Better to leave the gratuity in place and blast the one crew member on a comments card. Reducing the gratuity is an invisible gesture and does nothing to improve service. Calling out a failing crew member by name will not be ignored by their manager.

Yes, but... While they are not sold under the title of "Premium Deluxe Balconies" there are "Deluxe Balconies" that have balconies that are just as big, if not bigger and some that are just a bit smaller, but still way bigger than a typical balcony. Many of them have metal balcony walls instead of the blue glass, but guests report finding that feature to be worth the trade of getting the extra size. Look at the forward area of Emerald Deck and the forward facing Balconies on Marina Deck. They will say "Obstructed" but that refers to the metal framing as opposed to the blue glass framing. Also, there are larger than average balconies on Dolphin Deck mid-ship. They are not sold as "Premium" but are still "Deluxe" meaning that they have the love seat. D407-D410 have fairly large balconies. So do D424, D425, D428 and D429 though they are not "Deluxe". They have bigger balconies, but no love seat. Here is a link to a discussion of the ones on Emerald Deck with some photos.

Saying that it was "just for the dome" is like that old ditty about Mrs. Lincoln enjoying the play. 4,000 people booked a cruise to enjoy all of the new, groundbreaking, innovative, cool stuff that the Sun Class provides, and over the course of a week, only 250 x 7 (1,750) can see shows in the newest, coolest feature. And that assumes that no one person goes twice. That leaves over half of the paying customers out of luck. Seems like a recipe for massive complaining. Perhaps that is why they have hidden the Guest Services Desk out of the general view of guests.

Missing the point. The people who get invited to go to the lounge are not the hoi polloi who stand around waiting in a line. The people who get invited to the lounge are the people who get right on the ship without even so much as tapping the brakes from the time they enter the terminal until the time they are having their first IC snack or cocktail. As I said earlier on, the creation of the lounge was designed to avoid a wait and cure a problem that no longer exists.

I think that the best option is to buy a decent pair of binoculars that has an adjustable right-side eyepiece that you can use to focus the lens to fit your need for correction, and then use the main focus bar to focus the rest of the way. This entails taking your glasses off. This is going to be far superior to using binoculars with glasses on. That just never really works well. And if taking your glasses on and off repeatedly is a pain, then add a chain or strap to them so that they hang from your neck. This pair functions that way and should be in your price range. The promotional photos that accompany the description explain how to align, focus the right eye, and then focus the whole thing. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRBC2QT9/ref=twister_B0CWD1W5KG?_encoding=UTF8&th=1 I know that this isn't exactly what you asked about, but I think it really is the best solution unless your right eye eyesight is so bad that the lens adjustment for that eye won't compensate for it.

Yeah. I listen in when I hear that there is breaking news, but I can only take her in very small doses.

But that is not a necessary function of the lounge. If they sunsetted the lounge, they could just as easily set up a sign-up table in the PES lounge in the terminal, or better yet, allow pre-booking on the app.

But when boarding starts at 10:30, when exactly is this "hang-out time"? If you qualify for an invitation to the lounge, then you by definition qualify to hang out at the separate waiting area in the terminal. You show up at 10:00 and barely have enough time for a cup of coffee before you are being boarded onto the ship. If it is true that the people at the lounge get to board first, then those people have to leave the lounge probably by 10:00 at the latest since the lounge is off-site. Maybe earlier. So one's time in the lounge would be what? 9:00-9:30? Does it seem logical to incur the expense of this perk for a half an hour or "exclusivity"?

Learn something new every day. Didn't know it existed. https://www.italiangelato.info/gelato/soft-serve.kl

Our worst experience was from a neighbor in a non-connected cabin. This was several years before Covid, but this guy was hacking up a lung 24 hours a day in the most frightful way imaginable. I mean this sincerely, we thought he was dying. The next to last day of our cruise, an ambulance came and took him out on a gurney and quarantine tape was placed on the cabin door. The next day, at disembarkation, a hazmat team was in the cabin doing a full sterilization. I suppose that if we had had connecting cabins under those circumstances, I would have been concerned about whatever he had slipping under the door. Not sure that is possible though.

This lounge is a perfect example of a company that has two teams developing enhancements at the same time who are not in communication with one another. One team developed the lounge and another team developed the app-based check-in process. Both teams got their projects up an running at about the same time. But with the app-based check-in process working so well, and with Suite guests getting highest priority to board, as @azbirdmom notes above, getting onto the ship by 10:30-11:00 is almost to be expected. If one can be in the IC or Good Spirits at Sea by 10:30, what possible purpose does the lounge serve, other than to make some people feel privileged? And is that feeling of privilege worth the exchange of boarding the ship later? Not sure if they own or lease the space, but I could see this lounge being sunsetted soon.

If given the choice between a cabin that connects and one that does not, all other things being equal, I would opt for the cabin that does not connect. That said, connecting cabins are not the pariah that some people make them out to be. The last three cruises that I have taken have been in cabins that connect to the ones next door and we never heard a peep or experienced any issues whatsoever. (All on Royal Class ships).

A good source for daily updates and news. For comprehensive tours and reviews of ships, “Ben and David” havre created a ton of content, not just on Princess but on many cruise lines.