Astro Flyer

Carolyn…looking forward to reading about your experiences on Enchanted which is the only Royal-class ship we have not sailed on…yet. We greatly enjoyed The Catch by Rudi on our recently completed Discovery cruise. For me it was the best Princess specialty restaurant & hopefully you’ll have a similar experience…great service & food! 😋

I have read that the majority of destroyed Lahaina residences did not have fire insurance which will be a major obstacle to rebuilding those homes unless FEMA finances the rebuilding. The state & county certainly don’t have deep enough pockets to fund the rebuild. Based on what I’ve read on local news sites, many of those destroyed homes had longtime multi generational residents & were mostly lower paid hardworking residents. As bad as losing Front Street is it’s much worse for the residents of Lahaina. And things move slowly there & are even slower as the legalities & considering the desires of locals are addressed about the future of Lahaina. This is not the first time that the close together wooden structures with narrow streets in Lahaina have burned. Over 100 years ago on New Years 1919 more than 30 Front Street wooden buildings were destroyed. After 1919 the fire issues were not addressed but would expect governments to not repeat that mistake resulting in a major renovation of Lahaina with more strict building & fire codes to prevent another devastating firestorm disaster. https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/the-great-lahaina-fire-of-1919/

That’s very disappointing…Maui needs the visitor industry’s help to financially recover. There are so many businesses that are struggling to survive & too many that have closed. The only valid reason I can think about is a scheduling conflict with the interisland NCL Pride of America cruises. If possible it would be helpful if Princess were able to rearrange HI ports of call to avoid the day of the week when NCL is docked at what I think is the only pier available in Kahului for cruise ships.

If you’re asking about the Lahaina Cannery Mall Safeway…it is open. The mall was not damaged nor was the Lahaina Gateway center. Businesses makai of LCM also survived including the Old Lahaina Luau which has reopened. The Feast at Lele (505 Front Street) owned by the same company was destroyed by the firestorm.

Discussions are ongoing about how Lahaina will be rebuilt. I agree with ‘teechur’ that Lahaina won’t be ready for ships for 5-10 years…and any tourism might take just as long. Whatever is built it might be impossible to recreate the charm of historical Old Lahaina Town. Maybe it’ll be a facade of Old Lahaina Town but in my opinion it will never be the same for me & my ohana…memories that will never be forgotten & are impossible to replace. 😢 As others have written there are other good places to visit in South Maui, Upcountry and along the windward coast. The closest I can think about that is somewhat similar to Old Lahaina Town might be Paia or Makawao…but neither are Lahaina. In my opinion, Lahaina will be rebuilt however it will never be the same as historical Old Lahaina Town…the one time capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the whaling capital of the world.

The roundtrip shuttle is included with their park & stay cruise package. We took the first shuttle to the ship & after the cruise I walked the short distance to the CP & returned in our car to pickup my wife & our luggage. For us that was better than waiting for the shuttle to load bags & go to the hotel.

It was an amazing cruise & agree with all of the comments made by others about the things we experienced. Captain Tony was great & under his leadership there was a happy crew that provided great service. We sailed Discovery’s inaugural & second cruises in Spring 2022 & the ship was good as new. We dined at Sabatini’s on the last night & asked the restaurant manager (headwaiter) about the swap of locations that the Catch chef told us was planned but not when. The Sabatini’s RM said that the swap in venues would happen in 10 days which would be on 4/22 if everything goes as planned.

We’ve never requested any changes but once mentioned that one of our favorites (Twice Baked Goat Cheese Soufflé) was on the MDR menu that night. They offered to include it with the UBD however we declined their offer because we enjoy the standard menu…and we didn’t need another course to be even more full. ☺️

From today’s email: Reservable and Walk-in Anytime Dining will be combined into a single Main Dining Room location aboard Coral Princess and Island Princess.

The UBD increased from $100 to $110 so for us the price is still good. Now that specialty restaurants add an 18% service charge a dinner for 2 at the Crown Grill is now $92…no cocktails, champagne nor flowers included. And having great service on your balcony it’s a better location for us & to have flowers for our cabin. You could confirm that a photo is included when room service calls to go over the menu.

Previously they’d take several photos & we got one for free & would have to pay for additional photos. We always just got a free photo but based on PacnGoNow & my experiences it might now be upon request. Their website’s description does not show the included half bottle of champagne (have sometimes changed it to a 750ml bottle of wine that cost the same or less) and flowers (type varies from a few roses like this time to a small bouquet)…all were provided. Unlike in past years where cards with things ordered (TA gifts, etc) were in the cabin on embarkation day none were in our cabin this cruise. Since preordering the UBD only allows selecting a date, I called room service on embarkation day to request our 5:30 time. In the past there was a nightly UBD limit of 2 early & 2 later time slots. Room service calls your cabin a few days before the UBD so if you want to keep it a secret answer any phone calls. ☺️ They’ll ask about any food allergies & you can make changes which we’ve only done once.

Was that recently? None came last week on Discovery but that was okay as the waiters used our iPhone to take photos.

We recently enjoyed another UBD in early evening while overnight in Cabo. We have enjoyed them several times during evenings in ports & during sailaways. Once in December sailing from Santorini the weather was inclement so we enjoyed it from inside our cabin looking out from the sliding glass door. Lots of tasty food 😋

Here’s that new system…it returns the twice nightly traditional dining at the same time at the same table with the same waitstaff. Princess Dining.pdf

Thanks…after delays of several days getting our minibar exchanged & receiving our sailaway chocolate strawberries our TA ordered on day 3, everything else was great! 😃