HaveDogWillTravel

Yes I can 😊. The GDR (grand dining room) breakfast that everyone gets is better than the full suite Sabatini’s breakfast. I was very impressed by that. I loved the lollipop lamb chops and had them every morning. The lunch menu had a different multi course tasting menu that featured a cuisine such as Indian. It was very very unique and we enjoyed trying a variety of dishes that we had never even heard of before. The Grill on the upper decks had small but delicious lobster tails and cooked to order filets daily. The Rueben sandwich and hamburgers were excellent too. This area turned into a pizza parlor with red and white checked tablecloths in the evening. The pizza was very good in my opinion. Around the corner was the fresh housemade real ice cream that was responsible for us gaining a few pounds as the Henry Slocum special flavor changed daily and was always so good that we could not resist trying it! The barista made excellent beverages and the noshes there were nice. The Terrace buffet had a plethora of fresh berries, fruit and salad fixings in addition to the carving stations and other dishes that the crew served up. I really loved not having passengers serve themselves. The chef would be there most days making fresh pasta and I got some great tips on how to improve my pasta making skills from him. All of the specialty dining venues were good to great and included in your fare. I think what I liked the most about O was that once you left your cabin there was no distinction between the PH and lower tier cabins. All the food and dining options were all included and everyone ate the same food. ‘The captain had an open bar throughout the ship one night and there were 2 for one twice daily happy hours. We are allowed to bring on any amount of wine, beer and spirits. All that said, we met a lovely couple from our RC and ate many meals with them. They are long time O cruisers. We would be eating the exact same food and while we liked it or loved it they would be very critical of it. I mean very critical. Food is subjective and you’ll have to try O to determine if it’s to your liking. We had a few misses (like a French onion soup that was flavorless) but overall found the food to be good to excellent and definitely much, much better than Princess (and we do like the food on Princess!) We also sailed Windstar and found that we enjoyed them more. The menu was less extensive but the quality was higher. Every single dish at every single meal on WS over 10 days was simply over the top amazing. The room service menu on O was way better than Princess but on WS it was outstanding. Simply stunning. We have 3 more O sailings and 3 more WS sailings. Since the advent of Os simply more program we are unlikely to book them unless we get a good last minute deal. Since we’ve only sailed once on each line we are by no means experts on either. I have well over 300 days on Princess though.

Thanks for letting us know about your reviews. We have started sailing Oceania and Windstar in addition to Princess. Of course we pay MUCH more for O and WS than we do Princess unless we are in Princess full suite. My expectations on Princess are much lower and I’m usually not disappointed.

I would hope so as this would fit within the stated parameters. It says you have to buy it in advance but doesn’t preclude OBC specifically. let us know!

The article below is an interesting bit on how cruise lines make money. If it is to be believed, then about 34% of Carnival Corp money comes from on board spending. And they say that those who buy packages prior to boarding spend more once on board. I do not consider this a money grab, I think of it as a good business practice. If Princess wasn’t trying to attract new cruisers or maximize passenger revenue I’d be worried! I like sailing on different lines for different reasons. Princess so far has stayed in that mix. https://apple.news/A0b50z4YjQ06PM9DEeTGZIg I hope the link works. It is an article by the points guy about how cruise lines make money.

I’ve found the ap to load like it’s on dial up. It’s been that way for many months for me anyway. I open it and then walk away now. I no longer stare at the blue sea witch burning it into my eyeballs.

I’ll check my plan when I get home. But I don’t think that us true for the policy I have.

I know you asked my friend @Cruise Raiderbut I’ll toss out my two cents. We started using Allianz annual plans 3 years ago. I had to cancel one sailing a week before boarding due to getting covid. I had a full refund from Allianz (this occurred after Princess stopped their generous Covid cancelation policy) in two weeks with very little hassle. I also charge all my travel on a Chase Sapphire Card. It has excellent travel insurance included as well. You only need to charge a portion of the trip on the card to have the entire trip covered. That way I can still use the gift cards. The included car rental insurance is also great but you do need to book the entirety of the rental on the card for coverage.

You have a way about you that is so sweet and nice the crew can’t refuse you anything lol. 😝 while I usually can get the nice glasses on loan I have had a couple of sailings where I felt like I was reduced to begging almost. It really left a bad taste in my mouth and I simply won’t do it. So hence the carry on bag includes a couple of nice stems. Like @JimmyVWinepoints out it can be a non Riedel.

Yuck, 🤮 I always put in my post cruise survey how disgusting the smoke is in the piazza. I also point out how unethical it is for Princess to expose their crew to second hand smoke ( a known carcinogen) as a job requirement, let alone us as paying customers. ‘I know a lot of crew who don’t smoke that have been assigned to the casino. The tips are good so they sacrifice health for money. No bueno. They should not have to do that.

I don’t profess to be an expert on Cunard having logged only 14 days on QM2 in summer 2018. I do follow the Cunard boards. This is a recent change and according to what I’ve read there it’s not enforced. If they did start enforcing it, I am certain there would be many posts about the demise of being treated “like adults”. People report bringing onboard whatever they want just as we did in 2018. The Grills are a minority on the ships. The Britannia experience is comparable with Princess in terms of price and accommodations. So I am responding to your post that Princess has the most generous policy in its price class. Cunard is in Princess’ price class and its policy is actually more generous. Maybe not the one stated on the website, but the one that’s actually in practice. When the practice changes the Cunard boards will let us know lol. 😝 Of course on Cunard you always get a love seat (I am pretty certain even QM2 insides do but I could be corrected) and a kettle so in those ways the cabins are nicer. The beds, square footage, bathrooms, furniture and such are all comparable to Princess balconies and insides. And if you negate the 60 or so extra square feet of space in a mini suite (as compared to a QM2 balcony) I’d include that too. I did not say the Britannia class was an upgrade from Princess in my previous post so I’m not sure where your observation regarding that came from. Perhaps I am misunderstanding your post? We sailed in a balcony on the 11th deck and then in a sheltered balcony deck 5. We had no special dining. We ate in the MDR nightly at a shared table of 6, early seating. We absolutely loved it. Everyone dressed for dinner every night in the MDR without exception. The sommelier service was outstanding. The food was far superior to what we had experienced on Princess. I never felt we received “less than” service in the basic Britannia class. And up until then I had sailed almost exclusively in full suites on Princess.

I’m glad you had such a great experience. Thanks for coming back and letting us know.

Cunard is quite generous as well. And the prices for Britannia balcony and below are comparable to Princess.

I always order mimosas without OJ.

@ddpethanks for your assessment of Wind Surf. I like to read a lot of different points of view as I think what will happen for me will be some kind of average all those experiences. Each sailing is so unique due to the specific crew you get, the officers, the executive chef, the supply chain, the other passengers and so many other always changing variables.

Wow that is weird! I’ve just rechecked my bookings and they are still there. can’t you just use your FCDs to rebook the 2 segments online? Let us know what you find out.