OccasionalSanta

The did stop karaoke (and other activities) during covid, but they have been bringing it back over the last 6 months or so. For a while, the singers had to wear masks, even after other masking requirements were being relaxed. On our last cruises in November there were multiple karaoke nights including one out by the pool where the singer is displayed on the MUTS screen as they are singing. None required the singer to wear a mask. As to the list of songs, I'm guessing that Princess must have gotten dinged for having songs that they weren't supposed to have due to copyright issues. The selection is, I suspect smaller than the old days when they did have the song books. The most notable for me is that they seem to have few, if any, Eagles songs; some of which are my normal "go to" songs. As a somewhat humorous side note: It is not uncommon for Karaoke songs to have occasional lyric mix ups. Another of my "go to" songs is Jimmy Buffet's Margueritaville. In the last verse after "I blew out my flip flip, stepped on a pop top" the actual lyrics are "Cut my heel had to cruise on back home" but I've been on several ships where the lyrics come out as "Broke both legs had to limp on back home" which seems a bit overdramatic and highly unlikely had that actually happened.

When I set up the charges, I set up the credit card on my account and from my account set up my wife as an authorized user, as opposed to going to her account and entering the same credit card. I have always then gotten one statement with both our charges combined.

Share was a specialty restaurant designed by Curtis Stone that no longer exists on the ships (contract ran out) I notice someone posted a menu above. It was set up to encourage a group to order multiple items then share them. People seemed to be fairly polarized on their opinions of this. We went there once and enjoyed it a lot. Kinda disappointed that it's no longer around. My brother/SIL went there multiple times, so they obviously enjoyed it as well.

I think if you liked Share, you will like Sur La Mer

We ate there on the Discovery recently and thought it was very good. (Although Mrs. OS would agree that the deep-fried escargot is not as good as the garlic ones sometimes served in the MDR) Here is the menu... I had the lobster bisque. It was baked into a crust, kinda like a pot pie, but it was very good. I had the sea bass and Mrs. OS had the filet... both very good As to the location, yes, it's near the piazza, but we were a few tables into the restaurant so that didn't seem to be that big of a deal and the tables seemed to be a little more spaced that the 2-tops in the MDR.

My brother tells me that his better half looks forward to getting her hair cut on board. You can check the Cruise Personalizer for specific options and pricing under Spa Services. Multiple options for cuts and styles. No mention of coloring that I could see.

I just received mine on October 31 for my November 10 departure. I also got an email 3-5 days prior to delivery with tracking information.

The Crown and Emerald are both recently out of drydock. The Crown is just finishing its first post-drydock cruise and the Emerald is currently on its first. I have heard no negative comments about either one yet; which I consider good news, considering how critical the posters on this site tend to be, I am currently booked on the Emerald in January and the Crown in March, so I'm hoping for the best

I have the same PVP and (most of the time) he has been fairly responsive to my requests. I can tell you that he (and perhaps many/most) of the PVPs work remotely and not out of Princess HQ. Calling the Princess main number may (or may not) work at 0600 PT, but I don't think Brian's day starts until 7 or 8 AM

Be aware that the devices that read your medallion can basically "see" all nearby medallions. The server should also see your security picture and be able to verify that it is you, but twice when wife and I were in one of the stores someone else was at the register and the cashier initially asked if they were my wife or me.... I have also had extraneous charges on my bill from bar areas where I had passed by occasionally but never made purchases and from the MDR where they just took room numbers and got orders mixed up. So there are still mix-ups from time to time.

Not sure what you mean here.... The plus package includes internet for 1 device per person. Most people probably wouldn't need any more, but I would think that, if you wanted to, you could purchase additional device access and still get the platinum/elite discount

The old rate for Plus was $40/person/day.... When Premier was introduced, the Plus package was increased to $50/person/day (U.S.dollars)

Soda package is $12/day which still leaves me $48/day and makes it cheaper for me to buy a 12-pack of water and an occasional drink (typically <1 per day) individually. Granted that I may be in minority

The Plus package costs $100/day ($50/person/day) WiFi is $5/day for 1 device, $10/day for 4 devices (after 50% platinum/elite discount) Gratuities are about $30/day for 2 people in a balcony cabin (varies by cabin type) This leaves $60/day for drinks. In my case, my wife doesn't drink at all (she usually gets the soda package) and I drink only a bit, so much cheaper for me to buy any drinks separately.. (Note: Your mileage may vary)

Sun also appears on the "Ships" page. Deck plans are kinda there, but lacking much detail other than cabin locations

We had a cruise where the cabin TV wasn't working on day 1, so had to watch on phone. If you have it on in the cabin both cabinmates can get credit for it. On the app, only the person logged in gets credit,

What was the design flaw?

Only two more races (or 29 more racing days) and he'll be Ruby.

Looks like Suarez took 5th place... I wonder if they'll send him a post-race survey and ask if he wants to recognize any of the crew for exceptional service

Keeping to form, Suarez will hear about the cancellation on Cruise Critic before the email from Princess arrives.

As I understand it, the folks need to be referred before they book AND before they create an ID on Princess.com

I suspect it may also depend on what you are trying to do. We were on B2B cruises on the Grand from Vancouver to Whittier (Anchorage) and back to Vancouver in June. Since we had to fill out the ArriveCan app in Whittier, we got one day of internet. I would say that I thought response was fine for checking email/surfing, etc. I was not attempting to stream videos or make wifi calls. Also, this was the day that most of the passengers were embarking/disembarking so there may have been less usage overall.

On our recent B2B in Alaska, the lobster was served on the 2nd formal night both times and it did have the butter poured over it unlike when they used to provide a small cup of drawn butter

If you are sharing the same room on the same account (credit card) you probably can. You can also use his account to pay for the excursions for both of you. I'd visit the customer service desk when you board to make sure

Thank you for this. I would love to know what percentage of these “best booking volumes” are being deposited and paid for with non-refundable FCCs. Also in that report: Customer deposits increased $1.4 billion to $5.1 billion as of May 31, 2022 from $3.7 billion as of February 28, 2022. While those of us that cruise frequently may tend to use FCDs for deposits, on my recent B2B Alaska cruises out of Vancouver, a large percentage of these (over 2/3 of those on board on the return trip) were first-time princess cruisers who would have had to put down the full deposit. I've heard similar reports on other Princess ships sailing Alaska. While we missed the Captain's Circle gathering on the 2nd leg, I noticed that there were only about 20 people in the Platinum/Elite lounge on disembarkation morning. I see this as a potential positive note that former non-cruisers are now showing interest in getting out there