Rungee

Just got off a transpacific on the Westerdam.  The entertainment was a huge disappointment compared to the last time we cruised the Westerday in 2019.  The entertainment was not even in the same league as a Princess sailing we just took. The Lincoln Center violins were gone. Now Explorers Lounge is just a sad empty room with chairs facing an empty stage.  I was told that just two months ago they ended the dueling pianos so we only had one piano player in Billboard Onboard.  The Rolling Stones Lounge band was good - but got repetitive night after night on a 16 day cruise.  The only other music onboard was a laid back jazz trio that was fine but didn't interest me or most passengers as there were only about 6-10 or so guests in the audience most of the  time when I walked by.  The World Theater had zero real production shows  - i.e. with live singers, dancers and a live band.  They only had some Step One Dance shows which used  prerecorded music (no singers or live band).  On some of these dance shows the theater was only about 20% fill. Several nights there was a guest singer or musician - but without a live brass back up band like the 7 piece live band that Princess had for their guest singers.  The Music Walk and live music/entertainment used to be the reason I loved HAL over other lines, but this seems to be mostly gone now.  I hope corporate gets the message that they need to do better.  

Thanks everyone for all the responses to my original post. Based on most responses it sounds like there would be a lot of interest if Princess offered this.  Unfortunately it doesn’t sound like we have any real confirmation that this is really going to happen, except for the Cruise Radio news story I mentioned. Was surprised that I couldn’t find anything on the Princess website or other cruise sites.   Guess we will all just see what happens when we are on our next cruises….   Thanks again.  

I heard a news story on Cruise Radio on Aug 29 that Princess would begin having specialty dining lunch options (Crown Grill, Sabatinis, and the Catch) available fleet wide starting at the end of August.  Has anyone heard anymore about this, prices, etc?

Now that Alfredo’s is no longer complimentary, and since Majestic doesn’t have a pizza bar on the lido deck, does that mean there is no longer any complimentary pizza options on Majestic?

Agree.  Thanks again!

Thanks everyone for the responses!  Sounds like selecting arrival times doesn’t matter much anyway, but all you need is one “diligent” check-in agent at the port to make an issue of it.  Oh well I guess will just see what happens.  Not sure why Princess doesn’t have a consistent process like others.  

Does anyone know if Princess is still doing arrival times on the app, and if so, how many days from the sailing can you choose them?   Our cruise is less than 45 days away and arrival times are still not available.  Someone said that Princess told them that if you are in the green lane you can arrive whenever you want and they are no longer doing arrival times.  Can anyone confirm this?   Thanks in advance. 

Thanks everyone for the replies.  Glad to hear it is complimentary to all guests.  Just hope it stays that way by the time of our cruise.   

We will be doing a transpacific in October on the Majestic Princess and would like to know if the Hollywood Conservatory is complimentary to everyone.  I read in one post from a year ago that it was only complimentary to the platinum and elite   Appreciate any help that could be provided.  Thanks!

Does anyone know if Princess offers a specialty dining package like some other cruise lines, where you get 3 meals or 5 meals, for example, at a reduced package price?

Thanks everyone for all the great advice.  Looks like we are not the only ones in this situation.  It doesn’t seem like we will have a good opportunity for a short cruise out of Bayonne before October so I guess we will just have to wait a little longer until we are diamond.  Greatly appreciate all the help from this great community.  

We are sailing in October and are just one day short of having enough sailing days to reach the crown and anchor diamond level.   Does anyone know of a way to earn a day prior to our trip, while still at home, or can you only earn days by sailing?   I believe some of the other cruise lines offer ways to earn credit while at home, but wasn’t sure about Royal…

Thanks for the great report.  We also were on this 12/23 cruise and had a great time.  We just disembarked today. Near perfect weather and made all ports.  Crew was so glad to see us and to be working again.  Just want to clarify that I was told by one senior officer that guest capacity was 2300.  Another said 2400, so it sounds like the number was somewhere in that range.  (2300-2400 or so).  Even at that reduced capacity though the atrium was quite crowded at most major events.  By the way, a check in agent said there was around 300 or so guests under 18 years.  

Both of the insides on Deck 5 were fine. No problems. The cabin that was affected was 381 on Deck 6, but I was told other people had to be moved on Deck 6 as well. This is the aft part of the Starboard side on Deck 6. I really hoped they have fixed the problem.

Thanks for the quick response - I appreciate it! Glad to hear it didn't affect deck 5 also.

Rebeccalouiseagain, Sorry to hear of your problems with the engine fumes. Sounds awful. We have a cabin on deck five on the Veendam on an upcoming cruise. Would appreciate if you could clarify - did you also have problems with fumes also in the two cabins they gave you had on deck five or only in the first cabin you had on the deck six?

Thanks

Does anyone know what work, upgrades, maintenance, or changes were done to the HAL MS Veendam during the dry dock last week?

Thanks