Ken the cruiser

22 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

 

Hey Ken...here's a question for you.  I'll be on Wonder in February, and I had wanted to have dinner at "Hooked", but it only shows that "Hooked" is serving lunch, not dinner.  Does your cruise offer it for dinner?

 

For those of you that just came off of Wonder, was dinner available at "Hooked" for your cruise?

 

TIA

I just checked the App and dinner is served at Hooked Seafood from 5-9 pm every evening and for lunch on days 3 and 7.

Thanks to @Bead Pirate’s above weather-related post and the nasty looking hurricane-like storm forecasted for Sat (Sep 28) heading towards Texas, I’ve done some more checking and found this interesting 7-day forecasting website.

Definitely another website I will be monitoring. 😁

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo.php

33 minutes ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

You should have a QR code in your cabin you can scan to download PDF version of the daily planner. (I sadly forgot to do it daily on our last cruise).

That would be perfect for so many reasons! 😁

7 hours ago, MLBFan24 said:

I'm looking at Mexican Riviera excursions and some of the original prices don't seem correct.

 

For example, a 4.5 hour, easy Puerto Vallarta city tour:

 

Original price = $184.95 per person

Sale price = $44.95 per person

 

Absolutely no way did the original price say $184.95 per person when I looked at excursions several weeks ago. A basic city tour is definitely not that original price.

 

 

FWIW on our Sep 24,2025, Mexican Riviera cruise, here's what's listed for the city tour.

58 minutes ago, Bead Pirate said:

Please don't kill the messenger...

No worries. The weather is going to do whatever it feels like. That's why I have started adding a few "Informative Links" that I have come to rely on to my Live From threads. Windy's various weather forecasting options as well as the ship's current location links came in quite handy on all of our cruises these past few years. The hurricane forecast link was also quite interesting to monitor while we were on our Quebec City to Ft Lauderdale cruise last fall with all of the activity in the Atlantic going on at the same time.

Informative Links

 Caribbean weather forecast

 Wonder OTS Current Location

 National Hurricane Forecast

As far as this 7-day cruise goes, the Cozumel forecast is looking a little rainy on Wednesday (Sep 25), but not too bad for our other 2 stops at Roatan and Puerto Costa Maya before starting our return trip back to PC Friday afternoon.

The below forecast is for Saturday morning (Sep 28), which is looking pretty good right now since we should have made the easterly turn just north of Cuba sometime late Friday evening. BTW I'm sure glad we're heading back to PC rather than NW to Galveston. 😱

FWIW on this thread I will also be posting weather conditions forecasted for the following day, Internet speeds encountered in our cabin, and hopefully a copy of the daily planner (if we get one delivered in the evening or I'm able to take screen shots of it via the App on my iPad).

20 minutes ago, Ken at the beach said:

Never understood why someone would limit themselves to only searching for sailings with a Military (or any) discount applied and leave many other cruises that quite possibly have a lower rate not shown.

I guess the same goes for why Disney and RCCL only offer it on selected cruises whereas NCL, X, HAL, and PCL offer it unconditionally on all of their cruises.

But that’s cool. Every cruise line has their own rules of engagement when booking one of their cruises. The key is to attempt to know most of those rules prior to booking a cruise. That’s where CC forums come in so handy.😁

4 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

I don't think there's a filter for that particular perk - you'd have to search each sailing.

2 minutes ago, Ken at the beach said:

You don't.  You just select that criteria when you are booking a cruise and if a discount is available you get it.  You may or may not be asked for proof of eligibility at the pier.

Thanks! We'll definitely have to remind our TA to look for the military discount if we ever decide book a cruise with RCCL again.

Just discovered this thread today, and more importantly RCCL's handling of their "randomly applied" military appreciation perk. If I might ask, how does one let RCCL know (or get pre-certified) they are retired military, as both my DW and I are? Also, since the Military perk seems to be a hit and miss deal based on the specific cruise, kind of like Disney, how can one tell if the military perk is even available when searching for RC itineraries?

1 hour ago, perfect match said:

We’re among several here who just got off Wonder on Sunday. I’m looking forward to extending our stay on Wonder by following along with you! 😀

 

If you enjoy the AquaTheater show, Intense, there is a second show, AquaNation that is shown when possible on the last night of the cruise. According to the CD our cruise was the first in the past 6 weeks when they were able to present the AquaNation show due to unfavorable weather during those weeks. AquaNation did not show up in the app until sometime late in day 6 and there were 2 shows on night 7. We went to the 7 PM show. I think the second showing was around 9-9:30 PM. 
 

We were sailing in a JS but did not try Coastal Kitchen because we were sailing with friends who were not eligible to go there but have been successful in the past at getting the reservations we wanted. Hope you can get the reservations you’re hoping for.

Thanks, and hopefully the weather will be calm on Day 7 so we will be able to see AquaNation. In any event we will be keeping an eye on the App so we will be able to reserve a couple of seats if they are able to schedule it.

Right now, Windy is forecasting some possibly rough conditions around the middle of our cruise. But hopefully the seas will be calm by Day 7 (Sep 28) as we head back to Port Canaveral.
 

https://www.windy.com/?18.104,-76.685,5,m:edTadOt

Just curious, does this link work for you? This is the weblink we use to access the PCL website here in the US. If it does, try logging on to see if the Online Chat function works. I know it is a long shot, but ...

https://www.princess.com/en-us

54 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Looks like this IS the issue that we are in Bermuda! Can you please email me (ammcghee at ibl dot bm) as I would like to ask a favour ... can you refer me to your CVP or if they're too busy (too many cleients) perhaps they can refer one to me?

 

I'm hearing impaired and my husband called the Princess number and he spent a good 30 mins with the people at other end. Also I went online and requested a CVP twice, and they never got back to me. I'm mystified and also a bit frustrated. We are Diamond with NCL and I have my own PPC with NCL and I use the NCL's chat several times.

 

We are looking into booking 2 more cruises with Princess but I'm very reluctant to book further cruises because of the Live Chat and no CVP issues.

 

Many thanks.

Ann-Mary.

Sorry you are going through all of this. Unfortunately, we book all of our cruises through a travel agency and let them deal with any issues we have with a particular booking/cruise line.

19 minutes ago, CruisinMama2003 said:

More than happy to answer. You can either call or go to any one of the specialty restaurants and have them book both nights (they can book any of the restaurants you want at one place). They have to key it into their system as a BOGO for both reservations. They will put 1 reservation under your name and one under your wifes name. The app just doesnt have the capability to do BOGOs.

Thank you so much for your insights! They have really helped us figure out our plan of attack regarding our dining strategy for this short cruise once we board the ship on Sunday!! 😁

6 minutes ago, CruisinMama2003 said:

Yes, you each get the BOGO perk to use 🙂

Cool! Now for a follow-on question if I might. Once onboard can we book the two BOGO dinners using the App, or do we have to physically go to (or call some special number) where they are taking specialty dining reservations, wherever that might be?

16 minutes ago, CruisinMama2003 said:

We are also D+ and will usually book one of our BOGOs night 2 and then ask if we can use the other one later in the week and have never had an issue with them allowing it. Of course ymmv, but worth an ask 🙂

 

Love your reviews Ken! 

Both my DW and I are Diamond+ (by way of being Elite+ on Celebrity) on this cruise. Does that mean we each get to make a BOGO specialty restaurant reservation, possibly on nights 1 and 2 if we decide to choose that option?

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

No, the perk is meant to be an on-board perk only. You could book a venue (for one) to save the desired time, and the staff may let you use that as the basis for the perk, but don't count on it.

Thanks! That's what we figured but just wanted to make sure. 

We do have one pre-cruise question regarding this Diamond+ perk we hopefully get being Elite+ on Celebrity. Is it possible to make a pre-cruise dining reservation on one of the first two nights to take advantage of this perk BEFORE we board the ship? If so, what's the process, as we can't seem to find a pre-cruise booking option for it on the App?

9 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Last time we were in a JS on Wonder we had no luck when it came to getting reservations in CK. To be fair we tried to make reservations as soon as we boarded the ship and never checked again for possible openings the rest of the cruise. 

Thanks for the reality check! 😂 To be honest that’s our plan right now as well. Find out what’s what regarding our CK reservation options when we first board the ship and then make our decision at that point regarding where we will dine the rest of the cruise. 

9 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Thank you! I am logged in but I do not see that gold/brown icon at all. I'm on PC using Edge. I'll have to try my iPad.

 

P.S. I love reading your reviews!!

 

Thanks! I just noticed you are in Bermuda. Maybe that’s the issue?

8 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

 

No help .... I am already logged in and can see the one cruise that we booked, but .... I do not see Live Chat anywhere. 

 

 

 

 

May I see yours? So I have an idea as to what it looks like. Thanks.

 

 

FWIW here’s what I’m seeing when I initially log ion to the PCL website via my iPad.

Try logging onto your Princess account on your PC and then look in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. I just tried and the Online Chat didn't show up there until I logged on.

1 hour ago, hpeabody said:

It never stops!   I do not recall seeing anything about this here on CC yet.  BE AWARE.  Water that was $7.09 is now $24.00

I looked at my booking and sure enough it's true.  I will not partake in that one. I have no issue drinking the ship's water, will just bring my own bottles now.  

Stateroom Bottled Water Package    $24.00 for 12 (500 ml) bottles

copied from my cruise personalizer

 

PS.  If this has already been discussed here, let me know.

Thanks for the heads up, as I had a feeling that super cheap rate for a 12-pack of water wasn't going to last much longer. It got me focused on looking for more excursions on our Jan and Sep 2025 cruises where the excursion prices have dropped up to 20% because of the current excursion sale going on. So far we've saved $245 over the last 2 days. 

4 hours ago, Bead Pirate said:

Hello, on this cruise with you (14th week on Wonder so far this year).

 

With regard to CK, they have been letting all PINs in during the last several cruises (at least for dinner). As far as knocking on the door, the card reader has been out of service for almost 2 months now, so you just pull the door open.

 

There has been plenty of room at early dinner time (when we eat). I often wonder where everyone went 🙂 

That would be totally awesome if we were able to stop by the CK on embarkation day and were able to reserve all of our non-specialty restaurant dinners at 5 pm! 🤞

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Fixed. Not sure how Country RCI is.

Thanks for noticing my mistake, which I just corrected.

13 hours ago, Lorey2007 said:

As soon as you get on the ship go to the dining room to check on your table location.  If you are not happy with the location ask for it to be changed.  They will do what they can to make it happen.

 

We love the Jr Suites on this class. Following along have a great cruise.

If I might ask, what success have you had getting "space available" dining in the Coastal Kitchen when you were in a Jr Suite on this class of ship? Our plan is to go there as soon as we board to see if we can make reservations for at least a couple of days on this 7-day cruise. However, if we have to check for availability each day (after knocking on "the door"), I believe we are going to pass as that would just be too annoying for us. Also, is there much difference between the CK and MDR dinner menus?

3 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Welp, I guess I'm here for the ride. I've followed lives from Carnival, Princess, and Holland America this summer (as well as all the NCL ones). I guess I can add Expensive as $#% of the Seas to my list. 🙂 Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!!

Welcome aboard again! I'll try to keep it interesting, as I'm sure there will be plenty to see on this huge ship! FWIW over the next 12 months, we will try to keep the diversity coming, as we will be cruising with RC, NCL, Princess, HAL, Celebrity and finishing up with a Viking Ocean cruise from Reykjavik to Bergen by way of Longyearbyen in August!