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OK, I'm not the only one that feels this way...

Thank you @sonomaphil for the live review. I'm on the Enchanted in a few weeks and your photos and menus are shaping my future choices...which will NOT include the Salty Dog. The small portions and looks of the food, along with your commentary, helped cement that decision.

Sign of the times. Too bad. I just came back from Florida yesterday. The most repeated announcement in the Florida airport was a message that you can not carry firearms on to the plane in your carry-on luggage. Duh. Seems obvious, but clearly not so given the constant loudspeaker announcements.

Geez, shaking my head. Leave the auto-gratuities in, as they are baked-into the expected salaries of the crew. Take them out = impact crew salaries. Stop trying to be so clever. Yes, Princess (and other cruise lines) have built these in these b/c it removes from the corporation a load of taxes and other payroll carrying costs were they to include those funds in their base pay. The phrase "discretionary", and the ability of people to remove them, is the loophole. Anyway, leave them in. If you want to tip more (like me and lot of others do to recognize people individually), then that's your choice.

Agree, agree, agree.

Kerry- this is my favorite soda too. Canada Dry is the best. I wish they had it onboard, but yeah, I know, they can't stock everything! I love to use it a mixer with vodka and a splash of Grand Marnier as part of a mule.

Reporting back: I emailed customer service as suggested by others. Sent the email Monday afternoon and got a reply on Wednesday evening. I received my preferred time and date and wasn't charged. Thanks to others for suggesting this.

Others love it, and good for them (to each their own...), but it seems like a screaming bore to me...but that's me. My wife, however, booked it last June on the Emerald Princess. She likes to have an available lounger without any hassles, hence her booking it for the entire 7 days....but even she said there were plenty of loungers nearby the adults-only retreat pool, so the Sanctuary really didn't have a lot of upside for the cost. Yeah, they serve some nice snacks, but there are plenty of other food options on the ship. Same for drinks - there are plenty of bars nearby. Anyway, with that in mind, she's not interested in booking it again for our upcoming 10-day Enchanted Princess cruise. (I was kind of surprised).

Thank you @bphman for circling back to educate us. Very much appreciated. I emailed them today. Guess I should expect something within a week. Shouldn't really be so much work to do something so simple...

Regularly cheating, call it an 'affair', with Princess. (Er, "Princess" could make be a plausible side partner name....) Pros: Princess has more generous and transparent casino comps, broader range of alcohol brands included in their base drink package, coffee/water included in drink package, excellent pizza on Lido deck, better and longer hours operating buffet, includes the International Cafe for snacks, and have more, deeper and bigger pools. There are generally fewer kids b/c no go-karts or waterslides. The Medallion RFID thing app eliminates need to carry key card...and the adult crowd is not much older than NCL. Cons:staged entertainment a smidge not as good at NCL (but NCL falling off the cliff lately anyway); website booking not as easy as NCL; fewer sailing options out of NYC.

Uggh. Just spent about 20 minutes on a not very pleasant phone call with a dining rep somewhere in the Philippines or wherever. (Background noise Like you folks, I'm trying to book my 360 experience prior to getting on board, but hit the $298 credit card charge request on the app, online...and even with the phone rep!!! She said she couldn't do the booking for me without charging me! She recommended that I do it on board....which may have been great advice in the past, but now with this thing open for everyone, I'm likely to lose preferred time slots. Whatever. This is rather frustrating and very stupid that (1) there isn't some automatic override with the software making it free when we book it; and (2) there isn't a dedicated phone line for suite customers to handle these things. I'm going to try the email suggested above and will report back...

Everyone has their own thresholds for risk, but c'mon, you really think Princess would sail a ship that has known safety issues? Really? As for poop-cruise or construction going on, welcome to any new massive construction or engineering project - if you're among the first to live/sail/experience it, count on some (non health/safety) system having some hiccup and necessary tweak, repair, or adjustment. There are literally millions of working parts and connections on a ship -- most with human interaction -- that can go wrong. Hence, don't go on a new ship until it's had months of time to sail and host passengers.

Hi @PistolPete13. What's the conclusion? Sailing MSC again or sticking with NCL?

Well, in a zero-sum world, if Jacksonville means fewer NYC sailings, then that stinks.

Yes, amazingly frustrating that CAS is so opaque about their offers. I'm assuming it's b/c they like being the gatekeeper, shaving offers or enhancing them behind the scenes, allowing them to modulate CAS bookings as they see fit. It's driven me to Princess -- not exactly convenient b/c I love sailing out of NYC -- but they are way more generous; and I can book online with full knowledge of all my offers. What I get from Princess Casinos more than offsets the flight costs and travel times for Florida embarkation. Enjoy your cruise @UKstages!

Good luck. Should you remember, please let us know how if it was resolved to your satisfaction.

As a repeat Vibe cruiser, in the middle of this January winter yuck weather, I want me some sun, hot tubs, and alcohol!! Please. Now. I can't wait for my NCL Joy cruise in June...with Vibe passes in hand...of course!

Glad OP got what they wanted. For future readers of this thread: yes, in a full suite, the cabin steward would make up the sofa bed into a sleeper if you wanted to, why would they say no? Maybe you and spouse had a fight and he/she got kicked into the other sleeping arrangement. None of their business.

Assuming the OP generally means 'recognition' for his/her play. The only thing you can physically see or learn is your tier credit point balance. You can see your points earned toward tier status by popping your card (or touching it against) a slot machine. When you play machines, you can see your points accumulate in front of your eyes. After you play tables, looking at a machine, you can see that your point level may have increased. You could also ask the Casinos At Sea staff what point total you have. That said, while points equal advancement to different tier status, they do not necessarily translate into what casino discount/freebie offers you may get...that's based on a proprietary algorithm driven by duration of play, wins, losses, amount of bet, the cut of your jib, how funny you are, and how knows what else.

I'm curious why does it matter whose fault it is for the purpose of a public announcement? Princess provided their remedy to the canceled cruisers with the FCC. The case is closed on that. Also, on the matter of public announcement of fault...as mentioned, there's a lot of finger-pointing and big-time money implications between engineers, contractors, owners, and vendors when assessing liability or fault on any large project. Making any public statement complicates the legal and contractual battles between the parties.

Looks like the world needs more welders. It's a great job that pays a lot of money. My friend's son just graduated from a 2 year community college trade program in welding. Starting job out of school with about 6 months of trainee experience: $100+k! (It helps he has a great work ethic).

Amen to that. The wonderful staff on these ships are there to make a living for themselves and their families, working unfathomable hours Americans would never contemplate. It's not their hobby. They count on tips.

I can't assist on how to get credit for what you played (good luck with that), but inquiring minds want to know: why/how the heck didn't your card function properly in either machines or when getting rated? Didn't you get a new card? Was it b/c your name/account wasn't linked, but otherwise appeared to be linked? Seems very odd.

We don't know the contract, but here's some more conjecture: the contract may indeed have had some financial penalties if Fincantieri didn't deliver on time, but as these things go for any major, complicated design, engineering, construction and materials-intensive project -- the general contractor can very easily extend the schedule with delay claims, meaning, they formally get to extend the schedule due to what they argue are things they didn't cause. Examples include: Princess tweaks the design of some restaurant after materials are already ordered, the engineers do the same to correct some unforeseen mechanical issue, supply chain issues force selection of a different tile vendor, etc., etc. There's lots of finger-pointing, sometimes scores of entities involved....and the lawyers get rich arguing liability.

We don't know the details, but two weeks notice is not bad for such things. There are literally thousands of moving parts, logistics, whatever, and any one of them may have created a critical path delay in construction, delivery, staffing, sourcing, testing, training, inspection, etc. of the ship. Plans are on paper; and then any one thing on the project management flow chart could have gone off course. I've dealt with this for a lifetime at work for very critical construction projects. They don't pull the plug unless they have to.