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Wow, that's a thoughtful set of suggestions...and your comments are spot-on: NCL is indeed rather comical/insulting in how they treat their players. I just sailed on Princess and received a come-back offer for a free mini-suite, paid-for drink package, and $1500 in Free Play for cruises up to 14 days. My play was pretty typical of how I play on NCL. With love like that, it's a tough sell to return to NCL. Let's hope the folks at NCL see some ROI on improving their players club and add some meaningful changes...

This is true. Probably b/c we think staying in the Haven equates to a more adult-like atmosphere....not. @vacation44 I like your approach! That's what we do too! Only drag is that you can't add-on late-booking friends as there's no consistently reliable way to know if the Vibe is still available or not...which is likely is not...

Wondering out loud if the Prestige benefits outweigh what I'm assuming are more crowds and tougher-to-get-a-seat problems on that Prestige cruise. I'm thinking I'd want to avoid a gambler event cruise just to have more elbow room...

Haven't heard anything, but will now start being on the lookout for some news. I'm sure you'd agree that whatever it is, with cruise demand high and a lot of debt to pay, I can't imagine anything they do to revamp the program will be beneficial to us whatsoever.

Yeah, you did, but you're on vacation! Have a drink and relax!!!

On the buses we took -- in Dominica and St Lucia -- you really have to get ready for long, crazy zig-zag drives on narrow (and not so smooth) roads. People prone to car sickness would have a difficult time I think.

@JamieLogical I can sympathize. As a long-time loyal NCL cruiser, I took a hard turn last year and starting doing Princess cruises. I like their drink package way better (coffee and water included? what a concept!) and totally enjoy the 11am-11pm pizza on the Lido deck and longer hours for their buffet. I'm doing the Bermuda sailing on the Joy with a large group in early June and have amped up my (somewhat hesitant) excitement by focusing on the Waterfront, embarking at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal (yes I said it, using MCT is way better than flying), the weather, and the fact that it's a vacation!.....so I can find/make fun if I need to. I hope you find the sailing that best fits your needs and expectations.

Amen to that. There were quite a few folks on our visit to the Emerald Pool with canes and/or with bad legs that shouldn't have made the trek up and down those paths and rocky, uneven stairs. Same thoughts here. More time in Antigua!!! Thanks for the kind comments about my review.

Hi neighbor @bun38 Confirming Crown Grill. The breakfast service staff were amazing!

Sorry that happened to you. I know how the Vibe can be a big determinant of how much fun you can have on the ship. I hope you do find your fun. Say, I'm wondering if maybe passes can/will be become available not necessarily the moment you ran on the ship, but maybe later-on if there are no-shows or something? Are you on a 'waiting list'? It couldn't hurt to re-inquire?

OP: you shouldn't have a problem: This past Thursday 3/7/24 left cabin at 7am, walked-off Princess ship, waited for Lyft, got to airport, checked bag, went through security, and was at gate by 8:10... nearly 2.5 hours early for our 10:30 SWA boarding time.

As you properly mentioned, don't play to get comps, b/c invariably, over time, you will lose more than you gain in any comps...and this is coming from a guy that routinely gets balcony and free play offers for 14+ day cruises. That said here's some quick answers based on my experience and observations: Duration in casino to get comps: generally 2 to 3+ hours of play for most (not all) days casino is open. A pattern of sustained play is a key factor. The smaller you play, generally, the longer you need to play. If you're a slot player, you'll see your point accumulation on the screen on the machine. Anything less than, say 4,000 points, you're likely not on their radar. Remember, these casinos are packed with a lot of gamblers who spend/lose a lot of money. How do you get informed: (1) if you play enough to earn an offer, on the second to last night or the last day of the cruise, you'll get a "come back and sail":offer delivered to your room on a fancy piece of paper. These offers are very time-limited and are a giant pain the butt to try to use; (2) if you are indeed on their radar screen, you'll also start getting discount casino email offers and even snail mail invites. These are aggregated on the Princess website on your account, example below; and (3) as long as you are logged-into the Princess website, any casino offer is baked-into the price presented, so if you try to book a cruise that is discounted, it will show the discounted price, also as seen below. Check your "Circle Savings Account" under "My Profile"... Here's an example of how the discount price is already applied to the price of the booking. Smallest level to receive smallest comp: can't help you there, as it's in their propriety algorithms, but, in my experience, they don't dole-out meals, or spa discounts, etc. unless you get on their radar...and you need to be gambling thousands and thousands of dollars in throughput to get on said radar. Good luck.

Yes, we used the IC for specialty coffees and, of course, enjoyed them. We didn't get any food there, as we had so many meals, that eating any more snacks would've caused us to burst. Everything behind the glass looked good, but I didn't see any compelling "light" food (read: without bread, cheese, and/or not dessert), so we skipped it in deference to our waistline. Regarding snacks, despite the waistline concerns, I do wish they had some bar snacks at Bellini's so we could have enjoyed some mindless salty and/or crunchy stuff later in the evening. I guess that's not a thing... No on the Irish Pub as the food there seemed like anything we could get (but probably not as good) at any number of pubs and bars in my area. It was way popular though, esp when the singer was there. I saw a lot of people enjoying the food and the venue. The first night we went to Catch as part of the benefit of being in a suite (first night meal can be in a specialty restaurant). It was a 6:40 reservation and the place was rather empty. Dinner was very good. Regarding the Enclave, yes, my wife enjoyed it a lot, spending a hour-plus here or there during any given day in the facilities. Geez, b/c I got the pass due to our blazing hot shower kerfuffle, I even tried it....and I'm not a spa guy. It was pretty great actually. The large heated, bubble pool was amazing. It never felt crowded; and with features like a raised seating area and massage jets, it was something that I think I'll do again. The steam room was special too. Very big, with various scents, and steps away from the different shower options. While my wife could spent a lot of time in there, me, it was maybe 30 minutes and it's time to go. I get kind of antsy just sitting anywhere doing nothing.

They're quite narrow. Good for a rolled up towel and sunscreen to the beach. Not so much for groceries, but nice nonetheless.

Darn it. We missed that. Sounds like he nailed it!

Ha! So frustrating. Play like a robot people, basic strategy...which, when you playing third base, gets some people puzzled, for example, when you hit a 2 against a 2. Sorry, not sorry.

On my CBS offer, it was a giant pain to get it booked....same thing...call Manilla, no help, but after a lot of days and different tries, someone in Arizona (working from home) helped me along. That said, next time, I'm going to use a cruise vacation planner through Princess. Why? Well, they didn't apply my free play to this CBS. So I had to deal with another giant run-around and escalation to others on the phone to finally get it applied. The CVP I called in the interim said they couldn't help with the free play, but said next time book with her and she can run interference on such things. I'm assuming she wasn't lying.

I'm 6'0". No issues with slant in room at all. It's really a non-factor. That long shelf/drawer thing against the slanted wall is terrific. We started out dutifully putting stuff in drawers, but as the week progressed, we just piled clothes (neatly) on top. Enjoy your cruise and say hello to those terrific bartenders!!

Yes, you can ask steward to swap out mini-bottles for other mini-bottles, same for cans of stuff in the fridge.

Strap-in and read-on if you like long reviews. Here's mine... Overall, this was a wonderful cruise for me and my wife, a 50-something couple who needed some sunshine! Ten days to islands in the Caribbean, on the February 26, 2024 – March 7, 2024 sailing, did wonders for us. The itinerary was tremendous, especially St Lucia, Dominica, and Antigua. The ship was/is beautiful; and the service level of the onboard staff was outstanding. While my comments below may dwell on the negatives sometimes (we all love reading about juicy bits on these boards), it’s important to stress that the overall cruise experience was excellent. If we had to do it again, we would…and we hope to. The ship we're talking about here... EMBARKATION The process at Port Everglades was pretty straightforward and as fast as we could’ve hoped for. We were dropped off at the port at around 9:30 via Uber; and we were on the ship a bit after 11am. There was a decent line outside of the terminal, a hundred-plus people long, at first kind of a mess, but staff split us into green versus blue lanes. We had our medallions mailed, so our green lane provided a quick and easy process to get to the check-in person who verified our passport and retook our photo (which I wish they would just load on the Princess database and link to our Princess ID number). After checking-in, they tried to hand us the boarding group plastic placard, but we mentioned we were in a full suite; and we got shunted upstairs….pretty cool, me thinking we were going directly on to the ship…nope. Instead we were directed to a quite-full waiting room. No big deal. DISEMBARKATION Super fast. We had a 10:45 flight at FLL. We walked off the ship with our luggage at 7am, took a Lyft ride to the airport, and was through security heading to our gate WAY EARLY at 8am. Should've slowed our pace, as we had plenty of time, but my better half likes to be at the airport earlier than later... THE VIBE Well, a 10-day cruise while school was in session probably foretold that the ship would be overwhelmingly populated with retirees with very few ‘young’ couples and virtually no children (may 10 total??). That was the case. It may explain no real nightlife that I observed after 11pm. I wish there had been more of a ‘scene’, but so be it. I met a lot of tremendous, friendly people from all over North America (read: a lot of Canadians!). It was really nice. Ode to our brothers and sisters to the north... THE ENCHANTED PRINCESS The ship was generally clean and sparkling; and I was impressed by how new and fresh it felt. The only recurring problem I witnessed was no soap in the rest rooms, which seems like an easy fix. (Hope you're reading this Princess). I’ve mostly sailed on NCL ships, but I loved the Enchanted’s deeper and more abundant pools; more hot tubs; and seemingly way more lounger availability. I did miss, however, the lack of a “Waterfront” deck with bars like NCL ships have; but I used the Wake View Bar as an almost-as-good substitute. The bar staff there were constantly slammed, but Ferdy, Braulio, and Patty did an excellent job keeping us, um, hydrated. They really made it a fun atmosphere. Wakeview bar, Ferdy behind the bar working his magic. Our nighttime hangout was the Bellini Bar. Same thing: three excellent staff (Josh, Alex, and Aeron) made our many hours there more pleasurable. We loved that location for getting a seat by the overlook into the Piazza and watch the various dancing and happenings. We had a great vantage point there for the 80's dance party that they moved inside b/c of the weather. Josh and Aeron at Bellini's Menu at Bellini's. Wife absolutely loved the "Raspberry Romance" drink. STATEROOM – SUITE B101 We booked this forward-facing suite and largely enjoyed the space. The angled wall was not an issue and the smallish balcony was fine for us. Some don’t like these way forward rooms (we were obviously the last stop at the end of the hall), but the walk was good exercise. Our steward, Henry, was maybe the best steward we’ve ever had. (Thanks Henry!) As mentioned, we were generally really happy with the room. There was one big problem however: the shower….which became stuck on one temperature: scalding hot. Actually, on day one, it was only abnormally hot, not scalding, but we thought we weren’t working the controls properly, so we lived with it, but it got progressively worse, such that we had to turn the water off after lathering, just so the new burst of water was cool enough to rinse…and then do it again for the next bit(s). (Yes, we turned the dial as far cold as we could, and tried various stops in between, but nada, still scalding). We reported the problem 3 times over our 10 day cruise and received two visits of fixes attempted by engineering, including 3 guys crammed in the shower (really) to install a new mixing valve. Well, it was OK at first, but oddly enough, it got bad again, reverting back to scalding....which is super odd, yeah, I know. Scene of the scalding hot shower experience...unadvertised bonus for this suite room. Bring your mug and brew your tea while showering! The second time we reported it, Guest Services provided a gratis pass for me to go to the Enclave to shower (my wife already bought an Enclave pass on day one, so she was set). After the third visit to Guest Services -- on the second-to-last day -- they gave us $200 FCC each. I don’t know what the proper compensation should’ve been, but when it hurts to wash your hair, that’s not a good thing. The whole thing was really weird. I hope they finally fixed it for the current people in that room. THE FOOD We’re kind of jaded. We’ve cruised many times before; are well-traveled; routinely go to our local restaurants; and can make excellent home meals, so it takes a lot to wow us. That said, we ate way too much, so I suppose the food was good, or good enough…and certainly was very abundant. Below is my quick take on the dining. Buffet: food quality very good by buffet standards. Loved the Indian, especially the vegetable biryani. As a ‘pescatarian’, I wish they had more fish options, but was generally happy with the selection of plant-based dishes, especially the green bean sauté and the stuffed artichoke bottoms (yes, that’s a thing). Very happy (and surprised) they had Sriracha among the condiments as some of the food really need hot/spicy adds. The Catch by Rudi: we liked it. The food delivery to the table was slow, but maybe intentionally so, I’m not sure. Overall, it was very good and nearly all the reviewers on these boards agree and really love it. Next cruise, we’d do it again in lieu of Sabatinis and Crown Grill. Reserve Dining: the food was kind of blah and been-there-done-that….but I’m happy to report that the butter was buttery and real. (Is that thread still active?) One day two, when we went to go there, the place was mobbed, both port and starboard side, such that we couldn’t see the sign for suite-level reserve dining entry, so we bailed and went to the buffet instead of waiting behind the crowds. Boo, hoo for us. In hindsight that was stupid, as if we found the proper entry, they would’ve escorted us in immediately. When we did finally go on night 3, we found the proper area, and we were greeted by name and went straight to the table. How was it? Well, I love crab cakes. I judge a finer dining place by them…sort of like gauging bar food by how good they make nachos. Well, the ones at the Capri dining room were gummy, thickly breaded messes. ‘Nuff said. The food, overall, was just OK. 360 Experience: the Disney-like audio/video immersion stuff was very cool....but am I wrong?, at least from what I read, I thought we’d also get smell-o-vision when the lemons and lavender were in the show? Nope, no scents. Too bad. As far as the food, it was generally very good. The service was extremely personalized (1 server to 2 people). A big negative from me, however, was on the lack of any advance communication by Princess regarding food preferences. We booked this prior to boarding the ship (after a lot of needless run-around), getting it gratis having paid for our suite way before December 2023. I’ve read on these boards that someone is supposed to reach out and ask about stuff like food allergies, if people drink or prefer no-alcohol options, etc. We did receive a letter in our room (see below), but it doesn’t have a contact number or person. Why do I care? Well, not the end of the world, but we don’t eat red meat; and we did see some of our tablemates with the same proclivity getting the alternative seafood option. Huh? What? How? Whatever, we didn’t starve (please, c’mon, skipping a course won’t kill us), but it seemed like whomever runs this thing is missing a beat here or there, especially given all the hype about it (and big cost if you are paying). Overall, we’re glad we did it; glad we didn’t pay (in this instance); but wouldn’t do it again. Slice (on the Lido Deck): excellent thin crust pizza, hardly no waiting, vegetarian-friendly specialty pies, and plenty of hot pepper flakes….all add-up to a top-notch place to grab some grub. I love that place. Oceanview Sushi: we used our two free casual dining credits at this location. It was good enough to go back. As good as your favorite Japanese place at home? No, but a pleasant surprise, as cruise sushi is usually all rice and no flavor. This was good. Ample food for two...I went with the all tuna option for my nigri...eating that edamame with chopsticks was a good way to pass the time... THE ENTERTAINMENT Alfred and Seymour, the comedians, were terrific for their first show; and “just OK” for the show later in the week. We didn’t see other shows. We did go to the cruise staff game shows, which were all very good. The new cruise director, DuVaul (sp?) was very entertaining himself and led a very engaging team. He may be the best cruise director we'd ever had on any ship. The musical acts were fine, but I do have a pet peeve: stop continually playing the same songs over and over again, whether the steel drum guy in the Piazza or the piano player in Crooners, please expand your playlist over a 10-day period. Also it would be nice if they would compare playlists between themselves, as different performers often sang/played the same songs as the other persons on the same nights. Does Princess have a select playlist of only 50 tunes they allow on the ship? THE CASINO The casino was mobbed and smoky, too smoky as others continually report. It was rather unbearable on the “smoking side” and barely tolerable on the “non-smoking” side. That said, I apologized to my lungs and spent a lot of time there. I largely play table games and really like Ultimate Texas Hold’Em, as apparently a lot of other players do. There’s only one table that is full, from the minute it opens to last call when the casino closes – no exaggeration – it’s such in demand that it required a 10+ long player sign-up sheet and hours in waiting to get a seat. Meanwhile, other table games had tumbleweeds blowing across them. C’mon Princess: read the room and add another table. Peaceful time prior to opening the casino. Bonus: it was smoke-free (like it should be always...in my opinion). PORT STOPS As mentioned, these ports were largely spectacular. Here’s my quick take: Princess Cay: tender port, nice beach, drink package works there, and nice food. Especially loved they had fresh fruit available. Other than that, nothing notable. St. Thomas, USVI: we’ve been there before and knowing we’d see a lot of beaches in the coming days, we ventured off the ship only to buy more sunscreen. Instead we enjoyed the Retreat Pool and the adjacent hot tubs on the deck above. Dominica: absolutely beautiful. We took Pepper’s tour via one of the main booking sites. He and his guide were wonderful. The 10 of us in the van had a crazy, windy, hilly ride, but it was worth it, seeing waterfalls (Emerald Pool and Trafalgar Falls) and hot spring baths and making a stop on a (crazy hot to your feet) black sand beach. The day we visited I saw the New York Times had a feature piece on how this island is a hidden gem in the Caribbean. It is. That said, I can’t see how to add more people and tours as some of the stops were very crowded. Scenic overlook on trails by Emerald Pool Emerald Pool Black volcanic sand beach - we had about an hour here St. Lucia: Wow. That’s it. Three letter reaction. The Pitons were/are amazing. We did another excursion via a major booking site, the “land and sea tour”. It involved another nutty van ride, a rather long ride actually, across the island to get to the Pitons, but it was well worth it. It also included a boat ride to an amazing beach and a really nice buffet lunch in Soufriere. "Smally", our bus driver and tour guide, was amazing....and we even had a couple who proposed and got engaged under the waterfall. That made this tour even better. Stunning photo op stop provided by our tour provider. Picture postcard worthy, really. Martinique: It was a Sunday and mostly all the shops in the rather cosmopolitan town were closed. We needed a break from beaches and tour buses anyway, so we just walked around for about an hour to get some exercise. Just an observation, but at every port stop, while we dutifully brought our photo ID as instructed, no security asked for it when entering the gateways to the ship(s). They only wanted to see our medallion. I thought that the French in Martinique would be the ones to ask, but no. No big deal, just an observation. Antigua: For this stop, given the early sail-away (4pm), we went with Princess’ Catamaran and Lobster tour thing. It was a good excursion overall, including visits to two amazing beaches. Only regret: I wish we had enough time to go to what appeared like a vibrant shopping port, but we got back too late, with only about 20 minutes to spare for all-aboard. Here's an amazing beach we visited. CONCLUSION That's it. We enjoyed our cruise and hope to be sailing again soon on Princess. Next stop: Bermuda in June on the NCL Joy!

When checking in with the counter person, assuming you'd be in Sapphire line, you don't need a boarding number piece of plastic thingy. Go sit in the Sapphire and above waiting area. After Haven, they'll call Sapphire and above. If anyone asks, show them your recently received room key card, which clearly states your Sapphire status. Then go enjoy your cruise!

Diet Coke and Sprite Zero, yes. On board Enchanted now.

Safe travels. Thanks a ton for sharing your trip with us!

The distinctive purple key card is sweet, worth the cost of the upgrade by itself...

Just piping-in: The casino hosts on NCL are rather indifferent, like you are bothering them; and if you don't approach them (on the last day), you aren't getting anything wiped-off your folio or added in on-board credit for quick use (as the shops close that evening). That said, the casino staff and pit bosses are excellent and mostly all engaging.