Itchy&Scratchy

4 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

so you're saying it shouldn't be that hectic since we set a time in advance, correct? I assumed the lines and craziness are people who just show up and wait for tables? 

really, there is no craziness. And yes, we always make MDR reservations for the same time. Never waited more than a couple of minutes, if that.

21 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

I do give the bartenders or cocktail waiters a tip with every drink.

if you don't have a drink package, then the individual tip of 18-20% is usually added to the individual drink purchase, in which case one may not want to add another tip on top of that.

5 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

But it doesn't sound like honey mustard would help these 'chicken' fingers.

indeed it wouldn't. 🙂

2 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

Princess really wants to market to families now.

it's about time. 🙂 We've sailed with Princess for years now. 

What I like about this deal is that it is not limited to kids. RCI limits the age to 12, and our kid has literally just turned 13 and no longer qualifies for their Kids Sail Free promo. Add to that their sky high prices and what do you get? Us looking into other lines.

Celebrity is running the same promotion as Princess (3rd and 4th free), so X has become more attractive and slightly more affordable than before.

We enjoy Princess very much, so when they offer deals like this, they would certainly get more of our business.

52 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

I would hate to have my kid wanting to eat those for the duration of a cruise!

inasmuch as my kid loves chicken fingers, he doesn't want to eat them on a cruise. He tried a couple of times on different lines, but every time they just weren't to his liking. Oh, and the lack of honey mustard...

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

Wow...   we must have chosen some popular cruises....  Ours have gone UP by hundreds of dollars pp since we booked!

for us it was the 3rd and 4th passenger promotion that finally kicked in. That was what brought the fare down, not just a fare drop. 🙂 This is for 2025 cruise.

Our upcoming cruise has been sold out for a while - at least for 3-4 people cabins. 

1 minute ago, Wishing on a star said:

I can not have the sugar, and am picky about which sweetener I use...   I  ALWAYS  carry my pink packets with me.

we always carry Truvia with us for my DH. To our surprise, Celebrity had Truvia on every table in MDR and the buffet along with the other sweeteners. But not Princess...

4 minutes ago, Musky Ike said:

I do however feel for those with a cough due to a chronic respiratory issue that has nothing to do with a communicable disease.  They get the automatic dirty looks as people assume it is a cold or covid. Maybe the scarlet letter A is now for asthma.

we sat in the same seats in the last row in the theater every night, and so did she (she accompanied a person in a wheelchair). But she only coughed on the last night. She also sat next to us in the lounge several times throughout the cruise and didn't cough. So, yeah, not the chronic kind this time.

My dad is a former smoker, so he coughs a lot. DH has respiratory allergies and coughs a lot (not on a cruise though, because he is removed from his allergens). 

2 minutes ago, WisCruiser2 said:

Avoided Covid until the end of the cruise

same. I think it was Typhoid Mary in the theater on the last night who coughed the entire performance long right behind us.

9 hours ago, gizfish said:

How comfortable or uncomfortable is the bed.  I'm hoping princess is better now?

the beds were upgraded recently, but pre-pandemic it was like sleeping on a rock. Somewhat better now.

I was very comfortable on X's Reflection bed (reg inside cabin). I do not remember being uncomfortable on MSC Seascape (reg balcony room).

I do have a very bad back and at home we sleep on a memory foam matt.

depends on what you booked and your country.

I am in the US and our cruise price just dropped by $400 for the 3 of us. My CVP adjusted the price without rebooking anything. We have a fully refundable deposit.

3 hours ago, jdacombe said:

COVID Alive and Well?

of course, it is. We just got it on our latest cruise yet again (April). I only had sniffles, but DH had the same horrible cough and misery for over 10 days as we did back in 2022.

There were MANY coughing and sneezing people on the cruise, and most of them didn't even cover up.

26 minutes ago, KarlK said:

Then again, myself and no one in my immediate family has gotten it. Or any local neighbors. In the last 4 years we have had 3 minor cases with the 24 of us at work (simple flu like symptoms out for 10 days). We also only had 1 case in our towns Senior Center and no one passed in our town of it. In fact, personally, I don't know of anyone who was hospitalized.

pure luck, I guess. I personally lost two cousins to covid (who were not biologically related to each other and were not vaccinated). BIL still has long covid over a year later. 

I had it 3 times, DH had it twice, my parents had it 4 times (they are more active in the community than us - we work from home and get our covid on cruises), and our kid  didn't have it.

2 hours ago, jdacombe said:

The annoying thing is that I was due to go into hospital on Thursday to get my Pacemaker changed, this has now been put back for a few weeks.

I was sure we were going to get it on our November cruise, so I scheduled my surgery for 2 weeks after.  Per current CDC guidelines, one doesn't even have to quarantine anymore, which is crazy to me. I totally quarantined my husband away from me and our kid last month.

However, you probably don't need to wait for several weeks if that's what you are waiting out. Now, if the appt is not available, that's a different matter.

33 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

 A cool cabana, clean pool and nice beach is much more appealing.

We usually go to Playa Palancar - $20 pp gets you a nice lounger with an umbrella and a beautiful beach. It has never crowded like some other beach bars either. And we don't want a pool when we go to the beach.

Before the pandemic they didn't even charge $20 pp. They charged less and it was per chaise+umbrella instead of per person.

So, to me personally $125 for the cabana itself, without a food/drink credit and then an additional fee of $19 per person - that's too much. It would be $220 for us without food or drinks.

It's just a matter of preferences, I guess.

13 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

Yes, here's the info we received last week on the Enchanted.  We didn't use it but our friends did and they love this service

we've never done or even considered this before, but we usually fly on Spirit anyway, which is not included. But this time we are flying on SW and we'll have OBC left over (most likely), and we'll have our very immobile dad with us, so it would be nice to use.

I wonder how often they lose the luggage...

We always eat dinners at MDR, even on the first night. Never had to wait in line and always made MDR reservations in advance on the app for 6-6:20 pm.

And what does it have to do with knowing your embarkation time? Is your cruise leaving later in the evening? Ours are usually leaving between 3 and 6 pm, and we usually embark around 11:30, and it doesn't effect our dinner times or locations.

18 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

think even with plus and premier, you cannot book them in advance without your card being charged.

When I am making the specialty dining reservations (premier package), it says - you have credits towards this purchase, and the balance is $0. The new app is truly hit or miss.

It's weird. Right now it says - cover charge $39 pp, subtotal $156, total $0. Reserve with the credit card...

we brought a 12 pack of soda per person on our March cruise on Reflection out of Port Everglades. We hand carried it onboard. We loved the fact that X allows you to drop off the luggage in your cabin before it's actually ready to be used.

So, 3 12-packs lasted the 3 of us exactly the length of our 8 night cruise.

4 hours ago, 2 to Sea said:

The website is thecabanabeach.com

seems quite a bit expensive. Cabanas start at $125 and then you pay additionally per person, and that doesn't even include food.

we were in E322 and E332 on Regal and Enchanted (sister ships), never any noise.

yeah, Princess Promotions deal is not a scam per se, but it is not a great or even a good deal either.

Now, not explaining the cost and just charging thousands of dollars to your parents' CC is definitely a scam.

6 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Thats ok, i should bring my refillable water bottle. Can you get ice at the buffet as well?

yes, ice and free water are available at the buffet.

7 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Thank you! Good idea to check. Yes i'm thinking i can only get maybe 2 frozen alcoholic drinks, 1 mocktail and a specialty coffee. I think it may come to around 50US but that's probably low balling it.

to help you with your calculations

33 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

I know some can't understand those of us who don't get packages.

a lot of us cruise without a package...

54 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

I intend to spend it now i know i can easily see balance. 67 canadian is not a lot.

you can see the balance in any case any time on the app, and you can just stop when you get to 67 CAD. But to each his own. If you want to add two extra steps to the process - you are welcome to do so.

4 minutes ago, memoak said:

The drinks, fitness classes, meals etc cannot be shared

while the meals aren't supposedly shared, people on this board have been reporting that when they made specialty dining reservations for all three people in the cabin (two with the package and one without), their specialty dining credits were applied to the 3rd person. Which leaves them with only one more credit for the two of them for the next dinner.