jdacombe

I'm assuming that, other than excursion, there is no shuttle service provided by Princess to Bruges; so the only way to get there is by rail from Blankenberg or by local coach companies. I've seen that there is a company called Cruise Express that is based near the terminal and run coaches every 30 minutes to and from Bruges. Has anybody had experience of this company and would they recommend them. Many thanks for any advice

Thank you for all the information, I'm ok with the metal balcony front, it's really the motion side of things and possibly noise from the Theatre below

Looking to book a cruise on Sky and considering an obstructed stateroom at the front of the ship (E104) as its a deluxe balcony with a larger balcony. The only obstruction that I can see is that the balcony has a metal front. Does anybody who has experience of these type of staterooms say what they are like as regards motion

I found there was not a great deal of difference between the two although I did think that the tiramasu in Alfredo's was better. Both were excellent

As stated already drinks waiters do walk around and take orders, depending on the orders being taken at that time it can ometimes take a bit longer to receive your drink. We had one occasion where we booked for 8 10pm in the MDR and was told to come a bit later as it would be less busy, came back at 8.25pm and had a 25 minute wait. The next time we went for an 8.10pm sitting and only had about a 10 minute wait. The last time we booked for 6 15pm and went straight in. Possibly if you can it may be advisable to book earlier time

The actual name of this pie is Beef and Guiness pie

Pretty certain I saw it on at least one occasion

I quite enjoyed the Steak and Ale pie in the IC

Have also posted this elsewhere. FWIW here are some of my thoughts on our 5-12 August cruise. Embarkation: Taking into consideration the number of passengers, it was pretty efficient and seamless. The only real delay was going through security. The Ship: As you would expect from a new ship it did not have that "tired" look and was lovely in keeping with other ship of this group (Regal etc;). I liked the new design of Princess Live and the Vista Lounge. The stateroom (Deluxe Balcony) and bathroom was just a bit on the small side but perfectly adequate. No problem at all with the shower having a curtain, pretty flow of water and very hot. My wife said that she found the decor quite bland, but I liked how understated and bright it made the room look. Food: We ate in Capri MDR, IC, GiGi's, Buffet and had Room Service breakfasts a couple of times. Was very impressed with the quality of food in all these areas, the steak with the surf 'n turf was one of the best I've had, although the Room Service Breakfast menu I though was rather small. The buffet was now back to virtually all self service. My son is a vegan and had a problem in the IC where there was a lentil pie advertised as vegan, but when he asked about it he was told that it had egg wash on the pastry, he politely pointed out that this wasn't vegan, and to their credit future pies did not appear to be egg washed and not advertised as vegan. First night and last nights in the MDR he had very attentive waiters who produced a vegan menu and saw to his needs, great credit to both of them - he had two very enjoyable meals, sadly he had problems on one of the formal nights, his first main dish contained cheese, and also had problems with the alternative that was offered, in the end one of the two original waiters appeared and arranged for him to have a very good pumpkin pie. Drink: Again a good selection of various types, we were on the Plus option and did notice that quite a lot of the wine selection was in the Premium range, but I found that what was in the Plus section to be perfectly acceptable. Good range of cocktails, especially in Good Spirits at Sea and Take Five. Apart from a couple of Bars we did not have to wait all that long to get drinks. I did notice that in one bar those seated at the bar seemed to get preferential treatment (but I suppose if you tip the barman a tenner, as I saw on one occasion you would expect that) Entertainment: Impressed with both 5 Skies and Rock Opera, although 5 Skies may not be to everyone's taste in fact an elderly couple next to me got up and left half way through. Saw Phil Tufnell, absolutely loved his session even if you didn't like cricket. Enjoyed the addition of Take Five, great music (if you like jazz) and ambience. Good selection of live music across all areas of the ships. WiFi/Internet: Certainly a bone of contention with many, me included. It was very patchy to say the least, could not access things like emails for a lot of the time. The App was pretty flaky some of the time. a bit disappointing compared to the service on our last trip in September on Regal (although to be fair it did sail at reduced capacity) Final Thoughts: The ship was apparently sailing at full capacity, and at times it certainly felt like it, virtually impossible to get a sun lounger from mid morning onwards, but did manage to get in the hot tub a few times. Big thumbs up to the waiters, bar staff, chefs, Gracey our lovely stateroom steward who all worked extremely hard and tirelessly to keep things running as smoothly as possible, they did certainly seem to be understaffed for the number of passengers. It look from this cruise that cruising is nearly back to normal with hardly a face mask amongst the passengers to be seen and a virtually full self-service buffet. On the buffet matter, one thing that I did find quite disappointing was the amount of passengers that went into the Buffet without washing their hands or even sanitizing them, a basic hygene necessity in my opinion. Overall I enjoyed the cruise, good weather, good company, good service and had many chats to other friendly passengers, wasn't too disappointer at missing Guernsey as I've been there before

Yes, I found that a bit strange and rather early for the luggage to be left outside of the stateroom, usually it's around 11pm. Maybe it was because of the high number of passengers comapred to crew

FWIW here are some of my thoughts on our 5-12 August cruise. Embarkation: Taking into consideration the number of passengers, it was pretty efficient and seamless. The only real delay was going through security. The Ship: As you would expect from a new ship it did not have that "tired" look and was lovely in keeping with other ship of this group (Regal etc;). I liked the new design of Princess Live and the Vista Lounge. The stateroom (Deluxe Balcony) and bathroom was just a bit on the small side but perfectly adequate. No problem at all with the shower having a curtain, pretty flow of water and very hot. My wife said that she found the decor quite bland, but I liked how understated and bright it made the room look. Food: We ate in Capri MDR, IC, GiGi's, Buffet and had Room Service breakfasts a couple of times. Was very impressed with the quality of food in all these areas, the steak with the surf 'n turf was one of the best I've had, although the Room Service Breakfast menu I though was rather small. The buffet was now back to virtually all self service. My son is a vegan and had a problem in the IC where there was a lentil pie advertised as vegan, but when he asked about it he was told that it had egg wash on the pastry, he politely pointed out that this wasn't vegan, and to their credit future pies did not appear to be egg washed and not advertised as vegan. First night and last nights in the MDR he had very attentive waiters who produced a vegan menu and saw to his needs, great credit to both of them - he had two very enjoyable meals, sadly he had problems on one of the formal nights, his first main dish contained cheese, and also had problems with the alternative that was offered, in the end one of the two original waiters appeared and arranged for him to have a very good pumpkin pie. Drink: Again a good selection of various types, we were on the Plus option and did notice that quite a lot of the wine selection was in the Premium range, but I found that what was in the Plus section to be perfectly acceptable. Good range of cocktails, especially in Good Spirits at Sea and Take Five. Apart from a couple of Bars we did not have to wait all that long to get drinks. I did notice that in one bar those seated at the bar seemed to get preferential treatment (but I suppose if you tip the barman a tenner, as I saw on one occasion you would expect that) Entertainment: Impressed with both 5 Skies and Rock Opera, although 5 Skies may not be to everyone's taste in fact an elderly couple next to me got up and left half way through. Saw Phil Tufnell, absolutely loved his session even if you didn't like cricket. Enjoyed the addition of Take Five, great music (if you like jazz) and ambience. Good selection of live music across all areas of the ships. WiFi/Internet: Certainly a bone of contention with many, me included. It was very patchy to say the least, could not access things like emails for a lot of the time. The App was pretty flaky some of the time. a bit disappointing compared to the service on our last trip in September on Regal (although to be fair it did sail at reduced capacity) Final Thoughts: The ship was apparently sailing at full capacity, and at times it certainly felt like it, virtually impossible to get a sun lounger from mid morning onwards, but did manage to get in the hot tub a few times. Big thumbs up to the waiters, bar staff, chefs, Gracey our lovely stateroom steward who all worked extremely hard and tirelessly to keep things running as smoothly as possible, they did certainly seem to be understaffed for the number of passengers. It look from this cruise that cruising is nearly back to normal with hardly a face mask amongst the passengers to be seen and a virtually full self-service buffet. On the buffet matter, one thing that I did find quite disappointing was the amount of passengers that went into the Buffet without washing their hands or even sanitizing them, a basic hygene necessity in my opinion. Overall I enjoyed the cruise, good weather, good company, good service and had many chats to other friendly passengers, wasn't too disappointer at missing Guernsey as I've been there before

Will do a fuller review later, but as to the MDR evening meals: I booked Capri on the first night on the App for 8.10pm as it was this or 8.30pm, I went to the restaurant to confirm our booking for 8 people and was told to come at 8 30pm when it would be less busy. Arrived at that time and had to wait for another 20 minutes or so to get a table. Next time, formal night, had booked again for 8.10pm, only had a short wait, but restaurant was very busy and didn't finish meal until nearly 10.30pm, the Dining Room manager explained and apologised for the delay saying it was due to staff shortages and these later times were much busier. Last night the only time I could book via the app was 8.10pm, phoned Booking Reservations and cancelled that time and asked if I could rebook for 6.15pm, was told the only avaiailable time was 5.30pm, but if I and my party were to come at 6 15pm we could be accommodated. Got there at 6.15pm and were shown to our table straight away. Must say the staff were extremely helpful and hardworking, and the food was excellent on the three times we went.

We are on the Enchanted Princess on 5 August. Have been looking through the timeliness of events and so far can see no sign of 5 Skies being on at all, have found Rock Opera on day 6 or 7 (can't remember the exact day at the moment)

Agree with Billish, I would phone the store a couple of days before your tests to confirm that they do the tests, have test kits still in stock and will there be a pharmacist available on the day to do the test. I booked with a local Lloyd's a week ago and acouple days later they sent me an email cancelling the appointment, when I phoned them their answer was that there would be no pharmacist available that day. My sister booked appointments with another local branch for her trip and she received an email yesterday cancelling their appointments as there was no stock of test kits in the store.

Don't know if this will be any help (or just muddy the water). Have contacted Princess Cruises twice about the vaccine policy as one of our party has received her two main jabs but not a booster, her second jab was within the 270 days. Have had the same answer each time: As she has received both the main jabs and her last vaccine was within the 270 days timeframe she is counted as fully vaccine and no need for a booster. I was also told on both occasions that she would have no problem boarding.

Agreed, in fact I had this confirmed by Princess this morning

Just phoned the UK line and call was answered and my question resolved within 10 minutes. Quite impressed

Many thanjs for all your very helpful replies. Much appreciated

I don't know if I've been reading it wrong, but my understanding is that fully vaccinated is having received the two main jabs, and only one booster jab is required if the second of the main jabs is over 270 days ago. Haven't seen anything to say that a second booster is required for UK passengers.

DW andI be sailing in two weeks time with some first time cruisers and wondered if anyone had experience of purchasing drinks from the Drinks Package When my wife and I cruised last year there was the problem if ordering two drinks on the same medallion profile the second drink was charged to that person's account. Does anybody know if that is still the case? If both parties' profiles are on the same device, would ordering one drink from one profile and then switching to the second profile and order the second drink from that profile work? Many thanks for any info

Just after an advanced bit of info, does anybody know where Muster Station E is on the Enchanted Princess. Many thanks for any info.

Yes also going in August and have booked our boarding time, as has been mentioned before the notification appeared 59 days before the cruise

Short for Southampton

Always bring a couple of both adaptors with me

I've read somewhere that on some of the Princess ships sailing from the UK that they provide one complementary US/UK adaptor in the stateroom. Not sure how true that is though