wilycoyote76

Thanks for offering to answer questions. If you have the drink package how does ncl do it out of Galveston? Did you notice if they are selling vibe passes at customer service or somewhere else on the ship on embarkation day?

Fair point but it was only 35 dollars more than the internet I was already planning to get and I think I get enough value out of the other benefits.

First time Royal cruiser and will be on Mariner of the Seas and I have both the key and the ultimate dining package. From my research I’ve heard mixed reviews on the key embarkation lunch in the dining room. It appears that Jamie’s Italian will also be open for lunch on embarkation day, would it be better to try and eat lunch there instead?

Thanks for confirming that it’s full at night. My quick research also said they use that space for public events too which makes sense since it’s more wide open with no aft infinity pool like Havana and the hot tubs being more on the sides too in the terrazza than aft like Havana.

Also researching interior terraza after loving interior Havana on sister ships but don’t like the no pool in the terraza just the 2 hot tubs and they allow access to everyone after 7pm unlike Havana being exclusive at all times.

I was in room Havana interior 5225 on panorama and my room vibrated when the band was playing. It didn’t bother me because I’m not noise sensitive and I stay out late but if you’re a light sleeper and go to bed before midnight it could be an issue. I personally loved Havana and would do it again, I got a daybed on a sea day at 2pm, you’re never doing that on the lido.

Yes, I made a reservation on the website 6/15 and got confirmation on 6/23. This is my 3rd time using them. Have you checked your spam filter? The previous time I made a reservation, the confirmation went to my spam filter.

Booked my first cruise on Hal and thinking about upgrading to elite because of the 15 total drink limit on the sbp. I drink a lot of bottled water, sodas etc and dont want to think about how close I am to 15 total drinks. If they just did the 15 alcoholic drink cap other Carnival owned lines did I wouldn’t think about upgrading. I will check the other links posted earlier in this thread to see if you can still upgrade to elite from the sbp in the HIA for 10 dollars a day plus service fee on embarkation day.

I assume you mean regular Grey Goose, I’m talking about the flavored ones.

Just off the Ruby and there are spirits that were premier that are now included in the plus package since the plus allowance went to 15. The grey goose essences are an example and they are still listed at 14. I do wonder if there will be a correction to bump those up to above 15 to make them premier only again. All of the drinks that were plus before are still plus now and that was the main concern people had about the new packages.

Funny enough the Princess t&c on the website implies that 15 is not a hard cap, it’s at management discretion and you might be able to purchase drinks after you hit the 15 but haven’t seen any confirmation anyone has done this. I know on the Carnival ships 15 is a hard cap.

They’re still doing it since I have it for my upcoming 3/5 cruise, it’s called a voyage goodwill credit. I actually thought it was a gift from my big box travel agent since it was not communicated anywhere but saw some videos and Facebook posts confirming what the other posters in this thread are saying.

My last carnival cruise on Panorama in December ‘21 they had EC small batch. Don’t want to derail the thread too much since this is about Princess but their selection was surprisingly good, not sure that is still true with the supply chain issues and demand.

Thanks to you and havedogwilltravel for posting about the new drink menus, getting on Ruby this Sunday. The bourbon prices are crazy, I saw Blanton’s at the Fort Lauderdale airport duty free shops last December coming back from Celebrity Beyond and they had plenty of bottles… for $139 a piece. On Beyond they had Buffalo Trace and Eagle10 and that was exciting for people since they’re getting hard to find.

I’m also sailing from Galveston in 21 days and I had to select my boarding group and you will then see your QR code in the app. I agree it’s confusing because it looked like I was set but I hadn’t chosen an arrival group and it didn’t seem to prompt me to do that, I had to dig around in the app to find it.

Following this as well, going on Ruby Princess in a month. Want confirmation but it sounds like Carnival and Princess are doing it differently even though they have the same parent company. Carnival doesn’t charge you for cheers on embark day so I assume you’re paying for any drinks alcoholic or otherwise until day 2. It sounds like Princess offers a limited menu until you hit international waters. I’m paying for the package for all 7 days on Princess so that would make more sense. If that’s wrong please confirm otherwise.

Thanks for reassurance that the overall experience is good.

For you and op as well was the overall service in the dining rooms/activities/feel with that many people on board acceptable in your opinion? I saw a YouTube video of a guy on the same sailing that said the ship was broken with that many people on board. I’m not getting that same impression from you or op, just wanted to confirm. I’m thinking about going on the same sailing this December.

No problem, they did have a filet on my menu and I’m sure you can get the fancy sauce on the side. The atmosphere is quieter and there are 2 sets of doors so you feel separated from the rest of the ship.

The food isn’t really french, it’s a mix. My amuse last week on my cruise was a middle eastern dip. I had a peanut shrimp appetizer with a thai green curry sauce and had a lobster risotto for my main. I enjoyed it and thought it was worth it. I booked the standard 3 course meal but they let me order 2 apps so I had the amuse, 2 apps, main, dessert and they also brought petit fours and a little basket of beignets with dessert. Forgot they also give you a complimentary glass of champagne. They gave me vueve yellow label but I saw some other guests got Moët.

I hope it’s open for your sailing, I had the same plan last week for my Beyond cruise and it was not open for lunch day 1 even though it was listed in the app pre-cruise. When I got on board it was no longer listed as being open for lunch day 1, raw on 5 was the only specialty restaurant that was open for lunch that was available for me. I did try it for lunch on one of the sea days and it was very good.

Just got off Celebrity Beyond and had a wonderful time. First time in Celebrity after doing just Carnival and @kwokpot was right about the food being incredible. Booked a half cabana for my first sea day and they are first come first serve. There are 4 of them and 1 and 2 are located by the elephant sculpture and 9 and 10 are close to the mast grill. I was in cabana 1 but I noticed cabana 2 has a partially obstructed view that is blocked by a full sized towel rack. Cabana 10’s view is also partially blocked by a half sized towel rack and is missing the full L-shaped seating, it’s only a bench. This seems like an unfortunate byproduct of turning the cabanas towards the pool rather than the ocean on previous E-Class ships. It does not apply to the full size cabanas I only noticed it with the half cabanas but 2 of the 4 half sized cabanas have obstructed views which I’m sure will be upsetting for some people if the view of the pool is important. My advice is to get there early for your pick or see about getting more people to get a full size cabana.

It’s listed at the regular price of 129 + gratuity for my upcoming Beyond cruise. With the 7% pre-cruise discount it’s about 140 with the gratuity.

Has anyone tried it? It was hard to find any reviews about it like the other specialty restaurants. I saw one of the cruise YouTubers I watch had a screenshot of the menu but didn’t try it because of the price.

Good review, I’m sailing Beyond the week after Thanksgiving, my first non Carnival cruise. Also thanks for confirming that the bourbon selection is pretty weak, its surprising to me that’s one area Carnival seems to be better than Royal/Celebrity.