Kay S

This. Wonderful lounge with quiet atmosphere. I have never been on the Emerald but have been a bunch of times on Crown. I’m not sure what the speciality restaurants are now.

One advantage to being is a wheelchair is that they take you right up to the front of the crowd. Yo, Lisa!

It's tons of fun! For us, it was in the afternoon and the time was printed in the Patter.

Our other "regular" line is HAL. I prefer the food there and so many other things, but service has suffered across the industry due to staffing shortages and limited training. Will you be disappointed in Princess? I guess you need to decide that for yourself. (BTW, my daughter and family are just back from Carnival, and they said service was good.)

I'm donating my two free to my teenage grandsons who can eat everything all day and still stay skinny.

I don't take a lot of photos because I am really bad at it. 🙂 DH used to take his camera, but then film went away (for the most part.) He is about 90% tech challenged. Sometimes I will ask a fellow passenger to send me a copy of their photos. People are really nice about that. I am not sold on the value of the Medallion or the app, but I use it when I need to, getting in and out of the cabin, etc. I think it's the only use of it DH can handle.😁

LOL. Negative note. The Arc de Triomphe is the only place we have ever been robbed in Paris.!

This is so silly. I was not responding to you, mouse. Our friend from Toronto suggested several post ago that people should avoid the afternoon tea in the buffet and go to the one in the MDR instead. I asked him what this buffet tea was, since his post suggested equal tea venues, buffet vs. MDR. There is no buffet tea service equal to the MDR, and I just wanted to clarify that with him. You correctly pointed out that the food from the MDR tea is also available in the buffet snack area in the afternoon. I agreed with you, but our friend said I was "100% wrong." So the moral to this story is don't ask anyone to clarify what he means.

The original draw for us was Skywalkers. The views and the place was never crowded. The food offerings have always been mediocre. I mostly went for the shrimp fountain, but there was always an interesting assortment of cheeses. I usually ordered a "regular" drink at the "regular" price rather than the sometimes silly concoctions on special. An exception would be Chairman of the Board, which DH loved. The staff was the same each night, and it was nice to get to know them. I learned a lot about some countries I'd never been to by talking to them about their homes. We often met some fun people and had a good time with them, sometimes different people on different nights. (BTW, I don't ever remember any conversation about cruise status or sharing "Elite" stories.) When we had grandchildren with us, we took them along. No one complained. (My kids are well behaved, thank you.) Now we have been on the Royal class ships (for itinerary reasons, mostly) the lounge has gone to Club 6 or whatever it is on other ships. No great views. The last couple of times it has been in Vista Lounge, with a too-loud entertainer, and with everyone all spread out, limiting chances to chat with others. It's nothing like the Skywalkers experience. To answer the question, what's the big deal, I guess I have to say it is not a big deal and not as much fun as it once was.

If you say so... Your experience is yours and mine is mine. I will be up there in the buffet waiting for them to bring me tea and sandwiches on a little tray at the white linen covered tables. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

I know. It's so dumb, but so funny. The people's faces when the door opens and all the roulette players start screaming!

I've seen that but I never thought of it as "tea service." They put the MDR tea leftovers up there in the buffet after the tea service is over.

I know what mobbed means. I mean what is buffet tea? Never heard of it. MDR afternoon tea, yes. Royal Tea in the piazza, yes. But tea service in the buffet?

It has been a long time since I saw them checking ids at the door.

What is this?

More evidence of poorly trained staff hired from a dwindling pool.

This is such a great thread. I have never thought Trident Grill was all that. I get the hot dog but never the hamburger. It's frozen, pressed beef and full of preservatives and taste awful. So this ship is still Trident Grill and hasn't switched over to Salty Dog?

Maybe one could make its way to OP's balcony? 🙂

Crown Grill. Lamb chops. Can't go wrong if you are a lamb eater.

I'm having a similar problem with a grandchild's account. This kid has been on 10 cruises, and the app refuses to recognize him. No problem with the other grandkids. (I wonder if I have ever mentioned that I hate this app with the fire of a thousand suns. Oh, I think maybe I have. 😁)

From my observations on 30 Princess cruises, the divide on formal night is not so much between old and young but male and female. The ladies seem more dressed up to me. It isn't unusual to see a woman dressed to the nines walking in with her husband wearing a collared shirt and trousers. I can't recall seeing a guy in a tux accompanied by a woman in jeans and a T shirt. I have seen senior citizens dressed up and also in overalls and flannel shirts. I have also seen young people dressed for the prom as well as dressed for bowling. The fact is that about anything will work these days. If the MDR staff lets you in, you are dressed appropriately.

So true. My family always ordered the medallions, usually every night. They replaced them with a bad hamburger.

Princess should hire you to do PR.

Every time I have asked about the dining room at embarkation, the crew directs me to the buffet. I quit asking. Go directly to deck 6 MDR (the one off the piazza.) More than likely, that's where lunch is, no matter the ship.

This is evident by the number of questions asked here about "fully booked" events. It just seems like a PR thing to me, making people think something is really popular and then drumming up attendance.