Martha1974

We're sailing with Marella next month and are flying from Manchester at about 8:00am. The information I've received says that we can drop off our cases between 14:00 and 21:00 the day before we fly, which we're very tempted to do. We'll be staying at the Premier Inn and it would be great just to take hand luggage into the hotel without worrying about leaving cases in the car. However, this is also the first time we've flown with more that just carry-on luggage in about 6 years and I'm worrying that we'll drop the cases off early and never see them again! 

So my question is this - has anybody used the day-before drop-off service (either at Manchester or anywhere else) and how did you find it? 

We sailed with Ambassador last year and had a stop in Kirkwall on the way to Iceland. There was an interesting variety of excursions available (Skara Brae etc) but we opted for one that included the Italian Chapel and the Churchill Barriers. It was a morning excursion including a stop for refreshments (scones with jam and cream and beautiful homemade shortbread) and we were back at the ship in time for some lunch and then took the shuttle into Kirkwall for a walk around in the afternoon.  I can't remember the cost but I'm sure it won't have been expensive (maybe £40-ish per person). 

Definitely still doing the rounds in this part of the world - husband and I both tested positive on Saturday. He’d been suffering longer than I had and he was clear again by the time we tested again yesterday but I’m still positive. Really cross with myself as I’ve managed to avoid it so far, but four years in it’s finally got me! 

We often use them on a port day if we don't have an excursion and can stay on the ship until mid-morning. Usually call into the laundry to start the wash on our way up to the buffet for breakfast then call on the way back to the cabin to swap everything from the washer to the dryer. Down to the IC for a coffee and that fills the time until the dryer is finished, than take everything back to the cabin and off the ship for our port day. Usually off the ship by 10am and missing the rush at the gangway.

Cielo would be our first choice too (although I’d be perfectly happy with either of the others). We usually stop for a pre-dinner drink at the Crown Grill bar and when finished I get my glass of wine to take down the aft staircase with me. Have never had to queue for a table (for context we sail in Europe and eat at 7:30) and have always been able to get a 2-top without feeling overcrowded by the tables around us. Usually do 3-4 courses and can be in and out in less than 90 mins. 

When we sailed on Sky Princess ex-Southampton last September there was also a US to UK adaptor already plugged into one of the outlets above the desk. We wondered if it had been left by a passenger and missed by the cabin steward, but then found a card stating that it was provided for our convenience and there would be a $25 charge if we took it home! Never seen that before so not sure if it is now standard practice. 

Following, and really looking forward to this Live - we're on our first Celebrity cruise on Equinox in October so trying to find out as much as I can about the ship ahead of time. 

22 hours ago, jimzgoldfinch said:

Villa Marie Sauvignon Blanc is any everyday drinking wine which is one of our preferred wines but I would not consider it premium. Our local supermarket sells this for around £8/9. How do you define premium drinks?

 

I was thinking exactly the same! A Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc doesn’t feel particularly ‘premium’ to me (it’s my go-to in our local Wetherspoons!), particularly compared with the Cloudy Bay that we were served on Princess last month. 

I have no experience of this with Marella (at least not yet) but we’re recently off a Princess ship (with a drink package) and we weren’t charged any extra but the daily programme stated that any drinks that were being charged to an on-board account while in Spain would have the additional tax added. Sounds like individual lines are handling this differently. 

On 9/30/2023 at 1:14 PM, Lady Arwen said:

Hoping that the ships carry a good stock of Whispering Angel Rose, especially at Vines, our go to place for pre dinner cocktails. 

We didn’t use Vines on our Sky cruise in September (too busy and could never get a seat) but I had no problem getting Whispering Angel in the Crown Grill bar which we used on several occasions. Got a very nice Cloudy Bay in there too!

I have found that the web-site version of DMW will let me do things that I can’t do in the app version, (like booking Speciality dining with Princess Premier credits and not charging my

 credit card!) but as we don’t do ‘TD-style’ dining I haven’t tried to do same time / same MDR for the whole cruise. 
 

sorry @CaptainPedantic - looks like we cross-posted!

On 9/22/2023 at 5:24 PM, Host CJSKIDS said:

In looking in my app for my sailing, a Couple massage is:

 

Deep tissue $247 on embarkation and then is either $263 or $280 depending on the port for 50 minutes

75 minutes starts at $299 and 100 minutes at $463

 

Aroma Stone Massage 50 minutes starts at $247

75 minutes starts at $299

100 minutes starts at $463

 

Bamboo has then same pricing as Aroma Stone

DH and I were quoted $350 on embarkation day for a 50 minute couples deep-tissue massage on Sky Princess last week (for the treatment to be booked for a port day). We didn’t go ahead with the booking so I’m not sure if the $350 included the 18% grat or if that would have been added on top.

Following - we were on Sky Princess last September and are boarding again Sept 16 this year so interested to know what might be the same or different (other than new charges for RS/Ocean Now etc) and what the productions shows etc are at the moment 

We’ve gone from green lane to blue lane in the app and any reference to arrival groups has disappeared. 

10 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Just to point out a positive … 

For the Plus and Premier package passengers, their added value is that they can eat at the GastroPub or O’Malleys, etc for no charge.  
Since there is currently no increase in price for the packages (and I’m not saying there won’t be), this is actually a good thing for those with packages unless you enjoy getting pizza every day.  
 

 

 

Fair point - we’re UK based and sail out of the UK so have only sailed on Sky Princess up to now, I had forgotten about O’Malleys and the GastroPub on other ships. 

So basically, if some of us are interpreting this correctly, Plus and Premier passengers continue to get exactly what they're getting at the moment (but probably with a related price-hike at some point) and standard passengers are losing several of the "perks" that Princess have been very vocal about publicising (no RS charges / ship-wide delivery / wider inclusive food choices). Can't wait till the debate about whether the changes apply to "old plus/premier" or just "new plus/premier" gets started. 

We're sailing in September and were planning on buying a couple of FCDs, but now I'm not so sure. 

3 hours ago, gah_cruise said:

why does it matter if you are blue or green when sailing from Southampton?..there are NO blue/green lines/queues/entrances.  UK passengers collect medallions at the port and if you have completed the necessary online documentation as required...then the time impact is 1 minute for the staff to walk and get your medallion and give it to you.

Didn’t even need to wait for someone to go and get our medallions when we sailed from Southampton last year. We were “green lane” - showed our passports, had security photos taken (we uploaded them but apparently they weren’t ok) and were given a slip of paper which we presented at the next desk and were provided with our medallions. Probably 6-8 minutes total from starting the process. 

The deck plan shows one port-side on Deck 9. I nearly missed it - looks like it might be a repurposed cabin between 9107 and 9115. Not thinking about booking either of those, but might be reconsidering if I was. 

12 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Yet in true Princess will be Princess fashion, just got an email today to make sure to choose our arrival times. 

We sail 16 Sept and I did ours yesterday - didn’t get and email to prompt but happened to be looking at the app and it let me do it. No QR code generated though (and we are Green Lane) so guessing the functionality just hasn’t been disabled yet. Got 11:30 group but might risk it and turn up earlier! 

12 hours ago, Purdey16 said:

 

We’re also on sky princess again in September and have this time booked sabatinis for the first time and looking forward to it after many recommendations, we were on sky in June this year as well but we down the Crown grill and chef’s table which both were lovely, so we have booked sabatinis twice this September and I’ve heard you need a empty tummy 😋

Definitely need an empty tummy - we bailed out before dessert last time  (another reason to give it another go to see what we missed!)  We did all 3 speciality dining options last year (when it was Bistro sue la Mer, before Catch by Rudi) and have booked all 3 again (Sabatinis getting a second chance, Crown Grill worth a second visit and want to try Rudi’s for the first time). Will try for the Chef’s Table when we board and if we’re lucky and get a place something else may have to give! 

Apologies if I’m repeating others’ comments as I’ve jumped to the end without reading all posts. We haven’t tried the new menu yet, our only experience of Sabatinis was last September on Sky Princess and it was mixed. The food was excellent and our waiter Matthew was wonderful, very friendly and helpful, but hopelessly over-worked! I don’t know how many tables he was looking after but it was too many! Our food service was very good - all courses presented promptly, hot and very fresh but the drinks service was a very different story. I ordered a glass of wine when we were seated but the wine I wanted wasn’t available so I accepted the alternative that was suggested. The amuse bouche, appetiser and primo were served and finished and the secondi was just delivered when I got my glass of wine, by which time I’d forgotten what I had ordered.
 

We’re sailing on Sky Princess again in September and have booked Sabatinis again to give them another chance - watch this space…!! 

Thank you for taking the time to post - I’m UK based and love reading reports from visitors to see my home country through other people’s eyes. Have a fantastic trip - weather reports are very variable for the next week or so, I hope that won’t impact on your enjoyment of the trip. If nothing else it will give you a conversation starter with any British person you meet (“ isn’t it warm / hot /sunny /windy /rainy” **substitute weather conditions as appropriate). Happy cruising 🛳️😁

Please could someone currently on board the Sky Princess let me know if there are any extra benefits when booking another cruise while on board at the moment? We’re looking to book a Canary Islands cruise for Nov 2025 (interior) and can get $100 pp OBC. That’s plenty of OBC for us as we book with the Plus package and aren’t big on shopping, spa treatments or using the sanctuary. We’re sailing on Sky in September and are trying to decide whether to book now and get the $100 OBC or wait and book when we’re on board if there might be more benefits. Any information will be gratefully received. 

On 6/26/2023 at 3:57 PM, Aulanis said:

LOL!   I did look at what we were paying and adjusted our expectations accordingly.

compared to our  P&O 14 day cruise Tenerife to Malta in March including flights it was expensive but in view of the hype  they give themselves  offering Great food Great Entertainment  Great Ports  thought paying the extra for a Premium service acceptable.

    Presumably  we now have to adjust our expectations  to the price the cruise is now  

so are  expected to accept Poor food  Poor Entertainment and  Poor Service.

Fortunately the ports will be whatever we make of them.

Sorry to be picky, but you quoted Yorkshirephil quoting me, and my comment was specifically in relation to people comparing Ambassador to Cunard and Silverseas - I think your comparison to P&O takes that comment out of context somewhat so I just wanted to clarify. 

We sailed from Tilbury and parking was very easy - booked as part of the cruise fare (but can be added on later) - can’t remember how much we paid but I think it was around £10-£15 per night. Luggage offloaded in the car park then a 2 minute walk across the road to the terminal