sfoh

One of the stories in Italian media yesterday stated crew were being disembarked. That conflicts with reports from folks with friends (presumably crew) on board, so who knows the real situation. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Are they still onboard? One story in Italian media today suggested crew were being disembarked.

Such a curious cadence of information. Perhaps they want to wait for most of us guests to be on board before they make a full announcement, but Bar Harbor is 100% cancelled. The harbormaster confirmed it as early as Wednesday. Maybe they want to try for Bar Harbor on Sunday.

Wow. At this point it is clear either the crew don't know what's happening (which is concerning) or if they do, they're deliberately withholding the information (also somewhat concerning). Why not just tell people the truth? Even if it's just that oh, hey you know there's bad weather forcing us to remain in safe harbor here in Boston tonight, and we'll keep you updated as we know more. This calls to mind the unfortunate NCL Breakaway voyage that sailed through a major winter storm in 2017. That was blamed on the crew's poor judgement as the weather forecast had been very clear from the start.

This is an incredibly frustrating scenario. No information whatsoever from NCL even though it's clear from both the harbormaster in Bar Harbor and the weather forecast that the voyage will not happen as scheduled. I also looked at two Halifax port schedule sites (this site and one other) and neither have Pearl listed on Sept. 17. I spoke to NCL twice yesterday and got the same runaround both times ("we will make decisions based on the safety and comfort of our guests"). It seems we're better informed than their call center. Either they are withholding information so people don't cancel, or they just aren't organized enough to put a response together. It doesn't feel very guest-oriented, though.

Rounding back on this, now home from the cruise. Everything I said up-thread and in the Nov 20 roll call still feels valid. I'll add a few points from my last night on the ship. - Final evening dinner service was EXCELLENT in the dining room. Great food and very fast, efficient service. Helped by the fact it was less crowded than any other night. If they can keep that pace with service going it'll go a long way to solving my biggest frustration onboard. - Final morning breakfast was available as usual in buffet and dining room. Contrary to my memory of my May cruise on Discovery, they were offering room service (at least coffee/tea) and I saw several waiters tracking people down with coffee orders. - Disembarkation was horrible. I did Group A walkoff, the first group off the ship. They packed everyone into the Wheelhouse Bar on Deck 7, when the gangway was on Deck 6. This meant everyone had to carry their bags down a flight of stairs or take the elevators. It was incredibly crowded. Use of one of the deck 6 dining rooms would have probably worked better. We were due to disembark at 7:45, but that was when the captain came on to give his goodbye message (5 minutes), followed the cruise director (another 5 minutes). By that time people were beginning to crowd the door. It was just chaos. - Once off the ship, signage for bag collection was super confusing. We had carried our own bags so we went on our way. - Consistent with embarkation, general signage in the port was lacking. It wasn't clear where shuttles were operating, where taxi lines were, etc. All in all, I really enjoyed this cruise. I would rate it a 8 or 9 out of 10. The itinerary was great and hit some ports that were high on our list. The Sea of Cortez is beautiful and a worthwhile trip. We were disappointed that the whale shark excursions were cancelled in La Paz, but understand it was out of their control. The protected whale shark area is not currently open as there are too few of them. Grateful for the experience.

Noticed in the public men’s toilet near midship outdoor pool that it had overflowed. Was out of service this morning about 9-10am.

Think Savoy and Vivaldi might be open, as I see people dining in them. They are not listed on the Patter though. In my opinion service has been most reliable in International. Afternoon tea is in Pacific Moon and is a nice experience. Lunch, when served, has been International Dining Room. If you get servers Mia or Erwin (both International Dining Room) you’ll be well cared for! Setiya and Loren in Crooners have been wonderful, especially as the week has gone by. Liselle in Wheelhouse Bar is our favorite there. She’s delightful. She will probably be excited and extra happy on the next cruise as she is from Guatemala and it’s on the itinerary.

I posted some additional detailed thoughts on this cruise in the Nov 20 Roll Call: Agree with much of what Nobbi said (including what I think is a massively overlooked opportunity with Sterling Steakhouse). If they had Sterling Steakhouse in another venue, more similar to Crown Grill, it would be far better. Anyway, we’ve had an excellent week on board and made many fond memories, and met some very kind people. They clearly made a good decision to cap capacity on this cruise as the crew is still working to get themselves and the ship ready for prime time.

I have not seen anything that suggests it, so far. The last update given in late May still cites Sept. 30, 2022. For comparison's sake, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity also extend through Sept. 30, but it only applies to bookings made by March 31. I really like the added flexibility that Princess provides. Holland America does have extended flexibility through to December 31, so hoping Princess will mirror its sister brand 🙂

Rabin1, this is great news for you! It seems that Princess has quietly extended its heavily discounted solo supplement through the end of the year for many cruises (including this one). I believe it was previously available through sometime in June. I'm in the industry and haven't seen any formal announcement about it but searching fares suggests that's the reason for your huge, well-deserved price drop!