StellaGrace

I had mixed results on the Sky in February attempting to just have gelato without all the add-ons. The first time I asked, it was no issue at all. The fellow asked what flavors I would like, and I was soon on my way with two scoops in a small bowl. The second time, the very next day, the fellow manning the counter that time, said there was no varying from the fixed menu options. He was very determined to uphold the rules even though I had politely said the accommodation was made just the day before. He then raised the ante by saying that also vanilla was the only gelato option. I gave up after that. It wasn't worth the possibility of another awkward encounter.

Very sorry to hear about Alf. The loss of a well loved pet definitely tears the heart to shreds. A couple of years back, I lost one of my dogs, my good pal, Gracie, at a too young age to cancer. It happened a couple of months before a long planned Christmas cruise on the Reflection. My adult daughter was set to meet up with me for that cruise. The night before she was to leave for Fort Lauderdale, she lost her beloved childhood dog, Charlie, also to cancer. She & Charlie grew up together and he moved with her to attend grad school. We always joked about how well Charlie's PhD research was going. At least Charlie had lived a long, full well-loved life, but it was still so hard for her to pack her bag to go on what was supposed to be a happy, fun getaway. Needless to say, we were both very emotional the whole cruise. Cheers to Gracie, Charlie & Alf.

Thanks for your really informative review. I just pulled the trigger on a Sun cruise for next February in good part due to your extensive review. Safe travels to you!

@JamieLogical I have immensely enjoyed your live cruise reports, and feel happy to be able to return the favor in at least a small way. I was recently on Sky Princess last month in a mini suite and have the Enchanted Princess booked for this September in a deluxe balcony. While I can't give you specific feedback on Enchanted, I can offer some general Princess feedback on a similar class ship especially as it relates to recent experiences on Celebrity and past experience on mostly Disney (but also NCL, RCL, Viking River). The last time I sailed Princess prior to the February cruise was 10 years ago on the Regal. At that time, I thought the experience was just okay, average at best. With that in mind, I was hesitant to try Princess again, but I was so glad I pulled the trigger on the Sky cruise! There are positives and negatives about every cruise and every cruise line, but I found my experience on Sky Princess overall to have been great. Quick checklist run down for you in no specific order and will try to gear it toward things I've noted to be of interest to you from your past reports: - Pizza: Out of all the cruise lines I've sailed (not MSC), I think the Princess pizza has been the best. Now, that's not to say it's the best pizza ever, but it's solid shipboard pizza whether you go to either the pizza restaurant or to the walk up station. - Loaded cheese fries: Well, this was a nice surprise! lol At the walk up burger stand on the Lido deck, in addition to burgers (just meh - like on most cruise lines imo), they served really good hot dogs, okay chicken sandwiches and decent chicken tacos. The real surprise though were the loaded cheese fries (hot cheese and bacon bits - chili also advertised, but didn't see it) and they were available till around 11:00 pm nightly as I recall. - There was cottage cheese and assorted other cheeses available at the buffet daily with the exception of feta, a hard one for me to consistently find. - Dining: I thought the buffet selections were fine. Pro tip - Walk the whole buffet. Even though it looks like the first and last stations repeat, they often slipped in different items. I enjoyed their long operating hours particularly as compared to Celebrity and Disney. I had a couple of meals in the mdr, both were good meals. I did skip a few meals in the mdr when the menu didn't look promising and was absolutely fine with the buffet. - There was a toast station in the buffet where a staff member personally deposited hot toast on your plate. He had butter as well to provide right there in the same spot. - The medallion had mixed results for drink and food orders. It was actually more successful for drinks (requires patience) than for food (app marked delivered 2x but never delivered to me?). - Staffing: Before boarding Sky, I had also heard about staffing issues. However, by the time of my cruise, I guess they had fully restaffed. I felt like I was stumbling over drink servers in the buffet, the bar/seating area outside of the buffet and in all the bar areas in and along the piazza. My cabin steward was stellar, and dinner service was routinely prompt - except for drinks in the mdr. - Internet: I found it to be much better than Celebrity's basic offering. - Casino: While spoiled by Celebrity's smoke free policy, it was doable for short bursts in the supposedly smoke free section. - Sabatini's: This was a bust for me. Just my opinion, while the food was plentiful, I found it very bland and just not appealing. For comparison purposes, Tuscan Grille on Celebrity has been hit or miss for me, and Palo has always been a total standout experience on Disney. I'm also second generation Italian, and can capably cook a thing or two in the kitchen. I would not waste money on Sabatini's again. - Mini suite: I loved the extra space in the cabin (very clean and in great shape), loved the walk in closet area, appreciated the hand rail to step over the tub wall into the shower, and thought the balcony was too small. - Production shows: I found them to be okay, and probably wouldn't see them again. Karaoke was mentioned in this thread somewhere, and I'll agree, I actually found myself attracted to the karaoke events as well. It's amazing what great singers turned out to be on this cruise! Side note, I found the seats in the main theater a little tight, and I'm not a pencil but also not a full sized eraser either. lol Also, no cup holders for drinks. Celebrity Summit and their M class ships win hands down in this category for their cocktail tables in the main theater. Anyway, I wouldn't hesitate to sail again on Princess and am looking forward to my upcoming Enchanted cruise. Happy sailings to you and I'll look forward to your cruise report! 🙂

Thanks for your review. It was really thorough, informative, and easy to read.

Thank you @Norwaylady for another fun review. I always enjoy reading about your travels. Safe trip home to you and Mr.

Thank you all for your thoughts. I've come to understand that every cruise line has its own website idiosyncrasies, but this one sure is a doozy. lol Safe and happy sailing to all.

Hi All, I sailed Princess about ten years ago and am interested in giving it another try. I recently booked a Princess cruise in a mini suite for early 2024, but am now looking at booking a possible second cruise. After playing around a bit, I see that when entering one or two passengers, the cabin availability is only guarantee for any categories between an obstructed balcony to a mini suite. Yet, when three passengers are entered, lots of cabin availability opens up to select specific cabin #s. I have tried this with several cruises and a couple of different ships. This is very frustrating as I like to select my cabin. The intended sailings are a year out, so it's not a matter of the ships being full. It also doesn't seem due to a block on solo passengers, since I also tried it with two people. Is this standard practice for Princess? Am I missing a trick to seeing the actual cabin availability? My TA said she was having the same issue. Thanks for your help!

Hi Charla, I always really enjoy reading your live trip reports. Thanks so much for taking the time to write them. Would you please be able to comment on any live musical entertainment you’ve experienced in the YC lounge? Do they bring in any singers to perform? One of my favorite parts about sailing Celebrity is enjoying live music in all parts of the ship. Now that I’m pondering an MSC YC cruise - thanks to you! - I’m wondering if that’s something available in this ship within a ship experience. Enjoy these special moments with your Gen Z. I enjoyed many similar experiences with my Millennial Me. lol

Hi All, While I don't post very much at all, I am an avid reader on the boards here. This is an important topic and I agree with the many who feel the more feedback provided to Celebrity the better the possibility will be for them to rethink their strategy on this point. While my family and I have sailed many lines with Disney having been our favorite due to service, quality experience, and the smoke free indoor environment, we thought we had found our new favorite cruise line with Celebrity. We initially thought Celebrity offered an experience closest to Disney, but was more adult oriented in terms of entertainment and offered the added bonus of a smoke free casino. Several in my family have health issues including asthma, so a smoke free environment is a real selling point for us. It was really disheartening to learn of this indoor vaping trial. There are so many health considerations surrounding it. The outdoor designated areas for smoking has been a reasonable compromise for many years. This is a case where I feel Celebrity tried to fix something that wasn't broken. Although I don't think it makes a difference for this issue about what cabin category one typically sails, since it appears to be coming up in some comments as a speaking point, we enjoy a regular veranda cabin and have also sailed in inside cabins as well. Thanks to those who posted the Celebrity email address. I sent off emails to both of the addresses provided. Kind regards and happy & healthy cruising to all!

Disney is non smoking except in a couple of designated areas, but there are no casinos on their ships.

Thank you for this very entertaining review, although I enjoy all of your reviews!

I'm just off the 7/3 Summit Bermuda cruise. For what it's worth, my cabin steward told me they were sailing at 80% capacity.