AlaskaGolden

I too miss the dipped ice cream. Since they started offering the soft serve as complimentary, they eliminated the dipped. The problem with the soft serve is it appears to be ice milk and not high quality. Guess we will have to only cruise ships with Gelato which is made with cream and is delicious!

http://www.cruisewithgambee.com/princess-cruises-menus/

 

I think these are current - hope so anyway - they look quite tempting!:D

I thought Royal/Regal (and maybe some other ships) were using Caribbean themed menus every night in the MDR? I was hoping they stopped that because the selections weren't too appealing and they didn't appear to be getting good reviews!

about who the Captain is. This current listing made up my mind on a sailing. I was on a Princess cruise ship and was severely injured when uncontrolled crowd getting off at a port resulted in my falling all the way down the gangway onto concrete. I was rushed to hospital by port authority as they thought perhaps my jaw and cheekbone were fractured. Great care at hospital and tremendous concern by port authority. Fortunately no fractures or broken bones but from toe to head I looked like road kill plus torn lip and busted front teeth. The ship's doctor was poor at best. No one from the senior crew would speak to me despite my sitting and waiting for 2 days. The big joke was the Captain was really not on board since even his Christmas message was broadcast over the speakers interrupting the Christmas service - everyone only saw him once briefly at Captain champagne hour when he poured the champagne in the centerpiece and quickly left. Even a comedian joked that it was rumored that there really was a captain on board. No one ever saw the maitre d'. The cruise activities director was a joke. I think like many businesses, the senior executives and staff take their cues from the person in command. I'll pay the extra $400/person and take another ship to Alaska since I will avoid this captain forever!! Again, thaks to all u updated this list

OH NO! This sounds absolutely horrible. For this to happen at all is a travesty; to happen during a vacation is criminal (okay, maybe at either time there is a criminal element). Hope you have fully recovered, and haven't given-up on Princess.

I'm confused as well. Where were you sitting for 2 days? In your cabin waiting for senior Princess staff to stop by to see how how you were doing?

I'm a little confused as to your train of thought here . . . Are you saying it was the captain who pushed you? [Captain Steubing at the gangplank with a belaying pin -- from the Love Boat version of "Clue."]

Also, you should know that assignments can change at any moment. The only sure way to avoid a Princess captain is to sail another cruise line.

I bust out laughing after reading this! Thankfully I was at home, and the vacuum was on so no one heard the hysterics.

I looked over the menus for a 7-day Caribbean cruise. Not looking forward to most of the selections. Looks like Specialty Dining, Alfredo's, the Horizon, etc. on many nights.

Anyone have a photo of the Caribbean Shrimp Cocktail? Would like to see how it is presented.

I'm unable to connect to Royal Caribbean Connect :confused:

No new Adam Blogs

No outlet for news

No new construction updates

No new web cam images

Food Shmood... let's see something new

 

uggggghhhhhhh :rolleyes:

Works fine for me...

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/connect/

Are the tips added for just services like treatments or is it added for use of the Sanctuary/Enclave too? :eek:

Is this the next ship due for deployment out of that yard? If so, it makes some sense the court would do this. But doesn't the ship yard have other assets (like bank accouts, real property) that could have "holds" put on them? That is what probably would have happened in the U.S.

The whole concept of Dynamic Dining seems to fall apart on a longer cruise. We are on a 13 nighter on the Anthem next year. In the past we would have had say 6 different choices each night in the MDR - these choices would change giving a total of 78 choices on the cruise. We now have 8 choices for the 4 dining rooms for the whole cruise- a total of 32 choices, This does not seem very dynamic to me!

You are correct, it is limiting with the menus that have been announced (so far!). But, 32 choices over 13 nights are many more than most of us we have eating at home. With that in mind, I think many of will be OK with the new concept. Plus if they add "always available" and rotate the menus on cruises longer than 7 days, I think most of us will enjoy this new type of dining.

I will be on the Royal in about a week and have a body message scheduled in the spa. Does the spa allow you to use the enclave before or after your treatment (for an additional fee of course) if you were unable to obtain the weekly pass? Has anyone actually done this on the a Royal?

This indicates you can pair it with a treatment:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42142521#post42142521

Couldn't a similar scenario apply to pre-purchasing the Ultimate Kids Package (soda & more), the Thermal Suite/Enclave and/or the Sanctuary for the whole cruise?

Not sure Princess is willing/able to do partial refunds of any of its cruise-length packages.

You're right about wearing dark colors, you look gorgeous in the photo!

I was always curious about this studio since they seemed to add it to most of their ships soon after we started sailing Princess. The review is very much appreciated!

Even if it's an illusion, it still works extremely well. You get the feeling that you're in a traditional restaurant like Chops or 150 CP, and you don't have that monster dining room feeling where it's you and 2000 other people at the same time (which could be a negative for some folks, if they like the sweeping vista).

You've captured my feelings exactly! When in the MDR on the Oasis and even on Celebrity Reflection, I felt like I was in a enormous banquet hall. It was noisy without much atmosphere.

We have always enjoyed the specialty restaurants where we feel we are in an intimate setting with special food & service--more like a fancy restaurant at home.

We are looking forward to the rumored dining venues on Quantum!

Was there an update published? I think that's the lowest deck that they've been. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they're usually in one of the outside areas.

 

I wonder what that means about the design of deck 4.

Was hoping for this venue on Deck 14 (there are 2 areas on that deck where this venue might fit!). But, Deck 4 is OK. Might get more (or different) use being closer to the inside action than the outside the action.

What if you have a totally unused "older version" coffee card? I think it is from 2011. Can we exchange that for a new coffee card?

There appears to be a floor plan of a restaurant in this photo. I have tried to enlarge it to see it better, but the photo becomes too blurry to make out much detail.

 

Eric

I was able to make out "Grande Restaurant". Looks like 1/2 the deck aft of the elevators (port side, Deck 4, before the suspected kitchen). Another restaurant will most likely be on the starboard side. Closest we might get to traditional dining rooms on this ship based on all the rumors.

Here's a link to Deck 4:

http://d262eeuodmmgj0.cloudfront.net/quantumoftheseas/wp-content/themes/Quantum/img/decks/deck-4.png

Thanks for the information.

Can we infer then an August float-out date? Would make sense with all the work the need to do before sea trials and the first cruise in early November. Maybe even July!?!

Yes, Princess can put all the photos their professional photographers took of you on a DVD. We bought one print of each photo and the DVD for $300 about 4 years ago. We still have some of the prints framed and hanging in our living room. They did a great job -- especially on the casual night photos.

Here's a photo of what you're referring to: :)

[ATTACH]298047[/ATTACH]

Pam - Thank you for the photo! We are in M107 (opposite side and one cabin forward than the OP's M110) on our up-coming Royal Princess cruise. This helps us visualize the balcony area.

Am I the only one who thought the OP was starting a "Live" thread? ;)

Yes it said caribe cafe is open, is it a buffet that has a lot of options? Haven't cruised princess before. I was thinking that horizon court is the main buffet like windjammer is on RC?

Almost as many options as the Horizon; sometimes better food, especially when they are both open (like lunch on sea days!).

Yes, the Horizon/Cafe Caribe are like the Windjammer on Royal Caribbean.

We were in that cabin exactly three years ago heading towards Antarctica.

As others have mentioned, it has an extended balcony. The music we heard from the lounge below was a bit muffled, but you could still hear it--especially the bass! :eek: But, it really never bothered us too much. Certainly didn't keep us awake, and we went to be sleep relatively early around 10 PM.

Royal Princess cabins L107/L108 M107/M108 - change in balcony

 

Just found out that the corner cabins that had their balconies available during sea days no longer is that the case. See note below

 

Special Notes:

BALC ACCESS LIMITED WHILE SHIP IS AT SEAPART :mad: OBSTRUCT VIEW NON-GLASS BALC RAIL

 

This was is a change in usage from when first booked.

Does anyone have first hand experience on this.

Are they locking the balcony door on sea days (even though there is a side balcony area)?

If not given weather conditions have the balconies been usable?

 

Looking for answers from people that have actually sailed and used those cabins. Thanks

Where did you see the above? We just booked M107, and I can't find the above anywhere on our reservation information!

Does anyone know of any of the dining options on Quantum?? I know of Michael's scheduled to be there but what about Park Cafe, Chops? Italian Restaurant- Portofino's vs. Giovannis Table ??? I don't know why they are waiting...does anyone have any input here??

They are really keeping us in suspense. Here's my guess:

Chops Grille (Steakhouse) - YES

Portofino (Italian) - NO

Johnny Rockets (American) - YES

150 Central Park (American) - NO

Michaels (American) - YES

Park Cafe (American) - YES

Izumi (Sushi) - NO

Solarium Bistro (American) YES

Giovanni's Table (Italian) - YES

Samba Grill (Brazilian Steakhouse) - NO

Rita's Cantina (Mexican) - NO

Sabor (Modern Mexican) - YES

Seafood Shack (Seafood) - NO (but they might have some other seafood place)

I was told that the Quantum will not have a MDR all meals will be in restaurants. That's what I was told yesterday. No MDR!:confused:

We are considering Quantum for July 2015 (waiting for the schedule to be released in a few months). This sounds like they will require reservations for the restaurants like they do for some of the shows on some of the ships. In a way, I like this idea but it requires some planning with port activities, shows, napping, etc.

We are new to Princess, not to cruising.

We will not need to be on board early to reserve specialty dining, nor any other option.

We are fine without eating lunch in the MDR.

When is the best time to board to miss the lines? We will be sailing on the Crown on Feb 1, and our cabin is on the Emerald deck. We are thinking about arriving around 2:00 PM.

Good time? Too early/late?

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Based on my experiences with a few crowded ports and before having preferred boarding (and even after!), 2 PM should be perfect! By then, all the folks from the prior cruise should be on their way, and most of the people on your cruise should already be on the ship. You might be on the ship by 2:15 PM if all goes well.