suzyed

I have only sailed on Celebrity once and they matched our RCI status so that was nice. I kept hearing how we were going to LOVE Celebrity over Princess and I just never felt like they offered anything beyond Princess....perhaps equal to but for more money. Honestly, first time sailing on any cruise line, you have to "learn" the ship and the company but didn't feel like Celebrity had more offerings, with the exception of the free drinks in the evening Elite lounge.. (Princess' are discounted rather than free in the lounge) but now if you have a drink package the point is moot. Bingo was bedlam on Celebrity with them running out of Bingo card and seats to sit in and play....LOL! I was at a free Elite winetasing on Celebrity and the woman next to me kept raving about how much better Celebrity is than other cruise lines so out of curiosity I asked what she liked best about Celebrity's offerings and everything she named, was equal to Princess. So in the end, I have to conclude that each cruise line has their own "flavor" and we just have to find which flavor we like best!

Are you saying they have smoking in the music venues? Or just nearby?

Hmmm? This does sound like disappointing changes. Funny, one of the things that really interested us was the BB King venue, but I guess we would enjoy the Rolling Stone Lounge too. We are still pretty loyal to Princess at this time...we enjoy all the entertainment venues and the variety of music available especially on the newer ships. What we grapple with is some of the changes Princess has made in their packages and prices on those packages, even after they were bought and paid for. They give with one hand and take away with the other, or so it seems to us.

One day we will try HAL....just wish loyalty status transferred between Carnival Corp. companies. On HAL, we'll have to start at square one.

Yes, wondering if the Coral is going into dry dock this year and if anyone know what will be done or upgraded on her?

I agree....we have tried several different lines over the years. When our kids were younger and we lived a hop, skip and a jump from Port Canaveral, we frequently sailed on Carnival and Royal Caribbean...just so convenient! We've also done, Celebrity, MSC, Cunard, NCL and of course Princess. We just feel at this stage in our lives, Princess is what fits with our needs...we like the itineraries, the ships, the routines onboard, and yes, it feels like home!

We really enjoyed the Crown Grill bar in the evening! They have a lot of nice wines, some good drinks and when Funch sang and played it was THE place to be!! So much fun...Yes, indeedy! I thought he was Ray Charles when he walked into the bar! LOL!

Agree on the Good Spirits at Sea bar! Apparently those drinks are only or mostly only available during their "shows"! DH got the recipe for the Apple Delite from the bartenders there! We made them at Christmas time and they were yummy! We're sailing on the Coral in September and I was happy to see that they have a Good Spirits!

Even crazier, I have heard that they use those crappy prizes to tip their cabin steward!

We have heard repeat questions but rarely. But it must happen more than we realize...we know people who keep a book full of questions! Why would they do that if they weren't going to use it to reference the questions? I don't get it.

We have a to Israel next year and that is exactly what we are worried about. We will keep our fingers crossed that it is safe and that we can still hit the ports we booked this cruise for!

She was very good when we sailed with her last fall.

In the process....cancelled all onboard stuff...and now just emailed the TA so she can get the sailing cancelled and I asked her for a quote on another sailing in October.

Yeah, we were right there with you being sent from queue! So much yet to see and do! We just did the Great Britain cruise:England Ireland Scotland Wales and then France, Spain and Portugal>TA Great cruise.

Sorry, searched for this several times and couldn't find the answers I needed. We booked a 7 day California Coastal cruise, booked excursions, and Specialty Dinners. We put down our deposit and FCC's that we had have been applied. Some of the excursions and dinners were paid with a combo of credit card and obc. Final payment is approaching and we have decided to cancel... We've decided that we would rather pay a bit more and go on a longer cruise..maybe a transatlantic of 14 days+ . So my questions: Should I go on the app/or online and cancel the excursions and the dinners before we cancel the sailing? Actually I already cancelled the excursions and now are wondering if I should have done it all at once. I just felt like if I cancelled in a more orderly fashion it would be easier to decipher later. Also, since final payment was not made yet, I am thinking the Platinum insurance premium would not be charged. We booked through a TA and plan to call her on Monday. Thanks for any insight!

We did exactly the same thing...first the Northern Lights sailing and then the Emerald. I don't remember (I could look but too lazy to do it right now), I felt like the Northern Lights cruise was pricey back then as well. If I remember correctly both you and Chris and Chuck and I got our Elite status after the Northern lights cruise and by the time we got on the Emerald we were Elite and we had to wait on a long line to get our "pins"!

We've been elite since 2019 and my pic on the app shows the White medallion with the Blue Seawitch. DH's is correct.

Of course that's what I thought because I was looking at the email offer but some of the cruises say include the Advantage tag.

I wish! LOL! Nothing was comped per se, just a cheaper price but some had that tag on them.

I got a Casino offers email and some of the sailings are labeled "Princess Players Advantage Offer". What exactly are they referring to?

Good to know...that was one of my concerns. Please come back and let us know how the tours were.

Right....I know how to contact them, my travel agent sent an email with various tours to look at. I was wondering if anyone had experience with them...good or bad.

Who knows....it was on the Regal in October.

Hi Holly...thanks for the info. I was looking at a sailing that includes Israel, so looking at those tours in particular. Reading the refund "rules" they stated if you cancelled 14 in advance you could get a refund. So you didn't do any of the their other tours?

James Beard French Toast is on the Brunch Menu at lunchtime.