davy jones

Sorry..found my answer after posting.

This does not appear to be an option on the app and you can't make reservations on the web site.

Can you use OBC shown on the website to dining reservations and how do you go about this?

Two ships in port on the day of our sailing.

Is it as bad as online videos make it out to be?  

Do you have to go through US CBP in Canada?????

It is very frustrating when the booking engine does not even allow cabin selection.

Can you distinguish between refundable and nonrefundable OBC through the app or cabin TV?

14 hours ago, mz-s said:

You can wear whatever you want. They'll probably only say something if you try to wear beachwear, but even then you'd probably be fine because I see lots of bathing suits in the Lido buffet these days and nothing is done about it.

A few weeks back on Venezia early seating dinner, there were two women in bikinis with mesh coverups.  It's pretty much anything goes.

On 5/29/2024 at 11:18 AM, skynight said:

 

Complete all your pre-boarding information on line or in the app. U.S./Canada residents can have their medallion mailed to them, $10 fee. Fee is waived if you have the plus or premier fare. You can also select to pick up your medallion at the pier. It's a few minute detour.

 

We have Princess Plus and were charged the mailing fee.

We want to decide between taking the train or road excursion to the White Pass Summit.  The "train" experience is not important to us, we are more interested in scenery and wildlife viewing.  

What are the pros and cons of each?

We want to decide between taking the train or road excursion to the White Pass Summit.  The "train" experience is not important to us, we are more interested in scenery and wildlife viewing.  

What are the pros and cons of each?

On 5/29/2024 at 12:10 PM, TxTeach79 said:

Pasta Bella is in Marco Polo. Must be running late. I got scolded for strolling in at 12:07. Now we’re all lined up

 

I had a similar experience last week.  It appears that they stagger entries to minimize waiting at the tables and stress on the kitchen and servers.  The line moves OK.

One observation.  I was a woman on the cruise with an empty 48 ounce bottle from the large waters at the bar and for sale in the cabin.  She was trying to fill the bottle with ice from the ice machine.  She gave up on that and tried to transfer ice from a cup into the bottle.

To quote one of the onboard comics.  "You don't have to look for the jokes."

On 5/23/2024 at 12:47 PM, bar1068 said:

Venezia leaves out of Port 88 from Manhattan....we've a 10-10:30 check in time for our May 27 sailing...final boarding for out sailing is at 2:30pm

Pretty much the same on May 17, but they didn't start boarding until noon-ish.

Heroes is the only place with sports on the ship and it is not very large at all.  In addition, the TV options are pretty limited and no ESPN Caribbean.  It is not a good sports ship.

Just off Venezia.  There were wine glasses in the room, but none in the bath.  DW brought down a cup from the buffet for the bathroom and the next day we had glasses for the remainder of the cruise.  We requested an ice bucket from the steward and he filled it every day.

21 hours ago, DCDragonfly said:

I've been to HMC with HAL and Carnival and didn't notice any differences.  Where to eat lunch depends on how much beach time you want, and whether you prefer the picnic atmosphere on the island or the calmer and more diverse options on the ship.

That could be one of the rare times that the Lido lunch is the calmer option.

You can pick up a cheap water bottle at the local dollar (now $1.25) store with a mouth that will work much better than the empty bottle with a bottle cap.

We love HMC, but have only been there on HAL.  What are the differences between HAL stops and Carnival stops?  How is the lunch served on the island?  Is it better to eat on the island or relax and have a late lunch upon return to the ship>

Use the search function to search for the ship you want to see.  You will get a list of videos.  Some are useful, others are purely click bait.  There are great differences in Vlogger quality and agendas, but you can find useful stuff.

There are some TAs who post videos that are more video tours and less opinion pieces.

On 5/1/2024 at 2:30 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

For those interested there are 2700 guests and 1100 crew onboard this 8-day cruise. With a double-occupancy capacity of 2600 guests, I’d say the Grand is a pretty full ship! 😂

 

Does the ship feel crowded?

12 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

@davy jones here’s the current Princess website information-whether they’ve updated it or not ??

if you’re really interested in fresh or frozen maybe see if someone has the menus posted from the current Alaska sailing. Since the Alaska cruises have just begun. I am assuming the cook my catch is a very expensive experience. 

Thank you for this info.  Mrs. Jones is interested in fresh seafood but not catching or cleaning it herself, so that is out.  However, she will be interested in the Alaskan themed dinners in MDR and specialty restaurants.

19 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

An Executive Chef on one of the ships said in an enrichment talk that health regulations required all fish brought on board to be frozen.  No fresh fish could be served.  This may or not be true, but it's what I remember being told.

That may very well be the case, the ships were not in US ports when the chefs went to the fish markets.  They were also smaller ships

Even in Portland, the lobster may have been caught the day before and frozen overnight.

I am not a fan of most cruise ship lobster.  However, I was on a cruise that docked in Portland ME on lobster night. It was better than any lobster that I ever seen on a cruise ship (the tails were still small, but delicious)   I believe that they purchased lobster tails that day in port.

I have seen this happen on cruise ship documentaries on luxury cruise ships.  In these episodes, the chef goes to the local fish market or docks to purchase fresh local catch.

Does a similar thing happen in Alaska ports during salmon season?

Our NYC check in time is 12:00.  Our bus is scheduled to arrive at 11:30.  Will we have to wait until noon to go through security and the check in process?

It's not just Carnival.  In my experience, all cruise ship shops are overpriced.  

The possible exceptions are liquor and smokes (and I do not smoke)