Cobra427SC

oops! I thought they'd already made this run earlier in the fall. From my previous experience, i'da thunk it would be Monday and Friday, sea days, but we do get in early (3P) on Tues, so it could be then as well. thanx to both of you. s

HIi DMWNC, and thanx for your prompt and useful answer. Contrasts nicely with the glib and useless answer I got from the other poster. Much appreciated. Now I can start ironing my tux! s

Well, yeah, it does matter to me and that's why I posted it. Not trying to be flippant here, but while it may not matter to you, it does to me. s

Since the Regal has made this trip a number of times this fall, does anyone know the schedule for formal nites? I know I could wait until I board, but tryin' to plan ahead here. (unusual for me) steve

At the risk of being disagreeable... a common complaint lodged by those around me, we have often taken a picnic meal with us, especially for "on your own" tours. Prime rib left over from the night before, or whatever, some good Princess rolls or baguettes, etc. Often whatever condiments we want as well. Don't recall seeing dogs anywhere, except here in the States. I wouldn't try to bring those things into the US, but a day in Paris or Amsterdam on your own, only begs for it. The worse that I think would happen is that they take your kids' burger or steak sandwich away. Easily worth the risk in our book.

I realize that we haven't done this in about 2-3 years, so maybe the "food confiscation ****'s" have come out of the woodwork, since.

we're with the bulk (pun intended) of y'all. Cut the worthless advertising and KEEP THE PATTER. We too, look forward to perusing it each nite when we return from dinner. steve

i was only thinking of dinner. honestly, i don't recall too many instances of broken dishes (in any venue) on the many cruises we've been on. still hopin' they'll upgrade that venue for the evenings. s

A few years ago, one could dine for dinner in Café Caribe with real ceramic plates and white tablecloths. Now it's "melmac/melamine" across the fleet. Having that extra ambiance, which can't be that bigga deal, was really nice when you wanted to eat upstairs. Does anyone know why they changed courses? We really loved that option...you could find a quiet table, almost "mood lighting" and decent plates with white tablecloths made for a pretty romantic setting. steve

A few years ago, one could dine for dinner in Café Caribe with real ceramic plates and white tablecloths. Now it's "melmac/melamine" across the fleet. Having that extra ambiance, which can't be that bigga deal, was really nice when you wanted to eat upstairs. Does anyone know why they changed courses? We really loved that option...you could find a quiet table, almost "mood lighting" and decent plates with white tablecloths made for a pretty romantic setting. steve

Right! Go Mutha Bucks. steve '71

Since we screwed up and missed, their should be plenty for both of y'all! s

(Oxo: Correct. Written communications miss all of the (fun) nuances and subtleties of being in person over some lamb chops (rare, please) or shrimp + a martini for Floridalover and me. s

Oxo-sorry you don't appreciate my sense of humor. That puts you in the majority...most don't. Floridalover obviously picked up the sarcasm...oh well.

The denouement: We did get an invite to a cocktail party, but thought it was just one of the big parties for the members of the Captain's Cirlce, and chucked it. Rats. Sounds like we missed out on some good eats. The invite we got coincided with a formal night, and that also threw us off a bit. Probably wasn't even the worst mistake I made that day. s

FINE! I didn't want to go anyway. See if I care. The Captain was probably just gonna hit on my wife anyway. s

Hmmm. Maybe i need to shower with soap or brush my teeth. arggghh. thanx. s

Recently on the Regal, and tho' we're nowhere near the stratosphere of most traveled passengers, we've made the luncheon a number of times in the past. The folks at the purser's desk said it was discontinued, but I never got to visit with the Captain's Circle person to confirm. Did we just miss the cut, or is it just history? thanx. steve

loved this feature on last week's Regal sailing. is this available on the Caribbean Princess as well? thanx steve

Oh yeah, and not a criticism by any means, but when you buy your bottle on land (as we always do) you'll probably also have a state sales tax (8.25% here in Tx), tho' that won't stop us from bringing our own. Yeah, I like the Super Tuscans, but really, not much holds a candle, especially with food, to a great (or even good) Bordeaux...and the selection on Priness, is weak. steve

Steelers 36, thanx for posting that well done spreadsheet. We've been bringing our own wines for nearly 15 years and tho' we never calculated the savings, we assumed that was so, based on our many retail purchases. We don't consider ourselves wine snobs, but do know a thing or two about this "hobby" and most importantly, we know what we like. One of the problems that is just ubiquitous, not only on Princess, but many, many land restaurants as well...they have no clue about the right temperature (about 55°F) for the wine service. We haven't ordered wine on Princess in all of those years, but I was impressed with how many more selections they've added recently. Princess has also gotten better about using better stemware, if you ask. steve

We've done some 26 or so Princess cruises and have never seen them run out of anything, tho' we might have been better off without some of them. We always eat at 8:30-9P....dinner with a bottle of wine is our evening's entertainment.

However, the same could never be said of dinner in Café Caribe/Horizon Court. It's very common to take a reconnaissance swing through HC at say, 7 (or anytime, really) spot something tasty and return after a shower only to find it long gone, or the nice rare prime rib making your mouth water, is only available in boot-dry form. I know of no way to have your cake and eat it too, upstairs in HC (pardon the pun). We've even had the experience of really wanting to eat in CC, and get there only to be disappointed that they'd run out of what we wanted, and then run back to the MDR and be seated at 9:30. We've even gone back for "seconds" and the item was NLA.

I'm with Pablo 222: "Anytime dining" is really dependent upon whose time is at steak, oops, i mean stake. sdm

thanx so much for all of your prompt replies. sorry i didn't see the earlier threads. humbly, sdm

Yesterday, I read in the paper that CCL has changed its policy for bringing wine aboard. Is this across the board, all lines, or just Carnival ships? Perhaps this was covered recently, but I may have missed it. Anyone know if it will apply to Princess? thanx sdm

It's still astounding to me how many people have no fear, nor second thought, nor hesistation about posting something about which they know nothing at all. JimmyWine is correct: we were on the Ruby Princess out of FLL first week of December and brought a case of wine (that's 12 bottles) in a proper shipping carton. It was held for hours until, well after we sailed, I pestered the purser's desk and it was brought to our cabin. It had been opened, and 10 bottles had little "Princess" stickers on them, 2 were free. I was charged $15/ bottle on those bottles, as I expected to be, paid the freight and enjoyed every bottle. That's the way they did it that day, on that ship. Your experience might be different. s

We're booked on the Emerald Jan 4, Houston to the Western Caribbean. Does anyone know what the formal nites will be and when the big, fancy Broadway style shows will be? thanx steve

I thought it was by FAX onlyl, but the form clearly lists an email address for the form. I did both...maybe i'll get double OBC! s

Can the OBC from ownership of Carnival Cruise Line Stock be obtained by email, or only by FAX? thanx steve