tikcho

I was wondering the same thing. I am going in two weeks and we are in a group with several kids. Also, someone told me capacity at the club first week of June was only 45 kids, which is crazy considering the ships have been full the last few weeks.

Are the comedy shows at Headliners different each night or do they repeat the same show on different days? Also, for the days when there is a 9pm and 11pm show - are those different or the same? I saw it says 11pm is for adults only so assuming they do different routine but not sure...

1 minute ago, LisaLisa87 said:

 

According to the Dailies, there were evening hours as well. Usually 6-9pm, 7-10pm or 9pm-1am.

Oh, I did not see that. In the first daily that you posted it only said 12pm - 7 pm. Or am I reading it wrong? We are going June 26.

For anyone cruising this week - is the Splash Academy (kids club) open and what are the hours?

When we booked our cruise we were not told the kids clubs were closed and I found our from CC that they were supposed to fully re-open by June 1. However, I saw a post from a cruiser the last week of May that they were open but only until 7 pm! We are a group of families with young kids and never would have booked NCL if we knew we would not be able to drop off our kids at night.

On 5/31/2022 at 10:51 AM, acct1975 said:

So happy to see that Splash Academy is open. We're cruising the Breakaway Jun 19th and was curious if it would be open for my son. If you used it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how it is post COVID.

 

Thanks!

It appears that the Splash Academy is only open from noon to 7 pm which is useless! My child is used to going to the kids clubs at night and we like to do adult stuff then. I would have never booked this cruise if I knew that would be the case...ugh!

I am going on the Breakaway June 26 and would have never booked this cruise if I knew the kids club was closed. We just sailed on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean over the last two months and both kids clubs were open and staffed. Anyone have any info? I am freaking out!

I am a travel agent and have been on both Celebrity and Princess 10+ times. Here is a summary of my opinion on the subject

- Cabins - Celebrity suites are much more spacious and modern. You get a butler. Even new Princess ships do not come close to the design and level of service on CEL

- Food - Luminae on CEL is outstanding, both service, food and design. Similar to 5-star restaurant on land. Princess does not even come close with the dining area for suites though food is good but not exceptional. Buffet on Princess offers more variety though both buffets are good.

- Entertainment - it's a draw between the two, depends on what you like to do. Shows on CEL are better to me but Princess has a lot of trivia, game night, comedy, etc. Both have plenty of stuff to do

- Pool area - more pools and better designed area on CEL. Princess have very limited seating around the main pool, CEL has three big pools with lots of seating plus separate pool for Suites, which is amazing (the Retreat)

- Service - have found it to be equally good on both

- Other guests - not sure where the comments come about CEL guests being "snobby". Honestly, I do not go on cruises to hang out with other guests, but have never experienced any negative attitude from anyone. In my experience Princess guests tend to be older (especially in the slow season) - average age 60-70 while CEL guests vary more by age (30-70 I'd say). Both skew towards adults with very few kids even before Covid

- Princess has free movies in the cabins, if that matters to you. They also have a sing-along piano bar that some people love. The have Movies Under the Stars every night by the pool.

- CEL has a couple of exceptional specialty restaurants (Qsine, Tuscan Grill, The Porch). On Princess the specialty restaurants never impressed me and they are kind of dark and and muted. Martini Bar on CEL is also my favorite and does not have equivalent on Princess.

Overall, if you like more modern, bright, airy, whimsical, unique foods, and separate pool area for suites - CEL is for you. If you prefer more of a country-club atmosphere, traditional, but solid good then go with Princess.

So it looks like they are opening the bookings at 15 days before the cruise?

Those who were able to book - you guys are on 10/6 correct?

I was also told a few days ago that I will get an email when booking opens but have gotten nothing. Also nothing about the check-in process. I heard from a friend who is on the 9/27 preview in Miami that finally today they asked people to upload their vaccine cards and to choose a check-in slot. 5 days before! A bit crazy to me...when they said they will not be like any other cruise line, I thought they would try to be better.

12 hours ago, garymfreedman said:

Lack of communication to sailors has been one of my complaints about VV since the beginning-They are HORRIBLE at it.. They don't like bad news, so they don't share it, and they twist it around so it is not bad news.. Their app, as I have been saying since 2020, is a piece of garbage.

Exactly! I have less than 20 days till the cruise and I have received no onotice about the check-in process at the terminal, no notice about onboard restrictions/masks/etc, no option to book restaurants. I mean nothing! I am a travel agent and going on this cruise mostly to see what VV is all about because I have clients interested. But if they do not get their stuff together quickly, I will not be selling them. I know they are still new at cruising but they had plenty of time to figure it out.

I am on the 10/10 and the app says open for reservations and I can see what is open but there is no way to book anything. This is a pretty bad start for a cruise that I have had re-scheduled since March 2020. They had over a year to get their stuff together. Honestly, I have received no communication about this cruise from Virgin at all.  I am going on a different cruise line in November and have received a lot of emails from them already and nothing from Virgin.

Anyone know what happened to Cruise Director Alexander?  He was on the inaugural of the Sky Princess but not sure he is still working as CD.

Also, who will be the CD on the Sky and the Regal in November?

Debating between two cruises...

Thank you Astro Flyer! Looks like the second pool on the Regal is tiny and sor tof covered? And there is an adult pool all the way in the back, or is that a pool for everyone?

I went on the Sky inaugural and loved it but am considering going on the Regal next time because the dates work better for me. I know the two ships are quite similar but hope to get more details.

- any areas on the ships that are different (except the location of the aft pool and Crooners)?

- is the Medallion fully functional on Regal (we loved all the electronic perks on the Sky)?

- Teen Club - on the Sky it was pretty amazing, not sure of the Regal is similar?

- buffet on the Regal, is it similar/same to the Sky as far as food, options, stations?

- any other differences we need to consider?

I am a travel agent and I can tell you that some agents have access to “secret” rates right now that are not allowed to be posted online. Not available on suites but I have seen rates of about $500 pp for concierge class for most of april. So contact an agent (this is US only, not sure about other countries) and you may be able to get a great deal. 

What category balcony were you guys in? Because some balcony categories also say that you cannot have the lower beds together if the bunks are down. I believe only the deluxe balcony categories do not say that.

Sky Princess. We were on the inaugural without the kids and loved the ship but this balcony situation is really stressing me out. I cannot believe someone designed these cabins so poorly, it's like they want to discouage families to go.

If you remove the ladder, can you still sort of lean down under the bed and slide the balcony door? My problem is that we like to sit on the balcony after we put the kids to sleep and we are used to have access to the balcony easily on all other ships we have been on. But if we can't go to the balcony at all at night, then that defeats the whole purpose of getting a balcony cabin.

For anyone who has been in a balcony cabin for 4 people, especially on one of the newer ships - all the balcony cabins have a note that the balcony door does not open if the 3rd/4th bunks are open OR that the lower beds cannot be put together if the bunks are open. How can that be??? Dosn't that defeat the purpose of having a balcony, if you cannot open the balcony door??? Can someone elaborate on this or post a picture maybe? I searched online but could not find any pictures of how the bunk blocks the door.

Can anyone recommend a good tour company to take us to Monkeyland? We are a group of 7-12 people with several young kids.

Yes, we were on the Jan 2 sailing.

Thanks guys! I am going on another Princess cruise this summer and will do another video to share.

I really enjoyed your excellent video tour of Reflection. We'll be sailing on her in a couple weeks. Thank you, look forward to Constellation, hoping it's before August 20 when we sail.

BCJO - we are on the 9-day on Aug 11. You guys are going right after us.

BubbaLuvin, that is funny! I have already connected with several people from our sailing on this board, such a small world.

Me and my family saw you filming this!

Thank you all for the kind words! I am going on the Constellation in a few months and will make sure to do a video of that ship as well.

On our recent Caribbean sailing they had Toddler Time in the kids club from 9 to 10:30am each day. You had to be there with the toddler but they allowed them to use all the toys and games, which my daughter loved. Other than that, babysitting in the cabin but I believe it is only available at night.