skynight

If you really want them you can bring along some. No issue. What happens on one ship, one sailing may not be the same on all ships. None in Crooners this past month on the Ruby. Hopefully they will return at some point. Unsalted peanuts were available in a small bowl as a salad topping in the Horizon Ct. Can't be certain they will always be there. I did see some people place a few spoonfuls into a bowl.

Expect lots of others will also be there.

Another or emergency option. Place something in your fridge the night before.

90 days prior. May 3 to August 1 is 90 days, and so on through out the month of August.

This is kind of the standard. It does not mean very much. In Port Everglades everyone waits outside the terminal until around 9:30 or so. You then have to go through security, cumbersome, crowded, can be slow. No priority. Once through security passengers break into the green line for those that have their medallions an blue line for those that don't. Blue line makes a quick stop, took less than 5 minutes, to pick up the medallion. You are then moved upstairs. Boarding begins somewhere around 11am and maybe earlier. Once it begins it goes very quickly. If there is some waiting before boarding begins then priority boarders will board first. If you arrive upstairs after boarding begins you just go with the others. Boarding is controlled so there are not too many on the gangway at the same time. Now with all that said I have read on these boards about a special pre-embarkation lounge in Ft. Lauderdale for full suite passengers. Here is the link. You may wish to investigate.

Sabatini's serves a 6 course Italian dinner. Crown Grill is steak, lamb, some seafood. I don't know if fresh seafood is served while in Alaska waters. You can ask at the restaurant desk in front of the facility. Crown Grill is $39 + 18% service charge = $46.02/pp. Sabatini's is $35 = 18% = $41.30/pp. I enjoyed both and had enough OBC to cover the costs. I booked on board on a longer Caribbean cruise. This may be difficult on a short Alaska cruise. When booked in advance you have to pay upfront and can not use OBC. Look here for sample menus https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/food-and-dining/specialty-restaurants

Just off the Ruby a few weeks ago. B631 was my cabin. Great location, great balcony category cabin at good value. fully covered 9' x 5' balcony, does not connect by an interior door to the adjacent cabin, very close to aft elevators, quick to Botticelli DR, no noise except some vibration from the thrusters when docking. Say hello to Marlow, cabin steward, if still there. I believe he mentioned he would be on board until the fall. Lets talk about "Premium" balcony cabins. These cabins have the exact same interiors as other balcony category cabins. One interior desk chair, no sofa, two balcony chairs with foot rests. The only difference is location. Premium cabins are mostly mid ship or aft facing. Port and Starboard balcony cat. cabins on deck 10 have large 9' x 9' balconies half covered. I try to avoid connecting cabins. You can locate them on the deck plans at Princess.com, onboard our ships, deck plans by checking the connecting cabin box.

Just off the Ruby a few weeks ago. No juice bar anywhere on the Ruby. It has been replaced with Lara juice drinks that come from cartons, available at all bars. Suspect, but not certain, that this may be the case on other ships.

No dining packages. You pay the posted cost plus 18%. For example Sabatini's will cost you $35 + 18% = $41.30 per person. A casual meal will cost $14.99 + 18% = $17.69. You can book specialty dining in advance with payment charged to your credit card at the time of booking, or wait to make reservations once on board. From what I have seen casual meals are walk in. The Premier fare includes two specialty dining meals and unlimited casual meals. Unlimited is a little misleading since there are only a few casual restaurants on every ship. Full suite passengers have the benefit of a specialty dining meal at no extra cost on boarding day. Plus fare passengers receive 2 casual meals.

I have been through both the old and new locks and have done full and partial transits. The best locations for viewing a P.C. transit are the open decks where you can walk around, get 360 degree views and easily hear the narration. In my opinion it is the way to go. On both the Atlantic and Pacific sides it takes around two hours to transit three locks and another few hours for the approach or exit. If you are doing a full transit going through the Culebra Cut, which transits the continental divide, is also very interesting. Cabin type makes little difference for the canal transit. Select your cabin based on how comfortable you feel in that cabin and other factors, not based on the canal transit.

Premier fare is available to any passenger in any cabin category. A full suite has it's own benefits that are not related to the premier. One does not receive premier fare benefits just by being in a full suite. Look up full suite benefits and premier fare benefits on the web.

The Ruby Sept 29th cruise looks like the 1st sailing of the 2025/2026 fall/winter season. think the reason may be that all contracts may not be finalized. Keep watching, one should show up.

Interesting. This looks like the Ruby. When we did the partial on the same ship, Agua Clara locks, in early March there were 2 tugs forward and one aft. Maybe it's different depending on wind, weather, and which locks.

Wrong board

Yes, the hash browns are deep fried McDonalds. I did see potatoes in the buffet line that more resemble hash browns, In my opinion they are better when cut up than the deep fried ones, but they are not real has browns.

Sapphire will have fewer passengers, 2,650 as it is roughly the size of the original Grand Class ships. The Caribbean is what I would call a super Grand Class ship. It's an original Grand Class design with and extra passenger deck and 3,150 passengers. Both have a full promenade deck, but the Sapphire's is wider. No Crown Grill on the Sapphire. It's a Sterling Steakhouse in the aft section of the buffet seating area. Have read they now serve Brazilian BBQ. The Sapphire has 4 half size DRs mid ship vs the 2 full size mid ship DRs on the Caribbean. Both have the large DR on deck 6 aft. The Caribbean has a nice family pool and splash pool area on deck 17 aft. If there are lots of youth on board this area will attract them and thus keep some of them away from the main Lido pools. Cabins will be basically the same. If you have not been through the new locks, I would pick one of the larger ships. They are interesting. The ship fits in the locks with space on both sides as well as forward and aft. The ship is kept centered in the locks with forward and aft tugs. If I remember correctly there are two forward and one aft. The Coral is a smaller Original Panamax sized ship with 2,000 passengers. It has lots of public space per passenger. The buffet area is forward with sweeping ocean views. It has a large Universe Lounge aft. It will transit the original locks.

I was on the same cruise as luvtotravel. Agree. Omelets are nothing like the ones at our local breakfast/lunch restaurant no matter if you get them in the DR or at the Horizon Ct. Additionally, when you order one at the buffet you receive a slip which you provide to your server. By the time the omelet arrives, your sides are gone, your toast is cold and your coffee requires a refill. Princess needs to improve the omelet itself and improve how it is plated with sides. On the Ruby they might want to move the omelet station back to the Cafe Carib, enlarge it, and have a full plate table service. I did comment on the survey.

You receive a specialty dining meal at either Sabatini's or the Crown Grill on boarding day. The two specialty meals you refer to are attached to the Premier fare package not to suite benefits. You can order room service from the breakfast menu at no charge. I'm not sure what meal you are referring to for $45. Whatever it is I really don't think there is any benefit since full suite passengers are entitled to special made to order breakfasts in Sabatini's. See below. Not certain what you mean by premium plus dining. Full suite passengers can dine each evening in the Reserve Class DR which I believe on the Grand is the Da Vinci DR on deck 6 mid ship. It is walk in dining with prompt seating elevated service and an extra menu item each evening. This DR is open for breakfast and dinner each day and lunch on sea days. Full suite passengers can have a special made to order breakfast each day at Sabatini's. It is one of the top full suite benefits. It's called the mimosa breakfast in the benefits. Complimentary Specialty Dining Mimosa Breakfast (daily) Other amenities. You are mixing up the plus & premier fares with full suite amenities. They are different. Suggest you review the links in post #3. The specialty desserts and gym classes are part of the plus and premier fares.

This one.

This may have something to do with the announcement scheduled for this coming Friday. There could be other changes.

Generally no additional benefit to book on board vs purchasing Future Cruise Deposits (FCDs). I always purchase the FCDs then book once I return home and have had time to research while not under the cruise high. FCDs are charged directly to your credit card. They are $100 each and individual. If a couple each person must have one in their name. The $100 will be the full amount of the deposit (world cruises excepted) when booking a cruise and you will receive some OBC depending on the length of the cruise and the cabin category. They expire in one year and are fully refundable. If you know exactly what you want you can book on board. You will receive the same benefit as if you are using an FCD. You can also assign the booking to a T.A. if you have one.

If you are in a full suite or are elite loyalty status then you will receive a mini bar set up. This recently included 8 x 50ml spirits, 2 bottles or cans of beer, 2 Perrier water, 2 non sparkling waters, 2 cans tonic, 2 cans Coke, 2 Cans Diet Coke. This can vary, but it's always 10 alcoholic and 10 non alcoholic beverages. Any item can be exchanged for a non alcoholic item. Any alcoholic item can be exchanged for a different alcoholic item. The entire mini bar can be exchanged for a bottle of wine. You call room service to exchange. Free coffee is available all day at the Horizon Ct. It was Lavazza coffee on our recent cruise. You can also purchase brewed coffee at the I.C. along with other specialty drinks. Believe brewed coffee was somewhere around $2.50. Specialty coffees are in the $4/$5 range. No more coffee packages.

Coke products. Diet Coke as well as other Coke products. Did not see Coke Zero or caffeine free Diet Coke while on board the Ruby a few weeks ago. Take a look at this posting

On the Ruby I saw displays at the International Cafe. There were maybe 3 different cakes. You ordered from the I.C. attendant. The cake was delivered from what appeared to be the MDR kitchen by another waiter. I don't know if you can order elsewhere. Maybe via Ocean Now?

Is the "Main Dining Room" different than Da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo? All three are MDRs and have the same menus. Botticelli is on deck 6 aft. To get there you have to walk on deck 7 or above to the aft elevators/stairs and go down to deck 6. The other DRs are located mid ship on deck 6 and 5. In the Caribbean Botticelli was the DR open for breakfast and lunch on sea days as well as lunch on boarding day. - Is it possible to get a preview of all the talks and shows before sailing? Or is it something you get once onboard? You have to wait until on board. They will be scheduled during the day on sea days, usually in the morning in the theater. There will also be narration while in Glacier Bay over the ship's PA system. Is it necessary to make dinner reservations? I've made them, but maybe will need to adjust if there's a particular show we want to see. Leave them in place. You can always change, not show, or show up at a different time and wait to be seated. Is it really "no jeans" in the dining room? He will be fine as you indicated. But he might want to bring another pair of pants along. I think the "plus" package includes 2 casual dining meals. So does that mean we have to pay for the pizza, international cafe or salty dog after 2 meals? No. These are not considered casual dining meals. There is no charge for food at the buffet, Salty Dog Grill by the pool, pizza at Slices by the pool, soft ice cream adjacent to slices, International Cafe. Also most food items ordered using Ocean Now are no additional charge. Casual dining on the Ruby includes the Salty Dog Gastropub located inside the Wheelhouse Bar and a raw veggie and deli meat platter at Vines. You might want to try the Gastropub one evening. It's just walk in no reservations. I didn't think Vines looked very good. Looked like something I could put together myself at the buffet. You can get specialty coffees at the International Cafe, Coffee & Cones next to slices and I believe, not sure, at the Calypso Bar by the Calypso Pool. Good brewed coffee is available at the International Cafe. Since you have the plus fare these are no charge and unlimited. Where is the buffet during dinner if all 3 MDRs are serving coursed out meals? The Horizon Ct. Buffet is on deck 15. It is open from 6am until 9 or 10pm. Never closes. Don't underestimate what is available at the buffet. You can get various kinds of fruits, cheeses, pre-made or make your own sandwiches, all kinds of desserts, soups, make your own salads, yogurt, cereal, made to order omelets at breakfast, hot foods at dinner, themed selections such as chocolate dessert day, Italian night and much more. And what is your opinion of Crown Grill and Sabatini? worth the surcharge? Both the Crown Grill and Sabatini's are very nice. The Crown Grill will cost you $45 and Sabatini's $42. The prices quoted by Princess $39 & $35 have an 18% service charge added to them. The Crown Grill will be booked pretty solid. If you wish to dine there make reservations on line, payable when made. Sabatini's will be less crowded. You may be able to wait until you are on board. Sabatini's is a 6 course meal. I could not finish it. No doggie bags on board. But on a 7 night cruise you don't have very much flexibility to do it all. If you are on board during the late port nights that may be a good evening the Crown Grill or Sabatini's. You can find sample menus on line. I suggest you study the deck plans on Princess.com, onboard our ships, deck plans, to get a good idea of where things are located.