schmenge

Thanks JGmf for the great review. My wife and I were on the same cruise and your review could have almost been our review. We are also in our 50s, in a full suite, arrived at the same time, and also had to get off for a 10:45 flight (to Orlando on our way to Milwaukee.)  Hmmm. Did I write a review already and forget???  We were on the same ship and in the same cabin as 2 years ago with a half full ship when things opened up. 

We also had a great cruise. A few additional raves and pans…..

I thought the embarkation experience was not as great. The separation of green and blue lines seemed almost worthless to us as the lines merged together prior to check in. (As green, the line was shorter before the merge. ). It all went pretty quick, but we initially were sent to the elite lounge as we were full suite only to be redirected back to the regular area. Very confusing, but I suspect that the other area was full as there were A LOT of Elite level cruisers. Demographics: As said earlier, we are in our mid-50s, and I estimate in the lower 20% age wise. 

We loved the food and service in Reserve MDR, Crown Grill, and The Catch. This is saying something as I am comparing it to the Retreat dining experience on Celebrity which is amazing. Suite breakfast was great, buffet was so so, pool deck food was great. I thought 360 experience was great but once is enough. (My wife is not as adventurous am eater so did not care for some of the items.)

Production shows were the same as last cruise so did not go again. (Loved Rock Opera, really don’t like 5 Skies-sorry. ) Rest of entertainment was just OK, not great in my opinion. (I agree that Duvaul and his staff were very good.)

I could not agree more on the casino. At night, it was overly crowded and so smoky that it was often unbearable. (In one of the shows, one other cruiser let my wife overhear a snide remark about how bad she smelled of smoke - and we only walked through the casino.). We can’t stand the smoky conditions and wish Princess would make smoke free or ventilate better. (Let the flame throwers begin. 😄)

We had been to all of the island before, but still enjoyed them. High point was Dominica where we went on a whale watching trip and saw multiple whales and hundreds of dolphins. Low point was a Martinique snorkel trip that missed a stop due to wind and the stop we did had a lot of jellyfish. (Both had minor stings. )  Coordination of the excursions was great. 
 

OK- those are my items to share. Again, great cruise and thank for letting me ride in the coat tails of your review. )

We have a Premier package and I am able to order my medallion with the option for an accessory. I saw that some accessories may be complimentary with our package, but it is not clear which ones and the online app is showing a cost. Could you please give me some guidance? Thanks. 

Thank you.  Itinerary is Eastern/Southern Caribbean. Sea days are second, ninth, and tenth, so sounds like formal nights would be two of those three.  Thanks again!

I like to reserve specialty dining on non-formal nights. Would anyone have an estimation what the formal(ish) dining nights would likely be on a 10-night itinerary?

Thanks everyone for the great discussion and feedback to my original question. I am booked on Enchanted 10 day in an Owners suite the Caribbean. After considering the must haves for us - employee appreciation, wifi, and drinks (don't drink a lot, but like to try different things) - the cost for the balance of the Premiere benefits don't seem to be too big of a deal. I think we will stick with Premiere.

Tangent: We happen to be in the same cabin on Enchanted when we went in Feb, 22 with only a half-full ship. It will be interesting to see the difference 2 years later.

I am trying to assess if there is any overlap between suite perks and features of the Premiere package that would make buying Premiere a waste of money. There is nothing obvious that I am seeing except that the package allows two specialty dining options that could go along with the one specialty dining with the suite.  Any guidance would be appreciated.

I like the idea of bike riding through the park to the north of Sonesta, but also like the grounds and ability to watch the ships leave port from Lago Mar.  Any recommendations?

We will be on an 11 night Edge Panama Canal in February.  We stop in Colon afterwards in the evening. Are there any shops near the pier, or is it more industrial?

We will be on an 11 night Edge Panama Canal in February. We noticed that exurcsions are showing on the app, but we are not able to book? Do you know if excursions are not available?

Related, we stop in Colon afterwards in the evening. Are there any shops near the pier, or is it more industrial?

Thanks!

I recall getting one bag of laundry free when in a suite.  Is that still the case? (Sky Suite on Edge)

Is there any self-service laundry?

Thanks!

A quick confirmation that it is ok for suites to arrive at Port Everglades at any time - is it correct?

I have read about the Eden 'show' as well as the dinner options, but I am unclear if they are incorporated or exclusive. Could you confirm if any of the show takes place during and in view of the dining area? Or perhaps the evening dining area is segregated? Can you view any evening activity just over drinks and not have reservations for dinner?  Thank you.

We will be on an 11 night Edge cruise in a Sky Suite. I have always loved the Luminae dinners in the past, but was considering one evening at Le Petit Chef to 'mix it up a bit' with something different. The menu looked fine and I am intrigued by the 'show'.

For those that have experienced both, what would you recommend?

Thanks.

If I only could read more carefully. Fully vaccinated, so good to go. Thanks.

For an 11 day cruise, I see the Cartagena stop still requires proof of negative test within 72 hours prior.  Does anyone know if this requires a Celebrity-assisted test (or if that is even available), or if we need to bring our own self test? 

LOL - Sorry, I recall the mini-bottles were just the standard narrow size, not a mini-wide version.

Great pics. We just got off the same cruise. Judging by your balcony pics, looks like we were on the just opposite you on the Starboard back corner.

Just got off Enchanted and will echo the others.  We had a great time and really enjoyed the crowd size (about 50% full). Never a wait for an elevator and little difficulty finding a chair/lounger for shows or the sundeck.  Our last Princess was 20 years ago (Grand) and we have since been on RCL for 10 and Celebrity for the last 2.  As we are in our mid-50s now. Celebrity and Princess our more to our style (better food, feel, etc.), but there are times that I wish the entertainment was closer to RCL. (On this last Enchanted, mid-50s was definitely in the lower portion of the age demographic.) Plenty of trivia - so that should be to your liking.  Indoor masks were not a big deal for us, and was otherwise a classic cruise experience.

A bit of a tangent, but just got off of Enchanted and they did have Crown Royal in the in-suite bar (small samples - enough for an alternate seven-and-seven). 🙂

Just received our negative results (yeah!!!) via e-Med, but I thought there was a way to upload the results to the Medallion app (or some onto the online account)?  Perhaps showing the result when we get to check-in is the only option?

Thanks as always for your guidance.

Well, this thread really took off on me. I have a good news, bad news update. I purchased the apple-brand converter like shown by AZJohn above. That allowed me to view both my iphone and ipad to the hdmi port (you need an hdmi cable and standard lightning cable too).  Unfortunately, when I tried to stream Peacock Plus (the online app that will play all olympics events) I could not get the video to show up. I have now read about hdcp compliant signals for which the cables do not allow the info to pass.  I also purchased an hdmi splitter that was claimed by some to make the signal compatible. Nope.  I have reached the end of my expertise (and patience).  Looks like I will be watching on the small screen.

Thanks for the feedback.  My ship is the Enchanted.

I have heard that Princess will likely not have any broadcast of the winter Olympics, and I am trying to come up with a strategy to stream and connect via laptop or i-pad.  Would anyone be able to tell me what kind (if any) of connections are available on the TV? Is it possible to mirror?  Has anyone tried to stream Peacock Plus?

Thank you so much.

We are about a month from our planned Enchanted cruise, and have been searching the page for any examples of changed itineraries or outright dropped stops.  I am not particularly interested in a 10 day cruise to nowhere.  I appreciate sharing your experiences. Thanks.

Hello,

We will be on the Regal shortly in a suite and wanted to get your thoughts on the best approach to making reservations for the following:

1.) Promotional complimentary specialty dining (I can't reserve ahead of time since it is complimentary)

2.) Retreat cabana

Is it best to use the concierge when coming on board, or going directly to the restaurant/pool?

Thanks.