South Bay SueB

We had to cancel our 19 day Coral Princess cruise departing 9/29 just 48 hours before debarkation -- I imagine someone was surprised to get our suite as they checked in since I doubt there would have been time for the upgrade upsell process.  And in fact OUR only surprise upgrade was to a full suite several years ago, notified upon check-in.  It was a great surprise for us as I hope ours was for someone else.

And years ago, the standard set-up included Bourbon.  Now you can't even trade for it.  Sigh.

We did a World Cruise in 2015 on Pacific Princess and it truly was the trip of a lifetime -- loved it!

There are many good recommendations here; I just want to repeat a couple and maybe add one or 2.

Truly, do NOT underestimate the work it might take to get your prescriptions squared away beforehand.  I'm a bit of a nerd and started early and still had a wacky visit with one doctor who helpfully supplied enough samples to complete my requirements.  "Vacation" advances don't seem to be as simple as you'd expect and many of the PBMs really balk at authorizing more than 90 days worth of medication.

I've gotten in the habit of "buying" one dollar bills to handle incidental tips when travelling.  It's often though not always appropriate -- just be aware.  Actually, some fives wouldn't be a bad idea either.  I'm particularly thinking of tips for tour guides.

Preparing for our WC finally got me to shift nearly entirely to online banking; I really agree with whoever suggested that, including the suggestion to do it early to get accustomed to it.  Probably much more common now even though our trip was just a few years ago.

Mail.  We are fortunate to have a mail slot in our front door and a very good friend who lives nearby agreed to drop by every week or 2 to pick up the mail and move it to the dining room table.  I think she save us a lot of trouble and really appreciated it.  In a similar vein, 2 or 3 months before we left I contacted every company I could think of that sent us catalogs and asked them to cease.  You can also have magazine subscriptions suspended.

It was very strange to be packing regular size shampoos, cosmetics, etc instead of the little travel sizes and it was daunting to see how much luggage space they took.

I love flowers, so I'd probably pop for a nice floral arrangement, unless the cruise is so short that it would be silly.

We took the 2015 WC on the Pacific Princess and it was wonderful.  The only thing I would have changed -- and it's something I haven't yet seen mentioned -- was the enrichment lectures.  We both tend to enjoy many but not all of these on any cruise and had anticipated some pretty interesting ones on an 111 cruise that features 2 sea days for every port day.  NOT.  There were fewer lecturers than anticipated and many were mediocre at best.  A couple of speakers were quite good.  It was surprisingly disappointing, although don't for a second think it ruined the trip for us!  And the worst of it is that it's just about impossible to get any information about who the on board speakers will be.  I imagine they are booked shortly before sailing and that there's a significant chance of last minute changes, but if anyone is aware of a cruise line that's more forthcoming on this topic, I'd sure like to hear from you.

My favourite appie in the MDR is the double goat cheese souffle. A cruise wouldn't be the same without it.

Boy, do I second that comment -- it's really good. I've enjoyed some other appetizers that didn't sound that great at first -- watermelon chunks, feta cheese and sunflower seeds (!), also thinly sliced pineapple with a few pistachios scattered around.

Not that it matters but Club Class Dining chairs had arms while MDR chairs did not.

Actually, the MDR chairs were a mix -- some had arms and some didn't -- and for some reason the two styles also had different fabric on the back side of the back.

Thanks for posting the photos. We were also on that cruise and I was curious about what the Owner's Suites looked like after the dry dock, having sailed in one a couple years ago. I'm glad to see that the lighter colors and "feel" extended to the suites, and the fully upholstered pieces appear new. I'm told that the same old tub with very high sides and Jacuzzi controls on the outside rim wasn't and won't be changed -- a shame, unless you're quite agile and the seas quite calm.

We were on the Ruby in May and were upgraded to a CC mini. Since we had signed up for traditional dining before the upgrade, we decided to stay with it, since we enjoy meeting new people this way. The service in traditional dining was marginal. Our waiters were responsible for two tables of 8, two of 6 and two of 4. Dinner usually took about 90 minutes and quite often they got our orders mixed. One night we had an event that would have interfered with our dinner, so we decided to try CC. What a difference! The waiters told us of the specials each night, although I would have preferred if they had been written out. While we didn't have seat mates, the 2-top next to us was close enough that the four of us were able to talk. We didn't have to wait forever for our food to come. We enjoyed CC two more times during the cruise and decided that it was well worth the extra cost for a CC cabin.

This sure sounds like a further downgrade of the MDR rather than a new option with some additional perks. Club Class must meet the MDR standards of a few years ago. A shame.

We have a large catering company. Being in that industry we know a bit (or 2) about fillers. You hit it spot on.

I think many of us refer to these dishes as "sides" instead of "filler foods".

For sure, they aren't the dishes the healthy eating folks suggest will "fill" you but not cost many calories or fat -- cucumbers, lettuce, etc -- they are often referred to as "filling" foods, which could easily be confused with "filler" foods.

I remember most of what was positive or negative on a cruise actually. This was our 8th Princess cruise, and I have never found absolutely nothing that appealed to me, yes they have the everyday options that are available, but I and my husband would prefer quality for quantity, especially in the main dining room. We actually have done anytime ding the last 3 cruises and it was excellent service as well as this time. Probably the uncharge on the dining in the specialty restaurants had something to do with the lower quality.

I was surprised on the formal night the choices it always seemed to be very special but didn't seem like it this trip.

It still was a very fun time, with great entertainment and a positive helpful attitude across the board.

Next time we might just do a couple of the specialty restaurants.

We were on the same cruise. We have taken numerous Princess cruises (we're Elite status) but never had taken one of these short getaways so thought we'd try it particularly since it included my husband's BD. We knew it was a large ship which we ordinarily avoid, and assumed there would be many younger pax and more partying.

Indeed, there were more young partyers -- not a problem, just an observation -- and many families with children -- again, not a problem, and just about all the kids were nicely behaved as well as having fun, but we hadn't anticipated this either. I thought the MDR food was okay but a bit disappointing.

What really surprised me was the service levels, both for dining and throughout the ship. I'd characterize the service as average at its very best. We often felt we passsengers were inconveniencing the staff by our presence. We chalked it all up to huge ship, short itinerary and a splash of bad luck, but I'm eager to read the rest of these posts to see if we had an atypical experience.

BTW, our itinerary said "no formal nights" although I noticed that the Patter called the sea day something strange, like "surprise us". That probably explains the very ho-hum menu on the sea day. I thought it was the weakest of this short cruise, although that could easily be individual tastes.