cubfan63

There is also an official website from the EU to review regarding the ETIAS. 

https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias_en

UK also has an ETA. Not active yet for US, but apparently sometime this years per the official UK site.

https://www.etauk.uk/

I first tried I during my travels.  It agree it is delicious.  
 

Trying different types of food I’ve never had before is a great part of travel for me.  😀

The Hard Rock Cafe’s Messi food line (including the chicken sandwich) maybe messy to eat, but it’s not named after a restaurant’s chef. 
 

It is named after Lionel Messi, is either the greatest or one of the greatest football (aka soccer) players in the world.  He currently plays for the Miami Football Club in MLS.  He’s got a marketing deal with Hard Rock Cafe, as he’s known worldwide.  
 

Just got off Ruby Princess on Sunday and the paper was labeled as The Patter.  
 

On the Wake Show, the cruise director Cole said the Patter (which he also called as such) was a curated view of events and using the listings in the app would provide even more activities.  
 

I didn’t feel the need to bring copies of any Patter home.  
 

But it really was called the Patter from Sept 14-24, 2023 on the Ruby Princess, whether you believe me or not. 

14 hours ago, caribill said:

It could be just a contest to win a Princess cruise.

Last fall, Texas Roadhouse had a contest to win a Princess Cruise.  
 

Not a power strip, but worked fine for me on Ruby Princess earlier this month. Has outlets and USB-A (older style) & USB-C (new style) included in each.  
 

17 hours ago, fleeflicker said:

Thanks for the info. We have the plus drink package.  I was just trying to get a general idea what things cost now. I haven’t seen the new prices so I have no idea what I can get.  

This YouTube video has the most recent Crooners menu.

I ate in the buffet Monday at lunch (at the less crowded Cafe Caribe) and Friday (a port day) at lunch on the port side.   And I didn’t walk thru on Saturday or this morning. I walked thru on all of the other days.  
 

Plenty of places to eat besides the buffet, so I prefer to eat at them (even did new Sabatini’s menu twice), and had meals at each of the dining rooms, including Botticelli (instead of the normal DaVinci) for breakfast this morning.  As noted, I even had DaVinci for embarkation lunch (which opened at 1:30 and ran thru 3).  
 

Just off Ruby Princess March 5 - 12, 2023, and now sitting at IAH waiting for flight. 

Cruise boarding started at 1:30 pm on the 5th. They listed boarding groups and time on emergency notification, but I arrived at 12:15 and was quickly up to Suite & Elite seating area (small lines). Shore staff apologized for no beverages and pastry in this seating areas, as restrictions due to prior cruise.

Kids clubs were supposed to be closed for 72 hours but then were allowed to reopen after 36 hours from sailing.  Having no children, this was not a problem for me. 

The crew serving the passengers in the buffet throughout the Cruise.   

Not sure if related to prior week issue, but fruits for juice bar came late and they opened at 9 instead of 7.  It appeared rest of morning they started at 7.  This is at Calypso bar. 

They served the bread and butter in the dining rooms, as well as sugar and sweetener, when these were wanted. Salt and Pepper shakers were consistently present on tables in the dining rooms from boarding. 
 

Porters did apparently stop taking luggage on 5th at certain point (seems to be about 2:30) so many had to carry all bags on to ship.  Checked bags with porters came later as well (was in room after dinner).
 

By the way, since boarding was delayed, DaVinci dining room opened on embarkation day for lunch from 1:30 to 3. This was a pleasant surprise. 

It really was a normal cruise (from my experience), and we had to the most beautiful weather in the 3 ports and at sea. 

21 hours ago, polmcs said:

I applied for my first US passport in June (had to go to a post office in person as it was my first US passport) and I had my passport in hand within 5 weeks, OK, I paid for the expedited service and priority shipping, so that helped a little. A renewal should be quicker.

Renewal was bit quicker for me!

Expedited Renewal including sending express one day and paying for same for return mailed on Thursday, April 28.  Had new passport exactly 27 days later.   
 

Took 7 more weeks after new passport sent for old passport to be returned.

3 hours ago, ImperialLady said:

this is the first I have heard about the areas bolded below....can anyone elaborate?  Thanks

 

https://cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/deckbydeck.php?ship=Discovery-Princess&deck=16

 

World Fresh Marketplace 

The ship's buffet style dining area with 900 seats. Serves cuisines from around the world including Mediterranean dishes, an Italian pasta speciality counter and a new 'east-meets-west' street food speciality counter.
The Bakery inside the World Fresh Marketplace will serve Western, European and Asian pastries.
There will also be a Lobster Grill and Dim Sum Bar, Chopsticks Noodle Bar, Leaves Tea Bar serving Boba Tea and an Ocean Terrace Juice Bar for fresh fruit and vegetable juices.

This isn’t Princess posting this.  This 3rd-party website has put a description of what the Majestic Princess has when it first started sailing in 2017, and pasted it into a Discovery Princess.   Princess says nothing about these for Discovery Princess.
 

But why look at Princess site when you can find wrong information elsewhere on the Internet?
 

By the way, I know what the Majestic had on it 2017, as I was on on its 3rd cruise in Europe (before it went to Asia).  I also was on the Discovery in April, on the 3rd and 4th  cruise. 

I was on B2B Discovery Princess cruises in April and had no issues at all with pillows.  Even ordered more down pillows thru Medallion app (you could get down or non-down) and they were great also.

If I had a pillow issue on any ship, they would have heard about it on the ship until it was resolved.   

YouTube cruise vloggers went on Crown Princess during their month of cruising in February 2020.

As part of their video they posted just yesterday, they showed buying tokens (with medallion) and using the washer.

It is great to see the Crown in the videos.  They are Diamond (top level on Carnival) and this is their first Princess Cruise.

My FCD I used for my April 4th Ruby Princess Cruise is back in my Princess account.  I noticed this on Thursday (3/19/20).  
 

1 hour ago, cruzingnut said:

We passed by her on a ferry today on our way back to Darling Harbor (we’re on the Amsterdam world cruise). I was shocked at her appearance! Incredible amount of rust showing. We’ve been on her several times and have never seen her look so bad!  We ran into a few people in The Rocks area that told us they were supposed to get on at 5PM. 

All ships have rust at times.  Holland America paint job likely hides a lot from noticing.  

Good luck on world cruise on HAL Amsterdam, as I have heard they are already re-routing (Multiple times) due to ports not accepting ships.

5 hours ago, jennybenny said:

Crooners has chocolate martinis 

This video shows the Royal Princess Crooners menu from last April 2019. It was the same menu for Crooners on the Grand Princess in September 2019.  They switched it from the straight Martini menu early last year so this should be the menu for a while.

This YouTube video shows the new Crooners Bar menu.  Hope this helps.  It’s from April 2019.

These videos on YouTube show Good Spirits at Sea bar, in action from Royal Princess April 2019.

Charging the difference over $12 was the policy on the Ruby Princess in September 2018 Pacific Northwest Cruise (the last cruise before the

drydock.

Royal Princess April 2020 Mexican Riviera also has this policy. 

8 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I love Matt O and I also love this YouTube channel.  I watch it all of the time 😊

Nice to hear that!  Thanks!  😄

This link is to a YouTube video showing pictures and video clips of Matt O in action on the Royal Princess this past April.  He leading a dance class in the Piazza.  Matt O is terrific. 

https://youtu.be/lJVmdeiHhl4

On 9/18/2019 at 2:03 PM, antsp said:

Not anymore, they used to have a machine at some of the bars. Must have been gone about 5 years. 

On my Grand Princess September 3, 2019 (which happens to be less than 5 years ago) 10-Day Alaska Cruise, I was able to get fresh squeezed orange juice at the Calypso Bar (the one by the covered pool) every day.   They have a machine on the port side area of the bar there.  

There is a cost but it was covered by my Premier Beverage Package, so I don’t know how much the charge is.

On 8/23/2019 at 4:29 PM, jondfk said:

 

What I meant to say was for $10pp more than the cost of the Princess transfer.

 

Cheers

Would that also be true for passengers traveling solo?  I’ve found that for solo travelers, Princess transfers are far more affordable.

Usually private transfers are expecting to charge the same for one or two, which is a big disadvantage to travelers like me, who usually travel solo.  

Im assuming you are referring to a couple of people when you say it’s only about $10 pp more. Right?  

This YouTube playlist about an Royal Princess Cruise includes multiple videos of buffet contents, including the Bavarian Night, French Night, breakfast, lunch and Chocolate Breakfast.  The cruise is from April 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9cpbm1c-qKl3h8zE5cdXEJGPIAP1eIF3

20 minutes ago, CruzinNoony said:

When booking a specialty restaurant online, do you pay then or will it be charged for on the ship?

Pre-booking requires pre-payment.   This has always been the case on Princess since they have started offering reservations before boarding.

If you want to pay on the ship, you have to wait and book on the ship.