Suite Susie

We got off Enchanted on Friday and had the best cruise ever. Loved everything about the ship. The food, crew, and entertainment were all amazing. The internet was rubbish though! We sailed with low expectations, but we were so wrong. The current cruise is a hot weather one with a large number of passengers and children. The staff coped well on our cruise, but the under staffing is now obviously an issue. I think this is a problem on all cruise lines at the moment though.

The Premier Package worked out well for us. It was a struggle to find availability of the Premier wines, but they always found us something. We drank lots of premium cocktails, Champagne and John was having his favourite Malt Whisky, double shots, which would have been $12 per drink plus tax over the Plus Package. For most people, the Plus Package will work really well, just depends what you like to drink and how much of it. We also won $250 on Princess Prizes, got a $100 credit for the abysmal internet. All in all, we were definitely up on the deal! Can’t wait to go back and enjoy it all again one day.

Breakfast in Sabatinis on Enchanted was the best cruise ship breakfasts that we have ever had. Cooked fresh in their kitchen whatever you wanted. Piping hot, perfectly cooked poached eggs.

The Plus Package is only House Wines I think. We are currently on Enchanted and they seem to be using Italian wines with Tino on the bottle. We are on the Premier Package, so haven’t tried any yet.

Chalk Hills Sauvignon Blanc is available in the main dining room, which I think is a Californian wine and is very pleasant. John also had a glass of a Chardonnay in The Crown Grill which was on the Premier Package. Whispering Angel has also been available in some bars.

It is to do with gambling rules. The ship has to be out at sea for the door opening prizes to become available, as I guess it is a form of gambling. So they state Casino hours. Haven’t worked out yet if we get more than one entry a day yet. We are in Port again today, but then have 3 sea days before we get home, so will try and work out how many entries we get in one day. The cash prizes go straight to your on board account, but you have to spend it on board.

It is to do with gambling rules. The ship has to be out at sea for the door opening prizes to become available, as I guess it is a form of gambling. So they state Casino hours.

We have only opened as normal when returning to the room. Maybe 3 or 4 times a day, but you only play when the ship is sailing. Today we are in Port, so won’t get a chance until after dinner tonight.

Cloudy Bay isn’t available by the glass at all, but I know New Zealand had a bad year for the production of their Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs. The Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc is also not available. We are also struggling with Champagne - the Cattier Brut seems to be unavailable, but Bellinis are serving us Nicolas Feuilatte Champagne by the Glass, which is nice. Have tried to get a glass of Grgich Hills in the dining room, but that was not available, but haven’t tried anywhere else as we are not red wine drinkers. We seem to be able to get Whispering Angel, but again it is a bit hard to find. We are enjoying the Rob Floyd Cocktails in Bellinis Bar, which are all covered by the Premier Package and John is having a lot of McCallum Whisky at $18 per measure, again covered. I will try and find out a bit more about the wines for you. Are you more interested in the whites or reds?

Everybody has also had their Port charges refunded on their accounts too and if you have Cruise Insurance you will also be able to claim for a missed port. It was a win, win for us as we probably wouldn’t have got off anyway.

We have already won $250 and have 3 entries so far for the final draw. Still have 5 nights of our cruise left, so maybe more to follow.

Can’t help with the Royal, but they are not hosting the Winemakers or Chefs Table on The Enchanted right now, due to staff shortages.

There is a lot of choice. We have just watched Belfast and are planning on watching West Side Story, the new one soon. There is a mix of older movies too.

Currently on Enchanted with the Premier Package. We are struggling to find availability for a lot of the Premium wines listed, but they have some. Still feel we are getting value for money though.

We were able to upgrade from the £30 Princess Plus to the Premier Package for £20 pppn. Took a while for our Agent to do it, but glad we did. We are currently on The Enchanted and It is challenging to find availability of the Premium wines as a lot are out of stock, which is very frustrating. We are getting value in other areas though - premium malt whiskies, cocktails, Champagne in Bellinis etc. We have also won $250 in Princess Prizes so far and are also taking advantage of the Photographers. Albeit a bit cheesy but the quality of the photos are really good. So overall it has worked for us.

We have an observed Fit to Fly test with DocHQ, but we paid for their test kits. I know that these are acceptable. Not sure about using your own though.

Think you need to get a documented positive PCR test, then when testing negative apply for a Document of Recovery.

Don’t know much about it, but don’t upload a positive test!

That’s a bit of a disappointment compared to all the other lines we have sailed with. We too are in a suite and first time Princess cruisers. Providing it is cold enough and is real Champagne, we will cope with just a glass!

On Enchanted in less than two weeks and hope to meet Christian. Do you know whether he will make other drinks that are not on the menu, for example a Cosmo or Vodka and Tonic?

We are lucky enough to be sailing in a Sky Suite, so the Shoreside Concierge has organised it for us. It is one of our perks and is complementary.

They are doing it on The Enchanted. We have ours booked.

The Ultimate Balcony dinner and breakfast are complimentary, but only one of each during your cruise. We booked ours via the Shoreside Concierge when he called last week. In 3 weeks, we should be experiencing this wonderful suite on The Enchanted, providing we get a negative test!

We have a Sky Suite on Enchanted booked for the Norwegian Fjords and Iceland in July, so I will let you know how it goes on a probably cold and rainy cruise. Think we will have great views as the balcony has different aspects. We are new to Princess and our last cruise was in a PH on the Solstice, which was phenomenal. We are a bit concerned about the drink restrictions compared to Celebrity, whom we have cruised with many times. We have upgraded to the Premier Plus package, so most of the high end spirits and wines by the glass are included. Looking forward to it, but will miss the Martini Bar where we have spent many hours on every cruise.

You should be able to upgrade to Princess Plus or the new Premier Plus by ringing your TA or Princess if you have booked direct. Definitely worth taking one of the packages, rather than just one of the drinks packages. New bar menus come out tomorrow so this should make your decision on which package is right for you once you have seen them.