dides

Hi all, we boarded today too and it was very smooth as the OP reported. Our first QM2 and crossing as well. I have one question if anyone can help? Not intending to hijack the thread! My other half is a picky eater and cannot find any entrees on the first night's menu in the Britannia restaurant that he could eat. I have read that there might be 'always available' alternatives but what are they? Thanks in advance.

Agreed, we were on the Majestic and Sky inaugurals and there were no special gifts or mementos - just the excitement of being the first paying passengers. You might get to spot some Princess/Carnival corporate VIPs doing the rounds. The ship usually has a preview/shakedown cruise beforehand to iron out any kinks. The only issues we had were minor for us (on Majestic) where they didn't have all the ingredients for the new restaurant/bar menus and no working launderettes.

We also try and make a note of any crew members names if we received great service and mention them in the post-cruise survey in the hope that it helps in their performance reviews (and chance of being promoted).Just another form of gratitude.

Most of the information has actually been covered by Richard Parker before in his presentations - almost word for word in fact. As well as the coffeemaker answer as mentioned above, I noticed some additional nuggets/nuances: - the secret black door was mentioned as being "adjacent to crooners". Which almost confirms it as being that Coming Soon area next to the Casino on deck 8. aka The Magic Hour Bar on the cruisemapper deck plan. - the promenade deck actually flows from mid-ship to aft - well we knew it wasn't 360. - the MDR room starts with more traditional dining and a longer seating time on deck 6 and gets faster as you go up to deck 8 (a slightly different description of the dining experiences from before). - even though it's on the cabana stateroom layout, this is the first mention that there will be a multi-leaf door leading from the cabana to the balcony And there was an additional rendering of the Lido deck pool from the other end:

Thanks - compared to the menu from last year shown below: - New Texas Burger and Prime Burger (which seems to be the old Classic Burger with a pickle and only cheddar cheese!) - New Chicken Strip Basket, Coney Island Dog and Reuben Dog - No North Carolina BBQ Sandwich or the two Street Taco offerings

I'm no expert but it looks like a crew only area - maybe it's where they have the galley?

Both are totally separate to the MDR. Reserve Collection restaurant Signature Collection restaurant: Both on deck 7 - Signature is mid-ships, Reserve mid-aft while the MDR is aft and on decks 6,7 and 8.

It wasn't my picture so I couldn't say but you would assume it was available - there's a live from thread just starting for Enchanted Princess so worth asking if they could confirm after they board on Saturday...

Yes, you are right! I got completely the wrong end for the canopy and the cabanas because the rendering is from a different side. This is the reserve cabana deck on deck 9. Does look a bit overlooked!

Ah thought you meant the arrow pointing forward and it didn't scream tan to me 😀 The area behind the forward arrow is the Sea View Bar area and outside pool (which starts inside the Dome) on Deck 17 leading down to the Sea View Terrace on deck 16. This is open to all. There is a wrap around deck down at the prom deck level but not clear from the deck plan if it's for public use.

You mean this deck? This is the Wake View Terrace A more detailed rendering:

Yes. there does seem to be more of recess on the those higher deck balconies forward of the Sphere. I took a closer look at the new rendering that came out last week and it doesn't seem to be that pronounced on that. One new feature seems to be a white canopy overhang over the prom deck aft of the sphere So any higher balconies looking down will see the canopy and maybe some of the cabana deck and purple reserve deck cabana balconies?.

Enchanted Princess now has O'Malley's Irish Pub off the Piazza on deck 5 which should have meant more beer options but so far that hasn't included Guinness for some reason! These were the beers/ciders they had on tap a couple of months ago...

It seems to be pretty common on ships on the XL platform - Carnival Mardi Gras & Celebration, P&O Iona and Arvia all have their lowest deck with cabins as deck 4 and none have aft elevators (or even stairs!). Princess share a lot of features with this platform but have thought to include a staircase.

We don't get refundable deposits in the UK either. It seems this could be a fleet-wide change for US customers and deserves its own thread rather than using the Sun Princess thread?

That was one of the questions asked at around 58 minutes in on the Princess Webinar today - they said they have been focussing on these larger infrastructure pieces first and haven't mapped out where the basketball and pickleball courts will go yet.

Some of the other renderings with the press release Lookout and The Net, Coastal Climb and Splash area Infinite Horizon Firefly Park Someone uploaded these before the press release but again: Neon Grove The Underground

Actually Royal class ships do have showers as part of the gym - 2 next to the men's lockers and 2 next to the women's lockers - one being accessible - we took some pics on request while on the Sky Princess Med inaugural. Here are the ones in the women's section:

DO NOT push the "Quote" button. It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update. DO select and copy ALL of the text (including the instructions and the list) up to COPY TO THIS LINE . . . from the most up-to-date list (the most recent reply with the list).  Go to the bottom of the latest post, to the "Reply to this Topic..." box to create a new post. Paste your copied text into that box. Make your modifications to the list. Add change notes at the bottom. Click the "Submit Reply" button just below the list you are modifying. Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes. Ship Captain Cruise Director Entertainment Director Director Restaurant Ops CARIBBEAN Vincenzo Lubrano Jody Miles Robert Boyd Oscar Perego CORAL Gavin Pears Aaron Hawkins Sara Romera Joachim Rothe CROWN Tony Ruggero Olivia Guthrie Michael Kujawski Mariusz Czemarmazowicz DIAMOND Stefano Ravera Natalie Costa & Mikiko Ikemoto Samantha McDonough DISCOVERY John Smith DuVaul Gamble Matt Thompson Silvio Zampieri EMERALD Martin Stenzel Fernando Duran Geof O'Rourke Ruji Pereira ENCHANTED Mario Ciruzzi Gary Golding Ron Goodman Francisco Patricio GRAND Michele Bartolomei Jayson Douglass Callie Smit Giuseppe Franchina ISLAND Paul Slight Karen Rogers Sue Rawlings Daniele Rosafio MAJESTIC John Foster Kevin Tugwell Marissa Wurms Douw Steyl REGAL Tim Stringer Sophie Gideon Martyn Moss ROYAL Andrea Spinardi Corinne Steel Caitlin Messerschmidt Claudio Giuliani RUBY Mario Tani Cole Bockman Lauren Meyer Jacques Ghennai SAPPHIRE Todd McBain Fernando Cunha Matthew Joseph Mario Propato SKY Marco Fortezze Dan France Matt Barnard Ciprian Hoidreag <COPY TO THIS LINE SO THERE IS SPACE TO TYPE "CHANGE NOTES" AFTER THE CHART> CHANGE NOTES: Sophie Gideon is on Regal Princess doing a CD handover with the current incumbent Allie Ambriano and will take over for the next cruise on 13th June.

Thanks, Sophie was promoted to CD before she joined Diamond Princess at the end of last year so is probably doing shadowing/handover before Allie leaves.

Hey Tim, I understand Sophie Gideon has just joined the Regal as her next contract. Do you know if she will be the next CD?

We were so close last October and didn't realise it until later! After our Discovery Princess cruise we drove up from LA to San Francisco and stopped by the "Lost Boys" bridge - which is only 4 minutes drive away

A couple of new Sun Princess renderings - The Underground (Teens area) and Neon Grove (Tweens area) hoping there will be some more detail to follow

The Star Princess deck plans are finally up. Only done a quick scan and they mostly the same as Sun Princess (to be expected). Lots of "Venue Locations are subject to change" notes added. And the Teppanyaki restaurant is now labelled Umai Teppanyaki.

I'm in no position to dispute that but they are still sold as an accessible stateroom on the Princess site: