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How can so many of you be wrong! [emoji3].

The best drink is the toasted almond martini!

That sounds terrific! I am boarding the Royal on Friday and shall take your advice.

There is a martini that they serve on the Asian itineraries called the Crouching Tiger and they usually don't have the ingredients on most ships, but there is a similar drink called the Raspberry Martini. Sometimes if the drink is not on the menu, you can ask. My husband is a big fan of the 24K and if you get the right waiter they will find one for you.

Yes. Sometimes with foreign airlines there is a problem with booking seats far in advance, but we have a flight on Delta back from Barcelona in May and can access it at any time.

We used EZ Air roundtrip to Sydney last year and got a price around $1200pp. Next lowest we could find was around $2300 shopping around.

This year one way back from Barcelona is $380pp, lowest price shopping around was $781.

It has been our experience that the Flexible fare has always been much lower than the one you can't change :confused:

When you book it you have a choice of airlines and times so you can get your miles. I just love it.

I've gotten 2 of these emails that start with "Sunday Brunch." They don't have anything to do with having a Sunday Brunch on a ship, but since both of these emails have arrived on a Sunday, I think they're trying to be cute (?) by saying that the sales offer that they talk about is a "yummy" offer, like Sunday Brunch. :rolleyes:

 

Just a marketing ploy in the wording so you'll open it up and read it. At first I thought it was about a new meal when I opened the first email but couldn't find anything about it. When the second one arrived, I realized what it really meant.

I was sucked in as well, but it took 3 emails for me to figure it out. I simply don't understand why they don't take a smattering of things from the Horizon Court, put it in a dining room, get the quartet or jazz trio to play some tunes, get the cheap "champagne" flowing and charge $20. It would seem like a winner to me.

Someone else had posted this on another thread and I bookmarked it. You can use it to request the recipe for cocktails on board;

 

http://www.princess.com/customer_care/emailform.jsp?cat=GI&subcat=s1&subject=Request%20for%20Recipes%20and%20Bar/Wine%20Information&utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=sales:565526

Thanks for this link. I downloaded the zip file and, although they are all yummy and I will sample a few, my favorite was not included. It is called the "Crouching Tiger" and was only available on their Asian itinerary. Unfortunately, when I was on the ship, I told a few too many people how yummy they were and they ran out of the ingredients by the end of the cruise. I have emailed Princess to request the recipe.

Last year we booked a guaranteed inside on the Diamond (Aus/NZ) were immediately upgraded to a obstructed OV guarantee and waited until about 2 weeks out to be assigned an almost completely obstructed cabin (although in a good location).

This year we booked a obstructed guarantee balcony on the TA Royal in April and about 50 days out received a midship unobstructed balcony. BY to BA. Full disclosure though we booked through a TA and paid less for the balcony than an inside, so we are pretty happy.

We took this tour a few years back and although we usually avoid taking boat excursions off the cruise ship, this was lovely. I don't remember the company they chose, but it was a lovely meal if you like mediterranean food. I did find out, however, that I am not a fan of Turkish Delight.

I believe they may be referring to the Santa Fe dining room on the Diamond. On the Diamond there are 4 smaller anytime dining rooms rather than 2 large. Each has a theme and used to have a "specialty of the house". The Santa Fe had fajitas available every night. There was also the Pacific Moon which had a noodle dish. They also have the Savoy and Vivaldi dining rooms, although I don't remember what their specialties were. When we first cruised on the Diamond these specialty meals were available every night and, lol, if you couldn't agree with travelling companions, you could get any of the specialties in any of the four dining rooms, if you asked. The second time we were on the Diamond, I believe you could still order these dishes, but you had to know about them, they weren't on the menu.

We were on the Diamond in Australia/NZ January 2015, right after her makeover and there was still a chef's dinner and it was terrific as usual. Executive Chef was Nilo Palma. It did not have an Asian flair. We heard from the crew that when the ship was in Asia, there were many more Asian employees and announcements were made in different languages. We did notice many Asian additions to the buffet areas, ramen station, etc., but the dining room food was the usual. Maybe because we were in Australia. The new sushi restaurant was very good and they had a nice deal at lunch.

We always choose the midship cabins, and miss the midship stairs after the muster drill.

When we were on the Royal last year, we had a midship cabin and they opened the doors to the center staircase after the muster drill.

Go to cabin, drop off any unnecessary items, head to MDR for lunch, get the wine for Sale at a discount (since there are two, I ask for mine unopened), then go back to cabin to meet our steward. I'm going to check on my water package, then explore the ship.

 

This cruise, we're going to be on Plaza deck, so it will be easier to grab a snack from international cafe, and anytime dining.

 

 

 

I no longer see carnival from my condo front porch :(

What wine for sale?

We, almost always pick a guaranteed cabin. The price is always less than picking one, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. We are on the transatlantic Spanish passage in April and booked a guaranteed balcony for $1069pp with a $600 cabin OBC. The cheapest balcony princess shows right now is $1874. While it's true that we may at some point get a bad location, for the several times we have done it, the cabin was always as good or better than expected. We are on the 4/22 sailing and still do not have an assignment yet either. I was told by my TA that the guarantee cabins are assigned after the ship sells out.

I got one for "Florida residents". I thought I was special:(

Dining room it is because there is a great feeling after you put down your dessert fork and walk away without the waiter bringing you a check. :)

I'm not sure but I think there is an exemption if your stop is under a certain amount of hours. Maybe Princess or your travel agent can clarify.

Perfect. Thanks!

I have a saying "My idea of roughing it is no chocolates on my pillow". After being a stay-at-home mom and CEO of our family for 33 years. New towels everyday is part of the vacation to me. It is a luxury I enjoy as much as the fancy food and entertainment. When I come back to my cabin at night and the lights are dimmed and the bed is turned down and that little piece of chocolate is on my pillow, it makes me feel good.

If more people decline turn-down service etc., the cruise lines would probably start cutting staff and I doubt those savings would be passed on to the traveler.

What 4 stops does the taxi tour make? Does it bring you back to the pier afterwards or can you stop in town?

Thanks for the incentive to get on the treadmill today in anticipation of my TA cruise in April. Very nice of you to post these.

I got it on chrome as well. A little box popped up from Chrome and when I clicked the x on the chrome box, it all went away, hopefully permanently.

I know that all the menus are the same, but when we were on the Diamond in Australia/New Zealand in January, the produce on board was the freshest and best we have had on any ship. I don't know if they were getting it locally but it was terrific.

We were on the Diamond in January and they did not have a sommelier. As mentioned above the line decided against a real sommelier and a wine manager. I cannot attest to the quality of the old sommeliers, but know that they had the designation as they always were present at the Chef's dinner. I particularly miss Daisy, she was adorable and knowledgeable.

For security, it doesn't have your cabin number on it. Everything you get charged goes by the "Folio" number that shows on your card. I keep mine for a souvenier. Fun fact I heard on our last cruise- the number on the far bottom right is how many Princess cruises you have been on, yours probably won't show a number since this is your first one. For everyone who has been, you can see how many and add the one you are currently on to the total. I found this out from a lovely man named Ray we met on the transatlantic Royal trip last month, he was on his 100th cruise, 34th on Princess. BTW Ray, if you're out there, thanks for the tip on the veteran's hat, my father-in-law is going to be very pleased on Father's Day. :)

You could make your own!

http://www.maketowelanimals.com/

Thanks for the link!! My adult daughter loves the towel animals and the next time her and her husband come to visit, I am going to surprise her. :D