beg3yrs

Your imagination is far from reality. Back in the day (pre-COVID), Chef's Table participants were treated to a tour of a working galley before they partook of appetizers and eventually made their way to the actual "Chef's Table". We were fortunate enough to see the galley in action multiple times. No way are offerings pre-plated. Orders come in, usually from the Junior Waiters and there's an array of sous chefs preparing meals on the fly. There are so many variations people request, pre-plating is not efficient. You can be sure your dinner plate was prepared with you specifically in mind.

DW has had celiac for over five years now. We did the 17 day Escorted Connoisseur Tour in 2022 (ten days on land - all five lodges) and she had zero trouble getting excellent food she could eat. Salmon, steaks, chicken, crab, whatever. It can all be prepared at the lodges gluten-free. Just notify your escort and he or she will take care of this. Not to worry!

This is probably the case, issuing a new one. But, if you lose it on the ship, why doesn't Guest Services just look up where it is????

I can think security might grab a time-tagged photo whenever the door is opened. If there's a claim of theft from the room, there's one more bit of proof as to who has entered. Medallions can be stolen and they have the passenger's name on it. Sure it's a bit of work to figure out which cabin the medallion is matched up to but it's possible. Also besides your cabin steward, there are other crew that have access. Overkill? Try and purchase a tablet with the functionality Princess requires that doesn't already have a camera. I'm sure with the quantity purchased that Princess got a great price on these. Personally when I realized what they'd done for the door displays that it was brilliant choice. So functional and versatile.

TW6cruise's "guess" is correct. On several of our last cruises there were specific colored luggage tags just for individual debark tours. Disembarking in Buenos Aires last February we never even saw our bags until we got to the airport after our debark tour. DW was worried but all was good. There was a specific spot where the tour bus dropped us off at the airport with all the bags being guarded by a Princess representative. Nicely done.

As far as no cameras in the cabin corridors goes, I have to disagree. Every one of those displays used on the cabin doors are actually Samsung tablets in a nice case that also houses the medallion reader used to sense your approach so your door will unlock. All those tablets have a camera in them. You can look closely and see the lens opening. That said, I don't know if Princess does anything with that video but the capability is there.

The six-month before expiration passport rule is to enter some but not all foreign countries. I'm not sure Canada is one of those countries. The US State Department web-site should give you more specifics. As long as your passport isn't expired, you can use it to get back into the USA, there's no six-month rule for that. So, you should be able to still use your passport for this particular sailing. However if not wanting to take your passport for other reasons (like sending it out for renewal), yes, you can use a certified birth certificate and a government-issued ID.

I for one had stopped ordering steak (especially the Cowboy Steak) in the MDR as I found the cuts I received to be of poor quality and tough. On our last two cruises (June 2023 Caribbean and Jan 2023 Sapphire) though, I saw DW's steaks and they looked great. I broke my rule and was happy to find that the quality had improved immensely.

Yep! I spaced out on cabinmates rather than shipmates. Sorry about that Chief!

The generally accepted answer to this has been no. However things are changing, mostly for the better. Many recent embarkations have been so quick and easy that priority boarding is practically meaningless. I suppose if you arrive before boarding starts the priority lounge would be nice, but that's a no for non-eligible passengers. Some will tell you that the folks at embarkation don't do a thorough job of checking but, sometimes they do. My personal preference is to just show up about an hour after boarding starts and just whiz onto the ship in less than 20 minutes or so. It's become that easy.

Well then I'm stumped too. I'd be calling Princess as painful as that is.

This ^^^ Restricted fares have to be paid in full immediately and are not refundable. Flexible fares must be paid in full with the cruise final payment but are refundable until 45 days from flying. Oddly enough, most times one will see Flexible Fares are lower in price than Restricted Fares. There are exceptions. Restricted fares are ticketed immediately, Flexible Fares are not ticketed until within the 45 day window. There is a reservation, just no ticket number. This sometimes causes with seat assignments on some airlines.

With those balconies, it's either put the table out there and stand inside or leave the table at the door and squeeze onto your balcony. Just not enough room! 😣

But, Hapag Lloyd does not allow the passengers to choose itineraries that are illegal or impossible to achieve.

Might help to brush up on Italian curse words ... even though the language on the bridge is supposed to be English (I think) I suspect in a situation like that, one's native language prevails for cursing.

Even to my untrained eye it's very interesting how the two approaches differ. I noticed the aft tug was on the port side in a push mode on the first approach and had to skedaddle when it became clear an allission was imminent. On the second approach it looks like the aft tug, now on the starboard side, has a line attached and is in no danger of being crushed. Hmm ... Still, my eye is untrained and with only a couple of views I see differences but don't understand why ...

I for one (and I'm certain there are others) very much appreciate both NavArch64's and chengkp75's knowledgeable contributions to this thread and to Cruise Critic in general. How much fun would it be to have the both of them together in a bar? I bet neither would have to pay for their drinks.

Seems you paid for the gift cards so IMHO that paragraph doesn't apply. That said, I do think they'd only cover the amount you actually paid for the gift card, not the extra 10%.

I watched the presentation as well. What I've missed is any mention of how the build is doing with regards to schedule. I ask this for a couple of reasons. We've booked the June 1st sailing out of Barcelona and I just read an article about the latest Behemoth of the Seas (the Oasis) going out on her first sea trials. She's scheduled to start sailing with passengers in January. The Sun Princess is scheduled to start sailing in February and she doesn't look anywhere near ready for sea trials, even in a month or so. Of course I'm not a ship project manager but one would think build schedules for these large ships would be similar to some extent. That is a concern to me especially as Princess has been mum on this topic. Any of you insiders have better info?

A friend who used to work in customer service gave me this tip (although I haven't tried it personally); if you're asked to press some number for Spanish, do it. All those folks speak English too and ... they're based in the States.

The winds were forecast to be high at time of departure and the captain's announcement was very clear that yes, the weather was nice now but the forecast was dire for departure time. We've previously experienced problems at ports with high winds. At Ushuaia we couldn't dock because another ship couldn't leave. There are no tugs at Ushuaia. We anchored that evening until the next morning when the winds died down and the other ship left. Then that evening we too were stuck! In Stavanger we were stuck at the dock for almost 24 hours due to winds. Finally the next day the captain announced that another ship with handling characteristics similar to ours was going to give it a go with two tugs. If they made it, we would attempt it as well. There were lots of passengers watching and the other ship made it so we finally left. Of course the next port was canceled.

As of our last cruise on the CB which we disembarked June 24, you can't check your bill on the TV. While the TV still has an option to check your bill, when you select it you're sent to a screen telling you to use the app.

We were on board June 10th through the 24th. Confirming txmanufan's account. On first leg she did make 21 knots going to Grand Cayman. It was on the overnight run from GC to Roatan that we developed the "technical problem" causing us to arrive very late. We did make all ports on the first leg, just pretty late for some. It was the oddest feeling when pushing off the dock (I think the port was Cozumel) we lost ALL power. We were sitting at an aft window in the Palm Dining Room when it happened. Thrusters were running, vibrating us quite a bit and suddenly everything was quiet and dark. Within a minute lights came on (emergency power I believe) but we were clearly drifting. Captain Lubrano made an announcement within five minutes saying there was a problem in the engine room and it would be fixed within 15 minutes. We continued to drift with the wind and/or current pushing us away from the dock for another 20 or so minutes. It started heating up in the dining room as the AC was off. The staff though took it in stride and finished serving our meals. I understand it was the galley that took it the worst with residual heat from the stoves not being removed by the AC system. Running through my mind was what would happen if she started drifting into a dangerous area. Not sure the port had tugs but I realized the anchors could be dropped in an emergency using good old gravity. I also realized that in the morning there was an emergency drill simulating a complete power failure so they could test the power backup systems. Good thing! Anyway, power was restored and all was well for the rest of the trip.

If you read the passenger contract you're basically getting the agreed number of nights on the ship. Ports are not guaranteed.

We got off a B2B on the CB yesterday. Early in the first leg she developed a "technical issue" which limited the speed to a little more than 17 knots. Remaining port calls for that and the next leg were modified for later arrivals and sometimes shorter stays. Looks like the issue is not corrected even now.