kiwimum

Bid the minimum last year for Santiago to Buenos Aires. Notification of upgrade was received right after boarding in LA for the first leg of a B2B. Found the cabin was not occupied on the first leg and was able to move in early for no additional cost. Went from a BD to B4. I knew where the Premium Balcony cabins where located before bidding.

From experience in August with our grandkids on domestic flights with the same confirmation umber, they were able to go thru with us.

It is the Princess group trying to sell the hotel, FCC packages. We have received calls after returning from our last two cruises.

Just checked our booked cruises and only one is showing non-refundable for MOBC.

Do not believe what you see if the app regarding Packages. I just checked an upcoming cruise where I purposely did not select a package and it shows we have the new Plus package. This cruise was booked in August 2022. Checking Travel Summary in my Princess account it shows no package.

On our Sky cruise last month, the app showed the new Plus package. Onboard the account showed the old Plus package as it should be. We could have upgraded to the new package for an additional $10pp per day. We chose not to.

On the Sapphire as regular guests at Alfredo’s early this year we were able to take leftover pizza wrapped in foil on a plate back to our cabin. !Leftover pizza is my go to breakfast.

Not worth upgrading.

We were recently on the Sky and dined at Alfredo’s several times. When ordering alacarte we could order as much or as little as we wanted and share. If using casual dining credit no sharing. You could order the fixed price option, charge to your room and share.

Sailed in the Sky out of Southampton mid August and was amazed by the number of men and boys in tuxedos, women and girls in long dresses. Families looked amazing and wore their formal attire very comfortably. Well done.

Was able to make Specialty Dining reservations for our January cruise this morning with no issues. Cruise is 132 days out, final payment not made.

You do not need to order the 3 courses on the Fixed menu and utilize your credits. We ate there two times on our recent Sky cruise, ordered alacarte, salad and specialty pizza to share. We did not have the upgraded Plus package.

My local San Diego Costco has Lavazza Espresso Gran Crema on sale at the moment. Unfortunately no decaf.

They do allow sharing if you request alacarte. We shared for dinner multiple nights. You can also order each item individually.

Try Take Five, many interesting concoctions. Bellinis was poor for a so called Martini bar. Crown Grill bar had several unusual martinis.

I think that night was a very nice tzatziki type dipping sauce for the vegetables. There were a couple of bread straws like the ones years ago in the dining rooms. We did speak with the Food Service Manager. In fairness this was the first week of being available. Work in progress. We did order truffles only one night $3 for 6 pieces.

To whet your appetite for Vines. A photo of the first plate we had onboard the Sky last week. Crudités were excellent with a good variety of different vegetables other than the old standby. Charcuterie board contained meats, cheeses, olives, artichokes, pickled shallots. Only short coming was the lack of breads or crackers. The truffles were outstanding. my photography leaves a lot to be desired.

Sky Princess was understaffed on the 19 August Norway cruise. Around 100 new staff missed the ship in Southampton and caught up with the ship in Tromso.

Disembarked Sky Princess yesterday and received final statement overnight. Will see how long to receive funds owing.

And a few pizzas for $12.00.

It appears to be the new normal. Received final account for June 17 cruise last week. July cruise nothing as yet. Off the Sky this morning and as usual printed out account before disembark. Will see how long the email account takes.

Drop at Long Beach airport.

Look at dropping at Long Beach airport and Uber to cruise port.

The lack of space in cabins. On the plus side the bathrooms were good, larger shower. Dining facilities congested and lower quality. Pool area seating was nearly impossible to find. Ship is very dated with brighter strong color and decor. Your children will enjoy the Kids Clubs on the Emerald. I would not worry about the language issue. Children will find a way to communicate and many of the staff are bilingual.

Having sailed on both ships, Emerald would be our choice. Jade definitely had a party vibe, the two meals we had in the dining room were poor at best. Based on our experience we will not cruise NCL again.