Princess Fi

Enjoying so far and appreciate the time taking to offer your review and photos. Have sailed for over 10 years on Celebrity and we did Alaska last September for the first time on our first Princess cruise. Today just booked Konsingdsm to Alaska for May 2024.  Find important to experience more cruise lines now!

We have travelled as a party of 10 all in Concierge. I reached out to celebritydining@celebrity.com to make arrangements. At the time they said we may have to split tables but accommodated each night at table for 10. They helped book first night in Tuscan also. 

 I suspect the answer is discounts cannot be combined. We have the premium drink package which allows 20% off bottles of wine and I am Elite which also allows 20% of bottles of wine.  Is only one 20% discount allowed? TIA

On 2/5/2023 at 6:35 PM, Schmoe38 said:

We’re on Millennium in March as well. We’re on March 11th. Are we on the same sailing?

 

Randy

We are on the March 25 sailing. Sorry to miss you. 

On 1/14/2023 at 8:51 AM, Schmoe38 said:

Good Morning John

 

Not sure if you recall…we sailed on Silhouette together in March of 2022. As you are set to sail in a Sky Suite, I can give you a little perspective of the Retreat experience.

 

We sailed on Millennium in May 2022 and are sailing on her again in March 2023. The Retreat Lounge is an open concept and wonderful. We sincerely hope to see some familiar staff faces this year, as they were all fantastic. Genalyn was our favourite server in the Retreat Lounge. We saw a recent YouTube video of the Millennium Retreat and Genalyn was on board. Hope she is still there when we board.  It was quiet in there most times, but really nice. The Retreat was often quiet, but a nice place to go to relax, and have a different experience for lunch. Specialty dining is a little limited, but frankly, since we enjoyed Luminae so much, other alternatives were not as important.
 

Take a stroll by the Sunset Bar. If Pande is on board, and serving…take a seat and stay for a while. He will have your drink of choice under control after 1 day. Zacapa was nowhere to be found, so fingers crossed for March. If it’s not available, Brugal 1888 may be an option if it’s on board.

 

The recommendation of making friends with the Cellar Master is a great one. When we sailed on Summit in October 2022, our sommelier was a nice guy, but did not stray too far from the “old reliables” on the premium beverage package. We like to see what other alternatives are available.

 

The Cellar Master visited Luminae one night to say hello to the guests, and she saved the day. She brought wines (by the glass) that were of similar price without restrictions of us having to buy a bottle. That was impressive!

 

After our sailing in mid March, we will be able to give you a better idea as to who’s currently on board and who might still be on board when you sail in April.

 

If you look hard enough, you will always find something that doesn’t sit right. We really liked the upgrades and the overall feel of the ship. Luminae is a little smaller on Millennium than on Silhouette. There were times at dinner when the room was full, but we never had to wait when we arrived around 6:15pm-6:30pm each night.

 

We’re really looking forward to our next Millennium adventure.

 

Randy

 

 

We were on Millennium May 2022 for Pacific Coastal. We were extremely disappointed with premium wine selection and addressed second day. They listened and addressed with bottles of wine for dinner for our group of 10. Didn’t help for wine at bars but clearly there were supply chain issues. We had a chuckle when Kirkland wine appeared at our table night of Astoria. Clearly someone made a trip to Costco. We are sailing Millennium March this year out of San Juan and hope all that will be better. Will make a stop at Cellar Masters for some craft cocktails. 

On 11/23/2022 at 5:28 PM, sayvan said:

Ok... Moving on to the food onboard.

 

This is a topic that is so subjective really... what I like you may not and what I dislike you may love... 

 

I've read so many threads about how the food on cruise ships has taken a turn for the worse. Honestly, I would love to know what folks are cooking and eating at home. I have zero complaints about the food. It was excellent wherever we went.  Plus I didn't have to clean it up afterward! 

 

The Lido buffet was great. Lots of options and honestly the sandwiches were some of the best I have ever had on a cruiseship. The pizza was hot and fresh and cooked to order. Yes,  there was a bit of a wait once you ordered but no big deal. Where else was I going to go right? The burger place however seemed to me to be disorganized and had extremely long waiting times. In fact, one time I waited close to 40 minutes for a burger.... I did find that a tad unusual from my previous experiences with burger joints on a cruise ship... but hey I'm not comparing,  remember? 

 

Getting back to the Buffet,  I did think it seemed to close down earlier than I would have liked during the afternoon. I found that usually most stations were closed by 2:30,  give or take. This was a bit of a pain when returning after being in port for the day and it did limit what you could get for a late lunch. That being said, it was probably a blessing in disguise forcing me to have a smaller sandwich or salad. My waistline was appreciative of these odd shutdown times. 

 

My overall  buffet rating was 7/10. 

 

The main dining room.... 

 

We ate here most nights. We had anytime dining and really only had to wait a couple of times. I did find that there seemed to be a push to have people sit at a table with a group of others, which we did do on occasion but otherwise they would accommodate a request for two (just with a bit longer wait). The food was more than just fine. It was great in fact. The menu's had ample selection and yes cruise lines are now starting to charge for some things that used to be free on the menu...Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail, Lobster etc, but considering all the losses during the pandemic they have to try and make that up somehow and it must be working cause they keep charging so people are paying! We did not see this as an issue. 

 

The service in the Main dining room was fabulous and we had 3 or 4 different servers throughout the cruise. These folks work very hard to provide us with a decent experience and they did succeed. 

 

The dress code for the most part (and I'm not about to debate dress codes) was casual and the classy nights was a mixture of everything. I will say that I was surprised to see many men and some woman wearing shorts in the main dining room. I could actually care less as that does not impact my experience in anyway and if it did then I'm the one who needs to take a look at himself,  but I was surprised to see how frequent it was in the main dining room. Seemed a tad out of the ordinary, whatever ordinary is theses days. 

 

Overall, main dining room experience 10/10! good job HAL

 

Specialty Restaurants.... We had the HIA package so we had one specialty restaurant on this cruise. We choose Tamarind. I can't say enough how much we enjoyed this. The service was spectacular and the food was even better. I had a freebie for it but I would not hesitate to pay to go to this restaurant on our next cruise. The options on the menu were plenty and our servers provided great recommendations.  I highly recommend this dining experience if you have not been. 10/10 for me! 

 

Up next Ports of call! 

Appreciate your honest review. We are mainly Celebrity cruisers. Have done a couple NCL and recently  did Princess in September.   Would like to try HAL but only with the upgraded drink package. The 15 limit for alcoholic and non alcoholic just doesn’t work for us. Princess has the 15 alcoholic limit and Celebrity has no limits. 

We used it for a flight October 28. 2 people in front of us. Will used it again in March as saved us a lot of time. 

If you have a large group and reservations cannot be done via planner use celebritydining@celebrity.com

16 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

True that Vines doesn't like to see any of their glasses disappear.  I have had Riedel's in the DR.  My waiter procured for me (not sure if he asked his HW for permission), but the glasses were there every night.  Another positive thing to have same table and wait staff each night.  He just kept a couple of glasses for me for length of our voyage.  Will be disappointing if they are not going to keep these better glasses.  That said, I am not sure how many different ones Vines or the ship in general keeps.

 

Talk about taking your own.  I have a whole set for various wine styles and wouldn't want to risk bringing one or two for breakage, etc.  I can do without.  Meanwhile, the basic DR glass for wine is pathetic.  You need to use at least what they have for water if cannot get a Riedel.  I also have "everyday" white and red glasses from Riedel at home, but still not inclined to take them on a trip even though stemless and safer.

 

Thanks. We will be in Vancouver day prior. Homesense is a 10 minute walk from our hotel. I can usually pick up two Riedel there for $20 Cdn. Will just pick up and take and leave with our son and fiancé after the cruise as we will spend 3 days with them prior to flying back to Toronto. 

12 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

This depends on which ship you are on. In April the brand new Discovery had Riedel like glasses everywhere. Meaning the wine glass had no lip. There were only 2 sizes red and white.  
 

On the Ruby this past June only Vines and MDR had Riedel available.  Vines automatically serves your wine in them and they do not like you to take the glass as there is a limited supply on that ship. In the MDR you must ask for a “real” wine glass. And some servers are not aware that white should be in the smaller of the two so you might have to specify. 
 

I actually carry on my own Riedel and bring my glass with me.  Well not on Discovery.   
 

I’m pretty particular about my wine and do not like what is considered mainstream. With this new program I’ve decided it’s best to bring on a few bottles as insurance. The supply of wines I’d consider trying are extremely limited from what I’ve seen from friends who’ve been on board recently.  

Thanks for the details. I will probably take my own reidel as particular with this. I used to moving amongst bars on Celebrity where you can take your glass. I’m sure Vines will be visited but want the option to be mobile with a “good glass”. 

10 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Hmm.  I had a reply much earlier and never got posted.  First, you may be offered a small number of "featured" wines in CG.  However, you have access to the full wine list you see in the DR's.  Just ask - or order the one you want.

 

Follow the link to my thread where I recently posted the complete Princess wine list, including analysis comparing cost on board to purchasing retail and paying the corkage fee.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2873921-summer-2022-princess-wine-by-the-bottle-list-analysis/#comment-63769889

First time Princess cruise September 17 out of Vancouver. We have Premier package as I am a wine drinker. We have sailed Celebrity many times and usually have Premium drink package. Question on wine glasses on Princess as all glassware on Celebrity is Riedel. When having better wine the glassware is a huge difference. What glassware does Princess use? Is it different in Vines?

On 6/29/2022 at 8:40 AM, JimmyVWine said:

This is very hit or miss.  I think more miss than hit.  Some people have reported that after a recent update, the system recognizes your credit.  I have had no success with this and am only given the option to make the reservation using my credit card.  Princess is aware of this and offers only the suggestion to book and go to Guest Services to get a credit placed on your card, or to wait to you get on board to book.

This is my first Princess cruise. 14 Celebrity cruises so far. We have prepaid Princess Premier package which includes 2 speciality dinners. I can only make reservations if pay by credit card on file. They told me I have to go to guest services to be reimbursed when onboard. Seems they aren’t managing this well. This is after so many miscommunications I have had with app issues. The app constantly would say that to make dining  reservations the booking has to be paid in full. It had been paid in full months ago. I was told I could only make reservations 30 days prior to embarking, reinstall the app (which I did and did not correct this issue). I have been promised calls back that never happened. Finally managed to make dining reservations via web version. Gee I thought I had issues with Celebrity but at least I can email to get issues sorted and I can apply OBC to make specialty dining reservations. No one at Princess has the ability to make any reservations via back end. I hope onboard experience is better than my service on land so far!

On 6/24/2022 at 10:23 PM, prmssk said:

I’m on the Caribbean Princess now and start the second leg of our B2B tomorrow. I have uploaded a lot of menus to this link (WR codes on board are already pointing to new prices).

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12whWAkXXP7K8Al6zWXT09134H-8PwZdr

 

It mostly affects wine prices although I’m still waiting to hear if Good Spirits prices increase. I couldn’t get a good answer out of the servers today. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12whWAkXXP7K8Al6zWXT09134H-8PwZdr

 

As for specialty dining, we weren’t able to use our perk specialty dining this past week because they booked out so quickly. So I wouldn’t assume that those with Princess Premier will actually get to use that perk. 
 

Furthermore, Wi-Fi seems a bit spotty. It was mostly unusable this past week but working a little better today.  

Appreciate posting of menus! We have our first  Princess cruise September. Have sailed Celebrity many times and alway have premium drink package as a wine drinker.  Looks like I may upgrade to Premier but wonder about availability of advertised wines. We sailed Celebrity in May and availability of premium wines were a real issue. 

Have used it to board Celebrity in May but have never sailed Holland America. No issues at all. 

We were just on the May 3 Millennium and a group of 10. Send your dining requests to email celebritydining@celebrity.com. They can look after reservations for your party. When I first booked they stated due to COVID the party would be split up but tables next to each other but we had the table for 10 in Tuscan and table for 10 in MDR each night. 

17 minutes ago, D C said:

Provided by Celebrity or brought onboard by a guest?  I hope they weren't pitching a $5.99 bottle of Sauv Blanc as a premium wine. 

I addressed the wine issue day three of our cruise so at dinner they supplied wine (we had premium package) and this was supplied by Celebrity one night. I think someone made a Costco run that day…….

On 5/13/2022 at 11:59 AM, Algebralovr said:

I had a long conversation with the beverage manager on one of my recent cruises.  They are simply struggling to get many supplies.  The supply chains are broken.  For example, on one of my cruises last fall, they didn't get a couple of the flavors of tea that is usually in Al Bacio.  They also ran out of Coke Zero and were subbing Diet Coke.  

 

The issue is that they are not allowed to simply take a van and go to Sam's Club when they get to port... they have to go through their supply contracts.  Meanwhile, suppliers are allocating to different purchasers.  So, while Celebrity may be ordering 25 cases of a wine per week, due to allocation, they may only receive 12 of that wine, because the supplier also needs to supply to many other sources.

We all simply need to be patient. 

For me, I upgrade to PALL because I want San Pelegrino and an occasional Martini Bar drink.  Still worth it.  

Hmmmm I not sure that is true. We recently sailed and wine was a huge issue. Ran out of white wine first day at Sunset. No rose. No premium wines other than maybe some Elegance (only some bars sometimes). We heard a few nights “we are running out of wine”. Look what appeared one night. 

3 hours ago, twincheryl said:

We are on the same sailing but we live in San Diego. Still a lot of money to lose if we test positive on Sunday 5/1. I have not emailed before either… this is a pretty big deal that they are waiting til the last minute to address if they are, in fact, going to extend the policy. 

I received a call today similar to yours. Assuring me that Celebrity will look after us and that they are in the process of finalizing. Will look forward to published extended policy. 

7 minutes ago, twincheryl said:

My suggestion is for as many people as possible to email llutoff-perlo at celebritycruises dot com

to voice your concern.  I did that yesterday and received a phone call this morning from someone (working from home in Wichita, KS) who said that Lisa Lutoff-Perlo asked her to call... she said that there is not a decision yet, but that I can rest assured that Celebrity will take care of their customers.

 

Take that with a grain of salt, but no matter how many times I questioned, this woman said don't worry.  

I sent an email earlier today. I have been loyal to Celebrity since 2013 exclusively. I have never sent an email to her office until this year and this is my second time. We fly from Canada April 30 to San Diego so test in Canada April 29 for our flight. Have a test booked May 1 in San Diego for our May 3 sailing. May 1 is of course past the current policy of April 30. 

3 minutes ago, Babr said:

I think she meant it would be extended for the second leg of her B2B as long as they tested negative since she boarded while the policy was in effect.

 

Not sure if it was stated their first leg was prior to April 30?

50 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

I know it's been said on this thread, but I just can't believe that Celebrity won't follow Mama and Papa Royal by extending the covid assistance program though gradually rolling back aspects of it.  Critically the point is to extend point one, to refund the cruise fare or give FCC - as long as testing is mandatory, this is more than fair, to do right by the passengers, the customers.  The number of covid cases are rising, only 10 days to go.......

I have been monitoring this daily. I called Celebrity Captains club and they were reaching higher up. They called me back as taking so long only to be told no news or update. We fly to San Diego April 30 and sail May 3. We test in Canada April 29 so coveted there but have to test in San Diego May 1 (past their current end to assistance). If we test positive in San Diego I would hope they follow Royal extension. 

9 hours ago, DingoMom said:

Celebrity has stopped testing disembarking passengers, as once you are off their ship, you are no longer their concern. AND THEY DON’T HAVE TO REPORT THAT YOU TESTED POSITIVE ON THEIR SHIP.  For folks that need a test to fly internationally to their home country (I.e., For Canadiens to go home after a Caribbean cruise, or For Americans to come home after a TA to Europe) they sell tests AFTER you disembark. Thus, you are on your own if you are asymptomatic but need to be isolated before you board a plane home.

Canadians no longer have to test to fly home (effective April 1)

1 hour ago, tropical83 said:

 

Thanks. When you say green box tests, I assume its the Rapid Response tests?

 

At this point I think I am going to book Azova as well. Walmart and Shoppers can't get their stories straight and I can't rely on them. Still nervous though with the lack of reports of people using these specific tests to get on their cruise.

Yes the rapid response tests BTNX. Azova has an official affiliation so I feel better using them. They are also the affiliation with WestJet. 

2 hours ago, tropical83 said:

 

So when you first booked it, you booked 2 appointments? Same time slot or different?

We booked basically 4 minutes apart different appointments but I don’t think it matters. We both have the apps on our phones. Will take the green box tests as very little testing options in San Diego. 

9 hours ago, dukev said:

Just wondering - if two people are testing with Azova - do we need 2 separate accounts with 2 separate emails. Thanks

Haven’t done the test yet but rep said to set up an account for each adult but when doing the first test tell the proctor you have another appointment and you can do it immediately following on same device. We have appointments May 1.