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Bon Voyage! Have a great cruise!

Thanks for posting this Raphael! We can all hope that this hire works out well for Princess - lord knows they need new blood. I'm a bit skeptical on that note - Mr. Berra, while accomplished, is really just another industry retread at this point. Not sure about poaching a guy from the Country Club sector, but whatever. As for the "Love Boat" tie-in, well he did mention the Love Boat in his remarks. There are plenty of creative ways to extend that part of Princess history instead of tossing it out with the pillow chocolates. Hopefully, Mr. Berra really does understand and appreciate the legacy and restore and enhance the Princess brand.

Too bad about your cruise, but your review reads like an outlier of sorts and I usually toss out outliers be it either overly favorable or otherwise. Lots of Celebrity comparisons in the thread. On other boards, notably on Oceania and MSC Yacht Club posts, there are many posters who have abandoned Celebrity for the same deficiencies mentioned in the lead review. We have cruised with Celebrity and have enjoyed our trips, but close friends - Celebrity loyalists (formally) - have also thrown in the proverbial towel with Celebrity. Their Reserve Class was wonderful, but apparently that have priced themselves out of line with competitors for high-end cruising like the Yacht Club or smaller ship lines. Every line has it's issues. That said, we do acknowledge that Princess isn't what it used to be. Their Front Office has deeply mismanaged the brand, imo. Their product seems to be always in flux - basically throwing stuff on the wall to see what sticks. Their once-vaunted wine program has deteriorated significantly, for example; and the cuts across the board have been noticable. There has been a shift in cruising. Family cruising is strong and passenger consists have been trending younger. Older couple cruising, resistant to change and tired of crowds, have been migrating to the more exclusive luxe lines. Holland seems to navigated this shift well; Princess, maybe not so much. Still, Princess offers a wide choice of itineraries - possibly the best in the business. Their ships run the gamut from the Coral/Island class, to the Grand class ships, to the Royal class, to the present Sun (due soon) class - reflecting the peripatetic direction of their Marketing. It's change for the sake of change but it rarely provokes either an enhancement of the core values of the brand nor enough excitement to attract whatever new demographic they are targeting. Staffing issues have been noted. Every line is fishing from the same pond here and the fishing - like the service - just ain't what it used be - too many hooks, not enough fish. It also should be noted that these "fish" are actually human beings and as such, regardless of where they come from, are able to choose the situation that's best for them. Food, a lightning rod for cruise criticism, can rarely be considered a primary factor in choosing a cruise due to its' subjectivity. We've had really excellent meals onboard cruise ships and we've had OK meals. We have never had a putrid meal. Guess we're just lucky. Food costs soared during the recent inflationary spike and stair-stepped higher even after the easing. Cruise lines, like any other shoppers, reacted in kind. Good cruise lines adjusted. That's where Princess seems to struggle: with balancing costs and service. What do they want to be? How do they want to differentiate their line? And that's where the mismanagement really shows. As I've mentioned before in other posts, we're not "loyal" to any commercial service or brand. We like what we like and will keep purchasing something that delivers for us, but we "ship" around. We appreciate perks, but they're not enough to sway us especially since other lines will sometimes match or exceed these perks in their offerings. We understand that what we pay - how much we pay - is clearly correlated to what we get. We enjoy Princess because we're familiar with them, comfortable even. We're booked on two upcoming Princess cruises (as well as a competitor). But if our expectations are left on the pier, then we'll get comfortable somewhere else. For example, our recent cruise on MSC's Seascape Yacht Club was superb - easy 5 stars - but some aspects of our familiarity with Princess were missed; likewise the Reserve on the Celebrity Edge. The Viking Ocean cruise we took delivered fine service and great dining but was a crashing bore most evenings - same with Oceania, and we are most certainly not "party animals"! The point is differentiation. And on that point, we hope Princess's management suite gets a much-needed makeover, but cruisers should have no expectation of "an epic disappointment". Happy Cruising!

Have a great cruise! Looking forward to your impressions of Explora.

Keep in mind that MSC matches your loyalty rank from other lines.

I realize that the late arrival will probably negatively impact many passengers' travel plans home; but just once would I love to arrive back in port after a good night's sleep, breakfast, and chill time! Not being an early riser, I really dread the dark-thirty back to port days!

Tough stretch of dismal weather in Florida this week. The muck should be clearing out of South Florida this evening/night, and hopefully the seas will quiet down a bit for your arrival. Sunday looks much clearer and drier. Enjoy the cruise while you still can and safe travels home!

The solutions to chair hogging all involve an additional expense for the lines, thus they are probably not feasible without a significant outcry from the guests. Here's my suggestion: In lieu of additional personnel (the most expensive cure), small LED light/sensors can be attached to all loungers that activate when the seat is unfilled. After 30 minutes (or whatever time limit is imposed) the light will change colors - say red to green for example. That will indicate the chair is free game. Costly when you factor in the number of units needed fleetwide, but the cost burden should be shared with the vender of the loungers if the line specifies this enhancement. The light can go to a mid range color (say yellow) when a guest gets up for a short period (restroom break for example) and then turn red after the time limit is reached. This will indicate a chair is being used properly with items left on the chair. Empty chairs are always fair game regardless of the indication. I guess the bottom line for the cruise lines is the number of complaints versus the cost of any solution - and clearly that balance has not reached the solution phase yet. Any other good solutions out there?

For us, it's the familiarity of the layouts and the itineraries, as well as the emotional component having celebrated so many milestones on board Princess since 1992. We feel comfortable and welcome when we get on board and Princess's itineraries are still among the best on the business. Unfortunately, really stupid decisions by our nemesis - Princess corporate - have dimmed quite a bit of our enthusiasm for the brand. My spouse still prefers Princess, while I like to "cruise around" trying out other lines and levels of service. I figure one of these years, Princess will get it right again.

Quite a review and much appreciated! We were only on the Enchanted once and that was the really the only time on Princess that we were not pleased at all with the ship, so we can concur with much of your observations. We always look to replenish our premium spirits on Caribbean cruises either on board or at a port - St. Lucia I recall is a good one for this task - and always, as you noted, have our local prices ready for comparison. For the Hennessey XO, we can only get the 750ml size locally so you have to be aware of the Duty Free offerings which are usually 1 liter. Also, there are often sales on these items onboard that you have to catch - usually towards the end of the cruise. On our last cruise, on MSC, I found a Hennessey XO 1 liter marked at $309.90 - no bargain, no sale. But! A friendly chat with the shop keeper revealed the discounts which lowered the price substantially to $232.42! That's lower than our local 750ml price! The gentleman told us that it "today only, 25% off" on the next to last day of the cruise - and they let us take it with us! Of course, all of this was covered by our OB credits which really made it a steal! The JW Blue wasn't a good deal btw, so you really do have to shop around and know your prices. Cheers!

Ended a bit abruptly but most of your experiences sounded similar to ours on Princess (we were not on this cruise). I take a box (or 2) of Starbucks VIA instant coffee packs for the awful room service coffee. Simply twist off the lid, pour in one pack, swirl the urn around a bit, and the coffee will be at least drinkable. Coffee from the Coffee bar is not consistent either and you may want to do the same thing there. Don't quite understand why the coffee is so bad on Princess. First night dining seems to have not improved by your account - and yes, prior reservations made before the cruise mean nothing; don't get me started! Always gets me riled up on Night 1, but things do tend to get better quickly. Good to hear that the food in the MDR and elsewhere is good! We're on the TC (StLW) as well, neighbor! Thanks for the review and Happy Cruising!

Stella isn't what it used to be. They brew it now in St. Louis and it tastes a lot like that other stuff from AB. Go with Duval now

Fantastic! That should be wonderful! We're on the new Oceania ship (Vista) for a Caribbean swing (Big 7-0 cruise) in Feb., then the Emerald in June for the Ft. Lauderdale to Quebec trip and post cruise land tour, and the Sun! in Oct. in their new Cabana Reserve mini-suite. Happy Cruising Rafa & Deb! See ya' on the high seas!

Thank you for the tag-along! Safe trip home! What's next?!

MSC's Yacht Club and virtually any class on Princess are really apples and oranges. It's a very different experience. Not saying that Princess (30+ cruises and two more in the hopper) is inferior to MSC but there isn't much of a comparison to the YC. Props to MSC for honoring our Elite status on Princess with match on their line. The closest you can get to the YC on Princess would be a Reserve Suite with a Premier package. Perhaps the biggest difference is that you will enjoy the whole ship on Princess while the YC tends to favor staying within those confines - it's a different demographic overall on MSC.

We recently tried the MSC's Yacht Club. We ran into several former Celebrity Retreat fans who bailed for the same reason you mentioned. Btw, the Yacht Club is every bit as good as the Retreat as we recall and similar in service, dining, and perks to the small ship lines we have experienced (Viking Ocean and Oceania). A few other cruisers we met at the YC liked NCL's Haven class but we have never cruised on that line. On topic, Princess seems to be trying that "ship within a ship" approach with their new Sun Princess ship. The biggest difference we experienced between Celebrity and Princess was the wine service - dedicated wine servers on Celebrity with a robust wine-by-the-glass selection in proper glassware while Princess is phasing out their Vines venues and serving generic wines (Cabernet, Pinot Noir, etc - no labels) in juice glasses.

Captain Tuvo is most definitely with MSC now. We were on the Seascape three weeks ago and he was the Captain.

We enjoyed the Heidsieck Monopole on the Regatta this past July. ...and you're right, Clutj, the cookies are blah (a good thing for me, according to my Doc!)

Really nice pix! Not sure, but was that Cathedral the one with the open air portal above the apse? Easy to mix up churches while in Europe! We recall that being one of the most impressive cathedrals we were ever in. The third shot of Toledo shows the spillway - last year while we were there the local fire department were doing rescue drills there - it was fascinating to watch - they would set off a guy into the swirl and line up on the shore each taking turns to swim through the current to rescue the guy. Thanks for the travelogue! Have fun!

Oh no! Back to the water glasses again?! On our last Princess cruise they had real wine glasses in the DR. Shame them by asking for the larger "water glass" for your wine or a proper wine glass.

Hola Rafael & Debbie! Memories of our time in Madrid last year at the end of October on a Princess pre-cruise land tour prior to our TA on the Regal. On the night of Oct. 31, the streets were jam-packed for miles with merry-makers, as Nov. 1 is a Holiday there. You may have went by Plaza de Espana on the HOHO - worth a stop if you a have time. Wander in after admiring the Cervantes monument with Don Quixote and his faithful companion and you'll get to a magnificent panoramic overlook with a nearby Egyptian temple (a real one). It's a beautiful space for quiet time and local people watching. The Prada is a world-class museum if that floats your boat also. It's basically the collection of Phillip II and a visual history lesson of Old Spain. Really enjoyed Madrid - it's a very walkable town and we found it quite friendly with many excellent choices for dining. Hope you are having a great time!

Interesting take on the YC restaurant and as you have noted, food is always a topic that garners a wide spectrum of opinions. We ate there every night on our 10/22-29 cruise and were very satisfied with our meals. We always ordered from the daily selections, never from the "always available". Some dishes: a Bouillabaisse, Veal Osso Buco, Lamb shank, Surf & turf night (a generous cut of Filet Mignon delivered perfectly as ordered was delish!) - all were very good and certainly on par with our experience at Luminae. Not to counter your appraisal which I don't doubt, but a fair review of our experience. We did have one specialty restaurant lunch at the Teppanyaki restaurant - good show and good food, but the chef cut the raw beef and raw chicken with the same knife, justifiably upsetting a guest. Everyone lived as far as I know. Only made it to breakfast in the DR once - the last day and it was, well...breakfast. Agree that the lunch buffet should include some of their excellent pizza! Going off to the aft of 16 was like hacking through the jungle in search of food!

Hello Valpacino! We were on last week, also in the YC, but on the much quieter 16th deck (also quite convenient to the Top Sail). We enjoyed the very international passenger consist, having met nice folks from several European countries. Apparently, this week and last are school break weeks in Western Europe so there were several families aboard with well-behaved children. We too found the YC experience well on par with Celebrity's Retreat class, as well as Oceania and Viking Ocean in terms of service and food (obviously very different in terms of ship size!) In the YC restaurant, we found the left side a better option for service, particularly with Yves & Mr. Mundoo from Mauritius - very professional! No complaints here - we had a wonderful time and everything onboard the YC was very nice. One humorous observation from my lovely spouse: The YC was like staying in a mansion next to a public housing project (the rest of the very crowded, rowdy ship)! That said, try to make your way to the rear of deck 16 for some of the best pizza on the high seas! Enjoy your cruise and thank you for posting your impressions!

Fairly pedestrian list, but much better than the Yacht Club offerings.

Well done Doc! Looking forward to the epilogue. We're in the final days (hopefully) of the mucky season here in SoFL and boy has it been mucky! We're booked on the Vista for the1/31 sailing, our second on O after the Regatta trip this past July. Agree with the Toscana review - that was some dinner! The bottle of Luce didn't hurt either. We had a great table looking out center aft. Other meals were very good as well. We thought our voyage on Viking O surpassed the Regatta experience but it wasn't a fair comparison due to the itinerary and length of the cruise. The Vista trip will be a better barometer. We're long-time Princess cruisers (since '92) but as Bono sings, we still haven't quite found what we're looking for yet. We do not claim to be "loyal" to any service or product we pay for - isn't that supposed to be the other way around? Different strokes for different folks, right? Hope it went well and safe trip home!