wallyj

Yes, of the set menu items or substitution items they allowed, such as they did for me on the Discovery. I noticed a passenger ordered ‘double’ and saw him multiple times and it was verified he had the Premier pkg.

Currently it depends on the ship and its facilities. This has been my experience on the Sapphire, Majestic and Discovery. On the Sapphire, the sushi is not made to order in front of you. You are not allowed to customize in any way and your only choice is the ‘set’ menu. Of course you can choose to omit any items. You cannot ask for only one type of nigiri, you get ebi(shrimp), salmon and tuna. The maki(roll) is the spicy tuna roll. I believe they have changed the menu to the ‘set’ menu on the Majestic, as I originally was able to have a ‘choice’ of maki rolls, but believe it is the ‘set’ menu only now. My last experience on Discovery in February 2024, I could customize what type of nigiri I wanted which was usually all ebi(shrimp). I could also request California roll instead of the spicy tuna roll and others have reported they will do veggie rolls too. If you wanted any other items not on the set menu, you would have to pay ala carte. I am not sure if the sushi place on the Sun is considered a ‘casual’ dining as I believe ‘Kai Sushi’ on the Diamond is not. So it depends on what are the policies on your particular ship. I think the Sapphire is the most restrictive because the sushi is not made in front of you at Ocean Terrace like most Royal Class ships and no substitutions allowed.

When u purchase Princess gift cards thru AARP, you get ‘virtual’ cards not physical cards and are usually emailed the link for the card numbers and pin within a few minutes of purchase on the website. There have been a few times with a longer delay, but most have reported you will receive within a few minutes. My recent experience on March 5, I received the email link in less than 5 minutes.

Not exactly the same, but close. Many have posted ‘air tag’ holders work. YMMV.

@CatMom72, if you read post #1, there are currently 177 loungers available to ‘suite’ guests. This includes Sanctuary and Signature sun deck, so unless there are many more than 2 occupants in suites, there should be enough loungers as @WonderMan3have mentioned.

As long as the standard plus and premier package rates have not changed. You also are limited to ‘buying’ or upgrading from plus to premier to day1 or day2 of your sailing.

Currently on page 4, a review of Enchanted 2/26-3/7. It is a little hassle, but bigger showers are available in the changing rooms for the fitness centers on Emerald and Enchanted. The Emerald had their complimentary steam and saunas removed during it last dry dock, but the larger showers are still available. The Enchanted is a ‘Royal’ class ship and the fitness center is not by the SPA, but there are changing rooms with Glass door showers, they are not very obvious, but deck plans should show location, they are in the fitness center. Royal class ships showers do have ‘ledge’ that helps when you want to attend to lower leg access. Mini suites will have bathtub/shower combo.

The Stockperks APP is a 2 step process. You first have to get ‘verified’ then you should receive an email your holdings were ‘verified’ and then you reopen the APP to ‘redeem’ where you actually select your ship and sailing date. If your cousin was ‘verified’ and they submitted the info using the ‘redeem’ option in the APP, then you are just waiting for Stockperks to process, but that step has been fairly quick in the past. An email to hello@stockperks.com for follow might help.

You can use your OBC towards upgrading to Premier on board, if you call to upgrade before sailing, you can not use your OBC towards paying for upgrade and if you have Princess vacation protection, your insurance will increase if you upgrade before sailing.

The $63 price is Aussie $. Crown grill sailing everywhere else where the on board currency is USD is currently priced at $39 plus 18% service charge per person.

You get a discounted rate if you buy for the duration of the cruise, since you will only be buying for daily 24 hour periods, the per day rate is higher. For the one device plan, you can use multiple devices, only one active at a time, so you can share or switch between phones, tablets, etc.

@HikaruTsuki, I also just checked my Sapphire August/September 14 day Alaska sailing 2024, for reserving Sterling Steakhouse for a date in September and the price shown was $39. So since the OP posted $A63, I am thinking you are getting Aussie $ pricing for some reason.

Is it possible the ship you are sailing on in September is currently ‘down under’? So the APP is pricing based on it’s current location?

I just checked the APP for my upcoming Ruby sailing LA to YVR on April 7, 2024 and Crown Grill was showing priced at $39. As of Dec 1, 2023 an additional 18% service charge will be added unless you are being comped for the meal from Premier package or other means. What sailing and ship are you checking? If the ship is ‘down under’ then pricing will most likely reflect Aussie $ which would explain the $63 price.

@Aexboeingdriver, the OP is quoting Aussie dollars so $A63 is about $USD46, which as you have stated is a decent fare for a steak dinner.

@arizonaperson, OP was upgraded to a reserve collection mini suite from post #44?, so NO 2nd minibar for being in a suite as they are not in a ‘suite’.

@bonox55, I think you are being a little unfair. When was the last time you sailed with Princess? I think the Crown grill was $29 (USD) a long while ago , then was increased to $39 and used to have the gratuity included in that prince, but believe as of Dec 1, 2023, 18% is now added so the total cost is now about $46 USD if you are paying out of pocket. Assume since you are quoting Aussie dollars where prices have gratuity included assume $A63 is comparable with current exchange rates of $USD46. If you compare steakhouse specialty dining on other cruiselines, specifically, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, Princess Crown Grill at $39 USD is quite competitive and considerably lower.

No, when you request a ‘shared’ table, they will try to fill the table before any food service has started. If no other passengers show up, you may still end up at a larger table just by yourselves.

Hi @Cruise Raider, was on the Sapphire last summer for 14 days roundtrip YVR and for 18 days last December for the LA to Santiago run and going back for the March 18 Santiago to LA sailing. The crew are great as the ship has won the Princess Cup again for the second time in a row. The ship does have an International Cafe, Vines and Alfredo’s. The Alfredo’s has a limited menu as it does not offer the full menu on Royal class ships, but does has the full pizza offerings. On sea days, they will offer Ocean Terrace, but it is a set menu with no customization as I believe they use a galley from one of the deck5 dining rooms. No other options of sushi were available except the set menu roll. I could not even get all shrimp nigiri, had to get the shrimp, tuna and salmon as the kitchen only makes the set menu. Sterling steakhouse is offered in a area off the buffet, but the menu is pretty much the Crown grill menu on other Princess ships. No SaltyDog Gastropub, so Casual dining is Vines, Ocean Terrace set menu and the limited Alfredo’s. No The Catch, but I did enjoy the Sterling Steakhouse food overlooking the location/ambiance. I do not care for the current Sabatini’s menu. Since you are contemplating a 4 day cruise, I think it will be a good ‘test’ cruise to see if you would do a longer sailing on the Sapphire.

Yes, just wanted to add info some may not have been aware. One department may not know what the other hand is doing. An enquiry to the F&B MGR would answer why the 2nd minibar setup, mistake or otherwise.

I think I saw there is a YouTuber on board who said this cruise is actually split into 2 segments as the first was a 5 day media invite and he was checking if he could stay on for the next 5 days, so the ships feels your 10 day sailing is actually 2 five day segments B2B.

Hi @Dale99, I was on the Sapphire Dec 1-18, 2023 and the steam and saunas are still available in the changing rooms by the fitness center. The steam room in the men’s changing room would be out of order for many days in a row. Princess has removed these facilities on sister ships Emerald with its last dry dock and the last dry dock of the Ruby last year, so it seems like a trend Princess has been implementing. I believe the Sapphire had a recent dry dock and since the steam and saunas were not removed then, I will assume the next opportunity will be the next dry dock. The men’s dry sauna was working, I do not know about the women’s facilities.

Hi @mncbabu_yahoo, I sailed on the Sapphire last Dec, 2023 and will be back for the March 18, Santiago to LA sailing. I had the premier package. Your casual dining options on Sapphire are Alfredo’s, it is a smaller version, so the menu is not as extensive as Royal Class ships with an Alfredo’s/Gigi’s. The Sapphire does have all of the Pizza selections. Your other option will be a modified Ocean Terrace, they will only have the ‘set’ menu and no substitutions, as I believe the sushi is made in the Deck5 galley, opposed to being made to order on most Royal class ships. Ocean Terrace will only be available on sea days and at lunch on the Sapphire. @startedwithamouse, in December, there was no ‘pop up’ SaltyDogGastroPub on the Sapphire. I will be back on Sapphire March 18, so will report back.

Hi @cusematt4, you are a little confused, with Princess FCD’s you receive the OBC on the cruise you actually book using your FCD. You do NOT receive OBC on your CURRENT sailing when you purchase FCD’s. The value of the OBC you will receive when you book your next cruise with the FCD, depends on the cabin category you book and the length of the sailing. You may be confusing Princess with NCL, as NCL advertises getting OBC on your Current cruise if you purchase Cruise Next deposits, but in reality you get the Cruise next deposits at a reduced cost. On NCL if you buy two $250 Cruise Next deposits, you will only be charged a total of $250, so each of your $250 deposits actually only cost you $125 each, you do not get $125 OBC to use on the current cruise.

FYI, I was on the Sapphire for the Dec 1-18 LA to Santiago sailing and had a good cruise. I believe there is a current live from @Ken the cruiser, Jan 20-Feb 19. Although the Sapphire is an older ship she is well maintained and one of the 2 ships that were built in Japan, her sister the Diamond is the other. Princess started a competition a couple quarters ago among their fleet named the Princess Cup. The winner is based on the total metrics from the Cruise survey passengers receive at the end of the voyage, so it is entirely based on passenger feedback. The Sapphire has won this ‘prize’ when the competition started 2 quarters ago and again for the 2nd time in a row, so based on passenger feedback, the Sapphire has received the top spot among the fleet, so this should tell you something about the ship and it’s crew. It is an actual trophy and the ship proudly displays it currently between Crooners and the Wheelhouse.