bmc alabama

We sailed on Oasis back in January and while it wasn't maybe one of our favorite ships, we all said how good Aqua80 is. I agree, it's one of the best shows (along with maybe Duel Reality on Virgin) at sea...

What do you think of the Virgin Voyages way of handling it? No tipping at all. They include everything up front in the cruise fare. No 18% on drinks either, it’s included in drink prices.

There were plenty of dairy free options at the IC on the Crown. My wife is GF and could always find something. I am sorry you had that experience. As to Cafe Promenade, it was equally awful on both the Oasis and Independence... El Loco Fresh, however, was very good.

Funny you should mention this. We sailed on Crown Princess in May/June to Alaska knowing about all the propulsion issues, etc... I was expecting the worst (especially with all the Doom and Gloom folks on the Princess boards 🙂 )... We went, and to our surprise, had an amazing time. Do we still prefer the Regal Princess? Yes, but we had a great time on the Crown. Our medallions worked flawlessly and the food was pretty good to outstanding, which I was a bit surprised about. The buffet is not as good as the one on the Regal, but it was still pretty good. To top it off, Princess gave us 50% of our cruise fare in a FCC to use in the next 2 years on another cruise for the propulsion issues. To the OP's point here, of the cruises we've done this year, I'd rank them as below, from our favorite to least favorite: Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady Disney Magic Carnival Mardi Gras Crown Princess Disney Wish Oasis OTS ... ... ... Independence OTS Independence was by far our worst cruise. I know Oasis is towards the bottom of the list, but it was still a good cruise (we just liked the others better). Indy just needs something. The included food options just aren't there. And after going on Crown Princess it was interesting to compare, the Cafe Promenade just paled in comparison to their International Cafe. At least Oasis had Park Cafe and El Loco Fresh (there was Solarium Bistro as well, but it was closed on our sailing "due to COVID"). Mardi Gras had great food, especially the "quick service" kind (the Shaq's Big Chicken hype is legit). And Virgin.. It's just a different concept all together. We loved it. Best food we've ever had on a cruise.

Don't be too sure of that. We were on Independence OTS in May and there were strong sewage smells during our cruise...

FYI, Princess has changed the ship from the Emerald Princess to the Regal Princess for next year. Highly recommend.

On the extreme end of this... If you order that crazy $5,000 drink on the Disney Wish, they add an 18% gratuity to it. Yep, a $900 gratuity for pouring one drink...

Yeah, it's also really just a hardship to have it all paid upfront so you don't have to worry about it...

So glad to have just sailed Virgin Voyages where you don't have to worry about any of this stuff... All tipping is included either in the cruise fare or the price of the drinks. They actually pay their staff much better than other lines. I talked with numerous crew members (they don't discourage crew interacting with guests) who all said they liked VV much better than whatever line they came from and all appreciated a guaranteed income over whether or not someone tipped...

We are a little over 2 months out from our 2 day quarantine on Crown Princess. I had asked for an FCC research, but I got an e-mail stating that these FCC's are handled by Customer Solutions. I have tried to call 4 times and each time, at some point after the main call center transfers me to Customer Solutions (BTW, every time they insist they can help, even though my e-mail stated it had to be Customer Solutions, and every time they've come back after 15-30 minutes and say "Oh, we do need to transfer you to Customer Solutions"). All 4 times while waiting for Customer Solutions, the call drops. I don't think I'll ever get through... As to AON, our claim is just showing as "Assigned". Been that way for almost 8 weeks.

So, quick note here. Princess by default prices out to the "Princess Plus" package, which includes drink package, wifi, and gratuities. It is a $50 per person/per day fee. You can price this without that and your cruise will be $2,100 less. And it is 2 days longer. Just sayin...

Ours was OK on the Crown in May/June and actually the Medallion App worked quite well. That said, I went by the Medallion desk early in the cruise with a different question and the person there asked about what my settings where. She told me to A) put my phone in airplane mode, and B) did something about an IP address setting and it worked much, much better...

Ken! Enjoyed your review! We are on Regal British Isles next May! From fellow Alabamian (though a Roll Tide one!).

Thanks! I thought something may be up because we had no issues with our May Crown Princess cruise. I'll give it a few weeks and try again! (we have plenty of time...)

Nope. Tried that.

Yep, it’s the Regal for May 2023, but we booked last week. So, it wasn’t moved over, we booked after the Regal was announced in that itinerary. may be tied into the same issue though..

Yep, that exactly what I was trying. It says that the “Booking is not found”. however, I can see it plain as day when I login on the website.

It’s been a week and it’s not showing in the app. It also won’t let me link it. however, I can see it on the website.

How far in advance will it see a cruise? We booked the May 20th British Isles. I can see it on the website, but when I put the booking number in the app, it says it's not found...

I’ll agree that Princess really ought to do something (FCC?) for those on the sailing of the 28th…

Not anymore, but she did last Wednesday. Started feeling better on Thursday/Friday. She never had a fever, just sore throat/congestion Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Reading on this, I saw that the “new” BA.4/BA.5 sub variants are increasing now, but have a slight relation to Delta, and the article I was reading said those that had Delta had more immunity to these new ones. I had Delta last August, so I am wondering if that’s what happened and why I (so far, checked again last night) haven’t tested positive and feel fine… Same with my Mother and Brother. Both had Delta last fall/winter. Neither is positive. There was also another cabin (in quarantine, you learn to talk to fellow quarantine-mates over the balcony) where one tested positive and the other never got it, and the one that didn’t get it had it in the fall as well…

I called the number on the e-mail

Nope. We are home (drove) and I tested again tonight. Still negative. DW is much better and has finished days 0-5.

Not bad. It will get spotty in Glacier Bay though.

Not sure what is going on with the Eurodam. It’s after 9pm and they haven’t let anyone off yet…