Be in the Know Before You Go on Enchanted Princess

You’ve booked your trip and paid for it too. 

Now what? Do online check-in! With Princess, the process begins as soon as you’ve made final payment. Here are details and tips from our recent cruise on the Enchanted Princess: 

For smoother, faster boarding 

Download the Princess app and do online check-in right away. Consider having the medallion (Princess’ version of the sea card) shipped to your home. If you have the Premier package, shipping is free; without the package, it costs $10*. You can order the medallion on the app at the same time you do online check-in.

The medallions typically arrive 7-20 days before the trip; ours came 7 days before. If you want to know if it’s been shipped, you can call Princess.

Once you order the medallion, you will be assigned to the "green lane,” teeing you up for faster boarding. At the terminal, agents manning kiosks check your passport and boarding pass. Then, you scan your medallion, and that’s it! It took us about five minutes.

The Enchanted Princess' stunning piazza, the hub of it all.

For better medallion management 

Lanyards and clip 

Check out the options for holding the medallion during your cruise. Amazon has a slew of choices, from watchbands to key chains. AirTag holders work too. 

There’s also a shop on the ship with many options, including bracelets and necklaces. 

The medallions are shipped with free lanyards, but note that the holder portion is a thin plastic frame. In just one day on our trip, we saw two people lose their medallions because they popped out of the holder. If you have Premier, the medallions also come with a blue plastic clip. 

Musing's Top Tip: I used a different solution for the medallion holder, which worked really well. I bought a keychain and retractable badge holder from Amazon. I mounted the medallion in the keychain and connected it to the badge holder. I hooked the badge holder to the zipper of my little purse, leaving the medallion safely inside (see photo right). When I needed to show the medallion, I pulled it out of my purse with the badge holder cord.

My spouse used the same technique, adding an extra keychain piece that he used to loop it through his belt, and keep his medallion in his shorts pocket.

For hassle-free specialty dining 

The Premier package includes two dinners, but if you make reservations in the app, you will get charged, and then will need to visit Guest Relations onboard to have it credited. You can avoid this hassle by calling Princess from home and asking them to make reservations for you, which they do without charging.

Sabatini's, the Italian specialty restaurant off the piazza.

You’ll want to make reservations as soon as possible, as they fill up fast. For example, when we visited the Crown Grill on embarkation day, the restaurant was already completely booked for the whole trip. 

For quicker MDR dining 

You can book your main dining room meals before the trip on the app. We made reservations for every night, even if we weren’t sure we were going to eat there.

Note on formal nights: If you want to enjoy both formal nights and specialty restaurants, pay close special attention to your itinerary. For seven-day Caribbean trips, in general, if you have a port on day 2 (first full day of the cruise), the formal night will be on day 3. If you have a sea day on day 2, the formal night will be on day 2. (This can vary, though, depending on the length of your trip and part of the world). 

Musing's Top Tip: For a faster meal, tell the waiter you have a show to catch. We did this one night and were out of there in only 1 hour and 15 minutes. 

Communication from Princess

One week before the cruise, your boarding pass will show up in the app. You’ll only receive a few emails from Princess between final payment and boarding. Some are informational/educational, highlighting dining options and entertainment. The last one, “Last Minute Must-Dos,” comes a few days before the trip and provides reminders on what you need to bring for check-in and details about the departure port. 

Musing's Top Tip: To really be in the know before you go, consider joining the Princess Facebook site. I got some great ideas and advice from previous cruisers. Hope these tips helped. 

By the way, we loved the Enchanted Princess. Stay tuned for a ship review coming soon! 

* Available only to guests from U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico

Broadway is Alive and Well – On a Cruise Ship Near You

An exec from a certain up-and-coming cruise line—which shall remain nameless—recently said something to the effect of “If they want to see a Broadway show, they’ll go Broadway.”

Guess he hasn’t been on a cruise lately.

From the heart-racing, exuberance of “Mamma Mia” to the mysterious, enigmatic “Cats,” we’re getting the best of both worlds—cruising and Broadway. And enjoying every minute.

Consider this: can you get into a show in NYC without paying for it? Get front row seats just by showing up early? Order a cocktail right before the curtain goes up without moving from your seat? 

Thankfully, Broadway is alive and well on a cruise ship near you. Here’s what’s playing at this writing:

Norwegian

“After Midnight” (Norwegian Escape) – Features the big-band songs of Duke Ellington and all that jazz. NCL says on its website, “Witness The Cotton Club come to life in a never-before-seen phenomenon at sea. Experience Broadway at its finest…!”

“Rock of Ages” (Norwegian Breakaway) – If you like the music of the 1980s, this musical is for you, complete with boy-meets-girl love story.

Royal Caribbean

“Hairspray” (Symphony of the Seas) – It debuted on Oasis of the Seas, but now it’s the featured show on RCI’s newest and biggest ship. RCI’s website says, “Mix big hair, big dreams and all the right moves and you’ve got one of the biggest Broadway hits of our time.”

“Grease” (Harmony of the Seas) – We all know the movie – heck, we know all the words of all the songs too. Poodle skirts, drive-in movies, malt shops and romance. With a happy ending to boot.

“Mamma Mia” (Allure of the Seas) – The movie might have had big stars, but the big voices are on the ship. A joyous celebration of ABBA songs and platform shoes, with a cute little story thrown in. You won’t even miss the Greek scenery.

“Cats” (Oasis of the Seas) – It was one of Broadway’s longest-running shows and has some of the coolest costumes. Brings fun, frolic and “Memories.”

 

“We will Rock You” (Anthem of the Seas) – This show played for a record-breaking 12 years in London, according to RCI’s website and features Queen tunes, including the popular title song.

“Saturday Night Fever” (Liberty of the Seas) – It’s the ‘70s once more when this show hits the stage. Think polyester. Dance moves. And the Beegees.

Princess

Not to be left waiting in the wings, the other lines are beefing up their shows as well. Touted as “Broadway style,” Princess is featuring “The Secret Silk” and “Born to Dance,” produced with Stephen Schwartz, the Oscar®, Grammy® and Tony® award-winning composer of “Wicked.” Check out Princess’ website for trailers.

Can we live without these shows? Sure. There’s plenty to see and do onboard without them. But for me, bring on the bright lights of Broadway on the Sea!

First two photos by RJGreenburg

Lugging Your Luggage and Other Things You Should Know About Getting Your Stuff Onboard and Off

One of the great things about cruising is that once you unpack, you don’t need to look at your luggage again for the rest of the trip. 

But that doesn’t make getting it on and off any less painful.

There are a few things we’ve discovered along the way, though, that have eased the burden a bit:

Plasticize your cruise tags. Printing the paper cruise luggage tags and stapling them to the handles is a hassle. And it’s way too easy for them to come off. Some folks laminate them. But investing just a few dollars in Amazon will get you plastic cruise tag holders with a secure wire clasp. Beats paper and staples anytime.

Shower your suitcase with color. Regular readers of this blog may remember our recent horror story of how our suitcase was taken by mistake in the cruise terminal and almost ended up 700 miles away from home. Tie a yellow ribbon—or a fuchsia one, for that matter—and whatever else will identify your case as your own. Be sure to add your name and contact info. A lock on it won’t hurt either.

Ensure your bags are ship shape. You don’t want to get to sea and discover you can only get at your clothing with a knife. Or that you need duct tape to keep it all in your suitcase when you leave. We’ve come uncomfortably close to getting in a jam—literally.

Watch your pockets. Be careful what you store in the outside pockets of your suitcase. There was a sad story in a Cruise Critic forum of a couple who put their passports in their suitcase outside pocket. With the chaos at drop-off, their suitcases were swiftly hauled away—before the couple could take out their passports. So their luggage went on the cruise without them.

Tip the bag handler. I don’t know about other ports, but in Port Everglades, if you want to ever see your bags again, be ready to tip the guy who takes them. Seriously.

What to carry on in your carryon. Aside from the usual stuff—medicines, valuables, etc.—bring anything breakable with you. If you ever saw how the bag handlers handled the bags, you’d cringe. If you ever saw the bags piled high on the carts and knew yours was on the bottom, you’d cringe. If you ever saw the way the crew dragged them through the ship hallways, you’d cringe. You get the picture.

Go door to door. If your stuff doesn’t show up by evening, wander the halls. More than once, we’ve found ours in front of someone else’s door.

Give ‘em up or keep ‘em with you? For the first time in 20+ cruises, we decided to do a walk off with our bags when we left. It was an experiment. The upside? We didn’t have to rush to meet that 11 p.m. deadline the night before to get our bags outside the door, sit around the next day for our number to be called and then hope our luggage was still there in the terminal. We could stroll out of the ship—albeit laden with luggage—whenever we felt like it.

There was a downside, though. The walk from room to pavement is a long and crowded one.

Alas, I’m sorry to say, on Disembarkation Day, there’s no easy way!

Cruising: An Industry on Fire

The sheer number of ships on order is staggering.

The millions the lines are spending on destinations is astonishing.

There’s no doubt about it: cruising is an industry on fire.

“I got chills, they're multiplying” – Danny Zuko, "Grease," Harmony of the Seas

In 2018, more than 27 million passengers are expected to cruise. That’s up from 17.8 million in 2009.

You know that when Sir Richard Branson wants a piece of the action, cruising is hot. His three upcoming ships are just a drop in the ocean—the cruise lines have 40 on order through 2026. This year alone will see 27 new ships sailing the seas. And more than 35 percent will be Caribbean-bound.

At the same time, the cruise lines are putting money into developing new and better places for us to go. Royal Caribbean will be spending $200 million to renovate CocoCay, and there are new ports being proposed or already under construction in the Bahamas, Honduras and Tortuga (off Haiti).

What’s more, the lines are tripping over themselves to give us the biggest whiz-bang for our buck—from onboard technology to over-the-top shows to celebrity chef cuisine.

What’s behind all the fuss? Those of us who’ve done it once, twice or more know that cruising can't be beat in value and flexibility. You can choose a ship that’s small, medium or large. That meanders the rivers or rides the tides. Soak up the sun on a lounger, zip-line above the ocean or scuba down below. Bring your best buddy or your whole brood.

Yes, cruising’s for everyone. Spread the word. We want to fill all these new ships to be sure the lines keep ‘em coming, and giving us more ways to enjoy our precious vacations.

Sources: Cruise Lines International Association, Cruise Radio, Cruise Fever