KKB

Or only day 1?

If we buy a bottle of wine at a port will we be allowed to take it to our room? (Pretty sure I know the answer but a friend isn’t convinced I’m right)

It will be listed in daily activities. Anyone can go no matter what cabin

I can't use AARP gift cards in Austraila...have my fingers crossed I get my 10% with this! Concerning...they show up as "Shore ExAUD" or "Bon Voyage" in THREE DIFFERENT TRANSACTIONS (even tho I made it in one) on my credit card statement...doesn't look promising that it will trigger with those...ugh. UGH--I JUST REALIZED MY HUSBAND'S CARD HAD THE 15%🤬 And the site says it won't be up until tomorrow. THAT is INFURIATING.

Even tho we booked before they added them? No complaints here!

We booked our Oct cruise in April but didn't add Princess Plus until June at $60pp. I just opened my app & clicked on Packages-- It is showing the 2 comped casual dining options, Oceanview Delivery Access (free, I guess) & drinks to $15. So it appears we were grandfathered in?

I did Princess last summer & this spring solo as well as NCL solo last summer. NCL did a MUCH better job--daily solo meets, tables reserved for solos. I went to the Princess solo meet up--NOBODY CAME. I had a good time on both cruises, and I don't really do the solo events but those were my observations. Yes, they will seat you with others if you do My Time Dining.

I did my 1st solo cruise last year & have done several since. I am SO sorry for your loss, but applaud you for wanting to put yourself out there. NCL does a GREAT job of daily Solo meet ups. Best I've seen on the cruises I've done solo. I popped in one day; perhaps about 25 there, playing 2 Truths & a Lie to get to know one another. Wide variety of ages from 30s-70s, men & women. They have tables reserved at various restaurants each night & you can sign up to sit with other solos. You may find you hit it off & hang all week...or not.😉 Even as an extrovert, I enjoy tucking myself in a corner & reading. I get to know the crew at various bars & they take care of me. That adds the pleasure of my cruise. You might consider the Solo cabins on NCL as you get access to the Solo lounge--another opportunity to meet others. Excursions--consider your personality. Would you rather explore on your own, or join an excursion? I have met others on excursions...and sometimes not as much. Your first cruise will be melancholic. Expect it & lean into it. Give yourself lots of grace. And enjoy. Happy travels.

To piggyback on Ken (as we did this cruise last month) I agree with much he said. A couple differences: We LOVED Valetta--we ate typical Maltese food & wandered & loved it. Messina--only DD went to town & it was her least fav port. Heard Taormina was FAB. Florence--we did a Tuscany excursion & it was FABULOUS. HIGHLY recommend. Agree Taste was slow but Manhatten was fab service--but food comes from the same galley, so there is no difference in quality, tho it certainly can be situational. We were quite please with nearly all our meals but the steaks in MDR were not very good.

OK...mine is a NZ cruise & everything is in AUS $. Has anyone had success doing this w/ AUS $? (I know I can't buy AARP GC's as they won't let them thru on AUS $) I see nothing in the fine print on my SWA card...pretty much figuring I'm going to get these excursions anyway...but I'd bump up to use the max Chase allows with Cruise Cash if I know it will work!

Perfect. That's what I was hoping.

I'm not 100% I want it...but I can get an extra 10% off with my Chase card if I do it this week. Puts it at about $65/day--about as high as I like to pay. I am trying a cruise w/o a drink plan next week...mostly as BFF doesn't drink & $150/day for the 2 of us doesn't make sense. Bringing on wine & some sodas to try to minimize purchases. So I will have a better idea of whether it's worth it or not after next week. SO thinking buy it; if I determine I don't need it, return it. Will that work?

I hear you about expectations. Honestly the cruise itself wasn't all the different than others. But the passenger issue is odd--and I have seen the same comments in numerous reviews. LOL about your husband & credit cards. I'm the $ person...my left brain to DH's right brain. He has asked if we will ever have just ONE credit card. I said absolutely not--but I evaluate each one annually to be sure we are AT least breaking even with benefits. I have a couple no annual fee ones that were really a "hit & run"--the bonus points were nice but they are worthless now. I'll probably cancel just to minimize fraud, and I'm not worried about our credit score. We DID just bite the bullet & get an American Express Platinum. $695 is a VERY tough pill to swallow. But: --$20/mo streaming credit ($240)--just switched our billing to this card on things we already were paying for! --$200/yr airline credit (luggage, upgrades, inflight purchases) --$155/yr Free Walmart Plus membership--free Walmart deliveries & free Paramount Plus subscription --$15/mo Uber credit + $20 more in dec. ($200 potential--with traveling almost monthly) --$189/yr CLEAR credit (not essential...but seeing the line of hundreds we bypassed last month, I think I like this benefit) --$100/yr Saks credit (a bit of an extra; but already have an eye on some shoes DH wanted) --Extensive lounge memberships--going to check out the Centurian Lounge this month. (I use Priority Pass but they aren't everywhere; we have learned that lounges can save us quite a bit, especially on drinks) --5x points on flights --Nice extra perks for cruises booked thru them (I shop around before booking) (--Also TSA/Global Entry free but I have that on a number of cards--BUT we have learned our children can simply use our card to pay for it to get it free for themselves) I will re-evaluate annually as I do with all cards, but I think we can justify it.

OK we have an excursion at 11:45 that will depart from near the pier; we need to be there at 11:30. We would like to have a meal at the Crab House. Opens at 10. Should we be there at 10 to eat--will we have time to get back to the pier by 11:30? Or our tour is done at 2:45; ship leaves at 5. (onboard 4:30?) Will we have time after? Or are we just out of luck??!!

DH retired at 58 2 yrs ago, me last year at 56. Blessed to have solid pensions that allowed us to retire at that age & a few investments to cover extra traveling expenses these days. As far as day to day, we spend very little on "stuff" Downsized 5 years ago from 3K sq. ft. to 1800 sq. ft. No mortgage. 2 cars, paid off. One is 12 YO & I really just drive for errands. Worth the $50/mo. to insure. Furniture: either we have had it for years or got it from FB Marketplace. We did replace a 20YO LR set last year. Not risking bed bugs with upholstered furniture used. Less than $3K for sofa, chair, ottoman & recliner was reasonable. The bulk of our budget goes to DH's golf habit & my(our) traveling habit. It was the plan going into retirement & thus why we set our goals on having no car/house payments when we retired. Luckily even with our amped up travel, our investments have done well enough that we have seen little change in our overall portfolio even with the extra withdrawals. Blessed.

WELL...I still didn't love it. I don't know why but on both cruises there were a large number of passengers w/ no concept of common courtesy...saw trays bumped into others' backs, no regard for lines, children physically being pushed aside, etc. REPEATEDLY. That really put a sour taste in my mouth. I travel a lot; I've seen rude people. But not to this extent. On BOTH cruises (I don't know how that is possible...does MSC have a culture that just draws people like this??!!) It was a great price & I got to see the UK (FELL IN LOVE) & Norway (liked, no huge desire to go back). My 1st room was a large interior. My 2nd was a little smaller, but I could hear the rotation of the engines & it triggered 2 migraines in 1 day so I asked to be moved...got an even smaller room. Requested the large interior next to my old one as I knew it was open, but no go. Took FOREVER to get that room change request resolved. Same with an extra charge on my account at the end. Seems these things could be handled simply; I get the impression they kind of hope all the hoops you have to go thru to resolve things, that people just give up & forget about it. On board activities were bizarre in Europe--trivia in 4 languages is trying (don't get me wrong--I get why); shows were "meh" as before; food was decent. Met some Canadians I spent time with & the crew was wonderful. I paid so little for all these MSC cruises...yet, the thought of booking one again isn't appealing.

Check out The Points Guy One Mile at a Time Thrifty Traveler Nerd Wallet All have great tips on points. I have transferred from Chase/Citi/AmEx/Capital One to various airlines & hotels. Each card has certain ones you can transfer to. I transferred Chase miles to Asia Miles to book AA flights. Here is an article that might help your particular situation: (simple Google search) https://thriftytraveler.com/guides/points/book-delta-virgin-atlantic/

I just read that we cannot use these to pay onboard expenses on Australian cruises due to the different currency. Can anyone confirm?

Nonsense. We have sailed 34 times in 20 years on Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, RCCL, NCL, MSC & DCL. Life is about variety. Enjoy!

I have had ANY martini made for me in a smaller glass on the regular package. Just smaller, perhaps with Titos instead of Grey Goose.

Had it on Beyond at Le Voyage in April. SUPERB. The garlic almond soup served over fruit was OUT OF THIS WORLD. (can't remember exact name) We all wanted to lick the bowl clean & get another... (loved the juxtaposition of things that do not seem to go together that just made magic!)

Sailed Beyond in April. Didn't notice a thing. Sailed Edge for 2 weeks in 2021 & Apex for a week last year--also didn't notice anything.

THIS. It wanted $200 each to upgrade to unlimited before our 10 day cruise last month. On day 2, I was able to upgrade just me for $100.

I agree with this 100% on Eclass. (I am Gen X) I find Princess & older Celebrity ships to be VERY similar in "feel" But I find shows on Princess & other older Celebrity ships to be fairly "meh". After Eclass shows & Broadway level shows on NCL & RCCL, they feel very "high school"-esque.

I have encountered chaos & calm on both lines depending when & where we sailed. We were able to drop our carry ons on Celebrity but not Princess so confused here. OK...long time Princess & Celebrity cruiser here. Other lines too, but in 20 years these we have sailed the most. For me, slight edge of Celebrity over Princess. I had to make a couple corrections to your comments that aren't true, as well as my thoughts--proving that depending on when & where, experiences can vary. Regarding food; we find Princess & Celebrity to be fairly comparable in MDR & buffet. (tho step up on Celebrity Eclass) We have not been happy w/ Princess specialty dining but LOVE Celebrity specialty dining. One note--have you tried Celebrity Eclass ships? (Apex, Ascent, Beyond & Edge). When we tried Celebrity after 5 Princess cruises, we felt service & food were a small step above other lines, including Princess. But EClass? This is a step above other ships on Celebrity, IMO. (I will say, that by & large we find service excellent on all ships we have sailed; the occasional crew member not so much, but it is rare & situational)