h-sar

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

I'd say YIKES to $800, let alone $1200.  But then, I fly out of YYZ or BUF.

The only thing the other larger CDN cities have us beat in terms of cost of living would be flights to just about anywhere 😫.  Looking forward to retirement in a year when I can take advantage of non-peak prices.

Thanks, everyone. Figured out what the problem was after following some instructions above. Apparently, there is some minor change to my flight for this coming December, and as a result, my account is not able to show me the flight. I had to contact my travel agent this morning and was able to get the flight information from her.
 

For anyone who is even mildly curious, 😁, I am apparently paying $808 per person, Canadian, from Edmonton to Fort Lauderdale return at Christmas/New Yrs. Sadly, this particular week may no longer be viable for us due to kids’ work. Booking a few days prior means we would lose this EzAir booking - and the flights right now are about $1200 pp. Yikes. Maybe we have to stay home one more year and invest in kitchen flooring instead.😥

Does anyone know where I can access information, on my account, about the price I booked my ezAir for? Can’t seem to find it on my account even though the flight info is all there. Can always call Princess directly if I can’t find the info on my acct. Thanks 

Love your writing style! Looking forward to reading a lot more of your upcoming adventures.

1 hour ago, riffatsea said:

It's and ad telling you to book an Alaska cruise

That’s what I suspected, but thought I’d check here - just in case.
😁

said “Canadian Dollars at Par: Now is the time to book Alaska!”

Anyone know offhand if this refers just to some specific Alaska booking? Don’t know if I want to be on hold with Princess, so thought I would check here first.
I don’t imagine I can buy some OBC at par for my upcoming Christmas cruise? 😁

Have used machines on 4 different Princess ships and they average around 35 min, give or take a couple of min, for wash and the same for dry. In the approximate 30 loads of laundry done on Princess over 15 years, I have never felt the need to babysit my laundry and have never had anything taken. Of course, I am always mindful of the time and return a few min before I know the cycle will be over so that I’m not inconveniencing anyone else. I find the best time is as soon as I wake up. Will throw a load in, go shower, and am back in plenty of time. If the machines on your deck are all busy, go up or down a level.  I am careful about drying some of my items in the machines; will hang dry some items in the cabin.
 

Nice to hear about the free tokens, but I’m suspecting it’s a temporary gift. I take laundry pods and static sheets from home as the prices on board can add up. Will be elite after one more cruise and wish they’d allow for a choice between the dry cleaning/laundry perk or being given free tokens. So much faster just to do my own. 
 

We have done multi-generational trips on the Regal Princess and Oasis of the Seas. We have also done Princess in the Mediterranean with our kids when they were 14 and 16. In the Caribbean, for a multi-generational trip, I might lean toward Royal Caribbean. However, for a Mediterranean cruise, I would definitely go with Princess.

The Med is very port intensive and the kids will be exhausted when you come back. The activities on RCL would be better enjoyed on a Caribbean cruise. As well, princess will fit in better with your parents’ desire for a smaller ship. When we did the Med, we had private tours booked and were always eager to get off the ship as soon as we possibly could. The 2000 greater passenger load on Symphony might result in less ease getting off and on the ship. And I agree with alabama above that you will find a far greater variety of open eating venues on Princess when you board  after a port or even late in the evening. Yes, I agree with all the posters above that Symphony will have much more to offer in terms of activities for the kids; however, best to save them for the Caribbean when the kids can actually enjoy them. 

We typically cruise over the Christmas break for the two weeks. Each time, I purchase a new long, sparkly dress for New Year’s eve from the ROSS store adjacent to our go-to hotel in Ft L. It’s easy to justify the one time wear of the dress given the $19.99 price I typically pay 😁.

Just wondering if there are any changes in the newer build. Nothing significant I would suspect, given that they’re sister ships, but wondered if there are any tweaks or small changes.

On 10/30/2021 at 5:14 AM, ontheweb said:

It is the same principle as when my TA has told me he only gives OBC rather than something specific like a bottle of wine because he would rather have the passenger have the option of what to do with the extra he provides. Cash works the same way with the crew.

In the hundreds of tipping threads I have fallen down the rabbit hole with on CC, this provides the best rebuttal. The next time you’re wondering whether to give a crew member candy/socks/keychain, etc. versus cash, ask yourself what you would like your travel agent to give YOU for your next cruise. Thank you, ontheweb, for this perfect response. And this applies even for those who are giving those sundry items above and beyond the regular gratuities. Five dollars worth of candy or five dollars cash which can be converted to 250 rupees for an Indian crew member? I know what I’d prefer.

2 hours ago, joanne59 said:

We love them so much, we are taking 2…in a row. Wonder to Barcelona, then fly home and taking Rhapsody right back over there. Finally being retired allows us the option to enjoy lazy days at sea before transitioning to a few more port intensive Mediterranean cruises. Yes, the prices is right for all those glorious  relaxing days at sea!

I’ll echo the previous post by TeaBag…WOW! 

On 10/9/2021 at 8:52 AM, LACruiser88 said:

We bring our own powder detergent in a zip lock bag, no problems...

 It’s only a problem when you try to transport white Tide powder in a plain ziplock bag across Can-US on a flight in a carryon. Yeah…didn’t go over very well 😆. Thankfully, the agent at the X-ray machine had a sense of humour and I ended up having to buy some detergent at a KMart near the pre-cruise hotel to replenish what he thought it better to throw out, rather than risk trouble at my next layover. 😁 Now, it’s pods in a small leak proof disposal container all the way! 

Love hearing everyone’s thoughts on what attracts them to the TA’s. 🙂

Thank you for sharing.

I appreciate everyone’s insights 🙂

Have only ever done winter Caribbean cruises, and one Med, so am looking ahead to a post retirement cruise in a couple of years.

For me, one of the most decadent aspects of cruising is having two cabin services. Please don’t judge 😁. It’s one of the few times in my life that this wife and mother gets pampered like this. (And seeing how hard they work, we do always tip well beyond the normal gratuities). If it’s now just one, I certainly won’t be crushed, just a bit wistful 🙂.

7 hours ago, jfboy2000 said:

 

Our last pre pandemic cruise was 14 days on the Sky at the busiest time, Christmas and New Years. We got off after the first leg around 9:00 am, on our own, so didn’t have to wait for the group of back to backers. It did help that we all have Nexus cards and were able to use that line (would definitely have been a longer process otherwise, I’m sure). Walked 10 min over to Ross to pick up a New Yrs eve gown 😁 and got back in line around 11:00 to board. Wasn’t busy and took about 10 min on the return. I envy you your 14 days coming up! Loved the Sky 😊.

Thanks for the insights, Jeter02! Much appreciated. For ourselves, we always book cabins on a deck that has only cabins above and only cabins below; however, this cabin is for my parents, and I thought deck 15 midship would be a good location for them to access the buffet and the pools one floor up. A bit worried about noise from above though. Catch 22. 😁

Just booked a cruise for next year after almost two years of not being able to sail 😀. We are on the new Enchanted in an interior, M524, just under the pastry shop section of the buffet, just back of mid ship. Has anyone stayed in a similar Royal class location? Just wondering how noise might be if we’re under one of the buffet kitchens. First hand accounts would be appreciated. Thank you 😊 

Golden Princess, New Yrs 2007, out of New Orleans, for the following reasons:

1. Our first ever cruise. My parents were with us and the kids were 8 and 10, still full of wide eyed excitement. Well, so were all the adults, frankly!

2. This was all before Cruise Critic came into my life, so had no visions in my head of food, activities, the sheer size of the ship. Everything I knew about cruising came from having watched first run episodes of the Love Boat back in the day. Nothing beats the wonderment of stepping onto a cruise ship for the very first time, having seen no YouTube videos, no Instagram pictures, etc. Will never be able to experience that feeling again. Now, I do so much research beforehand, I could probably walk onto most ships blindfolded and find my way around, LOL. Definitely something to be said for going in without any knowledge. 
3. This was about 16 months after the devastation of hurricane Katrina and cruise ships were just starting to sail again from New Orleans. The devastation in certain parts of the city was still evident, but it was good to see the economy rising up and tourists like us returning. In fact, princess was using large tents for the check in process as the port had not been rebuilt.

4. The most fortuitous part of this was that our first ever cruise happened to be on a Princess ship. We became spoiled for any other line and will be elite after one more week (which was supposed to have happened this coming Christmas 😔; fingers crossed for Dec 2021!)

Did CarrieB during the day, pre-cruise 4 yrs ago, a couple of days before Christmas. Loved it! 

On 4/15/2020 at 7:45 PM, Noodles84 said:

Global News Canada stated on this evening's news that both Princess and Holland America were cancelling any cruises from Canadian ports for the rest of the year.  That pretty much takes out Alaskan cruises for 2020! Nicole

Relative just had Princess cancel their Alaska cruise for Sept. 

Lumiere Chef’s Table on Regal New Yrs 2019 - probably the singular best dining experience I’ve ever had (service and food) and I’ve eaten my way through most of Italy, Spain, and Greece multiple times on land trips 🙂. Definitely an experience my family will never forget and hope to replicate on the Sky this Christmas 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼.

The last two are from the Crab Shack on Regal on this same cruise.