Torfamm

Change is hard for most of us. When airlines went to e-tickets , online seat selection and check-in and cruise lines introduced similar options, lots of people were distrustful or just couldn’t see any reason to bother with it all. Today, we’d think it was crazy to have to go to a travel agent, airline office or the airport to get tickets for a flight or go get hard copies of cruise documents. I don’t have any idea how people without computers and access to the internet fly anywhere or cruise. While there are people who don’t see any reason to have a smart phone or any mobile phone at all, their numbers are shrinking. Even for seniors who say they are resistant to acquiring technology, they are a safety net. I would never want to have to try to find a pay phone in an emergency or carry a land line phone around the house in my pocket, Even key cards for hotel rooms or cruise ship cabins threw plenty of people for a loop since unlike traditional keys they had no room number printed on them. They also had magnetic strips that could stop working. We’d be shocked to be handed physical keys now. Especially the ones on giant fobs. I imagine it won’t be long before we are all accustomed to using the medallion and there is no doubt that smart phone use will be even more common than it is now. This is all just growing pains.

If you book a private tour it is possible

I would consider trying to hire a private guide who could pick you up at the hotel in the morning and drop you off at the ship in the afternoon

You can see what is scheduled for your cruise in the Journey View activity timeline in the app. I’ve seen it start to populate as much as 60 days before sailing

I agree that Celebrity and Princess are more alike than different. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned- Princess has self-service laundry. It is very helpful on long trips

It would always be my preference but I wouldn’t stay home over it. If the itinerary, dates, and price all match my needs it might very well be worth the trouble.

I see. So the issue isn’t the Princess gift cards but participating in the AARP Rewards program at all. I guess that makes a certain amount of sense. Is the a similar organization in Canada as there is with Automobile Clubs?

I’ve seen it on the Princess Twitter account, and their Facebook page as well if I remember correctly. They are posting it all over

It’s under rewards terms when you select a Princess gift card. I have no idea if Rewards membership is limited to US residents, but it states explicitly that Canadian residents can purchase e-gift cards for delivery by email https://www.aarp.org/rewards/redeem/#all_rewards

Yes, that is correct. The Princess Cruises gift cards sold on the AARP Rewards site are now available to Canadian residents. They were not in the past

@Steelers36 the website shows that AARP gift cards are now available to residents of Canada

You can see which nights are scheduled as formal nights in the Journey View activities timeline in the app. Every evening will show either “casual” or “formal” portraits. I’ve seen it populate as much as a couple of months before a cruise.

It can’t be done on the website but you can do it by phone if you want.

I just did it last week but I suppose it’s possible. I have encountered agents who don’t know how to apply a gift card but not a policy prohibiting their use

I purchased OBC by phone pre-cruise in November and had no problem paying with gift cards. I’ve also never had any difficulty paying my account with them at guest services either. My only suggestion would be to avoid doing it on the first or last day of a cruise since it can be busy.

That’s an easy answer. For you it would all be about coffee, water and mocktails. I’m sure lots of people would spend $14 a day on those items so Plus still might be a good deal. If I drink 1 specialty coffee, 1 bottled water, 1 cocktail, and 1 glass of wine daily, $14 a day for beverages is a great deal.

It is as stated - 2 per cruise. Good value on a 4 night? Maybe. Not so much on a world cruise.

It was at 6:35 on Saturday. We were scheduled to arrive at 4:00 and told to expect walk offs to begin at 7:00. Those times are all the earliest I’ve seen in Port Everglades. I’d only book flights before 11:00 if I was comfortable with having to deal with a missed flight though. For every time a ship is cleared early, there is a time when it is cleared late. If you are still sitting and waiting at 8:35 will you be stressed?

My booking confirmation for a Mediterranean cruise included instructions for those returning to the airport in Rome to get the transfer to Civitavecchia. Obviously, they expect many to do it

You can check for discounted prices at https://onestopparking.com/ Last time I parked the price at Park N Go was the same as parking at the Port Everglades garage. I ended up booking Park by the Ports at One Stop Parking and was very happy with them

To be fair, it’s been a long time since any of us has seen a phone book!

Really? That’s interesting. Phone books had addresses as well as phone numbers in all of the states that I’ve lived in.

I agree Princess Plus was a great deal compared to other cruise lines drink packages. I would absolutely have understood a price increase. What bothered me was that the first price increase when Premier was introduced came with a corresponding increase in wine prices that put a number of my regular choices above the price limit for Plus. I wish they’d just raised it $20 at the beginning. I also think this is all a better value for those who take short cruises. Maybe offering a number of specialty dining meals or exercise classes proportionate to the length of the cruise would have been more palatable.

You can see which nights and at what time shows are scheduled. In the Journey View Activities timeline in the app. I’ve seen it populate as much as a couple of months before a cruise

It sounds like the TA is incompetent if they don’t know that the travel summary and other paperwork would outline passport requirements. That said, if the passengers weren’t able to read their travel summary for whatever reason - eyesight, language issues, illiteracy etc. , they should have asked someone to do it for them and perhaps relied on their TA to do it. There is no way Princess was unclear about this in the travel documents