Muffinz

we've discovered the same problem... we cruise in December 2024 and final payment is due September and we can't make any reservations in the MDR until final payment has been made.... but we're not too worried about it.

3 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

It's  an actual person who takes your luggage and takes it out the back to a storeroom somewhere. They get you to take a photo on your phone of your luggage before they take it away. When you get back you have to show ID and the photo. I think it is secure. The entrance is next to a restaurant, and it is well signposted.

ok thanks for that help

3 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

Yes I have used Bounce. Best to book, because sometimes they reach capacity when a cruise ship is in.

ok great - price is pretty reasonable... So how does it work - is there an actual person on site who takes your luggage and stores it somewhere or are you given like an access code to a locker unit or similar?

We've booked our return flight - on Qantas..... they had a special on and we splurged out for business class

Only problem is the flight is 5:45pm and we'll probably be off the ship by about 9am, so we'll have a few hours to kill before we need to go to the airport.

I've found a luggage storage place called 'bounce' in circular quay - does anyone have any experience using them? I'll need to check they are open on 26 December too

15 hours ago, jean-lynd said:

Did you try to log in using your booking number? I couldn't do it with userid and password but booking number works. I was able to do it before I was paid in full. I hope this helps!

I was just in the app - all our details were there and the only thing missing was reading / accepting the passenger contract.

I didn't see a part where I could enter ther booking number.

I'll try again and see what happens

edited to add I tried again and it worked... what happened is I had to scroll and scroll and scroll down on my phone to the end of the passenger contract before the 'next' button would come up

it keeps on wanting me to order the medallion, but on the same page says medallions can only be ordered by and shipped US and Canada

but the travel checklist has a big 'tick' next to it and that's all good

We can't make any dinner reservations until after we've made full payment in September so we'll just have to wait until then

I tried using the app last night and it wouldn't let me accept the passenger contract and press save / next

and I've just tried the link above in post #14 and it wouldn't let me log in - said to try again later

I don't know if it is a fault at Princess end or if it's because our cruise is not until December and we've not made final payment?

I'm not in any hurry, but I've done everything else on the app to get ready (passports, credit card, photos...etc) so thought I'd do the passenger contract and get that all done

17 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Celebrity work their show times differently to Princess. The 7pm show was aimed at late diners and the 9pm show at early diners. That was one of the things that annoyed us about Celebrity as we prefer to dine late then go to a show. 

we did the opposite on Celebrity - went to the show at 7pm then dinner at 8:30pm

but I think we'll do the opposite on Princess - dinner first then see the show

Thanks for the replies

I know on Celebrity Solstice the show times were 7pm and 9pm in 2018

but we'll try to book for 7pm or something so we have plenty of time to make the 9:30pm show

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

It can vary depending on port calls.   Easiest with anytime dining.  Only wait is the first night as a bit chaotic and just after each show gets out.

thanks - I don't think we can book / reserve anything until we've made final payment? - I think I read something on here a month or so ago

is this the same ship wide?

we are on Crown Princess in December and would also like to make dinner reservations based on the show times

I asked this question on the Princess forum a while back and got mixed answers that were more confusing than helpful, but does anyone know what time the shows will be on in the theatre on Crown Princess in December?

I believe they do 2 shows a night, but are they 7pm - 9pm or 7:30pm - 9:30pm or other times?

Reason for asking is we want to book dining times and need to know the show times in order to book the appropriate dining time

thanks in advance

thanks - good to know the Ptrincess ships have retractable clothes lines

just a question - do they allow you to dry your clothes outside on the balcony?

e.g. if you hand wash your socks / underpants can you use pegs / clips to hang them from the balcolny chairs?

We did this on Celebrity Solstice and it worked well, but do Princess frown upon things like this?

thanks for the replies - we'll play it by ear on the day and see how it all goes

Can you get priority boarding or be moved to the front of the boarding queue if you have knee / mobility issues? and do you need to inform Princess before you get to the cruise terminal?

My wife might be having a knee operation in September (yet to be confirmed) and although we don't cruise until 14 December she may have problems standing for long periods at a time.

if this is the case could we ask someone at the cruise terminal (Sydney Australia) if we can go to the front of the queue?

She may be fine by December, but I just thought I'd ask

thanks for the replies

We'll be staying in a hotel in Sydney and will no doubt have to check out at 10am, so I said to wife we might as well get a taxi down to the cruise terminal and just wait

if the weather is fine outside, we can enjoy the sunshine 😀

14 minutes ago, robncruise said:

Pretty certain I have always had to show a passport - maybe a Govt issued ID would have been ok.

But being from NZ in a foreign country I wouldnt risk not having my passport on me.  

oh we'll have passports with us, but our immigration in Australia will take place when we land at Sydney Airport and go through customs / immigration... if they want to see the passports at the cruise port then we will get them out, but I don't see why they would

Just now, robncruise said:

They will definitely want to see your passports.

even if we are just travelling domestically within Australia?

thanks - the cruise is going from Sydney back to Sydney, so no immigration will be needed as there are no overseas ports.

We will still take our passports to the cruise terminal  'just in case' they want to see them, but I have scanned them into the app already

12 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I would check with the Aust/NZ forum, as SYD may be a little different.  Someone else started a thread similar to yours.  You might check it out for information.

 

We are early boarders too.  Love to get settled, have lunch in the MDR and relax.

thanks for that - I'll look on that part of the forum  🙂

thanks for the info - we are boarding Crown Princess in December at Sydney OPT

we're having a discussion about when best to embark.... I want to get to the OPT about 10:30-11am and get on the ship as soon as possible before the crowds, but wife said there'd be huge queues then and it's best to get there about 1pm once the queues have 'died down'  - but I'd like to be on the ship by then having something to eat / drink....

26 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I am a "get there/board early" passenger.  Unfortunately, you will not be in the Green Lane since Princess does not ship medallions to New Zealand.  The blue lane will need to pickup the medallions at the port upon check in.  Some have said this is a painless process.

 

What does does it say embarkation starts?  I am usually at San Pedro (LA) by 10 - 10:30 and onboard by 11:30.  Do you have any loyalty level perks for priority boarding?

 

It is nice to board early and have a leisurely lunch in the MDR (on Deck 6 from noon to 1:30).

ok thanks for that - I thought if we completed all our paperwork on the app, we'd be good to go and just have to pick up our medallion at the port?

I remember for our first cruise (on Solstice) we had to provide credit cards and get our photo taken at the cruise port terminal, but we can do this all on the app and I've done most of it already

I don't know what time embarkation starts as the cruise is still 9 months away.... but Princess will probably send out the embarkation info well before the cruise sail date

this is our first ever Princess cruise - so no loyalty perks or anything unfortunately

We are on Crown Princess from Sydney (Australia) in December and we are in the process of finalising flights / hotel pre cruise - we're getting very excited! 

Last night we were talking about embarkation day and wife said she doesn't want to queue for an hour (give or take) waiting to board the ship and she wants to get to the Cruise terminal in Sydney about 1pm to 'avoid' the queues.... I said that by 1pm I intend to be on the ship having something to eat / drink and relaxing... and I suggested getting to the cruise terminal about 11am-11:30am, but she is dead against this and said in the morning there will be big queues with everyone trying to get on the ship at the same time and she thinks that by about 1pm the queues would have 'died down'

I said that if we have all our details correct we should be in the 'green line' and boarding should be easier than it was in 2018 when we boarded Celebrity Solstice in Sydney (that took about 60 minutes).

Wife doesn't like standing for long periods of time as she has a dodgy knee, but I said it doesn't matter what time we get to the cruise terminal there will be queues, as Crown Princess holds over 3000 passengers.

I'd just prefer to board early so we can relax, unpack our luggage and spend the afternoon exploring the ship.

what are other peoples thoughts on an early or later embarkation?

On 2/29/2024 at 8:57 AM, PacnGoNow said:

If you booked it online with Princess, you would call in and tell them to mark it No upgrade.

 

If you booked with a TA or CVP call them to mark it.

 

But, recheck it periodically, as mentioned, they sometimes UG it anyway.

 

 

 

 

We did this when we booked our cruise for Dec 2024 - just incase they give us a stateroom in a noisy location or something

5 minutes ago, robncruise said:

Yes EZ air is Princess acting as a travel agent for many of the airlines if you look at any cruise underneath where it says book now it says itinerary, shore excursions, flight quotes . what flights are available in the cruise personaliser. I would recommend you read a up about EZ Air . Sometimes (not often) they are cheaper than direct with the airlines. They have restricted  and flexible airfares. Flexible are usually more expensive but the advantage is you dont pay until final payment of the cruise AND you can cancel/ change up to 45 days before departure. There are a no of other benefits too.

Yes - I had a look at EZ air and they bought up the same flights we've already looked at, and they were more expensive than booking direct with the airlines

7 hours ago, lyndarra said:

CKS Sydney airport hotel shows a double king room for $152 (Booking.com) for Dec 26. They run a shuttle to the airport. I've stayed there many times pre international flights,

thanks for that - it's good to know

but I think for this time we will opt for a later flight in the afternoon