Itchy&Scratchy

and that's what cruisecritic is for. 🙂

don't know about the pool chairs, but with Harmony and Indy (not at full capacity last Nov) it was pretty crowded on the beaches.

something we didn't know about Alfredo's/GiGi's on our first Regal Princess cruise is that it's free. FREE. 🙂

well, that's just silly. We are casual, but we still go to MDR on formal nights... It's not like we are wearing shorts and t-shirts, but pants and a casual blouse/men's shirt will do. Dressing casually will never preclude me from eating "formal" food.

yes, it's working off of the intranet.

yes, of course, there is a kid's menu. Regular stuff that I remember - a hot dog, chicken nuggets, etc. My kid didn't like any of it (neither did I), so we mostly ordered the wonderful Fettuccine Alfredo and steamed veggies.

I look up cruises weekly and go as far as doing a faux booking, but CVP rarely ever contacts me. Once in a long while with some kind of promotion... Speaking of which - she hasn't contact me on her own in quite some time.

you can just ignore her and not use her for anything, and it will "get rid" of her. If you DO want a different PVP, contact Princess and switch. We have been assigned Heidi and used her assistance for our upcoming cruise and she's been pretty good.

If we get upgraded and I don't like the location (I hate aft balconies), I may go that route. I too booked our upcoming cruise through a Princess Vacation Planner. 🙂

when were they installed? Didn't have them back in Nov 2019.

my heart has just almost leaped out of my chest - I opened my email and saw an email from Princess with my booking number in the heading... For a second I thought - oh, my upgrade is here! Turns out, it's just an invite to a Love Boat Piazza Party...

"Submitting an upgrade offer does not guarantee an upgrade nor does this program guarantee availability in any particular stateroom category. PCL reserves the right to not accept any offer regardless of offer amount or stateroom availability. Availability of upgrades is limited and is made at the sole discretion of PCL. PCL reserves the right to accept any offer from the time it is submitted to the departure date and time. Offers are priced per person at double occupancy for the stateroom. Stateroom upgrades are only valid on the cruise portion of a booking and are not applicable to any land portion hotel stays. Once your offer is accepted, the upgrade amount paid is final and non-refundable. The upgrade does not include any additional promotions. Current promotions on the reservation will not be altered. PCL cannot guarantee a specific stateroom number assignment within the upgraded category. Your stateroom number will depend on space availability and cannot be changed."

well, it's not what Princess says on their bid page. It specifically says that we cannot change cabins after an upgrade has been assigned to us.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2885416-upgrade-bid-accepted-is-this-a-good-cabin/ Poster jennaja (see above) was able to switch cabins after the upgrade was approved/assigned. She got upgraded to R407 and switched it to C409.

every time we cruise, it's the taxi/uber driver who lifts our suitcases out of the trunk. Sometimes they don't, so my husband fishes them out. I too tend to tip the taxi/uber driver more if they help with the luggage. If they just stand there watching us getting our suitcases out of the trunk, I am a lot less inclined to tip or to tip more...

I would 100% choose Majestic instead of Caribbean Princess. Never had any food on Princess we didn't like, with a notable exception of the kid's menu on Caribbean Princess many years ago. We cruise on Princess for food. 🙂

the porter literally puts your bags on a huge dolly and that's it. The person pushing your wheelchair is doing it for a much longer time and distance. We usually give $5 for 2 suitcases. $5 to push the wheelchair at the airport. I think I'd give $10 to push through the terminal and onto the ship.

not all that formal at all. DH wears pants and a button down shirt. I wear pants and a blouse. never seen one.

Apex it is.

so, how many shares do I need to buy in order to get Princess OBC? How much is the OBC? Will I get it if the cruise is 50 days away?

my experience was from 2018... Who knows what's going to happen in 2023. It looks like everything cruise related is going back to pre-pandemic times right this moment. My kid at that age just watched cartoons or movies on his tablet during dinner (with headphones, of course). Now that he is 11, he chose to talk to us during MDR dinners which pleasantly surprised us. He doesn't do kid's club, though.

not for mere mortals... This is all I got: UPGRADE OPTIONS Premium Deluxe Balcony This larger balcony stateroom provides outstanding views. From $335 USD pp Deluxe Balcony This impressive larger balcony stateroom gives you more space than a standard stateroom. From $300 USD pp Standard Balcony Enjoy your own private outdoor space with a table, two chairs, and a relaxing view. From $255 USD pp Deluxe Obstructed Balcony This larger balcony stateroom provides a partial or obstructed view. From $210 USD pp Standard Obstructed Balcony Enjoy your own private outdoor space with a partial or obstructed view. From $150 USD pp

well, the joke's on me... Ordered these ones (mint and purple) for myself, because they said 7.87" long. https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0B51V1565 They are identical to the ones I got for DH and DS which claimed to be 7.08" long. Oh, well, at least they were much cheaper.

we book a balcony if the price difference between inside and balcony is negligible and we book a particular balcony cabin at that. I hate aft balconies. When you bid, you have no power over location or actually ending up with the upgrade.

the difference in price on our Nov cruise is crazy. I paid $2,500 for the 3 of us for the inside. Right now the lowest/cheapest balcony category is $1,709 pp which makes it a total of $4,597 for 3. It would have cost me a lot less to get a balcony when I first booked the cruise. So, I bid my $300 to upgrade, but I am not holding my breath. There weren't any standard obstructed balconies available at the time of the bid, and now there are only 2 available.