flamomo

 Last year we (4 family members) stayed at a La Quinta Inn near the airport for a reasonable cost for our rooms. We arrived the afternoon before embarkation, and took the hotel shuttle from airport to hotel. There were restaurants in the immediate area, as well as a liquor store very nearby (so we were able to purchase wine to take onboard on embarkation). They offered the usual free morning breakfast buffet. The rooms were comfortable, and the hotel staff was very pleasant and helpful.  We used the Seattle Express shuttle to go the port.  Definitely less pricey than a cab or car service. And our shuttle driver was great … he even gave us a mini-tour  of Seattle, complete with narration, enroute to the port. We had pre-booked the shuttle online, and bought r/t fares so that was also our transportation back to the airport at the end of the cruise. We'd certainly do the same thing if/when we go back to AK.

IMO, the fact that when you use hotels booked thru Princess, the room rate is per person, not per room, is a deterrent to using their hotels, even if they do include the transfers. One can do much better booking hotels and arranging transportation  themselves.

In my experience, when you re-fare a cruise for which you already have EZAir booked, it's not like you cancel the original booking and rebook the same cruise as a new booking. You're just getting the fare lowered under a promo. I have done this a number of times and the EZAir reservations I had in place were unaffected. Recently I did it for a cruise next Spring, and saved us over $700 apiece on the base fare.

I book directly with Princess, so all I have to do is call them and request the re-faring. I don't recall ever being refused as long as it was before final payment.

Check with Princess. I know that on some ships they have a 2 bedroom "family suite", that has a common "living room" area, and , I believe, 2 bathrooms.

If for no other reason, booking using EZAir's flexible schedule leaves you the option of changing your reservations up until 45 days out from the date of the first flight. So if fares later, but before 45 days, go down, you may want to take advantage of the opportunity to pay less. Or you find EZAir flights with some other advantage like a better schedule, you may want to cancel and rebook.

Once you book direct with an airline, you are locked into the booking and have to pay for it at the time of booking. Not so with EZAir, as the air portion can wait till final payment to be paid.

But then, you know all this stuff, having used EZAir for international flights.

JMHO, but using EZAir for both domestic and international flights makes the most sense, even if the prices are the same as the airline's.

Can the Ocean whatever be downloaded to my Samsung tablet, rather than to my cell phone. The phone goes into the safe upon boarding, and not taken out till the end of the cruise, but I frequently tote my tablet (it's only an 8 inch) around with me on the ship, and use it to stay in touch with family back home via email.

As a Princess cruiser with 46 completed cruises, and numbers 47, 48,and 49 already booked, all I can say is that if Princess didn't provide to me what I consider a great cruise experience on every single cruise I have taken, I would have switched to another cruise line long ago.

Try not to allow the "negative nellies" to make you wonder is you have made a mistake by booking a Princess cruise. Only you can determine whether Princess is the cruise line for you, so do your best to go into it with an open mind and expect to have a wonderful time. Chances are very good are you will do just that.

Bottles of vino are HEAVY and may put you over .the airline's weight limit, resulting in a hefty extra charge for a checked bag  being overweight.

I use Wine-To-Go containers to transport wine when flying home from a cruise. They are essentially double wall plastic "bags" with a plastic screw-on cap that does not leak. You can find them on Amazon. I have had mine for several years and found they are definitely worth the price of around $10 each for the convenience.

Except for formal nights, I wear my trusty lanyard to the dining room. I don't care if other PAX might think it looks tacky. I do it for my convenience.

On formal nights it goes in my evening bag, at least until after I leave the dining room.

 I have cruised on the Pacific a number of times, and will be again soon.

The dinnertime options are: the Club Dining Room ( traditional), the buffet, and Sabatini's and the steakhouse (the last two are open on alternating nights). Room service is also available, and probably also the burger grill on the pool deck.

All passengers get assigned to a table number in either early or late seating in the Club Dining room. (However, this MAY not apply to PAX in Club Class mini-suites, as I believe they can show up for dinner  in their special area of the dining room whenever it suits them.)

It's that simple.

30 minutes ago, sun&sea said:

I could not find my specialty dining listed anywhere! I called and the Princess rep told me to go to Travel Summary, Print Travel Summary. There it was listed as I scrolled to the bottom. 

 

Janet

Same here. Had a sudden brainstorm which sent me to the Travel Summary, and there it was!

We cruised to AK on the Grand in early September and were very happy with the itinerary, the ship and the crew.

I cruised on the Coral 15 years ago as my very first cruise ever, and on her sister ship, the Island, a couple of times in the intervening years. Never been on any of Princess' version of a mega-ship so far.

For the cruise you are considering, I would definitely choose the Coral. The primary reason is because she is smaller (originally the Coral and the Island were specially built to fit thru the Panama Canal, so are narrower.) At least 1000 passengers less than the Grand, and even more "fewer" passengers than the Royal.

Thanks. That's good to know. The loveseat will be welcome.

9 hours ago, MustangGT said:

I have found a solution to the empty hangers banging around on the last night.  I use the belt from the robe to tie the hangers together.  Works for me but YMMV.

Sorry the steward contributed to your bad night.

Or bunch all of the hangers together and then wrap them with a bath towel, using the pinch clips of one of the hangers to secure the bath towel in place.

On ‎10‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 6:28 AM, Brisbane41 said:

Thanks very much for saying this. I like Chardonnay occasionally as well. I am very used to it being an oak taste to it. I used to be happy with all previous versions. With the current menu it is no undrinkable. I do now know what on earth they did to find all wines to be of similar taste that are somewhat sour and have a taste that will give me a quick headache.

 

I would not say that your palate is uneducated, people know what taste they like and what they don't like. 

If you want to try one of the new ones that doesn't seem as tart, try the Decoy. I find it reasonably smooth.

Fortunately, it is one of the few that is also available by the glass, so you don't have to buy a whole bottle  and then find out you dislike it. 😉

Can anyone explain what  is  the difference between a regular balcony cabin and a deluxe balcony cabin on the Marina deck on the Regal? Or even have any photos of a deluxe balcony cabin and/or it's balcony?

We have an aftward deluxe booked for a cruise in February, and this will be our first time on one of the Royal class ships, though I've cruised many times on Grand class ships and the Pacific Princess.

I find many of the new wine offerings to be very un-pleasing. I primarily drink chardonnays, and there's only one of the options on the new list that I have found to be drinkable (for my uneducated palate), and it happens to be the least expensive one on the list.

There were several on the previous wine menu that my taste buds approved of, allowing me to have other choices if they ran out of the one that was my first choice. Now, if they run out of the one I like,  as they sometimes do, especially on long cruises, there's no fall-back option for me.

Very disappointing.

You should not have to attend the one on the second leg as long as the total number of days of the B2B is less than 30. If it is 30 or even one day over, attendance on the 2nd leg is mandatory.

They do strongly encourage attendance both times, but I've never been required to go when under 30 days.

Depending on the current promo at the time you might get some extra OB for booking while onboard. A year ago we booked 2 cruises while onboard during such a promo, and for each booking, we got an extra $200 each in OBC on top of the $150 each for using FCCs as our deposits.

I also wonder why, if two unrelated passengers sharing a cabin and each one owning the required number of shares of CCL, they can't have half of the benefit credited to each one's shipboard account. it wouldn't cost Princess any more to do so, and it would us happier passengers because we'd feel like each of us was getting at least part of the benefit.

My cruise friend and I alternate taking the shareholder benefit, but that means that one or the other of us doesn't get to use the benefit every time we cruise together. 

I've never done a California coastal cruise, but have done cruises to Alaska 4 times, and plan to do it again in the future. AK is simply beautiful, and even though I have done it 4 times already, the scenery is ever-changing.

IMO, Alaska is a not-to-be-missed experience.

All of my cruises (40+) have been with Princess, and I currently have 3 more booked. Princess is known within the cruising industry for doing Alaska VERY well. Since you enjoyed your previous cruise with Princess, you might want to consider doing AK with them as well.

The current Princess cruise atlas only shows the cruise schedule for the entire fleet through the end of May 2021.

Happy to hear that shorts and t-shirts were not permitted in the dining room and that the maître`d enforced the issue. There are always those who try to dress "their way" with no regard for the cruise line's recommended attire at dinner.

Having a MTP luncheon instead of a cocktail party is common. I've done both types and agree that the luncheon feels more special, though I have had some excellent canapes at the cocktail parties.

If you really wish to check-in and board with them, perhaps you should consider staying with them at check-in in the regular check-in area, instead of trying to take them with you in the priority line and waiting area, and having them accompany you at the time of priority boarding. Since they are not staying in a suite, and have not earned the privilege of priority check-in and boarding, they really don't belong in priority. Taking them with you dilutes the benefit that others have earned through taking many Princess cruises or are booked into suites.

IMO, that old "rule" is completely outdated. especially when it comes to cruising. Dress for the weather in any color (including white) that you wish. I see white slacks and capri pants being worn no matter the time of year on ships. In fact I plan to take a par of white slacks (as well as black, navy, and beige) on my next cruise which will be in November/December.

I am a retired RN who worked on a cardiac unit of a hospital, and assisted the physicians with numerous cardioversions. I can tell you that the medical equipment used to perform a cardioversion for A Fib is the same equipment used in a "Code Blue" emergency situation to shock the heart into a normal rhythm. Being that the ship's medical center has equipment like this to deal with emergencies, much like what an ER has, I expect it would be possible in an emergency. 

But, your best action would be to speak with your husband's cardiologist about the wisdom of him traveling between now and the anticipated ablation. If he gets cleared by the doctor, you need to communicate with Princess to find out whether they are even willing to have him onboard, given his cardiac problem and the potential for another episode while onboard.