threebluestars

Bumping this thread with a question ... Our cruise begins Sept 12. So will I get to make reservations after June 17 for any of the three dining rooms for Sep 12 and 13 and then only for the reservation dining room from the 14th on?

So I have a weird question about GF dining (for my mom). I know you talk to the maitre'd the night before and he'll give you the next night's menu to choose from. What happens if you, say, decide to go to the buffet instead, or your excursion is so long you decide to just grab room service? Is a meal going to waste? Do the kitchen staff want to kill you? Do you need to inform someone ahead of time that you aren't coming? Or do you have to choose knowing you'll definitely go to the dining room the next night?

Thank you both!

We want to go on the same excursion together, but each want to pay on our own cards. Will it matter if we do this or should one person book both of us on the excursion to guarantee we actually get to be on the same bus together?

Ugh, I wish I'd booked a few weeks ago but because my cruise isn't until September I resisted. Now the only one we were going to take (because it was in to Paris from Le Havre and didn't want to risk not returning on time) has gone up FIFTY dollars. This is my first Princess cruise in 30+ years. We'll see how it goes.

The only time I noticed crowds was in the buffet at breakfast and dinner. There were times walking around the ship - on sea days - when I was thinking "Where IS everyone?" and we had a full ship.

I priced the cruise with the room category I wanted, went through to the book page where it said 7300 total and when I logged in, it suddenly jumped to 10,000. Special pricing, indeed.

Big huge promenade deck. While I like the Neptune lounge, I'd love a space that had WINDOWS. Neptune should have a lounge with a view (and I wouldn't mind it having indoor and outdoor space). Then the indoor inside lounge could be for Vista/Signature only to give those suites a few more perks. Capacity around 1900-2200. More than that feels too crowded. A few more cafe style places like Dutch cafe or the Explorations cafe. A bit more cover outside for dining. I find the buffet too busy sometimes (especially post-COVID) it's hard at Seaview because of all the smoke, because it limits outdoor seating to just one small half that's under cover if the weather isn't great. A small plunge pool on the Sun Deck to cool off.

I was horribly seasick on my first cruise - the seas were so bad a lot of the crew was ill too. I was terrified to cruise again, but my friend told me to take Bonine chewables. I started a few days before the cruise so it was in my system, and then one a day during the cruise. It worked really well but I didn't take them the morning we docked and felt like I was on the ship for 5 days after that. The most recent time I cruised I did the same but continued to take them for two days after and I never felt that rocking feeling on shore after. I also bring Gravol and ginger as backups just in case the Bonine doesn't work, but I've never had to use them.

Vista and Signature all the way - mostly because of the promenade deck. I spend a lot of time there, and I can't figure out why they'd shrink it to almost unusable on the Pinnacle ships. I haven't been on an R class yet - thinking of doing a short (under 5 day) cruise to see if I like the size or not.

I'm just looking at departures to Mexico out of San Diego and there are none listed for February in 2024 or 2025. What is the reason for this? Charters?

I think this just clinched my decision of which part of the Caribbean to visit lol.

Internet speed on Zuiderdam was really slow on the Surf package - not to mention a pain in the butt switching back and forth on multiple devices. For the cost, it really should be better.

I was exposed on a Friday, woke up with symptoms that Sunday and tested positive that same day (BA.5 variant). It was a speedy little devil.

We booked directly with the site - they sent an email yesterday, I thought it was another check in time change or something and was surprised it was an invite to upgrade. We never got one on our last cruise. The weird thing is our cruise is showed as sold out yesterday - today it doesn't but you can't try and book anything because it says it has no rooms lol.

We did call after we initially booked to let them know, so hopefully it will be passed on. Where on the site can I check that?

My mom has celiac and has to eat gluten free - do you think they'd be able to accommodate that for things like afternoon tea in the room or snacks in the Neptune Lounge?

It's Alaska roundtrip from Vancouver. My mom already knows about the suite, but I'm thinking of getting some kind of treat delivered for her on embarkation day, like chocolate dipped strawberries or something.

Just got invited for a upgrade and decided to go for a Neptune Suite. I'm a casual cruiser, never done anything more than a verandah, so this will be crazy. But my mom didn't get to celebrate her 70th last year so this will be fun! Since I've never been in a Neptune, what can I expect, besides a nice, huge balcony? Any tips or tricks? Will our boarding time change?

I got the notice for our Aug 31st cruise too. I can't understand how they're cancelling it, yet we're arriving in Juneau and hour LATER than scheduled. I figured we'd be on time or early since they aren't stopping for it ... very weird.

I caught COVID 3 weeks ago. I'm still not completely recovered (still coughing and stuffy, tired, but test negative). I was very, very sick (I'm in my 40s, good health, haven't been that sick since I had mono) yet my sister (who I caught it from, also in her 40s) was fine in 5 days. It's such a crap shoot as to what you'll get. I don't go anywhere but the grocery store and for walks and I mask up everywhere, but I live with my sister who works outside the house, so there was risk there.(PS: we're both O Pos and it didn't seem to help me lol) I'm cruising for the first time since COVID at the end of the month. I'm nervous about getting it again, but plan to mask and avoid crowds. I'm travelling with my mom who hasn't had COVID yet, but is 4x vaccinated. I'm more nervous she'll get it. We can't get Paxlovid (Canadian), so I do worry she'll get hit hard like me. Mentally, I really need a break though. It's been a horrible 3 years, and I just want to sit on the balcony with a book and a drink and relax.

I collect ornaments from places I travel. Last cruise I got some cute things in Ketchikan, but I am looking for Christmas ornaments in Juneau and Skagway this time - any suggestions? I've heard there are some train themed ones at the White Pass railroad gift shop in Skagway and Russian themed ones at House of Russia in Juneau, but I don't know where else I should be looking.

So if you hadn't got the standard plan, would the whole cruise have been in FCC?

I have booked, but haven't bought a Cruise Protection Plan yet, because according to the Worry Free Promise and Flexible Cancellation plan if I booked by Sep 30 I could cancel for any reason up to 30 days prior and get future cruise credit, and if COVID positive, any time up to departure. It's my understanding that the main difference is the Cruise Protection Plan would actually reimburse the trip in cash (up to 80% cost) and not FCC, right? I'm just trying to decide if it's worth it to get the CPP when the Flexible Cancellation is in effect.

I'm doing this cruise on Zuiderdam Aug 31, thanks so much for all of the info, dining, activities etc! So helpful to plan.