karatemom2

Very concerning that they clearly have an elevator on the Sky with serious issues that need to be addressed. We had never been on any other Princess ship where an elevator was taken out of service for the entire length of the cruise. I hope they get this issue fixed before our cruise next summer. This sounds like a real safety concern and I applaud you for trying to bring this issue to the attention of someone higher on the chain at Princess since you were brushed aside onboard. Thank you for raising this issue!

While it’s true that in our experience Princess has relaxed any enforcement of the guidelines, the guidelines have not changed and it is still stated shorts are not acceptable attire in the MDR at dinner. However, it seems unlikely that he will be turned away based on actual experiences shared by many here who have reported that shorts seem to be pretty much overlooked these days. I will note though, he will still be in a very, very tiny minority wearing shorts. In our experience most passengers at least make an effort to comply with the basic guidelines so you just don’t see that many aberrations. I’ve maybe seen two or three men wearing shorts at dinner on any of our recent cruises since things became more relaxed. If he’s cool being an outlier, great! It’s your vacation. My DH likes to blend in and gets uncomfortable if he thinks people are staring or judging. It may elicit a few disapproving looks from fellow passengers, but if that doesn’t bother him you will almost certainly get no objection from the host.

I note you were on the Sky Princess in September shortly after our cruise that ended Sept 16. During our entire cruise one of the forward elevators was closed for maintenance which I found odd - it was a 14 day cruise so obviously something that must have required a part or team they were waiting on. I’m just wondering if the elevator you experienced this on was one of the forward elevators? Maybe there were still issues. I’m so sorry you experienced that - it must have been very frightening. I agree you deserved a more caring and professional response and that elevator should have been taken out of service - especially if it was the same one they were clearly experiencing problems with just weeks before.

Have you already paid for the Princess Plus package? It seems like many people wait and pay for it the first day onboard to avoid the added expense it creates by inflating their travel insurance cost. Maybe you can hold off and use your credit to pay for the package and prepay for your excursions instead.

Yes, the onboard credit you get for your $200 deposit on a casino booking can be used for any onboard expense - gratuities, excursions, specialty dining, drinks, wifi, shops onboard, etc. and of course can also be used for casino play. I'm sure you will have no problem using it up!

That’s a very standard excursion that can run anytime of the day. It is highly likely they will adjust the time to align with your port hours and offer it in the afternoon.

When the port time changes from an earlier schedule, Princess works with its vendors to adjust tour times. Trust me - they will still be offering excursion during your 7 hour port stay. What was the excursion you were booked for?

Yes, we have done similar repositioning cruises from LA to Vancouver and the casino opens after the ship leaves Los Angeles and stays open throughout until shortly before the arrival in Vancouver when you enter Canadian waters.

Since Princess discontinued traditional scheduled dining, all of the main dining rooms on the ship (not including specialty dining venues) are considered anytime dining room locations. You can walk in any time during the open hours and request seating at any of them. However, depending on your preferred time you may find yourself waiting in line or having to wait for a table. We prefer to make reservations.

Some Princess ships hold the Elite/Platinum cocktail and hors d’oeuvres evening hours in the Vista Lounge which is close to the aft dining room. It is just a small buffet of pre dinner snacks - cheese, crackers, crudités, pigs in a blanket, etc. And there is a menu of cocktails available at a reduced price - $8 on our last cruise this summer. It’s a nice loyalty perk.

So glad you saved some money by booking direct. It’s criminal that Princess hikes up the price so much. Highway robbery! And yes, I selected Puerto Vallarta. The excursion boards right near where we dock. Looking forward to a fun day there - we can toast with a margarita!

This is great! Thanks for sharing! We will be onboard for New Year's and this just makes me even more excited!

As someone who also prefers a table for two, what I would encourage you to do is make a standing reservation in advance via the app for each night for two people. We generally prefer the midship dining rooms on deck 5 and 6 to the large aft dining room. We like to try to get a separate table for two as opposed to one of the two tops in a long row - you might as well be sitting at a group table. So we try to scout out a table with the host the first evening of our cruise that is one of the free standing, more private tables for two and then we reserve that same table for the remainder of our cruise. That way we can come back each evening to the same table, waitstaff and avoid standing in line.

Every Christmas cruise we have been on with Princess on several different ships have been full of families with kids of all ages and there are tons of activities. There will be plenty to keep them having fun and lots of other teens with whom to hang out.

That is a real bummer! Sorry about that. Thinking back to my experience, I realize that the tour we were booking was our Rome excursion which was very expensive - over $250, so we applied our credits but had to pay a balance as well, so I guess I was just thinking that it was all being applied to both of us, but in reality it probably just paid for his. We owed the balance that wasn't covered by OBC credits which likely was my half.

We will be there just a couple of weeks before you on the Discovery New Year's cruise. We have been to Cabo many times, and you will have plenty of options. I see your port time is 2 - 9 p.m. so you if you prefer a city tour, there are tours that will go to San Jose del Cabo which is the lovely neighboring city with a beautiful plaza and church and plenty of shopping. Or you could do a city tour of Cabo that includes the glass blowing factory. Check out Viator for options if you don't find want you want through the ship tours. Cabo is very easy to do on your own even if you just want to taxi or walk around and take in the scenery and shopping and enjoy some good food. One thing we really enjoy when we have a late port day in Cabo is taking a sunset cruise - really beautiful and plenty of options from which to choose. If you are happy with just a low key beach day, you can take a land taxi or water taxi to Medano Beach and camp out at one of the many restaurants along the way. We like the Sand Bar and their great and super affordable massages on the beach. Enjoy!

UPDATE: I called and spoke directly with Vallarta Adventures this morning and Las Caletas is already reopened and operating as normal and will be totally fine for our Jan 3 excursion. Yay!

I believe the last price I saw for the LAX transfer was $35.

We receive both texts and calls on our Iphone when connected through Medallion Net. We regularly facetime with our family while onboard. Works fine.

@seagunthera did you book through Princess? I notice they added a disclaimer about the potential for a reroute to Majahuitas on the excursion page. We booked direct with Vallarta Adventures because it is so much less then what Princess charges. They are the actual vendor and they have not notified me of any changes. I checked the TripAdvisor reviews and it does appear that they were rerouting a few weeks ago after the hurricane, but more recent reviews from this month indicate people are going to Las Caletas. So it may be that it was just a temporary diversion. I’m hopeful that we will still be able to go as planned. I’m going to reach out to them to confirm.

We are on the same cruise and are booked as well but haven’t received any notification? Did you get an email? I checked and nothing here yet. That would be so disappointing!

We did a very similar itinerary on the Sky this past summer so I can offer some insights about most of your ports. We primarily did private excursions as opposed to ship excursions. The one exception was Civitavecchia because we wanted to maximize our day in Rome and with travel time we just felt the ship excursion, although expensive, offered us the best opportunity to see things that were a high priority without worrying about directions, transportation or time constraints. We did a full day tour there through Princess that offered an extensive tour of the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Vatican along with city highlights. It was well worth the investment. There are shuttles available in Livorno, Barcelona and Civitavecchia but I believe there is a small charge. As I recall the one in Barcelona drops you off near the Columbus statue. Livorno and Civitavecchia just drop you in town - both of these places primarily being industrial cities, so not much to see or do there. Most people are visiting these ports as jumping off places for Rome and Florence. Alghero is a tender port and the tender drop off is right at the dock in the old town area which is very walkable so no need to worry about transportation there. We did not stop in your other two ports of Toulon or Valencia, so I’m not much help there. We stopped in Cadiz and Marseilles instead. I can share what we did do in our common ports. I’ve already outlined our choice for Rome. In Barcelona it was very easy to get a taxi from the port - we went to the Gothic Quarter in the morning and spent time exploring there and had lunch. And then we caught another taxi to Sagrada Familia for our prebooked afternoon tour followed by a taxi back to the ship. In Livorno we booked a tour to Pisa and Florence through Italy Tours EU and they picked us up and retuned us directly to the ship. In Alghero we booked a private boat tour to Neptune’s Grotto in the morning and then just explored the old city by foot. Very easy. I would encourage you to start a Roll Call as has been suggested to see if you can find some fellow cruisers who may want to share tours or transportation. Also, check out the Ports of Call board for more information on options available in each port.

Princess is generally our top choice for many reasons, not the least of which is DH casino perks and our Elite loyalty benefits. That being said, we really like NCL and have done a number of cruises with them as well. in terms of comparison, some things that I find better on Princess are the cabin size - unless you are in a Haven suite on NCL, their standard cabins are a little tight. We also find the overall ambiance and vibe of Princess a bit more elegant and relaxing. The beautiful atriums on Princess are a lovely gathering place and the ships are really nicely designed and appointed. You will be on the Sun which appears to be next level! In terms of CD level entertainment like trivia, which we enjoy, Princess teams do a great job and the venues where it is held are much nicer and more conducive to large groups. There is more variety as well. We find the main dining room food on Princess slightly better than NCL main dining room food, however, I will say NCL has the edge in my opinion on specialty dining. Princess specialty restaurants are very good, but Ocean Blue and Le Bistro on NCL are exceptional. In terms of casual dining, they are pretty evenly matched with a slight edge to the Princess buffet, pizza and grill. I do love The Local on NCL though. But nothing beats my beloved afternoon tea on Princess! I think some of the biggest differences are in the entertainment and activities. Like I said, Princess is more low key. You will find mini golf, pickleball, sports deck area, a giant chess board, pools, etc. but no giant slides, go karts, virtual reality, laser tag, arcades, bowling or pool tables. Princess casinos are very nice though! Princess also does a great job offering live music throughout the ship, however, NCL has some top notch entertainment with its Cavern Club, Comedy shows and outstanding production shows which we have found to be the best of any line. Truly topnotch professional productions. That being said. Princess shows can be very entertaining and you will be seeing them with fresh eyes which is always fun. We find plenty to like about both lines and have never had a bad cruise on either. No doubt the Sun will be magnificent in all its new glory and I’m sure you will get to experience added aspects Princess will be offering on that ship. Enjoy!!

Yes. The specialty cover charge for all guests at your table can be charged to one person’s folio. You can let them know when you make the reservation what account will be paying. And then everyone can order their own drinks with their Medallion - if they have a package it will just be included as part of that benefit, if not they would be charged individually.

OP, if you are still checking this thread I hope you have a great cruise and enjoy Scotland. It was our favorite part of our British Isles cruise! I would also highly recommend Discover Scotland tours. We went on their Glasgow tour which included Trossachs National Park, Luss and Stirling Castle. In Invergordon we did a private tour with Highland Inverness tours to Dunrobin Castle, Falls of Shin, Cairn Liath and Dornoch. And Edinburgh we found easy to do on our own using local taxi. We visited Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, St. Giles Cathedral and Royal Yacht Brittania.