PescadoAmarillo

😊 I checked my blog pics and don’t see anything resembling a place to rent gear on the island. There is even a map and it doesn’t show a rental place. I did not feel I needed fins on Dravuni, and just used my own mask and snorkel. I have three posts on Dravuni Island (check Older Posts at the bottom to see the third one). http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/search/label/Dravuni Island

If that port in Fiji is Dravuni Island, you are in for a snorkeling treat. Walk far to the right after leaving the tender dock. On the elevator that night, everyone was talking about it and comparing fish stories.

Thank you for these links. Awareness of Magic Castle hasn’t yet reached the rock I apparently live under.

The ability to check air fare on a cruise I’m just considering still works for me. In fact, it has worked at least twenty times in the past week alone. I’m watching air daily on a few cruises out of Europe. BTW, EZ Air is offering some very competitive fares.

You can see how close the visitors center is to the freight port. I forgot to mention that the Maritime Museum (circled) is also excellent. It’s even closer to where the ship will be, but you still have to take the bus to the visitors center and then walk to it.

I don’t have strong feelings about EZ Air for domestic flights, but personal experience has proved to me I would never book an international flight without using EZ Air. On the Sapphire Princess, fog closed the port of Shanghai for several hours, delaying our arrival into the port (the disembarkation for the cruise). We missed our original EZ Air flight out of Shanghai. Those passengers with EZ Air flights were fully accommodated by Princess. Though it took a few hours for things to work out, we were all bused (with an English speaking guide) to a really nice hotel in the city, and our stays there (for more than one night if required) were free. Then we were bused (with an English speaking guide) to the airport for our new flights. Passengers who booked flights independently were given free internet and phone usage on the ship to make arrangements. Both means of communication were quickly overloaded. They had to finally get off the ship (about 5pm on disembark day) and were left on their own. They had trouble getting through immigration because their forward travel plans were not finalized. It was a mess. And then there was the whole “China Visa not required if you are leaving directly out of the country within a certain number of hours” thing. People couldn’t always get flights in that timeframe and then were stuck unable to enter the country. Oy vey.

Been there several times, always at the freight dock. You must take a free shuttle to the visitors center. From there you can arrange a tour or transportation or explore on your own. Highly recommend the HOHO bus, Duck Island, the aquarium or the WW2 museum (within walking distance is the visitors center). http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/search/label/Noumea?

Haha. I was just about to chime in. DH is from the Virginia Tidewater area and knows his Carolina BBQ. He was hugely disappointed and, frankly, a smidge appalled that Princess dares to call what they serve Carolina BBQ.

Our inside cabin had them also.

Puerto Vallarta is one frequent exception to the “ship’s time = local time” rule.

Dinner. I do hope that the menus offer a selection of items for each course. I’m not clear on if the three items they show under each heading are the only menu items available, so for example they would have three different menus, each one with one item for each course, or if there are multiple menus with three different items for each course. I guess I’m left to wonder how many choices are in “an array”?

Since you’re already staying up late, take one for the team and keep notes to come back and share. I suggest this notebook.

Man, y’all are on a different Princess ship than I am. Or else I’m going to sleep before the party really gets started.

Our TA got us 5 days just using Polar Online. No call necessary for this cruise (in December). Sometimes it’s not just a matter of making a decision, it’s waiting for a credit card cut off date to push paying off the cruise out another month.

I agree, the normal hold is 3 days, but TAs can sometimes extend for a couple more days. That’s what happened with our booking.

DH was on several B2B cruises last winter when I (at home) started getting emails regarding his dining reservation being changed for that night. And I received them night after night. But he had been on the ship and had the same table and time for several cruises by the time this started. I finally pestered him enough to ask a Restaurant Manager about them. He was clueless, had no idea emails were sent out like that. It changed nothing for him on board. We also always (!) receive an email that our medallion order has been cancelled at our request. And then it arrives as planned a week or two later. Even when something is working as it’s supposed to, Princess IT manages to screw it up.

I’m sure Galveston Express provides a variety of service levels, depending on the weekend and traffic but DH used them at least five times last year and never had an issue. In fact, one time, he extended his stay on the ship, and I phoned GE a day in advance of his transfer and they allowed me to just move it to a later date, which they didn’t have to do. Hw also used the Princess transfer one time (to Hobby) and said never again. Apparently there was a lot of confusion about which airport the passengers needed, although they had been directed to the bus based on a Princess sticker. ETA: I know there was a dust up on Facebook last year where a GE competitor was dissing them online and on reviews, and they were outed on at least one forum, but again, I’m sure some of the bad reviews you read were well deserved.

TA’s can still book options, at least on some cruises. We just today had a hold placed on a cruise booking that won’t expire until October 8 (5 days).

The Girl Scout cookies might last slightly longer than the 360 experience. Might.

I’m sure they are! This was day 6 of a 7 night cruise on the Sapphire.

If you ever see cauliflower steak with quinoa on the menu, definitely give it a try, vegan or not. It’s one of the best things I’ve eaten on Princess.

I would love that too, but, you’re right, it will never happen, at least not on Princess. Eating vegan, if you stay away from processed vegan foods which are expensive and instead stick with whole foods, is significantly less expensive than eating meat and dairy. I don’t believe the new vegan menu will raise food costs at all and will likely lower them. Organic foods, of course, are a totally different story, particularly for meats.

I wish you luck.

Contact Galveston Express and see if they’ll reserve an entire van for you. Is Galveston a port where ride shares can’t get close to the terminal for pick ups or drop offs? I don’t know the answer to that, but I thought I recalled hearing that there was an issue about having to walk to/from a more distant pick up or drop off point.

Do you have Cancel For Any Reason insurance? Or are you trying to secure a financial gain?