Hammergirl

2 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Good to hear.  Was this done in response to a dispute you filed or did you end up letting the process work its way through?  I ask because Princess cancelled an excursion back on March 14th (as I posted earlier in this thread) and no refund yet even though we are now past their promised timing for a refund.  Am going to give it a couple more days because I call.

I let it play itself out. If they are past their promised timing for a refund I would not wait to call. They owe you your money back!

Just wanted to come back and post an update. My Amex CC was refunded today for all the cancelled cruise excursions. Took about 2 weeks. 

1 hour ago, trinitygirl said:

but the second team were much more helpful!  no issues at all; i sent them the email chain from Princess promising a refund, and the man I spoke to said that usually they are able to resolve these kinds of issues within a fortnight.  Fingers crossed - and thanks for the suggestion!

my pleasure! These companies need to learn they cannot hold our money for months and we will just sit back and accept it. They are likely earning interest on that money they are holding onto as well. 

3 hours ago, trinitygirl said:

 

With the creditcard company?  Is there a time limit?  I figured since I paid those bills months ago, it was too late? 

You are not to late. I would contact your credit card company and tell them that Princess is giving you the run around and you wish to file a dispute against whatever charges they have not refunded you.

7 hours ago, trinitygirl said:

I am still waiting, several months later, to be refunded for a bunch of excursions that were cancelled when I cancelled a cruise back in January.  The princess reps said there was no evidence i had ever had any paid excursions on my folio, but I sent them the email receipt with the list of excursions and the price paid and my credit card statement, and they have acknowledged that I am owed a refund 'not to worry' - but despite I don't know how many phone calls and emails, here I am, still waiting for $2500 in refunds.... there is something very wrong, it seems to me, with Princess' admin processes.   I have an excursion I need to cancel for my July cruise, but I am going to wait until I am onboard and make sure it shows up as an OBC, rather than risk the current debacle happening again.

I would be filing a chargeback for this. No way would I wait several months for something to be refunded.

9 hours ago, pink845 said:

We booked an excursion and thought it was in CDN dollars while it was really in USD.  We are CDN so we really did not like the high USD price.  A few days later, upon learning this sad truth, we called to get it cancelled and the refund showed up on our credit card the very next day.  We had already made final payment on the cruise.   But I do remember when I enquired a few months back about excursions on another cruise which is still six months away and the cancellation conditions around excursions attached to that cruise, I was told that if there are other charges that still require payment, Princess does not refund the excursion money.  They use that excursion money towards the outstanding fare.  

I really hope this is not the case as we think we will be cancelling our cruise, which is why we are cancelling the excursions. My cruise is not until September and final payment not until June. I will have to call today as I used an AMEX and I am not seeing any refund yet. 

8 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

On March 14th we received the "Emergency Notification" below when Princess cancelled some of our excursions for an upcoming cruise.  And as of right now we don't have our refund yet.  I think they have a bit of a backlog on refunds again.

 

Yikes, that's not good.

Just now, Italy52 said:

@Hammergirl.  I have cancelled excursions in the past but do not remember ever receiving a notice from Princess stating there were cancelled.  Whenever I book an excursion I always print out my Travel Summary right away as it will show that I booked an excursion --- this is my proof should I ever have problems with Princess.  Also, if I paid by credit card, I keep a copy of the email that Princess sends stating I booked an excursion and the cost that my credit card was charged.  I don't know when you cancelled your excursions --- it does take some time for a refund.  Sometimes, the refund is fast and sometimes it is anywhere from 7-14 days.  Good luck, hope your refund comes soon.

Perfect - thank you! This is the information I was looking for! I do have the emails stating what I paid, and my credit card shows that as well. I failed to print my excursions reservations until after I cancelled the first one. But I did print it out after that so had the other 3. 

I have cancelled 2 excursions for my September cruise. I cancelled them through the website and have not gotten any email saying they were cancelled nor have I seen a refund show up. When I look under my excursions, they are no longer listed, so I know they were cancelled. I have chatted with Princess and they tell me they are not showing under my excursions and they cannot confirm if they were ever there. They just tell me that I should receive an email and a refund will come.

This is my first time taking a princess cruise so I am wondering if this is normal? My card was charged immediately when I booked the excursions. Can anyone tell me their experience with cancelling excursions and when/if they got emails and refunds?

Thanks!

We will be arriving the day before our cruise, likely in the afternoon. We are not planning on doing any sightseeing that day as we will be dealing with a 3 hour time change and will be tired early. We are not wanting to spend the big dollars to stay right in downtown and are happy to take an uber or shuttle to the cruise port the next day. We would like a nice hotel maybe near the airport or maybe one of the casinos. Have never been to Vancouver and plan to do some sightseeing after the cruise so will stay in downtown then. 

3 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

Try making a dummy booking ... when I did it,several offers came to light of which the cruise  package was one. I have never cruised from Vancouver but my research shows the walk from the PP to the check in area as minimal, so I took up another offer.

 

Thank you, I have found it. They are charging an extra $161.00 USD for it as opposed to the current promotional rate. 

We are looking to book this hotel and I have been reading here about a package where they take your bags from your hotel room right to the ship, so you don't have to. I am not seeing that option anywhere on their website. Can someone point me in the right direction? 

Thanks

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

Note to self: Proof reading prior to hitting submit reply could mean all the difference.  In the 3rd line where I say &5%, should say 75%. My apologies.  

No worries - I just looked at my keyboard to see what number you meant. 🙂 

We want to buy insurance for our trip and honestly only need it in case the cruise lines or county change their COVID vaccination status or start making people wear masks again. We don't need to for anything else. Is there somewhere to get a policy like this? I have looked on trip insurance store and insure my trip and both are giving me a price of $1,000 to $2,000 for a trip that costs $11,500. It includes all the unnecessary medical stuff that we don't need. 

I literally just want to be able to cancel my trip should the COVID policies change and I no longer want to take the cruise. 

Thanks

Looking for anyone who has done this. We are really interested, but it has no reviews so that makes us really nervous. 

2 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Gee...3 strikes against ya...

I know, right? It sucks.

We really, really want to dogsled on snow, but I understand that unless I take a helicopter there is absolutely no way to accomplish this. I have a fear of heights, pretty significant fear of confined spaces (sometimes in an airplane I have to close my eyes and deep breathe), and mild motion sickness. Is there any way I can do this excursion or will I be completely miserable? Also, we will be there mid September so wondering what the likelihood of it being cancelled.

Thanks in advance for any advice.  

4 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

Also if you are in a full suite or have Elite status then your laundry is complimentary.

Curious about this. I don't put my clothes in the dryer, so are you able to specify you just want them washed and not dried in the dryer?

9 hours ago, thunderbaycruiser said:

any issue with soot at all?

1 hour ago, jeromep said:

Yes, Princess is for you.  I'm solidly in my mid-40s and my wife is in her early 40s.  We have a 7yo daughter.  We have done a number of Princess cruises, and every one has fit us.  We started cruising with Princess when we were in our 30s.  The onboard vibe really doesn't change all that much from cruise to cruise, whether it is Alaska or Caribbean.  The predominant age of the cruisers does tend to vary with itinerary and time of year and this can impact how active the ship is at night or at different times of day.  A Caribbean or Mexican Riviera cruise may be very active in the evening, but Alaska will often be pretty quiet.  That just means more space for you to enjoy late shows, especially in the lounges and clubs.

 

My wife and I are very casual.  Most of my working years I've had to wear a shirt and tie to the office, so I avoid that whenever possible outside of working hours.  That has changed recently in my office to be a bit more casual.  I guess we now call it business casual, so a lot of polo shirts with our company brand on them and dress pants, so business on the bottom and trade show conference sheik on top.  I'd hope that anyone that works corporate knows the feeling.

 

I don't take formal nights seriously anymore.  I do try to behave, so I have a shirt and tie and slacks and play nice with it all.  My wife does a very nice job of dressing up, and because I have most of the business wear that works for formal nights, it isn't a huge pain.  You are not going to be relegated to the buffet for 3 meals a day.  I find that you can dress pretty casually for MDR breakfast and lunch with no issues.  At dinner you'll be fine with a polo and jeans, aside from the formal nights, and you will not be out of place.

 

Princess has upped their suite game a bit on the Royal class ships.  The Concierge Lounge is a nice suite guest only location where you can pop in for a snack and a complimentary beverage.  They will also take care of any dining reservations, help you book shore excursions, and kind of behave like a private passenger services desk.  It's a nice touch.  If you are looking for a particular snack or food item, you want just ask, it will start showing up every day.

 

There are quite a few suite perks, including access to the Enclave on Royal class ships and the thermal suites on the older Grand and Island class ships.  A complimentary specialty restaurant dinner on embarkation night is included with suite bookings.  There is a mini-bar setup in a suite, too.  And don't forget Club Class, or Reserve Collection dining (they are doing a bit of a rebranding on this feature right now).  If you book a suite you will have access to the Club Class section of the MDR, so no wait times to get seated, some extra items on the menu, it's nice.  If you are booked in a suite there is a separate dining room that is open in the morning for breakfast.  It is a very laid back vibe for breakfast and you can order from the menu or you can put together a breakfast of your own design, a la carte.  The list of other suite perks is extensive enough that I won't go through all of it here.

 

If you are looking to book for the Alaska 2023 season, time is tight and cabin selection might be poor.  If you are looking to book for 2024, now is a great time.

This is all very informative, thank you! You seem to know a lot of suite cruising and I appreciate that! I was told by two travel agents today that the thermal suites are NOT included with booking a suite and there would be a charge for that. We are looking at the Majestic. 

35 minutes ago, milolii said:

Here is a link to a video for d726 on Sky Princess, sister ship.  We are in D726 on the Royal soon.  Can  answer questions.   These cabins are fabulous.  E728 looks to be a bit larger from the deck plans. 

 

Thank you! I saw that video but I could not figure out if the Majestic suite would be the same. Some pictures or video's it looks like the balcony is big like that and some it looks small. I don't want to think I am getting the big balcony and then get a small one. 

Hi all. I was hoping that someone could explain the difference between the OS and the PS on Majestic Princess. Specifically rooms D726 and E728. They look to be the same size, with the same size balcony, but D726 is about $400 cheaper. I have tried looking online but have not seen any good videos of D726. They both look to be category S3.

Thank you so much!

This has all been so helpful and I really appreciate everyone taking their time to explain why or why not they think it is for us. Now I have to really dig into the ships. It is helpful to read through everything here and see what some people consider as casual as some who answered what their casual is, is my dressed up. 😁 I know how much I am going to have to pack so adding even more clothes into the mix might not be fun. 

Is Princess for us for an Alaskan cruise?

We are a couple in our late 40's and really struggling with which cruise line/ship is for us. We are active and like entertainment while onboard, but we are not partiers by any means. We like to sit on deck and our balcony and just watch the world go by, with snacks and a good drink.

We love the itinerary of Princess, but we are really struggling to figure out if we will fit in on those ships. We are not people who like to dress up. I do not want to have come back from an excursion and take a shower and get dressed up to eat. I know we can always eat at the buffet, but I am not really wanting to eat 3 meals a day in a buffet. 

We are jeans, sweatshirt and tennis shoes type people. Are we going feel out of place and be disappointed if we do Princess? If so, what other line or ship to do recommend? We prefer suites and or Haven/Retreat kind of rooms, if that helps.

4 hours ago, ace2542 said:

But she is the one choosing not to meet the requirement so surely she should lose her money?

That requirement was not there when I originally purchased my cruise back in November of 2019.