Sea Hag

I don't understand some of this. It was communicated very clearly to us when our FCC would expire. Very clearly. Also, that expiration date clearly showed up in our account on princess.com. I'm not sure how you didn't get any notification and couldn't see it in your account. Sorry for your experience with the rude customer rep.

We don't drink alcohol, and we also don't usually buy packages. But when I recently booked our first cruise with HAL, I booked it with HIA. There was a promo for an upgrade from obstructed OV to balcony if we purchased HIA. I ended up with the cabin I would have booked anyway, at the same price as booking without the upgrade promo, and I've got HIA. That's a win in my book.

I wouldn't book that cabin. On deck plans, it looks to me like it's under a portion of the buffet kitchen. I put us under the buffet kitchen on one cruise many years ago, and that was a miserable place to be. The noise started very, very early each morning, as they started prepping for breakfast. And it pretty much didn't stop.

My understanding is that there are a limited number of sign ups allowed. I don't know what that number is, but I do think there is one.

With the new Sun Princess, Princess is making a move in that direction. There're at least two dining rooms for "special" cruisers, based on cabin category.

I can certainly see that it would, but wouldn't it still be easier than wrangling all your luggage? If you use Port Valet, the next time you see your checked luggage it at your final destination airport.

I think you nailed it.

You have to put in the hall the night before. We use a day pack as carry on, and that's where everything we need for the morning goes. We do keep this down the the bare minimum. The daypack is very light, especially when I compare it to the backpacks we used to lug around on backpacking trips. I can carry that day pack around all day without noticing it.

No problems for me in Edge.

Well that's weird.

The coffee card, as it has been in the past, is gone right now. You can get coffees on the plus or premier packages. They're also selling a "zero alcohol" package that's a per person, per day cost. Don't remember what that was.

A few weeks back, we swapped out everything for sparkling water. We got 20 or 24 of those. Hubby thought 20; I thought 24. He's probably right. That was a nice option, but not as nice as the two coffee packages.

We have a cruise booked on HAL for this September that's round trip Seattle. I wish I could find out where the HAL bus drops you off. I've asked this on the HAL board here but haven't gotten a reply to that. We have a flight on Delta that's too early for Port Valet. If the HAL bus drops off where the Princess bus does and the Delta kiosk is right there, then that's fine. If not, then we should try to find a flight on another airline that's late enough for Port Valet. The only other option on Delta is something like 3:30, and my hubby isn't a fan of waiting around at airports.

We had early dining. I don't really know why he tried to talk me out of it, but he certainly gave it a good try. It was braised beef short ribs. Maybe the kitchen standardly made a smaller quantity of that, and the waiters were told to try and make it last for both early and late sittings? Maybe he didn't like beef short ribs and thought he was doing me a favor? Maybe he'd been told to push something else? No way to tell. A mystery for the ages. 😂

We did this once, quite a few years ago, when they still had the table setup. We loved the train ride but hated the table setup, so I'm really happy to see that they don't have that anymore. Our tablemates disregarded the size of luggage to bring on the train, making for a very crowded situation at our table. The scenery is great. We loved every minute of that. And the food was really good. We had jambalaya, which we thought was an odd thing to order on a train in Alaska. The waitress said it was really good, and she was right.

I will always listen politely to the waiter's suggestions, but I will also then politely insist on doing what I want to do. We were on a Celebrity cruise once where the waiter tried really hard to talk me out of something. I got it anyway, and it was the best thing I had all that week of mostly mediocre food.

We got one on our last cruise, and it was totally useless to us. Every one of the coupons required buying something we weren't going to buy.

Nice!

We each pack our own. I hand him a small stack for cross-packing in his bag, and he hands me a small stack for cross-packing in my bag. We each sort out an even small stack for cross-packing in the day pack we use as carry-on.

Last August, they had a desk right in the luggage pickup area. It was over next to the windows, and HAL was right next to them. We handed in our luggage there and were directed where to go to catch the bus. For the return trip, the bus dropped us off where we got on to go to the ship. We were flying Delta, and it was really nice that we were since Delta had check in set up right there where the bus dropped us off. Our flight was too early for Port Valet, but we were able to drop our bags off right there instead of having to schlep them though the airport. I agree with the folks who say that you can save money by doing something else, but the Princess transfers are the easiest, most hassle-free solution we've found.

It's that, and it's also the luncheon I'll never be invited to. Some people have so many days cruising on Princess! It's nice that they get this. 🙂

Me too. We canceled our September 23 cruise on Princess and booked one on HAL. Not sure how well we'll like HAL, but we're ready for a change. Especially since there isn't much incentive left in Princess loyalty benefits.

Your mileage may vary on this, and it wasn't on the Oosterdam, but we've had a cabin below the gym and never heard a thing. The only place I wouldn't book is below the hydro pool. You're not under that.

I think that's terrible! It seems to me like you should have been offered the option of one of the normal sundaes without all the stuff stuck onto it. Or simple scoops of gelato. Just telling you that you were out of luck sounds really bad.

I'd forgotten about this! Now that I'm reminded I'm also wondering too.