Paula_MacFan

I noticed this new options banner in the Personalizer earlier this week. I posted it on the 'new internet prices' thread a bit ago in response to a comment on the marketing of packages. A couple people said their menus look nothing like mine. So that got me wondering what other people are seeing so I started a new thread. I noticed the new options for 'bundles' and 'extras', the icons have changed, and they moved the 'itinerary' option up next to the 'luggage tag and travel summary'. I think the old version said 'onboard services' or something similar and they've split out those options now and have the bundles option prominently displayed. Anyone else notice the changes or have the new options?

I did notice earlier this week there is a new menu bar at the top of the Personalizer page, that now includes 'bundles'. That wasn't there before.

For our cruise leaving Sunday no formal portrait nights are listed yet. That was the first thing I looked for 🙂 It shouldn't make a difference on activities but I have both apps on my phone right now and neither one shows formal pictures yet, just the champagne fountain as I mentioned earlier.

If that's directed to me I said you didn't say WHERE you were sailing, not when 😀

It's very easy to do yourself online. I check airfare everyday and have re-fared several times when prices changed or a better itinerary opened up. We have used EZ Air many times, most recently to Europe in September. We flew United Polaris class round trip for far less than we could have booked independently. I used the United app to book meals and get notifications. I also always book when flights open up at 330 days and then watch prices & schedules daily.

That's our experience too -- sold out means just that. Sometimes they will offer a wait list for possible cancelations. It probably depends on the itinerary too. For some of our upcoming Caribbean ports there are 6 ships scheduled so that will stretch resources. Princess has to rely on local available vendors -- it's not like they are running tours themselves. You didn't say where you're sailing but for our upcoming May/June Alaska cruise some excursions have been sold out for months already. Also prices have increased, so it pays to book early if you can.

We sail on Sunday and I figured out the first formal night seeing 'captain's welcome party & champagne fountain' listed in the Journey View daily schedule. That's been populated in the app for several weeks now. There's no clues yet for our second formal night in the app, but some recent cruisers uploaded daily Patters so we could see prior schedules. Maybe someone who has been on the cruise could share info.

Princess' IT department could use improvement. We board the Regal on Sunday and the excursions show as 'closed' for bookings in the personlizer and have for a couple days. However, earlier today I received an email inviting me to book excursions for my cruise. So yeah, they could do a better job 🤨

We sail on the Regal this Sunday and got the 'emergency notification' email about the change in departure time on 9/13/23. The official cause was 'operational reasons' which is vague, but it seems to be due to port congestion in general this season in Galveston. That makes a quick turnaround day for the crew, but I'm happy to be on our way as soon as possible 🙂

Several months ago our Princess CVP called about something unrelated but while I had them on the phone I asked if they knew when our Alaska cruisetour land excursions would be available, because like the OP I was already seeing cruise excursions in the Personalizer. They told me to just keep checking online as Princess no longer had a dedicated shore excursion department. That shocked me but we've had the same CVP for years and I've no reason to doubt them.

We have a cruisetour booked for late May/early June 2024. I keep track of the dates we book excursions and I booked ours as soon as they opened up in November. I can also tell you many have been sold out for awhile already and all of our excursions have increased in price from $10 to $50 per person, and this includes ship excursions as well as land/lodge excursions. My advice is to book early if there's something you definitely want to do. I check the Personalizer everyday to see when things open up and monitor price changes. It sounds like Alaska bookings are strong for 2024 and some independent vendors are already taking reservations for 2025. Good luck with your planning! To me it's half the fun of traveling 🙂

I agree the app is mostly irrelevant for checking in and I always have printed copies of Travel Summary and other documents. However, I also take a screen shot of my app green lane status to show if asked. That way you're not relying on spotty service/connection.

Nonetheless I'm pretty sure people knew which ship you were referring to since this thread asked specifically about the Caribbean Princess 🙂 We've sailed on CB twice and have another cruise booked for 2026. We tend to choose trips based on itinerary, so if that's the ship sailing it then away we go. All ships have plusses and minuses, and you can get sick on any of them as well. For our upcoming Alaska cruisetour we chose Sapphire for a myriad of reasons, but we had many options for that destination. We leave in 3 days for the Regal since we can drive to the port. It will be our 3rd Regal cruise. If the CB was sailing on an itinerary I wanted, I wouldn't hesitate to go.

I thought I was saying that too but you said it with more facts and authority so thanks 😊

Don't want to hijack the thread but we are also huge fans of smart tags! You can see bags at all times and when they get loaded on the ship it looks like they are floating in the water on the map 😀 I also recommend using the airlines apps as you can track your bag there too and see as soon as it's loaded on the plane.

The Princess map I posted in #36 shows Royal class ships sailing from Vancouver. The map key shows the black dotted line and 'Royal Class Ship Route'.

I've taken Grand class ships from Seattle too so I'm aware they go west of Vancouver Island. But I thought from numerous reviews and the Princess map that all Royal class ships go west regardless of originating point. I only responded about Royal class since that was the question, and if you want to sail east of VI then don't chose a Royal class ship.

I haven't sailed a Royal class ship in Alaska, but doesn't this Princess map indicate that all Royal class ships travel west of Vancouver Island even from Vancouver? I thought it was due to the Royal class ship size and not what port they sailed from. I could be wrong.

We got our Medallions this week, 11 days prior to our cruise.

If that happens they issue your medallions at the pier when you check in for boarding.

Package terms & conditions from Princess website. See third bullet point.

I looked at our Patters from October and these were offered on a 12-day cruise: paper quilling, SeaCrafts cross stitch pendant, paper flowers, SeaCrafts life saver ornaments, card making, and SeaCrafts nautical paper crafting. This was a port-intensive cruise so they weren't offered every day. We leave next week on our next cruise and I don't currently see any art and crafts listed in the Journey view yet.

We avoid any up-sell 'seminars' like the plague, but we do enjoy the fruit and vegetable carving, ice carving, and galley tour offerings. To me those are just 'activities' and not up-sell opportunities like the ones in the spa, shops, and art auction. We've also enjoyed talks given by naturalists and ship officers on various sailing topics. Again, those are in no way 'sales' opportunities.

I can't answer your question about the train from Whittier to McKinley as we are doing a different cruisetour, but for travel between McKinley and Denali our Travel Summary says it's 2 1/4 hours or 112 miles.

I don't know but I noticed the same perk listed in the Reserve Collection benefits as well. How many people can they accomodate with 'priority specialty dining reservations'? https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/ships/staterooms/reserve-collection