Paula_MacFan

Depends on what ports you're going to. Are you taking this cruise to actually visit the ports or is the cruise ship the attraction? I personally would never leave tours to chance if I was actually taking the cruise to visit specific ports. Typically port time is limited so why waste time wandering around looking for something to do, when a small amount of basic research in advance could result in a memorable day. As others have stated, trying to find a tour at the last minute for 8 people could be a challenge, and you'll be left with less choices for vendors vs those who booked in advance. If you're just going to some tropical islands and you want to sit on a beach, you can probably find something last minute. Even then I'd do some basic research in advance. But hey, it's your vacation and your money. Do whatever makes you happy.

Have you checked the rental agencies' websites for the shuttle info? We're not renting in Hilo but we are renting in other ports, and port pickup information (or the lack thereof) was listed on their respective websites.

We're going to Hawaii in January and many excursions have been sold out for months. We booked everything early and I'm glad we did.

I have been sailing on Princess since 2004 and have never seen this on any ship I've been on.

Yesterday the National Park issued an Operations Update 10/18/22: Regrettably the USS Arizona Memorial programs, out of an abundance of caution, have suspended boat tours until further notice. Operations will resume when the National Park Service deems conditions safe enough to do so. Maybe your notice had something to do with that?

I agree with this! We did a bus tour a few years ago and it was a highlight of our trip with the fall colors 🙂

Have you asked the car rental agency from where you rented the car? That seems like the best place to ask. We have some Hawaii rentals lined up and the agencies we are using have all that info listed on their websites.

This is nothing new -- POA has had restricted dining venues ever since they resumed service. As you mentioned all the open venues are listed on the NCL website. It has been widely discussed that passenger capacity continues to be limited. It has also been reported that dining reservations made in advance have been cancelled closer to sailing and passengers given $25 OBC as goodwill, and reservations could be re-booked onboard. I've read some recent reviews that things are improving, more staff continues to be added, and dining venues are expected to reopen. I am sailing in January and was able to made dining reservations online; however, I am fully aware they may not be honored as sailing gets closer.

Paid $2.87 in South Texas yesterday.

Following this as we will be on same trip in 2023. We were booked for 2020 & 2021 which were both cancelled, then this cruise which we decided to push back to next year for the original itinerary with Paris & Arhus. Thanks for the thread and your perspectives of the ship & trip!

Nope. The only thing I want to hear on my balcony is the ocean.

Thanks for the review! We're going in January. Any comments on the Kona zodiac? We are considering that excursion and welcome any feedback.

Alamo is open 6AM - 10:45PM every day per their website. I also assumed they were open when they accepted our booking to pick up the rental car on Sunday.

We have a rental from Alamo booked from 8:30 am - 8:30 pm in Maui for one day in January. I know we could have parked overnight at the airport but we really just wanted the rental for the day so that's what we're doing.

I haven't stayed in those cabins but was also curious about that uniquely-shaped balcony and location when I was researching an upcoming cruise. I did a search for those cabin numbers and found several first-hand reports. Maybe you've done that already -- but if not I'd recommend it. You may have to expand your search to all Royal class ships. I found some here on CC and some on other sources, both video and written form 🙂

?? Their profile says they've been a member since 2016......

Princess has sailed from Galveston in the past. We sailed from there many times and that's what hooked us on Princess to start with 🙂 Granted they haven't been there in many years now, but they have sailed from there. The Caribbean Princess also sailed from the now-defunct Houston port for a season too (we sailed from there twice) so people in the area should be somewhat familiar with Princess.

I had same problem recently -- there have been a few threads here on payment processing issues over the past few weeks. Princess rep I spoke with said they have been getting lots of calls about the problem so they should be aware and fixing it.....

I recently had to call to complete a booking -- same problems with accepting payment on the website. The rep I spoke to said they have been inundated with calls seeking help with payments. You'd think Princess would fix the problem when they are clearly aware of it.

This may be extreme for you, but WAY back when they first took away the balcony tables we bought one of these roll up tables for around $20 and took it with us. It rolls up to the size similar to a camp chair and comes in a bag. We used to sail from a port within driving distance, so it wasn't an issue for us to throw it in our luggage. If you were flying it might be more of an issue. Since then we've flown to further ports and booked deluxe balcony cabins that had the larger coffee table and we used that for in-room/balcony meals. Other than that, a full suite is nice too since it comes with a full-sized dining table. We've had that too, but only after getting an upsell offer 🙂

I've had the same problem this week. I left a message for my PVP last week, to which he responded he'd get back with me on Monday this week. Yesterday (Wednesday) after not hearing anything back, I tried to call him again. I got a message in someone else's voice saying it was my PVP's mailbox but he was 'out of the office'. Maybe he is ill, I don't know. In the meantime I tried to book online myself, got all the way to the end to input payment, and got a message saying 'sorry, we can't complete your transaction at this time' or something like that. I tried the PVP number again, got transferred to a customer service rep, and after sitting on hold for 43 minutes, finally got someone to help. She was very nice and was able to complete my booking. She said countless people have called in needing assistance with completing bookings online and they 'were working on it'. I really love Princess cruises, but they are making it darn hard for people to actually book them. 😞

We've been offered full suite upgrade offers before and took them. I thought it was a reasonable alternative to booking full price and we enjoyed all the full suite perks. I would be interested in this program for upgrades such as that. But having said that -- we always book the specific cabin we want and are willing to pay for it. We have never booked a guarantee room as we like specific, quiet areas with large balconies 🙂

Same here -- we've booked our own independent air fare (not leaving that up to someone else no matter the cost) and we also have hotels booked as 'Plan B' just in case. I figured we're going to Hawaii one way or another, but I hope it's on POA 🙂

Ugh -- not to be Debbie Downer but I've read several reports of people in suites, celebrating 50th anniversary trips, large groups, some on the pre-cruise land tour, etc all getting cancelled! I hope for your sake you're not one of the unlucky. We are sailing in January so I've been following POA cancellation stories. The only rhyme or reason I've read/heard is people with NCL air and those who booked later than others are primarily getting cancelled. Good luck! 🙂