ceilidh1

How are we even friends???????

I travel with a 13 year old and a 17 year old. There have been two occasions that they have tried to disembark without an adult. One time, the 13 year old (he was 12 at the time) had opted to stay on the ship while I ran out to the port shops. Then he texted to ask if he could join me. I was literally right at the bottom of the gangway and could see him, but he was not permitted to leave without me returning and collecting him. The second time my 17 year old (who easily looks 20) wanted to go ashore in a port that she knows extremely well. I had no issue with it. She was not allowed off without an adult and I was told (in no uncertain terms) that if I chose to return without her, she would NOT be permitted to re-board until an adult was present. So, yes, there should be a process in place to prevent minors leaving the ship without an adult.

No. Way. My mind is blown. Having lived many years on the East Coast of the US, I have a bit of a Dunkin obsession. Now I live in Canada, I have a Tims obsession. This makes it all make sense.

It's a premium oceanview...

Interesting! I have NEVER been charged this tax while on Princess, but ALWAYS while on NCL...

Exactly! I only do the upgrade on the short sailings...

I do this quick trip every year (including this one - see you on the ship). You can drink the second you set foot on the ship. I actually buy Premium on this short one as it includes two specialty dining and unlimited casual so I never have to go to the buffet or MDR...lol.

This is the best British chocolate (after Cadburys, of course - but only British Cadburys. Not that nasty made-by-Hersheys nonsense)

Your willpower is commendable. Ours disappeared in seconds. We must have got the vanishing kind...

I expect real time, blow-by-blow details with pictures. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I miss you already...

My favourite!

Burata. Get the Burata.

I cannot wait to hear your impressions of Princess. I certainly hope the actual cruises are better than the disaster that was the pre-cruise app. Believe me, you are not alone in your frustrations with that one!

Ok so the trick is to just click on every dining room I guess. I tried initially just asking for main dining and got the “no reservations available “ thing. Then I tried individual dining rooms and got either the error posted above or, finally, some actual times! This is for sapphire in September. Looks like Savoy dining room has every time slot in 20 minute increments. At one point I got two times for international dining room so assume that’s traditional but now that’s no longer working either. None of the other dining rooms show availability.

Sigh…

Interesting...I have September, October, and a 2025 booking and none are showing any dining availability.

Assuming this does get up and running today, can everyone book dining at anytime now? It used to be either elite or paid in full could book, but I haven’t seen that mentioned in the blurb about the new dining revolution. I’m both elite and paid in full and can’t do anything yet, so I guess it’s irrelevant, but might make a difference to others if that still applies!

Yeah, that’s odd. Maybe they just reached capacity for the 3/4 free on that cruise? Or are you getting it on all of them that have the offer attached?

Is it due to the new price structure that requires taxes/fees to be included in price?

I got this yesterday from Princess. Got excited. Thought maybe they had opened them early. Nope. Nothing. Nada.

We were disappointed with Gumbalimba, too. Very similar experience to @Dan G - lots of waiting around. Minimal time with monkeys/macaws and very "staged". I was expecting more natural animal viewing but it wasn't at all like that. I had zero interest in the insect exhibit and would happily have skipped that given the choice.

My DD (now 17) has had an ongoing tradition of getting a manicure on every cruise. They have "teen services" onboard (you can't book ahead of time) and the price is slightly less. You will need to fill out a waiver, etc so be sure to go with her when booking and to the appointment. They have always done a great job with my kiddo and she looks forward to getting her manicure every cruise!

They usually have two groups doing the grog walk but both sold out right away on my last sailing. The trick with Virgin is to stalk the app - often people end up cancelling and things open up even after being sold out. The other very fun event was the Lotteria, which was a bingo type game with unlimited Margaritas...thanks to @MeganGC1983 for recommending that one!

The other thing my clients mentioned regarding the hotels was that the description of what you got didn't actually match what you got - as an example, the description "suggested" (well, actually stated) that you received 5 night hotel stay. In actual fact, they got a credit/voucher for a specific amount per night - every hotel cost more than that credit, so they ended up paying extra to stay. They described the promotion as a glorified timeshare scheme...lol

If it's the Princess Promotions package, where you get a cruise, onboard credits, hotel, etc. I haven't personally had experience with it but a few of my clients did purchase the package. They said that the hotel portion was really hard to book on any of the dates they wanted and the hotels they eventually got were really not worth the price tag. They regretted purchasing...