ceilidh1

Finally! I was getting concerned at the lack of beverages!

Anyone know the status of Six? I've seen it twice on Bliss but last April it wasn't offered on our sailing. We are sailing her again this April and it shows on the entertainment offerings, but wasn't sure if it was running yet.

In BC we can only buy alcohol at liquor stores. The majority of which are Government run. No savings for us. EVER. Lol

You can not even begin to imagine how much joy I get out of this statement. Champagne and CVS - love it!

Unfortunately, Princess is not doing well by either their TAs or CVPs right now. I am a TA and book more Princess than anything else. I consider myself VERY savvy when it comes to their booking system and navigating it. Over the past year they have made it far more difficult to do even the simplest of tasks - such as upgrading from Plus to Premiere, for instance - mainly because they are rolling new things out before communicating such things to their TAs and CVPs. Why would I, as a TA, need to call in to get this "special code" applied - equip me to do it myself by telling me what the code its! They used to be amazing at doing this - not so much now.

Great - I hope they let us TAs know the code sooner rather than later! Lol

I booked when they had their solo offer and snagged a sea terrace in Dec this year for 8 nights for $2100CAD.

Now it's going to get even more interesting!

FREE AT SEA Your Current Offers Unlimited Open Bar Package Includes a selection of beverages by the glass (premium cocktails, beer and wine up to $15) as well as unlimited pop, juices, and one 6-litre case of Flow water (exclusions apply) Click Here for details. Specialty Dining Package 1 meal to enjoy at any of our specialty dining restaurants Wi-Fi 75 minutes of free Wi-Fi per stateroom Shore Excursions $50 USD credit per tour for 1st guest FREE AT SEA PLUS Elevate Your Cruise Experience Premium Plus Beverage Package Includes all beverages by the glass (top-shelf spirits, cocktails, beer and wine), select premium bottles of champagne and wine as well as unlimited Starbucks® coffee and specialty drinks, bottled water, pop, juices, and more. Click Here for details. Additional Specialty Dining 2 additional specialty dining meals Unlimited Wi-Fi To upgrade to our Premium Wi-Fi package with streaming included, please call 1-866-234-7350 More Shore Excursions Get an additional $50 USD credit per tour for 2nd guest Price Per Person C 306 25 This is what shows on mine - I booked way back in 2021 and refared in November 2022. The "current" FAS is stating water, yet the upgrade doesn't? Weird. Not that it matters to me, since I have no use for the water anyways...

OP - since you are sailing before the upgraded packages kick in, this "might" be the issue. I would suggest calling again and asking them specifically to upgrade your package and NOT to refare you! I just went back in to Polar and it seems that there is an area in the booking (it's changed from a code as far as I can see) under "Special Requests and Gifts" where the Plus package can be removed and the premiere package added. Doing it this way is no longer an "upgrade" but it works out the same way (it used to be that a code was added to charge the $25 per day but now it seems it takes off the costs of Plus and then you re-add the cost of Premiere and it all comes out correct). I just did a trial with one of my bookings (though it is after the new packages kick in) and it worked, so maybe you can talk the agent through it. You may well get an agent that actually knows how to do their job on the next call! The other option is to stick with Plus and just pay the difference in the cost of the wine you drink...

Yes, I questioned this when the packages were first rolled out - it's not right to pay for extra benefits that you won't receive. No one at Princess seemed to think it was a problem, so I just gave up.

As a TA myself, I was about to post something very similar to this. From what OP is describing, it sounds as if the agent at Princess is attempting to refare/rebook rather than simply adding the code for Premier. I took a quick look in Polar and don't see such a code currently, which would explain the confusion. It SHOULD be available in personaliser but maybe Princess have removed it with the new pricing/packages. (I hear everyone gasping with shock and disbelief right now at the thought that Princess might have rolled out something that they aren't quite ready for...🤣) OP, not sure when you sail, but I would say give it a few days/weeks/months - at some point they will be happy to take your money for the upgrade!

Hands down the BEST chocolate mousse ever at the International Cafe. Worth cruising just to get one of those!

Depends what you are looking for. If you want "low cost" you won't find it in the Downtown/close to port area. You would need something that is either airport area or East of Downtown. If you want close to port - Pan pacific, Fairmont Waterfront and Fairmont Pacific Rim are literally right there and amazing hotels. If you want a little less expensive than port hotels, look at Blue Horizon, Coast Coal Harbour, Marriott Pinnacle, Marriott Waterfront, Loden, Westin Bayshore. All great hotels, great location. St Regis, Sandman, and Marriott that have been mentioned previously are all a little lower in price and in decent areas of the city. I've never stayed at St Regis but frequent the bar for happy hour regularly. I wouldn't go any further afield than Sandman Suites on Georgia as then you are getting outside of the Downtown area and into the "less desirable" neighbourhoods.

I imagine you would go to guest services and ask for the charge to be removed?

Oh, I agree with you! I was just commenting that the "child" did not need to buy a ticket nor enter a casino

No ticket or casino was involved. This was Princess prizes - activated if you purchase the premiere package or at $20 per day without the package. You do it on the stateroom door. Still, anyone under 18 should NOT have been allowed to activate it...

...which is pretty much exactly what I said?

And you didn't set off the alarms? That system obviously works well...lol!

I'm so confused about this - how did they get to hold and take a photograph with the check (assuming the person pictured with it is their son?) I was present at one of these things and, certainly at the one I attended, the cheque was on a tripod and remained covered until the winner was announced. The winner was the only one that got to hold and take a picture with it before it was whisked away... I'm also curious as to how old the son is? The original post made it sound as if we are talking a child - if this is the case, I would have more sympathy about the situation as Princess should never have allowed anyone under 18 to participate in buying the Princess prizes game in the first place. As someone that sails with an 11 year old and 16 year old, I would be quite angry if they were able to opt in (and be charged for) to something they were not eligible to participate in or to win. If the son is over 18, signed up for Princess prizes and then cancelled the entry then not so much sympathy from me. Even if the phone call about winning a prize did not give any details as to what he might have won, it would have been evident (from the event itself) that this "prize" was from the Princess prizes game and if you didn't purchase an entry then how could you expect to win anything? It's all a little odd to me... Now, here is where I will play Devil's advocate. If these are new cruisers (or at least new to Princess) who knew nothing about Princess prizes and the son is 18 (old enough to play but young enough to have little common sense/know better) and they went to the event based on the call they had won something at a prize event, then I see how it would be a disappointment. I should add that, if you know nothing about Princess prizes, the event doesn't actually mention having to pay (in fact, the one I was at made it sound as if this was an automatic thing for everyone going in and out of the room, but I think our presenter was just really bad...lol) but I would assume they must have had SOME knowledge of it if the son signed up and then withdrew? Should Princess have checked eligibility BEFORE calling them and putting the name on the check? Absolutely they should have. But, sometimes things happen and mistakes are made.

And, if under 18, how/why did the system allow him to sign up in the first place? This would be a concern for me since I travel with teens!

I want to know about this too - I LOVED our Virgin cruise in Feb so much that I'm booked for 8 nights in December. I'm nervous that it won't be as great at full capacity, so hoping we find out in this review!

1. Feb 2022 - Scarlet Lady, Virgin Voyages 2. April 2022 - Bliss, NCL 3. April 2022 - Discovery, Princess 4. Sep 2022 - Royal, Princess 5. Dec 2022 - Ruby, Princess The first four were reduced capacity and were fantastic. The last one was a holiday cruise and completely full. Still great, but definitely felt the difference. Next booked cruise is April on Bliss and then December on Virgin. While we have loved and been loyal to Princess, we will likely only sail with them again at this point if there are some great deals out there! Other than outstanding crew, Princess has nothing to offer that is enticing and the eroding of benefits, along with the price increases has left a sour taste. While I know this is a sign of the times and not unique to Princess, I haven't sailed enough on other lines to notice it as much (yet).

Oops - you're right. We started in a deluxe balcony but then upgraded to a mini! Sorry OP

We were in Royal in a deluxe balcony with four guests - the sofa bed/pullman did not obstruct access to the balcony (usually the description when booking tells you if it will). The sofa bed and bunk were both put away by the steward in the day and made up at night. Here is a picture with the night time set up: