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Not sure if this is still the case but when we were on our cruise to Alaska, you couldn’t do laundry when in Alaskan waters. It was a long time ago but you might want to research current policies if planning your laundry on an Alaskan cruise. It took me off guard and I had to delay laundry for a couple days. Love the detergent sheets too! I normally do laundry when the laundromat first opens officially (OK probably 10 minutes prior if I’m being honest) because usually the machines are available. I have done it on sea days and port days (Ensenada because often we don’t get off the ship). Sometimes I have to walk down a floor to find an open washer.

Yes, they have a meet and greet every cruise and also provide an onboard credit if you are a veteran. You do need to provide your DD214 but once it’s in the system, you will continue to get the credit for every cruise without needing to provide additional documentation. A former CEO was ex-military and was pro-veteran (but as time goes on, those benefits are eroding so grab them now when you can!) We have met some wonderful people, some from other countrie, and have heard some great stories from the veterans’ get together.

It took two emails but I finally got a response that a refund has been issued to my credit card and my reservation will remain. So try the customer relations email if you are in a suite but had to pay to get a 360 reservation. It worked. Our cruise is in two weeks. Can’t wait!

I've brought flowers on twice in Seattle. You can pick them up for such an affordable price at Pike Place, why not enjoy them. The first time, I carried a vase onboard but I had read you can ask you cabin steward for one. I asked our cabin steward a couple time and he said he would look for one but a lot of people ask for them so it might not be available. So I finally gave up and used the trash can for the vase instead. Low and behold, a vase showed up in our cabin right after that. I think I'll carry on a portable vase next time. I think I paid $10 for these flowers.

Thanks for the update. I think I’ll try again. I got no response from my first email but perhaps more people are emailing now and more reps are familiar. Otherwise, I’ll just get the OBC once onboard.

We had a cabin, once, and I was concerned because on cabin reviews a couple people complained it was by the crew stairs. I can’t remember the ship or cabin but I’m pretty sure it was when we first started cruising with Princess so a smaller, older ship. I’ll try to see if I can figure it out but don’t hold your breath. I brought ear plugs in case it was a problem. I only heard the crew late at night a couple times and it just wasn’t a problem for us. If you have a specific cabin number, Google it. You might find reviews from people who booked that particular cabin.

The email looks like it’s about dining options. It says Bon Appetit with your booking number as the subject. And then says a World of Dining Options for the heading. You need to scroll to the part discussing 360 where it says as a suite guest it’s included. It’s really easy to miss as an advertisement to book specialty restaurants. Enjoy your upcoming cruises!

That’s strange. Why would they ask you to reserve by calling the number saying it was free if they want to charge you? Did you mention you are in a suite and the email said it would be free? Since I had already paid, she checked my booking and confirmed it should be free, then checked and confirmed I had indeed paid and have reservations, then put me on hold to find out how I could get a refund and came back to say I would have to address it onboard. If you called the 888 number I left, maybe call again to see if another rep gives you the same answer. Did you call the 888 number I left in my post or the 800 number from the website? They are different numbers.

About a month and a half before the cruise (2/16 for 3/29 cruise).

We are sailing on March 29. You might check the app and once it shows there call. Good luck.

I received an email from Princess with a number to call for 360 reservations for suite guests. So if your travel summary shows 360 $0 and you want to go but don’t want to pay in advance, call 1-888-304-8360 and make your reservation. If you made your reservation on the app and paid, your charge will be adjusted once onboard. The Princess rep I spoke to said to go to Guest Services but I’m going to go to the Suite Concierge because I feel I’ll get a better resolution. I’m pretty sure the only option will be refundable OBC, which is fine with me.

That would be excellent. I’ll confirm with the concierge onboard but I agree, refundable would make sense. Thanks.

Thanks for the update. We paid for our 360 and our travel summary shows 360 $0. We are over 40 days out from our cruise and it is already showing sold out. As far as OBC, do you know if it’s refundable? If not, do you know if there are any restrictions? We don’t need any more non-refundable OBC for our short 3 day cruise but totally wouldn’t mind refundable or unrestricted OBC. Thanks for your help.

We have received a check twice. I’m assuming it was for the Veteran’s benefit, which used to be refundable and no longer is. On the short cruises when we don’t go on an excursion (e.g. Ensenada) because we’ve been to the port often and prefer to stay onboard, sometimes we have $10 or $20 leftover and don’t care to use it all. A few month later we get a check out of nowhere. I’m sure that will stop now that Veterans’ OBC is now non-refundable.

I experienced the same. Went to Vines and was like finally, a nice wine glass like I’m used to using at home. I thought I could bring it to my cabin, wash it out, and use it for the rest of the cruise but a waiter said he needed to swap it out or he would get in trouble. He was on it in like 5 seconds flat once I stood up with my wine glass full of wine. I totally get it. I’ve broken my share over the years and once I do, I’m like there goes $20+ down the drain. But once you use a Reidel glass, you never go back.

What a wonderful tribute! You have obviously put a lot of thought and research into it and I’m sure it will be beautiful.

Enjoy. You are going to have a blast!

I’m with you all the way. We always bring singles for bar tenders after drinks and pick up envelopes at guest services for our cabin steward and when we have regular waitstaff (rare since COVID) so we can give them cash at the end of the cruise. We also tip extra for specialty restaurants. We have noticed recently that some staff pool their extra tips, which is fine with us. They work so extremely hard and deserve it.

Keep in mind if you don’t drink a lot, you can bring two bottles of wine (one per adult) and drink that in your cabin. If you want to drink it with dinner, you will have to pay the corkage fee, which I believe is now $20 per bottle. We always get the Plus package but used to carry on wine before Plus. I must say it’s nice to not have to drag bottles of wine in my carry on. But if you only drink wine, you can carry on more than two bottles by paying the corkage fee upfront (bring those bottles to dinner).

We booked our next cruise through a TA. She is not our normal TA but on a previous cruise I had to cancel, she booked it for us because our normal TA was not available and since I cancelled, I wanted to make sure to book my next cruise with her so she could get her cut. I added Plus from the app because I wanted our medallions shipped to us so we didn’t have to pick them up at port. Otherwise I would have just ordered once onboard to avoid the extra insurance cost. Long story short, when I tried to get or medallions shipped to our home and the app said to call, once I called they said it couldn’t be changed and call back and I was like I’m not calling back and going through another 40 minute runaround so I told them to just cancel my Plus order. Princess said that needed to be done through my TA. I confirmed with my TA, this is correct. Even if you order through the app and the TA has nothing to do with the purchase, it becomes part of the booking and your TA needs to become involved if cancelling. The TA was able to get the medallions shipped to my home, which baffles me since the Princess customer service rep (two of them) could not. Bottom line, if you book before boarding, it becomes part of the booking through your TA even if they had nothing to do with the sale.

I always check BBB when hiring a high cost business (construction, home improvement, etc.) Sometimes we hire companies not BBB accredited but usually it’s if we have a favorable past experience with them or they come recommended by someone we know). If I’m choosing between a company without a BBB rating and one with an A+ rating and I have not dealt with either in the past, I will chose the A+ rating. I have had really good result with BBB with resolving conflicts (normally all I have to do is mention I’m going to file a complaint with BBB and poof, I’m connected to a supervisor who resolves my conflict as long as I’m being reasonable about my request for resolution).

Thanks for the reply. I’ve already payed for 360 but if I can’t get my money back, I’d likely cancel. I don’t mind FCC or refundable OBC but I really don’t need more non-refundable OBC for this short 3 day cruise. Hopefully if someone can confirm once they are onboard, I can determine if I should cancel.

We took our kids on an Alaskan cruise with Princess when they were 14 (boy/girl twins). I purposely chose July so there would be a lot of families. The kids had a blast and loved hanging out with their new friends they met at Teens’ Club. My daughter’s suggestion to new cruisers is to always go to the first activity. If you don’t join activities until later in the cruise, it’s harder to get to know kids because cliques have already formed. It’s not impossible to make friends if joining later but it just makes it harder, especially if your kids are not outgoing. But since your daughter already has one friend, maybe that won’t be necessary. Our kids made us book a cruise when they were 17 because they had to go on one more cruise before they aged out of the kids’ program. That’s how much they enjoyed it.

Thanks for the update. I’m not sure if you know the answers but I have a couple questions: 1. If you booked and payed and have a travel summary saying 360 for $0, will you get a refund? 2. Can you get a refund to your credit card or does it need to be OBC? If OBC, is it refundable?

I have booked when I’ve seen a price I knew would disappear and then filled out the paperwork to transfer to my travel agent. I told my TA that would likely happen in the future because I’m always checking prices and she was fine with that. I would ask your PVP if that’s possible but if not, just book it. If my PVP isn’t going to guarantee they would make up the price difference, do what’s best for you, not them.