sunviking90

Its beyond tacky for people to discuss how much they did or didn’t pay. Why would you tell people how little you paid, which would then make them feel they paid too much? Even beyond the casino, on any cruise you’ll have people who booked last minute who may have paid less than half of what some advance bookers did. As far as the casino cruiser with a “free” suite, I’m sure he “paid”. There was a thread on the Princess board recently by a casino cruiser that shocked us with the amount of money being wagered, lost, and occasionally won. He was offered a suite for his next cruise. For those who come out ahead and get the offers, good for you. Happy cruising!

Ugh. This is exactly why we avoid the Lido in spite of the often better options and fresher food. You can’t un see things like that. Apparently Covid, Noro etc have taught us nothing. Does anyone remember pre Covid that they did not allow self serve beverages, etc in the Lido for the first 48 hours, until they knew noro hadn’t been brought aboard? I’m sure I remember this, but I’m not sure if it was all sailings or only some? I remember being surprised in our first HAL post Covid cruise in Aug 2022 that this practice was not in effect. I hope everyone stays healthy. There are a lot of weird noro type things going around right now, but definitely hope none of you have to experience it on vacation.

They will usually have one of the dining rooms set aside for card players, mahjong players, etc during the afternoon. It will be in the daily patter. We enjoy Skywalkers for reading as it is the only quiet place with no music on the ship.

Your pictures are lovely! Glad you made it up there. I agree about bus tours. Definitely not for us. We try to rent a car or just do our own thing when in the ports. At least you got to use your HIA credits though. If you return to Kauai one day it is a good one to rent a car in as it is pretty small and you can see a lot. Good luck with your phone!

Enjoy Kauai! It’s our favorite Hawaiian Island. Very “South Pacific” vibes. The canyon that I think your tour is going to is lovely. Hopefully you’ll have clear enough weather up there. There are chickens all over the island, and when we drove to the top of the canyon, we were amazed that they were there too!

So glad your MDR situation has improved. Ours on the Koningsdam in January was similar. Our waiter seemed indifferent and I think was put off because we didn’t want to order dessert with our starters and entrees.. I find it so strange that they have started to do this. We always said weren’t sure until after dinner if we want dessert. The concept of coffee WITH dessert also seemed to be a challenge. They never were together. We’d finish dessert long before coffee arrived. The last night we just left after our entrees. I guess this is all a result of short staffing, but doesn’t make for a nice dining experience.

Bon Voyage!

That’s awesome! Congratulations.

Here’s a thread: We’ve bid twice (minimum only) and won both.

I agree on Sitka. It is also our favourite port in Alaska. We were fortunate last year to take an 11 day Princess cruise round trip from YVR which included Sitka.

We’ll be on the Royal Princess crossing the date line on our 35th anniversary this year. We’re heading east so we’ll have 2 days to celebrate!

I was also very apprehensive of using Stockperks, but it went very smoothly. I “skipped” all the personal info questions and uploaded our brokerage statement with more personal info (other investments, our address) blacked out. 3 days later got the email that it was accepted, went into the app to redeem credit, and it came through the next day.

Agree on the crowded Lido. We are also no really buffet people, but do go occasionally. We found it surprisingly crowded on the Volendam last year and the ship wasn’t full! Everyone is trying to eat in the same very short windows of time. We would look at the menu and it looked like they had a lot of great options, but just so unpleasant to be in there. Really enjoying your reports so far! Thank you for taking the time.

I was wondering if you meant HAL. We always have them empty it too. I prefer Princess’s empty fridge for sure. No issues with unwarranted charges.

So sorry you had this experience. I think the worst part was the stress of being told you’d be kicked off before you’d be able to get your Medical info. @SCX22raises a good point, but It would be nice if the ships had a crew member assigned as a liaison to ensure people in this situation are not just “dumped”. If you do not hear anything from Princess in 4-6 weeks I would encourage you to go higher up. I have done this in the past when I had had no responses after months. Email for Collin Steinke (director of customer relations) is csteinke@princesscruises.com. CC customer relations when you do. Be specific and if you want some type of compensation, say so.

Yes, I remember some years ago my mother took a Baltic cruise from Dover, so they used to have some UK departures.

This past Black Friday we booked with free Crew Appreciation, but without HIA.. Not sure if that might suit you better.

Hair straighteners are allowed, so we can iron our hair, but not clothes!

My .02 CAD (so it’s worth less, lol): The main reason they are not readily in cabins on cruises out of the US is that it’s just easier not to have them and most of those cruisers will not want or need them. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that. As mentioned Princess has them in room on cruises out of the UK (and some have said Australia), but they are stored away when the ships leave those itineraries. When requested they have happily provided them to us. I was also offered a kettle by my room steward on Celebrity, when he saw me taking the RS hot water carafe back to the buffet for more hot water. (He was our best ever and knew what we wanted before we did!) This was a Mexico cruise out of LA. He said they have lots “but we put them away after repositioning”. HAL has very little presence in the UK with most North European cruises originating in the Netherlands, so they’re just not as accommodating of the UK cruisers. BTW, we were on one cruise that had multiple rice cookers confiscated!

We don’t gamble, but the one that seemed the largest that we’ve seen was on the Majestic. The ship was designed for the Asian market, and the casino reflects that with more specialized sections from what we could tell.

We had Fred on our Panama Canal cruise in August. He’s a wonderful speaker and so passionate about astronomy. He makes things so interesting and accessible to all.

I would recommend Uber rather than taxis in PV. We were quoted $20 usd for a ride to town, and Uber was $3.00 cad.

So true! HAL “can’t” charge for room service, because even at certain hours in the daytime there is no other food available, save burgers and fries. Situation is a bit better on Koningsdam and her sisters at least. @BermudaBound2014 you do know how to spend a sea day! Enjoy!

We stopped here on the Emerald Princess in fall 2022 and there was a FREE shuttle bus to Soulac sur Mer. It’s a very pretty little beach town. They said the ride would be about 20 minutes, but it was only about 10-15 minutes away.

Thank you @Tigerlily75 for continuing on with your report. I’m glad enjoyed your cruise. Looking forward to reading more about Tokyo. (No pressure).