Mississippian

I have booked a private tour to do this. I have never liked the looks of a big Princess tour. I've taken a "here to there" Princess tour and have been very happy. But the other tours just ring my alarm bells.

14 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

The changes happening from Oct 14 are the recoding cabins to Sanctuary Club.  No physical changes are happening.

I kind of wondered what big changes they could make in five days.

On 5/21/2024 at 2:36 PM, voljeep said:

SUN P arrives in FTL on 10/9 ...

SUN P departs FTL on 10/14 for a 5 day "inaugural"?

 

what happens between 10/9 and departure on 10/14?

 

has a VIP / TAgents / already being offered to TA's?   or are my dates not right?  I may have remembered that a cruise for TA's is in the works, but not open to regular cruisers at this time?  

 

I do remember on SKY P a 3 day pre-inaugural was suddenly opened prior to our cruise when it came over

If you pull up the Sun Princess deck plan, it will ask you if you want the plan for before or after October 14. I haven't compared the two deck plans to see what changes they are planning, but it may be that those five days are going to be spent making those changes.

2 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

Flexible tickets booked throught EZAir can be changed up to 45 days before the flight, payment  can be postponed until final payment of cruise, and there is late arrival/departure protection when purchased through EZAir.

 

The Regal arrived into FLL a few hours late last October because of strong currents.  Those booked on EZAir automatically had their flights rebooked with no penalty and at the expense of Princess.  Everyone else was on their own.  In addition, those booked with EZAir had all airline inventory open.  My parents were originally booked on Delta via Atlanta but EZAir rebooked them on the non stop United at Princess' expense.  Same happened to the Majestic this April when a storm prevented a ship from departing the night before which dominoed into the Majestic arriving late.  There was also the case with the cancelled Sun inaugurals, where those who made independent flight arrangements were stuck with flight credits.

 

Aside from the prices, which there are bargains if you're fortunate enough to live in major hub cities, there's piece of mind.  It's not always the cheapest, I will concede that.

Airline tickets can be changed or canceled for full credit almost until check-in. I just read so many EZAir horror stories.

5 hours ago, SCX22 said:

Don't see how this is an EZAir problem.  This is an unfortunate incident where you're needing to voluntarily change your air reservation.  The terms are clearly stated when you book.  If tickets are Flexible, you can change up to 45 days and you won't get charged for changes/refunds.  If tickets are Restricted, no changes or refunds.  Either way you're past both windows, so what did EZAir do wrong?  Completely sympathize with your friends passport dilemma (at least you're not asking if he/she can cruise without a passport), but EZAir did nothing wrong.

Tickets purchased from the airlines can be changed without penalty. EZ-Air is just a way to ruin a vacation.

3 hours ago, FirstTeacher said:

I’m currently on the Caribbean Princess .  On our first night, we went to the podium that says “Reserve”, thinking this would be us. I specifically asked the gentleman at the podium, and he directed me to the other entrance to the MDR. 

Apparently I could have eaten at any of the three dining rooms, but nobody likes to feel dumb, so I just went to the one with no sign. I really don't understand why some tour group should be allowed to have a sign up suggesting that an entire dining room is "their" dining room, unless it is.

6 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

@Mississippian

just curious… I know you are not on The Sky right now as you have disembarked. Did you ever inquire at entrance to the “ Reserve Dining room “with a crew member? Or you just assumed it was reserved or reservation only & not Reserve class? As others have said reserve class dining is just a very small section of one of the dining rooms -rest of that DR open to everyone else normal circumstances.

Also at podium in the aft dining room- did you ask to be seated? Or just saw the sign and walked away?

The crew would have suggested where you could dine if you asked.

We’ll now you know what to expect on your next Princess cruise if you have a next, just ask a crew member.  Also you can make reservations for a specific dining room and then you would know the location next time.

 

No, I didn't ask, I just went to the other dining room. It was just kind of weird. When you see a sign out like that it suggests that everyone else is supposed to stay out.

On 5/16/2024 at 3:20 PM, Bemidji Ty said:

Cruising to Alaska June 5 for 14 days on the Grand.  We've booked a mini-suite with a bid to get Reserve Dining.  Today we got an email saying the Reserve Dining offer wasn't accepted but they could offer us a Window Suite for a very low fee.  This will be our 5th time to Alaska.  I read the many reviews of the WS's and am leaning toward keeping the MS.  The balcony is great to have, we are Elite and have many of the suite perks (minus Sabatini's breakfast) and have a large OBC.  What would you do?  Thanks and Cheers.

You should refuse the Window Suite if they pay you enough money.

I recently took a transatlantic cruise on the Sky Princess. Two of the three dining rooms had signs up suggesting that ordinary cruisers were not welcome. One dining room had a sign that suggested that it was for "Reserve" passengers only. The other had a sign suggesting it was only for a special group of passengers. Is this, in fact, the case? I really wanted to eat at the hard-to-get-to aft dining room because there is usually less wait, but the sign suggested it was reserved for some group only, so I went elsewhere. I honestly want to know what is going on. I ate all my meals in the one dining room that didn't have a sign that said I shouldn't be there.

On 5/9/2024 at 4:01 PM, CineGraphic said:

Our last sailings with Princess were b2b sailings on the Ruby out of San Francisco in April of 2022. These were the worst cruises we’ve ever taken. Among other things, they were taking reservations for both specialty dining rooms but only opening 1 each night. We were served a partially eaten appetizer from another table in Sabatinis, and they did nothing about the pot smokers on board, despite the posted policy. Since then, we’ve been very happy sailing with Virgin Voyages, in fact we’re sitting in a hotel in Miami at this very moment as we are boarding the Valiant Lady tomorrow for our 6th sailing with Virgin since October of 2022. I just received an email from Alvin Stokes, the new head of customer support for Princess in which he apologizes for the delay (2 years) and as an offer to win me back, he’s offered us $50 OBC. 🤣 Needless to say, I think we’ll pass. So glad we unloaded our CCL stock too. I hope they put that $50 to good use instead of digging a bigger hole for themselves.

 

As terrible as it is, it is good that he is at least going back through the files and doing the job that should have been done years ago.

5 hours ago, Nolafan said:

@TenneSea - I want to thank you so much for your " Live " review of your TransAtlantic. 

 

We will be boarding the Caribbean Princess in July for our British Isles Iceland cruise. I am enjoying reading your thoughts of the ship and seeing your pics.

 

How has the entertainment been so far?

 

Also, we will be visiting 3 of your port stops - Cork, Cornwall, and Portland. I look forward to hearing what you did at those ports.

 

Happy Sails! 

I'm right there with you. I lived in New Orleans for a couple of years not long ago, well, uh, 40 years ago.

2 hours ago, ChutChut said:

Sorry but it was too good to be true. Deep down, you must have known it was an error. Getting mad over Princess making an error and correcting it when you must have had a reasonable suspicion it was a glitch is - misguided.

Why was it too good to be true? I booked a 16-night Britain and Iceland cruise for free. It's an inside stateroom, but I'm not a huge gambler; I'm never offered more than an inside stateroom. I could have booked a 16-night Britain, Iceland, and Greenland cruise. Both of these were offered to me for two or three weeks before disappearing. I was offered the 17-day cruise to Greenland, but it is just too close in time to my Iceland cruise. These 16-night cruises weren't glitches, so why is someone to think the 17-night cruise is a glitch?

I was offered a free inside stateroom on this cruise and thought it was legit. I thought about booking it, but I am taking a free 16-night cruise of Britain and Iceland in July in an inside stateroom, and this was just too soon. When I booked the Britain and Iceland cruise I had the option to book a free Britain, Iceland, and Greenland cruise, but I didn't want to lose all the UK and Irish ports for Greenland.

I am sure other people had the offer of these free 16-day cruises to Iceland and Greenland out of Southampton, so there would have been no reason to think the Boston offer wasn't real.

I ate at the Crown Grill on the Enchanted and did not like it. My filet simply was not good; in fact, it was awful. On my last Sky Princess cruise I ate at Rudy's The Catch three times. I also ate at Sabatini's, fearing I would be disappointed. I ended up really liking it. My next cruise is on  the Caribbean, which only has Sabatini's and the Crown Grill. The only thing I can see myself getting at Crown Grill is the lobster. I simply don't trust them on steak after my last experience.

Fortunately, I'm pretty happy eating in the MDR.

I'm joining the conversation late, but I'm surprised that few people are mentioning that Celebrity ships have a much greater "Wow!" factor than Princess ships. They remind me of the designs of the Hyatt Regency hotels from the 1970s. And I couldn't help but notice on my last Silhouette cruise that there were just tons of little private nooks that were by design places where one could go to read a book or just relax.

Celebrity Pro: Slightly better food. Better ship design, trendier feel at bars. Lots of private spaces to read or work. Con: Simply more expensive, both for the base cruise and for the drink packages. Entertainment not as good, and ship not designed as well for entertainment. Video poker paytables seemed to be worse. Doesn't offer free European cruises to casino players (me, anyway).

Princess Pro: Better entertainment, ship more designed for entertainment. More affordable, both cruise fare and drink/wifi packages. Food is still good. More generous to casino players, with a few free European cruises (I hate sand and heat). The self-service laundry is a huge plus. Con: Princess ships just aren't as elegant and impressive as Celebrity ships. I don't care for the Atrium. The food isn't quite as good. In the bigger scheme of things, these shortcomings are things I can live with most of the time.

FWIW, I have 12 cruise credits with Princess and will have 14 after my solo cruise this summer. I have 130 Celebrity points after two cruises, so you can see what my cruise choices have been. If everything were exactly equal money-wise, I would probably choose Celebrity, but I don't think they deserve a huge premium.

Princess no longer provides currency exchange. Your best bet is to use a no-fee card to get euros. Even if the card has fees, it is still better than the outlandish fees charged by exchange booths.

Once upon a time it was possible to use any ATM in Europe to get a rate. No more. There are now "Euronet" ATM machines everywhere, and these machines are an absolute scam, with ultra high fees and conversion fees. Do not use them. Today, the only ATM machines you should use are those actually connected to a bank, either on an outside wall or else in the little walk-in place they provide. Even these machines will offer to charge you in your own currency, which you should decline, because your credit or debit card will always give you a much, much better rate.

Wells Fargo and other banks used to provide euros at fairly reasonable rates, and it can be helpful to arrive in Europe with at least a couple of hundred euros, just to pay the taxi to the hotel, etc.

22 hours ago, fergorama said:

Our passports expire mid-March 2025. We are booked on Dec 4 Island Princess TA. Will our passports not being good for 6 mos from embarkation date be a problem?

I think it will almost certainly be a problem. This isn't a matter or Princess enforcing the rule. It is the foreign governments enforcing the rule. You have plenty of time and should renew now. If you have other trips planned, you can renew in person at various offices. It was a roughly four-hour drive each way for me. Fortunately, there was a casino in town where I could waste a few hours and dollars and eat lunch while waiting for my passport to be processed.

I have an upcoming cruise in July. As of now, I haven't booked either the Plus or Premier package. When the time comes, I am likely to book the Premier package, just so I can have unlimited 3,000 calorie desserts, because I want to star on My 600-pound life. Anyway, is there any reason I should book these now rather than wait to book them on ship? I think waiting would save me on insurance costs. The only downside is that I might not be able to order a drink as soon as I board.

1 minute ago, 1025cruise said:

People book independent excursions all the time. This is discussed regularly on the ports of call boards.

I agree. The Fly Over Iceland thing is just beyond belief, though.

I'm not a fan of ship tours, as I don't like getting on a giant bus, and I find them overpriced. They do have the advantage that if the ship doesn't make the port call they are refunded, and they will make every effort to hold the ship for you if your tour is late (but that is by no means certain). As for cost, well, they are pretty outrageous.

I just booked a Golden Circle mini-bus tour in Reykjavik for $97 which is non-refundable within 24 hours of the tour. The same tour from Princess, on a giant bus, is $295. Perhaps the most ridiculous price difference I've seen is for a Fly Over Iceland attraction that is sort of like the Soaring ride at EPCOT, maybe a little better. Princess is charging $155. I paid $36. Like the Troll tour, I have a 24-hour cancellation window, so there is some risk, but I think there is a better than 25% chance we will make the port call.

Sometimes Princess does offer simple ride-there-and-get-off tours that are pretty good value, simply because they are easy to book, but I'm just not going to pay three or four times as much for an experience that isn't nearly as good as what I can get on my own. I know this is nothing new, but the Fly Over Iceland price difference just kind of knocked me down.

3 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

Another way for Princess to pinch a penny out of customers and justify their package fares.  Remember when Princess had cruise cards and there was no choice but to pick up at the port?  It wasn't a big deal then, not sure why it would be a big deal now.

I really like the medallion.

6 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

I’m canadian too but I just can’t believe the canadian website is different. I hate to ask but are you sure you are computer literate?

I thought the same thing, because I saw the ability to filter by number of guests yesterday and every day before. It simply is not there today.

16 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I’m confused as to why it matters. If you see a cruise you might be interested in, you click on it and at that point (if not before) you select the number of people. Why would it matter at which point in the search that selection is made?  

Because some cruises have no or low single supplement. Now it takes 10 or 15 hours to find them.

On 4/14/2024 at 2:04 PM, BamaVol said:

Let me try a slightly better shot. It clearly indicates with icon and print that my muster station is the captains circle loyalty desk. It looks odd and it might change. But that life preserver is pointing to a location. Does anyone show something different or is that a placeholder we all see until on board?

 

My muster station shows as being at Crooners on my upcoming Caribbean Princess cruise. 

YES! On my last cruise it took me 15 or 20 minutes to go from my taxi to being on Deck 7 swilling a mimosa. It would have been a good bit longer if I had not been Green Line.