jennmaybe

3 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

It doesn't really matter as long as they are in carryon.  There is always a small chance that when it goes through the X-ray machine a security person might want a quick check.

Thanks!  They are more than welcome to check if they need to.  😄

On 5/14/2024 at 11:20 PM, osborne66 said:

We just completed a 17 night TransPacific Cruise on the Solstice. There was 3 of us. We each brought 12 cans of Soda onboard in our carry ons. Not an issue 

 

Did you keep these in the original packaging or did you take them out to pack them? I am thinking of taking the cans out and putting a towel around them. We are taking a smaller carry-on and I don’t think the original case will fit.

16 hours ago, ggo85 said:

On our last cruise, we saw 4 chairs with only towels folded up. We sat in 2 of them. Two hours later, the hogs arrived, claiming they’d saved the chairs.  And we suspect they had, since it was too early for the pool folks to have put out towels.
 

We stated there was no saving of chairs. Didn’t move. They grumbled loudly to themselves. 
 

They finally took the 2 remaining chairs. Stayed in them off and on for an hour and then left. 
 

 

Good for you!  I have moved towels myself numerous times on different ships. One time we had a couple come back, but they did not say a word to us.  

Are there actually any real advantages to booking airfare through Celebrity?  I have never booked airfare through a third-party.  We have always booked directly with the airline.

Not everyone uses apps and can still be curious about the menus.  

21 hours ago, travelbuds said:

Curious how you printed the Xpress Pass. I was able to take the screen shot and email it as attachment to my email account, but not able to print it from laptop. Was able to print luggage tags and documents from my Celebrity account, but found no mention of Xpress Pass. Had received an email from Celebrity telling me to print it. Thanks.

Are you not able to print an email?

Does anyone have an idea of when they will be releasing the schedule for the rest of 2026 for AUS/NZ?

1 hour ago, SDWalt said:

FYI,

The AUS/NZ cruises first went on sale late last year.

So there's been a fair amount of time passed.  Could be why some are now fully booked.

We booked a 2 week RT AUS/NZ then, not sure if it's sold out now.

Hope you find something you're interested in pursuing.

Thank you!  Me too!  

Yeah, I started looking at these back in January and as of the first week of April they were still available.  We got together with my mother-in-law and we had finally narrowed it down to either of the two cruises that I mentioned earlier and when I went back out last week to book it, they were both sold out. 

1 hour ago, Cruise Junky said:

We’re booked on the 8 day. Wow, I had no idea it would be that popular.  There are three versions of that cruise though. It might be that more cabins are available for the full portion and not the smaller one. Keep your eyes out for more inventory.    
 

edit…just checked the 14 day version, there’s tons of availability for 3.  

I sure do wish we could do the 14 day one!  I will definitely keep checking to see if anything opens up.  I’m glad you got booked on it and I hope you guys have a wonderful time!  

8 minutes ago, JordanF said:

FWIW, just yesterday I was browsing a February 2025 cruise on RCCL's Serenade of the Seas, a 9 day Caribbean cruise out of Tampa.  This is an older ship, and yet, there were already only a handful of balcony cabins left.  I keep reading articles about how cruises are selling out and how prices are rising accordingly.  We are booked on the Emerald Princess in 2026, and the prices have gone up since we booked a few months ago.  I'm glad the industry is rebounding, but there were certain financial advantages to passengers during the downturn.  These days, supply and demand are not on our side!

I agree!  Princess prices for AUS/NZ are the best I have seen yet. I can see why they are starting to sell out already for 2026. None of the other itineraries interested us so it looks like I will have to wait until they release their itineraries for later in 2026. Let’s say that I have learned my lesson and I will book as soon as they release! 😜

Well, I’ll called Princess.  He looked at both of the cruises I was looking at, and he said they are sold out except for some interior rooms on the 8-day.  That will not work for us, because we were going to book a penthouse suite.  (there will be 3 of us traveling).

None of the other cruises peaked our interest, so I guess I will have to start over looking at some other lines.  I had already looked at several and did not find any itineraries appealing. Princess had the best itineraries.
 

Unfortunately, we are limited to no more than 8 days.  My hubby and I still work and between days for flying and days pre-and post cruise, we cannot get more than 2 weeks off at a time.  Aah… hopefully the day will come when we can take very long vacations. 😄🏝

The cruises I have been looking at were the 6-day leaving 1/3/26, AUS/NZ and the 8-day leaving 2/20/26, AUS/NZ.

The representative did offer to put me on a wait list with no guarantees, of course, for a fee. I’d politely refused. I am not putting down money for a cruise that I may not get when I can put that money towards a cruise that I can actually book. 😟

Yeah we’ve sailed Princess before, so not a 1st cruise with them.  
 

Thanks for the feedback.  I always book our cruises online and I don’t use travel agents.  I am our travel agent. 😁

I’ll give them a call tomorrow and see what they say.  I wanted to check and see if my CC peeps had any insight first.  I find you guys way more reliable than I do customer service.  
 

Thanks ya’ll! 

So, I have been looking at 2 different cruises in 2026 for Australia/NZ.  One is a 6-day and the other is a 8-day.  We had decided on the 6-day, but when I went out to book it last week, it is showing as sold out. Then, I checked the 8-day cruise since that was our back up, and when I chose 3 guests, it was also showing sold out. On that one, when I changed it to 2 guests, only interior rooms showed as available.  I have checked this several times now over the last week and received the same results.

My question is, how can these cruises already be sold out?  These seem to be the only two that are.  Is this common for Princess on AUS/NZ itineraries or is there a special event that has been booked that has taken the rooms?  When I started looking at these cruises, there were plenty of rooms available.

Super bummed…. looks like we may now have to wait until later in 2026.. 

We don’t even have a way to get them on our phones, so it’s a printed copy for us.

45 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Six years is a long time. It really is time to get a new phone. As far as updating iOS those updates are usually security updates, not bug fixes.. It may be a pain but they need to be done. 

Why?  Our phones are older than this and have no problems.  Then again, we don’t use apps for anything. Not everyone wants to pay hundreds of dollars a month for a cell phone. We prefer to spend our money traveling and splurging such as flying first class or Delta One Suites.

You can take your own canned sodas on Celebrity.  We do not drink a lot of soda, but we also don’t do fountain soda.  We’re taking 1 case with us next month.

Wanna know how much gratuity we pay? 0%!  We refuse to pay those prices and we do not use the mindset of “it’s vacation” to justify it.  There are so many better things that we can spend that money on while on vacation.  Heck, in some cases, that would pay for another short vaca. 😁

Thanks ya’ll!  We don’t mind the walk since we are hikers and love to walk.  Good info! 

We love our daughter, (now 26), but even on vacation, there were times we needed our space and she needed hers.  I can’t imagine being cramped in 1 balcony room for that long with just 1 teen, let alone 2. 😜. Lol!  I just thought of your poor hubby—-waiting on the bathroom with 3 ladies. 😂 I bet he’ll find another bathroom the 1st day! 😂😂

Seriously, I hate that y’all don’t have many options, but our vote would be for a shorter cruise and bigger cabin.  
 

Whatever you choose, enjoy! 🛳️

So, which is better? South Beach or Cove Beach and why?  We are just looking for free…..

If we take a taxi down to Radio Beach, how do we organize a taxi to get back to the ship?  Are there taxis readily available or do we need to schedule a pick up with the taxi driver that dropped us off?

We will be taking on our own soda.  We don’t drink it much, but I don’t drink alcohol and hubby won’t pay the alcohol prices.  

I have also been having the same issue for days. I can get in to choose the cabin, put all of our guest information in and then I get a message that says, “sorry for the inconvenience.”.  😡

I finally gave up after 10pm last night. 

We are getting ready to book our Australia/New Zealand cruise, and we will have to print anything we need because we do not even have the ability to download apps on our phones. Yes, we are in the minority of the world but we hate cell phones and we don’t know anything like that on our phones.  

Yeah, we would not be able to use the 7 nights, do flying days and do a cruise. Hubby and I still work and we cannot get that much time off work at once, sadly.