NavyVeteran

They still have a parade - not the parade. Without traditional dining, it isn't at the right time for many diners. And they don't actually parade baked Alaska - they march around with some fake demo stuff. And it definitely isn't flaming. In the old days, they actually fed us the baked Alaska that they marched with.

I really miss the baked Alaska from the old days. The junior waiters would march around the room at the end of dinner with the flaming baked Alaska. They would then take it to our table and put out the flame. No one ordered baked Alaska - it was taken to the table for everyone without ordering it. It was messy and delicious - not like the ones they have today. That was back in the day when everyone was ready for desert at the same time (traditional dining) and before the safety people forbid flames on the ship. Oh, I miss the good old days.😀

Princess Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) returns a Future Cruise Credit good for travel until the end of the next year after the cancellation (75% or 100% of the cancellation penalty - not including the cost of the insurance). A third-party CFAR would give you a refund (some percent), but third-party CFAR policies may be more expensive. Third-party medical and evacuation coverage may be better than Princess Vacation Protection (PVP). As you stated, this probably doesn't matter on an Alaska cruise. Medicare and supplement may not pay for treatment on the ship or for treatment in Vancouver, but the PVP should be enough for these costs. This analysis could be different for a cruise in some other part of the world. One big difference is that the cost of PVP is not age rated. The cost for third-party insurance is. This can lead to a significant cost difference for some of us who aren't as young as we used to be. PVP provides secondary coverage for medical expenses. Third-party insurance may provide primary or secondary coverage. With secondary coverage, you have to apply to the primary insurance first and then they pay the difference. In the past, I haven't had to apply to Medicare first for treatment outside of the US; the insurance company knows they don't provide coverage. Your Medicare supplement may or may not provide coverage outside of the US. My Tricare for Life does, but some supplements do not. But my Tricare for Life is secondary to travel insurance - even secondary travel insurance, and I usually don't need to file a claim with them first.

No, that's backwards. If the condition is treated with medication and the diagnosis and medication has not changed in the 60 days prior to purchase (payment - not selection), then it is covered. You can purchase it anytime between deposit and final payment. I wait until DW and I have 60 days with no medical changes and then purchase it. I don't wait until final payment, because one of us may have a changed condition just prior to that.

The information is on the Carnival Corporation website - not the Princess cruises website. You can ignore the dates. The Board of Directors approves this benefit one year at a time, but they always approve it in time for the next year. For people in the US, you can apply anytime after you book.

This is a very welcome change. I hope it is a fleet-wide policy change and not just on that ship. Princess is not known for consistency. With all of the talk about changes reducing the value of the packages, it would be very nice to see a change adding something new to them. This hasn't been much of a problem for us because DW gets enough canned ginger ale in the mini-bars, but it would be easier if she could just get one at a bar. I just looked at the descriptions of the Beverage Packages. The summary descriptions of both the Premier Beverage Package and the Plus Beverage Package say "includes sodas" with no limitation to fountain sodas only. However, the full Beverage Package terms & conditions for both still say "fountain sodas". They do not explicitly list canned sodas as included but they also do not list them as not included. The terms & conditions for the Zero-Alcohol Package and for the Classic Soda Package explicitly include "fountain sodas and cans of soda". I suppose it would be too much to ask for Princess to include "canned sodas" explicitly in the terms & conditions for the Plus and Premier packages.

OP asked about some mini-suites - not suites. I think this information about suites could be confusing. Being close to the Concierge Lounge doesn't help much if you're in a mini-suite.

Also those in suites.

Booking it in advance has the following disadvantages: It is part of the cruise fare subject to cancellation penalty if you cancel during the penalty period after final payment. Because it is part of the cruise fare, the cost of Princess Vacation Protection or third-party trip insurance will increase to cover the additional possibly non-refundable cost. You cannot use OBC to pay for it in advance. However, if you know you want it, it is easier to take care of it in advance. Paying now has the following possible advantages: They may increase the cost between now and your cruise. Since it is a fare increase, it may increase the commisionable amount if you use a travel agent (I'm not sure about this). If so, it may increase OBC or other discount received from the travel agent. If you're using an agent that provides OBC or discount, ask the agent. According to the Princess FAQ Question 7, "These packages are capacity controlled and are available for purchase pre-cruise or on board." The Terms & Conditions say "Princess Plus is contingent on ship capacity and only available on select voyages while capacity lasts." Princess may limit the total number of Plus and/or Premier packages sold on a specific cruise because of the capacity to handle them, so it is possible that the package won't be available later. I haven't heard of this happening yet, but it could happen.

Because the waiters and the room stewards are responsible for all of the policy changes she didn't like? This thread is supposed to be on the non-grandfathered changes to the Plus package. Your comment isn't about the Plus package, because your friend did not have the Plus package - the old one or the new one. If she had the Plus package, she would not have been able to reduce the included crew appreciation.

A final payment notice from a TA will often have an earlier date than from Princess, but 30 days earlier may be a little much. The TA wants to get the funds in enough time to make sure Princess receives them by their final payment date.

The Terms & Conditions for the Plus and Premier packages state "The package may be used on our private islands, all food and beverage venues, and other areas such as the theater or public spaces that offer beverage service." So, no problem on Princess Cay. There is one limitation on Princess Cay however. The package includes fountain sodas but does not include canned sodas. They do not have fountain sodas at Princess Cay, so sodas would not be included. I guess you will have to drink beer and cocktails instead. Canned sodas are included in the Zero Alcohol Package and in the Classic Soda Package, so people with these packages would be able to get sodas at Princess Cay.

So do I. We had a family cruise on the Coral Princess through the Panama Canal in 2003 with a family group of thirteen. We had traditional dining with two adjacent tables (table of eight and table of six) with the same waiter and assistant waiter for both tables. We switched between the two tables each evening. Service was great. Dinner time was the one time during the day when the entire family group was together. I believe it would be difficult to get the same kind of service today on Princess without using Reserve Dining. It might be possible on some ships, but you would have to work to get it arranged. Back then, we had to do nothing. We all requested early traditional dining, and we had all of the bookings linked. Everything else was automatic.

Yes.

We are staying one night in an Anchorage hotel before transferring to Whittier. Because of the long transfer to Whittier, this is one of the few times that we booked a Princess pre-cruise hotel. Before everyone replies, I know I'm spending more money, but I am paying for the convenience. They have two options - a bus transfer and a rail transfer. I booked the rail transfer even though it's more expensive because I thought it would be more comfortable. The pre-cruise hotel package includes transfer from airport to hotel, transfer from hotel to rail depot, train from Anchorage to Whittier, and luggage handling. Here is a description of the rail transfer from my Travel Summary: "Rail: Anchorage to Whittier: For nearly 2 1/2 leisurely hours aboard the Glacier Discovery train, you'll travel on Alaska's historic railway gliding past rivers, lakes, waterfalls and glaciers. The train features single-level cars with picture windows and a dining car that offers delicious food available for purchase. The train departs Anchorage at 10:00 a.m. and arrives into Whittier at 12:30 p.m." This timing looks good, since boarding begins at 12:30 pm. We may be onboard in time to get to the MDR before 1:30 pm to eat lunch. I don't know if Princess sells the rail transfer without the hotel stay.

We had a family group of eight (four brothers and our wives) on the Caribbean Princess around the British Isles in 2017. Club Class had a table for eight always available for us and not used by anyone else, so we could arrive at any time with no waiting. I don't think reserving this table affected other people's wait, since they could adjust the size of Club Class as needed. This made our cruise very enjoyable. With the removal of traditional dining, it is difficult to coordinate reservations for a party of eight to eat together in the MDR. We have a family group of ten (same four brothers and a first cousin and our wives) booked on the Grand Princess to Alaska next year. We're looking forward to a table for ten in Reserve Dining. I expect the ship to accommodate us, and I would expect them to adjust the size of the Reserve Dining section to accommodate everyone else also. They also pushed some tables together to give us a table for eight in Sabatini's for breakfast. This was not there every morning but they took care of us when we were all there. This did not interfere with other passengers, since most passengers prefer the tables closer to the windows. The ones that they could push together were away from the windows. I don't know whether or not they will be able to give us a table for ten in Sabatini's for breakfast next year, but we'll see.

I agree with your decision on this cruise. I would recommend EZAir and Princess transfers if flying in the morning of the cruise, even if it didn't save you anything on the fare. You would not be risking much on the cruise from New York City to Quebec City, since the first two days are port days in Newport and Boston, and it would not be difficult for Princess to arrange transportation to the next port if you missed the cruise. Also, PVSA would not be an issue, since the cruise ends in a foreign port. I recommend Princess transfers in case you are running late and there are traffic problems. If you are on a Princess bus, then the ship knows where you are and how many people are on the bus.

The Reserve Collection Mini-Suite FAQ are very clear. Look at the answer to question number 5. If everyone in Reserve Collection could invite friends, they would need twice as much space.

Are you sure you can change from Plus fare to Standard fare without refaring? It is not a package - it is a different fare code, subject to the normal cancellation penalties. That's why the insurance cost goes up. If you cancel during the penalty period, you pay the penalty on the entire fare including the Plus part. If you were to purchase the separate overpriced beverage package instead, it would be fully refundable up to three days before sailing.

I have received free checked baggage on American and on United when booking with EZAir. Both times the free baggage was because of my airline credit cards. They provided free baggage because of the frequent flyer number without caring how I paid for the tickets. I have no experience with Delta and EZAir however.

My wife did the same thing. And they added it.

For my upcoming cruise on the Caribbean Princess next month, it is also listed in Crooners. DW always attends with some knitting. Since I normally spend all day in Crooners 😀, I guess I'll see her there. It is unhosted, but they organize it themselves. If they don't like the location Princess assigns, they'll move it somewhere else.

I have never been successful in pre-booking a first night specialty dinner without charge in a suite. On my upcoming cruise, the app recognized my Premier credits, so I booked the first night using those. I'll fix it onboard - at least they didn't charge my credit card. You shouldn't have any problem booking onboard. Suite passengers have priority specialty restaurant reservations, and they know to hold some slots for the first night. The only reason I wanted to prebook the first night on this cruise is that I won't be boarding until about 5:00 pm.

OK. OK. Next time I'll read the title and not just the post.😃

It would help if you said what ship.