NavyVeteran

With 4 or 5 couples, it is difficult to coordinate times for dinning every night. With fixed seating, it was easy - we all knew what time to show up. With Club Class, it was easy - we could show up anytime (even different times) and our table was always ready for us.

Another option would be to have lower cost non-alcohol Plus and Premier packages for people not of legal drinking age. I can understand why they require they package for two adults in a cabin to limit sharing, but I agree they should allow some lower cost options for a second passenger who is underage.

I agree. The 15 drink per day limit and the requirement for everyone in a cabin to purchase the package are both for the same reason - to limit sharing. The cost of the few times people drank over 15 per day was so small that it had no impact on the bottom line. In fact, people probably drink more now than they did before the limit, since some people will treat the 15 as a goal they need to meet. The people who violated the rules by sharing hurt the rest of us.

We also shower before dinner after returning from excursions. Also we leave our laundry on the bed when we go to dinner instead of worrying if the steward will pick it up early enough to meet the deadline the next morning.

Yes, many people want the return of the old fixed dining options as options. With three dining rooms, they used to have one with fixed early and late, one with fixed early followed by anytime, and one with anytime. The one with fixed early followed by anytime was similar to what they have now with a lot of reservations when they open, but it was more efficient. They don't even have to have an entire restaurant with fixed dining. I notice they are going back to offering a fixed option on their newest ships. I would not want to travel with a large family group with the current DMW. It was definitely much better with fixed dining. I will be taking a family Alaska cruise this fall with five couples. We will be eating in Reserve Collection, so we should not have a problem eating together whenever we want. Pre-COVID, we did a group with four couples eating in Club Class and it was great. But I don't think the large group experience would be that great anymore if you're not in Reserve Collection.

It was available last October on the Caribbean Princess. The Black Forest Cake was delicious, but I can't imagine eating more than two per day - even with the Premier package.

I think you meant "and don't resemble Full Suites at all."🙂

The following statements are based on a cruise on the Carribean Princess last year with Premier. I only *know* what happened on my cruise - I *think* it would be the same on other cruises on other ships. I *know* that your first statement was correct. I *know* that your second statement was also correct on my cruise. I *know* that there were few cakes in the IC that are included under Plus (2 per person per day)/Premier(unlimited) but would cost extra without the packages. Note that even though we had Premier, there was no way we would eat more than one of these cakes each per day. The serving was very large - large enough for two people. When I took the cake from the IC to a table, no one complained when I shared it with DW.

Any excursion on a Glacier Scenic Cruising day in Alaska, like any excursion in the middle of the Panama Canal would have to be a ship's excursion. The ship does not dock. The excursion would pick up passengers directly from the ship, and only ship's excursions would be able to do that. I am booked on September 2024 B2B cruises with Scenic Cruising days at Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park, and Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier; and on the May 2025 Ultimate Alaska cruise with Scenic Cruising days at Glacier Bay National Park, Hubbard Glacier, and College Fjord; and none of the Scenic Cruising days on any of these cruises has any excursions listed. I will keep looking to see if they show up. I wonder if September is too late in the season and May is too early in the season for these excursions.

No fixed answer. It depends. Usually earlier at ports where Princess has a lot of cruises. Keep looking at your Cruise Personalizer to see when they show up.

One suggestion. For safety reasons, you may want to require your two kids to stay together anytime they're not with you, in the cabin, or in the kid's club. With your app and their medallions, you can tell where they are and whether or not they're together. I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

The bathroom is the big issue with a normal cabin unless you are in a full suite. A mini-suite has a shower in tub which would probably be difficult. A balcony, outside, or inside has a very small shower - it has grab bars but wouldn't have room for a seat even if they would provide one. Other than the bathroom, a normal cabin would probably be OK. If he could use a cane instead of a rollator inside the cabin, he would be OK. A folded rollator or even a collapsible wheelchair would fit through a normal door if he can walk to the hallway and he has someone else to roll the folded rollator or wheelchair out the door for him. DW has some mobility issues and we do not book a mini-suite on Princess because of the shower in tub. She doesn't need an accessible cabin, but we will book either an outside, a balcony, or a full suite to get the walk-in shower.

You may want to go ahead and book the tour even if you're not sure you will take the cruise. That is one big advantage of Princess excursions over third party ones - they are completely refundable until approximately two days before the port. If you cancel the cruise, you will also receive a refund for the excursion.

You may get better information if you state the age of the kids. Princess has different programs for different age groups, and the kids cannot go to an older or younger group - even if they have a sibling one year older or younger. Information is provided in the On Board FAQ under "Cruising with Family & Kids".

When I have Premier, I often drink a brandy, a single-malt Scotch, or a glass of wine that is over $15. However, they have other alternatives that are under $15 if you have Plus and don't want to pay extra.

A true 21-night cruise has 4 formal nights. However, most 21-night cruises in the Mediterranean or the Carribean are also sold as three 7-night cruises. In this case, each 7-night cruise has 2 formal nights, so the combined 21-night cruise has 6 formal nights.

They don't waive the dress code completely for embarkation lunch in the MDR. You need to wear shoes, and I don't think a wet bathing suit would be acceptable. People also don't expect as much for dinner on the first night, since many people will not have their luggage delivered to their cabins before dinner.

You can use one FCD for each passenger. Although you can use more than one in your name, you only receive OBC for one for each passenger. If all three of you are going to be sailing with Princess, then you need to purchase FCDs for each of you. Buy enough to cover any cruises you will book until your next cruise (when you can buy more if you need them). You should be able to use them to book online. You enter the passenger information for each passenger when you make the booking before you pay the deposit. If everything is working the way it should, the system recognizes each passenger's Captain's Circle account and recognizes that each passenger has a FCD. It then asks you if you want to use the FCDs.

I have Princess Vacation Protection, Medicare, and Tricare for Life. DW and I both got COVID. She stayed overnight in ship's infirmary and had over $3,000 in onboard medical expenses. I had no symptoms and had a little over $100 medical expenses. Princess Vacation Protection covered all of the medical expenses without requiring me to submit to Medicare or Tricare first. They knew Medicare did not provide coverage outside the US, so they did not require a denial. Since, according to US law, Tricare for Life is secondary to any other medical insurance - even secondary travel insurance, they did not require a denial from them either. We were both in isolation in our cabin for three days of the 12-day cruise (1/4 of the cruise). Princess Vacation Protection reimbursed 1/4 of the cruise fare and port fees, even though we were still getting food and beverages delivered to our room.

Ask to look at the wine menu in the MDR. It may have something you like. Glasses of wine in the MDR (and anywhere else on the ship) are part of the Premier package. Even if they have one you like in the MDR, you may still want to carry one in so you don't have to wait for them to serve you. On the ship, you can buy a drink at any bar or dining room and carry it almost anywhere on the ship. The only restriction is you are not supposed to take a glass container onto the pool deck. If you have a glass when you enter the pool deck, go directly to the nearest bar and ask them to pour it into a plastic one.

1. No problem in the MDR. Tell the head waiter (or dining room manager or whatever he's called these days). You will order your meals from him (not your waiter) a day in advance. They can modify dishes to make them gluten free. Explain to him exactly what your restriction is and is not. I recommend eating in the same dining room every evening (not necessarily at the same table or with the same waiter), because then the head waiter will know your restrictions. Buffet or International Cafe are not so easy. You will need to ask. 2. Probably easiest to grab from the buffet and put it in the frig in your room. You can also check what's available at that time at the International Cafe. Since I've never been up that early, I have no idea. 3. You will probably have no problem, but you probably don't need to. The problem generally is taking food across international borders or taking it off the ship. 4. The Premier package gives you a discount of 25% off any bottle of wine. You don't need to drink the full bottle - they will save it for you and bring it out at the next meal even if it's in a different dining room. However you are losing a lot of the benefit of the Premier package if you are buying bottles of wine. The package includes up to 15 alcoholic drinks per day up to $20 each if you buy by the glass, and you only pay the difference plus 18% of the difference if a glass costs more than $20. Unless you can't find an acceptable wine by the glass available, there is no reason to purchase a bottle. Depending on the ship, you may find a better selection at Vines than in the MDR. I will often order a double pour in Vines before dinner and take it with me into the MDR.

But the real Love Boat did have separate beds. DW and I sailed on the original Pacific Princess in 2002 (her last year sailing with Princess). Our cabin had two twin beds that could not be moved.☹️ The cabin was a little smaller than the ones in the TV show.😉

You're still out of luck. On most Princess cruises, an 18-year-old cannot order alcohol.☹️

I doubt the Princess transfers stop at Bellingham. In any case, Alaska and American have a lot of nonstop flights from Seattle - not from Bellingham.

My Princess Travel Summary says "Passengers making their own air arrangements out of Seattle must depart no earlier than 4:00 P.M." After booking the Princess transfer, EZAir allowed me to select flights after 4:00 pm. I have a 6:07 pm flight so I should be OK.