azbirdmom

Have a good flight and enjoy Sydney, rain or shine!

Yes, back in the 80's I was cruising on a Carnival ship and had an excursion from Cozumel to Tulum. They gave us a boxed lunch and when the ferry docked at Playa del Carmen (which was nothing like it is now) a bunch of hungry kids were begging for food. They knew exactly what was in those boxes and some just asked for the apple etc. I looked at my traveling companion and knowing that there was so much food on the ship we both handed over our lunch boxes to the kids. MANY years later we did the same excursion on a Princess ship and I recounted that story to our tour guide. He said that he may have been the kid we gave our boxes to as that was a common thing for the kids to do when he was growing up. But that was the last time that I have received a lunch box from a ship.

How fun! We love our little one. We call her a small feathered person, she really is a member of the family (flock) although she scolds us when we come home from our cruises.

We did the HOHO in December through Princess. I think it was the only Princess excursion we booked. They picked up right by the ship but the drop off was a couple of blocks away at a stop on the regular HOHO route (the port isn't a normal stop). There are two different routes and you can do both if you want, or you can switch to another one at the museum and do part of one and part of another (what we did as we wanted some time to walk around the CBD at the end).

If you're staying near Circular Quay the train is the best deal from the airport. We learned that the hard way a couple of years ago after catching a taxi during rush hour. I can't remember the exact amount but thinking it was north of $140 AUD. Last December we took the train, easy peasy!

It's probably been two months since I've tried to watch so maybe something changed? I know the videos are out there after the live version. And I would would much rather be in your shoes on the 5th. Enjoy your cruise! 😊

Agree, game change to Princess will likely turn out to be something meh to us. I think you can still watch. You just can't register.

They were running the same sale for a brief period of time for Caribbean excursions and I did get a deal - well at least initially. We booked a 7 hour Maya Key excursion in Roatan for $69.95 each. Before and after the sale the price was $89.95. Everything was great until they moved us back to Mahogany Bay from Coxen Hole (after it started as MB when we booked). They kept our excursion but it's now 5 hours and the price for everyone is $69.95. So yay, a sale then dang, lost it.

Looks like a nice itinerary! We just got back from French Polynesia a month ago and as much as I love Hawaii I would agree that Moorea is a wonderful trade for Kona. We were also in New Zealand in December, our second visit there. Highlights for us were both independent tours. One was the Hop On Hop Off Wine bus in Picton. And the other was Hobbiton. Loved them both but everything in New Zealand was pretty spectacular. Enjoy, I will be following along!

Did you receive it via email or phone call?

The part about the targeted offer doesn't bothers me, it is what it is and will be for the future as it does seem a good way to reach and entice new customers. Everyone does it. It seems you DID have the offer as evidenced by the documents you had and then they took it away. That's the part that is unacceptable. While I'm glad that your CVP got it back for you I just don't understand how your CVP could think it was OK to tell you that you're not worthy to get what they had originally offered. Are they so numb to this kind of stuff that they don't realize that it's not right to do this to anyone let alone a long time customer? I had a similar experience last year when I booked a casino comp cruise online right after they enabled those bookings on their website. I had a variety of issues none of which the Philippines staff could solve the biggest of which was that the comped Princess Plus that appeared as I was booking the cruise disappeared once it was booked. Fortunately I made screen shots all of the way through the booking process (it was all so new, I wanted proof of the details) and I shot it all off to the management group via email. Within hours I got a call from a wonderful woman who restored Plus to my booking and fixed another casino booking for me. I know your CVP did the right thing eventually but if you have it in you, it might be worth it to send something in to Princess management about this. At some point they need to make sure their employees know that it's never OK to claw back a comp after it's been given to a customer - whether it was a mistake on their part as it seems to be on your part or otherwise. "Eating" the value of it is a small price to pay and better than alienating a long time customer.

It kind of reminds me of Warren and Annabelle's with upgraded food and attire.

Pictures were posted on another forum (credit to DSM). It's open and by invitation only right now. It seems to require more formal than formal night but other than that it looks fantastic.

Definitely book it. That's the only way to get close to Hubbard Glacier when you are on a Royal Class ship. We did it the first year that it was offered and it was a wow. Lots of places for viewing and we didn't feel crowded at all. Our friends stayed on the ship which looked like a tiny dot from where we ended up. That excursion sells out and the price won't come down.

So happy to hear this worked out for you! Have a fantastic cruise.

Who knows what they are concerned about since there isn't a written policy that any of us can access and - again - every report of this thus far has come from a single ship.

But still all of the reports seem to be only coming from the Regal. I totally understand them wanting to ban tape, paper, or decorations that were in poor taste but magnets cause no damage to the doors nor do they present any sort of hazard. SMH.

Thanks again for all of the details you've provided and for taking the time to summarize it all. I really do hope you've mentioned everything on the survey, especially about the smoke issues. I had heard that they were upping the ventilation game so that the smoke in the casino wasn't as much of an issue but that clearly isn't the case and that is very disappointing. But I'm glad you had a good time despite all of the little things that were off during your cruise.

Please do! Very glad you were able to get an appointment so quickly. Six months ago it may not have been possible.

Is your room adjacent to the Suite Concierge Lounge on Riviera deck? If so it's open 24 X 7 and there is hot water available there so you could slip over there to get it.

I hope you do too. Here's a link to info about the port https://www.mahoganybaycc.com/

We've been to Mahogany Bay 4 times and it's a private area owned by Carnival Corp. There's shops and a beach that you can either walk to or take the chair lift to within the complex. The beach there isn't as nice as Tabyana or other beaches we've visited on Roatan but it will do and is free (unless you need the chair lift). Coxen Hole is more of a city with no beach so you have to pay to reach one. It would have been our first time to Coxen Hole.

Roatan port bingo continues! We had previously been notified that our port stop in Roatan was moving from Mahogany Bay to Coxen Hole on May 1st. The excuse was port congestion which meant the newer larger Carnival Jubilee had first dibs on the spot and adding the Enchanted to the mix would put the port over capacity so we had to move. Well this morning Princess issued a notice that we are moving back to Mahogany Bay. A check of the port schedule reveals that we will be in port with the slightly lower capacity Mardi Gras and the Jubilee has been moved to April 30th. So it seems like this shuffling of ships in Roatan affects Carnival too. I'm just glad that we are back in Mahogany Bay but gee....

Yes, you will get port taxes / fees back regardless of when you cancel. The full details are in section 7 of the passage contract which can be found here: https://www.princess.com/en-us/legal/passage-contract/pcl

Glad it worked out for you. And thank you for coming back here to tell us all that Princess ultimately did the right thing. So many don't and just leave the initial complaints out there unresolved. Happy future cruising!