JeffT237

I feel they are, especially during certain times of the year but we have not done a Mexican Rivera on Princess, just the other lines. I'm just speculating that a 7 day Princess cruise on the Discovery would be a less party atmosphere than a short Carnival or Royal Caribbean cruise. We're in SoCal and have grown up visiting the Pacific side of Mexico and it's just not our interest anymore. Safety is certainly and issue but we also don't find much to do there anymore. The party atmosphere is not a deterrent for us, especially on a newer bigger ship. We've found plenty of places to partake or have quiet time which I feel the Discovery has to offer. Plus the Discovery does not have any of the kid activities like water slides, zip lines, roller coasters etc. so I'm guessing that attracts an older crowd and younger adults.

We really enjoyed the Discovery Princess, we sailed on the Discovery in October of 2022 on the California Coastal itinerary. It was nice sailing out of our home port which we rarely do anymore, we're mostly Caribbean and Alaska now. We have also starting skipping the Mexican Rivera cruises, just not what we enjoy anymore. Our itinerary was San Pedro to SF, Santa Barbara, SD and Ensenada. We stayed on the ship in Ensenada. We will sail this itinerary again on the Discovery. This itinerary was a more laid back cruise, hardly any kids and less of the party atmosphere, not sure what your interests are. But it did not feel too big for us, but we typically sail Royal Caribbean on Oasis class ships which are much bigger. Plenty of resources on CC and YouTube, but we really enjoyed the ship. Quiet, great crew and service. No complaints with the dining, both complimentary and speciality. Bar services were all good for us. Did not attend any theater shows, just enjoyed the live music. We're both in our mid 50's. Enjoy!

We went through something similar a couple of years ago, ours was post cruise and we went through the traditional phone based customer service at first. We were always assured we would get a return call from a supervisor which we did not. Our issues went on for about 8 weeks and escalated to several chat sessions, e-mails to the executive team and many phone conversations. My biggest frustration was the promised return calls/e-mail responses, some with dates that went unfulfilled. I documented everything, took screen shots of the chats and saved all of the e-mails. I was clear with my complaint and what I felt was a fair resolution. I would recommend you do the same in case you haven't yet. Ultimately it was after I went through the complaint process with the Better Business Bureau that I finally got the resolution I was looking for. Princess is not accredited with the BBB but they do respond to the process. Best of luck! https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/valencia/profile/cruises/princess-cruises-1216-38000445

We are also staying at the Pinnacle, did you walk to the port and if so how was it? It looks like any easy walk on Google maps but sometimes it differs in person.

We are staying at the Pinnacle Marriott, a couple of blocks from Canada Place. We looked at the Pan Pacific but for the night before the price was over $700 CAD. Looks like a great hotel with the convenience of having your luggage taken to the ship a big plus. I see you get in late so by the time you get out of YVR in will probably be after midnight so staying near the airport and taking a taxi or Uber might be the better option to save some money.

@lobsternight@Heidi13 Thanks for all the info, really does help. Thanks for the reference points as well! Nice to see them on the map. We are scheduled to depart Vancouver on August 30th.

Forgive me if this was answered previously, but has the trace amount of diesel fuel in the drinking water story been either verified or debunked? I have read some comments from posters saying it's fake news, I've also read some stories online that seem to indicate some was found or found in the past. If so has it been completely rectified? I have not gone through this whole thread but has Princess put out an official statement confirming or denying? I would think Princess would want to say especially if it is fake news that they're aware of internet stories claiming this but to put it to rest if it is definitively false. This is just one of a few I've read, I realize it's 5 days old and I'm specifically asking about the diesel issue. Thanks. https://www.civitavecchiaport.org/the-sun-princess-does-not-leave-for-civitavecchia/

@wolfie11 Thank you, I figured there are other factors such as the tide and weather to take into account so there's probably not a definitive answer to exact location. More of a general location which you answered, thanks!

I will be sailing on the Celebrity Summit Northbound route late August this year. We chose this cruise because our schedule changed and opened up this week for the opportunity to book an Alaska cruise, we just booked and availability on the cabin type we wanted was limited on all lines. I'm aware of the pros and cons of the different itineraries and we have done Glacier Bay before, it was spectacular. Our scheduled departure time from Vancouver is at 4:00pm and barring anything unforeseen we should be sailing east of Vancouver Island and under the Lions Gate Bridge. To those of you who have done this route, with a forecasted sunset at around 8:00pm and a sunrise forecasted around 6:25am how far into the passage should we expect to be until we hit darkness, and will we be north of Vancouver Island at sunrise? I'm expecting most of the passage through the Seymour Narrows and Johnstone Strait will be in darkness, just trying to get an idea of what to expect. Thanks!

First off I am not a Princess loyalist. We leave in 2 weeks on a Royal Caribbean ship and our upcoming Alaska cruise is on Celebrity. Plenty of complaints on those boards as well, and many long term cruisers of those brands finding new cruise lines to sail with. We sailed twice with Princess in 2022, the first being the Crown to Alaska in May of 22 that had the propulsion and other issues. Many felt Princess was not transparent until right before we sailed and it led to a lot of angry passengers that said they were done with Princess. Many felt the Princess corporation handled it poorly and did not make it right initially. The issues with the Sun Princess are entirely worse as 2 cruises have already been cancelled with little notice. Princess cruisers and new cruisers will return. My point is this will be a bump in the road for Princess, they will continue to be the cruise line of choice for many loyalists. Familiartity, Status and perks go a long way to satisfy loyalists for all of the cruise lines. Word does spread fast but it is mostly click bait, read the headline and move on to the next controversy of the day. I'm not sure CC is really their target audience anyways. CC is a small group of the cruise world as almost 32 million sailed last year. Not that many members here. I think these days their target audience is younger newer cruisers who document their trip on social media and spend a lot on upsell items and experiences. Despite the Carnival "poop cruise", Costa Concordia's sinking, high prices, cutbacks on all lines and all of the issues with the early pandemic and passengers being stuck on board the industry has bounced back and is stronger than ever. Princess will be fine.

My apologies to those arguing over entertainment as I had not read the entire thread, @Vegamatic these are my opinions on Alaska. Scenery and excursions were more important than entertainment for us.

We did our first Alaska cruise in May of 2022 with Princess round trip out of Seattle, they too advertised it as the "inside passage" which we have found to be a very generic term that all of the cruise lines offer. We would not do another Seattle round trip, it felt like more open ocean sailing than sightseeing like we expected, shorter port times and we felt the necessary Victoria stop at night was a waste (we also got in late). I would agree for a first Alaska cruise we would include Glacier Bay, and a one way Northbound or Southbound to experience the true inside passage that travels east of Vancouver Island. In reading your post I'm assuming this is your first time planning an Alaskan cruise? I would do a ton of research online and on You Tube. We enjoyed our Seattle roundtrip but it is not exactly what we expected and we left a little disappointed. We did thoroughly enjoy Glacier Bay, we had a spectacular sunny day. We are sailing this August Northbound from Vancouver and we're hoping to get all of the experiences that we feel we missed on our last cruise to Alaska. Another thing to consider is excursions, they are expensive and the popular ones sell out quickly which means deciding on a cruise itinerary and booking early is important. 100% agree, loyalty status is important too many, but I think Alaska is the exception. I would go for the best itinerary that fits your needs.

Quote from the author's article: "$200-a-person supper club perfect for Instagram." This is such a main driver for upsells, social media and YouTube. Businesses know it and it's why IMO we'll continue to see more and more upsells. Many people like the concept of exclusivity, combine that with the ability to share it in real time and it becomes even more appealing for some. The fancier shakes not only on the Icon but Princess has them too, may taste good but they also look good on Instagram. Many are willing to pay for that. Upsells are easy for us, we know what we like and what our budget is and spend accordingly. We have no problem saying no to what we don't want and still have an enjoyable cruise, after all upsells are just choices not necessities.

I was thinking the same thing

We did the Chef's Table on our Wonder cruise last March, we really did enjoy it we were cruising with another couple who joined us and the other 2 couples who we were seated with were a lot of fun, it led to an enjoyable evening. The wine pairing is included, I don't think you'll have any trouble getting an entire group but on the Wonder it was limited to eight seats, might depend on the ship and the area they have the Chef's Table in as to how many total guests they can have per seating. You should be able to find the menu and wine selections online. We sail in 3 weeks and I just looked at our cruise planner and every night is available expect for Day 2.

Andy C was playing last year on our Wonder cruise as well, agree he was the star. Really enjoyed his performances and the Schooner Bar was always crowded when he entertained. I saw a recent You Tube video from the Icon and he was playing there.

We will be new Celebrity cruisers, Alaska in August on the Summit. We are really excited for this upcoming cruise. We are in our mid 50's and have cruised, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess, mostly Royal and mostly on the Oasis class lately. We also do land based travel, our last trip was Hawaii this past August. We always go for balconies and above, we'll be Aqua Class for this cruise, enjoy speciality dining including Chef's tables and have cruised with a drink package and without as we know how much we drink and what makes sense to us. We've enjoyed all of or cruises and have found that most of the experiences and offerings have been more similar than different. Of course demographics and amenities change due to the itinerary and class of ship and we've pretty much known what to expect even before boarding. I'm pretty confident we'll have a great Celebrity experience. There's no doubt the cruising experience has changed, however we're OK with the current format. To us the "nickel and diming" that goes on keeps the base fares low and lets us chose where and how to spend our travel dollars. Now being new to Celebrity we are not as impacted by the loss of services, we don't really know what we're missing other than what we've read. I am research heavy like most cruisers and I find it helpful but take it with a grain of salt. Most of what I see on CC or You Tube can be helpful but also I've found a lot of it embellished, or because of frustration over stated to put it mildly. Looking forward to completing our first Celebrity cruise, Happy Cruising all!

I think you added the 20% gratuity as a mistake, we just upgraded our Wi-Fi and there was no gratuity.

I will be a new Celebrity cruiser, our upcoming August cruise will be our first. We've sailed primarily Royal Caribbean, a couple of recent Princess and Carnival in the past. The complaining goes on on those boards too, but I'd say Royal leads the pack as far as complainers go (I'm sure this comment will make it back over there!), it has really gotten toxic over there. Celebrity seems pretty mild IMO so far. I'm really looking forward to our upcoming Celebrity cruise! I have no issues with negative reviews, I've posted one before. But some posters routinely have nothing but complaints about everything. I wonder why some of these cruisers still cruise.

This will be our first Celebrity cruise, we are on the Summit northbound to Alaska in August. Coming from the Royal Caribbean side I am familiar with the dynamic pricing and the need to check frequently for pre-cruise purchase price drops and how that process works. With Royal I have a pretty good idea of what the lowest price drop will be for most items I purchase. Is the $8.99 +20% about the lowest I could expect or have you seen it lower? Currently ours is offered at 5% off for $13.99 +20%. Thanks!

I have also received it as a firefighter in the past, and as others have said it's not always available. I am retired now so have not checked however our TA knows our history and C&A status and always just checks them all and get's us the best rate. It seems like his companies group rate with included perks always works out to the best price for us.

We recently booked our first cruise with Celebrity also on the Summit to Alaska for this upcoming August. Our TA got us the group rate that also included the classic drink package, basic Wi-Fi, gratuities and some OBC. Looking at the cruise planner I see I have the ability to upgrade the drink package and Wi-Fi to the premium. I also see on the planner the ability to purchase all levels of the drink packages and both Wi-Fi levels individually. When I did a mock booking for pricing I was given the option of cruise only or an all included rate that had the drink package and Wi-Fi.

Tipping threads are so last year, I think the masses have moved on to the quality of the food!

Yes I remember that, We had that $18.99 offer for our Ovation of the Seas Alaska cruise that was cancelled

I apologize for being lazy and only reading the article posted and letter from Royal. I didn't do my proper research of going back and looking at Australia's current Covid policies, previous cancelled or denied boardings from Covid, consult social media and YouTube for the true motive, and put the puzzle together to come up with the correct conclusion that this couple who planned and paid for a vacation showed up at the port and were denied boarding by Royal who came up with the transparent excuse of overselling a cruise to hide their true sinister motives. Shame on those passengers, they should get nothing from Royal.