texasgirl29

Get what you can afford and make it work. Use organizing strategies (tons of videos on YouTube like Cruise Tips TV and Life Well Cruised). Eleven year olds will find friends in the kids clubs for sea days and you’ll be out of the cabin on port days. We hardly ever saw our daughter when she was a preteen because she loved the clubs so much.

$140 per person? Yikes, I think I’ll stick with the MDR. 

I see you’ve already decided what to do, but we had an extended balcony on the Enchanted TA in September 2022 and I loved it. Spent a lot of time reading out there with a drink in my hand. Sigh. I’ve love to do it all over again. 

We did the TA in September. The commodore piloted us around the hurricane and it was a little rocky at times but didn’t bother me. We got $40 each I think when we went to guest services about the internet and we cashed it out in the casino. I was able to message with our daughter through Facebook messenger late at night most days, don’t ask me how. The production shows were too loud for me, but I loved the guest entertainers (Barricade Boys, Nathan Phan, Hannah Howie). Cruise Director Marcus, and his team (Niki, Bryant, Jayson) kept us coming back night after night to Princess Live for trivia and games. 

2 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Agreed!  Also...if anyone is interested in doing this "non-Princess" check out International Friends website.  It's been a couple of years since we did this with them but they were great to deal with.

 

https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/

We used International Friends also and would recommend it, but with the chaos that is Heathrow these days, I wouldn't chance it. Frankly, IMHO, Stonehenge is a one and done site.

I'm a Texan, and we have Whataburger on our GPS for when we get off the plane at DFW. It's fine for when you're hungry, but not my idea of a mouth-watering burger on the pool deck. 

We booked several months ago with a shall-not-be-named-big-box travel department. Based on a tip from my roll call, I checked prices on Saturday and we saved a substantial amount of money by calling the agency. Kept the same cabins and booking number. 

On 12/4/2022 at 4:00 AM, MissP22 said:

I've seen both the Rock Opera and Five Skies and didn't love either. 

After reading many good reviews, such as this these, I'll have to give them both another chance. 🙂

I thought I was the only one who didn’t love Rock Opera. I thought it was so loud it hurt the musicality of the performers. After that, didn’t go to the other production shows, but I loved other shows on Enchanted. I guess I’ll have to give it another try. 

I understand you want to book everything together, but here's what we did:

Flew to Heathrow two days early, bought tickets on National Express to Victoria Coach Station (I think £12 a piece).

Walked from Victoria about 15 minutes to our hotel The Belgrave, £339 for for two nights for two people, including taxes and a nice continental breakfast. Very nice, small boutique hotel -- walking distance to Westminister and to Pimlico or Victoria tube stations.

Walked back to Victoria, got the National Express -- pre-purchased £10  each. 

Got a taxi in Southampton to the ship -- £8. 

I should mention we are 59 and 66 and reasonably fit, so we enjoy walking and taking the underground.

The most recent video by cruise vloggers Ben and David goes to the Bay of Fundy on a cruise excursion. 
 

When our daughters were young, we sailed on Princess, Disney and Celebrity. They never experienced the theme park rides on RCI and Carnival, so they didn't miss it. (Aqua Duck was good for one or two rides, but that was about it.) They liked the excursions, the shows and the food. My youngest daughter loved the kids clubs and later the teen club, but her sister would rather hang out with mom and dad. We didn't do any specialty dining, never went to the casino, mostly did the ship excursions and only bought a few drinks. 

It wasn't until our first cruise this summer without the girls or their grandparents that we spent any time in the casino or playing trivia in Princess Live and enjoying cocktails with our Princess Plus package. 

The youngest, now a senior in college, is looking for a "drop and go" cruise during spring break, but probably on Carnival because as students, they're looking for a bargain. She still likes Princess, and would go with us in a heartbeat. 

Thank you the report—going on this same trip next October.

On Enchanted in September 2022 and all of our courses were hot and fresh. Steak was wonderful. (We we’re inside as it was rainy.)

Princess Live trivia and games with cruise director Marcus and his staff (Niki, Jayson, Bryant) kept us entertained on the westbound crossing.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. I have wanted to do the UBD for a long time but put it out of my mind since they were no longer offering it. I was able to book for my upcoming September 2 TA. 
 

Next question: what is the appropriate tip for the servers? 

Lots of good info about deck plans on cruisedeckplans.com 

A great series on YouTube right now is with Ben and David on Enchanted. They have been cruise vloggers for a several years, but this time they are taking Ben's mom on her first cruise and she's blown away by the ship, the food, the service, the cabin, the scenery. She says she regrets never having taken a cruise before. This first one is a tour of the ship and it's very well done, but you should watch the others with Ben's mom. 

Another good source if you're wondering about Virgin, is Gary Bembridge's Tips for Travellers. 

I think D702 is a good deal. We're booked in D704 for the westbound transatlantic. Three more weeks!

I'm on the TA in 3 weeks, and I have to say all the posts on FB about the Enchanted have been pretty positive. 

I'm pretty low maintenance and expect to have a wonderful time. Then, again, I'm a box wine drinker, so there will be no whining about wine. 

JoAnn

Just in time!!! Leaving in two weeks for Viking Danube Waltz!

Maybe Viking will follow suit and stop testing asymptomatic people. 

When you are booking EZ Air, put Premium Economy as your preference. You'll get the price for premium. Then you can go to the airline website and choose your seats. 

We did that and got premium for one leg, but not available on the return leg. 

Recently, I went to Air Canada and was able to upgrade to exit row seats which were still economy, but it cost extra money for the extra leg room. 

Thank you, all, for your help. I've requested early ticketing.

We have EZ Air for a transatlantic cruise with booking on American Airlines. I have a couple of questions:

I know that Princess pays at 45 days out. Our cruise is 87 days out and paid in full. We are happy with our flights and the price. Will requesting early ticketing on the EZ air site help to avoid any problems with schedule changes?

Our names on the AA app look like this: Firstmiddle Last. Is this normal for AA?

Thanks,

JoAnn 

I looked on the Air Canada app, and I have a ticket number and a seat, so looks like it's updated there (where it counts).