Astro Flyer

This is their FAQ statement for USA cruises effective 8/8/22: https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/updated-us-travel-requirements Vaccinated Guests For all sailings 5 nights or less, no testing is required. For all sailings 6 nights or longer, vaccinated guests must present a digital or physical copy of a supervised and negative COVID-19 test result from a test taken within 3 days prior to sailing. Antibody tests are not accepted.

Cruise only rate…thanks.

This was Discovery’s E409 balcony which is a deluxe balcony obstructed view (DW) cabin with the only obstruction when looking down onto the outdoor Promenade deck. We prefer having the loveseat couch for 2 to have a place to sit now that there is only a desk chair. We’ve also had E436 which is a standard balcony also listed as obstructed but again only when looking down. The deck plan charts show the shapes of these larger balconies which are covered. E409 E436

We just booked our first X cruise after nearly exclusively sailing on PCL for over 3 decades so appreciate this specialty dining info…thanks. On PCL OBC can be used for the daily gratuity but in Celebrity’s T&C gratuities are not listed as an option to pay with OBC…am I reading that correctly?

At least B46 had a much larger tent terminal than at B55 where I boarded Discovery’s inaugural cruise in March. Sad that Sapphire is at B93 for most of September to be replaced by Celebrity Solstice on your embarkation day. When returning it shows B92 because Ruby is at B93 but both ships use the same parking lot if you’re driving from SV.

B92 is as posted & B93 is the larger 2-level cruise terminal used for filming the Love Boat series.

If the port schedule is correct Diamond will be docked at B93 from 8/4 to 8/27 and then Sapphire at B93 from 8/28-9/8 and from 9/18-9/24. https://www.portsamerica.com/operations/cruise-los-angeles-terminal-schedule

You’re welcome…after accounting for 45 years of inflation today’s cruises are a bargain.

As I recall it’s a fail safe system…it requires power to go underwater & if power fails it safely returns to the surface.

It’s been over a decade but as I recall there was a floating dock to go from boat to sub.

Once we got a great kama’aina rate & took the submarine tour in Lahaina. It was interesting but having scuba dived many times in Maui the sub wasn’t as scenic for me. And once below about 40’ colors fade out without artificial lights. They take passengers by boat to the sub offshore to board it. Since I went they have submerged the old brig Carthaginian that was a fixture at the Lahaina Harbor in front of the Pioneer Inn. https://atlantisadventures.com/maui/

1977 Princess brochure on Pacific Princess & Sun Princess to Mexico. scan_rechaixinsurance_com_20120918_163034.pdf

Hi Judy & George…that would be great! It appears that some of us PCL fans are moving on from the new Princess cruises including Lew & Nan. Hope to hear about your first O cruise in December.

Thanks Lew for the well wishes as we move on from Princess and hopefully some day our paths will cross again on a ship or in Maui. Our desires didn’t change with Princess but in our opinion enough things diminished for us to seek a more upscale experience. One like we experienced during our 2nd cruise sailing on the Italian cruise line Sitmar in 1988…amazing food & service from the all Italian & Portuguese crew.

Glad we canceled our Caribbean Princess cruise before final payment…it’s just one of several reasons this Princess fan has canceled our future cruises & are exploring other cruise lines.

My accountant wife & I compared & double checked item to item…they reduced the amount of my refundable credit by 25%.

I took screenshots the evening before disembarkation & received an emailed folio the day after the cruise. The onboard folio amount was correct but the emailed copy was reduced by 25%. Three months after emailing their Director of Customer Relations finally received a call this week. They still claimed we received the correct refund which documents clearly show it was reduced by 25%. They agreed to send a check for the missing amount as a sign of goodwill…they still will not admit their mistake & waiting for a check which took 8 weeks to receive 75% of our refundable credit.

That’s not surprising to me…in my opinion reduced shoreside customer staffing is less of a problem than the overwhelming number of complaints they receive. I have empathy for their staff attempting to deal with the problems created by management including the unreliable MC app that predates the pandemic. Looking forward to reading about your Virgin experiences & we’relooking forward to our first Oceania cruise next year on Regatta. We finally canceled the same cruise you canceled in Fall…it’s time for us to explore other lines even if it’s fewer much more enjoyable days.

Apple iOS update:

We’ve been Princess loyalists for nearly 35 years & have canceled our future cruises and booked Oceania which friends who also sail on PCL rave about the O life. It’s on a previous Renaissance ship like the most recent Pacific Princess which we never had the opportunity to sail. Our disappointment in the Padgett management is the primary reason we’re leaving Princess. When considering what the O price includes it’s not much more than on PCL for our 2023 Regatta cruise.

Thanks for the clarification…I didn’t notice the small fine print at the bottom stating: *Fares include drinks, wi-fi and crew appreciation

Thanks for these Launch Fares. Taking a cursory look at the fares they’re about a third higher than recently & we’re flexible with dates & cabins so will periodically check for lower prices. Although for the same price (7-day coastal) we’ve booked an Oceania R-class ship (like the now gone Pacific Princess) in September 2023 which includes internet, all non-alcoholic drinks and at least 2 specialty dinners. 😊

When did the UBD become for “only suite guests”??? We’ve had it many times in balcony cabins but it was not available during our 3 cruises since cruising resumed nor was the Winemakers Dinner. I’ve read that guests were told the reason why it was not available was due to limiting crew’s time in cabin which has always been limited during our six UBDs…why is that okay in suites?

From Royal’s E436 cabin & should be basically the same in E432…no obstruction looking out, looking down on open Promenade deck & looking aft at lifeboats.