Astro Flyer

After watching PE video reviews, we decided that ANZ is our best option from LAX to Brisbane…seats, service, food & Aussie wine appear to be best for us. We’re only flying one-way and cruising back to LA for an even more comfortable journey than on any flight.

Sorry but I have not experienced your situation but my guess is that it would have to be two one-way flights…one for each cruise. Another EZair limitation I’ve discovered for our Spring 2025 cruises 2 days apart. We can book a o/w from the US to Australia but cannot book an OZ to NZ flight…only from the US to NZ is available. Some have posted that it might be possible by calling EZair although they wrote that EZair might not be any cheaper. Although even at the same price the EZair change/cancel options would make it worthwhile for us.

That’s generally been my experience too when booking international flights from/to the US on US based carriers. Many of the non-US carriers charge for seat assignments when flying coach with the only exception I’ve experienced is for a recent Air New Zealand booking.

I would recommend not signing in to your Cruise Personalizer and to check flight options & prices that are currently available. As I recall, it is not possible to change one flight without canceling & rebooking. By following the above you would know the choices if necessary to cancel & rebook. By checking one-way fares you’ll know the airfare for each flight which in my experience has been a combination of both for a roundtrip. EZair rules have changed including now limiting flights to arrive 5 days or less pre & post cruise. Also when booking a one-way outbound flight it cannot be done until 330 days prior to a return flight even when not booking one.

If it were me like when sailing another time to the Mexican Riviera, the ship is my primary destination and I would prefer Regal over Caribbean. That’s merely my opinion & others will feel differently…good luck on making the best decision for yourself.

They would not force you to have all of the standard menu for the UBD. They go to great lengths to provide a meal for your satisfaction. We’ve enjoyed at least 6 UBDs and they were always willing to accommodate within reason to provide the meal you desire. They won’t force you to have food that you do not desire to have delivered. Like in the MDR, portions have become slightly less but we still usually end up placing our dessert in the fridge for another time. We prefer red wine over champagne & have been able to get a full bottle of red wine that cost the same as the half bottle of champagne. Call the Room Service line while onboard & explain your situation & your preferences and they’ll honor it to reduce the amount of food. The waitstaff is in the hallway until a course is nearly done to order the next course to have freshly prepared food. Everything has been perfect so would recommend giving the UBD another try & to receive the amount of food you desire…it’s our favorite Princess dining experience.

We only did the UBB once but have enjoyed the UBD several times so if your husband didn’t like the UBD he likely won’t enjoy the UBB. While it was too much food for us, all plates of covered food were delivered at the same time so the service was much different. I’ve never been in a suite to experience the suite breakfast but whether you prefer eating breakfast in your suite or in the suite dining room is your decision.

I used the Captain’s Circle/Circolo del Comandante Passport’s stickers until they were eliminated. Although I could still use the booklet without stickers to keep track of my cruises to more easily refresh my memory. ☺️

No one has reported any explanation from Princess (nor from any other CCL lines) about the reason why…no explanation. 🤐 With no official explanation for the new limitation there are only speculations about the reason for this downgrade in EZair. When communicating with Princess some have been told to call them to book flights outside the 5 day limit. However that diminishes the EZair benefit to freely search for each person’s best options because we cannot view available airfares & flights. Having to depend upon a too often inexperienced rep on a phone call is not a good way to book flights.

Found this quote attributed to the police: “Rostock police said an investigation revealed that Brown and his grandmother reportedly got into an argument which led him to leave the ship”. https://www.foxnews.com/us/american-teen-missing-germany-after-family-fears-he-lured-from-caribbean-princess-cruise-ship

Checking my Captain’s Circle Passport for Royal’s inaugural transatlantic cruise from Venice to Ft Lauderdale from 10/9 to 10/27/2013 it was Tony Draper.

Based on posted experiences, one year is a limit for some but not for others. Princess didn’t explain their new procedures resulting in confusion & contradicting experiences which too often is routine for them. Until they fully explain how their new MDR dining system works, we can only share experiences…some are the same, some are different.

Hopefully there’ll be no fires. 🤞 A couple of years ago on 4th of July kids playing with fireworks nearly torched our Maui home which destroyed 2 houses a couple of doors down from us. Fortunately the tradewinds blew it away from us after starting behind our neighbor’s house. Be safe everyone!

Stay safe & also your son. 🙏 Fires started by lightning strikes are an act of nature however when started by arsonists it’s inexcusable! 😡

🤣 Hopefully you’re not being affected by Butte County’s Thompson fire near Oroville & have not been required to evacuate. 🤞🔥

You’re welcome & hopefully you’ll have a good cruise. The Princess pre-cruise preparation since they implemented their MedallionClass has been too challenging. We have many enjoyable days at sea on Princess thankfully with few issues. I try to not sweat the small stuff and for me being on a cruise most issues are small stuff. In 2009 we greatly enjoyed our Princess cruise visiting your beautiful country & its friendly people. 😊

Hopefully you’ll be able to add that one day in Nagasaki. 🤞 MedallionClass was only implemented in late 2017…it’s still a work in progress for Padgett’s system & his crack IT team. 🤪

MedallionClass was only implemented in late 2017…it’s still a work in progress for Padgett’s system & his crack IT team. 🤪

Have you tried installing the latest update? Version 1.3.0 is the latest for iOS & likely Android also has an update. I’ve read comments that some have more issues with Android than with Apple devices.

Thanks so much @arizonaperson for organizing this new dining room information by ship. It’s sad that Princess has not officially stated this information that greatly affects passengers. Thankfully those of us here are gathering information but for those not on CC there is confusion…thanks again! 😊

There are a few threads on the Princess board including the link to the following thread that are discussing that Princess policy…at what level are you? Some who are elite & platinum incorrectly receive the message you see while some who are not at these levels are able to make reservations despite not being eligible based on that Princess policy you received. Too often it’s been my experience when dealing with Princess they are best described as consistently inconsistent and with the new dining room reservation system for Traditional, Reservable & Open seating unfortunately that certainly applies.

It is still possible to link your dining reservation in the updated app with other people. A cruise friend did it so the 4 of us can share the same table nightly in Crown’s Botticelli restaurant (Reservable MDR). I am not going to risk losing those reservations by going too far however near the bottom of the Botticelli reservation option I see what looks like a white pencil in a blue circle. Clicking on there gives me an option to add the people we want to dine with to share the same private table.

There is a very helpfull thread created by @arizonaperson that shows passenger reported restaurant usage by ship & here is that info for Sky. Sky-2024 & 2025 Soleil-Traditional at 5:30 pm & 7:50 pm Estrella- walk in Cielo-reservable every 20 minutes

I’d also like to know the answer & if it’s standardized fleetwide. In my experience we have always had our requested table for 2. It might be like a cabin assignment which they have the right to change, same thing with airline seat reservations…neither are guaranteed but in my experience have never been changed.

In the original Princess news release it included this statement: “Reservable and Walk-in Anytime Dining will be combined into a single Main Dining Room location aboard Coral Princess and Island Princess”.