Arizona cruisers

@BermudaBound2014 Thank you so much for all of the great information. We look forward to meeting you next year. I do have a question for you and I know you must be very busy as this journey comes to an end. You mentioned having difficulty with an excursion. We have the same excursion booked using HIA credits. I may want to find a replacement, but wanted to hear from you. I know you said you were working with HAL and hoped for a solution. Is there anything you can share about this? Again, thank you so much!

@BermudaBound2014 Thank you so much for your beautiful photos and information! We are on the 2025 trip and I just sent Bruno a deposit for first day there. This is exactly what we wanted to do! Did you get to pearl farm or rum tasting? He has a few things listed on his website. I was also curious how to make final payment. Local currency or credit card at end of tour?

We anxiously await your posts each day and look forward to learn what you do at the next ports. Thank you again for taking the time to share.

We just returned yesterday from Koningsdam.  We had the HIA/SB and some of our favorites went up a dollar or so.  We still had wines/drinks that we liked at the $11.  Didn’t other us as we had quite a bit of OBC to use up.

A few questions for myself and travel buddies:

1 - how is the wifi, particularly going through the fjords in New Zealand.

2 - outlets, plugs in verandah cabins.  How many and next to the bed?

3 - hair dryer quality/make up mirror?

Thank you in advance!  We are very much looking forward to our 2/25 cruise!

Thank you for posting this!  We just sent in request yesterday and it was approved for our 2023 cruise but denied for 2024.  I hope that this will extend further into the future and that we can apply again for the 2024.

Hi Lew...

Greetings to you & Nan.  We look forward to our Dec trip on the Marina and hope to see some our PCL friends on future cruises!

xo  Judy & George

On 7/27/2022 at 5:12 AM, -Lew- said:

 

We would also like to learn of @Arizona cruisers or any other long time PCL cruisers' thoughts after cruising on Oceania.  Although we're booked through winter 2024 there will be opportunities to try other lines beyond then.

 

For anyone who listens to podcasts, you might be interested in Gary Bembridge's Tips for Travelers.  Check out his July 18th episode, I Keep Cruising On Oceania Despite These Issues.  You can listen on your podcast app after subscribing or simply click on the episode to listen.

On 6/26/2022 at 7:45 PM, Astro Flyer said:

We’ve sailed Princess many times but due to several reasons will cancel this year’s Fall cruises (24 days). We’ve wanted to try Celebrity for the first time & now that they’ll be sailing from LA (Fall 2022 to Spring 2023) we’ll book a cruise. We already have a September 2023 cruise (20 days) booked from Vancouver to LA (Alaska & Coastal) on Regatta & look forward to experiencing both new cruise lines.

 

Hi Frank!  We are also doing our first O in Dec 2022.  Would love to see you again on another cruise!

Symphony for us.  We will be having a glass of wine before dinner in Vines, so a little more convenient.

On 5/30/2022 at 5:00 PM, ROWSE said:

I had booked an airbnb months before and right before our trip I tried to contact the 

host.  I had noticed on several other dates on my airbnb it said something like property turned off.

Heard nothing from host after several attempts so airbnb got involved and they got no response either so I had to find a new place.  

Turned out better in the end and cheaper at Premier Inn West Quay, which was an easy walk from National Express drop off in Southampton.  

Some pictures of the room....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did not eat here, but took a picture of a menu.

 

 

I would stay here again in a heartbeat.  It was a great little hotel!  

 

 

Thank you so much for this information!  I am following your post here and it is wonderful!  We were thinking about hiring Blackberry for the trip from our London hotel to Southampton, but after reading your post we will most likely do the National Express that you mention here.  We will save quite a bit of $$!  Quick question - is it an easy walk from the station in Southampton to the Premier Inn West Quay?  We are staying at the same hotel.  Of course, we will have quite a bit of luggage - we never travel light.  I would worry if cobblestone streets or big crowds.  Perhaps take a cab?  I look forward to your information/opinion on this and thank you in advance!

Ditto...we will all miss you on this cruise and so sad you had to cancel!  We will raise a glass to you during the winemakers dinner!!  I actually WILL have the unlimited internet as I work each day so that we can continue to cruise!!!!  So Jackie, I would love to hear from you via email any time.  I can pass messages to Frank, Kathy, anyone lol!  We are actually going to book the one-way to Copenhagen using EZ Air and will probably use points on Southwest for return.

8 hours ago, High C's said:

We are waiting on pins and needles to book our flights for NEXT August (yes, plenty of time I know 🙂 ).We are now at 324 days from sailing.  

 

Just curious what everyone's experience has been when booking.  Is their estimate of "330" days usually the case?  I know airlines are now offering flights for our dates, so I want to ensure we get the best possible options. We have only used EZ Air once, and our flights were available earlier than the 330 day guideline.

 

TIA 🙂 

Hi Jackie...we are on pins & needles with you!!  I hope that this image will load - found on Princess website "approximately" 300 days prior.  The airlines are 330 and Princess is 300.  So I may be booking EZ Air for this Sky cruise while on the Sky!

Thank you for posting!  I will be checking to see if it will apply to our cruise next year.

15 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Thanks for the information!

 

I’ve been watching for great fares for short notice cruises in early December & this is further enticement to consider booking such a cruise.

Frank...Star Princess from San Pedro!!!  I know you have done this itinerary before and there is a long flight at the end, but it would be great if you were onboard!  The price is amazing :>)

Hello Bob,

Thank you for all of the wonderful reports!  We look forward to hearing about Hilo and seeing your pictures.

With rolling out the new wine list, is anything known about wine packages?  Do they have them and I would assume the cost will go up.

Thank you so much, Bob.  My guess is that the new wine list will be fully (or almost) rolled out for our cruise, since the Star will be spending quite a bit of time in South American.  Hopefully the corkage fee will remain $15, as we will plan to bring on quite a bit.

Thanks Bob...I guess our well traveled wine glasses will have another trip!

Hi Bob - We are really enjoy reading your posts and are eagerly anticipating our 30 days on the Star in Dec/Jan.  A few questions about wine .

Do they have better wine glasses in the dining room (I really hope to not pack our travel wine glasses!).  I read your post about not having the new wine list yet, but being out of stock on many wines.  Any idea when they will start new list?  Who is the bartender in Vines?

Have a fantastic time and keep these posts coming in!

Following...have a great trip Bob!  You will be missed on the Sky roll call, but I am happy for info from you on Star since we will be on her in December for 30 days!

Based on the T&Cs for this offer a cruise can be included in this offer but being capacity controlled there may not be any availability due to a cruise already at their limit: “This offer has limited space regardless of cabin availability“. My 28-day cruise on the Sky in late 2019 is included on the list of available cruises but couldn’t locate any balcony cabins with S+S nor was it promoted on the first page.

 

It might be like some other recent experiences where Princess promotes a beginning time but their computer system is not fully ready. That’s happened to the elite one day advance bookings where the start time was later than advertised. S+S is not even listed yet under the Deals section of their website.

 

All we can do is guess why some cruises on the list are not available yet for S+S and those are mine...capacity controlled and/or a system that’s not fully updated yet.

Hi Frank...we did just get Sip & Sail for this Sky cruise. We are booked in a BD balcony - same cabin, dining, etc. The price went up for us by $552 total, but for two of us and 21 days we thought it was a great deal. We also got it for our 28 day 2/1/20 Emerald South Pacific. With all of the sea days on that we will really enjoy it! The price on that cruise did not change at all for this promotion.

We got ours yesterday and it didn't work out well for us. Ours is a B2B South America Emerald to Star. Leg 2 is fine - equivalent cabin and price. Leg 1 we were moved from forward to aft (this is fine) but the port fees and taxes were $170 HIGHER!!! How can this be right? I have registered my complaint and expect to hear back today. Hopefully as others get their email the folks in CA will fix this!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Whether or not tax is added is determined by when you want it delivered. If you want it waiting in your cabin, tax will be added. Have it delivered the first night or next day, no tax. Often when I order to be delivered the first night - it is waiting in the cabin when we get there anyway.

How was the internet service? Any improvements following the dry dock?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We just returned last night. It was a great cruise - ship in good shape, fantastic food and service. The Internet was horrible for most of the crossing with the bad weather and angry seas. Prior to that it was good.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for your report. Do you have a website for her?

I am not sure if she has a website - I doubt it. She is just a lady that does these tours. Send her an email - she is quick to respond.

I make so many of my decisions by reading what other people write - so we are now back and I thought I would share our experience.

Carola Neubauer - LOVED her! It was like having a friend meet you at the end of the cruise portion of our trip. We had booked her 8 months prior to our cruise and had written to her at various times during the planning stages. I found her to be very prompt with her responses. When we finally met in person in Valparaiso it was the start of a great day! Carola modified (at our request) what she normally does in Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, but we enjoyed that and she is full of great stories and information. We were most interested in visiting the Casablanca Valley and some wineries there. Having just read the book 'Sideways Chile' we knew we wanted to spend some time there. Carola is very flexible, made reservations for us at Casas del Bosque (excellent!) and Indomita (not as good, but pretty view). In between the two wineries we went for an excellent lunch at a place that featured local wines (I am sorry, but I can not remember the name). On the road to Santiago she gave us much more information and had valuable tips for us. We totally enjoyed our time with her and would not hesitate to recommend her.

I do know that she uses her own vehicle for two people (that was us) and will rent a larger vehicle for groups of 4 and perhaps up to 6 people. If you have a larger group, the pricing may go down a bit. You can contact her at her email by using her first and last name with a period between and @ gmail dot com. Sorry for putting like that, but I think otherwise this post might be deleted. Enjoy!