mike&elena

The energy level on the roll call for this cruise has been wonderful! It's exciting to see so many people preparing for this potentially life-changing event, and we are more than willing to accept those who have been a little "over exuberant" with their comments and ideas. After all, we all want to maximize our chances of seeing the eclipse, and that can be easily accomplished with a simple itinerary adjustment to view the phenomenon at sea. There is absolutely no down-side. Everyone will get the same amount of port time and Princess will make money. Today, balcony and mini-suite cabins can be booked on the Princess website, so grab one and join us for the cruise of a lifetime! Mike&Elena 🌴👨👩🌴

Important Update==== Just back from a week on the Discovery Princess. We docked in Mazatlan with the starboard side facing the dock. Our stateroom was a Premium Deluxe Balcony on the port side, D722. This cabin is at the back of the ship with no obstructions above, yielding a full 90 degree angle of visibility. Attempted to measure and estimate the angle from our balcony for the cabins under the World Marketplace "bulge" and it appears to be about 83 degrees when measured from the Dolphin deck (obviously less on the higher decks). We were able to speak with both the Captain and the 2nd Officer about the need to have a cloudy weather plan for viewing the 2024 eclipse by tweaking the itinerary or taking the ship out to sea. The Captain has opened discussions with the Princess executive team about theese possibilities and promises to advocate for the best opportunity for us to view the eclipse! Attached is the letter we received from Captain Arma.

help32250-- We have a port side aft balcony cabin on this week's sailing of the Discovery Princess. In Mazatlan, we will check out the ship's docking position and measure the unobstructed view angle. We will be using the angle finder app on the phone and a protractor with a weighted string (old school method). We'll also talk with the captain about the logistics of heading out to sea to view the 2024 eclipse. Mike&Elena

We are going on the Discovery Princess next week...will check out the docking arrangements in Mazatlan and report our findings. (Still hoping that Princess will see the light and adjust the itinerary for a sea-based eclipse experience!)

We have questions about La Paz. You mentioned a free shuttle from the dock to the city. Did Princess provide this? How frequently did it operate. Has there been complimentary transportation in other ports? Thanks!

Thanks for the excellent information! According to another CC post, a Carnival ship did indeed drop off passengers in port and head out to sea to view an eclipse in the recent past. Since Carnival and Princess are both part of the same corporate family, this precedent might prevail on our cruise. Looking forward to hearing what you learn from your Princess insider.

I hadn't considered that daylight savings time will be starting then. The best situation for everyone would be to be at sea, especially with the possible complication of a cloudy day in Mazatlan. Let's hope that Princess does the right thing!

Sunrise in Mazatlan on April 8, 2024 is at 6:50 a.m. and sunset is at 7:16 p.m. Wouldn't that put the sun directly over the ship during the totality at noon?

This is very good information. Thanks!

Princess continues to require a negative COVID test for cruises over 15 days. My question: What happens if you test positive and are denied boarding after the 'Book with Confidence' program expires on 9/30?

Thanks for the info! Other than the OBC, this sounds like the standard Princess Plus package. Am I missing something?

Any thoughts or information on the promo which will replace the current one expiring on 8/31?

Here's an interesting animation of the eclipse in Mazatlan. With the totality at noon, I think port or starboard are equally good cabin choices. https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse-cities/city/3373.html

We're booked! This should be an awesome experience. Thanks to everyone who posted the information on CC. 🌴👨👩🌴

The difference is that, under TD, the Dining Room Manager had the authority to reassign tables. Now tables are permanent assigned by the App for the entire cruise and cannot be reassigned even though they may not be used by the assigned party. I was told by the staff that they have no discretion since the App holds the tables and assumes the people will be using them each night which, under Dine My Way, is often not the case. A traditional dining experience did not happen on our last cruise after six nights of asking the Dining Room Manager for a fixed table. It took an extraordinary effort and the involvement of the Food & Beverage Manager and Restaurant Operations Manager to get a fixed table assignment on Day 7. We've cruised with Princess for over 20 years and never had this problem until the App came along!

Replicating traditional dining is nearly impossible if you don't like the table/server you are randomly assigned on the first night. This was the case on our last cruise. We had made a same-time, same-dining room reservation for the whole cruise on the App and found that DMW had assigned us to a noisy table next to the galley door. When we asked the Dining Room Manager if we could be re-assigned to a new table which would replicate TD, he said "No, all the tables had been assigned by the DMW App and were not available for reassigmnent unless a party did not show up for dinner that night." For the next six nights we tried to get a fixed table, but were batted around the dining room to different locations. It took sending a letter to the Food & Beverage Manager and a personal meeting with the Director of Restaurant Operations to finally get a fixed table assignment in another dining room. The chaos others have described with long lines and grumpy passengers will continue until Princess gives the dining room staff the authority to run the restaurants. The App is a disaster!!! This is no way to run a cruise line!