paradiselivin1

We sail on Sunday - 2 days from now - on CB for a 14 day Circle Caribbean. As of yesterday there were still cabins available in all categories. One of the Window Suites actually opened up. (Whoever has the smaller one booked should jump on that and change cabins!). Many people simply aren't comfortable cruising the Caribbean at this time so it's no wonder they are offering special deals. If we lived on that side of the country we might well take advantage of some of the offers but we live in California and don't want to have to fly to Florida and all that entails.

Makes sense to me. It would be like us wanting to jump on some of the great west coast/Mexico deals I see on occasion but the airfare would make it a bad deal. I guess we'll continue to float around the Caribbean a bit longer. We do have a variety of choices which make it a bit more interesting...

We've done several Thanksgiving cruises and were also on the Royal last year. We didn't bother with the turkey dinner as it never did much for us. We were on for the itinerary offered which happened to fall over the holiday period. I don't remember much of a big deal being made out of the holiday but we may have just been oblivious. Christmas/New Year's seem to be a much bigger deal.

I see no reason to worry about our stop in St. Petersburg. However, if conditions change and we can't go, nothing we can do. Hopefully we would get some nice replacements.

The only worry in not stopping would be if people booked non-refundable excursions with a company. Hopefully, people will be smart enough not to do that to themselves. Expect we're not going with the ship's tour on this one so will have to be smart about what we choose. Not worried about the safety aspect but simply missing the port.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-set-to-retaliate-against-u-s-with-more-sanctions-1521187868

We are considering a cruise out of Barcelona on the Crown Princess and the departure time is 10pm. What time does Princess start the boarding process? my options on flights have us arriving anywhere from 7:15 am to 1:30 pm and not real enthused about lugging luggage around all day.

Just checked my cruise itinerary for the June 2nd sailing departing at 10PM. States that boarding begins at 1PM. Also, I have read that there are luggage storage places in the city that you could check out. We arrive a week before to spend time exploring Barcelona so haven't looked into that. Hope this helps you decide.

Still don't understand why we get NONE even after signing up with Princess to get last minute offers. Someone suggested it's because I have two cruises currently booked but they are both European cruises this summer. How can they be so stupid as to not send to someone who is interested?? Think their marketing department doesn't know their target audience...

Carnival is definitely better for the younger crowd but no so much for the parents unless you are heavy into the partying lifestyle. Have loved some of the itineraries on Carnival but never liked the frat house atmosphere. Just my opinion based on previous experiences. During school vacations/break you'll find some younger people on Princess but more kids than young adults..

Heck, they only changed my sex and that of my husband a few times. It would get fixed and then the next time we booked a cruise would find that it was wrong again.... Would be interesting to see the offers presented if they thought we lived in a different state.

Thank you all for your valuable tips and shared experiences. I had never considered EZAir for any of our trips as we do so many from our home ports that we can drive to. I booked using EZAir for the first time today for our return trip from Copenhagen to Tampa. Huge savings and will monitor as suggested although will be hard when on the move. Great thread ~ thanks, again OP.

We had the same experience on our cruise in November. So, yes, apparently it has been happening for some cruises from here. The Regal arrived in port a few hours late and all pax weren't even off by noon. There was a SINGLE long line to get into the terminal for everyone ~ no exceptions. Trust me, I walked to the front several times to confirm. I'll never understand the hostility of other cruisers who doubt someone's experience. It is what it is. While work continues on this port it has also been a challenge to get to some terminals and to park. Just an fyi based on recent experience. (Two November cruises).

April Caribbean Princess.

 

I'm only checking because a little birdie told me that IF they drop the price of what I booked and I call about it' date=' they might toss a little OBC our way. That wouldn't be bad since this booking includes no perks of any sort. I've about given up on that happening though. [/quote']

 

Why have you given up? We got a HUGE OBC on our November Caribbean cruise in the same situation AFTER final payment. Our TA called with a great upgrade offer but I pushed her to ask for OBC. Our OBC was roughly half of the difference of the price drop. We were happy and thought it was fair.

No Exclusive Elite Lounge on the Crown Princess. The lounge referred to is the Suite/Elite/Platinum cocktail 2 hours. Not very exclusive. More than half the ship will qualify and on some cruises maybe 70%. There is a nice layout of snacks, but a limited number of $6.50 drinks. Other drinks are at the regular price. It is held in Sktywalker's. You will receive a card in your cabin.

Crowd depends on the sailing/time of year. Very small crowds on our last cruise on the Caribbean in November. Crowd picked up a bit later in the cruise but never got very crowded, IMHO.

It is not easy to get a booking during "prime time" so be patient. We often had long waits as we couldn't get a table until after 7:30. Got a pager and went to Vines and listened to music at IC.

I am really impressed with whomever handles the stock holders benefits. I faxed mine and the credits showed up on my cruise page within the hour.

Similar experience. Very efficient!

We lucked out and got the email upgrade offer on our 3 night cruise from Mini suite to a Penthouse Suite! Looking forward to it!

 

 

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Sweet. Hope to get lucky some day but usually book what we want so anything else would be a bonus! Enjoy.

Go to the Princess website. My account. Captain's Circle. Cruise history. There is a lot of useful information on the Princess website if you look for it.

Thanks. I never bothered to click on that link. Guess I'll look around a bit more.

Don't forget the Loyalty OBC. It is based on cruise credits.

 

20-30 credits = $25 OBC

31.-40 credits = $50

41-50 credits = $75

51 or more = $100

Where do you find your cruise credits? Is it based on number of cruises or cruise days? Does Princess apply the OBC automatically or do you have to apply?

Never. Haven't bothered to do it lately. My only true complaints have been about the quality of food which seems to be wildly inconsistent. There have been times when DH and I sent back our plates untouched in the MDR. Waiter didn't bat an eye nor offer something else. Easy enough to cruise upstairs to find something edible on the sneeze bar.

I've been on Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter cruises and I've seen some cabin doors decorated so beautifully. I want to join in on the fun for our upcoming Easter cruise.

But I failed to take notice how some of these decorations were attached.

How do you decorate your doors? Not every decoration can be scotch taped on. Those didn't last very long. I guess those command hooks work well, but what about those window clings or the gel clings. Or should I just choose those that can be hung on the command hooks.

I have always successfully used tape for the doors. (Yes, I removed without damaging the doors). I buy the gel clings for my sliders and my mirrors in the room. I have bought jingle bells that I looped through holiday ribbon and also hung them from the top of the cabin door.

Now it they could use it to manage elevators to reduce wait times, THAT would be a benefit.

And the lines for anytime dining....

Thanks for the update. Had read on other threads that it was being accepted for cruises after the previous cutoff but happy that they made it official. Don't know why we never looked into this before but making our purchase in the a.m. to use on our two summer cruises :D

Then apparently all Alaska cruises are considered summer 2019 cruises even when sailing in April. :(

 

We’ve booked a November 2019 cruise without any promotional benefits. Now we have our preferred cabin & will add 3FF in September.

Thought 3FF applied to new bookings only. Surprised to know that you could apply to a current booking. Does 3FF typically apply to most cruises or just certain times/areas of the world? I've booked them before but really don't know the best approach.

What "Super Sale"? I check for that all of the time and didn't see that! Does the fact that we usually use a TA work against us for getting better offers?? I often read on here about deals offered to others that I never see..

Makes me wonder what they're looking at when your luggage gets scanned.....that's a serious amount of drugs to hide! And they worry about you bringing alcohol on board? Sigh...

From the Princess alcohol FAQ: https://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/bring.jsp

 

As provided in the Passage Contract, guests agree not to bring alcoholic beverages of any kind onboard for consumption, except one bottle of wine or champagne per adult of drinking age (no larger than 750 ml) per voyage, which will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles are welcome, but will incur a $15 corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Liquor, spirits or beers are not permitted. Please remember that luggage will be scanned and alcohol outside of our policy will be removed and discarded.*

Alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free from the ship's gift shop, or at ports of call, will be collected for safekeeping and delivered to the guest's stateroom on the last day of the cruise. A member of the ship's staff will be at the gangway to assist guests with the storage of their shoreside alcoholic purchases while our Boutiques staff will assist guests with shipboard alcoholic purchases.

*Princess Cruises is not responsible for any alcoholic beverages removed and discarded by shoreside security staff.

Such items are not eligible for monetary refund or replacement.

 

Can I assume this applies to their cruises worldwide? Didn't think about it when I did Black Sea cruise but have two European cruises this summer & would love bring some wine on board.

Hi There,

 

I am grateful that I found this website, I hope you can help to answer a couple of questions.

 

We are planning to book Regal Princess to cruise Scandinavian and Russia for 11 days.

 

First I need help to decide on a cabin. There will be three of us -- DH, DD (teenage) and I.

• Deluxe balcony or mini-suite? Yes I'd love mini-suite for the extra space, but is it worth the money for that (about $1000 extra)? Balcony cabins ARE small ~ deluxe or not. You have to decide what works best for your family.
  
• I am a quiet sleeper and prone to seasickness, so which deck and which section is the best for that reason? Agree with others if sea sickness is truly a problem. Mid-ships on lower decks.
  
• Facing forward, which side of the ship is better, left or right? Depends on your preference and the particular cruise. If cruising close enough to the coast to see anything, I opt for the landside. Personal choice.
  

Wrt dinning, fixed time or any time dinning, what would you recommend? We typically do anytime but the last few cruises were a true pain in the butt. You can reserve a table each day if you remember and are onboard when reservations open up. That being said, we rarely could get a table between 5:30 - 7PM. If you want to stay flexible, this is the way to go but don't be surprised by the occasional wait...

 

 

Thanks so much!

Comments above. Not sure when you're looking to go but we're booked on the July 4th sailing out of Copenhagen.