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I apologize. CA still has them, prices are just not 99 cents/$1.

How's your weather? It's all over the news that the East Coast is experiencing flight delays, ground stops, nasty weather, and tornado watches. I feel bad for those trying to get to the ship. Do you port on 8/8 in Brooklyn/NYC?

Could not get the cabin of my choice on this cruise (LA). TA booked a mini (fighting with @Outerdog for the last remaining scraps). On hold with an FCD (no confirmation yet...Princess is "backed up". Then last night (of course after Princess was closed), I found one out of Seattle. Really great itinerary. Daughter lives up there. So why not. Live chatted with Princess this morning. Agent really didn't want to deal with me since I work with a TA. All I wanted to do was put a hold on the cabin until my TA could pick it up. Nope....need to book it with a FCD then do whatever. How about telling me if there are any Window Suites available. No matter which browser I use, I never can see available cabins. At first, he didn't know where to look. Then he had to do this and that while I waited for him to find these cabins. F301 and F315 (accessible...grab it guys). TA was able to secure F301 for me later this morning. 23 months out. Is this insanity? Does anyone else ever have trouble "seeing" Window Suite availability? I never can. This morning, I couldn't even get into Princess.com to book something online. Kept spinning when it came to choosing cabin. On the bright side....It looks like the Grand will be around in 2025.

That was my thought. But there are no more 99ç stores or Dollar Stores. Approaching $5 Room Service charge (ha ha).

Thank you @Australia08. My biggest dining room issue was the LOUD mayhem coming from the Piazza during the dinner hour. Party band was relocated to the Piazza as the Explorers Lounge was used for other events. All the way up to 10:30 PM. No one could carry on a decent conversation in the MDR.

I had extended discussions with Christo on board the Caribbean Princess. He was the lead "agent". My observations: The office was constantly busy. Open morning and evening on port days. Open all day on sea days. Always 2 agents at their desk. Sometimes three. The 50% onboard promotion was suppose to expire in March. They were still offering it in August. 50% promotion was not good for suites and reserve class (I'm not sure about the later). Book for 2023: Full Payment due upon booking Book for 2024: $200 deposit (non-refundable) that will be applied to final payment. NO FCD/NO OBC. You can still get shareholder/military. Transferable to TA I did not ask if these bookings are refundable up to "normal final payment date"

Room Service trays are huge. It will take up the entire elevator. The smaller mini-bar trays are too small.

Just got off the CB. July 26 we were docked in Brooklyn.

Not that I didn't try to do this. If I persisted...maybe. But it wasn't that important since I don't like the seats they choose for "us".

My driver texted me that he was coming from Carl's Jr. 1.8 miles away (30 minutes in traffic). I'm guessing off of Century Blvd. Too late, we "should have' done a pick up at departure instead of arrival.

I'm not sure what you are saying. Could you explain this to me?

I'd choose the ship with ELUA. They are the Hawaiian Ambassadors. Unfortunately, I don't think their schedule is out yet. Maybe @Elua could chime in. For me, it's the Grand Princess since she is the smaller of the two. I don't miss Skywalkers. Will miss eating at Alfredo's if I have to pay for my pizza. Never missed the central staircase.

The standard rule of thumb has been: Final Payment locks you in to your current fare. Price drop for "New Bookings only". The standard answer is no, but what do you have to lose if you ask?? - for OBC difference - re-fare Your category needs to be available.

@Outerdog your waiting and due diligence paid off. You have a better location than I do (this morning).

Okay, where did I leave off? New York, Wednesday, July 26: Stayed on the ship. Sail away was awesome. Great photos of Lady Liberty, the Verrazzono-Narrows Bridge, and sunset. Sea Day Thursday, July, 27: replaced Newport, RI. Boston, Wednesday, July 28: Only a Hop on Hop off bus was at the terminal. Bus stop was around the corner to the right of a large building, or UBER, or Lyft. Stepped ashore to see if there was anything I wanted to do. No shopping anywhere near. Been to Boston before. I will enjoy Boston in the Fall with cooler weather. Hoping I am making the right choice. Bar Harbor, Thursday, July 29: I really enjoyed this port. Small touristy town, but full of character. Everything fell into place nicely. It was a delightful tour to Acadia National Park. I was able to get stamps for my National Park Passport (goal). There was a small Walgreens but the town does not encourage chains (no McD's, Starbucks, etc). I must have already had covid because I stopped to get some throat lozenges. Bar Harbor is named after a natural occurring sand bar that appears/disappears with the tides. Look carefully in front of the island (ship behind) to see the emerging sand bar. It was nearer to 3:30 PM. Beautiful Granite Rocks with pink speckles. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/granite-on-mount-desert-island.htm Bar Harbor was/is a playground for the Rich and Famous. The Rockefeller's are a huge name on the island. Guide told lots of stories (of which I can only remember bits and pieces). Natural Spring. @Jadn13 has some nice photos of Jordan Pond. Much of the land for Acadia National Park was donated. Wild Blue Berries were in bloom.

Clarifications: I used EZ AiIr to get from Quebec back to LAX. It was booked way in advance. A couple of words of advise. 1. Keep checking your booking. Go beyond looking at your "flight". Click on Manage Flights. Check your airline website. 2. EZ Air is not at fault for a lot of my issues. Air Canada (Canada Rogue) either modified or cancelled many legs. I HAD the perfect return flight. Leave YQB at a reasonable time. Plenty of layover time. 3. Put EZ Air contact in your phone: 800-545-0008 airdepartment@princesscruises.com (not exact address) They are manned 24/7 Everyone has horror stories about EZ Air. They really worked with me and finally rebooked my flight. There was an increase in fare, but I was not charged. I should have followed up and told them that the connection was too tight. I would never buy a restricted fare. I would never fly in day of cruise using EZ Air (unless traveling in the same time zone with multiple flights into cruise port). EZ Air is a third party travel agent. This would have happened even if I had booked directly. I will admit that it might have been slightly less frustrating to deal directly with the airlines, but the initial cost would have been higher without the option to be flexible (you have to buy day of booking). I am and would use EZ Air again. Just be very pro-active.

These cabins are also great...except, I don't use the buffet, lido deck, nor elevators.

Had the same issue with my TA this afternoon. Groggily trying to process what she was "pushing". First time we've had a chance to really discuss this long thought about voyage. By the time we came to common ground, D323 and some number in the 200's was the only mini-suites that were available. When she clicked on D323 (don't quote me), she received an error message. She tried this and that. Finally the system went down. All she could grab was the last mini-suite available with a refundable deposit. Her thoughts: Waitlisting will not give me OBC (need a booking number). Waitlisting had a $200 deposit/may not be refundable. Get what I can now and look for re-fares. She works hard to get me booked. She will continue to try to get my cabin of choice. This is a very popular cruise. Why Princess doesn't run it all summer long is because they can gauge us for this one time special event (my conclusion). @Outerdog I feel your pain. So much can happen between now and August 30, 2025. One of the youtubers I follow mentioned in today's presentation that cruise fares will be out of sight for the next 2 years, along with added fees for services. Not encouraging. I did check a cruise I have booked for next year. My cabin category is sold out. $3,300 difference between Window Suite and Vista Suite (both with old Plus). I "see" this cruise in my personalizer, but have not received a booking invoice. Princess is still messing with this voyage. Lots of other problems trying to get this finalized.

I think this is the most "exciting" cruise I've ever taken. Glad it doesn't happen often. I would prefer a much more sedate voyage. My adventuring days are behind me. That's for the younger crowd. This Roll Call is reporting several more covid positives and passengers getting off the ship with coughs and other ailments. Again, not surprising. Full sailing, no masking or other preventive self preservations, and longer than a week cruise.

Even for the second Pub Lunch, we had to wait for our lunch. One of the best reasons to book Reserve cabins. MDR lines all the time. Even after 12 days, people were still trying to enter MDR through Reserve Dining Room and were escorted to the other side. Yes, lots of Lobster Buoys. Sorry I missed meeting so many people I wanted to put a face to: @startedwithamouse @eclue @Jadn13 I should have mingled more at the M&G. I was surprised how many people I did run in to over and over again. I was able to spend ALL (and more) of my nonrefundable OBC and port taxes on medical. Yippee! Glad I made it to Bar Harbor for my independent tour. I do feel for those who missed out on Newport AND Bar Harbor. But the Captain made some really good decisions and kept our voyage high and dry.

Yes, and in my opinion, new people walkers and changes will not help LAX out at all. Fly into LGB if you get a chance. I know....if you are flying internationally, bring a lot of patience. It is worth a private car service rather than transferring to a bus to get the LAXit https://www.flylax.com/lax-it to get an UBER/Lyft/or shared ride.

I'm home! With a lot less for wear. I'm going to start with my travel day and work backwards when my brain will be much more functional...mañana. Covid Post Test taken this morning: Negative Slept: 12 hours LAX: A horrible mess at 11 PM. Thank goodness I have a great driver who was waiting for me 2 miles away/30 minutes to get to me. Weather report: Hot, sunny, dry. Travel Day. Arrived via Princess Transfer at Quebec Airport by 10 AM. I was able to check in and drop off my luggage. Agent was great and placed me on a StandBy wait list. YQB is a small regional airport with limited food venues and gates. Short story, I did not make the standby at 3 PM. Got on my 5:40 PM flight to Montreal. If I were to do this again, I would definitely take the transfer bus to Montreal for 3 hours. 25 minutes in the air. Air Canada: Cattle cow shuttle like Southwest. Not sure I would fly with them again. Not that I would have much choice. Return to YQB in October will be on Delta. The plane/equipment is just okay. The support staff/ground crew is wonderful. Montreal Airport: Thank you to those that gave me so much advice. I had a wheelchair request. I "purchased" a seat ticket (14C). And I was out the door as soon as I could. Didn't wait to be called for my wheelchair. There was an agent who had my name on a piece of paper. Told me to go out to the terminal and wait for him. Less than 60 minutes to get from here to there (57 minutes to be exact). Kosta arrived to usher me to Gate 83 from Gate 11. I was reassured, all along the way, that I would make my flight. I'm about to panic. Whizzed through the airport. Signed on to YUL wifi so I could upload my Customs Form. Dumped water bottle enroute. Global Entry card/passport/boarding pass in hand. All the while Kosta calling out..."coming through, coming through, coming through." Cut in line for TSA (precheck). Had a minute for a bathroom stop (important ... but way too my information for all of you). Final Boarding already called and repeated. Get to the jet way and there are still a few passengers in front of me...and a few more boarded after me. WHEW. Got settled in. The middle seat remained empty. Wonderful window seat passenger who I did let know that I tested for Covid 11 days ago. She was okay with me. She had also missed her connection but was told that this flight had about 27 empty seats. The rest of the flight was uneventful, but I was hungry. Missing all the meals on the ship. Moral of story: Be as NICE as you can be. It will only aid you in getting through the day. There was a crotchety/curmudgeon old man who was not nice to anyone. When he got to YUL, he walked himself off, took a waiting wheelchair, and sat himself down. Then barked loudly that he wanted an "express" transfer to the Airline Lounge for a flight that was still hours away. I got taken before him since I was at risk of missing my connection. Once on the plane and the doors closed, I could feel the adrenaline and anxiety lower. I knew that LAX would be my next obstacle, but I was on my way home. Overview: With all that transpired on this voyage, I am happy to report that I had a great time. Taking a few days to decompress before preparing for my next adventures. There is still a lot of paper work I need to complete. For now, I am comfortably at home and survived this experience. Please stay tuned as I complete the rest of my comments and hopefully add some Patters. Mahalo Nui Loa for all those that took up the slack and added to this thread. Heartfelt appreciation to all that were routing for me from the side lines.

Currently only on the Discovery and Enchanted.

Suite Lounges are only on Royal and Sun Class ships. It would assist if you stated ship name. Same with 360 dining.

You lose all around. My TA is frantically working on trying to get me my cabin of choice. I should have had on board ONE try for me. Too late now. Latest issue. Can’t use FCD because date expires before 2025. Need a credit card hold. Meaning no OBC. What good are FCDs? Aren’t they suppose to be valid for any future cruise if BOOKED by expiration date?