sandyoftheseas

  I have a sailing booked for April 2022 and have a couple excursions on my wish list.  I don't believe Princess will notify us of the excursions filling up. I agree with "gotta cruise again" just keep an eye on the excursions you are interested in and if they look like they are filling up you may want to book then.

We have refared when it makes financial sense.   For example if we are going to save $100 but loose $300 OBC then we won't.  You need to know the terms of the original booking sometimes Princess will allow you to refare and keep your original perks and sometimes they won't.  

Yes you can come in individually and you can come in anytime.  They only sell a certain amount of passes.  It is more busy on sea days and it may be difficult to get a stone bed.

I have a small crossbody purse that I use during the day that converts to a wrist strap that I use at night.   It has a see through vinyl window that I put the medallion in.  Sometimes I need to hold the purse up to the door unlock pad to unlock the cabin but usually not.  If a bartender needs to see it it is easily accessible.  If I use my beach bag I just put the whole purse in the beach bag. Just another ides.  

We did a South Hampton round trip cruise.  Stayed 4 days pre cruise in London  then took a tour from London to Stonehenge  then to the cruise ship.  On returning to South Hampton we took a private car to the airport and flew to Paris for 4 days.   We thought about ending our cruise in Le Havre but we also heard that it may not dock due to weather so we went the safer route and did it this way.   I think you can also take a train from South Hampton to Paris.

I just looked at me and my husband's.  He has $300 free play and I have $100.  Usually I have $0 and my husband has $25.  We might need to book a cruise!

This is what we did:  Flew to London took a taxi to our hotel and stayed in London 3 nights.  The day of the cruise we bought a London to Southampton tour through Viator stopping at Stonehenge. We arrived at the cruise ship around 1pm.  The worst part about that was the Elite embarkation was after the xray screening so we had to stand in a long line until it split off into the Elite line.  Upon our return to Southampton we used a private transfer to the airport because we wanted to set our own time to leave and we did not want to wait for a bus to fill.  We then flew to Paris and spent 4 nights there in a room overlooking the Eiffel Tower.  It was a very busy but amazing trip.  We feel if you are spending the money for flights,cruise, tours etc.  we want to see and do as much as we can.  We also did a private tour (overlords tours) with 3 other couples we found on our roll call to Normandy it was a long day but we feel we seen every thing we wanted to see and our guide was great.  

I would call the Princess Casino Line the phone #is  888-772-6697

WonderMan3-    I had been sick for 2 weeks when the antibiotics "started working".  Of course I don't know if it was bacterial and the antibiotic worked or the virus  just ran it's course.

I was not on the Divina ship but I was on Princess Regal disembark on 1/26.  About 3 days later I started getting sick cough, fever on and off, super tired, and my oxygen saturation dropped to 83-84%(normal 100%-90%) with climbing 1 flight of stairs ( I am a retired nurse and I have a oxygen saturation device at home)  So after 10 days of being sick I went to my Dr. he stated it was sinus infection and bronchitis started on antibiotics and steroid dose pack and I got better. I have had bronchitis and sinus infections before and I never felt this sick or had gotten short of breath before.  My husband also got the same thing but not as sick as me.   Both me and my husband think we had the corona virus before it was detected in the US.

I think the hardest part is figuring out the showering arrangement.  I went on a cruise with 3 women and for us it worked out because we had an early riser who would shower first then the other 2 would decide about their shower schedule. I have not been on an MSC cruise yet but on Princess you can go to the spa to take a shower also.   I would recommend an over the door shoe organizer for all stuff maybe even 2 one for the bathroom and one for the room. 

I agree with all the above posts layering with a windproof/waterproof shell in addition I would highly recommend a fleece buff.  It is a circular piece of fabric (I made mine) it can be worn many different ways as a scarf, earmuff and others and it takes up little room in your suitcase. 

I hope they don't have this on the Armonia.  We will be sailing in September. I also don't enjoy buffets unless we are in a hurry to go on a tour.

Do they rent anything like a clam shell?   I don't know if the regular umbrellas will have enough shade for me.

Look on the deck plans if there is a diagram of a wall and there is a large jump in the cabin numbers there is a fire wall there and the balcony door can't be opened. For example on the Regal between cabins E202 and E130 there is a fire wall.

When we were on our Southhampton round trip cruise a couple wanted to get off in Le Harve France  and go to Paris from there.  By the time they requested it they were denied because Princess said only a certain amount of people were allowed to disembark early at this port.  I don't know if it was the port itself or a general rule.  So I would request  a deviation as early as possible.

This is a little of the subject but my mother was going through security at our local airport and her purse went through the xray machine and she was held up at the scanner.  A woman took her purse and  tucked it up under her arm (I assume to try to hide it) and began to walk away.  Luckily I was there to tell the lady "you took my mom's purse"   which she gave to me and then walked away without saying a thing. SO NOW I always put my purse on the xray belt last and make sure there is no more that one person ahead of me waiting to go through the scanner.

 You can go to any slot machine in the casino load what ever amount you want on your card then go to the cashier and get the cash. I think you can still do this.

I am fine wearing shorts and short sleeve top during the day but when the temperatures drop at night I wear a shawl or dressy sweater in the evening.  I find it especially cold in the casino.

As far as what you wear while getting a massage wear what is comfortable to you.  I have never received a massage on an MSC cruise but I have received many on other cruise lines,resorts and spas at home.   Some people wear nothing.   I am a female and prefer to wear my underwear no bra ( it's kind of hard to do a back massage with a bra on)  The therapists are discrete and only expose the necessary part they are massaging.  for example laying face down they put a sheet  over my legs to my lower back to massage my back and when massaging my arms and legs they cover the entire body except the arm or leg they are massaging.  

Overlord Tours had no problem getting us back in time so we would not miss our ship.  The private tour companies are very aware not to return to the ship late if they frequently missed the ship they would be out of business fast!  As far as getting off the ship a day earlier there was a couple on our roll call that wanted to do this and go the Normandy then Paris.  They called Princess and were not allowed.  What this couple was told was the port authorities at Le Harve  only let a small amount of people disembark early in this port and that number was already met so if you want to do that call Princess early.

I agree with TM.  We also did a tour with Overlord Tours and enjoyed it very much.  Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about all the areas we visited.  A member on our roll call set up the tour and we joined their group. 

I am also waiting for the Japan cruise tours for 2021.

I would recommend private tours.  You can get in and out of the ports quicker and tailor the tours to your needs/wants. Make sure that the private tours will get you to the next port if they miss the ship. In saying that  they are very good with knowing when the tour needs to end to  get you back in time and if they frequently got back late they would not be in business long. If you decide to do the tour of Paris I would go with the Princess tour because of the long drive and Paris traffic.

I have a wrist/ankle wallet they also make  a waist wallet both on amazon.  It is a stretchy piece of fabric with a zipper.  I don't use it for my medallion I usually use it while on land tours for a small amount of money and lip balm.