californiagirl

I’m so happy for you all and those boarding tomorrow! Such a relief I’m sure. 🚢⚓️⛰️

Small world for sure!

Did you ever teach at the LA Fitness in Irvine? If so I may have taken your classes I started water aerobics there in 2005 and have been hooked ever since! I do my own workout now. The first 40 minutes of my workout is suspended (without any floatation device.) Part of my 40 minutes is to hold onto the side of the pool and kick for 3 minutes between other exercises doing 4 cycles for a total of 12 minutes kicking. Really helps the core, legs and heart. Then I do my strength training with water weights at home, pool noodle on vacation. I finish up with yoga and breathing exercises, then relax in the hot tub. I feel SO GOOD afterward.

I have brought pool noodles on the last 4 cruises. I tie it up like a pretzel and put it in my checked luggage. I use it exclusively for exercise. Tied up I can slip my foot in the opening and it provides resistance in doing leg lifts etc. I can work one arm at a time as well by holding onto it. I also sit on it and “pedal” around the pool. I do a full hour pool workout. On ships with a shallow retreat pool I get up early and use the main pool when no one is in it yet. I work out in the gym if the pool is crowded.

Oh my goodness! I’m only on day 3 and I am literally laughing out loud! I even had to read some parts to my husband. I have to run some errands but I will be back to finish reading your trip report.

Good point. Fingers crossed for Sapphire to get into Skagway!

I think that is fair compensation…if you get into Juneau and Skagway. I know I said a full refund and free future cruise but you still get to experience two towns. They are not far from each other so getting into Skagway should not be a problem. Hopefully those of you who have never been to Alaska get to repeat this cruise at some point. I feel for those of you on the next cruise. The unknown must be very frustrating.

My heart goes out to everyone onboard. Back when we had little vacation time and little money to spend on it we would have been devastated by what you are experiencing. You have every right to feel duped and angry. This ship should never have sailed and Princess should be cancelling the next cruise and maybe more until the problem is resolved. I’m elite with Princess, but shame on you Princess! I think those of you on this cruise should get a full refund AND a free future cruise. For those of you on your first cruise don’t give up on cruising. It can be a wonderful way to see the world. If you choose to cruise again, book a newer ship if possible. While unforeseen events can happen to any ship it’s less likely on a newer one.

This is very appealing to us. We are tired of the same old eastern/western itineraries. Our very first cruise in 1998 was out of San Juan on Celebrity Galaxy. We were originally booked on Sea Princess but her launch was delayed.

Actually when Grand Princess first launched with the first “mini-suites” in the late 1990s it came with a butler and mini-bar set up. That didn’t last long. By the time we sailed her in a mini-suite in 2002 those perks didn’t exist. The only benefit for the last 24 years or so is the extra space.

Well that stings! What a hassle.

Dog did you get your deposit and taxes refunded yet? If not email Jennifer Wright (email address in your roll call thread) and she will fix it for you. I did that last night and within 10 minutes I had my full refund. As I said in the roll call thread Dog you don’t need to apologize to any of us. You were only sharing what seemed like an amazing deal. Sadly it seems the Princess norm, not the exception, is poor customer service and the appearance that no one knows what is going on. The different departments appear to be isolated, poorly functioning companies within a company. Which in turn causes chaos and confusion when there is a problem. Ultimately the customer is the loser. We put up with this because the cruise itself is a decent product for the money paid. When that changes we will move on.

I agree with WisCruiser2 about Secret Harbor on St Thomas. There is decent snorkeling there. Depending on the amount of time in port you may want to go over to St. John. Trunk Bay has some good snorkeling. The very best snorkeling we ever did in the Caribbean were two different times when we chartered a boat and went to Buck Island, saw and swam with lots of sea turtles; Lovongo and Congo Cays, drift snorkel with thousands of minnows and pelicans diving down to gulp them up. We watched this happen underwater…amazing

Thank you for posting (hopefully) the resolution to this saga. I hope they have an uneventful, wonderful cruise. I have not posted to this thread prior but I have been following along. As an elite Princess cruises I, like you would have been very suspicious of what this friend had gotten himself into. So glad it appears to have worked out.

If you have never been to St Thomas the circle the island tour would be worth the time and money. It is a beautiful island and enjoyable to see more than a few spots. I would arrange the tour once in port. There will be several vendors to choose from. Try to get off the ship early to avoid the crowds. All the tours go to the same stops. Magens Bay is beautiful and large but there is very little to see when snorkeling. It is a sandy bay. If you are interested in snorkeling I would go to Secret Harbor Beach. There are chairs to rent and fairly good snorkeling. I saw a small sea turtle there one time. Two members of our group did a shore dive. The last time we stopped in St Thomas we were with friends who had never been before so we did the circle the island with them. We asked our driver to drop us off at Secret Harbor beach and he was very willing to accommodate us. (We tipped him extra.) We took a taxi back to the ship. (Taxis routinely stop at this beach.) There is a small resort on the beach. Good luck and safe travels.

My three children haven’t cruised on Princess since August 2003. I booked a family cruise yesterday and all three had their CC numbers and cruise credits intact and recognized. None of my kids had the same address, phone numbers or email as in 2003. My daughter has a married name as well. Call back and ask to speak with a supervisor, you were given incorrect information. If you don’t want to deal with the outsourced call center, then call 800-901-1172 and ask for a Princess Cruise Planner. You should get immediate help. As an aside because I was booking so many people at once I asked for a new PCP. I knew there were many elements that made it more complicated to book. (My prior PCP has been useless.) I LOVE my new PCP! He was very detail oriented and made suggestions I hadn’t even thought of.

I tried chrome and had no trouble! I knew I could count on my CC friends to help me. THANK YOU!

We are going on an extended family cruise. Our son in law and daughters in law have never cruised on Princess so I would like to refer them so they and we get the $25 OBC. I tried using the following web address without success: princess.com/refer25. It takes me to the correct page (scrolling down) but no hyperlink is provided. Is this still an active program? If so does anyone have a direct link? I really don’t want to call Princess. Another issue is that I can’t access live chat. When I tap the link nothing happens. Princess can be SO aggravating!

Thank you for taking the time to post pictures, videos and narrative of your amazing journey. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you for the clarification on soft drinks. I’m still okay with it. 😊

That just it, the loyalty perks on Princess have been diminished such that they won’t be missed. The only perks we really used were the priority boarding and tendering and the one time mini-bar set up. (We changed out the alcohol for soft drinks.) But Viking provides soft drinks in every cabin…replenished daily. I would imagine the significantly lower passenger count reduces the need for priority boarding. Loved the Princess refugee comment!

Coke Zero Sugar is a different formula than Coke Zero. IMHO Coke Zero Sugar tastes like very sweet coke flavored perfume. Not a fan. 🤢

Thank you for the info Clay!

If that’s all they have we’ll be okay. I’m not sure I could drink Diet Pepsi for two weeks. 😂

As I shared on another thread we just booked Bangkok to Bali, November 2024. We are not coffee or alcohol drinkers but we are big Diet Coke drinkers. What diet cola is onboard in that region of the world?