paddingtonbear

9 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Can't speak to the practices used down under...but for US we have *never* been charged anything extra other than the base cover charge, very often $39 per person.

I don't cruise from Australia.  Always go overseas. 

I have read that your specialty dining will incur an 18% service charge if booked after Dec 1, 2023.  This still seems to be correct. 

1 hour ago, coo359a2 said:

Dined at Crown Grill in April on the Ruby and May on the Grand and both times the charge was  $92.04 for the two of us.  

Did you pre-book? We are wanting to confirm that the 18% is charged not at the time of booking but after you dine. 

2 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

When I make and pay for reservations on the app prior to the cruise, I am never charged the 18%.  Will I see an 18% charge on my account once I am on board?

I have read that your specialty dining will incur an 18% service charge if booked after Dec 1, 2023.
It’s added when you dine. (According to the website but someone else who’s dined there recently can confirm that.) 

The gratuity is included if it is a Premium or Suite perk. 

1 hour ago, YVRteacher said:

However, the library has issues.

 

The books are arranged tallest to shortest with no system whatsoever. 
 

We only have two sea days…

 

 

 

 

 

At least it is neat! 🤣

Wow! Wouldn’t that be great! Good luck. 

4 hours ago, deja moo said:

I would suggest that if you are flying to a port that you are more likely to catch something on a plane than a cruise ship. Planes are disgusting in that there are people sitting in the same seats almost 24/7 and breathing the same recirculated air. They are flying petri dishes. Elevators have nothing on airplanes.

 

The last two cruise I have been on had Noro virus outbreaks on the previous cruises and I never had any issues. I wash my hands before and after getting my food if going to the buffet, and always keep my hands away from my face. YMMV.

Actually it's the airport that is more likely to be the place to catch anything.  Most airlines clean the seats between passengers.  (I don't really trust this but that is what they say and easy to steralise if you want to do it yourself.) But once you are seated and the plane leaves the ground the recirculated air is really safe because it is filtered through a HEPA filter and the air in the plane is turned over every 3 minutes.   

4 hours ago, voljeep said:

 

No desire to get a TA at this point for this cruise - just want to get thru this ... and unless we get a move over offer - well, Princess price point for the hassle is maybe getting out of hand.

For us a TA (from a cruise website travel group) is cheaper than Princess for the overall price and they give us a tiny deposit amount and OBC. They are also cheaper than dealing with US sites (hasn’t always been the case).

Might be worth researching. I’m sure US cruisers get way more lucrative deals than we do in Oz.

Mind you, TAs are not all the same. One wanted to charge us $800 AUD pp for a deposit!

I hope you are having a great time on your second cruise but do hope you come back and explain what disappointed you about Princess enough to put it 4th on your list when your review sounded so positive throughout. Except for the plates. 

We have booked a Canada cruise for Sept 2025 and there are very few cabins left. I talked to our TA and she said that demand has bee huge this year. There may be more inventory after final payment. And, people drop out through the year. 
 

Maybe it’s not all shenanigans by princess? 
 

some of the “deals” on airlines to upgrade at the last minute are unbelievably expensive. I think they catch the unwary or the desperate. 

• Which side of the ship when selecting a cabin has been best for views on the Norway section of your trip?
•  

Great review, thank you. 
it would be great if you also post part of this review in the Sky princess review section to give a more balanced view of the existing reviews. 
 

Before Princess Plus I’ve had the soda package. 
I like not having to count the cost of every drink and tip. 
I loved the mocktails and didn’t feel silly not having alcohol when I had an impressive mocktail at dinner. I don’t drink coke etc but do like sparkling mineral water. 
I don’t drink coffee. 
 

I do drink the occasional alcoholic drink though and need wifi so now find better value in princess Plus deal. 
 

I think, in this case, it’s more a problem with P&O employees not listening to the customer and nor really understanding the product they are selling. In this case LxLx22 was clearly in the right. 
 

Glad it got sorted but what a hassle and so much unnecessary angst. 

I slept on a plane from Singapore to London when we were bumped up to flat bed business from PE on British Airways. 5hrs and it was bliss. Can’t bring myself to pay for it though. 
 

I used a trtl neck brace thing last time we flew O/S and it really worked. I slept for about 4 hrs in a middle seat in Economy. 
 

Those are, unfortunately, the only times I have ever slept on a plane. Long haul flights are miserable usually. I’ll try the trtl thing again before I really recommend it - it might have been a fluke! I hope not.

5 hours ago, CaliforniaDon said:

This one has me baffled. My apologiies if I missed something here, but I have been watching the Majestic mini-suites for October of this year. There are very few cabins showing up, but, since I only need one, I have been keeping an eye out.  Most of the time decks lower than 15 are either sold out or "we will pick for you". Every now and then, a cabin will appear -- likely a cancellation. 

 

I am SURE that decks 10 thru 14 were in that category. Suddenly only decks 11 to 14 were sold out.  Where has deck 10 gone?. It's not sold out, it just is not there at all.   For clarification, I am watching the mid-ship "bump out" but not watching the "Reserve class" cabins.. 🤪

Are you actually looking at 10-DayBaja Peninsula & Sea of Cortez?

Yes caribee deck has gone on the Princess web site!  Weird. 

I checked on an independant site and caribee deck is still there but there are no minisuite cabins available.  

It must just be a princess glitch.  I don't think they get lost even if the decks are all sold out. 

12 hours ago, Jean C said:

My [cough] spare tyre gets them suspicious every time and I get the pat down. I now make a point of wearing my polar fleece/jacket unzipped, to show I'm not concealing anything 😔

I’m thin but I do wear comfortable clothes on planes and everywhere else. Maybe I should wear just underwear like some girls do now on planes.  Perhaps security would be scared away! 🤣

2 minutes ago, dickinson said:

 

LAs for the 20 tickets.. our experience is the opposite of yours.  Over the years I have found that it always says 20 tickets until there are LESS than 20 tickets still available and then it goes to sold out.

Oh I’ve given the wrong info then! So sorry. 
I have a terrible feeling that I was corrected in this once before 😩

6 hours ago, latebuyer said:

Thanks. Biopsy was negative so i'm good to go on cruise! I have another portland question. Are all the lighthouses must sees or am i ok to just see headlight. I'm debating just going on a trolley tour to headlight or even just ubering and then just wandering around portland. 

I haven't been to Portland but we were thinking of doing this tour:

https://realportlandtour.com/tour-overview

The only downside is that if you cancel with less than 24hours notice you don't get a refund.  Even if the ship doesn't make it to port.  Not sure how likely this is. 

Just remember for the Unitours to click right through to the end to get the tour price including tax.  Still very competitively priced even with the tax added.   

For some people a ship’s excursion might be their only opportunity to see Paris. This is one I’d definitely do with a ship excursion as the traffic in Paris can be bad. And, it’s a long excursion. 
 

IMO, Paris is worth seeing even if it’s only for a short while.

4 hours ago, dickinson said:

I received the email and looked at my cruise for next June.  Hadn't looked before so don't know what prices were.  One port, Kusadasi, the excursion I would want only has 18 tickets available so there is some pressure to purchase now.  It is refundable though.  I checked Viator and they are much less expensive but don't include tickets.  I also didn't see the Terrace Houses in a tour but maybe they did have one.  Feel a little uncomfortable in Turkey with a private tour with us three people and would rather be on a larger excursion.  

 

So how does this work?  If I book one excursion for two people does Princess discount the second person or is it when I book a second excursion in a different port?

They start at 20 tickets and when they get down to zero it goes back up to 20. This far out it wouldn’t be the last 20 tickets that they are working through now so don’t worry. 
 

I booked a ship excursion a month ago for September 2025 in an earlier BOGO50% sale.  If I’d booked it 2 days before (I foolishly thought I’d confirm with DH) it would have saved us $30USD pp. Now the price is the same as it was in the “sale”.

make sure you click right through to see the price as it is sometimes different to the price on the excursion page. 
 

Do your research and buy early if you need a ship excursion. 

6 hours ago, Sheila127 said:

Thank you Tring! I have booked Montmorency Falls so looking forward to that! Good suggestion about booking excursions atTender ports, must check up on that! Thank you once again for your help, very kind of you!

Unitours in Quebec City have some good tours. 
 

https://www.toursvieuxquebec.com/en/home

On 6/26/2024 at 1:19 AM, latebuyer said:

Thank you. I live in vancouver so i can fly direct to montreal and get to quebec city easily. It does seem like i can take a bus to saguenay and take a fjord cruise. I like a plan b. Still i hope this year’s cruise works out. I’ve heard cruising the st. Lawrence river is scenic as well? Also i discovered that saguenay show is only available in the summer.

The ship cruises up the fjord to Saguenay. 
I do know what you mean about being overwhelmed by all the excursions. I don’t think you need to plan one at each port. Some of the live threads show some great places walk and wander around the various ports then back to the ship for a late lunch without being exhausted. Or just stay on the ship. 

I hope your biopsy results were good. 

Just check the prices after the sale is over (if you haven’t done so before the sale). Sometimes they double the excursion prices just before the BYOG50% sale. They might come back down after the sale. 
 

Best idea, if you are set on a princess excursion, is to book it as early as you can and keep watching prices. 

1 hour ago, allegrocontadino said:

If I am right, both the cabins occupants must upgrade to the package, right? In this case definitely not worth in our case

When you do your maths working out if a drinks package is worth it for you remember that a la carte drinks including coffee and soda have an automatic 18% gratuity added.