rocklinmom

We are looking at the Sun this summer and curious about the open cabana deck 9. Does anyone know if smoking will be allowed on this open deck? I wouldn't want to book a balcony cabin on deck 10 above if so. I know no one has sailed on her yet, and can't wait to read reviews, but perhaps someone has read this information somewhere? Also on deck 9, I see drawings of outside seating for the buffet, IC, Alfredo's. There are deck 10 cabins directly above. Wondering how much of the buffet seating is inside vs. outside...again, only if someone is in the know. Cabin selection is very important right now since we don't have any reviews yet. Soon hopefully!

Thank you so much! This is very helpful. We only have one option at 8am so I'm assuming breakfast would be mini muffins, danishes, etc. Doubt people would drink much alcohol that early in the morning other than mimosas. Thanks for the tip that it could be a rough ride, good to know!

Where did you find the juices that are included with Plus package? I'm guessing in the IC or up in the buffet?

I have never noticed the colored dots on the carpets! Thanks for pointing those out. And I like the TV's up high in the corner, that way if the neighbor has their TV loud it isn't across from our bed (like when the TV is on the middle of the wall). I hate trying to sleep listening to the neighbor's TV. I do bring a battery operated white noise machine but it doesn't help much.

Thank you for doing this review! We will be on the Crown in May to Alaska. It will be our second time on her and fourth time to Alaska. Love being able to drive to and from the port. Did you happen to notice if there is still an Elite priority boarding line?

We booked the luxury class tickets, so I assume these are the big leather seats? And it is in the early morning so does anyone know what kind of "appetizers" they will serve?

Is the Crown's Salty Dog Gastropub open for lunch or only for dinner?

Yes that's why I asked our PVP and he said we would lose our OBC if we re-fare. Sounds like as usual there is no consistency with Princess.

Nope sadly they just have showers in the mini suites on the Sun (and presumably Star). I don't know why they got rid of the tub showers for mini suites. We liked having them too.

We had a pair of connecting mini suites on the Royal last year. If the doors were closed we didn't hear anything (but we kept them cracked obviously since we were together). What someone mentioned above is true, if one of the mini suites leaves their balcony door open you can hear the whooshing wind sound through the doors, but only if the ship was moving. The connecting door is on the wall across from the closet area so you don't lose any space.

Update: the $175 cash back posted to my AmEx account this morning 🙂 so yes you can use this offer for Princess shore excursions.

Our cruise fare has dropped $148pp now but we have $100pp OBC and our PVP says that if we cancel and rebook for the lower fare we would lose the OBC. He says it would be a cancel and rebook not a refare because the current promo is for new bookings only. I assume he is correct hopefully.

In the fine print it says that these Alaska shore excursion "sale" prices are only good through January 29th. Will be curious to see what the prices do after Monday.

I got an email this morning saying that I used the offer, so will see if the $175 cash back posts or not. I did notice that excursions are listed as not applicable but hopefully it will still work...

Has anyone successfully used the spend $700 get $175 cash back on a Princess shore excursion? I just booked one for over 1k so meets the criteria, but didn't get any kind of email from AmEx saying that I redeemed the offer. Sounds like I need to give it a few days?

Thank you! I noticed this today too, and had already booked one at the higher price. They raised the prices of all of the ones I was watching in my wishlist twice this month and now lowered them to the (original) prices I had seen back in December. So not really a sale LOL, just increased and then lowered to what they were. Very sneaky Princess! It took me forever this morning to cancel and rebook mine at the lower price.

Between the new call center and yes useless Chat feature I am seriously rethinking booking with Princess again. Sad after all these years but their customer service has tanked. Not everyone can message them on Instagram for help.

To be clear I'm not blaming Princess, just advising people to check their shore excursion prices if they are thinking about booking soon.

We are booked on an Alaskan cruise in May and I've been watching several Princess shore excursions. I don't usually book them until after final payment. Well I probably should have because the prices just went up twice in a week. The helicopter and fishing excursions went up $55 to $60pp last week and now today they have gone up another $60 to $70pp. Obviously the tour companies prices increased for 2024 and Princess is raising the prices accordingly, but twice in a week? Kicking myself for not booking them earlier. Guess I'll be comparing with the private excursions but they probably went up too. So heads up if you have been looking at shore excursions. I don't know if it's just the Alaska ones or all shore excursions in general.

Ooh I would love this too. I eat their bran muffins every morning and search the buffet for them.

Oh wow I am looking at a 2025 cruise on the Majestic and had no idea they don't have Lido deck pizza! This is good to know, dk if we would use a noodle bar instead. There's nothing like grabbing a slice of pizza by the pool.

Always print your Travel Summary and bring it with you on your cruise. It is the easiest way to show Customer Services onboard what you booked and paid for.

Yes you would add insurance in your Cruise Personalizer. Or if you call to make a booking they can add it on for you.

Yes they got rid of those two options a few months ago. I posted about it here because I agree that it's strange. And now when doing a mock booking I have to compute the insurance amounts myself (9 percent for standard and 12 percent for platinum).

I would book mine online but we always need multiple cabins and to get them linked together, marked do not upgrade, etc.