LACruiser88

February 21, 2023 9:00 AM EST Spring Flowers, Summer Festivals and Royal Princess Debut Highlight Princess Cruises' 2024 Japan Season Diamond Princess Returns for 36 Departures to Scenic Island Country, Plus Royal Princess Debuts on a New Japan & Northern Pacific Crossing SANTA CLARITA, Calif., Feb. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The lure of Japan is calling with its ancient temples, cherry blossoms, modern cityscapes and vibrant cuisine with the newly released 2024 Japan cruise season on sale now from Princess Cruises. New for 2024, Royal Princess makes her Japan debut and marks the first Royal-Class ship to sail in the region. The series of cruises offers many opportunities to view the magnificent spring flowers, as well as four breathtaking summer festivals. Spring Flowers, Summer Festivals and Royal Princess Debut Highlight Princess Cruises’ 2024 Japan Season Royal Princess sails a new Japan & North Pacific Crossing, calling to the northern Tohoku and Hokkaido regions during the magnificent cherry blossom season with the option to combine with the cruise line's popular Voyage of the Glaciers cruise to witness the majestic glaciers of Alaska. Guests can opt to disembark in Anchorage (Whittier) for a 15-day voyage or continue to Vancouver, B.C. for a 22-day cruise. The cruise departs Tokyo (Yokohama) on April 27, 2024. "Japan has been a popular homeport and destination experience for Princess guests for many years and we're thrilled to offer such a culturally-rich season of cruises in this region for the 2024 season," said John Padgett, Princess Cruises president. Japan-built Diamond Princess returns to Japan for a March through August 2024 season, sailing roundtrip from Tokyo (Yokohama), calling to 35 destinations in three countries on 31 unique itineraries and 36 departures, ranging from seven to 23 days. Diamond Princess kicks off the season with a series of four 10-day Spring Flowers voyages, calling at all four of Japan's main islands and following the predicted blooming season as it moves from south to north. The Japan festival season reaches its peak in the summer months, and in 2024 Diamond Princess offers guests the opportunity to experience the following festivals with late-night stays in each port: Aomori Nebuta Festival (Aug 2 and Aug 7) which features Nebuta float figures accompanied by traditional music, many vibrant dancers and audience participation, all within easy walking distance from the port. Kochi Yosakoi Dance Festival (Aug 12), one of Japan's 10 largest festivals, featuring teams of dancers with colorful costumes and unique performances. Tokushima Awa Odori Dance Festival (Aug 13), one of the most famous summer dance festivals that dates back to the 1500s and features dancers performing throughout the city well into the night highlighted by the famous "Fool's Dance." Kumano Fireworks Festival (Aug 17), a display of over 10,000 fireworks visible from the decks of Diamond Princess. Additionally, Diamond Princess will sail on nine-day Southern Islands voyages that call to two Okinawan ports and two Taiwan ports; nine-day and 10-day Sea of Japan voyages that will feature ports along the historic Kitamaebune trading route; 10-day Hokkaido voyages that will visit Otaru (for Sapporo), Hakodate and Kushiro; and the popular 10-day Japan Explorer voyages that will call to some of the country's most iconic destinations like Shimizu (for Mt. Fuji), Osaka or Kobe (for Kyoto), Hiroshima, and more. The 2024 Japan program also features access to nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Mount Fuji (from Shimizu), Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (from Kobe or Osaka), Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area (from Kobe or Osaka), Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama (from Kanazawa or Toyama), the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and the newly inscribed Iriomote Island (from Ishigaki) and Jomon Prehistoric Sites (from Aomori or Hakodate). Guests only unpack once to enjoy and explore all the sights ashore, while onboard Princess delivers the ultimate in effortless, personalized cruising featuring world-class dining, award-winning entertainment, casinos, pools, fitness centers and spas, all elevated by exclusive Princess MedallionClass service.

I hope this is accurate. We will be onboard for 26 days in November and we really missed Vines on our recent New Year's cruise on the Discovery. But, with soooo many rumors going around who knows what will really happen during the dry docks? 🥺

Same here, auto updated. No big changes. We will see if it functions any different when we board the Sapphire on March 5th.

For us even at the $60 pp price, we are still ahead of the game and will continue to purchase the Plus Package.

There is a current thread addressing the issue...

Let's not give them any ideas! 🙂

Very interesting and well needed. Thanks for the information!

American Airlines charged us $250 pp for the upgrade (which we used points). When we combined the original Economy booking thru EZ Air and the $250 upgrade, we came out way ahead.

We have definitely met some Elites as you mentioned, but we have many Elite friends that are fairly big spenders while cruising. So, IMHO you have a little of both.

We were able to upgrade an Economy domestic flight to First Class (American Airlines) directly with the airline only after the the flight had been ticketed (after final payment). EZ Air only offered Economy seats on this particular flight, but it was a lot lower price than booking directly with the airline.

Or maybe only available to Elites. Now, that will stir things up!

Us too and we are in our late 60's! 🙂

On Monday, I submitted Shareholder request forms for two cruises, one in July and one in November. Yesterday, the July cruise showed the OBC but not the November cruise. We did not receive any notifications from Princess. Maybe they deemed the November cruise too far away from sail date???

No extra charge. Same as the Grill...

Below is a related thread from a few months ago...

Usually we find that EZ Air prices are lower for international flights, not necessarily so for domestic flights. You just need to keep checking. If you book directly from the airlines, you pay up front and they will not adjust prices if they drop. If you book thru EZ Air you can make fare adjustments up until you make final payment on your cruise.

Ditto!

Here is one solution that I would consider. When you receive your colored luggage tags, you usually get at least 4 sometimes 5 tags, see if you have enough to place on your daughters bags. If not, go to Guest Services and ask for extra tags, enough to place on your daughters bags. Place all of your luggage out with the same colored tags attached. Then when they call you color tag to disembark in the morning, you can all walk off together.

I forgot to add, on the Emerald to Hawaii, 16 day roundtrip from San Pedro.

As far as I am aware, the Crab Shack has not returned post start-up.

Princess summer cruises to Hawaii are new for 2023. We will be onboard the Emerald in July with our 8 yr old granddaughter (and her parents). We expect the ship to have a ton of kids onboard.

I see the same number when I access CC on my cell phone, not when I use my PC. Weird???

In our experience, the best fares are usually when the cruise is first released. Pre-covid fares rarely went down from when the cruise was first released. And now we are definitely seeing cruise capacity returning to pre-covid numbers.

Same here and both times we were upgraded. 🙂

Having been on several inaugural cruises in the past, we now wait for at least a year to try a new ship. We had numerous issues on all the inaugural cruises that we were on.