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Based on our personal experience, I highly recommend that you call the HP directly and get confirmation that you do in fact have a reservation. Also, the Valuetrips website says that "10/12-10/13" are in its blackout period. Not sure exactly what that means, so please be extra careful. If that means checking in Oct 12 and checking out Oct 13 is the only day blacked out you should be OK as you're checking in Oct 13, but if it means checking in either Oct 12 or Oct 13 are blacked out, you might have a problem. VT have let people book blacked out periods in the past by accident, so please call them and confirm your bookings.

FWIW, on two of our recent Princess cruises, (LA last year and Boston last month) there was no priority boarding, no PES pre-boarding lounge etc. Everyone was herded into a huge waiting area and the only way one could get "priority" boarding was to know exactly where boarding started and try to sit as close as possible to that entrance to the gangways. Fortunately we weren't booking the Sanctuary on those trips so we had no need to get on board early. The odd thing about San Pedro not having priority boarding is that in the past they DID have priority boarding, no idea why they didn't on that particular sailing. We did board particularly early that time, so it's possible they dispense with Priority and the waiting lounge if they know passengers will get on board early

As near as I can tell, there's an issue right now with the PE search engine, as it only wants to show past sailings when I use the query function, and that usually shows sailings months into the future. Looking at the Princess site, there are two ships leaving PE on Jan 19, the Enchanted and the Sky. The general rule is that the newer/bigger ship gets Terminal 2 while the other one gets the other pier (Pier 21 possibly?). Problem is, the Sky and the Enchanted are sister ships and very similar in size, so it's hard to know which one will get which pier. The Enchanted is a bit younger than the Sky, so on that basis alone, it would get T2. Best to wait until the PE port query engine comes back on line, as it should properly show which ship is scheduled into which terminal on that date.

Same here, we'll be on the Sun on October 19. Prices are so high that period we're all the way out at the Riverside in Downtown (got a great price many months ago before they raised their prices for that date). One good thing about the new Omni is that even if they are overly expensive, such a new and massive hotel on 17th St will probably force all the usual suspects like the HP, Hilton, Renaissance and ES to at least temporarily drop prices. Fingers crossed. I'd take a brand new hotel like an Omni over any of the 17th St hotels in a heartbeat provided it was at least reasonably prices relative to the competition.

On a related note, would any of the area locals have any news on exactly when the new Omni at the Convention Center is set to open? The last time I checked, they were still only accepting large group bookings and "normal" bookings were not yet available, with opening "Fall 2025". I imagine it will be a pricey option but it would highly convenient as it is pretty much attached to Terminal 2.

I'm not surprised that the Marriott is expensive, you're paying for the convenience of a 10 foot inside walk from the hotel to the check in counters. The Sheraton is a very good, large full service hotel and is not far from the terminals. About an 800 yard walk if you have to but I'm sure they have a shuttle. Unfortunately, the area around the airport is, like most airports, a wasteland with nothing to see or do. If you want to see Montreal, and since it's late September and past the worst of the tourist season, you might want to consider a taxi or Uber to Old Montreal, not far from downtown. You can easily see Montreal on Google Maps to get a feel for how the downtown is laid out. Friday afternoon traffic will be bad but the evening rush hour tends to flow in the opposite direction OUT of downtown. Figure 30-60 minutes to get from the airport to Old Montreal. It's a beautiful area (it's also Montreal's cruise port) and has LOTS of excellent restaurants. You could make the trek in the afternoon, spend the evening in Old Montreal for dinner, then head back to the airport after the evening rush hour.

Based on the recent experience some of us have had with our renewals, if you apply now you should have the new card in hand by November. As always, YMMV. Once you make the renewal application on their website, you will see wording that basically says that your existing card continues to be valid until the time you activate the new card on the web site, which automatically cancels the old one. So, worst case you don't receive your new card in time, the old one will continue to be valid anway.

Yes, I sure was. Also, FWIW there's a decent little Italian restaurant called Da Mangione in a strip mall just around the corner from the QI. Beats a Scores 8 days a week. If the poster can swing it, the Marriott is an absolute slam dunk for a hotel when facing an early morning departure. Second closest alternative would the big Sheraton almost next to the terminals

If you are sailing Princess, there's a decent chance you will sail from Terminal 2 off Eisenhower Blvd. The usual hotel recommendations here on CC, which come up very often, are the Hyatt Place, the Hilton Marina and our favorite, the Renaissance. All three are on 17th St and are among the closest to Eisenhower. The Embassy Suites is also on 17th, but some of the recent reviews aren't overly inspiring. AFAIK, all three of these have paid shuttles (the HP and Renaissance certainly do), but taxi or Uber tend to be easier.

The Quality Inn at YUL is on the other side of a very busy highway from the airport, though there is a large, less than top tier mall with a Walmart right next to the hotel. Is there a reason why you chose the QI over, say, the big airport Marriott which is physically inside the International terminal and would make catching an early morning flight MUCH easier? As you suspect, there's pretty much nothing anywhere near the airport worth "touristing", you would have to taxi or Uber into downtown or Old Montreal, about 20 km and maybe 30 minutes if you're lucky. Don't bother going back to the airport proper if you're at the QI, take one from the hotel. Fortunately, as a result of massive roadwork projects over the last decade there are dedicated bus/taxi lanes almost all the way from the edge of downtown to the airport along Highway 20 to make the trip a bit easier. There are public buses which you could take but the experience would probably take a lot longer and be far less convenient than an Uber. Which day of the week and what time of day would you foresee going into downtown? Montreal has some VERY bad traffic owing to the never-ending construction, and traffic jams can be quite bad. Heading to and from downtown or Old Montreal from the airport would be less difficult on a weekend.

...and to close out my data point, submitted my renewal on August 18, received the approval notification August 23 and received my new card September 5. I renewed a year early, my old expiry was August 2025 and my new card's expiry is August 2030.

...and yet a few years ago, well pre-pandemic, when I applied for the Shareholders OBC (the old way, via fax) four months in advance of the cruise it was denied as being too far from sail date. Clearly things have changed for the better and Princess isn't sticking to the old policy. If we really can collect the SHOBC a year in advance it would certainly simplify things.

Given the November 1, 2024 opening date for applying for 2025 cruises, how far into 2025 will this extend? IOW would I be able to apply for the OBC for all our 2025 trips, as far as November 2025? In the old, pre-Stockperks days, we theoretically could only apply a few months before any given trip.

Any chance you could explain how boarding early and making a phone call is "pushing...engaging in a foot race... and fighting"...?

Absolutely. We have never had any problem booking all restaurants by visiting the first one we come to. They are all connected "electronically" and can book into any of the others on the ship.

Quite probably. Gotta love that Elite status and priority embarkation ;o)

+1. In our case we prefer to eat very early, as soon as the restaurant opens. Easier to get to the Theater for the early show, the staff is relatively fresh and the restaurant is VERY quiet and virtually empty for the first hour at least. I would expect the same for the later seatings as well.

Superb restaurant, we've eaten there multiple times on any of our cruises that have one. To maximize your chances of getting your desired booking, make very sure to board as early as you possibly can and immediately call the DINE line or visit any of the Specialty restaurants to make the booking(s). On our last few cruises we had boarded even before the DINE line opened (boarding around 10:30AM) but we kept at it and made the call; got every one of our desired restaurants and times by about 11AM.

+1. There's more than enough anecdotal evidence here on CC to convince me that Princess still hold MANY slots for on board reservations. I've seen a number of estimates of the number being 50% but I doubt anyone knows for sure, and Princess aren't exactly forthcoming with their details. That being said I would not want to try and do a walk up half way through a cruise and try for a 7PM booking at a Crown Grill. We have always had almost perfect luck getting our desired slots by booking immediately upon embarking. The only exception was during the first few cruises after the pandemic re-start, when they clearly had personnel and staffing problems and had to keep the bookings lower. For the last few years, we are 100% successful in our on board booking.

We were on the Emerald last month. another "smaller" ship with only those two restaurants. Sold out on-line ahead of the cruise, but lots of openings for booking via the DINE line or in person at the restaurants immediately upon boarding. We booked five nights as soon as we boarded, though admittedly we prefer to eat early.

Already tried that, thanks. Still no sign of the upgrade anywhere. In the past when I have upgraded from Plus to Premier the upgrade shows on the Personalizer under the "Extras" tab, either as a straight Premier or as the Premier upgrade. So far, nothing. It's only Day One of the new upgrade for these two ships (and IIRC it only started yesterday on a few other ships) so it's very early. Given Princess IT's stellar reputation, I have my doubts it will go well, but I'll give them a few days and Chat in again for an explanation.

I "Chatted" in to Princess a short time ago and requested an upgrade, for three of our four upcoming trips, from our current Plus to the new Premier. The CSR came right back and said no problem, I can do that for you. He processed all three upgrades, but pointed out that we would not see the upgrades in our Personalizer until the dates that the upgrades go live on the specific ships. In our case, that was September 1 for the Sky and Majestic, and September 15 for the Royal. It's now September 1 and there is no sign on our Personalizer, or in the App, of the upgraded Packages. Has anyone yet had any luck seeing such upgrades on their bookings?

That was my point. I was questioning the statement that you couldn't carry on board anything bigger than an airline carry-on sized bag. In my experience, you can bring on board larger suitcases, as long as they fit in the security scanners. This has been my experience in Princess's North American ports like PE, Galveston. San Pedro, Seattle and Brooklyn.

That's interesting. At other ports we've sailed out of, any luggage that can fit in the security scanner is acceptable to be carried on board, including many larger luggage, not just carry-ons. Many people carry relatively large suitcases on board. Are you saying that's not allowed in Boston? As to the question about using porters, all you do is hand them your bags and watch as they deposit them in the luggage carrier racks that then get loaded on the ship. At least that's what happened when we sailed out of Boston last month.

I was about to post that very question, thanks for beating me to it ;o) Is it November 1, or so may months in advance of the trip? We have two trips for next year, the first being Feb 23, 2025. I already have the Shareholder OBC for all our 2024 trips, but haven't yet submitted for 2025. Thanks...