wallyj

The southbound Whittier to Vancouver sailings usually have Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay, northbound it is usually Glacier Bay and College Fiord so this is why I have done the B2B roundtrip Vancouver sailings. Doing them again July 6 on the Grand.

This was true with Royal’s ‘best price guarantee’ which has expired. Also note the OP is from the UK, where cruise pricing is regulated differently. I believe some cruise lines only allow 1 change and there is a fee for UK bookings. We in the US have the luxury of being able to reprice as long as before final payment. When ‘Best Price Guarantee’ was in effect, I believe that was extended to UK bookings too, but no more since that program is expired. Book what you feel comfortable with, knowing you got the location you desired. Unless you have a crystal ball showing the future, no one knows if your cruise will drop in price.

@cr8tiv1, the title of the post Majestic 2023, this cruise is NEXT year. Appear to be the southbound June 3 and June 17th, 2023 sailings.

@mvaldes140 , my TA forwarded the notice from Princess saying the departure has been moved up 1/2 hour from 4:30 to now 4:00. I see the July 20 itinerary shows this too, but the August north bound Grand is showing 4:30. I am not sure when this change was made as I booked on June 13 and received the email from my TA the next day. If you check the July 6, itinerary on Princess.com it shows 4:00 departure. Hopefully, customs and immigration are not too bad and you get processed quickly. Make sure you download and complete the ArriveCan APP 72 hours before arriving Canada.

There is no ‘free’ soda on board. Complimentary regular coffee, ice tea, hot tea, water, and juices in the morning are available in the MDR and Buffett. Princess offers a coffee pkg which was previously known as the Coffee card for a one time charge $31 plus 18% gratuity which entitles you to 15 specialty coffees(Starbucks like) and unlimited free ‘brewed’ coffee from the International cafe . You can combine this with the soda only package which is about $12/day. You also get unlimited hot chocolate and specialty teas. If you want unlimited specialty coffee throughout your cruise and soda, Princess offers the Coffee and Soda pkg, which is $20 something per day plus tips. You have to decide how much you think you will drink and do the math which if any drink package is beneficial to you. When you reach your 15 limit on the Coffee card/package you can then order ala carte and pay for each or buy another card/pkg which is loaded into your Medallion. Any unused are lost at the end of your sailing. The Grand has Coffee and Cones on the Lido deck by the pool where you can get some specialty coffees and they make a Mocha Milkshake with real ice cream and espresso, which is a drink covered on either coffee and soda package of the 15 count package. I see @Steelers36replied at the same time.

@mvaldes140, you are on an EZAir flight which automatically gives you ‘their’ protection. Make sure you have the enroute delays number handy in case you experience a delay you think might cause you to miss the ship. Your arrival is tight, but doable. As I am familiar with the YVR airport and Skytrain, the Skytrain would be my choice. For you, as it seems the Princess transfer will not be an option, take a taxi. As I posted earlier, Princess knows how many passengers they have booked on which EZAir flights, so the ship will already be given a heads up if your flight is delayed. I am sure there are many factors Princess uses to decide if they can hold the ship or leave without you. Hope this pre cruise worry is washed away as you board the ship. Please update us on July 6, if you make it on the ship and how your flight(s) progressed.

@The Collie, hope you are not considering the Crown Princess as there are quite a few posts regarding her changed/greatly reduced itinerary where you will NOT be getting much Alaska port time.

Just remember fares can change in a blink of an eye, so now your flights are your best choice, but the fare may change by the time you actually book since your cruise is only on hold and not ‘booked’.

Hi @Bruin Steve, I see some posts seem to being using the Diamond Club and Diamond lounge for Happy hour snacks as if they are the same venue. The Diamond Club on deck 5 is where the coffee machine is located and they have a breakfast ‘spread’. On my Navigator sailings earlier this year, in the evening the Diamond Club on deck 5 was used for a Pinnicle Lounge and the D, D+ place for happy hour snacks was the Cosmo/Viking crown lounge . Before February 2022, I was able to get alcohol drinks at Plaza bar in WJ, on disembarkation morning. Believe now, no alcohol is available in bars on disembarkation morning, did not check if you can get Bloody Mary or mimosa’s in MDR that morning, but you will have 4 voucher to use. In one of my sailings I decided to stay up late on last night of cruise and went to a bar at 12:30am. and bartender told me the ‘new’ vouchers had not reloaded yet. So when I eventually went to breakfast, got a few can soda’s to take home or back to my cabin if I was on B2B. Yes, they will have a dress your best night for those who want to take pictures, but they will have photo backdrops probably everyday. As far as entertainment, the production show is Showgirl, Past, Present, Future and should appear on APP just before sailing or when you board. Might need reservation but probably not. The other show is the Ice Show in Studio B which will require reservation so make sure to do once you board. My nephew was on for a 3 day last month and the shows(both)were not done because some staff were ‘sick’. They will probably have other guest entertainers like comedian, juggler or singer. They did a quickie Ice show ‘skills’ presentation in lieu of the normal ‘Ice Show’ The pool heaters are out but were supposed to be fixed by end of May and last reports are they are still not fixed. I enjoyed the Navigator and am booked to be back for 11 nights doing B3B in August.

Call EZAir to see if they can manually book these 2 for you as a roundtrip itinerary. Sometimes they have restrictions on combinability which is why they are not showing as an option as a roundtrip itinerary.

Yes, I was surprised when checking EZAir for flights to SEA from LA and they listed some Southwest flights, but I am sure they have very limited Southwest offerings.

Hi @The Collie, sometime you will need to call EZAir if they can book you on a flight you do not see. Actually most times I have checked EZAir, they show 2 different carriers when booking a roundtrip itinerary. Example for my trip for LA to Vancouver. Many options included outbound on American and return on United or Air Canada. There is no rule on EZAir you have to fly in your return carrier the same as your outbound. It depends on what flights EZAir is able to get at their preferred rates. Not all available flights are available to be booked by EZAir. As a side note, you cannot book 2 one way flights on EZAir. You might get 2 one way flights on different carriers when you book a roundtrip booking. If you book a one way either outbound or return on EZAir, you are locked and EZAir assumes you are making other arrangements for the other flight and you can not decide to add another one way booking. If you want to use EZAir, decide if it works for roundtrip offerings or only one way before you book, once booked you can only change if before 45 days before flight of cruise whichever date is earlier IF you book ‘flexible’ fare, but then you are subject to current fares.

Hi @cruisersince1986, this was my experience last time I was at Cruise port for Rome. I do not believe once you get off the ship, you can be picked up. You will need to catch a ship provided shuttle bus to the main ‘bus/port’ terminal. From here is where you can catch a taxi or city bus to the train station which many do who are doing Rome on their own. I assume your private tour company knows this and will advise pick up location protocol. Just be aware, you should plan on this extra time, as the shuttle will wait till the bus is full before leaving for the main depot. Expect it to be quite busy as you are competing with disembarking passengers wanting to catch transfers to the city or airport. Your tour company should be monitoring ship arrivals. Try to have a way to contact your tour company via cell service or WhatsApp for a little more peace of mind.

Hi @mvaldes140, here is my opinion. You are booked on an EZAir flight so there is a good possibility there are other Grand Princess passengers on your flight, some who probably have already booked the Princess transfer. Princess knows exactly how many are booked on the transfers and on which flights. In most cases, if you flight is delayed, by not too much let’s say 1 hour, Princess has been known to ‘wait/delay departure’ . I have witnessed this on a few sailings out of Vancouver. I have also witnessed cases where the shuttles were done for the day, and the Princess rep told the passengers to take a taxi and Princess would reimburse on the ship. There is no ‘expressway’ from the Airport to Canada Place, so the shuttle buses and taxi’s will face the same traffic. We do not know how many passengers Princess might be waiting for to fill up the transfer. Also unknown, is how fast you are able to be processed thru immigration and customs, my checked luggage in YVR is usually waiting for me or arriving soon, by the time I have cleared customs. if you are both able bodied and can handle your own luggage, I would take the Skytrain, as it does not have to deal with traffic and runs very frequently, like every 10 minutes. If you are not comfortable with Skytrain, , take taxi, as it will be more comfortable, and probably be faster since you will not have to wait for possibly other passengers getting thru immigration that have also booked the ‘transfers’. Since you booked the EZAir flight, you have the late arrival protection already, so depending on the length of the delay, either the ship will wait, or you are flown to next port, if possible. Pre Covid, I know they did this. Read a post where an Australian booked same day arrival into Vancouver, flight was delayed and they missed embarkation. They had to pay a very expensive flight to Ketchikan, as they did not have insurance. I am on the July 6 sailing doing B2B, so returning to Vancouver. Assume you got the email from Princess notifying they are planning earlier sailaway by 1/2 hour, so it does make for a tight connection for you. You can plan for delay,, but these are mostly out of your control. Most likely, you are not the only passengers on that flight scheduled to arrive at 12:45. IMHO, booking the Princess transfer does not really give you any more protection in this case arriving at YVR. Hope to see you on the ship, I booked my flight to arrive a day early, so I have a little cushion. Also are you in a connecting flight itinerary , where your bags might get delayed?

Hi @jacadsis not being clear. I believe when they suggest booking flights using TA, the TA can look up flights for you, but to have next port protection, you need to book your air thru the cruise line/cruise air which for RCL cruises is Air2sea. If your flight is canceled, the airline will try to rebook you and Air2sea will try also, depends on timing of cancellation. Also depending on the itinerary and length of sailing it may not be feasible to fly you to next port as embarkation may not be allowed because of infrastructure, immigration or other issues. Depending on how long the delay, the Captain and or Corporate can decide to wait for late arriving passengers. Port schedules may plan into decision if ship can wait. You are not guaranteed the ship will wait or even getting flown to the next port. I had booked cruise line air for a Transatlantic, which was FLL to Southampton, traveling from LA to FLL and had a connection in ATL. Unfortunately, weather caused flights to be canceled and I was not going to be able to get to FLL before cruise left. Next port was Bermuda in 3 days. At first was told try to get to FLL and cruise air would try to book FLL to Bermuda. I already knew there were very few flights available from FLL, so I told them this was not a feasible option. Then, I was given choice fly day ship arrives Bermuda in 3 days and if I miss ship again, I would be on my own, or fly 2 days early and wait for ship. Since I did not have travel insurance, I was on the hook to pay for 2 expensive hotel nights in Bermuda. I did not want to risk any flights delays to travel the day the ship was to arrive Bermuda. Cruise line air did pick up bill for new flights. YMMV.

Hi @satxdiver, I know you are frustrated, but you already started a thread ‘EZair is anything but easy’? A couple days ago. It seems like unfortunately you are caught up with the airlines reshuffling and EZair staff shortages. The last responses to your other thread shared EZair is giving priority to flights within 30 days and yours do not meet that criteria since they are not till August. I know this is not what you want to hear, and if you had originally booked direct with the airlines, you would be dealing with them, but no time machine. You can spend more hours trying to be that squeaky wheel or wait a little till you are within 30 days. Yes, if it was me, I would like to get new flights as seats are being allocated and flight itineraries are being booked so your preferred replacement flight that are available today, might not be available when EZair gets to you.

Hi @satxdiver, just wanted to make sure even though you paid for the EZAir flights and the cruise at final payment, you know the flights are not ‘ticketed’ till about 45 days from the first flight date and reports lately, EZAir is even waiting longer, assuming you booked ‘flexible’ fare. A YouTuber who was just on the Regal reported their return DL flights booked thru EZAir were cancelled because EZAir failed to pay DL. Supposedly, they were rebooked on American for no charge which the passengers did not like, as they have ‘status’ with DL and would not have to pay bags fees and have access to preferred seats. I believe close to flight date, they were able to reach out to DL or EZAir and it was verified they originally had DL flights and were able to get back on the original DL flights which were still operating, but passengers were cancelled because EZAir did not pay on time. Are you still more than 45 days from your flight? If so, and the airline has canceled the flight, EZAir needs to find you an alternate flight at no extra charge to you. If you are less than 45 days from your flight and EZAir still had not ticketed your flight, they are still responsible to rebook you at no extra costs. If EZAir has ticketed your flight and the airline canceled the flight, usually you can contact the airline directly to rebook you on a suitable replacement at no extra cost. I believe most people can relate to this added stress, it sounds like there is still time to get you new flights as your flight is not in a few days? Let us know if you get flights that work for you.

Hi @meab, it is a known ‘issue’ anytime you refare a Princess booking, if you had the shareholders benefit, it will usually ‘drop off’. Pre pandemic, a quick call to shareholders department and it would be restored immediately. With current long hold times using phone contact, I suggest ‘live chat’. You find live chat link at the bottom of the Princess webpage, make sure you scroll all the way down. I was able to use on my IPad yesterday. They can see the history of your booking and restore shareholders without you needing to resubmit any additional documentation.

No, the cabin steward will not ‘lock’ the balcony door for access. This has been reported on many other threads regarding the forward facing balconies and some of the forward cabins. If you have one of the forward DW’s you are asked to keep your curtain closed at night so the light from your cabin does not cause issues with the ‘bridge’.

I just booked a cruise only 3 weeks from sailing. Emailed shareholders, then I used ‘live chat’ on website. Got connected within one minute to a ‘chat’ agent. Explained sailing was only 3 weeks away. She messaged the ‘department’ and was told they are currently working on requests sent about 1 month ago, so they are behind, but give priority to sailings within 14 days. She told me if I could wait a few minutes, they could probably do while I was waiting. After a minute, she said the ‘department’ messaged her it was done. Yay for me. YMMV.

Hi @The Collie, I suggest you book the DW, it has the extra sofa so another place to sit and slightly larger. Depending on the itinerary, the forward facing DW’s have great sized balconies, but can be very windy. Being forward, you are also subject to more ‘motion’

Did your do the ‘math’? If you can add ‘plus’ for $50/day, you are ahead since you both get the drink package even if the other does not drink, and both get unlimited wifi for one device, when you consider crew incentive is included.

Reading the Terms and conditions, it does not appear both passengers are required to buy the adult drink package. I know on RCL, if the other adult passenger does not drink alcohol they are allowed to purchase the ‘refreshment drink package’ as both passengers are required to buy a package and this must be done by calling RCL. With the drink package pricing, do the math, assume Canadian dollars are equivalent. Currently the adult plus package is $59.99 plus 18% gratuities for a total of just over $70. if you cruise fare is not heavily discounted, usually you can upgrade your booking with the ‘plus’ amenities which will add $50/day per person. This almost would be a wash since the ‘plus’ includes gratuities which would be a minimum $29/day for 2, so add that to buying your single package and you are even, and you would both get unlimited WiFi, and passenger2 gets unlimited non alcohol drinks in your case since they do not drink alcohol.

Hi @Vacation...Yes, what website are you using? When RCL sold off Azamara last summer, they inherited the booking engine and it says something about valid only for Azamara ? I was told they were working on a replacement but it is possible it has not happened. Your option now is to call them directly and try and find if they have any air options that will appeal to you. I think they are supposed to be available 24/7.

Hi @megsterl, here is my recent experience on Navigator of the seas this past February. The mini fridge in the cabin had a sticker that noted this is a ‘cooler’ not a refrigerator and if you require items to be refrigerated, contact your room steward. on a later sailing I was in a balcony cabin, and that ‘cooler’ was definitely set to a lower temperature , so I do not know if the stewards can adjust or it was a qwerk?