Booking in a few days - first Princess cruise

[sue2go]

Hello all - DH and I will be booking our first Princess cruise in a few days... Island Princess, Panama Canal full transit 2 days in the canal, planning on booking the Baja deck balcony mid aft so full cover, Feb '16 and planning to pick up Princess Platinum insurance (we are both in great health but have a healthy 83 year old Mom who .. you know... may not be healthy then). Have cruised with RC and Celebrity - hope to be as pleased with Princess as I was with them. Anything I should consider changing in your opinion? Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[paul929207]

Welcome to Princess. We are considering the same cruise for this coming winter.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great choice!

 

Have you seen this website?

 

 

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

Edited July 13, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[cnd crsr]

The Panama is a great cruise. Enjoy!!!!!

[skynight]

Anything I should consider changing in your opinion? Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Sounds like you did all your homework. Since you will be booking about 19 months in advance there will certainly be some promos between now and then. Watch for them to get the lower fares, and maybe some on board perks. You can receive additional OBC if you: have Carnival Corp (min. 100 shares) stock, are or have been in the military. Military credit is per person, so both military, both get OBC. The stock benefit is per cabin. All OBC's on Princess can be stacked. No need to worry about this right now, it is all handled later. The shareholder benefit is applied for after final payment.

[SeagoingMom]

So when I come across the next CC post asking about whether they should use a TA to book a cruise, I'll refer them to you. :)

[RetiredNTraveling]

Great choice!

 

Have you seen this website?

 

 

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

 

Do you have links like this one to other Princess Ships? :confused:

 

We are just,

RetiredNTraveling!(Mike & Betty)

[caribill]

Hello all - DH and I will be booking our first Princess cruise in a few days... Island Princess, Panama Canal full transit 2 days in the canal, planning on booking the Baja deck balcony mid aft so full cover, Feb '16 and planning to pick up Princess Platinum insurance (we are both in great health but have a healthy 83 year old Mom who .. you know... may not be healthy then). Have cruised with RC and Celebrity - hope to be as pleased with Princess as I was with them. Anything I should consider changing in your opinion? Thanks in advance for any feedback!

 

Just be aware that you only spend one day in the Canal.

 

The two day experience includes a day at the Panama port after exiting the canal.

[capriccio]

Sounds like you did all your homework.

 

Here's some more homework :D for you - read David McCullough's Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal before you go. It will really give you an added appreciation of everything you will see during the transit.

 

Enjoy - that is one of our favorite cruises!

[sue2go]

Great - thanks much everyone - good to know I've made good choices. Yes, I do know that there's only one day in the canal - but what I've read (here as well as other sites) says if you can spare the time, do the 2 day and explore Panama.

 

And yes, I'll be obsessively checking for price drops or promos! I am booking through a friend who is a TA, but yes seagoingmom - I've been accused of impersonating one ;) For me, half the fun of a trip is planning.

 

I have seen the site on cabins, which is how I selected the baja deck because I wanted a fully covered balcony. Interestingly, using Safari it won't open - used to but won't now. However launching another browser (google chrome) worked.

 

By the way, DH and I watched a very interesting PBS show online last night about the canal - anyone who is interested might check it out.

 

http://video.pbs.org/video/1747929120/

 

Now on to further reading of boards and enjoying my planning! Thanks again!

[sue2go]

Hmmm.... I've heard reading that book, though worthwhile and very informative, is truly LIKE homeWORK. I think I'll take the easy way out and watch videos... But thanks for the suggestion!

[sue2go]

And thanks Sknight - DH had military time and he assures me he has the appropriate form to copy and submit to get that OBC. I've sent him the link to the form to fill out already - good to know we don't have to do that right when we book... though I'm a WAY out planner he doesn't get excited about things until he starts packing bags! Opposites attract they say...

[Pam in CA]

I would strongly suggest finding a TA who specializes in Princess bookings. Princess allows TAs to discount so it's not unusual to save 10-20% and get OBC and perks.

 

As mentioned above, Princess allows all OBC to be combined and it's refundable if not used.

 

On Princess, when you book a Princess tour, you are just reserving it. It'll be charged to your onboard account and paid along with your final bill. If you want to pre-pay anything, you can send yourself OBC as a gift. Scroll to the bottom for the link:

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/index.jsp

 

And finally, join your roll call. Unlike RCI which has an agreement with CC, Princess roll call members themselves organize Meet & Greets, independent tours and activities. Princess provides a place and a time for the M&G. I've found that the Princess M&Gs are more fun because people really want to meet and interact than I've found on RCI Meet & Mingles.

[sue2go]

Thanks for the advice and info Pam! Will be taking some time to research the excursions (part of the fun). Thanks for the info on differences on the meet and greet and the excursion charges!

Edited July 13, 2014 by sue2go

[RotaryMike]

Hmmm.... I've heard reading that book, though worthwhile and very informative, is truly LIKE homeWORK. I think I'll take the easy way out and watch videos... But thanks for the suggestion!

 

Look online for the History Channel dvd on the making of the canal. it was very interest to watch it before we did the canal trip. Mike in CT

[sue2go]

Thanks Mike - will do!

[sept10dsm]

And thanks Sknight - DH had military time and he assures me he has the appropriate form to copy and submit to get that OBC. I've sent him the link to the form to fill out already - good to know we don't have to do that right when we book... though I'm a WAY out planner he doesn't get excited about things until he starts packing bags! Opposites attract they say...

 

If you own 100 shares of Carnival stock, the same OBC as well in addition to the Military. Can be worth buying for that $250!

[SterHgts]

For our Panama Canal, we stayed in D626 on the Coral (sister ship to the Island). Most of the rooms on Dolphin are suites and mini suites. D626 is a BD balcony category, fully covered with a larger balcony which had two chairs and foot rests. We loved our room. I would not recommend D624 since it is the first room on the bump out, but D626 was perfect.

 

As Pam recommended, find a good TA. In March, we booked our Feb 2015, 20-day cruise on the Royal. Our price is almost $1000 cheaper than the Princess price, and we received received a little shipboard credit and a bottle of wine from our TA. We also have FCC and shareholder credit, all combinable.

 

I check the Princess website from time to time and although their price is still almost $1000 higher, they were offering $200 per person shipboard credit. I called my TA, and she got us and our travel companions the extra $400. She said she would adjust the fares for all her customers. We are very pleased with her. Thank you P.

[sue2go]

Thanks for the tips! Keep 'em coming!! Will have to look at that cabin for sure.

[SeagoingMom]

So when I come across the next CC post asking about whether they should use a TA to book a cruise, I'll refer them to you. :)

I just realized today that I posted this comment on the wrong thread, just in case anyone wondered what on earth I was talking about. Sorry for the interruption... :o

[sue2go]

Heck, I took it as a compliment that I'd done my research and kinda knew what I was doing... :D

[msmoger]

And finally, join your roll call. Unlike RCI which has an agreement with CC, Princess roll call members themselves organize Meet & Greets, independent tours and activities. Princess provides a place and a time for the M&G. I've found that the Princess M&Gs are more fun because people really want to meet and interact than I've found on RCI Meet & Mingles.

 

Hi Pam,

 

I was just curious what the agreement between Cruise Critic and RCI entails. Are you saying there is an RCI Meet & Mingle automatically setup for every cruise?

 

Thanks,

[caribill]

Hi Pam,

 

I was just curious what the agreement between Cruise Critic and RCI entails. Are you saying there is an RCI Meet & Mingle automatically setup for every cruise?

 

Thanks,

 

On each Cruise Critic roll call thread for a RCI cruise of at least 7 days there is a link to sign up for the M&M. When a minimum number of people signed up has been reached (20 or 25, I forget which), then a M&M is scheduled.

 

There will be an invitation in your cabin and includes a coupon for a free gift (usually a neck wallet to carry your cruise card) and a ticket for drawings (same type of gifts as at a Princess embarkation sale away deck party for those that did the Princess "treasure hunt").

 

The M&M is run by the cruise director or the assistant cruise director. Representatives from several departments (spa, beverage, etc) are there to give away the prizes. There are some activities designed to have attendees actually mingle with each other.

 

Game to encourage meeting others:

 

 

There is lemonade and water there along with some canapes.

 

 

 

Very little of the meeting is conducted by the roll call members. Any that is so conducted is after RCI has finished all of its presentations.

Edited July 14, 2014 by caribill

[Luckiest Dog]

Here's some more homework :D for you - read David McCullough's Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal before you go. It will really give you an added appreciation of everything you will see during the transit.

 

Enjoy - that is one of our favorite cruises!

 

I strongly agree! I heard about this book on CC before our Panama cruise a couple of years ago. It does increase your interest, knowledge and amazement as you pass through the canal.

[Astro Flyer]

I strongly agree! I heard about this book on CC before our Panama cruise a couple of years ago. It does increase your interest, knowledge and amazement as you pass through the canal.

At the very least watch David McCullough's NOVA DVD "A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama". Even though it may be shown on the ship, I heard passengers who didn't know the history of it's construction who were unimpressed thinking some locks, a lake & a river & naively thinking it wasn't such a big deal. :(