dsarah

Thanks for the info. It sounds like I would not be able to use the FCC for a Jan 2025 sailing if I cancel before the end of this year.

I've read on the forums that when cancelling a cruise for any reason under the PVP Insurance Platinum Plan, Future Cruise credit will be given for the non-refundable amount, but the FCC will expire in a year from the date of issue. Does that mean the FCC has to be applied to a future cruise payment by that expiration date, OR does it mean that the future cruise has to sail by that expiration date?  

We may cancel our December 2023 cruise.  Our next Princess cruise has already been booked (deposit paid) for January 2025. I was hoping to apply the FCC amount from the Dec. 2023 cancelation to that January 2025 booking if possible. If anyone has experience and can clarify, would really appreciate it.

Sorry, I didn't mean to resurrect an old discussion.  Tried to search before posting but no luck. Anyhow, thanks for answering the question.

I think they used to have a bucket chair in addition to the desk Chair in a regular balcony cabin.  But now I see photos without an additional chair?  Has it been eliminated? 

12 hours ago, PMGS247 said:

18 months feels pretty inevitable that there will be a price increase.  Seems like a few people believe there are some good sources of advanced notice.

 

Regardless, being 18 months out would recommend adding it to the booking now.  Final payment won't be until ~Oct '24 so you're not locked into anything, but you do guarantee the current rate should you wish to keep it.  You can make a much more informed & lower risk decision at that point to remove it or keep it, whatever makes the most sense.

If I add it to my current booking now, can I remove it before final payment without changing my current fare and OBC?

We have booked Sky Princess 7 day cruise in January 2025.  Currently booked Standard fare. Considering upgrading to Princess Plus but after reading posts, seems better to wait till later or even on the ship to avoid insurance increase cost, and possible use of OBC.  Main concern is price increase in the next 18 months. Does Princess normally give some "advance warning" when prices will increase?  If so will wait and see.

We were on Infinity 3 weeks ago and had late seating. We had requested a table for two with our booking but went to the dining room manager when we boarded. He showed us our table, and it was one of the entry hallway tables. We asked if we could please have a better table and when we showed up for dinner he gave us one of the great tables along the upper railing. There were quite a few nice tables for two along the upper railing that were private (not inches away from another table for two). 

Since we were at the railing I could see the lower level, and I did make the comment that there seemed to be less tables for two than we experienced on the Solstice class ships. There was a row of tables for two in front of the back window but they were inches apart. If you have Anytime Dining it may be harder to get a nice table for two but it doesn't hurt to make friends with the dining manager and ask.

26 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

 

But you only pay the difference between $9 and the price for coffee drinks, right? 

That is correct, you pay only the difference. 

We were just on Infinity last week and enjoyed Aspen coffees every day with the Classic package. Anything on the menu up to $9  is included. The first page of the menu had coffees that were more than $9 so those were not included, but everything else up to $9 was.

Thank you for your wonderful detailed review. The menus and drink prices are really helpful. We were also on that sailing and we were unaware of the Solarium Bistro. I wish we would have known about it but will definitely try it in the future.

One observation, we missed seeing the Robo Shows and Vista shows on the 270 screen during the cruise. We were previously on the Quantum years ago and really enjoyed them every evening. Either we just were not there at the right time or they've stopped showing them. Never saw them mentioned in the Compass. Just wondering if you were able to catch any showings.

Which beach, Palm or Eagle, would have more areas to rent a chair and sit in the shade?

Just back yesterday from the Royal and rented a cart from Bonaire Cruisers. It was fabulous! We'll be back there in February and plan to do it again. The cart rental was $90 plus a $100 refundable deposit. They gave us a great map which we followed to see the island and some of the sights. The Donkey Sanctuary was a highlight. Very interesting and fun to drive through. We did also see a few wild donkeys in the fields. We stopped at Soronbon (spell?) Beach which is beautiful. The drive around the island also enabled us to see the Salt hills, flamingos in the wild, and beautiful shorelines. We did not take the entire North route as we were on limited time and will be back to do it.

Were you allowed to drive thru the Donkey Sanctuary in the golf cart? I read somewhere that they didn't let golf carts drive thru because the donkeys were aggressive?

Thank you all for the information.

Driving from northern Virginia, we will spend the night before the cruise in Melbourne, then drive to Miami the next morning, which is Feb. 4, Super Bowl Sunday. Google says the trip will take a little over 3 hours. Any suggestions on the best route to take and if there is potential for delay? Thanks!

Its hard to compare because of different classes of Celebrity ships. We had horrible service on Infinity through the Panama Canal last May, but our earlier cruise last January on Eclipse was good for the most part.

Based on our recent experience on our 2 week Crown Princess Norway cruise, a couple things that "seem" to be unique to Princess and consistent across all Princess ships as far as we know:

They give the military OBC perk that includes any past veterans. The longer the cruise the more OBC. You just submit your proof once for the current cruise and from then on Princess automatically applies it when you make another booking.

They have several self service laundry rooms with irons and ironing boards.

There are excellent food options 24 hours a day. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean both have "down" periods. When coming back to the ship after being in port, it may be hard to find anything to eat.

Free internet -- as Platinum level we received 250 free minutes per person on our 14 day cruise. That was plenty to check email and do goggle searches.

They have table service in the buffet for beverages so you don't have to stand in line at the stations. Also they have a system at the made to order omelet station whereby you get a ticket and give it to your server, and they get your omelet for you. No long line waiting for orders!

We were on the same North Cape Norway cruise as the OP. Haven't been on Princess for several years so we were extremely impressed with the friendliness and service of the crew. When we sat down at the buffet someone immediately came and asked if we wanted anything. Made to order omelets can be ordered and a server brought it to the table. We were always greeted with a smile. Our cabin steward was friendly and always visible in the hall as he worked on the cabins. The dinners in the main dining room were consistently good and our wait staff was excellent.

Its true that Celebrity has that wonderful forward facing lounge and Crown Princess doesn't have anything similar. But compared to our cruise last May on Celebrity Infinity through the Panama Canal, and this cruise, Princess wins hands down. The service on the Infinity was terrible and we very rarely saw the cabin steward. The food in the dining room was so bad that we dreaded going to dinner each night! Several meals were inedible, and the wait staff was rude and condescending.

Perhaps the newer Celebrity ships provide a better experience but based on our two recent experiences, Crown Princess gets our vote.

Dsarah - we're on your cruise and have a 1230pm flight...DW thinks way too close. What have you found out since Nov at your last post?! Thanks!

Actually we decided to delay our flight back till the next day. We're going to sign up for a tour that picks up from the cruise terminal, visits Salisbury, Stonehenge and Windsor and drops off at a Heathrow area hotel. I did ask a private transfer company about the timing and they seemed to think we would make it on time for the 1PM flight if they picked us up around 8AM. But given the fact that we are only arriving at 7AM vs. 5 or 6 like other ships, I was nervous about making the pick up time, also Icelandair has a minimum of 3 hours prior to flight time for check in. So all in all, just decided to relax and sightsee one more day, then fly home the next day. I don't like "stress".

Still a bit off topic from the original OP, but Tucker in Texas brought up a point that some will miss. The Princess cancelation coverage is only for the parts of the trip that are purchased from Princess;i.e., cruise fare, air fare and tours. The air fare and hotels you buy on your own are not covered. I don't think that is really clear to a lot of people. In fact, I just found out my brother was not aware that his Princess insurance will not cover those things.

The good thing about the Princess insurance for us is the cheaper price (at our age) and the opportunity to cancel for any reason (with a future credit). We can either self insure the other costs or get a cheaper 3rd party policy to cover just those costs. It is less expensive to do it that way than to insure the entire trip thru a 3rd party policy (at our age) and we get the cancel for any reason credit.

I am going to purchase the Princess Vacation Protection Plan and book the flight thru EZ Air to get to the cruise. If I have to cancel the cruise (for a covered reason) will the Protection Plan reimburse me for the EZ air fare as well as the cruise fare?

Thank you Lars, that is exactly what I was looking for!

HI Lars,

What a wonderful thread! Thank you.

My apologies if this has been asked before, but I can't find it. We will be in Alesund on Crown Princess. Would like to walk from the cruise port to the steps to go up Mt Aksla and we're looking for specific directions on the route to take. We'd rather walk than take the train but don't want to get lost and have to walk more than necessary. Thanks in advance.

Same thing happened to me -- checked the price for an Anthem NE cruise in 2018 last night under the 30% off sale and elected to wait to book. This morning there is another sale, every 3rd nite free or something, that resulted in about $30 per person less. I went ahead and booked but I'm sure there will be another "sale" eventually that might be better.

Thank you. Good idea to call and discuss it with an expert. As for a policy with CFAR, as far as I know they all require purchase within a short time after initial deposit and we are beyond that time period.

We're going on a 3 week trip to Europe including 4 days in London, 14 day Norway cruise with Princess, and finally 4 days in Iceland. The things I like about the Princess insurance is the lower cost (we are in our 70's) and the ability to cancel for any reason and at least get a future cruise credit. However, that policy would cover only the cruise and not cover the other parts of our trip.

I'm thinking of getting the Princess policy and then insuring just the other expenses thru a third party policy. I priced that out and it comes out to about the same amount as insuring the whole trip thru a third party policy, but we would gain the ability to cancel the cruise for any reason and get something back. Also it would increase our coverage for medical and evacuation if the two policies coordinate the coverage?

Has anyone done something like that?

I'm presuming the window can be lowered to different levels? Let's hope all the glass used is the self-cleaning type ;).

My thoughts too --- at present the glass railings are usually dirty after day 1, now with a floor to ceiling glass wall exposed to the elements, it will be annoying to have to look thru it from inside the cabin unless its kept clean. Kind of like looking thru dirty windows in your house.