Boatharbour

We’ve usually experienced long waits on the phone with Celebrity and even longer waits for responses to emails. Price drops are impossible to secure with NRD. By comparison we’ve had to contact Princess twice in the past few weeks and on each occasion we were connected to a consultant within a few rings. Our changes were handled quickly and smoothly including a price drop of $4000.

We’ve taken several European cruises on Celebrity and in general felt that they were dressier than some other itineraries. On our Baltic cruise last year many people dressed up in the evenings and not just on the chic nights.

All ours were cancelled for our January 2025 sailing.

Celebrity does have allergen labels on most items in the Oceanview cafe ( buffet). They also have dedicated GF sections in this area. The menus in the main dining rooms listed various dietary options. At every meal we were asked if anyone had food allergies or special requirements at the start of the meal.

Thank you so much for this wonderful review. We sailed with you on the first leg to NZ and wholeheartedly agree with your comments. You have an engaging writing style and I look forward to reading about your next trip. You deserve another holiday after such a long journey home!

Yes it is a sky suite as mentioned in my post. Fantastic location and balcony apart from a bit of soot.

Apex deck 10 last year. Can’t remember the cabin number but it was one off the centre. Edge deck 8 sky suite 8308 two weeks ago. Both locations were quiet.

This is the email I received yesterday. Dear Princess Guest: Princess Cruises recently announced it is making a significant enhancement to the main dining options found across its fleet, designed to give you the ultimate in flexibility and choice when it comes to your dining experience. Starting with voyages departing September 14, 2024, Princess will designate separate dining rooms aboard every ship in the fleet* to three table service options: Traditional dining offering an early and a late seating every evening Reservable dining times Open seating to support walk-ins anytime To support these changes and the transition to the new system, main dining reservations that you may have already made will be cancelled. This change does not affect anyone booked in specialty dining restaurants or suite or reserve collection accommodations, who enjoy a dedicated dining room on Princess ships, where no reservations are required. Starting June 17, you will be able to use the app ahead of your voyage to opt for traditional seating in a dedicated dining room with the same waiter, same table and same time each night, or flexible dining, allowing you to enjoy dinner at any available time and table size of your choosing in either the Reservable or Open Seating dining rooms. * Reservable and Walk-in Anytime Dining will be combined into a single Main Dining Room location aboard Coral Princess and Island Princess.

We were in a sunset sky suite on Edge two weeks ago. The three bottles in the shower/bath recess were sitting in a plastic tray and not attached to the wall.

I’m a first timer with Princess and didn’t realise that the pinned thread addressed the issues I was having. Rookie error. By coincidence I received an email from Princess today outlining all the changes to dining with the start up dates.

We took the body wash pump out of the shower and left it on the sink for handwashing during the day. Popped it back in the shower when needed. We’re not great fans of bars of soap.

We had a medical evacuation in Milford Sound on the Edge 10 two weeks ago. The ship stayed at the end of the sound for three hours until a helicopter arrived and landed on the shore. A tender took the patient to the shore.

An interesting and balanced read. https://www.cruisecritic.com.au/articles/should-you-take-a-large-cruise-ship-to-antarctica

From the pinned thread it looks like bookings will be possible from 17 June.

I have opted for a “cruise by” and not a landing. I won’t be leaving any footprints unlike you. No double standards at all. End of story.

This is our first sailing with Princess and I was starting to think I had imagined I’d made the dining bookings with our first cruise which is next January. However we did get a refund for the specialty bookings we’d made, so I know I had booked dining previously. It seems there has been a change since then and unless you’re at certain loyalty levels or have paid in full, you can’t book ahead of time. Thanks everyone for your responses. Very helpful.

I am talking specifically about Antartica which is perhaps the last frontier that hasn’t yet been spoilt by the impact of tourism. All of your responses are about how it makes you feel and what it does for you. The last time I’ll say it - but in what way does it benefit Antartica for you to step onshore to take your trophy photos and say you’ve visited the continent? Can’t we leave at least one place on the planet free from tourism ?? The end.

I’ve just tried that but the site refers me back to the app for dining bookings. Maybe I’m not looking under the correct tab, but I can’t find a link on the website.

Several months ago I made dinner bookings for our January 2025 cruise on Sapphire Princess. Since then we’ve cancelled and rebooked the cruise at a lower price. I now need to rebook our dinners as we have a new booking number, but the app won’t let me. I’ve tried different dining rooms and specialty dining to no avail. Does anyone know what this error message might mean? Thank you.

I still ask though - in what ways do these landings benefit the Antarctic environment? There will always be an impact no matter the steps you take to minimise. I’d rather leave the landings to scientists and minimise the exposure the wildlife has to humans. Do you really, really need to view this unique wildlife in its natural environment? You and I are always going to disagree on this topic but I think it’s important that another perspective is provided.

One other perspective to think about. Does Antarctica benefit in any way from tourists landing on its pristine environment? We’ve chosen the cruise by option. As my mother used to say “Look, but don’t touch”.

I’m not sure if you have already booked, but you may want to look at other cruise lines for this itinerary. Celebrity only spends 2 days cruising in Antarctica. Holland America and Princess are there for 4 days. Departures are December to February. As weather conditions can impact where you can go and what you can see, it’s better to have more time in the area to maximise viewing opportunities. We were originally booked with Celebrity for January 2025, but the cruise was cancelled. Turned out to be for the best for us.

On Edge class you need a pass to enter the Retreat Deck and Retreat lounge. Luminae is located away from the other dining rooms. The suites themselves were located in various parts of the ship and not on a dedicated area. We were in a SS sky suite which was a very long walk to the retreat areas, but worth it for the wake view.

Thank you for showing the correct name. I didn’t want to seem like a pernickety local by pointing out the typo. It is a beautiful shopping centre right in the centre of the city and Iain’s photos show it in all its glory.

I called Princess in Australia first thing and was able to rebook the same room but at $4000 less than our original booking! They also rebooked all of our shore excursions for us. There will be a bit of a crossover with refunds and new payments for a few days plus a slightly higher deposit, but I’m so happy that I read this thread. Thanks everyone for the tips.