Mud_Shark

My recommendation is to make your booking now.  Some itineraries will go up in price (especially Sun and Star right now as they are a new class of ship), and some will go down as time goes on.  You can always re-fare if the price goes down, and if a new promotion is for "New bookings only", you can still cancel your booking and re-book.  Only thing is, you could lose your specific room, but not always.

Sales or promotions have been lame for about a year now (other than kids sail free promos - if that is something that appeals to you.) Prices fluctuate more based on demand than based upon promos.

You are right - it was Royal Caribbean in Australia.  failing mind.... It was soo long ago (4 months????)

If you have a PVP, they can do this for you pre-cruise.  Specifically ask for "2 tickets for excursion XYZ to be charged to the OBC in your account".  This has worked for me numerous times, however, when I said "Can I order a ticket for me and my wife using my OBC?"  The response was "No."  But when you say -"charge 2 tickets to my account", they do it.  

If you don't have a PVP, when you call Princess, there is a phone option to press a certain number for shore excursions.  Often you get someone from North America answer when you press that number and they can help you.  The off-shore call center is pointless and you will just get aggravated having them try to help you, so just hang up if you get them.

I have this same fear, since it did happen on Princess in November (2023).  We were in Australia and saw the report on Australian news of a couple being turned away at the port with a "guarantee", as the cruise was overbooked.  I think it may have been Majestic Princess, but for sure it was a Princess ship.  Doesn't seem to happen often, but we have a cabin for our first and third sections of a back-to-back-to-back in March, but are in a guarantee for the middle section, and the cruise is sold out.  So hopefully will not be an issue, but if it happened once....

3 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

I stated we are CCL shareholders.  Princess doesn’t have stand-alone stock. 

Sorry for any confusion, but I was not talking about the type of stock, but rather the difference between policies of the two cruise lines.  Booking on a Carnival ship, I have a couple times been refused the shareholders credit because I was on a discounted fare.  When sailing on a Princess ship, I have never been refused the shareholders credit, regardless of the fare.

If you get  a discounted cruise fare, Carnival will not let you apply the Stockholders benefit - but Princess does!

And it seems the Hollywood conservatory and indoor pool is no longer an adults only area.  It used to be, but we sailed in November and it was not the case.  Plenty of kids in the area.  The vibe just wasn't quiet enough for us to spend any significant time there.

4 hours ago, h20skibum said:

What sailing?  We are on January 4th

We board Jan 11th for two weeks.

I am also wondering if OP was calling the "out-sourced" call center.  I have given up on them and simply will not call them.  If I have to call them in the future, I will have nightmares beforehand.  There is too much terrible info and poor communication going on to trust what info you are given.

You hooked me with this intro video!  Going straight to You tube to subscribe.

We go on the Sun in Jan 2025, so will sail with you vicariously to get pumped.

Thanks

We took the water taxi over and brought our own snorkel gear, so don't know anything about rentals (2019).  We went out snorkeling for turtles multiple times over the course of the day.  First time out neither of us saw any, but next we went out further by the swim buoy markers, and found a couple.  Then, on our last go  at it before we were leaving, he headed out to the markers and didn't see any, but then when we came in closer, we found 2.  So not sure if they just transit all through the area or if out further is better or not, but there are turtles to be seen.

Returned in 2022 and took a ship snorkeling excursion out to Buck island that ended up with about 90 mins at Honeymoon again.  We again went out looking for turtles, but only found one for about 40 mins of snorkeling the area.

it's a bit of a swim out to the sunken submarine and helicopter, but an average swimmer should do fine.  They are on the far left by the rocks if you are on the beach facing the water.

Yes - there is a free shuttle.  We have ridden it.  We got off on a side-to-side at terminal 21 and then boarded at terminal 2.  There was a shuttle for those who had parked at terminal 2 and we rode it, though we had no car to retrieve - just needed to get to terminal 2.  Mind you, this was pre-COVID, so I cannot guarantee things still work the same way.

Sometimes takes a little while to populate the list of excursions on some itineraries, but others are available well over a year out.

Antigua is a beach lover's dream.  St Kitts, not so much.  Depends what you are looking for.

I got COVID on board a transpacific on the Royal in late October 2023.  I self tested and self-reported.  The medical staff never came to check me out physically or test me.  They phoned to ask me how I was doing and told me to quarantine in room (stayed in our same room - did not move) for 6 days from first onset of Symptoms.  My wife remained in the room and was free to leave and roam the ship. but tried to do so as little as possible.  She never did test positive.  The front desk called daily to ask how I was, but my symptoms were the same as an ordinary flu in my opinion.  After the 6 day period, I was told I would need to be tested and test negative to be cleared out of quarantine, but when I called, they just asked if I could self test (and said my wife would have to self test as well).  We did, and it came back clear for both, so I was cleared later that day.

I received a letter saying I would receive a Future credit for the days spent in quarantine, but it has now been almost 3 months since my quarantine, and thus far I have seen nothing.  Not really too worried as most of those days in quarantine were at sea days, and I was well fed by room service.  We only missed Moorea in French Polynesia, which was a sad day as we looked out on the "forbidden island" from our balcony, but that was as close as we would get to her. 

Disregard my post - I was a year ahead.  

In 2025 the ports are reversed.  Sheesh....

Not commenting on your particular situation, but I think we all knew this perk would only be offered for a short term.  Once word got out that 360 dining was well reviewed, Princess was gonna make their money on it.  They just comp'd it to get enough people to try it so that positive word got out.

We were just on the Royal and enjoyed it, but it does show its age a bit.  Things are just a little worn here and there, but otherwise, there was no downgrade from the Enchanted or Discovery.  I did miss the aft pool but that was about it.

1 hour ago, DavidsNana said:

I think we are on the same sailing, 4/27 Enchanted.  My itinerary is still showing that we are to be in Costa Maya on 4/29 and Roatan on 5/1.  Has your itinerary on the website been updated to change the port order?  I see that the port schedule has Enchanted in Roatan on 4/29.  Have they changed the port order and not told us/me?  Fine with me as I really do not want to miss Roatan if possible but let us know so we can book independent excursions if we want.

When I go on Princess.com and look up the itinerary for Enchanted that week, it now shows Roatan (Mahogany Bay) on the 29th and Costa Maya on the 1st, so it does look like they have switched ports for those two days.

Now, on our cruise on the Enchanted departing 13 April, we are supposed to be in Roatan (mahogany Bay) on April 16th, but the port schedule for Mahogany Bay (April - Posted above), does not list the Enchanted at all for that week.  So we may also be moving as well....?

The Pistachio Pudding was the staple of my diet on past cruises.

I stop by the IC every evening and sample some if it is available.

This Fall, we were on the Royal for 37 days and I think it was only in the IC for 2 or maybe 3 nights.  Better than never, but a far cry from how often it used to be available.

In case you were worried, I still didn't lose weight on all those nights when the pistachio was not available.

Good info TY

Another question for any recent cruisers stopping at Princess Cays.   We have always gone in November or March and the water temperature, while not as warm as the Caribbean, has always been easily swimmable.  Is that the case in January?  We are going next year at this time (mid Jan) and wondering if it is a little cold for swimming?  Any info?

Thanks

As far s Wasps, I am never to mindful of them.  I can't recall having a problem with them the last few times we have been to PC, but maybe it is seasonal.  Around our home, They are more of a problem around August/September as they seem to hover by the smell of any outdoor food.

It does not matter if you used OBC to book a certain excursion and then CC to book a different one which you now wish to cancel.  Cancellations always (as of about a year ago) are returned as OBC first until the original amount of OBC has been returned to the account.  Only then will any further refunds be made to your CC.

So say you had $100 OBC each and booked 2 excursions each.  The first one was for $100 each and was paid for by your OBC.  The second one was for $50 each and was paid for by credit card.  If you cancel either, the refund will be made to your OBC account.  Only if you cancel both will you receive a credit on your card.

On a recent cruise, on the library table, there was a half completed jigsaw puzzle with a hand written sign on it that read "Do Not Touch".  It was there for at least 3 days before someone crossed out the word "Not".