Spideysmum

Over Christmas we were in Kauai when we decided to book an Alaska cruise for August.  I made two separate bookings (one for our adult daughter).   It was late and on ours i, inadvertently, clicked on “pay in full”.   After worrying all night, I got up at 6 AM and called Princess.   After about 10 minutes on hold, I explained to “John” my problem.   He put me on hold to speak with a supervisor.   Came back to say it’s all taken care of…there will be a credit on your card less the deposit.   And so there was.

 

i call that great phone service.  

3 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

One way to look at the upgrade is -- one drink (per day) over the $11 mark, pays for the difference. 

Agree with that   My  problem Is, while I do like wine, I’m kinda addicted to red eyes (americanos with two extra shots of espresso)   On another line, the unlimited nonalcoholic didn’t cause me concern   Now I wonder if each espresso shot counts as a single drink   I’m seriously thinking about the extra beverage card for a 14 day   😵‍💫😵‍💫

55 minutes ago, robotpony said:

Lido coffee is okay first thing in the morning, but not something I would seek out. Lots of personal preference in this, but it tastes like the coffee in my downtown office.

 

 

Exactly   I really only like espresso spiked coffee   The Princess coffee was undrinkable except in dire circumstances    

17 minutes ago, OVgirl said:

I think both beverage packages have a limit of 15 of both alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks.  You also will not be a able to pay for coffees on your keycard. Every drink goes into the SBP. If you'd like to pay for the cheaper beverages, you should probably buy a Beverage Card for that. Any unused balance will be refunded at the end of the cruise.

Thanks very much   Appreciate your insight

1 minute ago, crystalspin said:

 

 

You cannot "pay outright" for your non-alcohol drinks, because the ship is cashless; you have to give the server a card! But you can buy Beverage Cards in $50/$100/$250 denominations. There are also three "Cellars" (qualities) of wine packages available in 4/6/8 bottles each. To see prices (and the Beverage Cards, and the conditions of the Beverage Packages -- log on to your booking number and choose Beverages under the drop-down for CRUISE ACTIVITIES.

 

Welcome to HAL! The 14-day Alaska trips are great experiences!

THANK YOU!   That’s exactly what we are going to do…the bev cards    Just not a fan of non espresso spiked coffee  🤩     The wine packages sound interesting   Assume we can use them in the MDR   

Having only cruised Princess, I am wondering how different the beverage package (signature) is   We are mainly wine drinkers and the Princess package allows 15 alcoholic drinks per day and unlimited nonalcoholic.   Therefore, I’m a happy camper with espresso drinks (lots of coffee) and Diet Coke for most of the day    With our signature package, I’m reading 15 beverages total…which would work IF they offered a coffee card, as Princess does   I can’t find one    Otherwise…no biggie, I’ll just pay outright for cappuccinos    Also, is coffee available in the lido all day?  Is it good?   Princess coffee was pretty terrible   
 

My other question is the $15 cap on wine   If we ask for a more expensive wine, are we just charged the difference plus gratuity?   I’ve heard we could upgrade to elite on ship which might cover my coffee habit  😵‍💫😵‍💫 plus the higher priced wines   

 

Looking forward to this itinerary (14 day Alaska) next spring   🥳

Scheduled for a Mexican riviera cruise first week of January   All in our group are vaxxed, of course so that’s one thing   My daughter, however, is hoping for a fully vaxxed cruise and is making noise about canceling if not   Final payment is approaching so I’m keeping fingers crossed that particular protocol might be extended   

After due consideration and much agony, we’ve cancelled our second Avalon cruise (rebooked from last April)   I just didn’t want to rebook again...the sail date in early April was just becoming more stressful as these weeks progress   We can’t quarantine for 14 days in France (would have loved to, of course)   The USA is having problems and the EU also looks problematic    Anyway, I’m going to stop reading cruise critic  (also cancelled a Princess cruise of the British Isles following this one some months ago)    I’m depressed  😳

Seine river Paris to Normandy with extra days in London...April 2021   This is a rebooking from our cancelled Holland cruise    I’m just very scared that Europe won’t let Americans in    I know it’s seven months away...but the news doesn’t seem to be getting any better    We’ve booked our airfare with miles and so far those are sticking    Of course, it’s really just a small inconvenience for us when others are losing homes in the west coast fires   😥

36 minutes ago, suntan said:

I did not request my deposit back.  My travel agent, a few days before Avalon came out and said they were cancelling the May cruises, booked me on a cruise with them in April 2021.  I heard from my TA last week Avalon is transferring my full payment for the 2020 cruise to my 2021 cruise.

Same here   I’m happy  

I was devastated..had everything in place, but sometimes the unexpected good things happen I used our FCC to book a Paris to Normandy with extra nights in London for 2021 Since we’d already booked a British Isles Princess Cruise for April 2021 I really didn’t want to fly to Europe twice in the spring Therefore, the Avalon River Cruise will end in London one day before we go to Southampton I was happy with the cruise pricing offered by Avalon

Of course, anything can happen, as we all know too well, during a year I feel sad for travel agents right now My TA said she’s probably two weeks from being laid off


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A shout out to Avalon   Last week when I saw the cancel 3 days before for only loss of deposit we decided to cut our losses  Then, after my TA cancelled for me I saw the new announcement of everything returned if I book new cruise    Avalon reinstated my booking and then cancelled under the new terms   So...long story short...we’ve had a princess cruise booked for April 2021   I was able to find a replacement Avalon cruise (Seine not tulip time) which ends three days before the Ireland Scotland Princess cruise.   Plus the add-on transport and London hotel pkg is just icing on the cake      Omg..this is so awesome    United redeposited our miles with no penalty   I’d like to say no harm no foul...but of course there’s harm to the Avalon booking staff (Extra work) and their cruise staffs who may be out of work for a while    Our experience, while painful, is so minor compared to others   
 

Stay healthy, everyone  

 
Same here

All my payments over the years have been to my TA This booking on Princess has no cruise deposit, however I will lose my insurance booked through the TA as well as her agency fee

S’ok Things are evolving rapidly and while I’m getting the full river cruise payment in the form of a FCC plus the insurance is being rolled over I just haven’t decided on replacement yet

It’s unlikely I’ll be able to talk daughter and boyfriend out of current mindset Same with husband I’ve got time to see what happens I did hint this morning to TA about cancellation

Thanks, everyone for your input [emoji847]


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I know this sounds silly, but I booked two cabins under the no deposit Best Sale Ever event in February I booked through a TA . I’ve also had booked a river cruise that was cancelled. Tomorrow I’m calling TA to take advantage of rebooking under the new terms Of river cruise company

 

Since she also booked our Princess Cruise...I need to cancel because daughter and boyfriend absolutely do not ever want to be stuck on a cruise ship and 2) husband says never again . Le Sigh

 

Since the TA is probably overwhelmed by cancellations and this truly cuts into her income...would there be any harm in simply not making the final payment next December? I’ll lose the trip insurance I know, port fees and TA admin fee...but can this be done? I’m just feeling bad about everything and prefer to just fade away Any thoughts?

 

 

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I guess that settles the question for us United airlines cancelled our ORD to BRU leg and rerouted us to Newark with less than an hour layover Not acceptable....but we were exploring options So..called our TA about this and cancelled before and after hotels (I did have a nonrefundable and nonflex Thalys train booking to Amsterdam that was....cancelled but we were offered a chance to rebook)

 

So be it I asked our TA to rebook, if possible, on a late October Moselle cruise

 

Stay healthy and wash,your hands, everyone

 

8 minutes ago, Kenster said:

Flights to the US are NOT stopped. The order prevents foreign travelers from entering the US. It does not prevent Americans from returning home. 

Understood....but crowd panic is a real thing   We were in Belgium during the Icelandic volcano eruption   For reasons, I cannot remember,  people were panicked into getting either out of Europe or into Spain where the flight paths were different   On the Thalys train from cologne to Brussels, our reserved seats meant nothing   People were standing in the aisles   It was awful  

We are on the April 4 Tulip Time (beer cruise) and leaving March 30 for Brussels I’m not a nervous type (except for missing flights) However, this part of the Avalon Waterways Facebook post got my attention

AVALON WATERWAYS TRAVEL POLICY FOR UPCOMING & FUTURE TRAVEL (AS OF MARCH 4, 2020

• Also Avalon Waterways is temporarily waiving cancellation penalties** until 3 days prior to any Europe departure.

Seriously...three days prior? Should I be worried that many passengers may cancel? My husband and I are in the “naughty” group...early 70s but extremely healthy and fit (no underlying problems as the news keeps saying) and have no intention of canceling Any possible chance that if many choose to cancel individually in the next three weeks that the entire cruise could be scuttled? I’m over reacting? Right? That three day thing bothers me [emoji15]



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On 2/22/2020 at 12:52 PM, Daisi said:

 

If you've prepaid your gratuities, then you can do what we did.  On our last day, we gave those who we felt went over and above with service (it was hard, as all the crew on our ship were fantastic) a bit extra.  They give you two envelopes on the last evening.  One for crew, the other for the Cruise Director (who is a contract person, not considered "staff").  If you pre-paid, you will get coupons in your documents that you put in the envelopes.  Otherwise, you pay Euros.  I don't remember if they said you could pay at the desk, sorry.  You leave the envelopes in a box at the reception desk.  

 

We really only needed small coins (single eruos or smaller) for bathrooms etc or if we stopped for a beer.  Since we pre-paid everything (excursions, gratuities etc), we really didn't need much money.  Hopefully our Danube cruise will be the same.

Thank you so much, Daisi....that’s great information     I knew the Cruise Director was separate from the prepaid...and it great to know that the envelopes will be available for other staff over and above the standard gratuities  This is our first river cruise  🙌😃

35 minutes ago, s35flyer said:

Your correct small stuff is needed I forgot about the guides and stuff.  Regardless just go to any atm and withdraw.  Euros are easy to come across 

Lol  we just went through our stash of euros   Smallest is €10   I’m sure we will break some into euro coins in Brussels...just don’t have any in the travel drawer right now   

Ok   We’ve already paid the gratuities ....husband was just asking about extra to bartenders or room service   He usually gives extra to waiters and room stewards at the end of cruise..the larger denominations will do then   And, yes thanks for the heads up about guides    

My husband just asked if small tips onboard are paid in euros   He usually starts collecting small US bills for tips on ocean cruises (American) but realized our supply  of small euro denominations is lacking    I’m sure we can collect some during our 3 days in Brussels beforehand or maybe somewhere on the ship we can change bigger bills?  🤷‍♀️  Any suggestions?

We did the British Isles two years ago (jumped ship in Le Havre for a week in Paris) and loved it   Although we’d been to most of the ports except Guernsey and Kirkwall, it was fun doing it by ship   However, we missed Kirkwall because of a lack of tugboats (they said) and I’ve heard Guernsey can be probable    However, loved it a lot and found an 8 nighter that basically stays in the Irish Sea so booked that   Have a great time  

28 minutes ago, nini said:

BGW- how are you getting flight info so far in advance? I thought that was not available 300-330 days in advance?

Hi

Re your first question..there are two non stops on united to SFO    We visit London once a year or so and pretty much know the schedule    Husband and I usually get the 10:30 am flight if we fly back from Heathrow  
 

Second (above) question   I’m an inveterate early planner   Of course the schedules aren’t out yet  However, I  am dealing with hyper daughter and her afraid of commitment boyfriend   Just trying to reassure people that things can work out   They are free to say no to booked cruise up until final payment (refundable deposit) and/or until I use my miles to book their flights   
 

How’s the weather in Seattle?  Husband did his grad work at Udub  

4 hours ago, rocklinmom said:

I think the 12:20 flight on a Sunday is doable if you use a private car service. We docked at Southampton on a Sunday this past June and had a car waiting for us at 7am (the ship docked earlier but it takes awhile to clear customs and get the gangways set up, etc. before passengers can disembark) and were at Heathrow by 8:30am. I booked it through International Friends and the car service they used was called Discover the South, based in Southampton. Would highly recommend them. 

Good info    Thanks   I’ll add to my list of suggestions  

Btw...are you from Rocklin CA?

1 hour ago, nini said:

We will be doing the BI cruise this September and have booked the Princess transfer.

Our flight is scheduled to take off 8.5 hours after we dock. Can they catch a later flight?

 

Your flight sounds very safe   My kid and her BF are high maintenance and only want direct flights   This 12:20 pm is the latest united flight (my air miles) so far   But..it’s early   Things can change  

Have a fun time on your BI cruise   We did that in 2017 and loved it