palolake

You can also exchange the regular sodas for diet sodas.

On our cruise last month, I spoke to the future cruise consultant and mentioned that I was not happy with the none refundable deposits for cruises. I normally book two years out. I use fcc's and normally have 6 cruises booked at a time. My husband does not like to plan ahead so I don't tell him about them until a month or so before final payment. I do this so I can get a specific cabin and I also find the best prices. In the last eight years, I have only cancelled one cruse but i did book a different itinerary for that date.

I have one cruise that I would like to book but right now my dh says no to that date. I really would like to put a fcc on it but don't want to do it under the none refundable. Yes, I know the $200 won't kill me but it is just the principle.

The cruise consultant agreed with me saying he has lost so many reservations because of this. He has mentioned it to the head office. He also said there have been so many people stopping in and expressing the same issue.

 

I just purchased six more fcc's each but they may be the last.

1) I'm confused that you posted on this thread and 2) where did you get this information? I just downloaded a form for an FCC for our cruise next week and it says that it's good for 2 years and will be refunded if not used. Where did you hear that it's not refundable?

Ask Princess or your TA? :o

I assumed the cost had to be somewhere in the booking and I hadn't found it yet.

I'm elite and have not taken the Princess transfer since our first cruise. How do you find out how much it costs?

With all these upgrades, wires and wifi, do you think there will be new TVs with the same system that is onboard the Royal and Regal now? I would love to be able to start a movie when I want to watch it and then come back to it at that same point after an activity. . .

They told us in January that they will be interactive tvs like on the Royal and Regal.

We were just on the Crown for 14 days and loved it. We did miss some of the things on the Royal class ships but still enjoyed it. Its going into dry dock in March for new carpeting and to be outfitted for the medallions which will start in March of 2018. It will also be getting interactive tv but I'm not sure if it will be active right after the dry dock. The tv is the thing I missed the most from the Royal class ships.

Maybe it's after the Club Class takes effect which is January 29th.

Just to share my experience on the Regal earlier this month (first week of Feb.). I think a lot of it has to do with the weather. We had an employee who was quite knowledgeable in astronomy. He didn't use a script. He mentioned the weather was very good conditions as the winds were calm and the sky was clear. The event was held at 10:30 in the Retreat Pool area on the first formal night and as others have mentioned, the bridge turned off the lights in the area.

 

Everyone was given some headsets to hear the host (he just spoke into a microphone). I learned a lot especially since I am a complete newbie. Things like identifying North Star, Big Dipper, Jupiter, Sirius, and telling stories about constellations like Orion Belt.

 

Personally, I thought it was one of the highlights of the cruise and I was super impressed. I still remember so much of what I was told!

We were on the cruise before yours and the one before that. It was cancelled both cruises because of clouds. And we were really looking forward to doing it!

We were on the Regal last month and chose late dining at 8PM. We thought we would try that because early dining is just too early and we're not thrilled with anytime either. Big mistake! We never received our appetizer until 8:30 at the earliest. We were usually not done eating until after 9:30. The dining room was half empty so that wasn't the problem. We were half asleep by the time we left. So we requested 6PM for our next cruise and now I'm not sure what to do.

Does anyone know how this works when the ship is leaving from Houston, Texas? I have heard that there is limited bar service and perhaps taxes, due to being in Texas waters for a few hours. Would they charge taxes for the whole drink package if it's purchased while on board, but not yet in international waters?

I'm wondering the same thing. Does anyone remember how far out you have to be to not pay taxes?

We bring travel mugs for coffee and tea in the morning and water and lemonade around the pool.

Does anyone know how Princess Cays fared with the hurricane?

This is probably a stupid question but will the payment be charged to our credit card now?

I'm assuming that the all inclusive beverage package is the same as the soda card but I'll ask anyway :) Can you get cans of soda or just out of the guns?

Can you trade out the regular sodas for diet soda? We've always traded for coffee cards.

Will they still charge the $15 corkage fee if you buy the package?

We chose an aft balcony on Dolphin deck so the people above can't look down on you. I'm ok with that on one of the side balconies because I don't think a lot of people stand on the side of the ship and look down. (other than people in the cabins around you) But lots of people stand at the back of the ship watching the wake.

I know what is written on the Princess web site and chances are that it will not be negotiable thus I wrote the above quote.

 

I also know that coffee cards can NOT be used for fresh brewed coffee by more than one person per card OR on future cruises for fresh brewed coffee.

 

Terry

We exchanged ours for two coffee cards and they didn't write the ship or voyage date on the back. You might get lucky!

People make fun of me but I would be lost without my spreadsheet.

I have 9 columns in mine. First is the date. We normally go on 10 day or longer cruises and sometimes don't even know the day of the week that it is!

Second is the place. Country, Sea day, Boarding day, etc.

Third is Arrival time into the port.

Fourth is boarding time. That really comes in handy.

Fifth is the excursion we are taking. I also list any info I need such as "already paid", where to meet, length of excursion, etc.

Sixth and seventh are my day clothes and night clothes.

Eighth and ninth are my husband's day and night clothes.

We'll wear top A with Bottom B one day and, later, Top A with Bottom C, etc. Our suitcase is always packed full. I can't imagine not being organized. I'd have to pack 4 suitcases!

How far in advance can you apply for your OBC?

I was trying to make the same decision when we took our cruise to Alaska last June. More people said to skip the balcony than said to have one. They were sooooo wrong.

We normally cruise in the Caribean and have always booked a balcony. I figured it would be too cold for Alaska and that we wouldn't be out on it much so maybe we should save the money. We spent WAY more time on our balcony in Alaska than we normally do. There is so much to see. And remember that it's light out most of the night. I even went out in the middle of the night! Don't skimp on the money if at all possible!

CruiseKing,

It comes up as private for me. And I have a flicker account.

I'm glad you were lucky. On our last cruise we left our jackets in our closet. We realized it as soon as we got to the airport. We called Princess from the airport and they told us to fax in the info to their lost and found dept. in California. After numerous calls we were finally told about 6 months later that they could not find our jackets. We are very disapointed in Princess!!