Ken the cruiser

I’m confused? When there is a better deal on one of our bookings prior to final payment for the category we’re booked in, we just have our TA refare our booking, if it makes economical sense to do so. We have never had to cancel and rebook a cruise if it was before final payment. Now if there was an increase in price regarding our cabin category, those additional promotional perks better far out weigh the increase in the cabin cost. But TBH that has never happened to us. 

Here's a lesson I learned a few weeks ago when we were lucky enough to be on our Alaska B3B when the Northern Lights were in full form on May 10th. The iPhone SE photo on the left was the original one that I took, as my SE model does not offer a delay shutter function. The enhanced photo on the right was the result of when I clicked on the "Magic Wand" while in Edit mode. 

Just thought I'd pass this little tidbit along, just in case @Georgia_Peaches you are able to see the Nothern Lights around 11 pm tonight if the clouds go away. 

Aurora Dashboard (Experimental) | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center

4 minutes ago, 4x4bob said:

April this year was on the Discovery Princess for 7 days.  The Princess App malfunctioned when I attempted to operate.  Such as stating that while I was in our cabin it could not provide input because I was not on the ship.  Attempted to get help at the passenger service desk.  They sent me too the  Medallion desk and that was a no go, so just locked my phone in the safe and we relied on the Wife's phone/App.

 

Now today we just signed up for a September 2024 cruise to Alaska on the Discovery Princess once again.  

 

I unloaded the Princess App and then reinstalled it using the Confirmation Number to gain access.

 

On the top of the screen it states Discovery Princess, 11 days until embarkation instead of 112 days.  So, should I grab my suitcase and head for the pier or seek help.  Using option 2, seeking help.  For the record I unloaded the App 2 times and on reload it still gives me 11 days.

 

My Wife's phone/App does state 112 days until embarkation after she signed in using the confirmation number that I did.. 

 

Any ideas? 

Bob

I would explain your issue on the PCL website's Online Chat to see if they can help resolve your issue.

Economy seat prices may be a great deal if booked through EzAir. But when we compare refundable Delta Comfort+ seat prices, especially on overseas flights, they are usually around $800+ per person cheaper than EzAir if we book them directly with Delta.

I could be wrong but it's my understanding to reap the full benefits of the FCD, the purchase date of the FCD has to also be before the booking date the cruise you want to transfer it to.

18 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

FWIW, here is Carnival Corp.'s official statement on the subject, intended to cover all of its brands:

 

Carnival Corp. & plc "has decided to take a uniform approach for its brands doing business in North America, so pricing is consistent no matter where guests are shopping," a spokesperson said. "Our total advertised price will now include all government-mandated taxes, fees and port expenses that we previously itemized separately for consumer awareness. While this is a California state law, we are making this change nationwide to ensure our advertised pricing is consistent no matter where guests shop for our cruises. Consumers and travel advisors will see the new advertised pricing starting on July 1."

 

The company already notified travel advisor partners on April 17 about its plans to comply so they would have time to consider steps they need to take.

 

"Fortunately, despite how our prices will now be advertised, the total price guests pay today for our cruises has not changed — guests still get the same great value and affordable prices we’ve always provided," Carnival said in a statement.

 

Thanks for posting this Carnival statement. Starting July 1, I'll have to adjust the way I do my daily "cruise fare comparisons" to determine if one of our bookings has either gone down or up in price. Without this knowledge, I would have just "assumed" that all of the Princess and HAL "cruise fare" prices associated with our bookings had simply just gone up in price. Thanks! 

You're going to have an awesome time! We just got back from cruising up there on the Grand for 22-days. If I might suggest, here is a Celebrity excursion you may want to consider if you like wildlife, and it's not sold out yet.

Destination Highlight Bering Sea Crab Fishermens Tour | Ketchikan, Alaska | Shore Excursion | Celebrity Cruises

For more details about this excursion on the Aleutian Ballad, here's the post from my Live From thread with photos.

25 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Southampton ...

We have an upcoming cruise this summer roundtrip out of Southampton. We have booked the PCL transfer both ways between the airport and the ship for $64 per person each way. Here’s what’s in our Travel Summary regarding the transfer from Southampton to the LHR airport. Since our booking is handled by our TA, she had to reserve the slots with PCL for us.

Here's another question you might also want to ask. How many chairs and/or sofas are in a (1) regular Balcony, (2) Deluxe Balcony, (3) Premium Balcony, and (4) Premium Deluxe Balcony? We only book mini-suites or higher but have heard there is only a desk chair in a regular Balcony cabin.

4 minutes ago, Glofen said:

Ken, I am booked on the Princess Sapphire South American Cruise for January 2025.  Do you have a recommendation as to whether the starboard or port side is better for this particular cruise?  It starts and ends in Buenos Aires and goes to Antartica.

If memory serves, the starboard side seemed to have more viewing options that the port side. For example, Glacier Alley will be on the starboard side when heading from Ushuaia to Puerto Arenas. Also, when cruising through the Antarctica Peninsula channels, the ship always seemed closer to land on the starboard side.

For those that were hoping to book a cabin on the Sky Princess for the 14-day Aug 12, 2026 Solar Eclipse cruise, I’m hoping you were able to reserve it at a reasonable price when Princess “quietly” first opened their summer and fall 2026 European itineraries for booking a week early for those that had cruised with Princess before.
 

The only way we found out about it was through a thread on the Princess forum. Heck, our TA wasn’t even allowed to book them early for us. We had to actually log onto our Princess account to book them. It was really weird.
 

Then, by the official opening day of May 23, the prices had jumped over $1500 pp for a mini-suite, with all higher suites being sold out by noon on May 17. Now what few mini suites are left are over $2500+ pp more than what they were originally going for.

Since Celebrity probably won’t release their Europe 2026 cruises until November or so, it will be interesting to see when HAL and NCL will release their solar eclipse cruises.

We finally made it home safe and sound. Thanks again everyone for following along! 

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

Keep in mind that even on that cruise there is no guarantee. Last year we had few opportunities due to weather. Only a couple of glimpses at the Northern ports, then finally at the last port finally got a clear night with a decent show.

Understand! We were just cruising on the Grand for 3 weeks in Alaska and were lucky enough to see them one of those days when the NL potential was at a 10!
 

We also saw them in Aug 2022 cruising between Iceland and Greenland. I guess my point is that they can be addicting if you’ve been lucky enough to have seen them before.

In any case it’s still a pretty cool cruise and we’re taking the TA back to the US afterwards, so all is good. But we’ll still be hoping for clear skies while we’re above the Arctic Circle! 😁

OTOH we booked the Solar Eclipse cruise in Aug 2026 and the prices are continuing to rise daily with an MB mini suite going for over $500 pp without Plus!

2 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

Friend could not just be a no show, since cruise is before land portion. Friend could not no show for cruise and then join land portion without a deviation approved by Princess.

So the OP couldn’t either refare or worst case rebook her land-cruise and add the second person, where of course the second person would pay any modest increase in cost which you wouldn’t think would be that much if the OP is already paying the solo “double fare” price?

2 hours ago, dickinson said:

@Ken the cruiser Thanks for sharing your travels.  Really enjoyed it.  Does your 21 days on the Sky include the August 3 sailing which we will be on?

Thanks! That’s actually the day we disembark. 😁

Yes, we not only booked the Solar Eclipse Cruise in Aug 2026, we also booked the Northern Lights cruise in October, and our non-Elite family members booked their cabins as well. The 2026 European cruises actually went on sale for Captains Circle members on May 17. 
 

Here's the new promotion down at the bottom of Cruise Deals on the website.

I know you didn’t mention your cruising status. But if you are cruising solo and probably paying double for the cabin, why don’t you just include your friend as guest #2 on your booking? Just a thought if you’re cruising solo.

56 minutes ago, memoak said:

I believe they are referring to an experience th the theatre like a planetarium where project thins against ceiling and walls. There have done this before to show constellations 

You are correct. This is explained in the second paragraph in that promotion.

This new immersive Voyage to the Stars experience is part of the cruise line’s award-winning North to Alaska with Princess program set to debut for the upcoming 2024 cruise and cruisetour season that strengthens the overall guest connection in the Great Land. This year Princess guests will step inside a planetarium in the Princess Theater for a front row seat to the “Northern Lights” presentation showcasing the beauty and wonder of this phenomenon featuring live imagery, designed to engage adults and kids alike. 
 

In fact, we went to the planetarium show they had on stage on our 1st leg of our Alaska B3B which we just disembarked from today, and it was pretty enjoyable. However, we also saw the Northern Lights on the 2nd leg of our cruise, which I just reposted some enhanced photos of at the end of my Live From thread a few minutes ago at post 423.

However, if you really want to improve your chances to see the Northern Lights, Princess offers a Northern Lights cruise every October that cruises to a few Norway ports, Alta and Tromso, above the Arctic Circle that are known for folks seeing some awesome ones that time of year. In fact, they just posted their 2026 Northern Lights cruise! 
 
https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=8630

3 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Thank you for taking us along on another fabulous journey.  I am right there with you on every excursion.  

 

Malama Pono (take care) on your way home. 

Thank you for coming along! Both my DW and I are hoping to meet you once again on the high seas. But until then, you have safe travels as well! 😁

While sitting in the airport hotel watching planes periodically take off, I used my iPad’s “Magic Wand” on the Northern Lights photos I took on the 2nd leg, and almost fell off my chair! Obviously, the colors were there. They just needed to be enhanced!! 😁

BTW I just saw this on the Princess App under Profile -> Dining Preferences on our next cruise.  You may want to check the appropriate boxes on your App for your next cruise so they’re aware of any dietary issues you may have.

We just got off the Grand this morning after 22 days, and my DW got her hot chocolate every morning with almond milk.

Had a fun time on our excursion to the airport today!

First we stopped at Stanley Park across the bay from Vancouver to check out the totem poles at Brockton Park.

Our next stop was at the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge.

As you can see it was quite sturdy! 😂

Our final stop was the Capilano River Regional Park and Fish Hatchery. First we walked through the fish hatchery where they definitely try to add to the salmon population after the dam was built generating all kinds of issues with the annual salmon spawning cycle

  
Then it was time to walk around the park to see what we could see. Of course I had to take a photo of a bumble bee looking for tasty stuff! 😁

 
Two Common Mergansers, with one perched on the rock while the other was floating in the river.

 
Then we looked up and saw these two Bald Eagles with their nest about 20’ below.

 
There were also some serious clumps of moss growing on the trees in the rain forest we were in.

 
A huge Douglas Fir tree! 
 

 
Then I had a little guy land between my fingers to say hello. 😁

 
Here’s the Cleveland Dam that was built back in 1954, which you can see is a little steep for the salmon to swim upstream over! 😂

 
Then it was time to head towards the airport, where we have since checked in and are relaxing until we fly home tomorrow morning!

Thanks everyone for following along. Our next adventure will be in July when we board the Sky Princess for 21 days to visit Norway and a variety of Baltic countries. When I start my Live From thread for that cruise, I’ll be sure to post the link here in case any of you would like to follow along! 😁

We have arrived back in Vancouver where we started 23 days ago, and this time we were finally able to see the Lions Gate Bridge! 😁

 
and why the larger ships like the Majestic have to wait until low tide at 2 am to pass under it. This is the much smaller HAL Zaandam passing under it.