Jetstreamer

I just cancelled and rebooked a few excursions.  Are Celebrity usually quick to refund credit cards?

Only the alcoholic packages are discounted on my cruise.  Do they ever discount the non-alcoholic packages?   

Would Celebrity move you if 2A cabins were available?  Most likely around final payment time some 2A cabins will become available as people cancel or TAs release blocks they hold.  Keep checking cabin availability on the Celebrity website by making dummy bookings (very quick) and as soon as you see one get back in contact with them.

I'm wondering if there is a technical problem today as I've been able to use the app and see my boarding pass since final payment for a Constellation sailing next month but as of today the boarding pass is not there any more! 

Our first cruise was on the Coral Princess just under two years ago.  Sadly in the internet era nothing we saw or experienced was much of a surprise as I researched the ship to death beforehand!  I feel like I knew my way around before ever stepping on board!  Would have been nice to have that feeling of entering the unknown like some of the above posts.  I also would’ve liked to experience the “golden era” of cruising I keep hearing about 🙂

Still, we were so impressed with the whole cruising experience which we had long avoided that we are heading off on our 5th cruise next month!

Thanks for the responses. I think I'd be less bothered about being moved per se (it happens, albeit rarely and those are the risks) but more concerned about being moved later to a room we could have chosen for $1000+ less before final payment.

Ignoring my situation and asking a general question, can they really move you to a lower value room without giving you the difference back (even in OBC)?

Hi there,

We’re a couple, lucky enough to have snagged a corner FV cabin all to ourselves on Connie, cruising in just over 2 months.  I’ve been reading up on the FV cabins and some of what I’ve read has me a little worried about being “upgraded” (one of the perils of too much research!)

On our cruise FV is still for sale but only on a Guarantee basis and at this stage only if you select 4 passengers  (not an option for 3 or fewer).  There are no CC, AQ or Suite rooms available that can accommodate 4 passengers.  Therefore I surmise that someone booking the FV Guarantee will end up in a FV cabin as there is nothing to upgrade them to.  In this case it is obvious that we would be top of the list to be moved as there are plenty of rooms available to move a couple to.

We have asked our TA to contact Celebrity to make a note that we do not wish to be upgraded (which they did) but I’m not sure this makes much difference at all if a foursome want to book a FV and they need to make room.

Question is, how would this likely play out for us?  Is it common for couples to be moved from allocated FV rooms and if so, to what?  Any recent experiences?

I believe CC is technically an upgrade from FV, but even a C1 is currently significantly cheaper than we paid for the FV (there have been a few recent price drops).  AQ is also a lot cheaper.  If we end up being moved to CC or AQ, are we entitled to the price difference back between what we paid and the current selling price for CC/AQ? 

Hopefully all will be well but we’ll feel better knowing what to expect! 

Thanks.

I would strongly recommend Northbound simply because you get to visit College Fjord which was the highlight of our cruise on the Coral last year - much more impressive than Glacier Bay for us.

Also if this is your first time to Alaska there is more a sense of adventure staring out in Vancouver and building up to the main event rather than flying into Alaska and slowly leaving if this makes sense!

As for Coral vs Golden I can only say the Coral was an amazing ship for Alaska with good viewing areas, including the two "hidden" areas at the front which were never ever crowed. I'm sure the Golden would also provide a great experience but the Coral just seemed like a perfect ship for the itinerary.

Finally I'm tempted to suggest sailing on whichever ship Captain Tuvo ends up on but you'll never know far enough in advance. His announcements and enthusiasm were certainly a highlight of our trip.

Thanks for the replies. We will self-assist for sure. In that case does FTTF give you much time benefit?

Thanks for the replies.

I guess it depends how long it takes people to debark without FTTF to know whether it is worth it. Sounds like we'd benefit from it though as I imagine a lot of people are walk offs on these short cruises hence lines might be long.

Hi,

We have an upcoming 4 day trip on the Imagination and am interested in whether FTTF will really help us get off the ship earlier. Advertised arrival is 07:00 and ideally we would like to be curb side by 08:00.

If anyone has experience of this on the Imagination (or Inspiration) I’d be interested to know:

1. Does FTTF give you an earlier slot to walk off before everyone else without queueing (and at what time?)

2. If we have FTTF is walking off still quicker than checking the bags and getting an early debark time?

3. With FTTF, is 08:00 realisitc?

We haven’t purchased FTTF yet and this would be the only reason we would do so, to get off the ship earlier so am very interested to hear if it will help us in reality.

Thanks.

We've just returned from the 20DEC-03JAN SA cruise on the Emerald. Weather was generally very good, although the weather can be so variable from day to day down there it could be completely different when you go.

As a guide though:

* Santiago - very hot (over 30c) and sunny

* Valparaiso & San Antonio - A little cooler and breezier than Santiago - may need to wear a sweater

* Porto Montt - 2/3 days see rain in this area. We had a mix of rain and sunshine and everything in between. Definitely pack a rain jacket. Wasn't too cold though, say around 14c. T-shirt, sweater, raincoat combo should keep you warm enough, removing layers as necessary.

* Punta Arenas - Sunny and not too cold, around 14c. Wore T-shirt, sweater, rain coat and at various points the coat had to come off. We did the Patagonia Treck and Andean Club tour and it was cooler up the mountain and it even snowed for a few minutes but was still generally sunny and mild (it seemed way too warm for snow).

* Ushuaia - Very similar to Puerto Montt in that we had 4 seasons in 1 day. Was the coldest of the ports on our trip but in no way was it cold. It certainly didn't drop below 10c.

* Port Stanley - Hot and sunny but we were very lucky. Was bordering on shorts and t-shirt weather in town but cooler elsewhere. Don't read anything into this though as everyone was quick to remind us it isn't like that all the time in the Falklands!

* Puerto Madryn - Hot and sunny in town (the beach was crowded). We took the Peninsula Valdes tour and it was got here too, although quite windy. I wore light trousers, t-shirt and rain jacket but the jacket stayed in the bus.

* Montevideo - was sunny but cooler than normal. The days before and after we were there were in the mid 30s © but our day was around 25c, which was better for us. Was still shorts and t-shirt weather.

* Buenos Aires - very hot, hot, hot.

I would suggest to pack more warm weather clothes than you might think but really you need to be prepared for anything. I don't think it gets too cold during cruise season from speaking to some of the crew who had done it last season but you just have to have plenty of layers that can be added or removed as necessary. I'd say protecting against the wind is more useful than protecting against the cold. I should however add that we are from England, so our definition of god weather might be different than yours!

As for formal nights, it was a little more formal than Alaska which we did in May but there were still many different interpretations of formal, from full on black tie down to what I would describe as very smart casual. Non-formal nights saw some people dressing to impress but for most people it was just smart casual, and sometimes not even that smart!

Hope this helps. It certainly is a tough one to pack for as the weather is just so unpredictable.

Should have added I am in the UK too and therefore used to quick refunds!

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Hi there,

Does anyone have any experience of how long it takes Princess to refund cancelled shore excursions?

Their t&cs say refunds are processed 24 hours after cancellation but 3 weeks on I'm still waiting for the money back on my card.

I did call Princess 2 weeks ago and they said they would process it straight away and the amount did disappear from my shore excursions balance at that time but still no money back.

Is this typical and I should be patient, or are they usually much quicker? In any case they should be done for their misleading t&cs!

MSC will match your hotel status and I assume status with other cruise lines too. Other than that I don't think any other lines offer a formal status match program (unlike many airlines).

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The airlines have digital boarding passes for domestic flights only.

 

A cruise consists of international travel to multiple destinations. (Not to mention room and board).

 

So you really think it is OK to admit passengers onboard with no verification beyond a scan of a QR-code at a kiosk?

I think you are flying the wrong airlines ;) Mobile boarding passes are routinely used for international flights all over the world. The QR codes contain the same secure information as the codes printed on paper boarding pass and passports are always verified as an additional check.

We were on the Coral in May and it docked pretty close to the tram, maybe 2-3 mins walk. Got a great view if the ship going up and down. Definitely buy when you are there and not on the ship, that way you can check out the conditions before comitting.

Your ticket is valid for as many trips as you like on the day so might be good to go in the morning and evening for different light. Queues to come down in the early evening were very long so head down at least an hour before all aboard!

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CARIBBEAN PRINCESS –

Capt. Marco Fortezze (May 1, 2017)

CORAL PRINCESS:

Capt. Nicolo Binetti (May 20, 2017)

Capt. Michele Tuvo (May 28, 2017)

Capt. Andrea Poggi (November 11, 2017) per pre-cruise email

Capt. Dariusz Jarusz Balana (Jan. 2018) per pre-cruise e-mail)

CROWN PRINCESS:

Capt. Martin Stenzel (Aug. 2017)

Capt. Vincenzo Lubrano (December 9, 2017)

DIAMOND PRINCESS:

Capt. Graham Goodway (last report July 25, 2016) still on??

EMERALD PRINCESS:

Capt. Vincenzo Lugano (Oct. 8, 2017)

Capt. Martin Stenzel (December 20, 2017)

GOLDEN PRINCESS:

Capt. John Foster (May 19, 2017)

GRAND PRINCESS:

Capt. Ronald Wilson (Apr. 23, 2017)

ISLAND PRINCESS:

Capt. Mariano Manfuso (Jan. 4, 2017)

MAJESTIC PRINCESS:

Capt. Dino Sagani (July 2017)

PACIFIC PRINCESS:

Capt. Fabrizio Maresca (May 12, 2017)

Capt. Paul Slight (will be on November 23, 2017, per pre-cruise email)

REGAL PRINCESS:

Capt. Fabrizio Maresca (assumed command 1 Aug. 2017)

Capt. Tim Stringer (per emails will be back for 21OCT17)

ROYAL PRINCESS:

Capt. Nick Nash (Sept. 2017)

RUBY PRINCESS:

Girogio Pomata (Oct 2017)

SAPPHIRE PRINCESS:

SEA PRINCESS:

STAR PRINCESS:

Capt. Stefano Ravera (Apr. 2017)

SUN PRINCESS:

Capt. Rikard Lorentzen

How to Update Princess Captains List:

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Sailed with him on the Coral at the end of May and this guy just made our cruise. He was funny and informative in equal measure and was always around to say hi. Even caught him clearing tables in the Horizon Court at one point!

Someone should really teach him what the word "nevertheless" means though ;)

As others have confirmed the formal nights are the first sea day and Glacier Bay day.

My tip for packing is to pack for every eventuality. We packed for the cold weather at the glaciers, for the rain we knew could happen anywhere, but the one thing we didn't have was a plentiful supply of shorts and t-shirts. We travelled at the end of May and it was hot! Nobody really mentioned that.

My other tip is don't get too caught up with Glacier Bay and forget about College Fjord. By far the highlight of our trip was the few hours we spent in College Fjord. Harvard glacier put on an amazing show with so much calving it left us speechless. Thing is this was happening at around 7pm when many people were eating and it was amazing how few people were on deck. So on the last day plan to eat late and enjoy an amazing end to the cruise!