caribill

Agree. But each individual can compare what his/her taste buds told them before the pandemic compared to what those taste buds tell them now.

Now that gratuities are shared across the entire fleet, not just on the ship you cruise on, I have no idea how much of what each person's "auto-tip" (paid or as part of the Plus package) actually gets into the pocket of anyone that actually provided service to you

I have never attended the $25 "Fine Wine Tasting" but comments I have read in the past say it is definitely a cut above the Grapevine $9.95 tasting that is free for Elites. We also enjoyed the "free" wine glasses that were used for the sweet dessert wine at the Grapevine tasting, but have not attended in a while. The wines never change. Also, the pace is so slow that attendees tend to start talking more and more among themselves during the presentation and do it loudly enough that the presenter cannot be heard by those actually wanting to hear what is being said.

You have to bring your own since Princess has stopped putting chocolates on the pillows each evening.

About the two production shows over 25 nights. Pre-pandemic most Princess ships had the capability to do three differennt production shows. That means the cast knew three and scenery and costumes for the three were on board. On 7-0day cruises usually only two of the three were performed. But even if a ship had the capability to do three different production shows, once they did those three on an extended cruise there just are no others to perform. So even a 25 day segment is limited to the number of production shows the cast knows. If the 25 days were actually multiple segments, then the same shows could be presented on each segment.

There should not be any lawsuits. For the FCC for the fare paid, Princess will give a full refund to the method paid if asked. (and the customer chose the FCC initially instead of a refund in order to get a bonus FCC.) For the bonus FCC, that would be lost if unused, but it would be a bonus that the recipient chose not to use in the time it could be applied. Hard to sue for something that involved no out-of-pocket money.

I fully understand your expectations and why what the rep did was not at all what you had wanted. However, there have been a number of posts in the pasts that basically said "I asked for a quote and when I called back the next day to make the booking the price was $xxx more. I am upset that I am unable to get the price quoted originally." The only sure way to have the original quote honored when one calls back is to have made a tentative booking ("hold"). It is also possible that the next day the category could be sold out, so the hold also preserves availability. The rep should (but did not) have asked if you want a hold so that price would be available the next day. There also have been a number of posts in the past (before FCCs became a part of the process) that essentially said "I only asked for a quote, but a booking was made. How do I cancel the booking?" And the responses said after x days the booking will disappear because no deposit was made. Please note that the posts about these holds were made when the quote requests were made to a Travel Agent or directly to Princess and without the information that a tentative booking was being made to preserve the price quoted. It seems to be a common practice. The main difference is that pre-pandemic, almost everyone did not have FCCs that the Princess computer system automatically applied to a booking, whether a hold or an intended booking. In fact this automatic applying of FCCs has resulted in a number of posts saying that the FCCs were thus not being applied to a cruise the person wanted them applied to.

No. This has gone with way of the dodo bird. The benefit now is 50% off the regular price for unlimited Internet. So for pre-cruise purchases it becomes $5/day for one device at a time or $10/day for up to four devices at a time. Pay full price in advance and get the 50% off back as refundable OBC on the cruise. If you do not need more than one device at a time, then only purchase one package. If you booked with Princess Plus pricing, then a single device package is included for each passenger.

OK, to some extent if you have seen one set of locks, you have seen them all. But as others have said, experiencing them on a small ship is quite different than on a sigificantly larger cruise ship. But, to me the main benefit of the transit on this excursion is that you get to go through the long section of the Canal where all of the digging had to be done to make the Canal a reality. Just doing a partial transit misses this historical and impressive engineering achievement.

A "hold" is a booking. If no deposit by the end of x days, the hold (booking) is automatically cancelled and any FCCs that were applied returned to the account for future use. So when the rep said making a booking was the only way, he was correct. And you have now learned what others have known: FCCs (not FCDs) are automatically attached to a new booking (even a hold) if you have any. I do not think your rep was being dishonest or trying to pull a fast one. He just needed to have done a better job of explaining the whole process of placing a hold. And he was reliable in calling you back the next day, just as he had promised to do. Sorry there was so much unneeded confusion.

Problem with airport testing is whether or not there is enough appointments available for the hundreds of cruise passengers who will need the tests. Also can the test be scheduled with results back in time for flight check-in. Remember that flights were scheduled long before it became necessary to allow time at the airport before the flight check-in time for the Covid testing.

May not be offered on a four day cruise.

So far Princess has said "absolutely no" to extensions beyond 12/31/22 for FCCs issued due to cruises being cancelled during the pandemic.

To me this is very bad news. a) No doubt hundreds (maybe a thousand or more?) will be flying home to the USA from Vancouver. I am skeptical that the airport has the facilities to test this many people disembarkation day in time to have results before passengers check in for their flights, flights that were booked long ago without any allowance for departure times that would allow for airport testing. And this is in addition to other travelers who are planning to get tested that day at the airport. b) As an alternative to airport testing, it is difficult to arrange for testing in a city you are very unfamiliar with. c) And, as mentioned in another post, ship Internet might not be reliable enough to allow on board self-testing via Internet. Remember that even a few seconds interruption to the view of the test materials means the test in invalid.

Correct. There was no reason to apply the FCDs to the hold. However, the reason to do the hold (essentially a booking with no deposit) is to protect the price. Even if there is no "sale" that is about to end, the booking price can change daily. (I have one cruise where a category I have been watching went up $100/person yesterday. Other categories did not change.)

There are two train depots for Talkeetna. When we did a cruise tour in Alaska, the arrival (from Denali, north of Talkeetna, not from Anchorage) was at the in town depot. We immediately boarded buses to the Princess lodge. When we left Talkeetna, the depot used was the one away from the town. Buses went directly from the lodge to this out-of-the-way depot. If you were already in town that morning, there was a shuttle from the in town depot area to the out-of-the-way depot being used. This depot (at least when we were there) has no building and no rest room facilities. Maybe Princess can tell you which depot you will arrive at. Princess does have a bus shuttle (for a fee) that goes between the lodge and the town if you want to visit the town on your own. Below is photo of the out of town train depot.

That is the one that no longer works.

The one listed in the CCL Corp annual report no longer works.

Same way as with the final payment question. Charge to the card and then use them to help pay for the excursions when the credit card bill arrives.

Are you able to (as we can in the USA) use EZAir to book your flights? If so the costs may be lower than you can book directly with an airline. You do not have to have a booking to see flight options and costs (at least with USA web site). When you look at a potential cruiser, there should be a link to see airfares available.

Probably should have said 10. That 9 key is just too close to the 0 key.

Princess always lists 20 available for excursions if there are 20 or more spaces remaining, no matter how many more than 20 are available. The only time you will know for sure the true number remaining is when the number is less than 20.

Easily, after doing a,b and c.

(a) Click on the photo It brings it up by itself. (b) Click on the photo from a. It brings up the photo in a new tab. (c) Click on the photo in the new tab. It enlarges it enough to be readable. (I do a,b, and c on a computer, not a phone.)

Princess excursions or independent excursions?