Bwana Tom

My wife is not a big alcohol fan, but she absolutely loves the Dirty Banana. She has introduced many cruisers to it and have never found anyone that didn't like it. For me I will simply stick with my Talisker Scotch on the rocks.

Apparently the Diamond Princess is departing San Diego today (Nov. 20th) for a Mexico cruise. This is its first cruise since the very beginning of Covid. I would really appreciate any reporting on the ship, crew and all things on board. Great to see it is finally getting back into service.

If you don't mind - please let us know if the bid prices become adjusted. That would be a great bit of info. Thanks

The idea was a good one for a screen shot because it provides the person with an easy record of what the minimum bid was at the time. That was the reason for doing so. I suppose you could write it all down instead, but taking a screen shot was a good idea in the event Princess drops that minimum offer as was in the case discussed.

It has joined Happy Hour at the bars onboard to never be seen again.

Welcome to Princess. I'm sure you will enjoy your cruise. I'm betting you will find Princess more laidback that you have experienced in your previous cruises. Be sure you try the Dirty Banana; my wife loves it and she isn't a big drinker.

If they are lucky!!

My wife's website shows she was the (2nd) (following her name) which was wrong. I simply did the online chat and they easily corrected it. All else fails I would use the online chat line. It is much quicker and easier than calling Princess. Good luck.

Was that your second bid offer for the same cruise? And if so how long apart we’re the offers? Thanks

I believe most of the new ship planning began years ago before all the problems associated with the pandemic. Unfortunately those contracts agreed to years ago are hard and expensive to break today. I'm fairly certain the planning taking place today is considerably different.

They have been running up and down the Mexico coast for weeks now. Sometimes they seem to dock in LA then either anchor for a while or dock in Puerto Vallarta for a while. Watching their travels in almost seems like they are training skippers because of their sometimes zipzaggy pattern. And as one of the other folks said, they haven't yet returned to service.

I'd just be happy if they wouldn't erode the perks we currently have. I'm sure any changes coming in the future will not be in the best interest of the cruisers.

They are no longer paying dividends. Let's hope the financial situation begins to straighten out. I miss those dividends.

In the web presentation they indicated the TAs would be compensated.

We were on a 3-way B2B a few months back. All cabins assigned to us were different and were on a guarantee basis. Shortly before the cruise Princess moved us to the same cabin throughout the cruise. So, that may happen to you as well. Never can tell what they are thinking or what they are going to do, but it may happen to you as well. Also, one of the first things I would do once onboard is to go to the Customer Service Desk and make sure all of your cruises are booked together, particularly important so any remaining OBC is carried over from one cruise to another. Please don't worry about how everything will work out, it has always been very smooth for us and we almost always booked on a B2B basis.

Do you mind telling me which cabin you have booked and which cabins were offered and what were the minimum bids? We are booked on the Diamond on a B2B in January and was wondering what might be coming our way. Thanks.

Initially the bidding process was to begin in September on the Caribbean, Discovery, Enchanted, Regal and the Ruby Princess ships. Then the remaining Princess ships were to be added by between then and November. I'm not sure whether all the remaining ships will be added at one time or gradually a few at a time. I would however be very interested in hearing from anyone when they do receive a bid offer for one of these remaining ships. Thanks

Likely cheaper on eBay. I know were. A really great product!

I personally like the short distance between the airport and the cruise port at SD. For me that is a real draw compared to other ports.

We have experienced few delays reboarding on our many B2Bs, but sometimes a few stragglers are slow getting off the ship and we have to wait up to 30 to 45 minutes to reboard. We personally never leave the area and once back on the ship we really like how quite it is with few passengers aboard. Everything has always moved smoothly.

Thanks for the detailed account of your problem. Knowing what happened to you and the way you handled it might be helpful for everyone in the future if they should have similar problems. I also have had problems with their accounting process. In my case it was getting my refundable OBC refunded. I went through a similar procedure with making contact through the "Support Request" function and only got the form email back. Eventually I had to send 2 letters to the officials with all my documentation and after about 5 months finally got it resolved "somewhat". I'm not sure what is happening with their customer service, but it certainly needs to be fixed.

Thanks for the detailed info.

Absolutely great news for you! Congratulations! Might I ask, which cruise are you on and the date of departure. Thanks

Upon booking if anyone marked their cruise that they would accept an upgrade offer and has received a free upgrade now that the bidding program has begun. I must assume that will not happen now, but who knows. Please just let us all know if it should happen. I hate to think that that the free upgrades have completely ended. Thanks

Were you offered other choices for bidding other than obstructed view balconies, possibly unobstructed views?