terry&mike

We are on the July 21 sailing from Tromso to Svalbard, and are really hopeful!!

5 hours ago, Miaminice said:

 

This is the information given on Celebrity Millennium 

 

Thank you! I love cruise critic members.

7 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

 

No, nothing to do at all (on Celebrity). We found a message / info letter in the room that Celebrity will arrange a group visa. You don’t need photos or anything else. It’s all done behind the scenes...

 

Thank you! Good to know.

For those that have let the cruise line arrange the Vietnam visas for them, did you need to bring a set of passport/visa photos to the ship to use, or are photos not necessary? Specifically for Diamond Princess, but other anecdotes are appreciated. 

I am assuming you are on a cruise going over, and need one way air for the return. If that is correct, the first place you may want to check is with your cruise line itself. Many cruise lines have airfare that is significantly discounted. You can buy air at 330 days from your flight, which is very close, but for cruise line air I find that they don't have a lot of their contracted air entered that early and you are better discussing options with them at closer to 300 days out (10 months). 

Each of the offices are individually owned by a franchise partner, so your experience will be all over the board from great to meh to bad, depending on the office, how it is managed, and the people working from that office. The reason some folks refer to it as big box is that it is a huge online presence also. 

56 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Decided checking the web site for 3 cruises in a row is a hassle so looked them up and called the local place. (I never knew there even was a local place!) As soon as I can pry my wife away from what she is doing we'll head across town and speak to an actual person. Hoping the cruises we want are included. We would like to book a 33 day B2B2B on Sapphire Princess out of Melbourne. For a cruise that long we want the same cabin (Caribe balcony) for all 3 cruises. It's early enough that there shouldn't be a problem. Now if only the cruises are eligible....

Thrak, I posted the 37 excluded sailings in this thread, post 41

7 minutes ago, Ep010835 said:

 

May I have another clue?

I think if you search online for 3 Day Sale you will find it

Your "normal TA" can book this for you if your normal TA is part of this company. As noted before it is not a big box store but sometimes referred to that way. It is a lot of small boxes in Canada and US.

We disembarked Royal Princess on May 11 and flew home from YVR and this was also our experience - needing to show our cards to pre-clear via expedited screening. I actually had to show my card on more than one occasion to get through the entire process heading to the gate. I always have mine along with me, but I imagine sometimes people are caught by surprise. 

I found YVR, using expedited screening, was a breeze and I flew through all the checkpoints, taking 14 minutes from start to entering the lounge. 

17 hours ago, RStanton23 said:

 When I initially booked I was told all seats were in Main Cabin.  After tickets were actually issued I found that my party's seats are all in Economy and non-upgradeable. We had tried to get a basic upgrade for months with no clear answer except to wait and then it was you can't after the tickets are issued.

If Viking wants anyone to know what the procedure is for upgrades, tickets, etc. all they have to do is post the information.

Main Cabin is Economy. You may be thinking of Basic Economy, which is also seating that is located in the Main Cabin but is more restrictive - you aren't booked in Basic Economy though, or you wouldn't have seats assigned at all until check in, and Viking doesn't use Basic Economy. You are booked in Main Cabin Economy, and some Main Cabin Economy tickets are not upgrade able. 

I agree with klfrodo. I'm not that concerned about covering the cost of a trip I have to cancel, but I am concerned about medical coverage and evacuation coverage. Interestingly, most travelers are much more focused on recouping the cost of the trip. So, you have to decide what is important to you, and what it is you want to protect/insure. 

DH and I have always believed in the adage that insurance should only be used for something you cannot recover yourself from. For example, the cost of the trip, it's money already spent, money you can afford to do without, and would disappoint us to lose it but won't damage us to lose it. Conversely, a medical emergency in a far away place, and possible evacuation, could jump up into the 5 to 6 digits price, and would be painful to absorb. 

7 hours ago, Knickearth said:

Actually it was a flat 250 off flights and it came to zero.  U could be right.  Althothe flights were not part of a cruise promo.

$250 off of flights was a booking promotion. When you have your agent refare to the new promo you will lose the flight promo credit of $250 off of flights, but you will not lose your flights saved to your booking (you will have them at the rate they were when you saved them).

If you cancel and rebook, which is different than refaring, you will lose your promos, as well as your saved flights, from your current booking. 

16 hours ago, steelers36 said:

Yeah, IDK why some people call it a "big box" - it is really a whole lot of little boxes, plus online presence.

Correct!

10 hours ago, terry&mike said:

If they are cutting and repairing, do you think they will make the June projection? Or do you think they will postpone again?

Well, I went ahead and took a leap of faith and jumped on board! I booked DH and I on the July 21 sailing to Norway and Spitsbergen. I hope the ship is ready, or I guess we'll be knocking around inland Norway. 

If they are cutting and repairing, do you think they will make the June projection? Or do you think they will postpone again?

10 minutes ago, Coral said:

I am ok with this as long as things are transparent. I had a sibling go on a cruise several years ago "a friend organized". When it was found out that they had a free cabin, most in the group stopped speaking with that individual. They felt they were misled. 

That's one way to look at it. Or, you could look at it like at least someone you know got the TC credit, rather than someone you didn't know (ie the agency) getting the TC credit, which happens often. When cruise lines release their sailings, major travel agencies hold group space on many, many sailings. Most major travel companies have thousands of "groups" via group space held, their individual agents book clients on cruises at the current best rate available at the time the client is booking, and then move that client into the group for extra perks for the client. At the same time this agency is building towards their TC credits, which come to the agency after the sailing in the form of additional commission. 

This is how you can sometimes find a better perk or better offer from a company. 

7 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Interesting.  I booked the Emerald Princess 2/1/20 sailing during last year's 3-Day Sale. I don't remember if this sailing was included in the sip-n-sail promotion last year or not.  Those who are planning cruises that are not included in this year's sip-n-sail may want to check out the 3-Day Sale.

This is the list of sailings that are excluding from this years 3 Day Sale; they are the same as the exclusions from this years Sip and Sale.

To clarify, the 3 Day Sale and the Sip and Sale are the same with the exception of the 3 Day Sale having the addition of pre-paid gratuities, and being offered only from one agency. 

1 hour ago, hiccups said:

That is the flight I'm referring to.  Our flight was on an Embraer 175, which according to the seat maps, does have first class.  Maybe not "true" first class seats, but United sells a first class ticket for that flight.  The flight they changed us to is an Embraer RJ145.   I'm just really annoyed to have not even been notified.  And based on the information here that I verified on the DOT site, it seems they are supposed to offer us a refund.

 

There is generally a disclaimer on cruise air (Choice, EZ, etc) saying that the international legs of your itinerary will be in Business Class and that the domestic legs may be in a different class.

Here are the excluded sailings. Listed as Sailing number, Ship, # Days, Sail Date, Name:

13 hours ago, nbist said:

 

The 3 day sale from the large TA does show that our cruise qualifies for their offer. 

Yes, it does. The dates are Jan 2020 - May 2021 sailings, 7-49 days (with 37 sailings excluded). 

If you booked directly with Princess, the travel agent will not be able to cancel this, you'll need to cancel this. But as mentioned earlier, best to wait until the day the sale starts to see the posted rate for your sailing. I've seen them stay same price, go up in price, or go down. You always have to run the numbers on any new promotion. 

I don't feel that this issue needs to be a divisive one. It is most likely simply solved. 

Princess works well with groups and has one of the most user friendly programs in the business. I work with them often in this area. 

Most likely, the OP can have her cabin refared on the new promo and still retain her original booking number, and her place in the group. The group prices that were contracted when the group was established are more of a hold by Princess to allow that the prices do not increase, as long as group space has not been recalled by Princess, allowing group members to book at this price even when the public rate has increased. The travel agent who is booking the group can also book the member at the lowest price/best deal going independently, and then move them into the group.

If the promo the guest wants is for new bookings only, it becomes a bit more complicated as it involves a cancel and rebook, risking losing the cabin, if EZ Air is on the reservation this is washed away. Although, still the guest should be able to have the travel agent cancel the booking, rebook at the new promo, and then move the guest into the group. 

As to the group leader wanting the TC credit, I don't see a problem with this, that is a perk of being a group leader and often times there is quite a bit of work involved, in both time and emotional calming. And to be clear, a TC credit is not that great of shakes, it is generally that the 16th berth (bed) is free on 15 paid berths; on rare occasions this is a different ratio. It also calculates based on double occupancy. It also does not include NCF's or taxes and port fees. The actual credit is rather small in exchange for all the work, planning and hand holding involved; many group leaders come away from the experience feeling like it wasn't a good trade off. 

3 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

Where can we see the list of excluded sailings?

Your travel agent.

The sailings that are excluded from the 3 day sale, which are the same ones excluded from the Sip and Sale, were released last night. There were only 37 sailings excluded, with several of them being world cruise segments on Island, and shorter Japan sailings on Diamond, so most will apply.

Included sailings are 7-49 nights, sailing January 2020 through May 2021, with the exception of the 37 excluded sailings. 

Princess protects group amenities down to one cabin, so your amenities that were established with your points when your formed the group with Princess do not change no matter the amount of guests. What changes is the TC credit, which is based on berths. If you plan on crediting back to the group the TC credit, most people just do this after the sailing once they receive the check from Princess, and divvy it up.