KaiBlue

While I can't speak to the ship, we did a cruise that included 4 stops in Iceland last August and have another planned for 2025. My best advice is to buy the head nets for the midges that are in the north - particularly around the Myvatn area. They are cheap and if you don't need them, great. But we took a non-cruise line tour to Lake Myvatn on our stop in Akureyri and the midges progressively got worse at each stop. The first stop we decided to use the nets because the bugs were just a slight nuisance and I think people on our small tour bus were snickering at us. By the end of the trip, they were asking how we knew about the midges and wished they had known to bring them. You literally couldn't open your mouth they were so bad. It would have ruined the experience if we hadn't had them and they were maybe $6 for two and took up very little space in our carry-ons. Layered clothing with a waterproof shell on top worked best for us and allowed us to be comfortable both outside and inside the ship. Waterproof hiking boots were a must. Iceland was wonderful and we can't wait to go back.

Glad to know it's not just me! Taking a screen shot is an excellent idea!

Thank you for the responses! I just called (got through very quickly and seemed to get a knowledgeable rep) and tried to prepay both the gratuities and the wifi together using gift cards. The rep said I couldn't use multiple gift cards on a transaction so I ended up purchasing the gratuities with my largest gift card but didn't have a remaining single gift card that was large enough to payoff the wifi so just used my charge card. This seems like a very antiquated system they use. Then the rep said I would get an updated confirmation via email and the confirmation doesn't even mention the purchases (nothing on their about grats or wifi at all). But in the app it does show that I have wifi purchased and if I go and open the 'travel summary' in the app it shows them all under 'special services' - doesn't say it's been paid or anything but I'm assuming it just wouldn't show there if it wasn't. I'm honestly still finding the entire Princess process (app and website) very confusing as to how to navigate.....

Hello - newbie to Princess - I don't see an option to pay for the wifi up front using a gift card? I actually also wanted to prepay gratuities now using a gift card and also don't see that option on either the website or the app. Is this something I have to call Princess directly to do? TIA!

We booked our first Princess cruise ourselves after waiting days for the first Princess PVP to call back. Then I have been contacted by a least 3 different people all claiming to be our vacation planner but none of them seemed to know we already had a cruise booked - shouldn't they? At this point, I'd have no idea who to call if we encountered a problem. We haven't used a TA in years and the deal we got booking with Princess directly online was better than any of the big box offers I saw. A little leery to use some of the big online cruise travel agents as their offers sound a bit convoluted and I always feel like I'm somehow being tricked. My paranoia probably just working overtime:(

Good for you and your girls! You will have such a wonderful time! I led multiple troops through the years and took two of them to Walt Disney World when they reached their senior year. Takes a lot of planning but you will have a blast!

We used some on our recent cruise out of Dover, UK with no issues.

Assuming you are staying in a standard size room with 2-3 of the kids - highly recommend a cheap over the door pocket hanger to help organize stuff. Doesn't weigh much and takes up very little packing space. We always put this on the outside of the bathroom door so it could be used even if someone was in the bathroom (or even hung it on the wall using multiple magnetic hooks) to provide extra space for the stuff you grab more often (sunglasses, sunscreen, deodorant, etc).

Completely agree! The reviews on that cultural tour are what sold us! While we've had generally good luck with non-cruise line tours, there is always a risk... so much easier in the modern day with being able to check reviews, etc.

As with a few others on here, we are also booked on the Fast Cat (St. Thomas) and the Cooking, Coffee, Casa Typica (Amber Cove) tours. Typically we take non-cruise line excursions but these both sounded good. I love cultural tours so really looking forward to the one in Amber Cove. @hbsurfcitycruiser This will be our second time actually staying in NYC and just starting to plan what we will be doing - coming in 2 days early. Too much to do and too little time!

Thanks for doing this! We are on the 12 day Pride in late August and can't wait to hear how it goes! We have the Delta red eye (no connections yay!) but getting into London early morning and having to push through that first day on little sleep is a bit of a worry for me. It will be an adventure!

My husband had some on the Celebration in May. He enjoyed them. I tried them as I was having the 'fully leaded' version and although the taste wasn't exactly the same of course, I think the essence was similar and gave him something with a bit more 'bite'. Typically most of the mocktails he is able to get are all overly sweet because they are simply the mixes (like strawberry daiquiri) - this was a nice change. He had several over the course of the cruise.

Thanks for taking the time to do such a fantastic review! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Has me excited for our upcoming British Isles/Iceland cruise on the Pride!

We turn platinum on our next cruise and feel a little uncomfortable with opening the doors. Where will our documentation show that we are able to drop our luggage and go? I don't see it on the VIFP pages that lists out the various perks. If I had something in writing, I'd be more comfortable and not feel like I was 'breaking the rules':)

We were there in October of 2022 and while I don't recall how many ships were in port, we were one of the first ones there and had no problem doing PAYG at PB, although you could tell they weren't pleased when we turned down the all inclusive package. I do miss the days when they were only PAYG and all you had to do was to spend $10/pp on food/drink to use their loungers and umbrellas. And no looking out at only inflatables as it is now but instead could actually enjoy the view of the ocean.

This doesn't really surprise me as on our second trip aboard the Mardi Gras, Chibang was so packed, the meal service (and food) was probably the worst we've ever had on a Carnival ship. And it wasn't like the servers weren't working - they were moving as fast as they possibly could, it just was too many people. Now I'm looking at my upcoming Celebration cruise out of curiosity and it doesn't show Chibang anywhere on the 'explore the ship' section and yet it also has Cucina included but P&A as an upcharge at dinner. Not sure what to expect at this point.

When we had a cruise and several shore excursions canceled, Carnival did reimburse us for everything with brand new gift cards. And they came fast - within 2 weeks of the cancellation. But we did have a PVP working for us so perhaps that helped expedite the issue.

Is this something that you reserved ahead of time? We are on a 12 day Pride cruise this summer and would love something like this but haven't seen it mentioned.

I am so sorry for your loss ((((hugs)))). We had to put our Leo down just a few days before Christmas last year and a trip to Arizona on 12/26. He was 15 years and 7 months old and failing fast. We were devastated even though we knew it was coming. But as much as I believed we wouldn't enjoy the holidays and the trip, we did and it was a nice distraction. Of course, Leo was top of our minds a lot but we used that time to laugh about the good times and the crazy antics he would do. Go and take your cruise and use it as a celebration of Candy's life and all of the love you shared!

I also enjoyed those and was bummed to see them eliminated from the menu! Used to look forward to seeing what was on the next port night menu.

Won $15 Target gift card yesterday to my surprise and 1,000 points today - I assume that will be it for the year:)

This is interesting because our cruise on the Conquest out of Miami last month, I got flagged by the at-port security and they searched my backpack because they said they saw what looked like a speaker. Have no idea what they saw on the xray but it wasn't a speaker.

I hate things around my neck but like the convenience of a lanyard. So I use a lanyard but tie it around a belt loop of my shorts or the cinch of my skirt. Mine has the detachable holder so the lanyard itself just stays tied. Works great for on the ship. When I go off, I prefer it to be in my backpack so as to not look *too* touristy:)

We are on an August sailing this year and have booked a 6 hour private tour with Gus's Taxi Tours for this port. They seem to have good reviews online and have been very prompt in responding. They are willing to basically create the tour for us, hitting the most popular locations.

My PVP confirmed this as well when I asked after seeing something about it elsewhere. I have normally put a cabin on hold, then called my PVP who occasionally would help me pick out a better cabin. Occasionally my PVP is so busy that they can't get to something quickly so I will be nervous about losing out on a good deal. I might have to put a cabin on hold and then see my PVP can still get me one.