PRINCESS Sweet Pea

On the Diamond, even at less than 50% full, I wonder if most standard balconies were taken? Our cruise is not full at all, but balconies are def. the most booked category. Why wouldn't they let people pay for an upgrade? That chart is interesting! I would hope that they are doing something like this on our cruise! But, I notice that the upgrade price mentioned might not be right, if the cabin they are in is an obstructed cabin, it would have been an 'outside' category. It looks like the cost to upgrade from a regular not obstructed deluxe balcony to a mini would have been $40.

Thanks paradiselivin! It is not often you see rates at 50000. points! But after the Holidays in mid January, the rates seem lower. I am thinking we will be very lucky if it hits 80' So it might not be pool weather. But, these new stupid nights they give out have an expiration date. So we would have to travel down again in March to get warmer weather! I think they are getting closer to having the waterslides ready at the JW too. These resorts are all booked up on our way down before we board. JW has a lot of nights booked up. Wonder if they have something big going on?

We used a few of these cards to make payment on our cruise. We didn't have any problem doing that at all. I don't think there is really a difference between these and regular Princess. But, I would warn everyone not to do this before final payment, because when you use these cards to make payment, Princess has your money, and they can hold it hostage, so you might not be able to make any changes or rebook or cancel without it causing problems.. They want to refund the money back to that card. And, they can take forever to do that. This really screwed us over. We don't want to be holding on to these cards until maybe, one day, we decide to sail with Princess again. My husband didn't realize, and went ahead and payed early, and we were unable to do anything when better rates and perks came along. The AWOL Princess Planner made it all worse. Don't make that same, mistake.

We are also well past final payment. I thought the medallions were supposed to be shipped to us. If these changes are supposed to be for after next week, then I think we should get our medallions. I think they are just cancelling all these medallions right now as they change over and figure out the new changes. I wanted my medallion!

OMG! But, based on our last experience, a few years ago. 95 was a nightmare and took, like, forever. I think we have it figured out. We realized that we could use our nights to book at the Ritz Grand Lakes Orlando, since it is at cheaper rates off season. We can stay and enjoy the warmer weather and palm trees for a couple nights before heading back home. Can also go over to the JW there. This might really be worth the Parking and Resort Fees. I've never lived the Ritz life!

Thanks! Do you know. Are they easy to get in and out, off I-75? We would lean towards the JW over the Whitley, just because it is familiar, where the Whitley seems more, well, maybe unique. I would hope either arnot too dated. Is there anywhere to eat closeby, other than at the hotel? My husband would just write off those parking fees, even though, to me, that is cutting into your so-called free night. But, easy in and out, and dinner and breakfast, or at least good coffee. would be a big factor. He is doing the driving!

Thanks! I see that there is a new Springhill Suites Atlanta Northwest. We wanted to get further than that. But, the Springhill Suites at Macon is older. It isn't getting great reviews. Hate to use these nights for such cheap hotels! But, staying at a JW or nice hotel in Atlanta means staying downtown. That seems like such a pain! And $40 - $50 for parking.

We are planning to drive to the port, and want to use Marriott points to stay somewhere in Georgia, at Atlanta or just south. I am trying to use the Marriott web site, but using it's search and maps is frustrating. Does anyone here know of one of the nicest Marriott hotels to stay at. We have plenty of Marriott credit to use, but want to avoid the downtown Atlanta locations with al of the traffic, and the crazy high parking fees there.

I wish I know a better place to post this! We are planning to drive to the port, and want to use Marriott points to stay somewhere in Georgia, at Atlanta or just south. I am trying to use the Marriott web site, but using it's search and maps is frustrating. Does anyone here know of one of the nicest Marriott hotels to stay at. We have plenty of Marriott credit to use, but want to avoid the downtown Atlanta locations with al of the traffic, and the crazy high parking fees there.

I am hoping that our medallions are shipped, and they arrive well before the cruise. I remember a thread a couple weeks ago about problems with shipping the medallions. At first I thought maybe they were going to not ship some of them. But it seems to be an error in the tracking system in the App. What a peek into the future! Anyhow, we booked and cruise before the new stuff kicks in. We do have the confirmation that we ordered medallions with zero charge. I want to be ready to just walk on the ship!

They are raising prices, but adding a few so-called perks. I don't think I would use ten dollars a day in the extra perks! But, darn, this doesn't start unti Feb. After our cruise. I would really like the reserved theater seating. Wonder how much seating will be blocked off for that? But, that is only for the premium package. It doesn't mention the new ice cream. Just the Gelato and Swirls. But, then I don't know how we would get the new ice cream, even if we did want it.

Our Princess Planner was also awful and we could not get in contact her for weeks and months. Gave up. Costed us some money with the lack of customer service to change our booking. So, you are not alone. I would love to know of any good planners out there!

I wonder how often the specialty restaurants, especially Crown Grill, are all booked up when you first board. The cruise is not full at all. I want to wait to make reservations until we board. We plan to board as early as we possibly can and make plans and reservations right away. It is a different itinerary. So we can't second guess the menus. I understand that they won't have a formal night. Can we see the menus at the front desk? Do we have to find somewhere that they are set up to take dining reservations. We would do this face to face if we can. We can use up the onboard credit that we have on other things. So, we wouldn't have to try to pay with onboard credit if we booked and paid beforehand. But, we just don't to have that paid for with credit card, and then deal with a refund if we don't happen to do the special dining.

Wow, I am loving all of the posts here! It sounds like you are having a wonderful cruise. I have been reading, because we are looking forward to being on the Regal soon. I know this is silly. I am hoping to find out the estimated measurements on the little table on the balcony cabins. We hope to raise it up and make it more like a real table. Either that or the little table inside the balcony cabins, if it is a little bigger or better for that. And, about the Balcony Dinner. It might not be because of a lot of Covid on the ship. It might not be Covid protocols at all. I think these ships are running on limited staff. And, if a few staff get Covid, then they won't have the available staff to do these ultimate balcony dining, and the servers to serve them.

What kind of balcony are you wanting, and for how many people? If you want a Deluxe Balcony, for two, the system won't show these for you. If you put in three people, then see what is offered. That might make a difference. You can then see which ones are actually not taken.

For us, the reason we have not made a bid, even thought it is cheap, is that you can be given a room anywhere on the ship. It can be far forward, it can have noise, that kind of thing. For us, this sailing is like only half full. So, we decided to wait until boarding so that we can chosse one of the few cabins that we would really want to move to. We would have re-booked to get the cabin at the current price, but that wasn't going to be possible. A whole 'nother problem! Princess just won't let two passengers book and choose a deluxe balcony. And that is a huge problem. That is just not right. If we had wanted a wake view cabin, Princess will not let us get one. Even though when we booked, they all were available. So, getting one at boarding, since half of them are still available right now, would be the only real option. I have NO respect left for Princess.

I would love to see about an upgrade at the bididng price they sent, when we board. Our cruise has tons of empty cabins. But, I would only want to upgrade if one of the ones we might like are still available. They are all still open right now, a few weeks before sailing. With a ship that is not getting full, I wonder if they would still do the cheaper upgrades when we board. If anybody here has any experience, then I hope they can post here! We called to ask if we could go ahead and upgrade, but they said it would be full asking price, like rebooking, many times what the bid price we were sent!

I was hoping to find out if just by ordering the ultimate bloody mary, if you would get a good bloody mary? Do you need to special order? And, OHHHH MY, that snow! We are frigid and frosted over here, but no snow.

I thought I saw one where there was actually a couple performing some light entertainment. Maybe that is rare? Or maybe that was some other thing.

I don't think it is really possible to second guess menus right now. I am seeing an embarkation night menu that was very different, and didn't show Prime Rib. I think the second formal night has some of the usual items. Don't you have to wait until boarding to see the menus? I am not sure if they are all on your TV, but used to be able to go to the front desk and see them. We are booked on a shortie cruise, so I am not holding out much hope for the better menu items at all. We might book some kind of specialty dining, especially because of this.

So, if you don't order the Ceaser, will you get just the glass with the mixer and alcolhol? No extra additions or garnish?

Can I please ask about the Bloody Marys? On the menus, it just seems pretty simple, with bloody mary mix. So, do you order the ultimate bloody mary? How do you get the best bloody mary? Do they have the veggies and extras?

Thank you Steeler. I hope this is true when we board Regal in a couple months. The soft warm bread is something I miss on a Princess cruise.

Wow! Thanks! This is amazing! Based on another current thread, I do have a question. I posted on another trip report by accident. Can anyone here tell us how the beds are on Regal? They should be fairly new.

Not only would Princess not offer us the rate and the perks that we knew we should get, when we did try to rebook with a great travel agent who actually had it on hold for us, Princess pretty much kept us from cancelling and rebooking by holding our payment refunds hostage until 'whenever'. Showing them that booking on hold, no response. We weren't able to get thru to the Princess Planner, for weeks and weeks. Gave up. If you find a great TA with a good offer, take it.