Arizona Wildcat

1 hour ago, nasa1974 said:

I would think Uber would be fine as long as they can manage all of your luggage.

Take 2 Ubers and still under $50 !

47 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

 

I read it that way too. I am a bit confused about whether this means we have to go back and re-select Anytime dining or if this is just for those who booked Anytime reservations. It's too soon for us to do that so I am uncertain if I have to do anything. The new system seems a bit confusing.

 

tldr: If we booked Anytime dining, with no special reservations, do we have to go back and pick one of the 2 new options?

Anytime dining has no reservations.  If you want a specific time or a different time each night you will need to rebook after June 17th if cruising after September 14th.  Same if you want traditional dining.

Not complicated.  Only difference from years ago is the ability to set up a different time each night.  

6 minutes ago, oceanlover1031 said:

Looking forward to this cruise.  I am booked on the same and replied on your roll call.  Sadly I can not book dinner reservations yet, I called the help desk and they said not until about 120 days out.  I will keep trying anyway.

 

Guess lots of you missed the beginning of this thread and the press release that there are new dining reservations setup.  Thus anything after 14 September has been cancelled and bookings will open on June 17th.

Oceanlover - you and everyone else will need to wait for MDR reservations 

14 hours ago, cruisegirlppp said:

Are you able to name the website or does that go against the rules? From a fellow Wildcat (many, many decades ago).

 

Cruise Compete is a great place

Duh. Having a production show with a theater that seats far less than half the passengers?  

As one who has cruised lots on Celebrity with always live music for shows it was sad to see live music largely gone on Emerald.  

15 minutes ago, EDDY0827 said:

I will be departing San Francisco from Pier 80, near Candlestick Point. From Google Earth, I don't see any dedicated parking for cruising. As this is a 1-way repo cruise to Vancouver, where do you park, SFO and Princess transfer or Uber/Lyft? The Grand is returning from Aus/NZ. Will it clear extended Customs and Coast Guard inspections in Hnl stop or SF? Should I brace myself for a zoo-like experience? I have a 3+/- hr drive. If parking is an issue, fly in? I have United service close by.

 

There is no dedicated cruise parking that I am aware nearby.   I would fly in and then use BART to the pier or UBER from SFO.  Then fly home.  Less stress and probably about the same cost as parking will be very expensive. 

Not sure why you are concerned about arriving passengers.  Customs mostly uses facial recognition and moves very quickly. 

Boarding will go quickly and likely very easy.

Hmm.  We did a 14 say fly drive before our cruise in 2022.  I note we missed one of two ports on the cruise.

Absolutely suggest doing at least a week fly drive.  Roads are good.  Drivers polite and accommodation in midrange with bath and breakfast excellent.  We liked NW Iceland the best as VERY rural and scenic.  Isafjorder great for a couple nights.

Reykjavik was nice and if you are a walker that is all you need.  Taxis hard to get and incredibly expensive.  National Museum was our wrapup.  Took 3 hours.

Really should see the countryside and meet the people without the hordes in Reykjavik and the Golden Circle. 

2 hours ago, icefresh said:

Does anyone know if you can use EZ check from Vancouver for an evening flight back to the US

No.  You needed to have customs and immigration clear you and your bags at YVR on my last flight in 2022.  Everything is done in Canada.

2 hours ago, Mousear1 said:

Hello!

I understand that suite passengers get free laundry service. Since I’m in a suite (for the first and probably last time!), I’d like to take advantage of it.

 

I’m planning my family’s clothes for our May 8th cruise to Alaska. Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get your clean laundry back? I don’t want to bring excessive clothes if I can get some done on the ship.

Thank you so very much for helping me with this!

 

 

 

DW and I can get our clothes for as long as we travel in a 26" case and a carryon.  Usually send laundry out once in a 7 day cruise as can wear many things more than once.  If we run short - usually underwear - easy to wash in the sink using a bit of shampoo (it rinses out easily).  Put a clean towel on the floor, roll the clothing up in the towel and walk on the towel.   Then hang on a hanger.  Almost always dry over night.  Jeans 2 nights.

Suggest a mini suite if you can do it.  They can have their space and you don't need to be always bumping into each other.

When we had teens - 15, 16, 18; they had their own cabin across the hall.  Usually saw once during the day and mandatory for both off ship and dinner.  Was great.

10 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Actually, they had one DR designated for TD and the other for AT.  Now, they will need to decide whether to have bookings in the same DR and walk-ups and TD with Reserve Section - or some other combination.

My guess will be one DR hosting TD and Reserve Class and the other DR have an inventory of reservations and the balance held back for walk-ups.  They can always re-allocate guests to the TD room if there are unused seats and adjust by voyage.  The DRO's will have more control over their DR's than with DMW App handling most of the space now.

 

I think you missed where I stated my post was not about Princess.  Many Celebrity ships, for example, had ONE and only one MDR.  Some still only have one.

Princess with at least 2 or 3 venues can easily manage seating except for the early dining rush that is inevitable 

Have cruise on various ships in their first few weeks.  From Princess in 1990 to 3 Celebrity ships, there were lots of issues that were sorted over time.

Not worth flogging the shortcomings as over a few months the green crews and officers learned to work together as a team.

I note that cruising today is different as labor changes have made hiring experience workers worldwide difficult.  On board probably a year to get new workers really sharp and probably a third leave before or at the end of their first contract.  That and things like attendants that used to have 8 cabins, then 10, then 12 and now ???; makes for a "new experience ".

Too soon to see the entertainers.

You can bring canned sodas on board at embarkation- a 12pk per person.  No glass.  No plastic.  In ports a can or two was never an issue

Not hard to organize.  Pick a meeting place on the morning of the first sea day.  Bring some name badges, a couple Sharpie markers and announce at your roll call.  

We also set up.a sailaway.  A top deck with a bar.  Just need time and location.  Again on your roll call.

When is your cruise?  If after September 13th your will need to wait till June if not in a suite.  New dining schedule coming

Agree about doing it immediately as you leave port.  Keeps the winds down.  

18 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I don’t read it like that. I read it as an “either/or”. You can elect a set time or elect flexibility. Once one chooses Traditional, switching back and forth is antithetical to that model. 

Is it different than the last time fixed dining was offered?  One or more nights we used either the buffet or specialty dining but were assigned fixed seating.

For those that want flexibility,  the change is the opportunity to book times night by night.

The difficulty is going to be early dining times will be booked really fast.  Would think changing a reservation on board could find most times unavailable. 

In 22 X cruises have seen 3 helicopter evacuations.  For those arguing, does it matter if winched or landing?  Also 4 or 5 missed ports and a couple others where we went toward the nearest land and the transfer was made either at sea or pulling up to a pier - sort of a touch and go.  

On a recent TA was closed about 1/3 of the time.  Almost always when in port.

Remember when window is open your climate control - heat/ac - are turned off.

Since this is a new booking you also might want to contact a couple TAs to see if they have group fares.  Then switch and transfer at the same time.

There is a website where you can list your cruise and have TAs Compete for your business.  Usually a saving of about 5-8%.

36 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

We are on a cruise on the same date.  Our app showed "in progress" along with some gibberish.   I called Princess using the prompts until I got to Ocean Ready, then a few more prompts after that.  The rep I spoke to said she could see that it was packaged that day with no tracking or other information.  Two days later the Medallions arrived, no email or other notice.  First time that's happened.  I'd suggest that you call them and ask what's happening.  If you paid shipping or have the most recent Plus or Premier packages you shouldn't have to wait in line at the port.

Have picked up in port numerous times.  Never more than a few extra seconds.  The clerks who checked us in walked to a nearby table and retrieved our medallions.  Not worth a call or stressing out IMO

3 hours ago, IUSteve said:

I'm trying to decide whether to raise my bid for a Reserve mini-suite on Sun Princess.  I'm specifically interested in the Reserve dining room.  At least one early report said the service was disappointing.  For those who have been on recently, how were the wait times for a table and the service overall?  Thanks!  

Pretty much everything on Sun appears to have been disappointing at the beginning.   Cannot remember where I saw it but service seems to have improved and wait times to dine are much shorter. 

We were on a test cruise for the new dining system.   Was chaos on day 1.  Very good by the 3rd day.

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

Even on 3 week cruises in North America there are incredibly long lines waiting as early as 4:30

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

Even on 3 week cruises in North America there are incredibly long lines waiting as early as 4:30

There were always lots of lines when dinner opened whether for fixed (people would simply arrive early, no idea why) or dine my way.  Nothing has changed.  With reservations there will be limits on how many can be accommodated early - same as before.

While DW and I like to eat while on ship about 8pm or so; many friends eat their main meal about 2pm with a VERY light snack early evening.

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

I wonder how Coral and Island will operate this system?

In the past other cruiselines had a section of a dining room that was for fixed dining and another for flexible times.

We likely will find out in June.

Princess is simply going back to a system they used some years ago.

I welcome traditional dining.

1 hour ago, Torfamm said:

I think that means reservations can be made or canceled for individual evenings. I can’t imagine how they would manage traditional dining for people who don’t want to eat at the same time and table every night

TDining is same time every night.  Don't want same time each night book the MDR with reservations.   Just want to show up then go to the 3rd dining room.