karatemom2

Lobster is generally on the menu once in the MDR, usually on a formal night. We have not seen crab legs recently even in our AK cruises - usually the only crab is maybe a crab cake option.

Yes. Christmas movies will be on the menu of options and they will likely run some on MUTS. They also used to have a channel with fireplace playing Christmas music as well. The thread below posted recently has a good rundown of what you can expect. It will be festive!!

We did something very similar to this, only we went to Gothic Quarter in the morning since we knew we would do a lot of walking outside there and wanted to get there in the cooler part of the day. We taxied there from the ship spent the morning exploring there, visited the cathedral, and had lunch at a wonderful tapas place and then taxied over to Sagrada Familia where we had pre-reserved tickets in the afternoon. And then we caught a taxi back to the ship. It was really easy and way more cost effective than a ship tour. I loved Barcelona - it’s a beautiful city!

We are planning for our day in Alesund for our cruise this coming summer and initially I was going to do the excursion that goes to Giske and Godoy with visits to the lighthouse, church and Sunmore museum. But ultimately we opted to book the Troll Road tour with Norway Excursions. The reviews are amazing and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to travel that road when we are so close. Really excited about our cruise in Norway this summer.

Specialty dining is not offered in its own package but is available as part of the Premier package which among its many benefits includes two specialty dining credits. If you want more than the two nights included in this package you would just buy them alacarte. Self service laundry is available on all Princess ships or you can send laundry for cleaning or pressing. You will find an order sheet and bag in your stateroom. Laundry is priced by the piece and Princess does not offer prepay or special bag promotions that you find on other lines.

There appears to be a lot of misinformation coming out of the Princess call center these days. I think a lot of these reps are new and probably hastily trained. Also, it appears they may be heavily incentivized to upsell the new packages so there may be a tendency to mislead people about how onboard credits can be used. Rest assured you can use your casino booking deposit credit for any onboard expense charged against your account, including casino charges.

Very concerning that they clearly have an elevator on the Sky with serious issues that need to be addressed. We had never been on any other Princess ship where an elevator was taken out of service for the entire length of the cruise. I hope they get this issue fixed before our cruise next summer. This sounds like a real safety concern and I applaud you for trying to bring this issue to the attention of someone higher on the chain at Princess since you were brushed aside onboard. Thank you for raising this issue!

While it’s true that in our experience Princess has relaxed any enforcement of the guidelines, the guidelines have not changed and it is still stated shorts are not acceptable attire in the MDR at dinner. However, it seems unlikely that he will be turned away based on actual experiences shared by many here who have reported that shorts seem to be pretty much overlooked these days. I will note though, he will still be in a very, very tiny minority wearing shorts. In our experience most passengers at least make an effort to comply with the basic guidelines so you just don’t see that many aberrations. I’ve maybe seen two or three men wearing shorts at dinner on any of our recent cruises since things became more relaxed. If he’s cool being an outlier, great! It’s your vacation. My DH likes to blend in and gets uncomfortable if he thinks people are staring or judging. It may elicit a few disapproving looks from fellow passengers, but if that doesn’t bother him you will almost certainly get no objection from the host.

I note you were on the Sky Princess in September shortly after our cruise that ended Sept 16. During our entire cruise one of the forward elevators was closed for maintenance which I found odd - it was a 14 day cruise so obviously something that must have required a part or team they were waiting on. I’m just wondering if the elevator you experienced this on was one of the forward elevators? Maybe there were still issues. I’m so sorry you experienced that - it must have been very frightening. I agree you deserved a more caring and professional response and that elevator should have been taken out of service - especially if it was the same one they were clearly experiencing problems with just weeks before.

Have you already paid for the Princess Plus package? It seems like many people wait and pay for it the first day onboard to avoid the added expense it creates by inflating their travel insurance cost. Maybe you can hold off and use your credit to pay for the package and prepay for your excursions instead.

Yes, the onboard credit you get for your $200 deposit on a casino booking can be used for any onboard expense - gratuities, excursions, specialty dining, drinks, wifi, shops onboard, etc. and of course can also be used for casino play. I'm sure you will have no problem using it up!

That’s a very standard excursion that can run anytime of the day. It is highly likely they will adjust the time to align with your port hours and offer it in the afternoon.

When the port time changes from an earlier schedule, Princess works with its vendors to adjust tour times. Trust me - they will still be offering excursion during your 7 hour port stay. What was the excursion you were booked for?

Yes, we have done similar repositioning cruises from LA to Vancouver and the casino opens after the ship leaves Los Angeles and stays open throughout until shortly before the arrival in Vancouver when you enter Canadian waters.

Since Princess discontinued traditional scheduled dining, all of the main dining rooms on the ship (not including specialty dining venues) are considered anytime dining room locations. You can walk in any time during the open hours and request seating at any of them. However, depending on your preferred time you may find yourself waiting in line or having to wait for a table. We prefer to make reservations.

Some Princess ships hold the Elite/Platinum cocktail and hors d’oeuvres evening hours in the Vista Lounge which is close to the aft dining room. It is just a small buffet of pre dinner snacks - cheese, crackers, crudités, pigs in a blanket, etc. And there is a menu of cocktails available at a reduced price - $8 on our last cruise this summer. It’s a nice loyalty perk.

So glad you saved some money by booking direct. It’s criminal that Princess hikes up the price so much. Highway robbery! And yes, I selected Puerto Vallarta. The excursion boards right near where we dock. Looking forward to a fun day there - we can toast with a margarita!

This is great! Thanks for sharing! We will be onboard for New Year's and this just makes me even more excited!

As someone who also prefers a table for two, what I would encourage you to do is make a standing reservation in advance via the app for each night for two people. We generally prefer the midship dining rooms on deck 5 and 6 to the large aft dining room. We like to try to get a separate table for two as opposed to one of the two tops in a long row - you might as well be sitting at a group table. So we try to scout out a table with the host the first evening of our cruise that is one of the free standing, more private tables for two and then we reserve that same table for the remainder of our cruise. That way we can come back each evening to the same table, waitstaff and avoid standing in line.

Every Christmas cruise we have been on with Princess on several different ships have been full of families with kids of all ages and there are tons of activities. There will be plenty to keep them having fun and lots of other teens with whom to hang out.

That is a real bummer! Sorry about that. Thinking back to my experience, I realize that the tour we were booking was our Rome excursion which was very expensive - over $250, so we applied our credits but had to pay a balance as well, so I guess I was just thinking that it was all being applied to both of us, but in reality it probably just paid for his. We owed the balance that wasn't covered by OBC credits which likely was my half.

We will be there just a couple of weeks before you on the Discovery New Year's cruise. We have been to Cabo many times, and you will have plenty of options. I see your port time is 2 - 9 p.m. so you if you prefer a city tour, there are tours that will go to San Jose del Cabo which is the lovely neighboring city with a beautiful plaza and church and plenty of shopping. Or you could do a city tour of Cabo that includes the glass blowing factory. Check out Viator for options if you don't find want you want through the ship tours. Cabo is very easy to do on your own even if you just want to taxi or walk around and take in the scenery and shopping and enjoy some good food. One thing we really enjoy when we have a late port day in Cabo is taking a sunset cruise - really beautiful and plenty of options from which to choose. If you are happy with just a low key beach day, you can take a land taxi or water taxi to Medano Beach and camp out at one of the many restaurants along the way. We like the Sand Bar and their great and super affordable massages on the beach. Enjoy!

UPDATE: I called and spoke directly with Vallarta Adventures this morning and Las Caletas is already reopened and operating as normal and will be totally fine for our Jan 3 excursion. Yay!

I believe the last price I saw for the LAX transfer was $35.

We receive both texts and calls on our Iphone when connected through Medallion Net. We regularly facetime with our family while onboard. Works fine.