PescadoAmarillo

We have had similar things happen in a series of B2B cruises. For example, we might not be able to get the cabin location we want for the first cruise, so we take the best available, and book the location we do want on subsequent cruises. Even if we have to move, the moves are simple and close. Then Princess, noticing that we are on B2B cruises, and despite having the reservations marked no upgrade, will move us into the first cabin for the second cruise, and so on. We have not always been successful in getting the original cabin back.

She has posted pics on another social media site. I would NOT want to have my “outdoor space” located on public space. You can’t look out at the ocean in the same way at all. Princess needs to get a handle on this issue (which, as others have stated) comes up more often than it should (which is never)), especially since they are now charging extra to choose a specific cabin.

Were you able to apply a credit, or did you have to pay in full and wait for a credit from the cancelled reservations?

We enjoyed Blackstone Bay even more than College Fjord, but the entire 26 glacier cruise was wonderful.

The WiFi charges are troubling and you are going to have to go after them to get them reversed. Princess makes these kinds of last minute, erroneous charges too often, and they are usually hard to disprove (like drinks or massages), but with the Plus package, it should make it easier. The “referred to corporate finance” amount is Princess accounting-ese for “you’ll eventually be getting a check in the mail for that amount”.

This one left me scratching my head, because I know I’ve seen Cholula on board over the years. DH confirms and has seen it recently at the pizza place on the Lido Deck on the Regal.

I have enormously enjoyed all of your posts and photos (and those of the others who contributed as well). I was originally scheduled to be on a few of the Sapphire cruises this winter, but had to cancel. Following along with your travels was almost the same as being there myself. Many thanks. I have a question, though about volcanos. I was in that area over 20 years ago, and had taken these two photos. I know the first is Osorno but I never knew the name of the second. Do you think it’s Tronador? Of course these peaks look different depending on viewing angle, but perhaps, having just been there, you would recognize it. Thank you.

Yep. Several of us had reached that point before the Royal Class ships came out. IMO, they offer nothing to compensate for the loss of the features you mentioned, and I don’t see that changing with the Sun Class.

Walk me through the accounting of this, since you seem to know how taxes and payroll carrying costs are affected by the auto tips. Because I truly don’t understand. Are these off- P&L and balance sheet transactions? Or is there a separate pool of cash somewhere ON the balance sheet offset by crew wages payable on the balance sheet? If the tips are pooled (and Princess flat out states that they are) where do they exist from the time they are collected until they are paid out? I’m not sure how Princess tax payments are affected since they aren’t paying US taxes on foreign employees working outside the US anyway. Or are they? But I do understand one thing you said, and that is that a loophole exists. Do we trust that Princess will take care of its crewmembers if everyone exercises that loophole? Because that’s really what people are counting on if they opt to take advantage of the loophole.

We were on the Sapphire in Alaska last summer and spent most of our time on those back decks. We noticed no smoke and no soot at all.

I agree that you have to be on top of the ticketing aspect of EZ Air. With our flights to Vancouver last summer, I expected to wake up 44 days before the flight and see that our tickets had been purchased (in the past, Princess had emailed us ticket numbers on that day). I immediately called Princess and at first got the run around. Finally they said our outbound flight would be ticketed by the end of that day (44 days pre-flight) but the inbound would not be ticketed until 45 days before that flight (14 days away). I said I would hold on the call until the outbound flight was ticketed, and I did. And then I saw they had ticketed the inbound flight at the same time. Squeaky wheel and all that.

He posted very early on that he had put a hold on the cruise. Perhaps his plans have changed…but then his post above doesn’t make sense. 🤷‍♂️

I know! I saw you on the roll call. Plenty of time to catch up on board!

So not necessarily a condemnation of EZ Air today. Good to know.

😆😆😆

I’m not sure. We still haven’t booked it, but I’ve been lurking on the Roll Call. I keep checking airfare thinking that if it suddenly skyrockets, I can finally dismiss the possibility of being on the ship but airfare has been really reasonable. DH would be flying from FLL through Houston and Auckland but I would probably go on the United flight from LAX. ETA I have actually booked the hotel in Sydney but it is refundable.

Here is a flight I’ve been watching for a while. The first pic below is EZ Air pricing; the second is the same flight booked direct through United. EZ Air is about half the price of booking direct.

Are you saying that the routing changed after you (she) booked the flight?

This is a fairly frequent occurrence and a big deal, but you might not realize it until it affects you the first time. I’m a big fan of one way flight reservations for all travel, not just cruises.

Great review. Thank you!

And tipping threads, and COVID threads. Thankfully, the years of “jeans in the dining room” threads are long behind us. One step forward, two steps back, I think.

You should be fine. The form (attached above) states that flights after 11am qualify. It is a wonderful program (can’t emphasize that enough).

These are the only docs I photographed. Hope they help.

Princess announced an itinerary change for the WC. https://www.cnn.com/travel/red-sea-tensions-disrupting-cruises/index.html

The crew doesn’t care which currency tips are in. In recent years, we’ve given all of our leftover local currency away in tips, especially in Asia where we had 4 or 5 different currencies.