Crystaltipps67

We recently missed a Spanish port (Cadiz) due to bad weather and instead we went straight to the next port (Gibraltar) and spend an extra night there. We received a refund (about $9) in OBC a couple of days later. I am guessing that this was the balance of the refunded Cadiz fees less the additional Gibraltar fees but it didn't specify the details.

We went straight to Guest Services when we boarded and they added it. It was working by the time we had walked the few paces to Bellinis! The risk of buying on board though is that Princess might increase the price between now and your sailing.

We had the Sky Hotel General Manager (Miguel) at our meet and mingle and I asked him the specific question about whether it was OK to share and just use one Plus credit. And he said yes it was.

On Sky in Ocean Terrace we asked to just order 1 meal and share it and use one of our 4 'Plus credits'. They had no problem with that at all and happily brought us 2 sets of chopsticks.

On Sky earlier this month we ate 4 times at Ocean Terrace, each time ordering just a single meal and sharing it.

We had this dilemma. I decided to wait until on board (Sky) and went straight (well, after I'd got a glass of Prosecco in my hand) to the restaurant we wanted to book (The Catch). I was able to get the days and times I wanted and they had lots of availability.

We were on Sky last month and I sought out the almond croissants after reading so many folk say how amazing they were. I was sorely disappointed. They were small, hard (even after asking for them to be heated) and had little to no almond paste inside them. Same for the strawberry croissants, which looked amazing but tasted of flat zero.

We are Brits, so no medallions in advance, but we've always found boarding in Southampton to be really quick. We generally arrive for 10am when baggage drop opens. Queue for a couple of minutes to drop baggage. Queue in the terminal for a couple of minutes to check in and get medallion. Sometimes it's straight through to security and straight on board. Sometimes you sit in a holding area for a few minutes (we sat for 10 mins last month) before security. I had a glass of Prosecco in my hand by 1045 😃

We've not received a final invoice yet. We had $200 each non-refundable and then an additional $80 each that didn't show as non-refundable (some credited on board for a trip that missed off half the itinerary, and some for a missed port). But my folio on the final day said 'Total refundable $0, total non-refundable $2.30. so I didn't go to GS. We had bought trips, speciality dining and booze in the shop to spend as close as we could to the full amount, so $2.30 remaining of $560 total was pretty good in my book.

That's not my experience recently on Sky. We had a mixture of both and at the end of the cruise we had $2 credit remaining (nothing that cheap to buy anywhere on board!!). The folio showed zero to return to us, as they used all the refundable first. Not in the slightest bothered for that small an amount, but it was interesting that they did it that way.

We were on Sky a week ago and yes, the production shows were shown for a 3rd time during a sea day afternoon. Times varied from, I think, 1330 to 1630 depending on the show. It certainly helped with getting a seat at the evening performances!

Oh this will turn into a fun topic! In my opinion Take Five is the nicest bar area. Bit of jazz. We never had a problem getting a seat. Great cocktails (try the Atomic Pom if you like chilli - it's amazing). Not been in a ini suite but I know they have a bath so this tip may not be needed - take heavy pegs like you would use to pin a beach towel to a chair) and use them to weigh down the shower curtain so it doesn't flap against your legs. Others swear by taking magnetic hooks/clips for use on the cabin walls but we've never felt the need to hang stuff on the walls. The evening shows fill up quickly - we would grab a drink from Take Five about 45 mins before the show and go sit in the theatre and people watch. It's high quality entertainment that is sometimes better than the show itself. We take those mini squirty bottles of concentrated Robinsons squash. They take up no space and make a change from water when heading off ship. We also take a couple of clothes washing detergent capsules - saves buying the Princess stuff if you need to do any laundry. Embarkation day - if you are on board in time have lunch in the dining room rather than the buffet. Only one will be open but if you ask staff 'which dining room is open' they should tell you although they like to try and push folk to the buffet instead. It's a lovely relaxed way to start the holiday. And probably biggest tip of all - don't sweat the small stuff. Things will bug you. Not everything may go smoothly. But overall you'll have a great time. Oh, and find your roll call and join it. Good place to discuss excursions, join up to share costs etc. Hope that helps 🙂

Honestly, although we love the US we have had to stop travelling there as the tipping culture seems to be so out of control and it would totally stress us out to the point where we would not be able to enjoy ourselves. We've heard stories of serving staff chasing people out of restaurants if they have left less than 25%. Probably just myth but when I read stories like yours I'm tempted to believe them!

OP is from the UK where we don't have 'cancel for any reason' insurance (as that isn't actually insurance in our meaning of the word) nor do we have medicare (and any private medical insurance the OP has will be v unlikely to cover treatment for existing conditions abroad).

We got that offer for our upcoming Med cruise (next month). But the two I booked ages ago to use up OBC are still more expensive even after the 20% 'discount' compared to what I paid. It seems to be a sham.