40yearcruiser

On 10/25/2019 at 9:39 AM, scottca075 said:

I would make known to Princess at the highest levels, to Carnival Corp and to your travel agent your unhappiness.

I agree that it is important to express your displeasure with the removal of the chairs to the company. If nobody complains the decision-makers will assume we don't care. When you are sent that post-cruise survey, let them know how you feel about it! It is not unreasonable for their customers to expect a comfortable place to sit in their cabin. The regular balcony cabins on all their ships are smaller than on almost every other major cruise line--even the "cheap" ones like Carnival, Norwegian, and RCL, which have a sofa in the cabins. We are elite with Princess and enjoy cruising with them, but are definitely not happy with this decision. Our next 2 Princess cruises are out of Australia (14 days and 29 days) so taking our own chair is not an option. We will ask our cabin steward if getting a chair is possible and hope for the best.

When we were on the Regal last year there were hot chocolate machines in the buffet that I think were available all the time. It might not be as rich as that in the International Café, but I usually fill the cup to 2/3 with the hot chocolate and add milk or cream to fill it up. Makes it a more drinkable temperature and creamier.

If you definitely want to change cruise dates, I think you should go ahead and switch your bookings to the new cruise date and select the cabins you want. If a new promotion comes along you can call Princess, or your TA if you booked that way, and ask to rebook under the new terms. That way you will be able to keep the cabins you selected. You may have to decide whether you want to change dates badly enough to pay the increased cost if no price decreases come along.

Thanks for the information. We just booked on the Golden and I wasn't aware that the barrel chairs have been removed from the balcony cabins. Any explanation from Princess why? We will be on the Golden for 29 days trans-Pacific and my husband will be quite unhappy if there is nowhere to sit in the cabin. I will be sure to ask the steward right away if it is possible to get a 2nd chair, although they don't look very comfortable. 

We have twice stayed in a Deluxe Balcony Obstructed. The cabin is larger than a regular balcony and has a sofabed. The "obstruction" is that it is a bulkhead cabin on deck 8 so is more enclosed (think cove balcony on Carnival). However the balconies are much larger; we stayed in E110 and the balcony was about 3 times the size of a regular balcony. Since there were 3 of us it was perfect.

We are booked on Princess in March 2020 for a Fiji cruise, which includes stops in New Caledonia. There was a notice at the bottom of the booking confirmation about this requirement. If you don't have this confirmation, log into the website and take a look at the travel summary document and the notice should also be there. We are still debating whether the trip insurance is necessary for us because we have overseas coverage on our Blue Cross insurance (I have printed out the information that specifies that travel in New Caledonia is covered) and we also have a separate policy that covers worldwide medical evacuation. We think that should be sufficient but would like to hear from anyone who has been there recently and whether this is something to be concerned about.

We will be on Encore in December and appreciate the suggestions of what to do when we will only be in port in the evening. Will anything be open other than restaurants? Is it safe to walk around the Old Town in the evening, and is it well lighted?

Thanks Underwatr. I'll put a few cans of soda in the bottom of my carryon--If they don't allow me to take them onboard I'll let the security staff enjoy them 😀

Since this is an old thread, I wonder if the Cunard policy on bringing soft drinks onboard is still the same. We will be embarking in Fort Lauderdale.

Sometimes you can find your own "upgrade" after final payment date if the ship is not sold out. On the website select your sailing and do a mock booking to see the current prices and what is available. Many times the prices drop after the final payment date.  If you find a cabin you like better that is available at a cost the same as or lower than what you have paid, call your TA or Personal Cruise Consultant and request a cabin change. For our August sailing we have moved from an inside to a deck 5 midship sheltered balcony on QM2. The current price for the balcony was actually less than what we had paid for the inside, but unfortunately no refund of the difference. We were just happy to get the upgraded cabin at no additional cost. This doesn't always work and not everyone is willing to do the research themselves to find price drops, but if you try you can sometimes find a great deal. 

It really depends on how you wish to use the balcony. If you want a place to sit and relax for several hours a day, you won't get much use of it on a cold climate cruise (Alaska or Norwegian fjords). If you primarily want a place for viewing scenery without looking over someone else's shoulder, a balcony would give you that view in any climate. But not much scenery on a transatlantic cruise. If your cruise has you in port most days you also may not get much use of the balcony. We have cruised worldwide and usually book a balcony cabin because we like having the large windows and being able to step outside to check the weather in the morning and watch arrival and departures in port. However, some cruisers prefer the coziness of an inside cabin and don't miss a balcony while others find them claustrophobic. 

Does the same apply to a northern hemisphere westbound transatlantic in August? Would like morning sun and afternoon shade on balcony. Port or starboard?

I agree that Cunard's US website is useless for booked guests if you want any financial information about your booking. We cruise with many different lines and this is the least user friendly and informational website I've used. Here's hoping Cunard will take a look at other cruiseline sites and make improvements. I personally think Princess has one of the best, and they share their US office with Cunard.

Thanks for all the advice for gala nights. I'm still debating what to wear with my white sparkly top and will try it with different options to decide. For the other gala nights I have long gowns. My husband just bought a new tuxedo so we should look elegant on gala nights.

On the topic of women's dress, for gala evenings the website shows a glittery long gown and a not-so-elegant pantsuit. Must women wear a long gown on gala evenings? For black and white night I am thinking of wearing a knee-length dressy black skirt and white top covered with swirls of gold sequins. Would this be out of place? Do I need to switch to a long skirt? Or would it be better to wear dressy black pants with my white top? 

We will be in Reykjavik for a one day cruise stop and are undecided what to do there. The two main tours seem to be either Golden Circle or South Coast. Since we can do only one, which would you recommend for a first time visit? Pros/cons of each?

We docked in Nynashamn last  year and did the HOHO bus from the port. We thought it was a good choice because it not only gave us transportation into the city and back to the ship but also sightseeing and transportation around the city. It dropped us in a location convenient for walking to the castle and other sights in Gamla Stan and they gave us good instructions for when to meet back at the drop-off point to go back to the ship. We also did the HOHO boat cruise while there.

I hope you have sorted out where the Getaway is docking in Sweden. Last year we did the Baltic cruise on Regal Princess and docked in Nynashamn. We did the HOHO bus with Stromma and they picked up and dropped off at the pier. It was a good way to get into the city, gave us the flexibility to do what we wanted, and less expensive than the ship's tours. 

Thanks to all for the information. We will be there soon.

This will be our first time on HAL. We will on the Veendam. What beverages are available when eating in the buffet and between meals? Is hot chocolate available at any time? 

If you wish to go to Sagrada Familia on your own be sure to buy your tickets online in advance. If you don't have an advance ticket you will find the line very long and slow. The metro has a stop just outside the church so if your hotel is near a metro line it's very easy to go without a tour. If you go on your own you can wander around as long as you like. When you buy your ticket you must specify a date and time and if you want to visit just the sanctuary or also go up in one of the towers. Be sure to allow time to walk around the outside of the church-- it's amazing.

If your main interest in visiting Greece is to see the islands, a cruise will give you a good overview. However, if you want an in-depth look at the historic areas of Greece (Athens, Delphi, Olympia, etc.) you will be better selecting a land tour. We have done both, and both were wonderful. The ideal would be to combine a land tour and cruise if you have the time (and money) to do so.

On 2/24/2019 at 10:37 PM, sammiedawg said:

Buyer beware on this ship. 

Why? and beware of What?  We just booked this ship for a first cruise on HAL (we've done almost 50 other cruises on various lines so no novice cruisers). I know it's an older and smaller ship, but besides that what are the problems with it?

Does Cunard also offer a coach transfer from the Brooklyn terminal to JFK? Can you reserve it onboard or must you reserve it in advance? Our cruise isn't until late August and so far there is nothing offered on the website. Do you know the cost of the transfer? Our flight is at 3 pm so I don't know if we would have time for a sightseeing tour with airport dropoff. 

On 2/26/2019 at 6:47 PM, AnnaNicole said:

Is your policy just for medivac?  Does it cover medical expenses?  Is it primary over your health insurance plan?

 

Where did you purchase your policy?

 

TIA

The policy we bought does not cover medical expenses but will cover medical evacuation by helicopter, plane, or ambulance worldwide. It also offers assistance in planning the evacuation and also covers transportation for those traveling with you. It pays after any medical insurance, so is basically catastrophic coverage. Thankfully we haven't had to use it so no personal experience with it yet, but have been on ships four times when there have been helicopter evacuations of passengers or crew and know those must have cost a fortune. Also on one transatlantic our ship diverted to Bermuda where it anchored offshore and a medical evacuation boat came out to pick up a passenger and his family. Scary stuff! Our policy is with MASA, website masaglobal.com  and we have the Medical Transport Solutions lifetime policy. It's pricey but if we ever need it overseas I'm sure it will pay for itself. Like all insurance, you hope to never need it.