Paula_MacFan

The last time we had a full suite we still had the option of full room service breakfast on disembarkation day. We ordered omelets and other expanded menu items. That seemed like a nice compromise to us. Every other day we enjoyed the mimosa breakfast at Sabatini's!

On our recent cruise our steward left a stack of them at the beginning of the cruise.

If there's something you definitely want to do on your cruise, then I'd advise booking as soon as they open up. We have several cruises booked right now and just took a European cruise in Sept/Oct. For all booked and recently taken cruises our preferred excursions sold out (some months in advance) and went up in price. For our upcoming Alaska cruise some have been sold out for quite awhile now, and the ones that haven't, the prices have gone up anywhere from $10 to $50 per person. If you change your mind you can get a refund, with some specific exceptions which are detailed in Princess' cancellation policy. Have a great cruise, the one you're doing is on our bucket list! 🙂

We looked into that for our cruise but it was for flights after 4pm. Our flight left at 1:30 which was a better time for us logistically, so we did Stonehenge on the way to the ship. Next time we hope to do the Windsor Castle transfer.

I totally agree and only posted the prices since the OP asked about transfer prices and someone else posted a Stonehenge transfer for $66 (I assume USD) which is considerably less than IF. 🙂 I was very comfortable with IF since they are highly rated and recommended.

I didn't see another thread when I posted (I try to look before starting duplicate threads) so we must have been posting at about the same time. This one has my subject line so that surprised me when it showed someone else's name. Thanks for the explanation 🙂

We've always been able to select seats at the time of booking, but some airlines won't let you until final payment. Also I think it can depend on if it's a code share flight, where it's operated by one airline but booked by another. Sorry that doesn't really help you now, but might explain the confusion. I try to only book flights that allow us to select seats at the time of booking because I don't like leaving those things to chance. You may have to decide if it's worth looking for another flight option or asking Princess to ticket you early in order to select seats. I am hesitant to do that because as someone else already mentioned you then give up the option to refare if prices decrease before final payment is due. Good luck 🙂

We did the International Friends transfer with Stonehenge in September too, but it was $100GBP. It looks like it has gone up to $120GBP now. I didn't recommend it earlier because the OP asked specifically about the cost of Princess transfers, but we would recommend the IF option highly. They picked us up on time from our hotel and we had a great guide. We were in London several days in advance so it worked well for us, but for those flying in the same day it might be a bit much logistically.

Last year they had 2023 posted for the whole year, but it looks like for 2024 they are posting by the month. Hopefully they will get the rest of 2024 uploaded soon 🙂 I just realized that I started this thread but now it says it was started by someone else. Maybe multiple thread got merged. Never had this happen before.

https://www.mahoganybaycc.com/port-schedule.aspx

Those are the same type of things that made me nervous after reading HostCJSKIDs thread about her itinerary changes, and I started watching the port schedules closely. I posted on our roll call about my concerns but most people said it had to be a calendar mistake, Princess wouldn't cancel us. Well here we are..... I would suggest you do the same (watch the port calendar) and be prepared for adjustments. I've always been understanding of last minute changes due to weather etc and have been on several other cruises where our itinerary was changed for weather and safety reasons. But these 'port congestion' excuses that are seemingly obvious weeks/months in advance don't seem in good faith.

Sorry this happened to you. We've had good luck with EZ Air, but I still obsessively check our flights daily for schedule or price changes. I also use the airline apps which usually send update messages. It sounds like in this case maybe that wouldn't have helped but glad you caught it. Hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly!

The other unfortunate thing about the port swap is they aren't really comparable. Mahogany Bay has a nice dock area with a free, easy access beach, for a relaxing and relatively inexpensive day. Belize is a tender port with no easy beach access. For those who wanted a nice beach stop the swap is probably not going to be well received. We've been to both so I have experienced these ports before.

Regal has been sailing from Galveston for awhile now, while the Carnival Celebration (the other large ship that bumped us) just came to Galveston with much fanfare on December 20th. I assume it's because they have been pushing this 'new' larger ship from Galveston and it has much larger passenger capacity vs Regal. I'm no port expert, but simple math told me weeks ago that a ship with passenger capacity of 6,500 + ship with passenger capacity of 3,600 = more than the Mahogany Bay stated capacity of 8,000. I find it rather shady that Princess continued to sell MB excursions up until yesterday when they've obviously known for some time there wasn't enough room for both. Oh well -- off to Belize we go 🙂 Beats a day at work!

I think, as the OP mentioned, if you book with a TA you can't book your own transfers or see that option in the Personalizer. Back when we used a TA we had to have them book the transfers, but now that we book direct we have the ability to see them and book ourselves in the Personalizer.

Thanks! I am actually fine with the port change. We've been to Belize before but it was a long time ago so I'm sure we'll find something to do. I'm just annoyed that Princess has obviously known about this 'port congestion' for some time but has yet to notify anyone. Until today they were still selling Mahogany Bay beach activity excursions, which seems rather disingenuous.

I just stumbled across the change in itineray for our upcoming Regal cruise January 21 from Galveston. We were supposed to be in Roatan at Mahogany Bay on Thursday January 25, but will now call on Belize instead. I have been watching the website port schedule ever since @Host CJSKIDS thread on her last minute itinerary changes. The Regal has never shown on the Mahogany Bay website port schedule since it was released for 2024 several weeks ago, so obviously Princess has known about this change for some time. I thought it was unlikely we would actually dock in MB since another Carnival ship was scheduled to be there with 6,500 potential passengers. I have yet to be notified by Princess of this change and only saw it when I logged into the Personalizer. My booked excursions for MB are gone so I will wait for my refund. No excursions are yet available for Belize. My Travel Summary now says: 'Itinerary Change: Please be advised that due to cruise ship congestion in Roatan, Honduras, Regal Princess will no longer call to Roatan on Thursday, January 25, 2024. Instead we will now visit Belize City, Belize, from 7:00AM to 5:00PM on the same day.'

Formal dress is only required ('suggested' per the Princess website) at the main dining room and you are free to move about the ship in other venues in casual wear. If you don't want to dress up there are other food options such as the buffet, casual dining depending on your ship, and specialty dining. We've gone on cruises and not taken any formal wear at all, and other times we do dress up once or twice. For cruises where we didn't take formal wear we simply eat in the buffet or book specialty dining. Don't let it stop you from cruising on Princess 🙂

We paid $59 in October but it sounds like the price has gone up 😞

Here is a screen shot of where you find the Travel Summary on the desktop/web version of the Personalizer. The link is in the upper right corner. Also here's a screen shot of my Travel Summary where it lists the vaccination information at the bottom under 'Important Notices'.

Here's a screen shot from the online page. It's the top item where you also print your luggage tags at 75 days out. If you're on the desktop version it's in the top right hand side of the page with the same heading. The Travel Summary is the primary document for your cruise, with the itinerary, flights, excursions, packages, OBC, invoice & payment, etc. Highly suggest you keep a PDF copy.

I might need a refresher on this saga, but has the buddy not logged into the Personalizer to look at his booking? No excursions booked online? No dining? Surely he has looked at his Travel Summary document? I don't get it.

I'm not defending the OP and think the review is an outlier as someone else up thread already said. I'm just saying there are many people who cruise frequently and aren't members here. I've tried to get some family members to join but they prefer other online forums. So I don't find that odd. I currently have 3 Princess cruises booked so I'm obviously not letting this review influence me too much. We leave in 2 weeks for the next one 🙂

I know lots of people who cruise all the time and aren't members of CC (many family members and co-workers for starters). Especially in this day and age of multiple other online forums. I wouldn't find that odd at all.

Interesting my tracking has an update as of 1/4/24 at 12:49am; however, TODAY right now it's 1/3/24. Time travel must be a new perk. Must be China time. 😋