Lady Arwen

We always book mini suites now and we pull the shower curtain halfway across the tub and secure the curtain to the inside side wall of the tub with waterproof tape. Lasts the entire cruise and removes easily without leaving a mark.

The OP sailed on Caribbean Princess, not Crown.

The same for us. Works like a charm every time. We call it Traditional My Way lol!

Sorry, but why should the OP not be posting on the Princess boards? His review was regarding his Princess cruise, for better or worse. This is, after all, Cruise Critic, which means everyone’s opinion is welcome, not just those who praise the cruiselines. What is the point of discussion if you can’t be honest. And, yes we do care. You should care, too.

I’m guessing “Private”

Exactly, what we’ll do. I really don’t want to spend time trying to find something else that’s suitable to save at most $10.00. If there’s an issue with it onboard, I’m sure that it will be fixed/replaced for free.

Honestly, there is no one to inform. Contact tracing was eliminated years ago. You could send a generic email to Princess that would be deleted as soon as read. It sounds like a very responsible thing to do, but in reality it would be an effort in futility.

Honesty, Princess doesn’t even want to know. What happens after you disembark is no longer their problem or their concern. They love folks like you who didn’t test positive on their watch. Hope you feel better soon!

Their cruise was in June 2022. Sorry, but it’s unlikely they will see your comment.

If you go to Cruise Critic main page and scroll down to Ports Of Call it will offer what you need. Just click on each port you want to check out. Also check out your specific sailing in Roll Calls and chat with your fellow passengers. You can obtain a wealth of information from them. Welcome to Cruise Critic!

We’ve booked Princess transfers Southampton to LHR for September and it’s $75.00 (CA) each.

I think that’s great news. At least it’s a start in the right direction and shows that Princess is making an effort.

We’re sailing on Rotterdam TA and very excited. We really love this class of ship. Please let us know all about your cruise when you return.

We have the Plus Package booked and I can’t even imagine wanting one of these concoctions! I was hoping for a superior chocolate cake or premium ice cream or luscious cheesecake. Just looks like a hot mess to me. Oh, Princess, what have you done?

For us, not bad at all because we’re very used to motion on cruiseships. However, if you’re sensitive to motion it may be an issue. The Pacific Ocean can be tough at times. Only you know how effected you are by motion. Also, you could use meds to help you. Honestly, the views are magnificent from these balconies and you get a nice little love seat with an ottoman/coffee table that you don’t get in a standard balcony.

One of our favourite cabins, if we can’t book a mini suite, is the deluxe obstructed cabins on Lido deck. We usually try for L101 because the balcony is wider and longer by a lot! Love the location. However, it does get windy at sea and you do feel the motion of the ocean in that location. None of these bother us in the least. Also, you do have to close your curtains in the evening in order not to interfere with the navigation on the bridge. For Alaska, your view will be breathtaking, exactly the same view as the captain! I have to ask what month you’re sailing, because I highly doubt it’s February! Sorry, but our Alaska cruises were not with Princess, but I’m sure there are members here who can address this part of your question. Enjoy Alaska!

Thanks for sharing your experience. We are prepared for a bit of a let down in the MDR, but we are so happy to be sailing this itinerary and we’re just not going to let it bother us. If necessary, we’ll eat in the specialty restaurants. I’ve heard from quite a few people who’ve had the same experience as you and it seems to be fleet wide.

We’re using Blackberry Cars. Highly recommend them. Great service and very nice cars. We’re using a Princess transfer at disembarkation since our flight to Toronto is at 4:00 pm. Also, we’re staying for two nights in Southampton prior to our cruise. Such a lovely city to visit.

We’re also sailing on Regal British Isles itinerary in September and we’re really sailing for the ports and we love embarking in Southampton. We regularly sail with Celebrity, but we’re going on Regal with no predetermined expectations. Will the food be as good as Celebrity? Maybe not. However, we will still have a nice dinner in the MDR with a few glasses of wine and we will still enjoy ourselves. Please come back here in July after your sailing and let us know all about it. We’re very much looking forward to our cruise in September!

Princess had for years offered a coffee card with 15 drinks that could carry over from one cruise to the next and then it evolved into the New Grounds Coffee Package with no carry over of unused drinks. Coffee drinkers have always loved to have this available, especially those who don’t need an alcohol package. Yes, this has now become a thing of the past, sadly. However, I must point out that most other cruise lines have never offered this type of package for coffee drinkers. We’ve always had to buy our specialty coffees, which can add up. Yes, I think that Princess is strongly encouraging their guests to purchase Princess Plus or Premiere, as is every cruiseline right now pushing their Extras Packages, except, of course, luxury brands that are all inclusive. It’s the new way and like it or not it’s become a standard of the cruise industry.

We like Princess, but we love HAL and Celebrity. Our next Princess cruise is in September on Regal to use up a bunch of FCC and it will probably be our last for the near future. We have a few booked on Celebrity and HAL for 2024. The non smoking policy keeps calling us back to Celebrity and now HAL has a few nonsmoking ships, too. The food in the MDR is comparable on all lines and is so subjective. Princess cabins are small and unless you have a deluxe balcony on Royal class or a suite, there is no loveseat or sofa to relax on while watching tv or even having a coffee. The bathrooms on Princess are very sad. Very small showers with a silly old shower curtain. Most cruiselines, including HAL, have switched to larger, glass enclosed shower stalls. Celebrity Edge class ships have bathrooms, in all categories, that are simply wonderful. No upper forward facing lounge, such as the incredible Crows Nest, on HAL. No retractable roof over the pool. HAL buffets are not self serve, eliminating substantial germ cross contamination. We will enjoy our Regal cruise because we love the itinerary, staff and crew are always exemplary, IC is delightful, and we have a mini suite giving us a large sofa and a nice sized bathroom. We are very much looking forward to this sailing, but then it will be time to move on. We may consider Princess again in the future, if it ticks all the boxes.

As I mentioned, my CVP said it is possible on some sailings, depending on the date of sailing, the itinerary and ship. You are one of the lucky ones. For me, it’s really not a big deal to just rebook a few excursions. I don’t book air with Princess. I refuse to sit on hold to get through to a regular reservation agent. I call my CVP and either talk to her or leave a voice message. She takes care of everything for me and I like that.

Exactly what happened to us two weeks ago. Our British Isles cruise in September went down $1693 (ca) for our mini suite. Called our CVP and she said she could not do a refare, but only a new booking and cancelling the original. We had booked and paid for our excursions, too, but worth starting over to save that amount of money. Luckily, our Princess Plus and OBC stayed the same. Our deposit was refunded to us and we gave a new deposit to secure the booking. We did get a new booking number. I had a conversation with our CVP and she said that most of the time now, refares will be turned into new bookings. Gone are the days when you could count on getting a lower fare applied to your existing reservation. It can happen, but only on designated sailings. She said she really doesn’t know why Princess can’t do this anymore, since other lines do it routinely. She said there is no possible way to even simply change the fare, as there is a process in place that will not allow them to do so.

When we were last on Koningsdam, we told the Maître’d on the first day we only eat fish and seafood, no meat or fowl. We chose our apps, salad, soup, etc. from the menu and our waiter would bring us our main dish of fish, veg and potato. It was a different fish every night and prepared perfectly. Previously on other HAL ships we just ordered off the menu and took whatever fish they had. HAL always makes sure that you have the best dining experience and will happily work with you to make sure you enjoy every meal.

I think you’re right. The Kafetzis brothers are most likely preparing for their taking of Ascent. Not sure when they officially start their duties, but I think it would be months ahead of her sail out. Captain Kate was very involved for quite some time before taking over Beyond. Will be interesting to see how it all evolves over the next year.