mum and son

t works John. What an incredible resource! It's very generous of you to share such an amazing tool. I can't even imagine how much time that took you. Even if I had 57,000 years I still couldn't have done it! 🥂

This is what it says when I click the link: Oops! This attachment is not available. It may have been removed or the person who shared it may not have permission to share it to this location.

That did occur to me, and is an excellent suggestion. I was scared if I asked if I could do it that they would then make ME do it. I'm in Australia but I booked through an agent in the US so I'm doing all of my communication in the middle of the night (the agency opens at 11pm my time) so I'm probably not at peak persuasiveness. Need to get my act together!

If only I had a balcony this time 🥺. As my first solo trip I think I'm in the absolute lowest category of cabin, perhaps I'm even working in the laundry... I could possibly encourage my friend to perform some public area drunken antics, which wouldn't be too much of a stretch! Should have the same outcome.

Yes I think it's risky, but such a shame it can't be arranged as part of the booking process. I might hit my agent up to work a bit harder on it.

Are you downlineing or "uplineing" ? - yes, aware it's a made up word 🤣. I read that thread with interest, so thanks for posting. It seems most are referring to boarding the ship at a later port than the original embarkation port, which seems like a much harder task than getting off early. I've actually arranged for family members to board late twice before, but in Australia, and long pre-covid, and on P&O. Are you aiming to board later, or disembark earlier? My post on the Princess board has received a lot of replies while I was sleeping. It was suggested, if Princess declined the request, that my friend just disembarks in Mexico and calls the port authority to say they won't be returning and I would then deal with their suitcase once in LA.

I actually asked this exact question. People miss the ship all the time! I was told we would be questioned if someone carried a suitcase off the ship, but otherwise it could be "left" with me, as I'll head straight to the airport from the ship when we arrive in LA it wouldn't be too much bother.

Thanks, yes, Princess have confirmed that I can add the extra person. I think there's quite a lot of availability on the cruise. Thanks for your well wishes. This weekend we'll decide whether to roll those dice!

The cruise was a last minute booking so it's well within final payment. So far I haven't been able to get any further than "apply after you're booked the person". At least if it was a "no" that would be helpful but I haven't got anywhere.

Yes, you are correct. My friend needs to book before they will consider it, which is the biggest issue. According to the Princess forum, Puerto Vallarta is the place to do it because it is a major port and a lot of the crew embark/disembark there. But our hands are tied because they will not consider until the cruise is booked for my friend.

Thank you for all of these useful suggestions. The issue is Princess won't discuss until the person is booked and paid, but my friend can't commit without knowing they can disembark. So its stuck at a crossroads!

Appreciate your advice but it's my cabin they'll be adding to and I'm managing that booking, so I'm happy to make one call/post about it. I would like my friend to come so I'm happy to waste 10 minutes of my time.

Thank you. Yes, I wondered about the USA/Mexico thing. At least nobody has built a wall... yet.

Sure is. I think I found out the spelling at a pub trivia. Nobody knew how to spell it and it was actually visible from the pub! 😹

Not quite. It's actually Mount Coot-tha. Hard to believe I know, but, after decades of seeing it written is passing, I refused to believe this was the actual spelling, and what appeared on road signage etc. But it is.

Hi crew, I've asked this over on the Princess board but they're probably all asleep. and I got nowhere over the phone with Princess. On a cruise from Fort Lauderdale to LA, could you disembark in one of the Mexican ports, Puerto Vallarta or Huatulco, instead of the final port of LA? I'm booked and a friend is considering coming along but has other commitments and wants to fly home a few days early. Would there be an issue? Thank you all.

Guess what ship I ended up booking? Emerald Princess 🤣. I was so confused about ships and destinations and flights, and making it all come together - but it finally did and I'm super pleased! Paid in full today.

I came here to ask this exact question, and I'm very happy to read these responses. I'll be using my OBC to purchase when I board. Yay!

Hi all, I'm booked on a Panama Canal cruise that travels from Fort Lauderdale to LA. I have a friend who would like to come along but has another commitment a couple of days before the end of the cruise. Would Princess allow my friend to disembark in Puerto Vallarta or Huatulco? I would call but I'm on the other side of the world and seem to be sleeping or working when the call centre is open! Thanks.

I've been keeping an eye on your Japan thread. Are the Japanese ports close to the towns? I've cruised quite a bit in Thailand and Vietnam and often the ports are a couple of hours from the nearest city (and to think people complain about the distance to the new Brisbane terminal 🤣). I think the far away ports would be more difficult for a solo traveller, as that's looking more likely for me.

Thanks for the info. It appears the cruise world is divided on MSC. I agree that it is the Asian itinerary that I see as the positive and the negative. I suspect from the price I have found that the ship is nowhere near full, which is a good thing, and a bad thing for me if I travel solo. I could not be more confused!

Thanks very much for that, I'll get reading!

I'm interested to hear answers to this question as well. I'm a deal shopper so usually go with the cheapest prices but, post covid, if the price difference is small (which it usually is) I have been booking direct with the cruise line. If I do a really last minute cruise then I may grab a cheaper price through an online agent, knowing full well that I won't get any service and I won't be able to reach them to make changes if necessary. I have previously had great agents overseas, back when the AUD was stronger and there was value in booking o/s, but that's less of an option now. I would love a great TA based here, but checking pricing etc is like my hobby so I'd probably annoy the agent too much and they'd sack me 😆.

Thank you for this, it definitely puts my mind at ease. I have found an incredible solo price for my potential MSC cruise so, even if I was travelling with my friend, I would've booked us a room each.

Interesting point of view. Thanks for your thoughts. To be honest, when I went on the Jade I was in a 2 bedroom Haven Villa in the Med and I honestly didn't venture much into the main part of the ship as we had keycard access to our own private floor with pool, gym, restaurant etc, and this cruise would be in an inside guarantee cabin, so vastly different. My cousins recently cruised MSC in Europe and loved it, and we're pretty similar and cruise together a lot. I just don't know what to think. I've also read the reviews and wonder if we'll fit the MSC from Japan demographic. I've found a deal that is so cheap I'm almost tempted to give it a try. I've never been on a cruise I didn't enjoy so I'm pretty easy to please, but I do feel a responsibility to my travel companion.