pris993

Good be, I would not know the difference.

Have not done the flights you are talking about but have done similar traveling from San Francisco going thru Paris to Israel with short time for transfers. This was prior to the Pandemic but I recall going through Passport control, there was a shorter line for those making connections, then directed through areas of the airport where we never left a secure area to get to our connecting flight. Mention because similar to what someone else reported. Always a concern when short on time, I would still make sure liquids in carryon meet requirements just in case. Have a good trip.

Good for you, I don't have any more store front TAs where I live.

Sorry can't help you with that, I saw on Princess' website. Saw it when I was doing a mock booking to check out a possible cruise I want to book when on board in December. If you have booked a cruise, you may try doing a mock booking and see what comes up.

I actually saw doing a mock booking that $100 pp credit was restricted to shore excursions, maybe not on all cruises but happened to be on cruise I was looking at.

Have no need to book excursions my dh speaks 5 languages; we have been very capable of exploring locations on our own. We spend plenty, always book a mini suite, now we even booking a beverage package. I have enjoyed researching locations and picking up a driver in port. Everyone spends their travel dollars as they please, nothing wrong with that, enjoy your excursions.

If the credit is restricted, can't be used for any other items, agree it will disappear if not used. This is a sign Princess is in trouble and trying to figure out how to get passengers to spend more money. It is a business strategy.

We buy a future booking credit, book directly with Princess. Advantages I have experienced is get OBC with FBC used as deposit, usually get launch fare, get cabin we like request - no upgrade, monitor booking and if fare comes down request new fare. Used TAs years ago, did not see any advantage, liked small brick and mortar agents, they don't exist anymore. Have found dealing with cruise lines directly easy to do.

I agree, given the restrict, it is obvious Princess is forcing folks to go on shore excursions and to spend more money. We rarely booked shore excursions, in 60+ cruises over the years, I can count on one hand when we booked one vs exploring on our won.

Saw the promotion, only thing I saw is the OBC of $100 pp must be spent on shore excursions.

I book when on board, never use a cruise rep, if I need something go thru the main line. No problem at all.

I have been cruising since l982, on 9 different lines, never heard or saw this until the past year. Like you have no interest in this one bit.

Did one cruise in January, pleasant, not too crowded. Service outstanding, variety in food was less so but considering everything we are booked again for this December over holidays. Made final payment already, see ship is not fully booked yet. Maybe less full again, which would be fine for us. We only need to take a taxi to the ship; I feel for folks trying to fly into ports with so many flights being cancelled frequently. Cruise lines are having a hard time. I looked into booking a December 2023 cruise, see cruise line only asking for $1 deposit, offering $100 pp OBC which must be used for a ship excursion. That tells me cruise line looking for money.

It has been some years since we were on a cruise returning from Mexico, with stop in San Diego. What I recall is all passengers had to get off the ship, Customs and Immigration cleared the ship, took some time, don't recall if we had to show anything when reboarding. I recall we all had to get off because we had not planned to get off, we have been to San Diego many times. We did not have a choice since part of the process.

I think NCL provided a ship to help with an emergency in New Orleans some years back. Any rate am sure NYC can figure it out.

Had a similar incident on the Queen Victoria at midnight, like you we were in bed. My dh got up and got dressed. I stayed in bed to waited for further instructions. Captain came on announced false alarm. Folks need to use common sense. Next day we learned an island bird, we were off the coast of Bermuda, had gotten into the funnel and cause the problem.

I don't know if true, maybe you do given your emergency experience, but some reports were that some survived who did not follow directions to return to their cabins. That registered with me, sometimes one does need to use one's own common sense in an emergency.

Yes, as a former federal employee, this would be the case. This is how the feds do business.

We cruised in spring and fall a lot, avoiding the summer season. Would say, some of our favorites were Transatlantic, Baltic and Mediterranean both western and eastern.

If you cruise for perks then maybe cruising is not for you anymore. After 60+ cruises, the perks don't mean much to me. I just want to cruise and stay healthy while on board. I would rather they up their game on quality of food, entertainment vs come up with give aways.

I am elite on Princess and Celebrity, still prefer Princess to Celebrity, at least did before the Pandemic. I guess we made the right decision years ago when we elected cruises based on itineraries and for the fun of cruising on new ships. Over the years we cruised on 9 different lines well over 60 cruises, lost count. Going on our 31st Princess cruise in December this year. At 90/75, we no longer care to fly, so only do closed loop cruises out of San Francisco. That leaves Princess and Carnival as our only choices. Never cruised on Carnival, don't plan to in the future. While a lot has changed on Princess over the years, I am happy to be able to still cruise and just be at sea. It is relaxing. Sorry folks are losing benefits, does not seem like a smart business decision on the part of Princess.

I have boarded ships in foreign ports where tents where used to process everyone. So common practice. As I say hope you have a great cruise and all works out.

This is the way it has always been handled; port always has sufficient signage directing you to where you need to go. In 60+ cruises have never received an email with directions and that is true for all cruise lines I have taken. Relax. Keep your eyes open for directions when you get to the port. Hope you have a great cruise.

Thanks for your response, my DH has dementia so it is like he is a 2 year old at times. I will have to make him understand he needs to do so to stay well and then watch him carefully.

Did you all stay well? I ask because going on Royal in December with a 90 year old, he is not good about wearing masks, will try and he has to use elevators.