DaisyRose

We have checked in using the Princess app on our phones.  We are in the green lane.  However, I can not find a way on the Princess web site to print a boarding pass.  Do we need a paper boarding pass, or is the green lane designation on our smart phones enough?  Thanks!

9 minutes ago, Coral said:

Verify those prices with Princess before you make any decisions.

Thanks Coral, I will.  But I think the prices you listed are probably close to accurate.  I had my TA contact Princess, and he told me a little over $600 which is what you thought.

I'm not sure if we will book with Princess and overpay but have a stress free trip, book and find transfers on our own, or possibly even cancel this cruise for an easier vacation.  I have never flown in the day of the cruise, but that is another option, and if I miss the ship, my insurance should cover the missed days and getting me to the ship.  I don't think there is a prohibition in England about getting onboard in a different port.  Wouldn't want to do it, but none of the options sound great to me.  I was willing to pay the $439 X 2 price ($878) that Princess shows on their website,  but not the $1036.  Decisions, decisions!

Thanks for the info.  Some of those prices are really mind boggling.  I appreciate your advice.

Hello,

We are on the September 29, 2023 British Isles cruise on Regal Princess.  Googling Princess Cruises hotels London three are listed on what looks like a Princess site.  It shows the Leonardo Royal Hotel London Tower Bridge for $439 per person for 2 nights.  This seems to be in line with what Princess usually offers.  I asked my TA to call and book that for me.  Princess told my TA  over $600 for one night.  That is crazy, and why would they quote a price for one night when they only offer 2 or more nights?  I am thinking about asking my TA to call back and see if he gets a different agent with a different price.  We used to book hotels and transfers independently, but with age and less mobility we would just like to have it all arranged for us.  I'm so annoyed I'm thinking of cancelling the cruise.  Does anyone have any information (pricing) with Princess recently for London hotels?  Thanks for any help you can offer.  

Considering the shutdown and financial losses that cruise companies have endured these past couple years, you would think they would be extremely grateful for bookings, and want to do everything possible to keep passengers happy, including honoring "no upgrade" requests.  I have two cruises that I booked earlier than I normally would have because an aft facing balcony was available.  I paid an extra charge for those "premium" cabins and made sure my agent had them marked "no complimentary upgrades." I will be super upset if they take them away from me.  Only time will tell.  

Thanks for all your answers!  The problem with him booking a club class mini is that because he is a widower he will be traveling alone, and Princess generally charges double for one person is a room.  So the price would just be way too much for him having to pay double the per person cost for a mini suite.  But thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks all for your answers.

For the first, and likely only time, we are booking a penthouse suite.  We will be traveling with a widower who will probably be staying in an inside.  I know that he can not come to the specialty dining breakfast that is reserved for suite guests. I'm wondering if he can come in to the club class/suite dining area with us for dinner if he is sharing a table with us.

I'm also wondering if we can order room service dinner off the main dining room menu, and if we can, can he also dine in our room with us and order off the main dining room menu as well?  I think suite dining is the biggest perk for booking a suite, and I don't really want to give it up, but I also would not want to tell him that we can't have meals with us.  Any information anyone can provide would be very much appreciated.  Thank you.

Thanks for your response, mtnesterz.  I did not find that information on the Princess web site.  I guess I just didn't know where to look.  Thank you!

Does anyone know what the "premium" photo package includes?  It is included with Princess "premium" pricing.  I looked under photo packages, and all I saw was a 5 photo package and a 10 photo package.  I am especially interested in knowing if it includes port photos, as those are the ones I most like to purchase.  Thanks!

I for one am very disappointed about all the "cutbacks" I have read about regarding loyalty benefits.  Although my current booking has the Princess plus that includes gratuities and  beverage package, I don't think all future cruises will.  I finally reached elite status, and was so happy when I did.  And now they are reducing so many of those benefits.  I'll miss the loyalty benefit, though it wasn't much, it "encouraged" me to spend a little extra onboard, such as for a specialty restaurant.  I also recently read that only 6 bottles of alcohol instead of the 8 we used to get in the elite mini bar.  And now, half price on Internet instead of a little free time.  I am not really interested in using much Internet while I am on vacation.  I simply like to log in to email every few days to check in with home, just in case there are any issues with families or my dog.  It's very disappointing, and lessens my loyalty to Princess.  I understand they have to make up for many losses during the covid shutdown, but they should not expect to do that in the first year back.  I feel they should try to keep people feeling appreciated, and then they will keep coming back to Princess.  I really no longer feel appreciated or loyal to Princess.  

I really think that's a terrible way to treat a customer.  If they wanted some possible sick rooms, they should have blocked them off before selling the cruise.  I think they should upgrade you to the junior suite free of charge.  

Thank you all for the information.

I am looking at Adventure of the Seas to Bermuda.  Thank you!

Could someone please give me an idea of what the suite benefits are?  I am thinking of booking a Bermuda cruise, and undecided between a balcony or a suite.  I don't find anything on Royal's site listing some of the benefits.  Thanks so much.

We are on the August 7 Norwegian Fjords cruise.  On the Grand, we had paid extra for a premium aft facing balcony.  We saw our new room assignment on the Regal yesterday.  They moved us to a midship balcony.  I was really angry.  There was no reason to move us out of an aft facing balcony to midship, because there are more aft facing balconies on the Regal than the Grand.  I contacted my TA and asked him to contact Princess as soon as possible to get us moved to an aft facing balcony like we had booked.  He was able to do that, but he told me it took him 1 1/2 hours!

I am really disappointed in Princess.  I am not happy about the ship change at all;  I don't care for the Regal - about 1,000 more passengers, no promenade deck, and tiny balconies.  And since they changed the ship, disappointing many of us, the least they could and should do is place everyone in staterooms similar to what they originally booked on the Grand.  I'm happy that my agent was able to get me back to an aft facing balcony, but he should not have had to spend 1 1/2 hours doing it.  Princess should be looking to please their passengers, not annoy them.    

This is the case on Long Island, too.  Many supermarkets have made aisles one way so that you don't have to pass someone.  

I'm with Thrak, I miss my life.  Feeling so sad that I can't see my kids and grandkids, and that I can't pick out my own groceries (we are using Instacart, too, though very hard to get a delivery),

I live in New York on Long Island.  Like many other places, only essential business stays open - supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants for takeout and delivery, liquor stores, gas stations, etc.  One thing I haven't seen anyone else mention is that the two banks I deal with have sent emails that they are only seeing people by appointment.  We have stopped watching so much news, because we find it upsetting.  We now limit ourselves to a half hour program each evening so that we can keep up to date on the latest developments, plus we can pick and choose what to read on our computers and we do get the local newspaper delivered each day.  Sadly, we have cancelled two cruises we had planned on for this summer, and look forward to our 2021 cruise that is booked.

Being a senior citizen, I am considered high risk.  My husband and I have already self quarantined for a week, but now the "official" New York state pause has begun.  I am fine with staying home to prevent the spread of this virus.  I am fortunate to have a house with a back yard, so I can get fresh air without being near others.  However, I miss my grandchildren.  They were supposed to come over last weekend to celebrate a birthday, which we cancelled.  I have enough food for a few weeks because I have a habit of buying three when things are on sale, so over time, it accumulates.  I only bought a little extra when this thing started.  However, I am low on perishables like milk, bread, eggs, fruit, etc.  I have some canned alternatives, but sure would prefer the fresh items.  I will do without for another week or two, but eventually will have to go out to the supermarket and that really scares me.  Like other places, some stores are offering a senior shopping hour.  One store who is not offering a senior hour is limiting the number of people they will allow in the store at any one time so we can all keep our distance.  That is where I will eventually go.  One neighbor went to the early senior hour and reported that the store was not crowded.

We are keeping busy with some household chores like cleaning out closets, putting out holiday decorations for Easter, painting the ceilings (luckily we had previously purchased the paint).  My sister and I are trying to keep things on a lighter note by texting each other a picture each day of the the things we are doing to keep busy during the quarantine.  I'm worried about my children - one lives in NYC, but he was directed to work from home already a week before the official pause started.  Also, my daughter works in a large office where one worker tested positive.  And my other son must continue to go to work as he is a 911 operator.  

My aunt lives in an Assisted Living residence and no one there has been sick.  All visiting was stopped at least a week ago.  Now residents are confined to their rooms, and meals are now brought to them instead of dining in the dining room.  Luckily, she has a tv and a phone.  I ordered a number of books to keep her busy - activity books, novels, picture books, inspirational books, etc. from Amazon.com.  I think not knowing how long this will last makes it a bit harder to deal with.  I hope everyone will stay safe and maintain a positive approach.

I was also on the 1/5 cruise.  The scenery and wildlife are amazing.  I am glad I went.  However, it is an expensive trip and a long flight from the US.  One thing to be aware of is that there is often times bad weather that can impact your cruise, especially fog, which can make it impossible to see some of the things you were hoping to see.  We had a mix of good and bad weather.  Stanley Falkland Islands is also a highlight of the trip because there are many excursions to see penguins up close.  However, due to wind, that port is often missed.  So, it might be wise to consider those things before you make your final decision.  

Gottagocit, I agree so strongly with you!  I was on the Jan 5 cruise, and everywhere we went, there were people coughing and sneezing.  We tried very had to avoid close contact with people.  If someone nearby was coughing or sneezing, we changed our seats or left.  We skipped all but one show in the theater.  We went to the Universe Lounge for the naturalist talks, because people are a lot more spread out in there.  We spent a lot of time in our stateroom.  We had books to read, and watched a lot of the movies that were on tv.  We mostly viewed the scenery from our balcony or through the sliding glass doors.  We were successful in staying healthy;  did not want to be sick on an 11 hour flight home from Buenos Aires.  It's sad that we had to forego some things due to others coughing and sneezing, but for us the main attraction was Antarctica and Falkland Islands.  Did not want to be sick and miss those things.  We thought, there is always another cruise to catch more of the shows and activities. 

Thank you AZBirdMom, for your response.  I, too, think it is weird that they did not have the right type of fuel in San Antonio.  Princess knew two years ago that their ship would be in San Antonio needing fuel on January 5, so I am sure they ordered what they needed a long time ago.  I guess we'll never know for sure.  It's true that what we saw was incredible, pictures and memories to last a life time.  And we do feel grateful to have been able to experience this beautiful place.  However, I can't help feeling a bit cheated as well.  I don't expect to ever be back to this part of the world again.  And although we had two days, I can't help but wonder what else we might have seen if we had the four days that were scheduled.  I don't blame Princess at all;  I feel they did the best they could under the circumstances.  And as seasoned travelers, we know that there are often things that just don't go as planned, and you just have to make the best of it.  So I'm happy we got there, just wish it would have been a little longer. I am also extremely grateful that we got in to Stanley, Falkland Islands, where many of us were able to see the penguins up close.  I've read that as many as 50% of calls there are sometimes cancelled due to weather, so we are incredibly lucky to have gotten in to Stanley.  

Did anyone ever find out why the fuel delivery was delayed, thus causing a late start to this cruise and the loss of one day in Antarctica?

Ok, good to know, thanks for your response!