dickinson

Depending on your interests, I can easily fill 2-3 days in San Diego for you....

Thanks Loonbeam but the 2-3 days would be in LA. The 4 day cruise has San Diego as a port of call.

Thanks all. This is not a regular TA of mine (I don't have one). We were thinking that maybe before our 15 day Hawaii cruise we would just fly in to LA a little early (isn't retirement great?) and take the 4 day cruise so we would be Platinum for the Hawaii cruise and get some free internet minutes. Of course it is less expensive to just purchase those minutes but we figured we could see what it was like cruising in a less expensive cabin along with also spending a day in San Diego (Ensenada is the other port but that is also on the Hawaii cruise. I hear one day there is enough).

So therefore it sounds like we should have no problem talking with the cc desk to make sure things are updated so we would get the internet minutes , am I correct?

Our next big cruise will put us at Platinum level so we thought maybe we would take a 4 day cruise before it (with 2-3 days in between) so we could have the free internet minutes for the big cruise. I was talking with a TA getting pricing and was told that it can take 4-6 weeks to get credited with that short cruise. Is that correct? Any way around it? Thanks.

Pam- what is it about the Grand that you didn't like? We have only been on the Golden and the Caribbean Princess.

Is it often that Maui is missed because it is a tender port?

We have been to Hawaii before although the last time was 25 years ago! We took our honeymoon there and went to Oahu, Maui (although only for the day), Hawaii and Kauai. When we went again 16 years later we did everything except Maui. I like the idea of not having an 11-12 hour flight from the east coast. Somehow sea days sound a lot better!

Pam in CA - if we do this cruise I'll be looking forward to meeting you as it is the same cruise as I see in your signature. Same for Cre8tv1.

BTW - which port is a tender port?

We are also considering a 4 day CA Coastal on the Crown just before this cruise. That way we will be Platinum on the Hawaii cruise. It is actually an expensive way to get some free internet minutes ;) The one good thing is that we would pay for the least expensive cabin and see what we get. We have only been on 2 Princess cruises and both times we were in a Window Suite.

FritzG - what is it about the Grand you don't like?

Thinking about doing this cruise Feb 2015. Lots of sea days. Not sure if we'll be bored. I see a lot of people seem to do this cruise repeatedly so therefore they must like it. What do you like or dislike about this 15 day cruise with all the sea days?

For us the new policy is $253 More and covers less except medical evacuation which has higher limits. I don't understand how they can have such an expensive policy for their members. I can do better elsewhere.

I also don't understand this purchasing it by May 10. If they are allowing the old policy that policy states it covers pre existing conditions if purchased w/in 24 hrs of final payment. It sounds like they are allowing people to purchase the higher coverages and the lower cost of the old policy more than anything and not the being able to purchase it within 24 hrs of final payment.

So if I understand this correctly one has to buy the cruise insurance policy by the 10th or else it won't be available and one would have to buy the more expensive policy. Oy. I haven't booked my cruise yet and hate to feel pressured but it would save us about $100!

I too looked and saw this now whereas yesterday it only listed one thing and that was the Deluxe plan. The cruise plan mentions you don't have to purchase until final payment (or w/in 24 hrs of final payment) in order to have the pre-existing condition waiver whereas the other plan doesn't seem to have that waiver. I would assume that because the land tour is part of your cruise then that is what you want although I would check w/them.

You could buy it on line ..

Huh? Please explain.

All I can say is just "wow".

Not sure about the answer to your question but you can call the travel insurance people to find out. I have used them for two previous cruises and loved that aspect that I didn't have to pay for it til final payment and it was less expensive. (this is so it covers pre-existing conditions) We are now looking into taking another cruise and I just found out that as of May 1 you have to buy it within 21 days of booking your cruise. Ugh!!!! If I had known that I would have booked the cruise I was looking at on April 30 figuring I had nothing to lose!

oops, thinking about a Hawaii cruise next winter ;)

Thanks! We've been in Window Suites on the Golden and CB but noticed that the casino was outside of them on the Grand. Thinking about an Alaskan cruise next winter.

Are the window suites on the Grand affected by the smoke in the casino?

We were on the Caribbean Princess in Sept and they too played episodes of the Love Boat although you didn't have to stay outside and freeze to see it as it was on tv too.

I would wait. Newport is a tender port. If the seas are too rough then you won't be going.

Above poster is probably right... WS fares are all over the place. We sailed on the Golden last year to Alaska in a window suite. It was priced about the same as a balcony that had cabins above it and below it as that is what I was looking for.

Our WS cruise to NE/Canada next month had it priced near the top of a balcony cabin. In my notes it was just $5 less than a B1 (Caribe balcony mid deck). This was pricing from a year ago as we booked far in advance. Sales may have occurred but not for WS so comparisons may have changed. I never checked out mini suites.

We're doing New England and Canada. Maybe someday we'll get to do the British Isles. Have a wonderful cruise (and take good care of our room :))

No, not at all.. I had just also mentioned the photos of 301 looking so much smaller than the rest. No, we are in 311 next week and 309 on Nov. 30th, both Caribbean Princess. :D

Oh ok. Enjoy your cruise!

We are in 311. Did I misunderstand your post? Are you in the smaller one of 301?

We have been in a Window Suite several times on the Golden and will be again next week on the Caribbean Princess. I had no idea that the WS 301 was so much smaller than the rest of them. (They do not charge any less for it, do they?) We just love the cabin (have had 311) and book it whenever we can..:D

That was our room on the Golden last year so we booked it for the Caribbean Princess for next month. Don't mess it up! :D

That is what I figured although someone earlier on this page ( I suppose I should have quoted them) mentioned about a sale but window suites were not part of it.

We were in the window suite last year and will be again in September. I never saw the price go down and both cruises were booked more than a year in advance. I don't think they put these on sale.

I just checked and we get into Newport at 7 am. Then it depends on how long it takes to tender in. According to the mansions website it says to allow 1 to 1.5 hrs to tour and enjoy the grounds. I would allow the 1.5 hours. If I read it correctly it looks like they open at 9 am. Sounds like you have plenty of time to get off the ship early, get to the Breakers, tour and then be back in time for lunch with the rest of your party.