capriccio

Definitely amongst those of us paying close attention. I wonder how many Signature Suite passengers that don't read Cruise Critic or FB will be shocked when they board after October 14th at the changes to what they were promised. There is an uproar now, imagine what the reactions when confronted with the changes upon boarding.

Signing up for the Voyagers Club gives you a 5% discount and if early booking an OBC. MSC sales are often 10% or 15% for members of the Voyagers Club. If you are active or retired military, or a federal, state or local employee you are entitled to a 10% discount.

@Sox Fan Cruiser has first hand experience @Sox Fan Cruiser We were posting at the same time. I was looking up the name of your great thread

It is not just for an evacuation from the ship since that is usually handled by the nearest country's coast guard. It is for evacuation back to your home from hospitals anywhere in the world. Obviously it doesn't happen frequently but when it does it can be more costly than medical charges. Do some research here about medical evacuations here on Cruise Critic. Put MedJet Assist in the search field and chose Everywhere. You will get lots of information. We use it and it is available on a trip basis or an annual policy.

Reality on one cruise on one ship at a specific time is just a single data point. We know enforcement can vary from ship to ship depending upon the current management. But if it is in the T&Cs and is violated and you get called on it you don't have a leg to stand on.

Does your medical insurance include overseas coverage and do you have medical evacuation coverage? Those expenses are the big ones that many couldn't afford the loss.

That price difference is between January and April! There is nothing ‘normal’ about a $2700 increase in less than 100 days.

For us the answer is, assuming we don’t cancel before final payment due to crowded conditions, this will be one and done with Princess suites. We’ve had 2 great cruises in MSC’s Yacht club for the same price as this booking with more perks. We will continue to sail Princess in our usual mini suites when sailing with my siblings and on special itineraries.

Those of us who already have reservations in the Signature Suites are already paying for the Sanctuary (actually the formerly named Sun Deck that is now part of the Sanctuary Club). Here's the difference for my S9 cabin between my booking made in January for two with the Plus package web price: Signature category S9 (deck 15): $2629 plus $153 taxes and fees per person (total = $5564) (My TA charged $5164) booking for two today with the Premier package web price: Signature category S9 (deck 15): $3979 plus $153 taxes and fees per person (total = $8264) A difference of $2700 with the only additional benefit being $20 per day/per person ($280) for the Premier package is highway robbery. Especially when it seems the Sanctuary and Restaurants may be much more crowded than originally planned.

We had a great time on that excursion in 2016. We have a similar picture. For that Christmas our son gave us t-shirts with the picture and "Born to Be Wild." They are still in business: https://trikes-aruba.com/

That's what I used successfully last summer.

The best place to start research on excursions is in the appropriate Ports of Call board. For these ports go to https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/ for the islands and https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/54-panama-canal/ for the Canal ports. On the latter board you will need to use the search function by port (upper right corner). Good luck with your research,

A good question (which I don't have the answer to) since that configuration looks like it is either a shared kitchen area or two distinct kitchens without the details in the diagram. Another example of a large white space is between the Reserve and Signature Restaurants that has been identified as a shared kitchen. If that is true in this case, neither Crown Grill nor O'Malley's serve breakfast so I would suspect little, if any, early morning noises. I'm not sure what time dinner service ends in both restaurants and what you would consider too late.

We have always received PQPs on EZ Air United flights. We've also been on the free upgrade list each time. The best upgrade was made at the gate at Heathrow to business class om 2019.

Don't forget to share the cruising experience info with her. The Alaska Cruises page on the website is a good start: https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises Make sure she scrolls down to the bottom of the page for the links to the Alaska Onboard Experiences and, especially, the North to Alaska Program link (https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/north-to-alaska-cruise-activities).

Which is exactly why I said a percentage, not all. Given that I am not a cruise line venue designer I wouldn't know. I just worry that the Princess designers don't know either.

I've seen some comments here on CC that the Lounge access is still restricted to the original 80 cabins in the Signature Collection but I haven't seen a direct quote on that. Having looked at the pictures of that lounge, I have my doubts that it was even big enough to old a sizeable percentage of the Signature Collection passengers.

Look at the old numbers of cabins that made up the Signature Collection: The Signature Collection Suites breakdown (total = 80) SO - Signature Sky Suite - 4 S2 - Signature Owner's Suite - 10 S4 - Signature Penthouse Suite - 36 S9 - Signature Suite - 30 (which have a mini-suite layout) and the new numbers making up the new and improved Sanctuary Collection (total = 219) : "The new Sanctuary Collection aboard Sun Princess includes three levels of stateroom types – Signature Collection Suites (80), Mini Suites (123), and Premium Deluxe Balconies (16)" Some reserve minis were "promoted".

For comparison purposes the MSC Meraviglia has about 100 cabins and the newer MSC Seascape has 131. Their pool sections also have a full bar, an expansive grill serving breakfast and lunch, and multiple hot tubs. Neither were busy the weeks we were on our 2 Caribbean cruises but I’ve heard they can be crowded, like all ships, during holiday periods.

From the Sun Princess thread, this is a quote from yesterday’s press release: The new Sanctuary Collection aboard Sun Princess includes three levels of stateroom types – Signature Collection Suites (80), Mini Suites (123), and Premium Deluxe Balconies (16) I think there are fewer than 20 S9 cabins so this seems more than a doubling of the number of cabins in the Sanctuary Collection.

Not yet.

Now there will be a daily race to get lounge chairs in the sun (since it seems like there is no shade).

Thank you. I noticed that which doesn't personally impact us on the upcoming cruise but does mean that we will not be reserving multiple Sanctuary cabins on Princess when traveling with our kids and granddaughters. Just one more plus in the MSC Yacht Club column (on our 2 cruises the few children in the YC were extremely well behaved).

The Sun Deck no longer exists as a separate venue on the new deck plans. The entire area is now the Sanctuary Club.

I can speak to a comparison with MSC’s Yacht Club and there is no comparison based on all my readings to date. All YC cabins have butlers and stewards, on their builds within the last 5 years or so all YC venues and cabins are co-located in a private area, plus their private island (designed from the ground up by them) is gorgeous and includes a dedicated YC area with a restaurant. Since this is a new class of ship you would think Princess might have sent secret shoppers/cruisers on other lines with the ship within a ship concept to report back on what works like cabin sizes, service-many have butlers, drink inclusions, lounge, pool, restaurants, etc. and, most importantly, fares and what doesn’t.