capriccio

13 hours ago, cr2000 said:

 

A lot of time here spent discussing adult only spaces and access to chairs in The Sanctuary, but on a more practical level, on a Mediterranean cruise, isn't the focus really on exploring the historic ports of call? I could see perhaps in the Carribean spending more time lounging by a pool, but if I'm cruising the Mediterranean (where the Sun Princess is now), I'm viewing the ship as nothing more than a place to sleep, eat and maybe enjoy some evening entertainment and breakfast the following morning. Typically the number of sea days is limited.

But almost half the year (early October to late March) the Sun will be in Caribbean. I'm sure Princess realized they needed to take that into consideration. 

52 minutes ago, Brighton Line said:

All the times in the Yacht Club I've gotten the email, never had my selections in the cabin. Only when the Butler asked the same questions and it was 50/50 that they would ask without prompting "Where is my bottle of Jack?"

We had a similar experience as you on our 2020 Meraviglia YC cruise.  On the Seascape cruise our butler and his assistant couldn't do enough for us without us even asking.  So maybe it is just luck.

If you post on or even just take a look at the Florida Departures forum, you will get recommendations for shuttles.  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

I found the email we received 6 days before our December YC cruise on the Seascape encouraging us to customize our categories.  The newspaper is delivered daily; the minibar allows one choice (although you can make a second selection in case the first isn't available) and that is what was waiting for us in our cabin upon embarkation. 

Customize your experience by choosing your daily newspaper.

Newspaper (offered by country; this is the choice of US papers):

• Washington Post
• New York Times
• New York Post
• LA Times
• Wall Street Journal

MiniBar:

I think there were a few more that got cut off in my print screen.

Pillows:

7 hours ago, HabitualLineStepper said:

There is talk about Brightline opening a station 8 miles away from Port Canaveral.

That would make sense but is still a long time away.  The next Brightline station was announced ta few weeks ago.  It will be located in Stuart (Martin County) and must, as the result of a lawsuit, open by 2028 but the company is saying it will open in the second half of 2026.

2 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

Document requirements are here https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise

 

Princess specifically states that the only closed loop itineraries that require passports for Americans are those that visit Martinique and Guadeloupe. Like Turkey, Honduras and Belize currently waive passport requirements for cruise ship passengers 

You left off the fine print at the bottom. Notice the footnote (up arrow) next to Galveston:

• Caribbean roundtrip from Ft. Lauderdale^, Galveston^ or New York (voyages that do not call to Martinque or Guadeloupe only)

^Voyages that call to Central or South America are excluded and only passports are accepted.

26 minutes ago, Ed in OKC said:

 Tomorrow we are driving to the passport office in Dallas to get a last minute passport. We have an appointment and they have the ability to issue same day passports, thank goodness. 

That was going to be my next recommendation!  I'm so glad you were able to get an appointment.  You all deserve a great cruise after this.

23 minutes ago, Pixelskaya said:

 
I also would like to know about this! It’s a nice place to hang out 

Seeing this picture I immediately thought of the aft viewing areas on the Coral Princess.  How far across the stern of the ship does that deck extend and how deep is the deck?  If all the way to the corner of the ship it looks like chairs might fit.  What a great relatively secluded and shady space to sit and watch the wake.

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

An article in the Houston Chronicle states,

"According to law in Belize and Honduras, all Americans must have a passport to enter either country. The State Department's Consular Information Sheets for Belize and Honduras also specify that a passport is required. But Belize and Honduras are currently waiving the requirement for cruise passengers unless those passengers start or end their voyage there.
 

If the last sentence is true it isn't updated on the US Embassy Tecugigalpa website as @cre8tiv1 ctied above and that doesn't mean a cruise line has to follow it especially if they think it may be a temporary waiver that could change at any time.  There is nothing restricting cruise lines from imposing stricter (i.e, passports for all passengers for all ports) identification requirements.  There have been posts here on CC describing just that.

2 hours ago, GK95 said:

See comments #22 and #39 - that may work if no one has personal experience: 

 

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

Don’t you think they should have looked  into this before ?  And this is not the right place for advice. Try the State Department 

 

I wrote post #22 in the thread noted above. 

Here is a comparison of the requirements to enter those countries in the WHTI where a drivers license and birth certificate is valid versus those in Central America like Honduras (Roatan) where a passport is necessary according to the US State Department:

The US State Department has a search engine for each country that includes entry and exit requirements (plus lots of other useful information).

For those countries that belong to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI)  (I chose the French West Indies:  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/FrenchWestIndies.html.html?wcmmode=disabled) they include the following note under Passports and Visas:

NOTE: Caribbean cruises that begin and end in the United States (closed loop cruises) do not require that you travel with a valid passport. However, should you need to disembark due to an emergency and you do not have a valid passport, you may encounter difficulties entering or remaining in a foreign country. You may also have difficulty attempting to re-enter the United States by air because many airlines will require a valid passport before allowing you to board the aircraft. Always travel abroad with your valid passport.

Honduras (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Honduras.html) does not belong to the Initiative and has no such note.  Instead their section states:

To enter Honduras, you need: A U.S. passport with at least three months validity...

1 hour ago, CatMom72 said:

I really love the look of those cannoli! 🤤

One of the highlights of any visit to Sicily are cannoli where as much attention is put into the shell as the filling.  They are a work of art and a gastronomic pleasure. 

2 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

That’s how it is in Celebrity’s Retreat or NCL’s Haven, or basically at any main pool on any cruise ship.

But these are not main pools and that is not how it is on the Sanctuaries on Princess ships.  You can reserve your lounges in advance for 1/2 day, full day or the entire cruise or you can try your luck on any given day.  On the MSC Yacht Club sun deck there is no need for reservations; there are plenty of lounges.

9 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

The Sanctuary situation sounds horrible, even for those in suites!  We are re-thinking our 50-day cruise in Oct/Nov of next year on the Sun.  The Royal class ships are looking better every day!!! 🤷‍♂️

Actually if you are looking for an excellent suite experience, consider MSC's Yacht Club.  We took our second YC cruise that includes the premium drink package in December and paid just about the same as our January 2025 Sun cruise with the Plus package is costing.  The sun deck - no reservations taken or needed -  includes a grill and bar, and the furnishings are much better - and further separated - than those in the pictures coming from the Sun. 

1 minute ago, startedwithamouse said:

Wonder if someone is placing a large order for umbrellas?  

And decent, i.e.thick, pads for the loungers that currently only have a cheap pillow.

"There is NO pre-reservation of loungers from day to day, including for Suite guests. Location is first-come-first-served every morning. Once a lounger is assigned, it is reserved for you for the rest of the day. If all the padded loungers are taken, you’d have to pick another." 

Wow, so suite guests have to get up early to ensure that they get a lounger even if they only want it for a half day or even less?  That is going to be a mess especially on warm weather cruises. 

We are on a western Caribbean cruise in January where we have already visited all the ports and are just looking for a restful cruise where we are going to be spoiled.  I'm glad we have until the fall for final payment.  Hopefully by then we will know if this reservation process is working and if not, Princess will have made adjustments. 

@CanadianBurger - I add my thanks to everyone else's for this great Live From.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know the history of decorating cabin doors?  We have stayed in hotels for a week at a time, including all-inclusives where guests stay for long periods, and have never seen door decorations.  When we started sailing on Princess in 2007 we mostly saw the Princess provided happy birthday, anniversary, and graduation signs but in the past 15 years on many cruises there seems to be a competition for the most decorated door which means some are well done and others not so much.

Whichever one you chose (I prefer the first too), if you can't see Denali when you arrive at the Talkeetna Lodge make sure you leave your room number at the reception desk for a wake up call if it 'comes out' while you are sleeping.  We had just gone to sleep around 11 pm (still light out since it was mid-July) when the phone rang with the message.  It was interesting to see people still pulling on clothes and grabbing camera equipment rushing to the lovely large deck facing the mountain.  We stayed there until after 1 am (still light out) just enjoying the view.  We were also lucky to see it again the next morning, especially since we had booked an excursion flight over the summit (one of the top 3 excursions we've ever done).

If you haven't already, check the official website of the port:  https://www.miamidade.gov/portmiami/cruise.asp

There is an entire page on parking:  https://www.miamidade.gov/portmiami/parking-information.asp

"All balconies..., smoking only permitted indoors..., use of mobile phones...and any liquids that can spill over the balcony..." makes me think and hope that possibly the restrictions apply only to outdoors.

10 hours ago, philv said:

Princess does recommend booking after 12:30 if you go through the standard disembarkation procedure but you can walk off earlier.

After our Princess cruise last July we flew out of FLL at 11:15.  I just checked EZ-Air with a mocked booking and it allows booking flights after 11 am.

On 3/4/2024 at 11:57 AM, Musky Ike said:

I like that idea. Kind of like the "where's George" link on some us currency, you can follow their travels. Maybe you will find them again as elite ducks someday.  

Our 8 and 3 years old granddaughters enjoyed looking for them on our family cruise last summer.

Our 8 and 3 years old granddaughters liked looking for them on our family cruise last summer.  

On 3/7/2024 at 6:11 PM, LACruiser88 said:

Does the mini-suite in the photos look narrower than the current mini's on the other Princess ships or is it just the orientation of the photos???

16 hours ago, RoperDK said:

The mini suites on the Sun are narrower than on other Princess ships.  All of the balcony cabins are, too.  The interlocking design causes that along with fitting more cabins in the space available on a deck.    

According to the deck plans, the Sun mini-suites are 303 square feet, while minis on the Royal class (checked the Sky) and Gem (checked the Emerald) are 323 square feet.  It certainly looks from the picture that they are about foot narrower.  Those numbers include the balcony.

If you haven't checked back on the responses on the Princess board, there are quite a few:

As others have noted, each cruise line runs their own program. 

With Princess EZ-Air you pick the flights and seats.  Payment is due at final payment. Changes - especially important if the fare has decreased - can be made up to ticket issue at 45 days without charge.  We have never had any issues getting seat upgrades through the airline the same day we make reservations in EZ-Air (economy to economy plus on United due to DH's loyalty status) and we have always been awarded our loyalty miles.  More importantly, considerable savings are realized, especially on overseas flights.