hpeabody

I am seeing this adding 18% to specialty dining as just another sneaky way Princess is trying to get more of our money If the 18% was previously covered in the charge, then what they have done now is essentially raised the price without saying they are raising the price IMO / YMMV

Interesting comment. I once asked a CD what happened to the crew show. He replied that the problem was that there were too many crew wanting to participate and they all had similar talent making it difficult to be fair in choosing.

OMG, yes I have seen it. LOL I too love the crew shows. Occasionaly there is one, but they are very rare now.

I should have added that I was referring to Princess cruises. It may be possible that a small more specialty cruise line does begin or end in Hawaii/Honolulu.

It may be difficult if not impossible to find a flight to begin or end in Hawaii. But, there are usually twice yearly round trip from LA cruises that do the South Pacific like you mention in April and October/November. If it is really Sydney that you interested in on a one way/repositioning cruise look for departures out of LA, I know that exists.... Perhaps San Francisco, Seattle or Vancouver, but I have done no research on those.

Run, Run fast! It's a marketing thing by O.N.E. It is not Princess. And I think it is wrong that they call them selves a CVP, the real CVP's work for Princess (Or at least they used to, that may have changed to outsource like everything else) Yes, do read the other threads.

On my wish list is 1/ A FAIR PRICED PRINCESS PLUS/PREMIER package for light and non-drinkers. I'm a very light drinker, but like an occasional specialty coffee. IMO the packages are NOT A VALUE for a light and non-drinker. YMMV. I really struggle with being taken advantage of with the packages. Maybe something like a tiered package, 5, 10, 15 drinks at graduating prices. One size does not fit all. I'd even be happy if they just brought back the coffee package or at least let elites trade the minibar for specialty coffees like we used to do. 2/ Do away with the surcharge to choose your own cabin. That is actually preventing me from booking a cruise I am looking at because I do not want Princess to choose for me. I have more, but this is enough for now.

@back-at-it I'm so sorry

I'm sorry for your predicament. I don't remember if anyone in the earlier posts suggested calling Delta and asking what it would take and IF they can change your flight to 1 day earlier. Also, maybe they can tell you more about the ticketing like the date it was ticketed perhaps. If it was before you made final payment, then Princess jumped the gun in violation of their own policy allowing you up to 45 days to cancel/change. If it indeed was before final payment, I would get a supervisor at Princess and fight them on this. From the discussion it seems you may have found your ticket on the Delta website, if not do find it. You will need the airlines record locator, not the Princess number. It should be visible to you if you bring up your flights in the personalizer. I agree with the others seat selection alone should not have triggered payment if a flexible fare was booked. That is a mystery. Not all airlines for some farfes allow seat selection with EZ air flexible ticket booking. Delta is NOT one of those I do not believe. A tip for you: For your next and future cruises find a good travel agent or get a dedicated Princess CVP (cruise vacation planner) Avoiding contact with the Philippines phone center. Enjoy your cruise to Alaska! I have my 5th time coming up June 2nd.

Ummmmmm, AFIK Sapphire Princess does not have a World Fresh Marketplace That is on the Royal class ships, the new Sun has The Eatery. Sapphire has Horizon Court. It is a BUFFET. It is not food stations from around the world. There may be special dishes from select countries available. In my 600 days I have never known Princess to have "family style" dining in their buffets. Share, that failed was supposedly "family style" It was a specialty venue(I never tried it) AM I not getting this? Have they suddenly changed the Sapphire into what is described in the OP? Does no one up chain have to approve communication that goes to the passengers? Maybe not. I am kind of getting a chuckle out of this. From the Princess website deck plans, Lido (deck 14)

AFIK, there is no "tick box" I typically book on Princess website and transfer to TA. I have never seen one. If you do not wish Princess to decide on your cabin location, contact where ever the booking was made and ask to have it marked "No Upgrade"

Yes, this. And are new and poorly trained. We get better answers to most questions here on CC

As I always recommend on these threads about the "calls" from Princess (Not Princess, but O.N.E.) Run, fast.............

@Ken the cruiser @EDVM96 Thank you so much for all this info. I am really looking forward to this cruise. It's my replacement for 2021 cruise that was cancelled due to the pandemic. My cabin is on Baja at the very aft starboard side (not aft facing) I call it "The Cave" I've had that cabin on Sapphire twice before and loved it. I hope you think it should be good vieweing. This balcony should have some protection from the wind. But I do love the wrap around deck on Sapphire, so I expect if I can take the weather I will be out on deck a lot. Sorry your cruise is coming to an end. Safe journey home. ETA, Can I ask a quick question. When overnight in Buenos Aires can we go out off the ship in the evening of the overnight.

I know and that is perplexing to me. I missed Cape Horn on a past cruise. Due to weather and sea conditions the captain took some kind of cut across. I do hope we will get to see Glacier Alley, that would be great. PS thank you too for your contributions on this thread.

I used Carmel private car from JFK to Brooklyn/Red Hook. I really can not fault anything. https://www.carmellimo.com/

Something to consider, The bidding system. You could put in a bid for the category you want to move to and it may be accepted. You never know. I too believe what the other posters are saying, it just does not work that way.

@Ken the cruiser Hi, I have been loving following your cruise. This thread is epic! My cruise is not until Dec 1st, on the Sapphire also. It's a long time to wait. I would like to know if on this itinerary we would traverse Glacier Alley? I am intrigued Here is a link to my itinerary. https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=H435 and the map

I see it that way too and use my Google Voice number more than my assigned carrier number. I especially like it for texts, because I can also manage text from my PC.

Just saw this ... Great!

Yes, 360 would be a nice celebration. Not romantic or intimate, but a wonderful experience. It's a journey. I have not done the new winemakers dinner, but the old one was great! Very different now and much more costly.

Hi, That is the cruise I am booked on. I am very excited, but it is a long time to wait. I hope your air is better priced than mine from LAX. See you on board.

No, The value of the 360 Experience is $149.95 I believe. That would not be in line with the specialty dining credit/perk. I think that is about $35.00. 360 is more similar to the Chef's Table or Wine Maker's Table. I did it and it was fantastic, but yes it is pricey.

I agree with this too. Glacier Bay is amazing. I will add that if you do choose an itinerary with Endicott Arm, Princess offers an excursion off the ship that gets you actually close to the glacier. That might be of interest. And, YES! you will want to go back. I am going on my 4th Alaska cruise in June 2024 on Majestic. I have been on the Royal class ships, Regal, Royal, Discovery and Enchanted, but not Majestic. So I took the opportunity to try it.

When I was on a cruise at a port stop in Papeete, Tahiti I had my first away from home experience with Google Voice. At that time it was still very new to me. I never thought of trying it ON THE SHIP using SHIP WIFI. I was scared off by tales from people about huge expensive charges by calling from the ship. I am witness to someone who had that experience, but that's another story) I went to a little building right at the port in Papeete that had free Wifi and tried it there. I made 3 or 4 fairly lengthy calls via Google Voice expecting to be charged using the credit I uploaded into my account ($10.00) Lo and behold that credit was never charged! I think I figured out that was because I was calling from a US number (my Google Voice number) to another US toll free number. No International numbers involved. My guess is if I had called an international number my credit would have been charged. I love Google Voice, it just works for me :-)