LBCABob

Have you noticed the HAL IT folks made some changes to the Standby Program web page? They added additional wording and now promise a minimum 2-day notice. Also, a FAQ. The "big" news (for some folks) is the new 2x $49 for Solo cruisers. >> JUST looked and they have put it back to original $49 for Solo (see FAQ) << I am still kinda surprised they have not added any sailings beyond the current 04/30. No Alaska; perhaps they feel confident they can fill the ships with the usual fare drops. Good Luck to Laurie59 and drtravel47! Bon Voyage!

FYI, TiogaCruiser, I was on the HAL Tales of South Pacific cruise RT San Diego last year and had booked Amtrak each way. A day or so before departure the landslide hit and I had to scramble for a way to get to SD (even booked a refundable flight for $$$). I then found FlixBus.com and decided to give it a try (the website provided for reserved seats and even booking an extra seat if you are Solo like me). It left from the same place as Amtrak in Anaheim and took exactly 2 hours to get to SD. I hoped the track would be repaired by the time I returned XX weeks later but it had not so I took the bus again (this time to downtown Long Beach). It was OK. Not as comfy as the train but had mostly well-behaved SD college students on board. Would do it again if Amtrak does not get repaired by 2025. Hope my experience is of some use to you. And, Bon Voyage to hmmm!

Great news on your clearing the List! Quick question: How is HAL communicating with you? All via email? Phone? You must check your booking online yourself to learn what's happening? Thanks and Bon Voyage!

Thank you for your post(s). However, my point is the current list STILL shows sailings that have already sailed (or will sail today or tomorrow). More importantly, has HAL ever added cruises to the list? The 04/30/2024 sailing might be an indicator that this is a test program and may not be extended into May 2024 or beyond.

Does anyone remember when/if HAL updated the list of eligible cruises? They are not exactly rushing to keep the list current (e.g. today is 02/03/2024 and the list still shows 01/30 - 02/03 - 02/04 sailings). Have they added any sailings since the first announcement back in 11/2023? I am not planning for a cruise this year but this program might work for me in 2025 (if it still exists then). Good Luck and Bon Voyage to All who have taken the plunge!

Good Morning! I had pretty much the same experience on the Sapphire as SeaCBear. Other than the long walk to pretty much anywhere, this cabin is perfect (especially for a solo cruiser). Was surprised as to the size of the balcony - much larger than expected - and with new furniture, too! Would book again if had the opportunity. Bon Voyage, Everyone!

I am booked in one of the 10 Ocean View Category O5 cabins on the 10/08 Sapphire sailing and was able to use the Princess Upgrade bid process to switch from an Inside at a (for me) reasonable cost ($130 pp). Booking it directly would have been, IMHO, very expensive - more than some Balcony categories! Having even a tiny balcony is, for me, better than no window at all. I like the fact the cabins are all the way forward AND thus should have minimal traffic outside my cabin door albeit a long walk to anywhere (the more exercise, the better). Many folks do NOT want to walk, for various reasons, and thus avoid these cabins. A Google search provided a link to photos of these cabins but it is at a website that sells cruises so it cannot be mentioned here. Postings here on other threads mentioned that even though the balcony door is to be locked when not in port, it was never locked in their experience. Obviously, when the ship is in motion, the wind would be a problem. Hope this info helps. Bon Voyage!

This happened to me 09/08 on Sapphire 10/08 sailing. My first time with the bidding process so did not know what to expect beyond the "We got your bid" email. When I thought I should up my bid amount (by $1 above the min), I tried the provided Change/Cancel link and all I got was a summary of my bid with status of "Pending". Within 24 hours, I got the "Your bid has been accepted" email and my CC charged the expected amount. My guess is the bidding computer had locked my bid while it was processing it and assigning a cabin, processing the CC charge, etc. Perhaps this will happen to you. Bon Voyage

10/08 Sapphire Vancouver to LA Made [minimum] bid yesterday afternoon so it was accepted in just under 24 hours.

Well, it is Universe 0, Princess 1 I just got my minimum bid accepted email and my CC has indeed been charged. My "big box" TA has already sent me an updated Princess Booking Confirmation with my new cabin # (I hope he gets his commission on the upgrade cost). It appears I was right with my guess that the bidding computer had "locked" my bid while it was being processed. As the saying goes, "All's well that ends well." Bon Voyage, Everyone!

Since I have never used this bidding process before, I do not know exactly what to expect beyond what is described in the Princess website (i.e. get confirmation email, wait, get accepted email w/CC charge OR nothing). The "Modify your offer" webpage gives correct info (Offer Details w/cruise information+date+duration+booking #; Pending with Your Offer $ and Upgrade Type) but no way that I can find to go to another step for making a change. Perhaps having a TA booking with the "Do No Upgrade" box checked is blocking the bidding process? OR, the Universe is telling me not to spend any more money on this cruise?

And that is exactly what I have done to get the summary webpage that does not have any way to initiate a change/delete. Thanks for your time, anyway.

Placed my first ever bid yesterday afternoon and received the "We got your Princess Upgrade bid!" email as expected. I now wish to increase my bid (since I made the minimum) and find the link in the email just displays a summary of my bid with a "Modify your offer" page title but no button or anything I can find to click on to make a change. Same result if I go to the Princess website and enter my name and booking # in the Upgrade section (which is how I got the bid made initially). Am I having a [Chrome] browser issue? Does it take X hours after a bid is submitted for the "modify / cancel" function to become available? The cruise is exactly 30 days away if that means anything. Also, my booking was made in July through a TA who was asked to mark it "No Upgrade" since I have had problems in the past with Princess changing my cabin assignment without notice to one I did not care for. It would be wishful thinking that the system is in the process of accepting my offer and my CC will be taking the hit any second now. Any assistance in making a change to my bid would be greatly appreciated!

AND, same/similar problem on Fri 07/21 when my TA was posting the 3rd GC to my new booking. He got a message something to the effect "Record being updated by another user..." My years of experience programming computers suggests the previous GC posting had not quite finished when the current GC tried to post its $100. The Princess software has no logic to allow for this possibility - it just updates the GC record to $0 and then stops. Per JimmyVWine's suggestion, I have emailed Princess with all the facts and can only hope the $100 will get returned to the GC (or posted to my booking as OBC, which is what I was going to do with the GC anyway). A loss of $100 would just about equal the savings of getting the AARP GC's. I would suggest anyone posting multiple GC's to the Princess system "count to 10" between entries to allow the GC to completely process before starting another one. (I am not holding my breath waiting for Princess to update their software.) Bon Voyage to Everyone!

On a somewhat related subject: When I asked [via email] my assigned CVP if he would make a booking for me with the same OBC offered by a national TA [per their website and confirmed by a 24-hour HOLD booking to my account], his response was [in an email] that per a Princess rule "we're not allowed to compete with our outside agencies." Has this been your experience? Given that the cabin fare, taxes, and insurance are identical with the TA, why would I want to book with the CVP and give up OBC that I could otherwise have? The TA booking has since expired and I am waiting to see if the CVP comes back with a booking containing the requested OBC but unsure if he has "written me off" and moved on to other potential customers. He has previously admonished me for looking at outside TA's because of all the great deals and service he can provide but so far, he has done virtually nil.

I was in 6102 on the Volendam for the Jan-Mar Grand Voyage. Space is limited (the area to the left of the bed when facing the windows is useless due to the tiny space between the bed and the desk chair) but was OK for me as a solo traveler as I had no need to go to that side of the cabin. The BIG problem (at least for me) was the "noise" from the theater directly below. You will hear every performance AND every rehearsal. Not a problem if you are someone who spends little time in the cabin. Loved the location and the long walk to/from most anywhere. Was easy to get to the Crow's Nest. Great to have a view out the windows rather than get dressed and go outside via the nearby door (especially in Antarctica). On a side note, the toilet only worked when it was in the mood. Became on a first name basis with the plumber. Guest Services was very concerned about this and (without being asked or me complaining) I was given bottles of wine, a $100 beverage card, chocolate-covered strawberries and, near the end of the cruise, a $500 credit to my on board account. Again, as a solo traveler, it did not bother me much -- with 2 people it would have been a major disaster. Kinda doubt this has been completely fixed - the ship is (like me) getting old and plumbing problems happen. I would book it again but you may want to look elsewhere. Bon Voyage!

This was addressed somewhere in this thread. IF you can book and still use the Courtesy HOLD function (which holds for just a few hours, not days) then go into the booking payment page and Gift Card is an option like credit cards and PayPal. Note that someone mentioned to pace yourself when posting 10+ cards, the Princess computer may get confused. Maybe just do 5 then leave the page and come back? Someone will correct me on this as I have NOT personally done more than 2 GC's at a time. And, yes, you and your husband would need to create your own [free] AARP Rewards account (which is different than AARP itself and is NOT required to use their rewards feature) and each purchase the 5/month limit. Same CC if you want. Bon Voyage!

Last Fall I had a RT cruise out of SD so I planned to take Amtrak from the Anaheim station there and back. Then the tracks were damaged with all the rain and trains were cancelled. I looked at all the alternatives (e.g. flying, renting a car, etc.) but decided to take a chance on something called FlixBus. It was not bad, most other pax were well-behaved college students, paid a little extra for an empty seat next to me (I travel solo), and the drive took exactly 2 hours. Only problem was that the specific seats I reserved were non-existent but driver allowed me to sit in the (normally empty) 1st row (this happened in both directions so I think the seat assignment process is a myth/not enforced). The bus leaves from downtown Long Beach (as well as Anaheim) so easy to get to from San Pedro. All in all, I would take Amtrak even with the $$ Uber cost to get to the station but I much prefer the train over the bus. YMMV

Sorry to be treating you like our own personal spy while you should be relaxing and enjoying the cruise, but about the big screen TV's: OK, upgraded in Vista's, but what about your cabin (Inside or OV)? I would think all cabins were upgraded X months ago but common sense and cruise lines are seldom found together. And it's not like I'm going to cancel my booking if my cabin doesn't have one 😁. One more thing: are you happy with the quality of the food? Was on Zuiderdam last month and was rather disappointed (wide selection but just so-so quality). Thanks for all your efforts on the behalf of us other CC folks!

What is the latest you can call (after checking for available cabins first)? The day before sailing? The morning of sailing?