sunviking90

They have Alfredo’s and we thought it was the best of the ones we have tried (including GIGis). They also have a noodle bar which we love!

My cruise planner always wants to take my payment personally. I think she told me she doesn’t get the full credit if I pay online? Something like that. I think their systems default to add transfers and insurance and that may be how the errors happen. She always mentions having to take them off. Having said that, I’ve never quite felt like I “gelled” with her, and I was annoyed last week when I left her a message to book a cruise, a specific cabin number, etc. I got an email hold with a different cabin number, insurance, and transfers when we also live at the port, AND I never buy Princess transfers. I think she was rushing to get it done, but to me that’s sloppy. I called her and she said the cabin I requested wasn’t available, and I checked and it was. She apologized, took off the extras, but I decided not to book as I was just not feeling good about it, by this point. She has been helpful at times (moving a guarantee assignment to another available cabin I wanted), etc, but I decided to move on. I ended up booking with a TA.

We were assigned an aft cabin on Marina Deck last year and loved it. We thought being underneath the Lido deck may be an issue but it wasn’t. The balcony was huge, which is rarity as most balconies in the Royal Class ships are tiny.

Yes, we see this every year as we live in Vancouver. Particularly the inside cabins end up going at fire sale prices. Celebrity has some one ways at $228 cad ($170 usd). Of course the port charges are hefty for Alaska.

Oh dear. I just booked us on the 23rd of this month to Alaska on the Crown.

How are you finding the size of your stateroom compared to the HAL insides you are used to? We’d like to try an inside, but I’m worried Princess ones may be too small.

Thank you @Steelers36, @westcoaster, @seachelt and everyone else for your helpful replies. The TA called Princess and she said they are doing paperwork to convert them into USD. It can take up to 5 days, so they’ve extended my hold (cruise is past final payment). I’ve always done my bookings myself, (I was in the travel business myself years ago) and post pandemic used a PVP simply so I wouldn’t have to wait on hold if needed myself with Princess. I finally decided to book my next 2 cruises with 2 different US travel agents and I have definitely saved some $$. One of these agents was able to book in CAD, but the one for this particular cruise wasn’t able to for some reason. @Steelers36 we don’t have a US credit card, but I have an HSBC world Elite MC that I use only for USD purchases as it has no fx fees. It also has excellent travel coverage up to 31days, so it’s good for the longer trips.

Which sailing is this? Sounds very unusual. And yes, the original OBC would still apply.

Does anyone have experience with this. I am trying out a U.S. agency as they have a price that is a good 10% better than I can get with Princess. The agent says they can only book it in USD, and she’ll check on what to do about my FCDs in CAD. The terms in the FCD say the currency can’t be changed, so do we have an issue here? I used to have a family member who was a US travel agent (now retired) and she would always ask me if I wanted the booking in USD or CAD, so it should be possible.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! We were on the Discovery in April and she is a beautiful ship, but not our favorite at all. Does feel crowded and you are right she’s very interior oriented. I don’t think this class of ship is suited to Alaska. You are also right that Princess cabins are small! We also cruise HAL and Celebrity and enjoy the size of their cabins (and bathrooms) much more. If you do go on another Royal class Princess ship, the “obstructed” balconies on the bump out on Emerald deck don’t have life boats in front so you can enjoy a nicer view out. We always try for one of these.

I think I was posting the same thing at the same time, but you are much clearer! So, they are managing to get hundreds of dollars more for a guarantee basically and you still might not get that location it sounds like.

I thought they said they booked a BA and were assigned a BD. Princess is running 2 types of guarantees these days it looks like. They have the “ we pick your cabin” which is a true old style guarantee, and “you pick your cabin”, which then takes you to the choices and different prices based on location. The trouble is there are often no cabins available in certain locations, so rather than saying “sold out” they let you pick that location as a guarantee and pay the cost associated with a cabin in that location. It looks like they are waitlisting people on the locations they have chosen.

You’re right. The cabin they have assigned is a lower category and had you picked that location in the first place you would have paid less, so they owe you something. We actually love aft cabins and especially on Riviera deck it’s so close to run up the stairs to the buffet or the gym. Stairs (and elevators if you use them) are also less crowded than midship. But I get that that’s not what you chose and you should get some satisfaction here. Also as others have said, this is in your PVP to be fixing this for you. He/she should be in the phone for 2 hours to fix it, not you. That’s their job.

Yes, I agree they are trying. I particularly appreciate the feedback sheet left in the cabin in the first few days. On one cruise we noticed the MDR coffee very weak like dishwater. Commented on that and it was much better the next day!

I think they mean the club agency’s website in Canada. I also find it annoying that that particular one doesn’t display the basic fares.

Congratulations! Nice to hear a recent success. I think we’ll see fewer and fewer of these as most of the ships start to sail full. We won a really cheap upgrade ($105 cad pp) to a deluxe balcony in January for our Hawaii cruise. Ship ended being only about 60% full though. We are booked on an 11 day Alaska and the starting bid from our obstructed outside to a balcony is $270 pp, and $340 for a premium balcony. I won’t bother as there are only a few premium balconies showing available anyway. Im happy with our deal as we have been to Alaska many times in balconies and it is just a last minute getaway for us. First time without a balcony in 20 years! Should be interesting!

Yes, the Majestic Princess (and the other Royal Class Princess ships) is too large to take the inside passage.

Dive in had a line up of about 75 people, there was no taco bar operating this cruise, no pizza, room service said it would be about 1 hour as everyone else was trying that too. We passed as our dinner was at 5:45, so no point eating room service at 5 pm. Honestly, there was NO food. A first on my over 35 cruises. This was August 2022 and the ship was full. I’ve never seen the lido completely closed before without even the pasta /salad open but there was nothing.

Explorations cafe on the Zuiderdam used to have lots of items in the showcase next to the counter in the old location. We were really disappointed last year to see they have moved it over to combine it with the bar. They only had a few biscotti on a plate when we were there. Disappointing. Especially disappointing when we went up at 4 pm hungry after being ashore and finding the Lido all closed (yup) and hoping for a little nibble of something.

Taxis should be right there I would think. If you need to you can go up to the Pan Pacific or across to the Fairmont Waterfront and they can get one for you. Uber is fine too, but you may have trouble getting one for such a short ride. You may come across some less than scenic areas, homeless camps, etc. It is also a good 30 minute walk even if you take a good route. I’m fit and I wouldn’t do it with a suitcase, lol.

Not quite. We still have them here in Vancouver but most places charge for them. Walmart of all places doesn’t have them at all. I don’t go there often and was surprised. Victoria has banned plastic bags. I always have a light fabric bag folded in my purse, just in case.

I’m sure you know an acceptable route, but I would NOT recommend any tourists try to walk from Canada Place to Pacific Central train station. Best to take a taxi.

We were on the Discovery for a coastal last month and didn’t find her relaxing at all. There seems to be a real lack of public rooms for quiet reading, etc. Piazza always had something going on and was very busy (so it was great for those who want something to do). We like a quieter environment. We spent a lot of time in our cabin and on our veranda.

I’ll be following along. I’ve always enjoyed your live posts on the HAL board. Enjoy your cruise!

No elevators and we avoid the Piazza. On longer cruises it starts to sound like a TB ward down there. We haven’t gotten sick on any of the cruises we’ve been on since the restart. I agree, at this point if we were sick we would simply self isolate. Unfortunately most are too selfish to do that.