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To me it seems the site has been froggy for several weeks - and when I went to look just now I get what you show above - it took 4 minutes to quit spinning and let me in.

They were great. I really struggled over option for getting to and from. I have some limitations on walking and in the end I just wanted to know someone was going to be there waiting for us. I thought they were expensive when I booked them (several months early) but by the time we made the trip the price had almost doubled so I was glad I paid up front 🙂 They were efficient, the drivers and the cars were very good - they may have driven a bit faster than I would prefer since they were on the wrong side of the road 🙂 But the trips were a little over an hour each way. The only issues we had was operator error (me). Until that cruise we dinosaurs (76/73) never had a smart phone or device and I got a tablet just to be able to book the cruise on Princess (when we didn't have a choice but to do it through the new app) and I had no idea how to do texts etc - so communicating got a little frantic as I was trying to figure it out on the run 🙂 There are obviously much cheaper ways to go - but for me it was worth the peace of mind.

Last Fall we opted to go direct to Southampton after arriving at Heathrow - we booked Blackberry both ways. We spent the night in a hotel in Southampton. Coming back I had made reservations for the Crowne Plaza at Term 4 - not convenient but did what we needed. A note - we planned to take the Hoppa to our terminal in the morning and it never showed up so the clerk called us a taxi. He groaned about having 2 people, 2 regular size and two carry on size bags and tried to charge us extra when we got to the airport. Nice try. Considering this was our first trip to the area it all went rather smoothly - the ride to/from Southampton was considerably shorter than we anticipated and our hotel in Southampton made us sit in the lobby until they were ready for us 🙂 Coming back we were also very early but the Crowne Plaza got us right into our room.

A Canada/New England cruise was our first (and what we assumed would be our only - turns out 26 cruises later not to be the case) on the Golden Princess - and like most "firsts" it was spectacular. Since then we have done that cruise 4 more times including the longer cruise starting in Quebec and ending in FLL. Every time we tried to predict the best time, and normally what we hear while we were there was "you should have been here last/next week." But it was still always spectacular even trying to hang on to a building to take a picture in a blizzard at Peggy's Cove 🙂 One cruise sticks out - a 12 day starting in Quebec on 14 October. Flying into Quebec was breathtaking seeing fall foliage the likes of which we had never seen before. We spent the night at a B&B and wandered around Quebec that night and the next day. I arranged for a horsed drawn carriage to take us around that following morning and just couldn't have been more perfect. We (we invited two CC friends to join us that we are still friends with) had to have lap blankets, everything was wet, the ground was covered in red and yellow leaves, all the shops had Halloween pumpkins and decorations out, the young lady who was our driver/tour guide was fantastic - and we felt like we belonged there! The next day we checked into the ship and that night I had made reservations at a very small restaurant in an alley that was really a treat - and I think we were the last to get in that night (there were only 8-10 tables). Unfortunately we had a bad storm and had to walk back to the ship - but what a start. Bottom line is we have never got the full "Fall Foliage" experience in the 5 cruises that we had in Quebec. We love all the other ports as well - but Quebec is stall calling us 🙂 Good luck - and have fun!!!

I had looked at 4 different 2024 cruises last week and compared them to today with the "sale." Along with not being able to actually select a cabin on any of them ("come back later tonight")...the prices increased for all 4. The two cruises we have booked also went up over night. I'm thankful we booked before the last 3 sales....

I agree - we prefer smaller as well. We haven't been on the Island but did a full transit PC on the Coral several years ago and really enjoyed her. We did the British Isles on the Emerald last fall and it was great. Rainy and cold every day and it was still spectacular and the last day in Wales was worth the whole trip. Enjoy!

There have been three big sales since we booked our Feb 2024 cruise - including the best sale ever!!! The result is that cruise now costs $3,000 more. Sales used to mean something different to me 🙂

If all else fails perhaps going to the Roll Call board might help. I just looked at the Emerald Princess and it goes back to 2006. Looking for the ship you were on, then the Roll Call, someone might have listed the itinerary - or of you find the Roll Call perhaps you can put a message on it asking if anyone still has the itinerary. Longs shots - but WTH 🙂

Too many variables to really say. On our cruise last Fall we arrived in Southampton on time and disembarkation was fast and quick - but we were just taking a car to Heathrow and were spending the night - so no time crunch. I'm not sure my stomach is strong enough for that kind of schedule - it would be touch and go under the best circumstances - none of which you can control. Good luck whatever you do!!!

On our two cruises last Fall and Christmas we had the cards in our room everyday - and unlike someone above mentioned, I had to make sure and be up and dressed because they showed up everyday at least 10 minutes before the time period I had specified. Not complaining - beats getting stuff 10 minutes before you have to leave the cabin.

Thanks for the tip. We will be staying there pre-cruise in Feb so if we have an option we'll keep this in mind 🙂

Not necessarily apples to apples - but when I applied for the Shareholder OBC for our Feb 2024 cruise I already had the military OBC automatically. Our brokerage account is in both names - and when they approved the credit they put it in my wife's name. Hopefully that will work in the future and I will send the request in under her name just to be safe - this time they just did it that way - maybe they knew something! 🙂

You beat me kiwi :-)

NEW MIlitary OBC! We just got emails from Princess saying they appreciate the military and are doubling the OBC from $100 to $200 for 7-13 days and from $250 to $500 for 14 days or longer. I did not see anything that says it has to be new bookings so I sent it to our TA to ask if this could be changed on our two current bookings. I'm sure the reply will be new bookings only - but have to ask 🙂 It does say in the fine print of there are more than 1 military person in the cabin to call and get the rates AND it says not combinable with Shareholder OBC since that rule changed yesterday.

We just got the email from Princess about this change. It specifically states that any cruises already booked are grandfathered and only those booked after today will be effected. I really don't expect a major change - I'll apply for military in my name and shareholder under Sue's.

We are Elite with Princess and they matched us to Diamond which I think is their highest level. There was a time limit (3 years) or so to use it - doubt we ever will.

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club/status-match?utm_campaign=usa-en-sem-brand_grandvoyage&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_term=msc+cruise+voyage&utm_content=branded&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4POxoZTO_wIVy39MCh1BTw5REAAYASABEgLREPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'm not sure I understand the issue of deciding who gets it. If only one person gets it it is $100 or $250 depending on the length of the cruise whether you were an E-1 or an O-10.

It was definitely a shock to us last Fall when we had them for the first time. I have been undergoing bladder cancer surgeries/issues for a few years which has increased my night time trips to the bathroom significantly. And every time I got up the lights lit up the room 🙂 We took another cruise over Christmas and brought supplies to remedy the problem 🙂 Overall probably a good thing - but as the OP said it would be nice to be able to control it other than with duct tape 🙂

We took a Princess cruise out of Quebec a few years ago (and highly recommend it!!!). We spent one night in a B&B up near the Hotel Frontenac. We checked in the ship the next day and spent that night on the ship after wandering around town and going out to dinner. I think we got back to the ship around 10pm. The next morning we saw people checking in right up until the listed all aboard time - and we sailed away that afternoon.

Not quite the same as what I think you are asking - but I have played the travel credit card game for years - getting a new one almost every year to get whatever bonus we are after. Earlier this year when I realized I needed to get another $5,000 in gift cards my DW signed up for a hotel card from a chain we normally use - used that card to buy the gift cards saving 10% and she got 170,000 hotel points. I always have to look because I have seen the "gift cards" don't count warning. But the way AARP lists the sale it hasn't been an issue (and I have been able to go into our credit card account while the charge was pending and change the category of the purchase to travel when needed 🙂

I agree - it's horrible. I was checking them out since they will somewhat match loyalty status - but I gave up before I got a headache - and Norwegian was as bad - every time I went to the website all I got was I need to book in 3 hours or the deal was gone....:-)

We did that cruise last fall and before we left I was told I could use a CC for everything - and very little if any tipping. Every tour we signed up for seemed to specify they wanted to be paid in cash - I only used my card for one - and tipping seemed to be the norm rather than the exception.

I admit to never having cruised with X although they were the cruise line that first got me interested in cruising - 26 cruises ago. I have looked at various X cruises lately and loyalty benefits aside I just couldn't convince myself to pay the difference. For example: A 7 day Alaska cruise out of Seattle next May in a standard balcony cabin with either the Princess Plus Package or the X All Included fare (refundable) was over $1,000 more on X. I haven't seen anything in this thread that makes them worth an extra $1,000. One of the great things about cruising - we have lots of options 🙂

I can't say how it works for people with the Premier Package - but I have booked specialty dining on both our Nov and Feb cruises. We are elite and have not made final payment.