nasa1974

8 hours ago, voljeep said:

please post if they open that up to us 'regular cruisers' - might like to b2b that with the 5 day

They did that for the Sky back in 2019. It was a 3-day inaugural. So, we booked the 3-day and then the 7-day. Then they opened up another 3-day just in front of the inaugural cruise. If they do that for the Star, I'm in. That would give me a b2b2b.

@Lionesss Great thread. Thanks for sharing. Yep. Got to keep a little of your winnings for taxes.

So, does anyone know what is happening between 11/5/25 and 11/10/25 when the Sun arrives in Fort Lauderdale and sails on the 10th for her 5-Day Caribbean Getaway with Grand Turk?

I just got off the Caribbean Princess and added a Princess gift card to my account 4 days before I sailed by calling Princess. It showed up as gift credit on my folio. My daughter and her family were on the cruise with me, and she added a Princess gift card and a VISA gift card to her account the second day at Guest Services.

It's been mentioned a few times on this thread. DO NOT THROW AWAY YOUR GIFT CARD until after your cruise and you verify that nothing was returned to said gift card.

Once I get onboard the Sun I will have sailed on all 4 classes. Of course that doesn't make me special. 😀 

I never really paid attention to what class of ship I was sailing on. I guess for my wife and myself the ship was going to where we wanted to visit, or we had friends onboard. What class we were on never came up. Now that I look back at the ship's we sailed on it was mostly the Grand Class. We really enjoyed the retreat pool on the Sky. The bump out balcony on the Island was unique. What can I saw about Skywalkers. And the Diamond was our first.

For everyone that has sailed, each ship and each class has had its likes and dislikes. Now that I am sailing solo, I'm sailing on the Sphere Class for the ship. So, we will see if the Sun and Star can draw me in or will I fall back to the other classes and still enjoy cruising. We don't know until we try.

1 hour ago, dides said:

The deck plans after October 14 reflect the Sanctuary Club changes.   Like the Sanctuary layout itself, the Penthouse Suites becoming Vista Suites, Owner's Suites becoming Grand Suites and the qualifying mini-suites and D0 premium deluxe balconies becoming Sanctuary Club.  The Signature Lounge also becomes the Suite Lounge.

 

You're just a plethora of information. Thanks.

Just went to look at the deck plans for the Sun and it asks if you are sailing before or after October 14, 2024. I wonder what the difference is?

2 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

The burgers, pizza, tacos and salads seemed to be an elevated food choice from the other ships.  Should be able to satisfy a lot of main pool passengers.  

 

I do appreciate the new beeper system for the burger stand so people aren't standing in a long line.  I hope they roll that out to the other ships.

When I was on the Crown last October "The Salty Dog Grill" passed out pagers/beepers.

10 minutes ago, capriccio said:

 

We had a great time on that excursion in 2016.  We have a similar picture.  For that Christmas our son gave us t-shirts with the picture and "Born to Be Wild." 

 

They are still in business:  https://trikes-aruba.com/

We did it in 2012. Once I got use to shifting left-handed it was easy. Although I kept forgetting to take off the handbrake.

12 hours ago, xtremegk said:

 

Very late to the party...

 

Where do you stay in Cleveland? I fly in/out of there for work fairly often and struggle to find a decent hotel close to the airport.

I have stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Cleveland Airport. Nice rooms and a 5-10 minute shuttle to the airport.

The Hilton Garden Inn A Cleveland Airport Hotel

There are a couple of nice places on Country Club Blvd. in North Olmsted about 15 minutes from the airport (Courtyard, Extended Stay America, Sonesta Simply Suites & Hampton Inn).

Do they still offer the trike excursion (3-wheel motorcycles)?  It's been a few years since we did this, but it was fantastic. I don't believe it was offered through Princess. I think it was called Trike Tours Aruba. I would have to dig through some old posts. We drove all over Aruba. We also stopped at the lighthouse. There was a group of us, and we followed a tour guide.

4 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

@nasa1974What is the approx cost of that service? Tip? 

Honestly, I don't remember. I did give the employee some money when he took my bag. I know I got some of my questions answered here. 

Canada (Alaska/Pacific Coastal) Cruises Q&A: Find Tips & Recommendations - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums

My room was $372 American when I booked it for October of 2023. 

I stayed at Canada Place last October the day before my cruise. A bit pricey but a nice stay. They will also pick up your bag and take it to the bag drop off. I would stay there again.

Gee. I guess I'm missing out.

I have a DA cabin in the sphere on deck 15 and sailing on 10/14/24.

It's just unfortunate that Princess can't make up their mind.

I'm on a cruise, sailing on a new ship and class.

Whatever.

On 4/19/2024 at 1:04 PM, Lionesss said:

FREE CRUISE EXPENSE ACCOUNT

 

Taxi airport to Embassy Suites with tip

$22.00

 

Publix run $106.79

 

Total spent to date. 
 

$952.39. 

 

To get in room early $30

 

Grand total expense account 

 

$982.39 

 

 

Be safe. 

 

 

 

 

Will be at the Embassy Suites on the 26th with my daughter and her family. Will be jumping on a competitor's ship for a 7-day cruise. My daughter, son-in-law and 3 grandkids very excited.

Third time for the adults first time for the grandkids. Have a great cruise.

I'm booked on the Star out of Ft. Lauderdale for a 5/7 b2b on 11/10/25. 

6 hours ago, dides said:

Posting this on the Star Princess build thread following the updates from those passengers who have been notified of changes directly. While nine inaugural sailings have now been cancelled and the new inaugural is now October 4 2025, this states the ship delivery date will be September 26, 2025 (a slot for a shakedown cruise maybe?).

 

The official press release:

 

MONFALCONE, Italy, (April 19, 2024) – Princess Cruises and ship builder Fincantieri today announced the mutual decision to postpone the delivery of the next Sphere Class ship, Star Princess.

Following a comprehensive review of the remaining construction milestones, both parties have elected to adjust the ship's delivery date from July 29, 2025 to September 26, 2025, which will result in the cancellation of the nine inaugural sailings.

“Despite our collective dedication and relentless pursuit to deliver the ship in late July, it has become evident that additional time is required to ensure the Star Princess is delivered to the highest standards expected by our guests,” said John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises.

The new inaugural sailings of Star Princess will sail roundtrip from Barcelona and include an 11-day Mediterranean voyage on October 4, 2025, and a 7-day Mediterranean voyage on October 15, 2025, that precede a 14-day transatlantic crossing to Fort Lauderdale on October 22, 2025 for the ship’s first Caribbean season. These three new cruises will open for sale on April 30, 2024.

Guests who are booked on any of the impacted voyages will be given three options: book any Princess cruise worldwide, including aboard the new Star, sister ship Sun Princess, or any other Princess ship.

Guests who elect to rebook will receive future cruise- and onboard-credits depending on the cruise they select.  Guests will also have the option to cancel and receive a full refund of the cruise fare.

Princess will protect travel agent commissions on all bookings that have been paid in full.

Star Princess is the second in the new Sphere Class of ships for Princess. Sister ship Sun Princess, built by Fincantieri in Monfalcone, debuted in February and is hailed as the next level Love Boat featuring the iconic and elegant structural lines Princess is known for, while delivering an evolution of the brand with new eye-catching architectural spectacles like The Dome, the cruise industry’s first geodesic feature on the top deck, and The Sphere, the suspended glass Sphere Piazza at the center of the cruise ship.

 

 

Thank you. I just saw this and was going to post.

11 hours ago, Lionesss said:

DRUM ROLL. 
 

The post you have been eagerly awaiting to sea!!!!!

 

The “PRETTY PURPLE” suitcases. 
o

 

Plus a purple back pack. 
 

Be safe. 

Love the NASA stickers.

Love my wrist band. Sometimes I have a problem getting the scanner to recognize the medallion when I'm leaving the ship. I hear the air tag bands work also. There is one you can get that attaches to your watch band. On my last cruise a lot of people were wearing the lanyards. 

@smwg is correct. If you use a gift card keep that card or cards until after your cruise. I had 4 cruises booked for 2020 and was using gift cards to pay for those cruises in 2019. When those cruises got cancelled everything went back to the gift cards. If I had thrown those cards away in early 2019 I would have been out a lot of money. Also, the gift cards don't expire. I used some of those gift cards from 2019 to pay for a couple of cruises this year.

@AZjohn I'm planning on using a gift card towards OBC once I get on the ship. I've heard that sometimes guest services have a problem getting the card attached to your account. Just an FYI for some that would like to do that. 

Just a bit off topic. So, my daughter and her husband are going on a cruise and booked an evening at the Crown Grill. My son-in-law asked if they should leave a tip after dinner. I have no idea since I haven't dined in these venues. Opinions please.

I would think Uber would be fine as long as they can manage all of your luggage.

29 minutes ago, illinigal77 said:

I don't want to pack 2 weeks worth of clothes. The jeans/pants, casual tops, and underwear we wear on the land portion we plan to wear in other ports and on the ship during the day. We will have a "ship" suitcase with dressier clothes and items we will only use on the ship.

Makes perfect sense. Enjoy your cruise.

50 minutes ago, illinigal77 said:

I use detergent sheets and dryer sheets when I travel. The detergent sheets are lighter, take up less room, and there is no chance anything will leak when travelling. They work great! Has anyone done laundry the first full day at sea? We are doing a land/sea tour of Alaska this coming Septemeber and our first full day on the ship would be a good day to wash the clothes we wore on the land portion of our trip. That day we sail to Hubbard Glacier but are only there from 3:00-8 pm so it would be a good day for me to do our clothes.

I'm just curious why you would want to wash the clothes from your land portion, unless you plan to wear some during your cruise. Every time we did Alaska we packed two bags. One for the land portion and the other for the cruise. Oh, and at least one carry-on. 🙂

@sadiwest

For the most part I have had good luck with EZAir. I have had no problem booking a flight a day early and I wouldn't think two days early would be a problem. You have a pretty good selection of flights and times. They don't offer budget airlines.  Also depending on the airline, you can't pick your seats until final payment. I don't remember which airlines.

A few years ago, I used EZAir for flights to and from Fort Lauderdale. I noticed that our flights had gotten cheaper by about $200. I was able to rebook with no fees.