dreaminofcruisin

I think the highest chances of seeing Coke Zero are if your cruise is in Europe and it sounds like Australia. Our 2 European cruises last year - Enchanted in the Med, Sky for Norway had Coke Zero. Our Caribbean (also on Sky) in February did not.

If you go to your online account, move to the cruise, click on "Payments", click on Booking Balance, under "Make a Payment" are 3 options: Credit Card Paypal and Gift Card Click on Gift Card and fill in the number, pin and amount. Click Apply. Do this for each Gift Card. However, don't be too quick. It seems sometimes it needs to catch up with itself....

It is strange that Princess would do this. I always want a covered balcony. If I was considering a mini-suite on a Grand class ship and the Emerald deck ones aren't available, I don't think there are any others that are covered? So, I would then book a balcony instead. So, Princess would rather I book a balcony than a mini-suite? Weird.

Do you know of better places that give an 8% discount?

It's working for me today.

I purchased 2 on Tuesday -- no problem. I tried to purchase my other 3 (for the month) this morning and am getting errors and not able to complete the transaction. Something changed.....

Yup. I had to cancel a cruise on which I had used 10 gift cards. The money went back to each of the gift cards, so it's important to keep track of them until after you sail.

On our cruise in February we had some newbies along, so we went to it (otherwise we often skip it). We were commenting on how it does appear shorter than it did in our early days of cruising.... Or maybe it was just more special then .... ???? 🤷‍♀️

Yup. Always book with EZAir for the better international pricing especially in Business Class and the ability to book early and cancel if needed. Only 1 minor problem in many cruises.

I've never really looked for ducks in the past. However, we had the grandkids on a cruise with us in February on the Sky. We found them 2 ducks----actually not very hidden.... There was also a nice woman who came up to them in the dining room and gave them each a duck pin. Quite a nice thing to do I thought. 🙂 Of course, now that Churchill's is an arcade, one can also buy ducks in the grabber machine there if you don't find any..... 😁

If you have the ability to bring your own, I would. This has been one of the most disappointing changes by Princess over the last few years. Chardonnay selection by the glass has really gone downhill. Historically, I would go on a cruise, try the Chardonnay offerings by the glass and often found some of my new favorites that I would then drink at home. Canyon Road is the only Chardonnay regularly included in the Plus package on North America sailings. Depending on the ship, Vines might have another. Canyon Road is truly awful and I can't understand why Princess continues to serve it. Canyon Road is also the Plus option for Pinot Grigio...maybe a little better, but still pretty bad. My cruise last month, I found a Sauvignon Blanc included with Plus by the glass that I preferred to either the Chardonnay or the Pinot Grigio, though Chardonnay is usually my 'go to'. I complain every survey and certainly hope others do too.....

I never considered using this, but after seeing what a sh**t show FLL is, I definitely would consider it next time. You can't check your bags until 2-3 hours prior to your flight and there's no place to sit. I was hoping the last remodel would have improved things. Nope. Seems like after all these years, they would figure out a way to deal with all the cruisers showing up too early for the flights....but...nope...apparently not a priority.

It is quirky to be sure. You might also try and reboot your laptop....especially if you are both logging in on the same device with different login ids. I think it caches some things sometimes. Or...try a different browser. Or...log in using your booking # and using the 'click here' button. Also, if you are going back and forth between the online version and the app, DD finally figured out that the app required a special character and the website did not, so her online password wouldn't work on the app.

You could mention this the first night at the MDR. Likely it won't matter too much. Just off the Sky and with our party of 8, often we were only 4 or 5 (had 2 little ones along). They seated us at an appropriate sized table each night using our reservation for 8....

Yes. They also have Club Soda in a can, San Pellegrino and Perrier.

New to Elite. What is laundry vs cleaning?

The one I looked at for July....we paid less than is currently listed. Sale?

Much of the time, they don't even use the medallion. They ask your cabin number. So, bringing another medallion is pretty meaningless. I do think it's a training issue. It 'feels' like the bartenders used to do a better job of allocating drinks than they have been lately. Or maybe it's the system? If they are using my cabin number, when they bring it up, they see both me and DH.....sure seems like it should be simple to click on one for each of us...but then sometimes it seems like there is a whole lot of clicking they need to do even for just one drink...

At one time, someone indicated that you couldn't use the AARP gift cards for the EZ Air part of the cruise balance. Is that true? Anyone having any experience to confirm or deny? Thanks!

This is one of the most annoying things about Princess website. It always only shows the full amount of OBC for a cruise....so it ends up being up to you to keep track. However, I 'think' if you try and do a mock booking of an excursion--like you were booking it, but don't finish it, it will show you the available OBC to use for the excursion. As far as a confirmation on the cancellation...I don't know the answer. However, you will see the excursions online that you have booked, so I guess if it doesn't show up as a booked one, it has been cancelled. 🤷‍♀️

Those who booked with the Plus package prior to December of 2022 paid $50/day. When Princess changed was what was included and raised the price to $60/day, instead of doing the logical thing and grandfather in those who paid $50/day, they decided we didn't get the 'new' benefits. Sometimes those were things that previously were included, but now only came with the Plus package, like the medallion shipping. In addition to being a pretty trashy move by Princess, it caused a whole lot of confusion and anger. ☹️

Nope. Ordered 2 for the same cabin same address. Should be $10 per order.

Watch your credit card statements. I have the Plus 50 package so as expected, got charged the $10 shipping for the medallion. OK, whatever. When I got my credit card statement, I had 3 separate line items on the same date for that $10 shipping fee. 🤪 I disputed it with my credit card company...don't want to play the phone game with an obvious duplication..... This was done with the old app.

Just off the Sky...our 15th (yay--finally Elite) Princess cruise and the FIRST time we had towel animals!!!! Also, the first time we had our grandkids on Princess (ages 4 and 7)---guessing that had something to do with it. For me, I don't care too much if I get towel animals, but was happy the kids got them. Also, might help convince them to go on Princess (which I prefer) over Carnival. 😁 We had 3 mini-suites...if that makes a difference.

It is interesting how different each cruise can be related to being seated in the dining room. Just off the Sky and we NEVER even saw a dining room line. We were a party of 8, so had reservations each night between 5 and 6 (varied) and left sometime between 7 and 8:00 (pretty slow service most nights). Since we also had 2 little ones, even though our reservation was for 8, sometimes we were only 4 or 5. Still no problem. We were seated immediately at the appropriate sized table. The ship was sold out. I wonder if on some cruises, people are moving away from MDR dining?