irishgirl

I always keep my phone on airplane mode, and I always have Wi-Fi calling enabled.  I’m able to call and receive on my phone.  I also have used FaceTime and WhatsApp.  It’s really no big deal or problem as long as you leave your phone on airplane mode.

I did the British Isles cruise September 5-17, 2023 on the Regal Princess.  We spent 2 nights before and 4 nights after the cruise in London.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn Waterloo because of the location.  
 

in London we used The Tour Guy for Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London.

Westminster Abbey we went to Evensong which is free to everyone and starts at 5:00 pm.  But,you have to get in line about 4:00.  It fills up fast.

Guernsey:  we did the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society tour.

Portland:  we used Dorset tours for Stonehenge 

Cork:  Best of Cork and Countryside through Princess

Dublin:  we rode the train into Dublin and rode the HOHO bus

Belfast:  we booked Giants Causeway and Antrim Coast through Get Your Guide

Glasgow:  we booked Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond through Timberbush Tours

Inverness:  Urquhart Castle, Culloden Battlefield and Loch Ness

Edinburgh:  we had tea at the castle

then we toured Paris through Princess with lunch on a Seine river cruise.

The Doubletree has a shuttle and they will take you anywhere within 5 miles you want to go.  They took us to the grocery store which had liquor, wine and beer.  They also had a great deli for sandwiches.  Shuttle is free.

I just got back from a British Isles cruise on the Regal Princess.  I had purchased £100 and €100 from my bank.  Then I found out it’s cashless over there.  Every restaurant, every store, every mode of transportation was tap and go.  I used my Visa credit card for everything and it’s my Apple Pay.  I came home with all my cash.  We even went to one restaurant that told us “We don’t take cash or American Express”.  I must say, it’s so much easier and faster to tap and go.

I booked through Transfeero for all my transfers.  It worked out well.

I too have the Plus-50 package but if I want pizza, I’ll either go to slice, or fork over $12.99 for a pizza.  Not going to upgrade for $120 just to get 2 pizzas, not worth it.  I don’t want the salad or the dessert, just pizza and a drink.  I don’t think I’ve ever gone out for pizza anywhere and ordered salad, pizza and dessert.  Nor have I ever seen my friends do that.  

I bought this holder from Amazon, bought a 30” chain from Walmart for $5 on clearance.

My phone is always on Wi-Fi calling.  I used Wi-Fi calling on my last Princess cruise and it worked great.

4 hours ago, ninka26 said:

Where in the email does that appear? I didn't see what package I have in my email. I booked after 8/2 for a 2024 cruisetour with Princess Premier. Could that be why I'm not seeing anything??

It’s at the bottom of the email.  But you’re probably okay since you booked in August.  I had booked in March of 2022.

Definitely something wrong with the app.  I purchased the Plus plan for my cruise in March of 2022.  So, I have the Plus-50.  My app shows I have Premier-80.

I got the email today, I have the Plus-50 and this was at the bottom of the email.  I cruise in 21 days.

You currently have a package that doesn’t include these new benefits. But you can easily upgrade your package in the Cruise Personalizer® to take advantage of these additional perks.

I’m not going to upgrade, 2 pizzas aren’t worth the $144 or so it would cost to upgrade.

I’m not happy about the changes.  I have three cruises booked and I have Plus-50, Plus-60 and Premium packages.  Personally, I feel they could eliminate the 2 premium desserts per day and the fitness classes to offset the cost of casual dining.  

I’m glad to hear you liked the Paris Drive and Seine River Cruise because I’ve booked it for our September 5th cruise.

6 hours ago, Jadn13 said:

The Paris drive and Seine river cruise is fantastic. I have taken this Princess tour twice and you get to see EVERYTHING! My photos from the cruise were beautiful and lunch on the boat was good. (Not Hijacking, I just don’t want people to miss out) 

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

I see an 'option' to add eSim (10XR) - do I want to do that?

When you buy one you will want to.  I’m looking at Airalo and Dent.  Dent allows you to buy or sell unused data.  Here’s a video about eSims for Europe.

Newer IPhones don’t have a SIM card, they use eSim.  You can check your phone by going into:

Settings

Cellular

We used Lyft from LAX to the Doubletree San Pedro, it was $23.  Lyft costs less than Uber and most drivers have both stickers on their cars.

Every time I ordered from the International Cafe, my drinks came in a to go cup with a lid.

Just rebook through EZ Air.  I just rebooked my flights to London because the price went down over $300.  Just go into your account, go to travel, then when you’re on the page with your flights, go to manage your flights.

They still had the shuttle last February when I was there.

I bought a cell phone lanyard for my phone.  I need my phone on the ship to order drinks and snacks whenever I want.  I also use it to locate my shipmates.

Gear Beast Cell Phone Lanyard - Neck Phone Holder w/ Card Pocket and Silicone Neck Strap - Compatible with Most Smartphones, Black 

I sent mine in for renewal in July, I had my passport back in about 3 weeks.  I did not use expedited service.

When I was on the Grand, people with I Phones had the least trouble.  In our group, the android phone all had issues.

The medallions are engraved with your name, ship and sailing dates.  Yes, they’re magnetic so I have mine on my magnetic board.

I used EZ Air for my cruise out of San Pedro last Feb.  I flew in 3 days before the cruise and the cost was several hundred dollars less than if I had booked directly through the airline.  I also got to choose what flight I wanted so it was easy to coordinate with others flying in from other cities.  We needed to arrive at about the same time.  I can’t understand why someone would not want to use EZ Air.

I’ve done the Cozumel Bar Hop twice.  You get a shot at each bar, but most people on the bus bought drinks and food at each bar we stopped at.  By the time we got to Reggae Bar, everyone was pretty well smashed.

I would do this tour again in a heartbeat.  It’s much fun.