Steelers36

That would be more of a general remark since all the lines are priced in USD operating out of N.A. You can either book in USD and manage your own currency exchanging (like use a USD credit card for one part), or accept the cruise line's going conversion rate. Princess has been at 1.35 for a very long time now and it has sometimes been better and sometimes worse than the market. It isn't a bad thing right now. IMO, the entire travel industry in this hemisphere is USD based, so you learn to accept that. CAD at par is a "steal-of-a-deal" if it happens, but you can still book then in USD if desired and the USD amount charged is reduced by the exchange rate.

It shouldn't matter whether you stuff everything in one bag or split it up. I think we did that once with separate instructions for one article. We rarely use the service and prefer to do our own.

The reason we choose Inside is economical and actually started down that route when Sanctuary first came along and we were doing Caribbean sector voyages. We would book Sanctuary for $15/day full voyage (back then it was the price) and say that was our Balcony. We have found Insides suit us most of the time and we like to set the beds up as singles and have the nice space in between. We aren't in the cabin all that much. Leaves more money to invest in shore excursions (not PCL) for our longer voyages we do now. That said, we do appreciate a Balcony when pricing is attractive because it is nice to have the natural light and to be able to step out to fresh air when in port. We do not tend to hang out on a Balcony for any length of time. It is also great to be able to do a UBD when in a Balcony as a special treat. ETA: We have been in sideways and regular and I do like the layout of the sideways. The one disadvantage is the passageway door opens right at the foot of the bed whereas the regular layout has the small entrance with bathroom and closet first and then the bedroom area, so there is more privacy and less splash of light if one person returns to cabin after partner gone to bed.

At certain holiday times, Princess would give a free 5% (usually) or 10% (more rare, but always was one on M Day) when purchasing GCs. I used to book a lot of them on MD if we had a future cruise to pay for. Long gone now, however.

They quit that at least in 2023 and I think 2022. They had it during Covid at first, but stopped the bonuses as I mentioned. Now everyone uses AARP Rewards to get a discount of 8%.

Your post reminds me of the "good old days" when PCL stationed a ship (it was the CB in my times) our of San Juan. The terminal had a wine and liquor store just before boarding the ship, so it was easy to stock up without lugging wine to SJU. We just did two times out of there back in the days when we went for only 7 nights.

Alcohol is treated differently than wine. Policy is to hold alcohol. Wine can be taken on board at ports. Just know that it could attract the $20 corkage fee if brought to dining room. Possibly assessed at re-boarding, but more unlikely if only carrying one per person.

You will be fine.

Recent guests reported able to do that (I mean sometime this Winter season), but they did not have any say as to location. That surprises me a bit since the concierge can communicate with the ship on this. Obviously, a guest cannot see the paper map they use at the Sanctuary, but one could describe a fairly specific desired location if guest was already familiar with the general layout.

If you read the information provided by @NavyVeteran and @wallyj, you will see that you earn the OBC on the future voyage that you book using the FCD as the deposit. Each of you (assuming a couple) needs to have a FCD. What you are trying to do would be totally abused if Princess allowed it. One could book 10 cruises on board and pile up OBC and then how does Princess recover from you when you cancel them all after the cruise? Nope - you get the OBC on the future cruise. PS - You can each "buy" two FCDs and book those cruises on board - or wait until you are home. If you are booking on board, I think it is like buying a virtual FCD and doesn't get you anything extra than waiting. You can book two voyages for two different dates and later cancel one if not going on both, but there is no need to actually book them on board. You can buy FCDs and decide later which to book.

If there was going to be such a system, I would add self-service screens outside the DRs which would do the same thing as the phone App in terms of joining a queue. An overhead screen could list names or initials of how the queue is progressing and who is next, etc. You could potentially join a queue for a different DR and then walk there and wait. If anyone called not there, they get 5 minutes or so leeway and then move to next on the list.

If it doesn't then it's baked in like Australia.

Exactly. I was referring to them. The pricing is outrageous compared to the all-inclusive cruise fare packages and make no sense other than to make the cruise fare packages look very attractive.

They are also what I call fake marketing prices since no one would ever purchase them in their right minds. They make the package seem super valuable, but folks just need to pencil it out as mentioned in a number of posts.

It is a much larger ship, so it makes sense they would allow for serving more guests at once.

<withdrawn> I see now answered >1 time.

That's about all I understood! LOL.

I'm not sure. I have not seen them nor eaten them. Taste is often in the mouth of the beholder. No doubt lots of people want to get the advantage of all their inclusions.

Sorry, just seeing this thread and not going to read it all. Did anyone speak with the F&B Manager to find out what going on with all the erroneous charges?

Lots of times, food pictures can be a challenge to figure out details. That said, this one is quite clear in terms of visual recognition on the icing not being as you stated. I have not read the cake descriptions for some time now. Do they claim to use real buttercream icing or cream cheese icing? One might expect such ingredients in a premium dessert. PS - Either cheaper ingredients or left out for some time???

I hear you. For me, any organization I have booked for ground transportation has flexibility in timing due to multiple vehicles and drivers. Anyway, not our business and the OP has received more than enough sympathy and advice in this thread.

An earlier post by the OP indicated that was not possible for some reason.

I am 99% certain they had not booked a PCL transfer.

Got it, but I think Covid era situations are not really comparable to pre- or post-pandemic. There was a lot of bad things happened to people during that time due to early ignorance, politics over science, etc.

Whichever one I left last with money in my pocket.