geoherb

I'd check out to see the pricing for downgrading your cabin situation to a balcony and inside. It's better to have two bathrooms for four people. When I looked at airfare on the Princess website for a cruise next summer, it said it was not available yet. We did get some great airfares for the three cruises we took from Southampton. We were able to pick our flights on the Princess website. We always fly in at least a couple of days early so we have time to get over jetlag. Plus there are so many things to do and see in London.

What ship and what cabin did you get? It's amazing that you weren't assigned a cabin sooner and had to wait until you were on the ship.

Yet the Princess video on YouTube makes it seem like they still are able to get great internet with the GEO satellites used there. Princess still promises "Access the internet everywhere on board so you can text, post photos, video chat and stream your favorite shows, movies, music and sports with ease." There's no footnote saying that we can't do these things in Alaska.

I would have agreed with you about the worst customer service yesterday. Unfortunately, we had to call Spectrum today for a problem. Different answers from different reps and a computerized phone system from hell. Promises to return a call when an outage was resolved never happened. Second rep denied there was an outage at all.

The problem with the new way is that it doesn't work for people who like to share a table in a traditional dining setting. It's fine for couples or families who can arrange to get the same table each night at the same time.

I posted photos in my live thread from the Regal in February: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2828660-live-regal-princess-february-5-12-2022-geoherb-goes-solo-again/page/4/#comment-62597852

My cruise last December changed the itinerary a couple of weeks beforehand. I did not find out the changes to the two excursions I booked until getting on the ship and finding my excursion tickets in my cabin. One changed times drastically--from an afternoon one to early morning. Like your ship, mine was departing a few hours earlier. I switched it for a slightly later morning one. The other one was fine.

I'm paying too much for the internet on my next cruise to let bad speed go without asking for a refund, either partial or full. It's 16 days.

I would try to see if you could get the same cabin, even if it means not getting your desired cabin for the second cruise. It makes life a lot easier to stay in the same one instead of worrying about moving at the end of the first cruise, especially since you want to be able to go to Rome and back.

On one of our transatlantic cruises, there were just a couple of children under 18. Princess only staffs the youth center if there are a certain number of children under 18 on board. This cruise did not have any crew members to lead activities for children. But the great thing for us was they opened the youth center for adults to play the games a few afternoons.

The official rule is that you cannot bring water in bottles. You're allowed 12 cans (up to 12 ounces each) of soda or water or juice per passenger. Princess makes it easy to purchase water in advance. It's $7.08 for 12 bottles (500 ml each).

There's a child's ceramic cup currently on eBay that says "My First Norwegian Kup." Does anyone know if those were sold on NCL ships? Or are they just a generic child's cup sold in Norway or places that sell Norwegian-themed products? The listing is: https://www.ebay.com/itm/224602740534 It is not my item, but I saw a like cup at the thrift store and thought about buying it if it was related to the cruise line.

If you like sushi, there's the Ocean Terrace that charges for it. The menu is below. The three primary specialty restaurants that cost extra on the Majestic are the Crown Grill, Harmony, and Bistro Sur la Mer. The menus for each are posted on the Princess website. When I sailed on the Majestic last summer, my friends loved Harmony but were disappointed in the Crown Grill. Perhaps it was just an off night. YouTube has videos of all of the specialty restaurants.

Wow! You certainly fit a lot in during your day in Dublin. We did a cruise that spent overnight in Dublin so we could get two days there. We saved Guinness for the second day, when we took the hop-on/hop-off bus around the city. We ate lunch at Guinness. I remember the chocolate cake made with Guinness. It was great. I found a recipe for brownies that reminded me of it.

There will not be a formal night on a 4-day cruise. They may designate one night as "dress to impress" to try to get people to pose for photos (and then buy them). At least that's what they did on one of our 4-day cruises.

It's sad to hear how things have deteriorated due to staffing problems. We had a great stay in Fairbanks before our cruise tour several years ago. As for your complaint to Princess, get in line. I have not heard back from the letter I sent in January. I followed up in May with the online complaint form.

We booked inside cabins for our transatlantic cruises. But if I had a balcony, it would not matter which side to me. I use it primarily in the evenings.

I've traveled solo on my last several cruises. You can ask to share a table. There's not a special table set aside for solo travelers. If you go to dinner later, you might find that no one else is requesting a shared table, in which case you'll be eating alone. Many times, though, they'll seat you at a table for two close enough to other tables for two to talk to others if they're amenable to having a conversation. When I was on the Caribbean in December, I started a conversation with a couple beside me at a table for two as they were starting their desserts. I asked them what they had ordered for their previous courses to get recommendations. We were having a good conversation. They stayed and talked and ended up ordering another round of dessert for themselves when I ordered my dessert.

They did not know in advance that the Majestic would not be able to dock this week. It's something that just happened. On the other hand, Princess has known for many weeks that the Crown could not keep its itinerary but just notified people going next month.

The Princess website also shows which cabins will accommodate four people. You have to change the dropdown menu to indicate 4 people. I've circled that option in red:

It took 11 days for my FCC to show up. It was past the final payment date for the second booking, so I could not apply the FCC to it. But I'm using it next month for another cruise.

That's what I saw as well. I'd also suggest looking at various travel agencies to see if you can get a better price than by booking directly with Princess. Mine gave me a nice bit of onboard credit for my upcoming cruise.

It's fine. There are enough areas of the ship for children as well as adults. Plus I tend to take longer cruises that don't appeal as much to families with school-age children.

Thanks for posting your review. I rented a bicycle in Skagway in 2019. It's another great place to ride if you ever go back.

I used the TV to order room service on the Regal in February. It showed the prices of the alcoholic beverages on the menu, but it then showed that what I ordered was covered under Princess Plus when confirming the order.