geoherb

I wish Princess would have a lunch menu in the specialty restaurants. Sabatini's used to serve a seafood buffet brunch. I haven't seen that since 2003. The Pinnacle Grill on Holland America serves a great lunch at a reasonable price.

The deluxe balcony cabins at the aft are not covered. I was in R733 on the Regal. My balcony was not usable during the day (on a western Caribbean cruise).

My problem is the carafes of hot water delivered by room service is that they use the same ones for coffee. The taste never comes out. I wish they would color-code the carafes so that we did not have the cross contamination of them.

I mailed a letter back in January. I followed up with the online contact form in May. Princess still has not responded. From time to time, though, I refer to my letter since it has the details of my experience in trying to book a cruise in January and how it took nine different Princess reps and nine hours to get it almost right.

I looked at my notes. The big colony of birds we saw were black-legged kittiwakes.

The one I went on served salmon chowder, slaw, roll, cheese, fruit candy, and a York peppermint patty. Later on, they served warm chocolate chip cookies. They had a bar on board for those wanting alcoholic beverages. They fished out a piece of glacial ice to serve in margaritas.

I wish the OP would come back and answer the question where their room was. I'm sailing on the CB next month. When we sailed on it in 2017 (British Isles), it had the propulsion issues that made us late for Cobh. We had a toilet issue for a brief time. We saw the maintenance guy in the corridor, and he warned us not to use the toilet until he had a chance to fix the system. The problem affected a large section on our deck (Lido) and the one below ours. My cruise next month is nearly sold out. I'm still waiting for my cabin assignment. I booked an inside guarantee--so if I get what I booked, I won't have the luxury of keeping a balcony door open to help bring in fresh air. It seems like with the testing requirements, there should be some empty cabins.

I also booked the 26 glacier excursion on my turnaround day in Whittier on back-to-back cruises. It was terrific. I was able to use the best price guarantee to get it 10% cheaper, but that was just the tour and not an airport transfer, too. Plus I think Princess may have done away with that offer. In addition to the glaciers, my favorite part was seeing the otters. We also saw brown bears, several species of whales, and lots of birds, especially as we passed a nesting area near the end of the tour.

I have received upsell offers and free upgrades. For my cruise in February, I was upgraded from a guarantee Cat. BF (the lowest balcony category) into a deluxe balcony cabin. It was great to have the extra space and the loveseat, and I loved the view of the wake. In August, I received an upsell offer to move from an inside cabin to a balcony for $398 or to a deluxe balcony for $518. (It cost double since I was sailing solo.) It came about three weeks before the cruise. That was a 7-day cruise to Alaska on the Majestic. In 2019, we received an upsell offer to move from an inside cabin to a balcony on a 16-day transatlantic for $1,099 per person. That one came two and a half months before the cruise. I turned both of those down. The only upsell offer I've taken was to move from a balcony cabin to a full suite on a 10-day cruise for $699 per person in 2017. That was too good an offer for me to pass up, especially since I had paid a great rate on the balcony initially. That offer came five days before sailing.

I try to participate in the various activities around the ship. Trivia is one of my favorites, and it lends itself to forming teams (or at least did before Covid). But even on my three cruises since the pandemic, I've eventually formed teams with others. I also eat my meals in the dining room whenever possible and ask to share a table.

Your understanding is the same as mine. One of the popular travel websites also figures the single supplement that way. When I am trying to decide between cruises, I will frequently start a spreadsheet. I will list the single occupancy price and the double occupancy price per person. I set up formulas in the spreadsheet to figure out the single supplement. For my next cruise, it's 10% (on the Caribbean Princess to Greenland). I am paying 10% more per person than if I were traveling with a companion sharing my cabin.

I high recommend visiting Buckingham Palace even though it's not on your list. Ticket info is here: https://www.rct.uk/visit/buckingham-palace

Are they not doing shared tables anymore? When I cruise in December and February, I discovered that if I went after 7:30, I would end up eating at a table by myself because no one else arriving at that time was asking to share.

I booked my next cruise through one of the major travel websites that had a sale last month that offered great onboard credit. The price was the same as booking through the Princess website, but I would have missed out on the onboard credit. I researched prices through other agencies and found some that had better initial prices without as much onboard credit.

I sailed on the CB in December. The solo supplement for my cruise next month was just 10%, so perhaps there will be more of us. I try to make both the solo gathering and the LGBT one on the first night if they don't conflict. On my cruise in December, I was the only man who showed up to the solos gathering. Eight women were there. In February on the Regal, five men, including me, showed up for the solos gathering the first night and no women.

Right. I get two bottles in my minibar. I refill them with tap water. I take a large reusable water bottle with me for taking ashore.

Who is the cruise director and who other than Gareth and Rhys are on the staff? Do you know if they'll be staying on through next month?

How did they respond to your complaint about the appetizer and the F-bombs? I'm still waiting for a response to my complaint that I mailed in January and followed up in May. My complaint was about disappearing OBC when switching my booking from an inside to a balcony. The emailed confirmation I received from a rep included the OBC. The final confirmation did not have the same amount. My complaint also was about having to deal with nine different reps to get somewhat of a satisfactory solution to my rebooking problem (other than the OBC). It's been seven weeks since my follow-up contact and 24 weeks since when Princess should have received my letter.

The price for ordering a 12-pack of bottle water (half liter each) is $7.08.

I could not find a food inflation calculator for the UK, so I used the general inflation calculator. I later found a chart showing food inflation rates. In some years, the rate was negative. It averaged around the same percentage over the decades as the general rate.

I was disappointed in the food on my last Celebrity cruise (my fourth on X). The service was also disappointing. I keep looking at Celebrity before booking, but Princess and HAL have won our business since that last Celebrity cruise. If I saw a great itinerary that I wanted to do at a good price on Celebrity, though, I wouldn't hesitate to book it.

Much higher than the rate of inflation. In Britain, inflation averaged 2.7% per year. What cost £2 in 1985 should have cost £4.64 in 2017. It was more than double the price it would have been if it had just increased the same as the national inflation rate.

When I lived in London for seven months after college, I worked near Fortnum & Mason. A friend and I would go there for scones and tea a couple of afternoons each week. When we went back in 2017 for our British Isles cruise, going back to F&M was high on my list. It ended up being a disappointment. The service was not as good as it was 32 years before and the prices were much higher. I hope you are having a great time and will fill us in when you get a good internet connection.

We once received an upgrade before the final payment date. On another cruise, we got an upgrade from an obstructed view to a cabin with a balcony. I'm booked to sail solo next month. I'm still waiting for my cabin assignment. Just making it on the ship, though, will be good enough even if I get assigned the lowest inside category.

No. You pay extra for them if you want to use them. Since I am traveling solo currently, it works out less expensive for me in many cities to use the Princess transfers. In Fort Lauderdale, though, I flew in a day early and took a cab to my hotel and used a shared shuttle van from the port to the airport ($11 per person). Transfers are included if you book the hotel through Princess--but you're really paying a lot extra to do that.