paradiselivin1

Glad to hear about the refurbishments. As others have said keep posting and possibly post some photos. We board June 2, for a 21 day Med. Cruise. Thank you!

We board the same day. See you then & looking forward to the improvements. :)

Personal preference. I actually prefer JFK and have never had an issue using the Airtrain and subsequent subway to reach midtown or downtown Manhattan and could get to BKLYN just as easily. I find that easy, personally. LGA is my second choice. It doesn't have the same mass transit options offered from JFK and always take a taxi into the city. Not a fan of EWR as that can be a real dead zone for late night flights. Have been stuck there with little or no food options late at night. That being said, I am flying into LGA in a week and a few days later flying out of EWR. For me, the flight dictates more so than the particular airport choice.

We had a similar situation the other day when checking the pricing on a cruise we have booked in July. The price online was showing a $700/pp price drop from what we paid. Sent screen shots to our TA who couldn't find the same rates; she called Princess who couldn't find the same rates & weren't interested in our screen shots & wouldn't honor the price. Sounds like they're having a few issues this week.

Aft balcony on the highest level that is still "sandwiched" above and below other cabins.

Someone else has made some good comments on this so I will just add our experience.

 

A lot of the pricing is based on how well the class of room is selling. Resently we received a 4K discount each on a long cruise for a mini as these were not filling. Likewise, we booked a cruise in 2015 for 2017 first day it came available. That price never came down. During subsequent sales, price was 3 to 8 hundred more per person.

 

For us we prefer a certain location on the ship and the only way to get this is to book early. If you do book late, keep checking for rooms becoming available. Especialy getting close to final payment date.

Thx. We also have a preferred location and now have a lot more flexibility for longer trips so I'd like to book when is makes the most sense which sounds like close to the release date. Only holding one FCD each right now and can't stock up again until June 2nd!

Congrats! Only had one offer so far that was great but we passed as we could get OBC instead for a price drop. The cruise obviously wasn't full.

Have a great cruise and please continue the updates. Not sure when you suggest that aft is unfinished ~ inside the cabins or outside?? We have an aft cabin in early June and hope all will have been done. Enjoy!

Be careful to understand what they cover and under what circumstances. On the positive side, we rarely get hurricanes that early in the season ~ won't say it can't happen ~ however, peak season is generally late Sept. to early Oct.

Can't imagine being in the position of all cruisers on this ship. We are arriving very early for our next two cruises and am not sure what we'd do as both are European cruises. Wishing you all the best outcome possible.

Can't window shop for new cruises by phone!:confused::confused:

Blue Lagoon is fun...but its probably the biggest tourist trap on the island :). Another option is to simply rent a car for your entire stay...and park it at the port overnight. Then in the morning you simply jump in your car... Rental cars are pretty expensive...but if you book in advance you might be able to get a car for about $120 per day.

 

Hank

Agree about Blue Lagoon. We thought it was just ok. We flew in a few days before meeting our cruise ship and rented a car at the airport on arrival in the wee hours of the morning & made that our first stop. We booked our time for the opening hour to enjoy the place before it got crazy/crowded. There is nothing inexpensive about Iceland so plan accordingly.

We are planning on staying three nights in Copenhagen after our Regal Princess Cruise, June 1. What is the best way to get hotel reviews for Copenhagen?

You may also consider an Airbnb property. We have used them around the world and currently have a myriad of places booked in Costa Rica (May), Barcelona (June), and Copenhagen (end June/July). We have found some incredibly lovely places and are looking forward to our upcoming stays. For conventional places, I used TripAdvisor as well..

Over many years DH and I have developed a system for cruising on Princess. First, earn lots of onboard credit ( Princess promotions + TA + military + shareholder). Second, book shore excursions online as soon as they become available. Third, use OBC to pay all or most of our onboard account.

Now Princess is requiring pre-payment for excursions booked online :( and allowing OBC to be applied to these advance bookings :) So we have to change the way we do business :confused:

Our problem is that all of the military OBC for our next three b2b cruises has been applied to DH's account. Well, that's OK because he's the one who served in the military, not me. BUT, when I try to book excursions for the two of us, I discover that although he ends up with excess OBC, I would be required to pay some actual money for my excursions. Maybe I could even things out a bit by applying our shareholder credit all to my account, but maybe I couldn't because the stock is in a joint account - they might split the credit between us. In any case, it's too early to apply for the shareholder OBC.

Is there a way I can use some of DH's OBC to pay for my excursions? If not, what should I do about this situation?

I just tried to use DH excess OBC to pay for my excursion and was denied. I would suggest that you have your shareholder OBC applied to your account which sounds like it would level the playing field a bit more. DH has the stock in his account which is the reason we are out of whack on OBC. I paid the differential when booking our tour.

Wife and I plan on booking a cruise next year for our 40th anniversary, it will be only the 2nd time we have cruised. Do most people still use a travel agent? I know Costco offers a service, as well as AAA. Is there much of a difference in pricing between everybody. Thanks for any help and suggestions.

We use a T/A who always gives us a much better price. Call around of search the internet for online companies and do your homework. It pays to do so.

We got one and did it. As above' date=' the only better offer is a move over offer which gives you all your money back for the cruise you cancel PLUS a free cruise. We got $6K back for doing this. That was essentially all the excursions we wanted, plus a hefty check at the end.

 

Yes, it is absolutely for real.[/quote']

 

Nice. I'd take either option myself.

We did the Emerald Lake Tour with Dyea Dave. It was a wonderful tour. Their buses were small (only 16-20 people) and comfortable. Our guide was very informative and he made plenty of stops for photo opps, etc. He even told us to let him know if we spotted any wildlife and he stopped the bus each time we did.

 

We did the bus going up. In fact, our tour took us into the Yukon territory about 75 miles to Emerald Lake & Carcross (Caribou Crossing), as well as other points of interest. We had the option of either remaining on the bus for the return trip to Skagway or taking the White Pass & Yukon Railroad from Fraser (where they dropped us off right at the train station), We absolutely loved the train ride back.

Same. Loved it. He was worth the trip alone but what beautiful scenery all the way!

I have used both the $25 and $40 plans but still use Viber and What's App to stay in touch when Wi-Fi is available. We use the international calling for tour companies and contacting Airbnb hosts and use the apps to stay in touch with family and friends.

IMO...you are being overly concerned. The US is not the only country that is involved in this political tit for tat and don't forget that St. Petersburg is hosting the World Cup in June/July which is HUGE!!! Russia does not want to screw that up!

 

I was on a Baltic cruise a few years ago when Russia had invaded the Ukraine (Crimea)...now that was serious s***!!!

All ships continued to visit St. Petersburg without incident.

And I was on a Black Sea cruise where they did change the itinerary. Princess yanked the stop in Ukraine and replaced with Romania& Bulgaria. Nice to WISH for no change, but changes do happen!

We cruise Princess all of the time and never get a thing from them. On the other hand, Oceania sends us flyers often and we have never sailed with them. We sometimes get Viking mailings and Grand Circle e-mails( we did use O.A.T. for a land tour ~ affiliated company).

Uhhm.... no.

 

The OBC will show on your account, but unless there's been a change since last

October isn't spendable until you actually embark. For example, try getting the

bonus internet minutes for paying before boarding with OBC. :o

We were just able to use ours for an excursion on an upcoming cruise with no problem.

I would like that itinerary too. I'm hoping they'll do the 60 day South America circumnavigation again in 2-3 years.

I wanted to do that, too. Could kick myself for not taking it this year with the two nights in Rio for Carnival. I was told by a Future Cruise person onboard the Royal that it wouldn't be offered again because people complained about having to get visas. Find that so hard to believe.

Thanks! We were on the Crown in Feb. and will be on it again June 2 for a 21 day Med. cruise starting and ending in Barcelona. We are excited to see the changes!

We'll be on the same cruise and looking forward to the updates. Everything should be done well before our cruise.

I am also looking into this option but haven't found any reviews. $18 per person sounds reasonable.

We're arriving sooner than you folks but will be looking for the shuttle on the way out on our return on 7/15 so we can start a small group & see if we can find others to join us if we can get a little van??

Thanks a million, Danish Viking. I totally changed our pre-cruise plans based on this post. Happy to see so many places we can get to outside of the city as we have a full five days to explore and will now stay in Copenhagen rather than making our originally planned stop in Amsterdam.

Here I live so close to the port and don't seem to be getting emails. I got the drop and go but once I hit it the prices were $49 per day per person. Maybe Princess is annoyed with me because I questioned their ethics in regards to my purchasing the AIBP and having it changed!!! LOL

Nope. Don't think it's you. We still get nada and we have each signed up for different "Drop & Go' timeslots. Sigh...