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Thanks @burnabyjean. I would not consider your experience as a "positive" one. I would love to see a glowing report on how great this promotion is...better than sliced bread. I am old school. I don't trust digital "stuff". I've had digital and paper orders for FCDs non-appear. It is best to place your order at the beginning of the cruise with a representative...rather than deal with the crowds to chase down your order. I will fill out the paper, but hand it to the person, wait for them to process it (not stick it on a pile and get to it later), and walk off with a hard copy confirmation. AND you do not have to hand over a credit card since it is charge to the credit card on file (not to your folio). They have that information. That is why it is so unnerving to think they will ask you for your credit card for a Princess Promotion deal.

Unfortunately, the Catch by Rudi is not on all ships. I only do Specialty Dining when it is complementary. Haven't heard many speak of Planks and the Crab place on Grand Class ships.

It is a very short, required, port to satisfy PSVA. I am surprised that Canada has not made it mandatory that they stay longer ($$$$) like Ensenada, Mexico did. It might be just too long a trek from the previous port in Alaska to make to to Victoria earlier. It's only used for ships that do round trips out of Seattle. Not required for ships that sail in/out of Vancouver. Yes, cash out of casino as soon as you leave your last Alaskan port. Casino will be closed in/around Victoria and Canada.

*psyche" replaces psychic (although I am sometimes that too).

Have you tried the Chilean Sea Bass or the Lamb Chops? Both are outstanding. I heard the filet is very tender and full of flavor. I gave up on the Rib Eye Steak. Way too much for me to eat. I was told by the waiter that you should always order that meat medium rare. I do wish they would change up some of the sides. But then again, there is so much to eat. I love the papaya something with Tiger Prawns. I like Sabatini's new menu, but prefer the Crown Grill.

@keldaria Your detailed description is something that I know many have been waiting to read about. Thank you for sharing your carefully crafted first hand experience. I welcome anyone who had a positive experience cashing in on Princess Promotions. There seems to be very few examples of how this works in real life. Maybe the word is finally getting out (after a year?). With all of the PR problems Princess has created for themselves, maybe they should reconsider farming out their Future Cruise Department to O.N.E. Look at what happened to SHARE. But then again, the SPA is still around. I just found an old but current for 2024 (lol) daily calendar for "Who Moved My Cheese". Yup, I am in that age/personality group that finds change really hard on one's psychic.

I am sorry to hear of this development. I hope that Canada will have an additional fail safe for your parents. This will be an expensive lesson if they are unable to dispute this charge on their credit card. I do visit O.N.E. on a cruise to see what "cruise specials" they have or to purchase an FCD (future cruise deposit). I want a hard copy of that transaction. Anything else is a no go for me. I have learned my best advocate is my TA and will not book anything while on the ship. I hope your parents can prove that they did not sign any agreements. Princess would have to "prove" a contract was signed by them to process the payment. Otherwise, I see it as an unauthorized charge to the card.

That's interesting. I didn't have a CPAP when I did the land tour many years ago. I have "researched" options. Found out that Reverse Osmosis is the closest to distilled water. Then bottled water. I would not venture to use tap water for my machine. I am sure @JF - retired RRT would chime in on this.

A CPAP is considered a medical device and can be carried on a bus. The problem will be…where to store it. Some busses will have overhead compartments. Others may not. I purchased a chamber block so that I could use my CPAP without the water chamber/water. If you are coming off a cruise, you could bring the left over distilled water with you. I would transfer it to a water tight container.

I thought I clearly stated that Agriculture Department (state/country) has final say on what can be brought OFF the ship. Every countries’ website will list prohibited items. i travel between Oahu and California often enough. Hawaii and California have very stringent agricultural rules. It is probably best to state that anything raw or untreated/unprocessed cannot/should not be removed from the ship. If the item can support a living organisms, then it most likely will be banned.

You need to watch YouTube "Outdoor Boys". He loves his Spam. I can't believe you can't survive 2 weeks without your Spam/Eggs/Rice...and do you bring your own shoyu? What's next? Portuguese Sausage?

99% of the passengers who have had contact with Princess Promotions (O.N.E.) have not been happy. If your dad handed over their credit card, that is going to be had to dispute. Never the less, I would not wait for a phone call. Better to be pro-active. I think they are past the 72 hour (or maybe just 24 hour) right to refuse timeline. Good Luck

In my opinion (without watching/peering the cooks), I am pretty sure it is cooked to order in the specialty restaurants. I've had lamb chops in the MDR and Crown Grill. No comparison. There are dishes that are only offered in the Specialty Dining Rooms (except for the calamari rings in Sabatini's which tasted similar to MDR). The price of the specialty restaurants have escalated. Except for my suite embarkation complimentary dinner or gifted by my TA, I will not pay for the more expensive meal. Part of the cost is the attentiveness of the waiters. Expect to spend 3 hours dining.

I use maps.me and download maps before leaving home.

Could the hold up be that your transfer has to go through special services since it is an accessible cabin? I would call them to see what they can do.

On Princess ships, The Crown Grill and Sabatini's have their own kitchens and all foods are prepared right there. Sabatini's starts making their own pasta in the morning for their evening meal.

The only one time I had trouble transferring a booking to my TA was because... I had added the screen shot directly to my email instead of used an attachment. When Princess received my request, they would not process it. After multiple calls by my travel agent and myself, one wise person told me the problem. When they tried to print out the email, it showed up as 2 pages. They could not accept the request since some information was on one page and then the other. I simply re-submitted request as an attachment. When they opened the attachment, all the information showed up and was processed.

A couple of times, I have asked security on the ship AND on my way through the terminal about returning with food. Saint John and Halifax: I asked port security if I could bring back my lobster roll. They looked at me strangely and told me it would be fine. In Japan, I asked if I could bring back dried abalone to the ship and back into the US. They told me I would be able to. Just to be sure, I used a translating app to ask the Japanese official. Unfortunately, I could not find any abalone. It is written in NCL policy that you are not allowed to bring back food (just found this out recently). I do it all the time from island to island (on a cruise ship). That may be a little different since we remained in the same state. Coco Puffs, mochi, lilikoi pie, cookies, etc. Meats, dairy, raw fruits/vegetables, raw eggs, and plants with soil are restricted items when leaving the ship and entering a foreign country. It has more to do with agricultural restrictions. I am not an expert, but do check websites or ask official personnel when traveling. I don't see rice as being an issue. And that is easy to purchase as a sealed product. I suggest that you freeze the bag of rice to kill any insects that were in the bag.

You may take food that is not pre-packaged. It will depend on which ports you embark/disembark. I have taken opened foods on and off in San Pedro, Hawaii state ports, Saint John, Japan, and a sundry of other ports.

Same IT as those working on the Medallion/Princess app? Are heads rolling? This is really a B I G oops.

On my recent CB cruise this past summer, housekeeping/maintenance could not get our refrigerator to work properly...at all, over 13 days. We were informed that it was a cooler and not a refrigerator (barely would cool anything). We were also told there was none on the ship to replace it and that it was a specific size and could not be replaced either. On a cruise to Hawaii on the Grand, I would "store" chocolate covered strawberries in the refrigerator. They would mold within days. That "cooler" never felt cold either. That has been my experience. Don't know if it is because these were older ships. I will only use the box to store things overnight. Anything else, I would not deem safe like I would at home.

Most mini-refrigerator in every cabin are not really refrigerators but more of a cooler. It will keep cans/bottles above room temperature but doesn't store/keep foods very well.

Wouldn't it be great if we (members) could set up an exchange swap for all those "extra"/left over currencies that we pick up for our cruises. I guess that would be considered mail fraud or money laundering. aka Sheldon Cooper. My daughter hit many, many, countries during her 30 day back packing trip through Europe. She used her left over currency to pay down her hostel rates (then, I guess charged the rest?).

Are you independently flying or have you booked with EZ Air? Do you have a back up plan if you are delayed in any way (traffic, accident, other)?

@Ellipooh's question was can s/he make Elite by doing such and such. I think the question was answered (Yes). Everyone has their own reason/s for wanting to reach Elite. For me, it was a goal that was made very easy by Princess at the time. I am not going to judge OP for his/her choices. I hope they enjoy a week being spoiled in a suite. Maybe that is their Christmas gift to themself. We should all be happy they can cruise.