cr8tiv1

Seems to be a default message. IT department isn't the smartest or the brightest.

Cruises out of San Pedro are heavily booked by "seasoned" travelers. It is an easy port to get to. Forget trying to qualify for MTP. I can't get near the number. I will be one less passenger in the near future since the only ships will be Royal Class ships (except for a few Grand voyages). The round trip LA/Alaska/LA for 2025 is very popular but will only do one run next summer.

The Grand does not have a Thermal Spa. Suite breakfast (2023) was at the Crown Grill.

At least you will have 2 medallion magnets after your cruise.

Yes, the Grand class ships have this event on the first formal night.

I am not a fan of the locations of the Vista (aft) Suites. I prefer midship suites. But on the Grand class ships...these are on higher decks (not good either). The beam is not a deterrent. The overhangs keep the deck shaded most of the day (depending of course which way the bow is facing). Princess is moving away from double wide suites on their new ships. They seem to prefer a longer/deeper cabin on their newer builds. I like the double wide stateroom. I like the separated living room from the bedroom. I like the bar sink when you enter the cabin. I like the extra desks. I like the separated toilet. The walk in closet is too small and difficult to maneuver. I wish they had a double sink in the bathroom (but I guess that accounts for the bar sink). As you well know, I am not a fan of the larger ships. I don't miss the concierge's suite lounge. Even if you had it on the Grand class ships...it would be a long haul to this lounge from a Vista Suite. This is just my opinion. Hope it helps.

Thank you for taking the time to post a live. You had a lot of content. Would you explain disembarkation? I know how it works on the ship, but this port is new to me. No immigrations? Just walk from ship to street?

You know how much I love the Grand. I’ve got her going and coming plus some. See you next year! Thanks for the invite. Going to Honolulu any time soon?

Let your imagine wander. Let your imagination wander.

I stopped using the hot tubs on a cruise ship. I have seen passengers in there with their drinks for hours on end (water wrinkles). Let your imagine wander. As others have suggested, a longer cruise. Even though I did the New England repositioning (FLL to Quebec) in July, and the vibes were more casual with many families, it was a longer voyage. You will be limited to cruising until your wife retires. I did a Panama Canal full passage a long time ago. Flights were overbooked from Puerto Rico to LA. I had the opportunity to spend a night there. Silly me...I thought my class couldn't do without me and turned down the offer to be back when classes began. Would never do that again. I've enjoyed my cruise life since retiring. Your time will come.

@hpeabody A friend of mine sent me a check from Temecula (less than 100 miles from my house). I received an image on my Informed Delivery that I should receive it "tomorrow". Image is sent from the processing center, not the arrival/delivery post office. You guessed it...never arrived. She had to pay to place a stop payment on the check. No recourse from USPS since she did not spend the money to register it. Months later, the envelop arrived. Safe travels.

Does this mean I will get an invitation to "join" you when "we" do this cruise together? I am so excited that I get to finally see you in person! ******* @BettyNL I believe your post refers to the Suite Lounge with a Concierge. As mentioned, the fine print states that these are on "select" (aka Royal/Sphere Class) ships. There will be a concierge available for your needs on a Grand/GEM class ships. He/She can be contacted via Customer Service Counter. They do not have a store front office. You request a call. They will contact you. On the Grand, the Suite/Elite/Platinum lounge is held One5 on Deck 15/aft from about 5 - 7 PM. It is open to anyone with a loyalty status or in a suite. This has been a perk for many years. Occasionally (rarely) it will be moved to aft Deck 7.

I was surfing the internet this afternoon and ran across these few bits of information. Curiosity got the better of me.

Are you of alcoholic age? Would you drink an alcoholic beverage occasionally? How long is your cruise/How port intensive? Will you be paying for crew appreciation (about $16 pp/day)? Will you want wifi (INTERnet)? Are you traveling with another person? They would be required to match your PLUS or Premier beverage package.

I had many of the same problems. I pecked around the site to find my shipping number and then tracked it. It arrived 12 days before my cruise. After receiving the medallions, my app says that I needed to order it. Then clicked on order and it said too late, pick it up at the port. It's probably best NOT to track it and be surprised if and when it shows up at your address. Worst case scenario...pick it up at the port (I know...utterly ludicrous.)

I sure hope all ships across the fleet are bri bing back the expanded Patter and printed destination guides. The print on the port guides on the app are so small. I haven’t seen this option recently, has it been removed?

OP’s wife is a teacher. Very limited vacations. It’s a benefit (home with your kids) and a curse (families all travel). Summer is worse for Caribbean and Alaska. No Princess ships on the West Coast to Hawaii/Mexico/coastal. I’ve stopped doing the Caribbean any season. I am not a sand and sun person.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention @SCX22. I knew they did updates over a weekend, but never connected the dots. You are correct. Many times they push sales over a weekend. Princess’ call center isn’t open on Sundays. Chat is, if you can get connected to an experienced agent. He worked his tail off trying to find me a waitlist. Then the survey dropped out and I couldn’t leave a positive review nor could I save the chat transcript. I joke to my TA that I always seem to have to contact her on a Sunday. She is available to me almost 24/7. She has become a dear friend. You would think that since Princess has an overseas call center, they could man their lines 24/7. Often I am in Hawaii. During DST, there is a 6 hour spread between HST and EDT (3 for PDT). The chat hours are listed as East Coast times. I will check daily. Thank you both.

Personally, I do not understand the backward baseball cap generation. Isn't the purpose of the brim to keep the sun out of your face? No sun in the MDR. How old am I? I remember when REAL men took off their hats when entering a roofed establishment.

EZ AIr will open 330 days from your DISembarkation date. You can do a one way fare (return only). You have up to 45 days before cruise to cancel EZ Air. Generally, flights to Vancouver via EZ Air are not significantly cheaper. More often than not, you will see Air Canada. They are famous for changing dates/times/cancelling. You will also need to pay for a seat unless you wait until 24 hour check in time. Make sure your passport has 6 months left from date of disembarkation.

Update: Sunday 7/21/24 Just spent an hour with Jael at Chat. Called Princess early this morning. Agent was useless. Told me they were updating. Call back in 24 hours. Excursions is a third party department. Nothing she could do to waitlist me. Noise in the background was very distracting. Signed on to chat several hours later on different web pages/browsers simultaneously: 1. Got down to 6 / waited….never connected 2. Got down to 1 / waited…never connected 3. Used a different browser…said chat was closed (even though it wasn’t). 4. Used iPhone to chat…got through to Jael after 15 minutes. SHOCKED Spent at least an hour typing with the stupid iPhone keyboard. He/she tried several times to wait list me various spots. Finally succeeded with 4th selection. Received email confirmation for waitlist. You would think that chat would be a great way to communicate with Princess. I rarely have any luck connecting, but when I do, 75% of the time they can help me.

Here's a new one for all of you. 1. Tried to get waitlisted on an excursion during the sale. 0 tickets, waitlist open 2. Could sign on last night...clicked on excursion. Clicked on passengers. That was it! No way to move forward to be placed on waitlist. 3. Called Princess early this morning. No wait time. Agent was offshore with a lot of distracting conversation in the background (house noise or cubical noise???) 4. She told me that she could not place me on a waitlist. She went into my personalizer (same thing I did since the app was "broken" this morning and wouldn't let me in). 5. She told me that excursions are third parties. She could not do any more than I could do. 6. She said to check back in 24 hours. They are updating (script line #99/lol). 7. Some excursions are showing sold out. Others have 0 tickets, waitlist open. Which is it? 8. Excursions are showing back on the app. Update done???? 9. Repeat steps, get same results. So frustrating. I want to get in on the sale. If I can't book this excursion, I really don't care. Have OBC to spend and am willing to give it back to Princess. Oh well, if meant to be.......

I only book directly with a hotel (do not use brokers). It is one rate on a taxi from the airport to anywhere the city. Yes, the Pan Pacific is housed at Canada Place. The Bell desk provides luggage pick up service from your hotel room directly to the ship for a small fee. I would do this again in a heartbeat. Of course, it will be more expensive than any other hotel. If you join their loyalty program, you might be able to get a discount. I have used the train in my younger years. Thank you for acknowledging my correction. My post was for @Paula_MacFan If you would like to contact me directly...please email me at: princess(insert user name) AT gmail dot com I don't visit that mailbox often but will get back to you. Just let me know when you sent an email here.

OP corrected my misdirection and I did follow up with a modification. See my post #5

Keep in mind that the Princess hotel is per person but does include the transfer from the airport to the hotel to the ship with all luggage handling done by Princess. Vancouver is a lovely walkable city. There are so many hotels in the vicinity of Canada Place. Some are very expensive, some are reasonable. Price and availability will depend on time of year and how many ships will be in port. I have stayed at the Marriott/Stanley Park, The Pan Pacific, The Sheraton Wall (twice), a random Best Western, and the Pacific Hotel. Look at a city map and read lots of reviews. There are only a few areas that are sketchy.