rocker57

It was probably asking for who the package was for. I purchased it on line for myself the last two times, and there was a sticker on my card for it. Just put a tick next to your name.

Just out of curiosity, for the ones that are embarking hopefully today, will they get some return of their fare back, as they have missed one day of their cruise? Hopefully this won't happen in February when we cruise out of Houston

I have stayed on the back minis on the Crown and the Golden. Had no issues with the noise, loved the extended balcony, and have booked another one for our upcoming Caribbean. There was a little extra roll sometimes, but nothing bad, loved the quiet for being at the end and the easy walk down the stairs to the dining room

Rocker, interested to know exactly how you were informed about qualifying for the casino rate since we had the same scenario.

I didn't know I had qualified for the casino rate. When I checked the cruise, it was a good price, so I booked and told my BIL, there rate was higher. When I called, I found out it was the casino rate. I may have received something in the mail, and could of chucked it. Good for me, I wasn't going to argue :D

Look up mitsugirly, she posts on the Norwegian board. In her signature she reviews and has lots of photos on Maya. It is because of her photos and review that I've booked this excursion for us in February. From what she says, it does appear that you could stay there longer, but of course I would check when you are there.

I wonder ..can you withdraw the whole amount at the start of the cruise from the casino? I'm sure it won't be long before limits are put into place :eek:

Our last cruise, we had purchased $300 casino cash, once the ship set sail, I cashed them in no problem - and ended up getting a casino rate for our upcoming cruise. We spent some money in the casino, but not much, so not sure if this is what did it.

Will be purchasing a few before setting sail again in February. We booked at a 20% exchange rate, so its great. Been putting money on OBC as well so hopefully I won't have any charges on my credit card at the end.

my quote was from my home town to Houston, Tx. Flight is on WestJet, and we booked premium economy, which is what the quote is from Princess. The only difference is that Princess quoted on part of the flight being with United. I just couldn't understand the cost from around $1100 each to $5500. Even when I looked into Business Class with Air Canada, it was around the $3500 mark. I live in a small town, with a small airport, so we have to fly to a major city first, either Vancouver or Calgary. Would be so much easier & cheaper and more choices if I didn't have to get from here to Vancouver :rolleyes:

Just for a laugh I thought I would check the price to book through EZ Air $5500 each. My cost to book if I paid in cash not points would of been around $900 each. Not much of a bargain through Princess :eek:

Does anyone know if this special dinner will be finished at the end of the year? I really did not care about what was offered. Hoping there will be something different that night, or else maybe another venue to be done that evening

Do they still do the crunchy French toast? I didn't see it on the Crown

I just want to say how much I enjoy your reviews. Although I sail Princess, it is because of your reviews that I have booked Maya Key, and doing Shark Alley in Belize, though we will be flying over to Ambergris Caye for our upcoming cruise. Because Princess does not do an excursion for Shark Alley, I wouldn't of known that except for your review. I hope my photos turn out half as well as yours. Glad you had a wonderful time with your family, and keep up the good writing!

Pay now or pay later. It's a personal choice and I couldn't care less what people do in regard to this. Why do people seem to care so much what others do?

Like button!

Nope. If you are booked under a certain promotion or booking code, then you cannot pick and choose a "goodie" from a new promotion. You would have to forego whatever you had before and then re-book under the new. So you need to do some math to figure out if the total net new deal is better.

 

I am assuming you are well before final payment date since you mentioned a possible change to the 30% rate. If you were to re-book now under a new offer, you are going to be subject to the new exchange rate (although nothing may have change in USD).

 

If you were after FP date, then making a change might not be as easily done, but people do report making changes to a better cabin category. I doubt you can take up a new sales offer (some are for new bookings only at that point).

It is what I figured. Final payment isn't until December 1, but I have paid our cruise as I wanted the points for my airfare. As I booked on the casino rate, I had a non-refundable deposit. At the end of the day, it is not worth it for me, nor my in-laws to change because of the exchange rate. Thanks for your reply!

We booked our cruise at the 20% exchange rate. There are now some sales on that cruise which I think is less than what my brother in laws paid, plus some OBC. If they were to call to see if they could get the lower rate, would that mean their entire cruise would flip to the 30% exchange as that is the exchange now. If so, it may not be worth it. Could you just request the OBC? I received the casino rate for myself and husband, so this is not lower, but wonder if I could get the OBC?

We will be staying in Seabrook for a couple of nights before our cruise from the Bayport terminal. My question for people who know the area, where would there be a good steak/rib/smokehouse restaurant? It doesn't have to be within walking distance, but something say within 10 miles or so. Since we will be in Texas, I want to try a real Texan barbeque, and my husband and his brothers are big beef eaters.

I know there is a steak place at The Kemah Boardwalk, but it has been my experience that restaurants that are set in tourist zones like this are not always the best representation, but I could also be wrong. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Except when at FLL airport waiting to fly home looking at the ship we just sailed & wishing we were still onboard. ;)

True enough!

This picture is a view from my friends window showing the ship in port. I did use a zoom, as it isn't that close :)

When you get to the hotel, book the shuttle for what time you want it. The only time we could get when my husband and I went the 2nd time was for 10:30, and he didn't want to go that early so we just took a cab down around 1pm, I think it was around $10. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

This are a couple of pictures I took at the hotel. The first one is the picture of the pool from my window, I had a room at the back:

Thank you for posting your opinion on the Best Western! DH and I are staying there next month pre-cruise and all I hear on CC is how great the Crown Plaza and Doubletree are supposed to be. I'm glad you liked the BW and that the rooms are comfortable and clean. Nice to know that there is a 7/11 right there for last minute items too. We think we will drive over to the San Pedro Brewery for dinner, as I've heard good things about them and the menu looks delicious.

 

Cathy

Hi Cathy, If noise bothers you, you may want to request a room in the back overlooking the pool. It is on a busy street, and the traffic noise may get to you. The first time I stayed there, my friends stayed in a room facing the front, they said it was noisy, but they also found it entertaining watching the people on the street. Also, even though it is probably a couple of miles or so away from the port, you can see the ships in the morning, and personally, that always gives me a thrill, and gets me even more excited about boarding.

We have stayed twice at the Best Western and have found it to be a very nice hotel. The rooms are very large, the beds are extremely comfortable. The lobby has a lot of antique furniture and we found it to be clean. They have the typical BW free breakfast in the mornings. It is number 22 out of 339 for LA Hotels. Crowne Plaza is 123, Doubletree is 106. They have a free shuttle to the cruise port, I found the staff at the front desk very helpful and friendly. I agree the area can be a bit hinkey at night, but I walked to the McDonald's down the block, and the 7/11 across the street at nite no problem. During the day I found no issues. If you want to go to a nice restaurant at nite, get a cab.

It should be the exchange rate you paid at the time of the booking. For example, our cruise coming up in February was booked at the 20% exchange rate, so on my personalizer, I pay $120 Canadian for $100 U.S. it makes for a much better deal, so I am trying to load my OBC before we leave, as long as our dollar is still low. Checked my bank, for $120 Canadian, gives me $85 American, so I am making money :D

I notice that when you look at the package, it says it includes canned Root Beer, has that always been the case? I've never noticed that before, and if it includes canned Root beer, because it is not on the fountain, then why not diet Sprite? I would also prefer diet sprite as I am not a big Coke fan.

We were on the Crown this February in the same room (no the magnet wasn't there :) ) We did notice some vibration, but wasn't too bad, I wake up early anyways. Didn't have any noise from Club Fusion, but I don't think anything was really gone on there at nite. I love the extended balcony, so much so that I booked the same cabin on the Caribbean Princess for February next year.

I do have to agree with the Crown Grill. I thought the service was terrible there, right from the Maitre D' when we reserved it. It was like it couldn't be bothered to lift his head up from the computer. Our appetizers were brought out, and before we even finished them, our meal was out, which I thought was very poor. The steak I agree was not very good. I disliked the meal so much, that I don't know if we will even try it again.

I did complain about it in my survey, but no response.

I know I didn't know I had a casino rate. I was looking at a cruise, it came up a really good price, and thought well I'll book it and let my B-I-L know, see if this was the one they wanted to go on, and thought if they didnt, I would cancel the booking.

They booked it, but didn't get the rate that I received, couldn't figure it out, then found out I had the casino rate. Also found out when I called was that it was a non-refundable deposit, nothing came up on the booking about that, so I was very happy that they picked that cruise, and I saved a few hundred $'s over them. I didn't think I spent that much in the casino on our last cruise, but glad that Princess thought I did :D

I did a California Coastal last year with 2 friends. We had a mini-suite, which was the last one on the emerald deck so it had the extended balcony. The couch is a fold out bed, so no one had to sleep on a roll away and we had the twin beds.

I found having the larger bathroom as there is a bathtub easier, as there was more room for 3 women and their different products,and having the sitting area and the larger balcony worked out perfectly. There was plenty of storage for our belongings, but then it was only a 4 nite cruise, so we didn't have that much.:D