rodndonna

Do you know people that would actually do that though? How common do you think that would be? I wouldn't ..I've never booked a cruise I didn't have a good expectation of taking. As a person who always books HIA and therefore always has refundable deposits, the promo is of limited interest to me, but I think it is good opportunity for others to book "Best Fare" price without having to risk typical deposit.

That is very good news - love Thai food and are "mostly" plant based diet (some fish) - so 2 big wins for us 😀

For the CO to be refundable - it would have to be booked as a refundable (HIA based) fare though..... is that correct? We always book HIA anyway ...just wondering

Correct, NB is the same. Was living in NB before coming to Ontario in 2017. Sunday shopping was alive and well in NB and as far as I know still is.

At the end of the cruise, Cole (the CD) said they had been working for 3 months prior to bring Woz onto the cruise. Just another example of how much effort went into making this cruise above and beyond the norm. I do now get to forever casually work in the phrase "....I was on a cruise with Steve Wozniak....."

Thanks for the review ! We were on your TSE cruise and nice to relive experiences and read about the experiences we missed (like 360) It was our first Princess cruise - so the bar is set perhaps a little high now for Princess 🤔

apologies for a tangent question - relating to Plus fares for Casino players (discounted fares) Does anyone know if the additional cost to Plus (say $60/pp/pday) is discounted by Casino rate at the same level of discount against the fare? For example - if one received Casino discount of 15% against cruise fare - would they effectively get that 15% discount against the added Plus charges - so essentially $51 instead of $60pp/pday? I ask because that is how it works with HAL and Casino discount fares. With HAL and their "Have it All" or HIA fare pricing, there is an advantage in booking with the HIA fare as that add on cost is reduced. HIA can generally be added later, but no Casino discount would be applied if not included as part of the fare. We have only sailed Princess once (last week) and not really expecting a Casino discount offer - but - I am curious 🤔

We currently have 2 bookings with HAL that are both HIA ... One for Sept 2024 booked more recently (a couple of months ago) ... it does itemize "refundable" in the Special Services One for Dec 2024 booked much earlier in time (more than a year ago) it does not itemize being "refundable" in Special Services (but still clearly is refundable from the Cancellation Fees table) So - from our experience - yes - HIA bookings have been refundable for quite some time, BUT, "itemizing" it in Special Services is new(ish)

Just checked ours - correct spelling. I don't think I would have noticed but would have raised questions about the validity with Moday!

My thoughts based on very limited experience (just off our first Princess cruise on the Discovery) - the Medallion is a great technology feature, but still not fully where they want to get it to. With regards to dining - ideally as you walk up - they can see your name and ID pop up and greet you name. If you scan, they can confirm who you are and then greet you by name without making a mistake. On our first day of our cruise, we walked up to a bar, ordered, and he knew who we were no problem. On day 2 we had charges for the steakhouse specialty dining (we don't eat meat) and there seem to be quite a number of people at guest services with charges that were in dispute. Very noticeably for the remainder of the cruise, we were asked for a room number to confirm for drinks or scanned our medallion. Eventually the medallion technology could evolve to work better in busy areas, just not there yet. Still a great improvement though we thought. When you get a chance take a look at the screen they are looking at (like the dining podium) with all of our pics and names popping on and off and moving around the display. I think they need to work a bit more on that algorithm.

We just came off our first Princess cruise (Discovery) and it was the first cruise ship Casino I really had an issue with the smoke smell. I say "smoke smell" because even when we would go when there was almost no one in the Casino and could not even find see smoking (or see any ashtrays) ... it still had a heavy cigarette smell. I really didn't get it ... for a new ship I would have expected really good smoke eaters.

I really didn't mind the 1 year as opposed to longer durations more typical (at least on other lines) - as it should refund by then if not used. I agree with you though, if you have another cruise with Princess booked coming up - no reason to buy more FCD's.

Like others on this tread - we were on the Discovery - indeed - amazing experience! The only other element I thought worth bringing up was the incredible speakers brought on board for this cruise by Princess for the enrichment session and nightly stargazing. They were both really top notch and very entertaining. And then having Steve Wozniak on the cruise and sitting in on one of his talks was quite an unexpected bonus. This was our first Princess cruise and the only problem with it was that it had so many unique highlights that I'm not sure it was very representative of a typical Princess cruise. We purchased cruise deposits so we can test out another "standard" Princess sailing. 🙃

It's the only one HAL carries, so I expect the same. Not a fan.... but it's OK ... always looking at more options for less or no-alcohol drinks as we get older ....🙄

Do you know if they have anything other than Heineken "0" for non-alcohol beer?

I know - that's how MSC Yacht Club got on the list to start with - lol! (I am pretty "frugal") Not on all ships apparently, but some do have YC insides cabins and that would be what we will book.

We "think" when we bite the bullet top try MSC - we are going to go Yacht Club. It's a departure for us typically being insiders with the odd splurge but never higher than an aft. I don't "think" MSC would be a preferred line for us, but it seems the cheapest way to check out "ship within a ship" experience (which I also "think" is not really for us). I would be curious what you think of Disney - for the price point. Soooo many lines to sample and compare ...😀

Thanks for your detailed report. We've done a couple of CCL cruises before Covid and enjoyed them very much - even as introverts ! Since Covid we are trying to make our way through all the mainstream lines - have made it on HAL, Celebrity, and NCL. Princess is in 2 days. Still need to work back in CCL, Marella (our most cruised before Covid) and curious about MSC. To make matters worse (or better?) we are attempting to cruise each line in a relatively newer (larger ship) and an older (smaller) ship within the fleet as I think that has a big impact. It's an ongoing study that works well within our dog friendly short (12 days or less) cruise itinerary options. 🤔

We are about to sail on our first Princess cruise (Discovery) and wondering how booking the Sanctuary works. I know it can't be reserved in advance. We are looking at booking it for a just day or an afternoon, not the entire cruise. Do they take bookings for all/any days as soon as we board or do they open some bookings daily? Is it bookabale on the app (Medallion) or do we head to the Sanctuary? Any tips or advice appreciated!

We did NCL Viva (our first since Covid) in January and based in that cruise would say you can expect better food on HAL. Certainly more entertainment options on NCL. As others have said, maybe try a shorter cruise to test HAL out before committing to a 28 day cruise. You never really know until you try it, and HAL is definitely a different vibe which may or not be your cup of tea.

Have you checked your roll call? We are on a Princess eclipse cruise and glasses are provided. Would be really surprised if HAL wasn't providing them.

Thinking along the same line as you. New Florida embarkation, ship home porting in Florida year round and or 3/4/ day sailings. All good news if you live in Florida. Certainly 3/4 daily sailings are great for residents of Florida and other lines like Celebrity have been adding those. Kinda interested in the new New York roundtrip stuff.

Indeed - if you don't sail Carnival brands ... owning 100 shares for OBC would make no sense. I had "presumed" since this was a HAL board, that you sail with HAL (which is a CCL brand).

For an "investment" of 100 (peanuts) you effectively get tax-free dividends in the form OBC. If you sail any CCL brand regularly, hard to beat it.

Give him the Stink eye!!!!