The one I saw on HAL Zuiderdam last week was a big spring-clip design.   Something you could attach to a horizontal lip like a table or maybe the arm of a lawn chair.  Not sure it would work in the Princess Theater. I think it was around $30. (Did not purchase)

because I am......

That means the Crown Princess won't be operating in the market (area) that you originally booked. Currently not showing up in Europe for the summer season.    Looks like it will be operating in the Caribbean until April 2021, then out of service until Oct when it picks up the Caribbean itineraries.  Looks like the only westbound TAs nexuses fall are the Sky, Discovery, Pacific, and Island Princessses.  

Yes and yes.  Two FCC are listed in our accounts, the first for the cruise fare amount and the second at 50% of the cruise fare.  Taxes and fees do not show as they are included in the mystery holding account.  We responded directly to Princess with the option request but sine we also used a TA we had to resubmit through them.

sissy2000,

You are right, that information is nowhere to be found online.  We were also scheduled to do this trip (before the virus) and were able to contact Princess for an answer.  We were told that we could arrive at the ship as late as 11 p.m.  

Not sure what your travel plans are but this is what we did a few years ago.  A flight into Montreal was significantly less than flying into Quebec, so we flew into Montreal and picked up a Hertz rental car.  We spent the night on the east side of Montreal as our flight arrived early evening.  The drive to Quebec was pretty and only took us about 2.5 hours.  Having a rental car allowed us to go out to the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré and Montmorency Waterfalls on the day of our arrival.  There is a Hertz rental car office in the city, not far from the cruise port. We planned to turn the car in there and catch a cab but the office manager took us down and even gave us a little tour on the way.

If we do make the cruise this year (22 Oct) we will fly into Portland, ME, and drive up to Quebec.  The plan is to visit the old Limestone, ME Air Force Base where my wife lived for a time as a child on the way 

IF EZAir allows you to book the flights they will take care of you should you be delayed.  The airport is only about 15 minutes from the port.

29 minutes ago, hunt182644 said:

Flying to London in August flight and cruise is fully paid. Was trying to choose seats  as it showed on United that I could choose seats. When trying to complete transaction it said not able to confirm. I called the number available at United they told me the ticket was not completed yet from Princess. As it is fully paid I am now wondering if I perhaps need to wait until the forty five day s when you can no longer make changes. Has any one else experienced this?

Just because you have made your final payment doesn't mean that Princess has actually paid for you airline ticket.  Typically they don't do that prior to the 45 day point so as to maintain flexibility.  You can always ask Princess to pay for the ticket early, at which point it becomes a standard ticket with all of the associated penalties should you need/want to make ANY route changes.  

On United you are usually allowed to select seats in the class being purchased through EZair(e.g. economy).  If you want to pay United directly to "upgrade" to a preferred or Economy Plus seat you must first have Princess pay for the ticket.

Depending on if you booked with a TA, and if they had an ongoing "Coupon Savings Booklet" promotion you might receive the afore mentioned coupon book.  I find that most everything in there is of no interest to me except there is a buy one - get one offer good only for the first night.  We used it last month on the Coral in the Bayou Cafe & Steakhouse and found it to be not to my liking.  We much prefer the Crown Grill or Sabatini's venues, but that is just us.  Remember, first night is generally prime rib night in the Princess main dining rooms.

11 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

Isn't a pilot in charge of the ship during docking?  I would think that the pilot is the one who messed up, not the captain.

No, he/she is obligated to bring onboard a local pilot when required, but the Captain is ALWAYS responsible.  

20 minutes ago, sttopmh said:

Good time to purchase Carnival stock.

Actually you miss-timed your suggestion.  CCL jumped UP 7.6% yesterday, Monday might be another story as past performance is not a guarantee of future performance and all the legal investment disclaimer stuff.

It might depend on the ship.  We had a 3rd bed (pullman) balcony on the Caribbean Princess but we needed it as we had 3 people in our party.  If you need to use the pullman, the cabin needs to be configured with twin beds vs. a queen.  The pullman is on the wall shared with the closet and does stick out from the wall about 6 inches when stored.  Since one of the twin beds was under it we didn't notice the protrusion of the stored pullman. I have been told that if you have a queen configuration you need to be mindful of the pullman so that you don't hit your head or shoulder.  Take a piece of bright orange duct tape to place on the corner to help remind you it is there.

Remember: If you booked a "Flexible" ticket through EZair, Princess doesn't actually buy the ticket until about 45-days out.  If you want to purchase an upgrade to Economy Plus/Comfort direct with the airline before they are all gone, you can ask Princess to buy the ticket earlier but then it becomes a "Restricted" ticket with all the limitations and penalties required should you have to make a schedule change.

4 hours ago, eamondzhang said:

Do you also happen to know anything about shorex and whether it would be cheaper to prepurchase that?

I've noticed that excursion prices do go up slightly as you get closer to the sail date, so it depends on how far in advance you purchase.  If you are sailing next month the price online is probably what you would find onboard.  If you do purchase ahead of time, you can always cancel once you get onboard and will receive a refund to your onboard credit account.  Just be sure to turn in the unneeded tickets to the shore excursion desk before the deadlines you will find in the Patter.

27 minutes ago, ShorethingBob said:

Thanks Everyone.  Cruise Tour CB3 it is!!!!

The Cruise Tours with Princess are all customizable.   If you want to add another day in Denali, or add a stop in McKinley or Kenai it is easily done.  The McKinley Lodge offers you a list to Talkeetna (fun little town) and the best place to take a flight up to the mountain.  If it is in your budget, K2's Summit Tour with the Glacier landing is worth it.

We flew into Anchorage a couple of days early and took a day trip on the Alaskan Railroad to Seward on our own.  If you have a military connection the Seward Military Resort can get you a good deal on tours.

Our "Princess" tour used a bus from Anchorage to get to each stop going north and then we took the Princess chartered train from Denali all the way to the ship at Whittier.

A few years ago my wife lost an earring in the Explorers Lounge.  We search the area where we were seated, floor seat and cushions, etc, but couldn't find it and assumed it was lost for good, probably sucked up in the vacuum.  Wasn't from Tiffany's or Cartier, but wasn't inexpensive either and was a memento of an earlier Mediterranean cruise.  Went down to passenger services desk the next morning and it was there.  😇

Just our experience, but there are still honest and caring people out there.  Steelers36 offers some good advice, the PSD is really your best chance of getting something found back to its rightful owner.

Here you go.

PCL Transfer Request USA.PDF

5 minutes ago, bmc alabama said:

Where does it say “non-transferable”?  All it says is that you may trade the minibar for 2 coffee cards.  Beyond that, it’s up for interpretation.  We have friends on another ship, same situation, and they were allowed to do it.  I’m thinking it must be the new F&B manager on Regal...

Why is it "Another attempted cutback"?  The benefit, i.e. mini-bar or two coffee cards, belong to the Elite passenger and is non-transferable.  She still get the full benefit of 30 Specialty coffee drinks plus unlimited brewed coffee if she so desires.  Yes, she can share the contents of the mini-bar with anyone she chooses and likewise can share the 30  Specialty coffee drinks but those are specified finite quantities.  What you cannot do is give unlimited "free" drinks to someone (Platinum) who has not yet earned that perk.

It was nice that the OP received the perk on a previous voyage, but I find no fault in Princess' reasoning.  However, it would be nice to have some consistency. 

On 11/7/2019 at 3:08 PM, pompeii said:

Yep, dh just confirmed, it was Sixt.

We also used SIXT from Berlin and visited the village from which my ancestors emigrated on the way to the port.  Couldn't have been easier. Spent the night in Warnemunde in the old Stasi Hotel and then used the car the morning of boarding to visit the Schwiren castle.  With SIXT you just park the car in the public lot and drop the keys into a dropbox.  We picked up another car post-cruise this time from Hertz as they have a small lot and office right at the port.  I think they shared that with National/Eurocar.  The folks there were very helpful getting us to the right location to leave the SIXT car.  There is a lot to see between Berlin and the port.

13 minutes ago, Potstech said:

Could you post a link to that clip please?

Her is the one the DW used.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R93C77G?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details

Yes the Caribbean Princess was crowded, and because of the unique itinerary there were lots and lots of "Elite" passengers.  Did I mention there were a lot of Elite passengers, or at least they thought they were, and some were quite indigent when they had to wait, but we chose to just ignore those folks.  We connected with a great group at our Meet & Greet and had a WONDERFUL time.

Good luck booking independent tours, Princess bought out a lot of local boats for their tours causing a shortage, but it can be done.  Most of the "official" tours ended up being sold out, so if you are interested don't procrastinate.  One member of group was able sign up for an ice cap tour from the local information tourist center when she got onshore; she got the last seat.  I heard of another group that approached a local fisherman and got him to take them out to see the icebergs. Another couple we met had arranged for a helicopter tour to the ice cap and said it was incredible. 

You will not make it to the Arctic Circle on this trip but do make it to the most northern capital in the world, Nuuk. And the icebergs were epic!! Our boat Captain pulled along side to chip of some pieces for us to share.  Unfortunately none of them survived the trip home to Alabama. ☹️

Qaqortoq is a town of just over 3000 in population and a ship with ~3000 passengers, it was “Every Resident Gets a Tourist Day”. We toured almost the entire city from the Old City Center, the Fish Market, two churches, the local museum (where Charles Lindbergh once stayed), the grocery store, the bank/post office, the fur factory, and loads of brightly colored houses.We met so many wonderful people in Qaqortoq. We met a young man in the seventh grade that just wanted to chat and his English was impeccable. And then we met Mike on his way home for lunch and chatted about the town and the amount of tourists in town.

The last stop in Greenland was Nanortalik, a tiny fishing village in southern Greenland with a population of just over 1300 residents. In about 5 hours, we toured the town and visited the most wonderful outdoor museum. Don't forget to take some cash with you, I think it was about $5 pp. The residents have done an amazing job preserving their culture and it was such a treat to step foot in this treasure of a town. The townsfolk were so kind and welcoming, though I am sure they were ready for us to weigh anchor. We were excited to meet some of the school children picking up debris to use for their craft projects. Our daughter had some NOAA stickers on hand and they were excited, though not as excited when our new friend Gail gave them little chocolates from Princess.

We just walked the last two towns, taking in the sights and talking with the people.  You will have a great time and it was so nice not to be accosted by the helpful sales people from Diamonds or Tanzanite International.

Here is our blog report on this excursion from last May (2018). When we go back to Alaska this is one excursion we will definitely repeat.

Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm?

Yes, it was another beautiful day, lots of sunshine and moderate temperatures. Last time we made this trip we got part way up the Tracy Arm fjord before turning back to a significant ice flow with burgs larger than our life boats. Captain McBain made the call early and chose the Endicott Arm. The fjord itself was a little wider and not quite as stunning as the Tracy Arm (in my opinion) but the Dawes Glacier at the end was larger. My estimate we never got closer than a mile to the face of the glacier.

We boarded our catamaran cruiser several miles out and proceeded to navigate around the larger ice burgs. The naturalist onboard said she was up there two days earlier and they made it almost to the face of the glacier, no significant ice flow. Must have been a lot of calving in between. I only saw one large drop but missed the shot.

They scooped up some glacier ice for us to see up close and actually used some for drinks at their concession stand.

When we boarded our glacier tour boat Mary Lou asked if might see any whales and was told probably not. WOW, were they wrong.  Didn’t really see any close to the glacier, but we had about a three-hour ride into Juneau and saw several Humpbacks.   We spotted water spouts, distinctive backs, a few whale tails, and even some fin waves.

Then it happened, we came upon a whale who thought he was still in Cabo!  Our naturalist told us the whales only exhibit beaching behavior in their feeding grounds.  This one breached at least four times before waving good-bye as we continued onto Juneau.

20 minutes ago, Thrak said:

I know Princess does the Equator Crossing ceremony where one goes from being a Pollywog to a Shellbck but have never heard if they do the Blue Nose ceremony for crossing the Arctic Circle. Do they do this?

There was no ceremony when we crossed the Arctic Circle during a transatlantic going north of Iceland, but we did get a "certificate" on the last day.

Last year we booked a transatlantic departing from Le Havre, later changed to Southampton but that is a whole different story.  We flew into Paris and rented a car to drive out to Bayeux for a few days in that area.  Be prepared to pay some hefty tolls on the expressways but having a car to see the countryside was esential . Bayeux and the environs were worth it.  To really experience Mont St Michele I recommend you plan to spend the night in order to witness the tide changes.  Very reasonable hotels just at the end of the causeway. Check the tide table for the period of your planned visit.  

There were several couples on that cruise that switched from the Le Havre to Southampton departure a day later. Some took a ferry across to Portsmouth, others took the EuroStar up to London and then buses back down to Southampton.  We took the rental car pack to Paris and flew direct to Southampton for $99 and had a car and driver pick us up for a tour of Winchester before driving us off at the port.

Last year we used "Discover the South" http://www.discoverthesouth.co.uk to hire a car and driver for a tour to Winchester.  Actually we flew into Southampton that morning from Paris and were picked up at the airport, took the tour to Winchester before being dropped off at the cruise terminal.  

Our driver/guide was great.