jennybenny

We have an early flight out of FCO, 11:40 AM on a Saturday in August. Wondering if it's better to just get off the ship and get a Taxi which does not have a set rate for the airport, or book a private transfer that does. Anyone with experience at the Civitavecchia port? Thank you in advance. Jennifer

OH!! OK. We ordered the medallion to be delivered to the port!! Thank you!! Whew!! We like the Medallion and have used them on several cruises. I just misunderstood that if you can't receive it in time at home that you have to go to GS, which IS a zoo the first day or two of any cruise. Thank you!! Much relieved!!

Whoa! I missed that the MAKE the medallion on the ship! Thanks for repeating that you get a card to board and then have it made at GS.... that SUCKS!!! That first day is nightmare at Guest Services!! Can you use the card the whole time or are you forced to get the medallion? We will be blue lane on our next cruise for the same reason, we won't be home with enough time before our cruise....

I would try the family suite route as Thrak suggested. You have to call for that, you cannot book online, but if it's available, it's a good way to have everyone in the same space. You can also get on wait lists for every category you are willing to take, and if you want 4 to a room, you can wait list that way. You still have to put a deposit down, but it is refundable if you don't get it. You can also ask where you are on the wait list. You can do that through Princess (calling) or your PVP at Princess or a TA, but when I do wait lists I want to have more control over things and that's doing it directly through Princess (for me). I've heard of amazing TAs that do it for you, but I just don't like the middle man in desperate times. lol Also, if you do get on a waitlist, check multiple times a day because most times they don't call you, you have to be the one to do all the work.

Part of the problem could be the muster station is full. That is why they won't allow 4 people in the suite, even if 4 people could fit in it. You can check the Princess deck plan to see if 4 people can be accomodated in that cabin number. I have no idea if they would let all 4 people in the cabin once on board, but I would assume they would not officially say they would make the room up for 4 if you can't book it. We have booked two cabins in the past, a balcony and inside room across from each other, or two to four balconies side by side, and gotten access to all the cabins at Guest Services. However, Suites have benefits that other cabins do not. If everyone is not in the Suite, there are some benefits all 4 will not be able to enjoy.

Yes, but the anticipation is killing me! lol. We are all speculating and won't know for sure until the first cruisers can tell us. I myself cannot wait to hear all about it!!

In the past we have booked with the "early bird" rates for most of our cruises. We haven't done an Australia cruise, but of the cruises we have booked early, we have often re priced them at some point. I always make sure its a refundable deposit and that we have the flexibility of making the changes. It can be annoying to keep hearing from me, but so far my PVP has not complained. I don't know if in Australia you can re price the cruise

I agree. No need for an intervention from crew, but security won't worry about a bad review. Every time they get called out, fine the parents if the behavior is unacceptable. Kids have medallions now. Contact parents, tell them there will be a fine every time the kids have security called, and start the fines coming. Some parents won't care, some parents, even absent parents, won't want to pay the fine. Sure, some people will try to get out of it, but if security has to get called, have body worn cameras, record the footage, and fine the parents. Hopefully the parents with annoying kids will chose a different cruise line. This is just a dream, no one would do this, but it's fun to think about. In ALL of my holiday cruises we've only encountered disruptive children twice on the same cruise, same kids and one time security was there. After that, we didn't see the group of kids terrorizing the halls. Some people just don't like kids, and when they splash around the pool, they get mad they got wet.... YOU ARE IN A POOL! So, people who are child adverse should not cruise during high kid season, pick an all adult line for that. 😁

I'm trying to be patient with these delays since it's a new ship, but really wish we could start booking dinner... no matter how far away the cruise is 🙂 Good luck @dog, I hope you get a good response with your request for help.

Still can't book for summer 2024, but excited to see the venues now when looking at dining for our cruise!! Get an error message stating "There are no available restaurants. Try to remove or change filters". We too are in a suite and see the same as @dides does on the app.

We absolutely love the holiday cruises and prefer when we can do both Christmas and NYE! We did it for years out of Los Angeles and San Francisco with the kids when they were younger, and now, as young adults, they still enjoy the holiday cruises. We agree, the bratty kids are annoying, but the hope is usually that parents will take care of their kids, I know we did when the kids were littles. I wish the cruise ships should fine parents when their kids are not being taken care of and misbehaving, but they won't. There are a lot of people on holiday cruises, the ships are usually at capacity with 3rd and 4th beths taken. We have been waitlisted for holiday cruises and gotten on, happily. We just haven't done them (holiday cruises) since the restart. The unexpected benefit for us has been the adjusted price point because holiday cruises are more expensive, and as we have been used to paying that for years, we can now play with other cruise lines during non holidays. So far so good.

Unlimited laundry would be nice! Even with the elite or suite benefit, it takes a few days. Actually, I've never been in a suite, do Suites get laundry faster than elite status passengers, asking for a future cruise? It's always a few days with elite status and depending on the cruise, it could only be once every 3-4 days.

You can, if you want to "get it out of the way", and it's frustrating that they will not ship any sooner regardless of when ordered.

Now if they can only ship worldwide. I mean, Princes makes everyone pay for it themselves, so.... what does it cost them?

Anyone know if they will they let you exchange something on board if you pick the wrong size, pick up at port? Anyone have experience doing that?

We've done it all on board, getting passenger service to allow each person's medallon to open the correct cabin, just make sure that the correct credit cards are assigned to the correct person. The adults are responsible for the kids, and if there is a complaint, I'd hope the adults get in trouble. If the kids are old enough, can't recall what age, 16 or 15, then Princess will let the kids be in their own room, but the booking must be cross referenced with the responsible adults (parents).

We too had to do the work ourselves. It does not happen automatically. Multiple checks per day to see if what we want is available and call ASAP. Happened in 2014 and we were not first on the wait list. Good luck!!

Therein lies the problem.

I’d be surprised if people would actually get up and leave but I can imagine a lot of unhappy customers with the way this is being rolled out

We’ve met people who go to the Crown Grill most nights of their cruise, and I doubt this upchange will stop them. We do specialty dining about 4+ times per cruise and I don’t think this will make us stop either. My “kids” won’t be getting the drink packages because they don’t drink alcohol so that’s a change for us with these new prices, but it won’t curb their appetites. Just means cruising Princess costs more now for casual dining, specialty dining and experience in the ship. That said, I’m thankful for Cruise Critic because if I didn’t find this out until cruising time I’d be very unhappy. At least now I can prepare. This price up charge will factor into the next cruise and cruise line my family and I choose to cruise with. It’s no longer just Princess we will look at, but that’s ok, variety is good for everyone. I’m enjoying mixing it up.

It’s not as easy as swapping medallions. Your face is attached to the medallion and my husband and I look completely different. ☺️ While it is easier for the bar tender to double up on once person, it could be a problem later. If one person is charged both drinks when we order together, then one of us goes to bed, we could be at an inaccurate imbalance of drinks per person. If the person with less drinks on their account goes to bed the person left up could be charged “in excess of 15” inaccurately. it’s happened to us and wasn’t worth the trouble of trying to get credit but I’d rather they just charge properly to begin with

It's the best way to spend the Holidays!! We've had a family tradition of going on a Holiday cruise since the kids were littles. They are much older now and still love the family tradition. There are multiple families who cruise every year for the holidays and we've made really good friends with some of them. They are many children on board holiday cruises, but we've never had a negative experience because of it. Depending on the port, some places may be open for the holidays. I prefer when the holidays fall on Sea Days. The ship is decorated and festive, the crew is happy and friendly. It's amazing and lovely. My favorite time of year.

curious about the same thing.... I wonder if it will be like adding the drink package, you pay gratuity when you book the extra meals?

Have only sailed Vista and while we were disappointed to not have Jaques, we did enjoy Ember, Red Ginger on the other hand was unimpressive. I was surprised by that. We will try it again on our next cruise but we like the Vista size. Not sure we'd sail a smaller vessel. So not sure we will get a chance to try Jaques.

Oh! I want to know that too!