walkingsoon

Sold out? Very unlikely. Broken Princess website? Very likely. "wanted to check and see if my CC peeps had any insight" Before making that call, seek that insight by mock booking, or at least searching, elsewhere. You can do it from this website, but you could do it more easily elsewhere. I'd list my preferences for that research but the local hall monitors would get upset. I see, btw, lots of availability on Crown, Discovery and Grand. Now I feel tempted to fly out there and join you 🙂

I embarked four times in 2023 from Vancouver. One time I walked on as quickly as I could walk. (Yay!) Another time I waited about 90 minutes to get a medallion. (Fault-Princess) Another time I waited nearly two hours to drop off my luggage. (Fault-union issues. With an ongoing labor dispute, they shut down for lunch. Princess didn't help - at least there were no representatives visible at the scene) The last time I waited about 90 minutes to clear customs. (Fault-US CBP. They've been the villains in previous years as well. Only one 600 passenger ship in port, so they decided to reduce manning to a minimum. Eerily quiet, yet still slow. You might note that these time delays were simply business as normal back in the '90's. We became spoiled with quick embarkations in the last few years leading up to Covid and now we're regressing. I don't see the medallions or new app as helping particularly. It's not the fault of Canada Place. In fact, it could/should be very efficient. Likewise incredibly inexpensive, if pre-booked, parking at Templeton Station and a quick, cheap, easy and fast Canada line train from the airport should make Vancouver a very pleasant embarkation port. It's certainly a fine town. I'll be there again this summer. I'll forego embarkation lunch and arrive about 2pm. Given my recent experience I'll expect a mess, but will still cling to hope. As for hotels, it seems like the price-fix is in in Vancouver. I can see no other explanation for Manhattan-like prices there - they've got plenty of land. I don't know if it's corrupt hotel chains or a corrupt government. Perhaps both. Search away from the waterfront and use a cab. Enjoy your cruise!

"I found a trick to still search for one passenger" Wow! Just tried that. It works. Thanks 😀

Were you mock booking directly from the e-mail or from the separately entered website? My recent experience is that I frequently (not always) cannot see the reduced price for a "Princess Players Advantage Offer" reflected on the main website after I save a cruise that I am interested in and try to look at it later. Likewise, I get radically different prices trying to book directly from the promotional e-mail versus calling "Casinos at Sea" versus calling my CVP. The lattermost usually is the best. One of the advantages of casino offers seems to be that the solo supplement is often drastically reduced or disappears altogether. But finding, saving and then purchasing that good rate is tough, especially after the recently discussed website changes that removed the ability (for many, myself included) to filter for price for a specific number (one) of passengers. I wouldn't try booking a second person that you know isn't coming. Make some phone calls and get that "really good price" a different way. That's what I do, anyway. Good Luck, Walkingsoon

Take an Uber, especially with four people. Last August I had a ninety minute wait on the pier for a bus. Whoever they contracted with did an extremely poor job.

Emerald will be closer to Caribbean than the Enchanted or Regal. I'm lukewarm on it. It's better than the Royal Class (my opinion, apparently not yours), but it still has a Riviera deck.

Call Fred at Exploration Journeys 1-888-321-3975 (argentinaexplorationjourneys.com) and tell him of your mobility challenge issues. Ask for a quote. He can put together a completely curated package with transfers, hotels, private tours, even a side trip up to Iguazu (or elsewhere) if you've got time. Expensive - a bit, but still cheaper than the Princess offering. I'm looking for an excuse to return to BA, largely to use his services again. Walkingsoon

You stand a chance. Lots of people buy multiple FCC's onboard and use them to hold several cruises, fully intending to cancel the majority of them. But "89"? Wow! I don't know how solid your dates are nor your desire for that specific departure port, but rather than hope to get on an apparently full ship (and understand that, despite liking Princess I have an anti-Royal Class bias) I would be considering one of these... Diamond Princess, 11/12/25, as Teechur suggested. Smaller ship but just 1 day in Hong Kong. Celebrity Millenium, 10/29/25, also Tokyo to Singapore with 2 days in Hong Kong HAL Westerdam, 11/9/25, Hong Kong to Singapore. Oceania Riviera (my top pick), 11/6/25, Bangkok to Singapore or 10/22/25, Hong Kong to Bangkok. Good luck!

"Has anyone gone through Princess for their pre/post cruise? If so, how was your experience?" I have, though not for LAX or FLL. I doubt I will again. Shortly after the Covid restart and concerned about the the state of travel, I used the Princess offered pre-cruise hotel and transfer package to sail out of Civitavecchia. The hotel provided was adequate, not great, and the transfer from the airport to the hotel was very smooth - we were met by a Princess representative in baggage claim and directed to a private driver, all very relaxing after a long series of flights. (that was the one big plus) The morning transfer was a bit less impressive with long waits, a crowded bus and multiple stops that got us to the ship a few hours later than I would have preferred. You pay a premium price for the Princess service (I think we paid >$700 for Rome, probably twice the necessary) and lose control over transfers. You're essentially paying a lot for a guaranteed experience, which doesn't always work out as planned, as you discovered previously. I hope you hopped in a cab and applied for compensation with that other cruise line. For going LAX to FLL I would, and in fact am in three weeks, use Hotwire or Priceline for hotels and Uber for transfers. LAX is a bit of a pita and I prefer hopping in a car immediately and getting down to San Pedro, Long Beach or Torrance the night before for a short transfer in the morning. I'd still do the same if I wanted to hang downtown a few nights and play tourist. Fort Lauderdale is easy, everything close and cheap. Walkingsoon

Welcome to MedallionClass cruising </sarc> Not exactly sure what you mean by a "dedicated desk", but you might try calling Princess and ask, as a seasoned cruiser considering shifting allegiance, for your own personal CVP (cruise vacation planner). That person should be able to see (and assign) a specific room that might not be available to you if you are booking by yourself online. Before you call, perhaps do some room availability research by doing a mock booking in which you plug in "3" or "4" as the "number of guests". If you can't (or you've simply maxed out the time you're willing to try to) get the dining reservations you want, realize that you can simply show up at the ship and wander to one of the MDRs on your own schedule. You don't need reservations, you don't need the app. You might even find life more relaxing ignoring both. Enjoy your cruise! Walkingsoon

"It’s hard to know if our issues are due to the new ship, due to Princess or just what cruisers are used to" The issues are, imo, largely a result of the number of passengers (there are lots on the Sun) and the passenger to staff ratio. I've got 500+ days with Princess, might not hit 600. At this point I regret putting my time in on Princess, which is evolving in a direction I don't like, and not with Holland America, which is maintaining a service similar to what Princess used to offer twenty years ago and doesn't seem in a hurry to replace their older smaller ships with newer noisier ones. If you can afford it, check out the more luxurious lines. If not, stick to the smaller ship end of the mass market offerings. Regarding the medallions, they're pretty horrible. So is the phone app. Princess has a lot invested in them, however, so I guess they're not going away. As for "what cruisers are used to", I'm starting to suspect that lots of people actually enjoy getting in long lines and hanging out in the midst of large crowds. Can't relate. Fwiw, the previous Sun Princess was a wonderful ship. Walkingsoon

Onward Travel Solutions available at airporttaxis-uk.co.uk I was impressed by their website and communication. This time they far underbid their competitors. I'd start there and then compare them to blackberrycars.com, who have also done well by me in the past.

The Grand is fine. For me, it's really simple. There are two categories of ships in the Princess fleet. You can classify them three different ways, each reaching (nearly) the same result: 1- is there a Riviera deck? 2- was it built since 2004? 3- do they sail with >3000 passengers? Here's the simple part: each ship in category one (no,no,no) is superior (my opinion) to any one of the ships in category two (yes,yes,yes). Will a spot of rust on the edge of your balcony ruin your cruise experience? If so, perhaps you'd prefer one of the ships in category two. I just hope you don't mind long lines, constant noise in public areas and an atrium you can barely walk through. Princess has made a business decision to become a megaship brand, no different than RCI, NCL or MSC. Once that transformation is complete, I see HAL, Cunard and Seabourn providing for my future travel plans. Different people have different opinions. I've provided mine for the benefit of the original poster. Walkingsoon

Thanks for the advice, Thrak and PacNGo. I'll keep trying. Waiting until I debark will possibly work too.

Good idea, Thrak. Tried from both Chrome and Edge and got an error message "this site can't be reached" when I try the "Try our website version" link on the check-in page.