Wishing on a star

All of this, with the current abysmal customer service, truly has me wanting to avoid Princess. The cruise line I have chosen and enjoyed for years. Sad.... Maybe we could try to make our voices heard. Let Princess know how we are seeing this current situation. But, alas, we are a teeny tiny drop in the bucket. And Princess is a company that is showing every day that they simply do not care.

You can see which cabins are still unbooked with some creative searching. Yes,to those who do not understand.... There is a lot going on here with this. I think it is of note that it cost more to select a cabin. (which do not mind that much) I think it is also of note that GTY are nonrefundible deposit. I think it is also of note that when I have heard of somebody getting a cabin they want made available to them, I have seen the 'Revenue' department mentioned. There are probably a lot more factors than these mentioned. None of them lead me to have any respect at all for Princess current business practices.

There are several! This first one is a sailing yacht, not a bigger catamaran. I believe they operate, and depart, from the cruise dock. https://www.mykonosseaexcursions.gr/ Here is another that has several larger catamarans. I believe they depart from Ornos Beach. https://mykonoscatamaran.com I think we have decided in favor of staying on Mykonos and visiting a couple of beaches. But I did contact both of these, and got a good response.

Thank you! You are always helpful! I can double check, but I believe that these have set departure times that you sign up for. and they might not really leave Rome until close to 11:00. They can be cheaper! But, will probably have bigger vans with more passengers.

The cabin in the area I want is NOT entry level. In fact, it is the highest level, mid-ship, mid-deck, cabin. STILL showing GTY. Still entire areas and decks blocked off, with no ability to choose one. So, the above comment is not really right. There is a LOT more to all of this. For sure.

EDITED TO ADD: I will preface this by saying I have no problem with paying a bit more to choose my cabin. It is the availability that is the problem. I haven't read thru all of the above replies. But, I can say that THIS IS A PROBLEM. Princess is blocking so many cabins off, for so many different (and not valid) reasons. I am looking at a cruise that has recently gone online for booking. There are entire categories, decks, sections, that come back showing GTY only. I know, by way of some creative searching, that these cabins ARE available. They are not currently booked. This is simply NOT okay. If one is a valued returning customer, is booking early, and wants to choose a specific type of cabin or area, etc.... Then that should be possible. What the hack is wrong with having most cabins be first come first served. This is another of the inexplicable and disrespectful and frustrating things with Princess recent customer service practices. There are people who put their nose up and say "MY great TA" or "MY great Princess Planner" can always get me the cabin I want. I am taking that with a huge grain of salt. And will continue to do so until somebody posts or contacts me and helps me with the tips to get the area I really want on this cruise for next year.

If I am reading things right, I am seeing changes to the FLL Caribbean sailings. I don't know if this is any factor. But, from Galveston, could it be port availability that is determining these itinieraries? With SO many cruise ships and cruisers. Port availability could be a big thing?

I am a Europe newbie, and wonder if it is similar to boarding times here in the US. I am wondering when to schedule transfers to Civitavecchia. Thanks for any insight!

I did get a reply from the cruise port website. It seems as if the port is offering this service. But, they are passing the bookings onto one of their group of participating drivers/companies. "We select drivers proven experience, with all necessary licenses and permissions" I will have to double check all of the little details on their website. I am not sure about how it works if another party doesn't join in. But, it does seem legit, and could save 50EU.

I am looking for a private, or shared-private shuttle from Rome to the Port. We would like to depart, and get to the Port before most other shuttles. As mentioned in other recent threads, the well known private shuttle services are beginning at 140 EU. I see on civitavecchiaport.org the SHARED SHUTTLE service, where you can get together with another party to share an arranged private transfer. This would be about 90 EU. We could leave Rome and get to the Port a little earlier. Has anyone here used this service? Is anyone familiar with this? I have sent a contact to them, but have not gotten a reply yet. I don't know if this is operated and sanctioned by the Port? Is this something that is contracted out to any one of various providers?

I would like a transfer that leaves Rome, and arrives at the cruise ship fairly early. It looks like a private transfer would be necessary for that. I see Bob's transfers begins their shared transfers at about 10:30 - 11:00 a.m. A private transfer for two shows a fare of about 140. Same as Romecabs. I wish I could find an early shared transfer that leaves Rome earlier. Or, a private transfer that costs a bit less.

I found this site, which has information on the different hop on hop off bus companies and tours. https://www.rome.info/tours/hop-on-hop-off/ There are several transport and tour-driver companies that I see mentioned on these travel forums. Rome Cabs, as well as Rome in Limo. When you say 'major sites', do you mean 'drive by', or to be able to go inside? If you want to go inside, then taking some kind of transportation or walking to the site would be necessary. In Italy, there is a difference and separation between 'drivers' and 'licensed tour guides'. That means that the driver does not handle the necessary tickets or accompany you.

I do not know about Corfu. I don't think it is known for it's beaches? Mykonos is known as the Greek party beach island. It's main beaches are packed with beachgoers and partiers at the trendy big beach clubs and their DJ's playing (loud?) music well into the night. These clubs have rows and rows of beach loungers for rent, many at 40 - 50 Eu and up per lounger. Do a bit of online research. It might take a bit of time and effort to figure out which island and which beach are right for you. There are a lot of videos and online pieces out there about the beaches and clubs of Mykonos. If you have looked at which beach excursions on your cruise, then I would start by checking out those particular beaches. Unless you are wanting to head out on the Island on your own. Know that on Mykonos, it probably won't be possible to just 'get a cab'. There is a bus system. If I am right, there are two bus stations, and two bus-stop corners in the main town. You would get into town and then go to the bus station that goes to the beach you are wanting to visit. You might want to have a pre-arranged transportation service. That can be fairly expensive. On the cruise I am looking at, the ship does have excursions to Elia and Super Paradise beach on Mykonos. But, I might prefer another beach (Psarou and Platis Gialos - can walk between) And, we wouldn't want to be locked into that excursion time-frame.

Onesource is only for registered travel companies/agents, right? I wonder what a balcony on that first 5-day on the Sun is priced at?

The Vanilla Sky at Good Spirits, it is Pineapple. I had quite a few of those!

It looks like the new Sun Princess arrives at FLL on October 9. The first sailing listed in this info is on October 14. So, I wonder what they will do with those five days? I am thinking if they get enough VIP's and Travel Agent groups, they might or might not open this up for general booking?

The "Beach clubs" will probably be closed. But, on the main beaches, surely some restaurants will be open. Have you posted over on the Tripadvisor board?

wow! Love it!!!!

No experience.... But check out PK tours. They seem to highly recommended on these travel boards.

I hate to say this, because we have enjoyed Princess. We are not into 'family' cruising and activity 'theme park' cruising. I wonder what you both thought about Celebrity. From your descriptions, it sounds like Celebrity would be the closest to Princess in cruising style.

My thoughts: Do not order the Beef Chop steak. (we like the MDR beef medallions and prime rib better!) The filet at the table next to us did look good. Don't expect stellar service. (It was very busy, service and food were slow, etc.) Go on a night when the regular menu does not appeal. About Italian night. The food we ordered in the MDR was good. (not stellar, of course, but very good) The Souffle that night was OMG! I wonder if somebody had an off night at Sabatini's. (older menu) Or perhaps they are used to Americanized (or other country) Italian food. When we went, it was very Italian. The servers were very Italian. Service was great. Did we like everything? That could be up to each person. But, it wasn't bad, and it was Italian.

Mine is a FCC, we had it applied to our recent booking. I am contacting our agent to make sure everything is still refundable.

So, the FCDs had actually expired? If so, I think Princess could actually have a leg to stand on with that one. Anyhow, I am still hoping to find out how to see the different cabins and fares available. I have tried a couple of big agencies, but did not have any luck. Any information would be appreciated! My current booking is with a big Vacations travel agency.

Also assuming that everyone is seeing the 'given' that if a better rate, or cabin, or promo, or whatever comes along, Then Princess is making sure that they keep more of your money. We have a booking for a cruise over a year out, with an outside Travel Agency with a discounted rate, and some good OBC. I don't see a better rate or promo ever coming along. But, if we had not went ahead and made this booking before this started changing, we would probably never get a chance to rebook or refare. Of course with all of the cabin blocking and only GTY available, we weren't able to book our first choice of cabin. No lower decks are made available. But at least it is acceptable, and we aren't locked in with a higher fare or non-refundable deposit.

BINGO!!!! See above regarding whole blocks and categories of cabins being 'blocked' and offered as GTY only.