minabruuke

Yes!

Thank you for this great information. I am sad to see the dinner times. My husband and I were considering Windstar for our next French Polynesia cruise but these dinner times truly could be a deal breaker for us. We prefer to eat dinner around 5:00-5:30pm. On our previous Paul Gauguin cruises dinner started at 6:30pm and that definitely felt too late for us so 7:00pm would be really unenjoyable. It is not that we get too hungry but rather that our bodies are not accustomed to going to bed so soon after dinner so the later times really mess us up. If the next day is a sea day then it really isn't a big deal as we can stay up later and sleep in a bit but on port days with morning excursions that just doesn't work.

Is there a reason that you need to print your boarding pass? I understand wanting to check in ahead of time if flying Southwest and wanting to get a good boarding position. With a budget airline, such as Spirit, there may be a small charge if you need to print a boarding pass at the airport kiosk but that would still be cheaper and easier than dealing with it onboard. However, with most airlines it is completely unnecessary to print a boarding pass before heading to the airport because you can easily obtain one, for free, at the airport. I am a frequent flyer and I have never once printed a boarding pass for a return flight. I may check in online if I have free internet access on my phone but if I don't have Internet then I just check in and get a boarding pass at the airport. It has never once slowed me down or caused me any problems at all.

There is nothing to stop you from making a request but that doesn't mean that the request would be honored. I, personally, wouldn't consider it reasonable or respectful to request something special be made for me on a ship with several thousand other people on it that also need to be fed. (My opinion would be different on a smaller luxury cruise line.) What if everyone wanted something special made for them because they just didn't like anything on the menu? Obviously, if someone has dietary allergies/ restrictions then that is a very different situation. There are multiple dining venues onboard so if you don't like the main dining room menu, for example, then you could always choose a different venue.

What would be very easy for me would be to eliminate the NCL ships you are considering. I don't think they will check as many boxes on your list of the things you care about. In my opinion, it would only check the decor and kids club boxes on your preference list. We found the included food (main dining room & buffet) on NCL to be terrible. Their upcharge restaurants are excellent but as you mentioned being frugal, those don't seem like a good option. I also don't find NCL to be great for someone who wants a relaxing trip (perhaps this would be different for those who can book suites in the Haven). On my last NCL cruise, the ship was filthy. Service on all of the Princess cruises we've sailed has felt more genuinely helpful, friendly and personal than what we experienced on NCL. If a newer more modern feel is really important to you than Majestic would probably be a good fit for your family. I have been on Sapphire's sister, the Diamond, for a New Zealand cruise and I was very happy with that ship for the scenic cruising so I expect that Sapphire would be a great option for an Alaska cruise. I would say the advantages of the Sapphire over the Majestic for Alaska would be viewing points and the size but it is older. If I were to be planning an Alaska cruise with my family on my husband's side (I use this comparison because demographically the group would be similar to yours and they are not "cruisers"), my choice would be the Majestic. Glacier Bay is worth a visit (otherwise I would also consider the Discovery) and I would expect them to be more impressed with a newer ship. Someone mentioned Princess not having a lot of kids. But that is not my experience, nor the experience of my friends who traveled Princess to Alaska with children. On an Alaska cruise in July you will likely find lots of multigenerational family groups and a good number of children.

On two separate cruises I have cleared a wait-list for a suite well after final payment. There are so many unavoidable reasons that people have to cancel a trip. Many of the reasons people have to cancel are not going to conveniently happen before final payment. I cancelled a trip 3 separate times, rebooking after each cancellation, in a period of just 6 weeks last winter. All of the cancellations were completely unavoidable, unexpected and thankfully for coverable reasons when it came to insurance. You just never know what life is going to throw at you! Princess offers, at a reasonable price, insurance with the cancel for any reason option which further broadens the pool of people who can cancel after final payment without significant loss. Short notice and last minute cancellation probably happens with greater frequency than we realize.

I am not understanding why people seem confused or suprised that they can bid for a cabin that does not appear to be currently available. Don't forget that those people occupying those cabins that you don't think are available may also be bidding and if they are moved up their currently unavailable cabin becomes available. That's in addition to cabins that open up due to cancellations.

Unless the OP purchased a cancel for any reason policy, an insurance claim would be a total waste of time. As far as I can tell, Generali travel insurance only offers the optional 'cancel for any reason' add on with their most premium plan and it is a costly add on that only covers 60% of loses. Odds aren't good that the OP selected those options. I have read through countless travel insurance plans over the years and the OP's reason for cancellation is not coverable by any travel insurance I have ever seen (outside of cancel for any reason policies). The insurance company will see this as the OP's mistake though I personally feel that the TA majorly failed the OP in this situation (granted I don't know what conversations took place between the OP and TA so I can't place the blame entirely there without all of the details). The fact is that Princess had the correct information for Canada published and easily accessible on their website. It is also always ultimately the traveler's responsibility to check the admissibility requirements for every country they plan to visit and this does not just apply to COVID times. If using a TA, the TA should be assisting with this or at very least advising their clients to check the government websites of each country for the requirements. Unless the OP has it in writing that Princess provided them incorrect information, then it is just a 'he said she said' situation and I can't see those conversation making any difference in the outcome. With something this important, you really need to verify requirements in writing, it is too easy for information/details to be missed, mis-conveyed, or mis-understood over the phone.

Perhaps this has been discussed before but...I am beginning to wonder if whether you are using the Android version of this app versus the iPhone version makes any difference when it comes to usability and reliability. Myself and my family are on Android devices and we have not encountered any problems with this app. It is slow but that's the extent of the issues we have encountered. Everything thus far sticks and nothing has disappeared (I did check my dining reservations when this thread popped up yesterday).

I would agree that many people who have some symptoms that warrant testing are not going for testing. But I get so confused when people mention sneezing. I have bad environmental allergies; I seriously doubt I ever go a day without sneezing multiple times. It is absolutely not a sign of illness for me so it would be completely asinine for me to test because I was sneezing and this would be the case for many people. I would never be concerned about anyone else who was sneezing unless they were showing other symptoms and/or did not cover their nose and mouth. Do people really get nervous around people who sneeze and cover?

My Princess CVP has on many occasions been able to change my cabin to a better one in a different category well after final payment. On one cruise, I think we did this 3 times after final payment (better rooms at a good price opened up) and we have definitely done so less than two weeks before sailing. I have seen many people on here talking about cabins being for new bookings only but I have yet to be told no when I have wished to make a change that involved moving up in category (obviously no refund for a price drop after final payment). I have always paid the difference between what I originally paid and the current price I see on the website (at least once that price difference has been $0). Whether I have been incredibly lucky or the Princess CVP's have a bit more freedom when it comes to changing bookings after final payment...I have no idea?! With other cruise lines I tend to book with a TA who can offer extras and/or savings but I have a great CVP with Princess so as long as she sticks with Princess, I plan to continue to use her. Travel agents are great for some people and booking direct is great for others. I am grateful we have the choice to do whatever suits us best!

The cruise I was speaking of was actually shortly before Ponant took over so it may not reflect the current situation at all (I apologize for not clarifying that from the start). While we did experience what I described, I would not assume that this was/is the norm. I simply wanted to point out that it has happened. That doesn't mean it is frequent or the standard. It could have been a totally one off experience for all I know. It surely would not stop us sailing with Paul Gauguin again. But I will say, that if we did experience the same thing again we would probably choose to try another cruise line. I actually enjoy hearing bilingual speeches, announcements, etc. and I absolutely feel it is appropriate for Paul Gauguin to be offering programming, announcements, etc. in French as well as English. I enjoy meeting people from around the world which of course means interacting with people that speak different languages and any time a ship can provide programming in multiple languages, I find that a hugely positive thing as it can help attract a diverse group of passengers! This can definitely be done without showing favor towards one group and I truly hope that Paul Gauguin will manage to do so under Ponant.

If you have hair that absolutely needs conditioner then you may want to bring your own. The combo shampoo/conditioner is fine for shampoo but for me it does not condition my hair at all.

We still see this on my Dad's booking summary but it was also included in the Casino email offer that he received and subsequently booked so given that it would really not be ok for it to disappear. For those that no longer see this, did you actually receive a marketing email with the $400 free play offer?

The native French speakers were absolutely given far more attention and care from the cruise director, Les Gauguins and Les Gauguines on our last PG cruise. It was extremely obvious and over the top. We absolutely understood that the native language of those particular staff members was French and thus it may have been more comfortable and easier for them to interact with the French speaking guests but that particular team of staff really needs to be accessible and engaging with all guests and they really failed at that on that particular cruise. Several members of that team were fairly new and I do believe that had something to do with this. As one example, I went to two craft sessions in a row where they passed out supplies to every single one of the French speaking guests first and basically ignored the English speakers. At the first session, a couple of us finally decided to help ourselves to the materials and then we had to actually walk over to them and ask if they wouldn't mind helping us as well (this was over 10 minutes after they had already given the French speaking guests instructions). At the second session, they actually ran out of supplies. All of the French speakers were given the supplies first and despite being the first to arrive, I and several other English speaking guests did not get to participate. I never actually witnessed the cruise director conversing or even greeting anyone but the French speaking guests. That said, I noticed nothing of this sort on our first PG cruise and absolutely no other members of the crew on either of our PG cruises appeared to favor any particular group of guests.

Our final payment date has not yet passed but our bookings are paid in full. I added the premium plus, paid for that (it required that) and then paid the rest of our cruise fare after that. Sorry it is not working. It must be frustrating to see the option and to not be able to get it to allow you to purchase. I hope that you can get this figured out! If I were you, I would probably try it again tomorrow and then try to reach out to Princess through other means if it still doesn't work. Maybe you could send screenshots from your personalizer account to your CVP so that she can at least see what you are being offered and maybe then she will look into it further

Do you see these options in your Personalizer? I couldn't access these links a bit ago but it is working again right now.

And just to add, this was a brand new option. My CVP did not know that this had been added as an option online nor did she know that it would be able to be added to these casino deals until I contacted her with questions and she investigated. It would not be a surprise if a CVP was still unaware of this new option as clearly they were not informed.

Yes, I added the full Princess Plus package for $50/person per day. The drink package, internet and gratuities all now show on our cruise summaries for both bookings.

I had that occur last night when I was adding Princess Plus, I also couldn't access the payment section of the personalizer at that time. The problem persisted a couple of hours but resolved and now I am having the same issue right now. Try it again a bit later, it seems like a website issue not something specific to your booking.

Last week we added the package to my Dad's casino rate booking. I did this in the Princess cruise personalizer. I noticed the option had been added to the personalizer but also a notation that it could change the cruise rate so I contacted our CVP first to check. There was no additional increase to the rate aside from the $50 per day. According to our CVP, that notation was there because the additional cost of plus is part of the cruise fare rather than a separate line item. We added this package to our own casino rate booking last night and again the only added cost was the $50 per person, per day. So we have now successfully added this to two separate, highly discounted casino rate bookings.

Alpha-Gal syndrome has actually been in the news (both medical and public news) quite a bit over the past few years. There seems to have, unfortunately, been an increase in Alpha-Gal syndrome from Lone Star Tick bites. They're actually a super common tick in a lot of places. It is really quite scary because the allergies are typically super severe. Hopefully, even allergists that are not in states where this tick is present are now aware and checking for it when the patient's symptoms point in that possible direction but I wouldn't be surprised if many people discover this after an ER visit and may not even need to get as far as an allergist.

It depends what you consider an upgrade. Both of our cabins for a December cruise were upgraded last Thursday. They were not meta upgrades but they were a decent bump up in categories. We had only booked two days prior and we would've paid quite a bit more for the new rooms if we had selected them from the start. One cabin went from a BW obstructed balcony to a BB balcony. The other an IF to and IB. Now....we don't really care about our location on the ship so to us these are more just cabin changes but for some people these would be pretty decent upgrades.