rsquirrel

I think Princess does activities and laundry better.  Laundry machines were free to use.  If you pack your own detergent and sheets it costs nothing which is great on a longer trip.  They had lots of activities daily and the location of the movies was better on Princess.  As for evening shows I liked Celebrity better.

Food for me was better on Celebrity.  I can’t have wheat or dairy and finding food was not fun on Princess.  The buffet area was way smaller than Celebrity and did not have a Gluten Free area.  The desserts at dinner were great and better than Celebrity.  It’s too bad as Princess has a back section of the buffet that could be made a gluten free and dairy free area without much trouble.  Some mornings I could get a hard boiled egg and other days none were available.  It was the same for PB for the toast.  I had to eat it plain some mornings as they ran out of PB.  I did not have luck with the chef at the buffet, part way through the cruise I found out that gluten free muffins could be made.  Well I asked the next morning after she said she would have something for me tomorrow and nobody seemed to know but eventually I was given 4 little muffins.  They tasted great but at that point I was so sick of eating the same thing for breakfast.  Found out later there was something in them as I spent the rest of the day and evening burping.  It could have been worse but was not fun.  That was the last time I asked for anything special.  Celebrity also made mistakes and gave me regular milk when I ordered almond or soy milk.  They also gave me a delicious chocolate dessert a few times and I did question them as it was so hard to believe it was dairy free.  I found out at the end of the cruise that it had whipping cream in it when they gave me the recipe.  
 

Do you have the latest version on your phone/tablet?

This is my first Princess cruise so I don’t know if they have someone to help at check in.  I would guess they would but check in would take a lot longer.

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

did you check that you agree to receive email communications on the app and the website (your profile)? I didn't get my bid invites until I did that.

Also, if you and your cruise are eligible, you will see this when you log in to manage your cruise under the Booking Summary:

 

Thanks so much.  It says I’m not eligible at this time.  I had already signed up for lots of communication.  I didn’t realize I could check for upgrades without an email.

10 minutes ago, Kay S said:

 

I doubt it.  There are liability issues.  You can thank the insurance people.

That's what I thought.  We were suppose to go two years ago but thanks to Covid, we couldn't.  Now the one has aged out of the teen club.

I'm not sure how they decide on who gets bid options.  I was hoping we would get one for our cruise that is sailing next week but nothing.  I have been checking and I did see a lot of verandah cabins open up a few days ago, as months ago the cruise was full.  

Is it worth checking when we get onboard about paying to upgrade?  

Does anyone know if numbers are low for the teen area if they would let a sibling that is 19 go with her sister?  I know most cruise lines are quite struct on the age limits.

34 minutes ago, sassy12 said:

Thank you for describing your great protocol.  Right now I  am having issues and think I will need to go that route.

 

This truly eases my mind.  Not sure what's ahead but what I am now doing isn't working. 

Not sure what issues you are having but you may also want to try eliminating Dairy from your diet.  I never had any digestive issues but went to a Naturopath about my asthma. He did testing and gave me a list of foods to avoid.  I noticed a short white later that I wasn’t having asthma attacks when people were smoking outside near me.  He said most people shouldn’t be consuming dairy..

6 hours ago, mocha9 said:

Did you add a credit card?

That is why my sister is in the green lane and I am in the blue.  I haven’t added a credit card to my account.

On 9/12/2022 at 5:33 AM, airhose said:

We would like to go off the ship for a couple of hours after our early embarkation.   TIA.

I have never heard of getting off on embarkation day after boarding.  I have heard of people dropping off their luggage at the pier and then checking out the city and then boarding on embarkation day.

On 9/24/2022 at 6:00 AM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

 

Measure his wrist and then search on Amazon.  The one's I bought for myself, sister and nieces goes up to 7.08".  They also have ones that clip to belt loops, purses, etc.

These go up to 8"  -  https://a.co/d/fHsEE0v

Clip kind  - https://a.co/d/eldms4p

I bought these for us a few months ago. Amazon has so many choices.   

https://a.co/d/1wGDRLI

We booked with the beverage package (regular one) and I thought I remember seeing that it included mugs.  Would that be just for the kids or the adults too?  Does anyone have any photos of the mugs as this is our first Princess Cruise.

TIA

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

it is Final Payment, right...  so I would not assume a lot of cancellations.

Others might not think this at all.  But, what I will guess is that there are indeed cabins available.  That Princess has been limiting ship capacity on these upcoming cruises, die to staffing and supply issues.

This would be a way for Princess to increase initial revenue on the ship with limited passengers.

If this were me, and I did want to hope for a deal on an upgrade, I would consider making a bid.

You never know!

They may offer bids for each category to see if anyone cancels last minute because of Covid.  Then if you bid you might get that cabin.  Princess might want to get as much money as possible.  Leaving nicer cabins empty is not good for them.  I would bit if offered and I could afford the price.  I would be fine not knowing until we board if the bid cabin was mine.

We booked an obstructed oceanview cabin a couple years ago and were upgraded shortly after Covid to a deluxe balcony.  Of course we cancelled and Princess had to cancel anyways as everything shutdown.  We re-booked but are still in our obstructed oceanview and it doesn't look like any upgrades this time.

Sorry late at night, we did not book guarantee cabins either cruise.

Just note that regular Almond milk in hot coffee will make your coffee taste burnt.  I ask for oat or soy for hot coffees and almond for cold.

I haven’t cruised on Princess yet but other cruise lines did not have dairy free cheese for pizza.

Have the machines made it on any of the ships now?

I checked to make sure when I reshopped our cruise that we had the same perks.  We gained the $50 per person OBC and we saved over $1000 on our cruise.  My sister was happy.

What time do they show movies?  Do you have to choose between MUTS or the theatre?

I have never cruised with Princess before.  Is it easy to avoid the smoking areas?  I don’t gamble but if people are smoking in there I will want to avoid going through to get to another ares.

 I used to be so allergic to smoke I would have asthma attacks.  I changed my diet as per the naturopath’s suggestions and I no longer have asthma attacks due to smoke.  I still don’t like the smell. 

Are you sure about the Crown Princess?  We are supposed to sail on October 18th, 2022 from Vancouver, BC to Hawaii and back.

21 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

It's not doable for 4 adult size people to share a small obstructed ocean view cabin. Consider putting the teenagers across the hall in an inside cabin and everyone will enjoy their cruise so much more. 

Wish we could afford that but we can’t.

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

You need a bathroom rota,  ideally with pre-planned toilet visits!  

In all honesty - 16 days in a room the size  of a jail cell with 4 people - crazy!

We were booked on a similar cruise last year and were upgraded to a veranda stateroom, unfortunately the cruise was canceled because of Covid.

31 minutes ago, skynight said:

 

The poster mentions they are in an obstructed ocean view stateroom. This would place the cabin on deck 8 of one of the Grand, Crown or Coral class ships. Royal class ships do not have this category cabin. In an outside obstructed view cabin the 3rd & 4th berths will most likely fold out from the cabin walls. If we knew the ship and cabin it's possible to search for a photo.  For the next few months at least Princess has closed the spa showers. Check the covid protocols FAQ's for information. They could be open in the future.  

We are on the crown.  Sailing in October of 2022.

I have sailed with my parents before in one room on Celebrity.  It was only a week cruise.

 I don’t spend much awake time in the room.

Thanks for the excellent tips!

Thanks, I have packing cubes.  I will see if my nieces and sister have any.  I think my mom may have given the set I got her to my sister.  My mom didn’t like them.

 I will look into magnetic hooks.  I have some magnets as I like to post the daily activities up and highlight the things I’m interested in.

I have been on a few other cruise lines and each have their own way of maximizing space.

l have never cruised with Princess before so I am wondering what others do to keep things organized.  We will have two adults and two teenagers in an obstructed ocean view stateroom.  We are on the ship for 16 days!

Are the beds high enough to store luggage underneath?  Walls or the door magnetic?  Would love everyone’s space saving/organizing tips.