lx200gps

The Sanctuary pass includes the dedicated lounger, a lunch menu and afternoon tea. There is full time very attentive service for food and drink delivery, but you would have to either have a drink package or pay for the drinks. Drinks are not automatically included with the Sanctuary pass. When you order a drink, the Sanctuary staff will head to a nearby bar to pick it up for you. No pre-booking, you have to RACE upstairs the moment you board, and expect all the best loungers to be gone by the time you get there on a warm-weather trip, it's extremely popular. Our last trip on the Sky, as Elites we were among the very first folks to board and were still completely shut out of booking the Sanctuary due to the massive number of B2Bers who boarded just before us. Of course, sea days will be much more popular than port days.

I don't think it's "likely" you will lose NEXUS, I expect it's a certainty. We make a point of always staying within our exemption if we plan to use NEXUS, but it would be nice if they would allow honest declarations of overage. That being said, the last 3 or 4 times we've returned home and used NEXUS, the lines at the non-NEXUS terminals have been much smaller than the NEXUS lines.

No sweat, enjoy the trip. Actually, the wait isn't bad and once boarding starts, the waiting rooms empty out pretty quickly.

As an aside, has anyone used the NEXUS system to re-enter when they were over your personal exemption. It's my understanding that if you are bringing back alcohol over your limit, you have to use the "regular" lanes and not the NEXUS lanes.

In general, Princess ships will start check-in around 10AM, +/- and anyone checking in will then wait until boarding starts, generally around 11-11:30AM. If check in hasn't started, you may be waiting outside, though you will be able to drop off your bags. Boarding will depend on your Princess status, with B2Bers going on first, then Suites, Elites and Platinums, then everyone else. If you are "below" Platinum status, there could be more than a thousand people boarding before you. FWIW, we generally show up between 9:30 and 10AM as we are also keen to get on board ASAP.

Perfect, thanks for the confirmation. I'm sure we're fine, I was just confused by how X "shows" the package details, but now all's well

We have taken advantage of their "3 Day Sale" every year for a number of years. Pre-pandemic, there were some very good deals to be had, but in the last few years, the value of their sale has dropped quite a bit. We tend to find that it works out to paying about what Princess would charge, with a few hundred in OBC thrown in by the TA. As the others have said, if there is a trip you are interested in, book it now then wait and see if the 3 Day Sale can beat the price. If so, then re-book

Interesting point. Does that mean that when we get our cruise cards on Embarkation day, they will actually have PALL written on them?

Our Boarding Passes both say PALL as well as CALL, so I assume that means that we have the Basic package, together with the Premium upgrade. VERY odd way of showing it, I would have preferred it be shown in the formal paperwork, but all seems well now. Thanks for the confirmations.

Thanks for the quick response. There is nothing on our Xpress Pass beyond our basic personal details, booking # etc. There is a bar code and the words "PALL" and "CALL" at the bottom, but that's it. If the data is buried in the bar code, it would be nice to know ;o) As to our purchase history, I had already checked that and it only shows 4 items. It correctly shows our 4-night dining package, dated a few months ago when we ordered it, and three other items, all dated on our sail date next week. One is an entry for my wife's single-person wifi, but no mention of mine, and the other two are completely anonymous. They are in my wife's name, have reference/booking #s etc, and both show icons of drinks, with absolutely no mention of what they are. I forgot to mention that I had also scoured our "Guest Ticket Booklet" as well, and can find no mention of drink packages in there either

Relatively new Celebrity cruisers here. We have a booking on the Equinox to the ABCs leaving next week, booked almost a year ago. At the time, we booked with what was termed the "Elevate" package and both of us have prepaid Gratuities, tons of OBC, single person wifi and the Premium drink package. All this info is clearly listed in our TA's invoice as well as Celebrity's Cruise Confirmation document, sent out at the time of booking. I'm marshaling all our paperwork and docs for the trip, but I can find no mention of any of this either in our booking on the X website nor on the app, IOW I cannot find where our wifi package and our premium drink package is confirmed, beyond the initial paperwork we received a year ago. Suggestions as to where to find it in our booking on the website and app? Thanks

FWIW, we had this happen on a trip out of Galveston on the CB some years ago. On disembarkation day, we woke up to the ship anchored off shore enveloped in VERY heavy fog, unable to return to port. We did not end up disembarking until 2PM, well past our 1PM flight home. I got on the phone with Air Canada, changed our flight to the next day, there being no further flights out of IAH that we could make by that time. We RON'd at an airport hotel and flew home the next day. Our insurance company (Blue Cross) easily and painlessly covered the airline flight change charges, the hotel, the rental car and a meal PD. I vaguely remember that the ONLY thing they cover (hey, I had to try ;o) was the extra day parking charge for our car at our home airport.

You're quite welcome. I forgot another option, closer to the port and in the very center of downtown Montreal. Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral is the go-to church for major ceremonies such as VVVIP funerals, etc. and worth a visit https://www.diocesemontreal.org/en/lets-connect/churches-parishes/mary-queen-world-cathedral

In our case, we simply prefer the experience of dining in a quiet restaurant rather than a huge, loud, frenetic dining room with the constant coming and going of guests and staff etc. Much more peaceful, waiters more relaxed and less harried, etc. We typically only eat in a MDR once or twice on a trip and use the SDRs most nights. Personal preference.

According to the NCL web site, the Pearl sails to Bermuda from Boston, not NY. Other NCL ships do Bermuda from the MCT of course.

Just go to their web site and fill in the details. They are a strange outfit and pretty much don't communicate very well, but lots of folks swear by them. I doubt you will ever get any response to an Email. We've used them twice and had no issues, though we no longer use the Hyatt Place. Check out some of the other threads on VT here on CC to get more of a feel of how they operate.

No idea why, but it's a fact that they are allowed back on board before everyone else. On our last trip, in February, I was told there were 800 of them.

Technically, if there are any B2Bers on the trip, they are boarded before anyone else. AFAIK, if there are special groups such as a wedding party, they are also accorded priority boarding before us PES types.

If you really love BIG churches and basilicas, and you have the time, then St Joseph's Oratory would probably be of interest. It would be maybe a 20 or 30 minute taxi/Uber ride from the port/Old Montreal https://www.saint-joseph.org/en/

No problem. Another factor that should keep you from considering on-airport parking is the massive construction work that has been going on in the last few years. The covered garage is a nightmare, and some lots are closed or at partial capacity. Since you are driving down from Ottawa, you would probably be coming along the 40 through the West Island and there have been a number of new hotels being built through there that could work well for you. As one example, the new Marriott Courtyard on the 40 near Morgan Rd shows a Park and Fly package available, though it's only for 14 days so you'd have to discuss the extra few days with them. Best of luck in your search.

There definitely are hotels with park/sleep/fly packages available. https://parksleepfly.com/montreal-airport-hotels-with-parking-yul Best bet would be to Google Map the airport vicinity, locate all the suitable hotels you might be interested in, then use a site like Tripadvisor to search out each hotel and see if they offer the package. You would be best to use such a package if you can, as parking prices at the airport lots have become VERY expensive in recent years. And don't limit yourselves to "airport" hotels either, but look a bit farther afield to hotels in the West Island, as they may also have such packages as well as airport transfers. We no longer park at the airport, but use Uber, even from our remote Saint Lazare location, as it's far cheaper than parking at any of the airport lots.

Are you sure this is a Princess/EZ Air issue?. Baggage fees usually depend on the carrier and are affected by things like fare level (economy, business etc), fare class, loyalty status, what credit card is used for the airline booking, etc. For example, with my airline status and my credit card, I get one free bag for each of me and my wife regardless of where we travel.

We've stayed at the 10th St location a number of times. Great little hotel, very well placed. If you're contemplating staying there, check out Valuetrips.com for pretty impressive pricing at this particular hotel. Many discussions about VT here on this forum.

If you're so inclined, Uber is also an excellent option, and will be cheaper than a taxi. Pickup spots at the terminal are very convenient and easy to use. One big advantage to using taxi, however, is a new dedicated taxi/bus lane from the airport to downtown. Make sure the taxi driver uses that route. Traffic from the airport into the center of the city can be absolutely brutal, particularly at rush hour, so if you're pressed for time, using a taxi that can use the dedicated lanes will be a big time saver.

I imagine it depends on the capability of your credit card(s). My Visa card here in Canada is very rarely ever even inserted into a terminal, I just tap it on the external sensor and the transaction is approved. I can't remember the last time I had to type in a PIN. Many restaurants up here have moved to a terminal that takes a tap, no inserting, then gives the holder further options for tip, etc. Again, no PIN is entered.