runner2013

Hi all, So, we've decided to stay at the Loden hotel now since it's closer to the port, liquor stores, and restaurants. Any suggestions for a restaurant within walking distance that isn't a 'typical' burger type place, and a liquor store with a varied wine selection. On the map I see Earls Kitchen, Joey Bentall One, or Showcase Restaurant. If all goes will with the flights, we should be at the hotel between 530-600pm. Thanks

I've also read cruises leaving from Vancouver B.C. are also included in the enhanced testing protocols. Anyone else?

Thanks for the quick replies everyone. Much appreciated

Hi all, New to MSC, just curious if there is wifi on ocean cay. If so, is it free or do you need to purchase the wifi package. TIA

I'm a solo sailor at times as well. Honestly, I would not pay that much for a 7-day cruise. Maybe something like a transatlantic would be the exception, but otherwise, no. Especially since it's not an OV balcony. (But as mentioned above, no judgement here, if it works for you that's all that matters) As much as I enjoy Royal Caribbean, they are becoming too expensive for me when I go without my DH. I've been looking elsewhere to get my solo fix.

You are correct. I actually had to deal with ROE regarding an issue I had with getting extra marriage certificates after my wedding. I ended up speaking with the owner of the company and she confirmed Princess now handles wedding in house. Glad to hear you are having a better experience now.

Thanks everyone for the tip about the credit card. Never even thought of that. We're thinking the Abercorn hotel in Richmond, hopefully that will keep us under the $50.00 range. Should we also tell the front desk when they call to let the taxi company know we will be using a credit card to pay? Patty

Hi all, We have an Alaska trip booked May of 2023. We're flying in the day before, staying at a hotel near the airport. (We're coming from the U.S. and our flight options don't have us arriving until later in the evening, so an airport hotel is easier for us.) We'll be going to the liquor store to purchase wine to bring onboard, and having the hotel call us a taxi to get to the port. Should we plan on paying for the wine and taxi in CAD or U.S. dollars? Is the taxi a 'fixed' price or just whatever the meter runs to? We are planning on bringing some CAD and want to make sure we have enough. Also, if we get room service while on the ship, we usually tip a few dollars, should that be done in U.S or CAD? Thanks in advance for the help

We won't pay for a medallion if we don't get a plus package in the future, five extra minutes at the check in desk won't bother us.

I've worked for 'the phone company' over 36 years. One of my very first jobs was to verify street names and addresses against the phone number for every person who had a land line phone.

Hi all, Is the Hollywood pool club on Majestic Princess free to all adult passengers or do you need pay extra and book a time like the Solarium? Thanks

Hi all, We've been looking at Alaska cruises (2023) that start in Vancouver and end in Whittier. The arrival time in Whittier is listed as 12:30am. We've never seen this time for a debark before and had a few questions for the Veterans who've used this port in the past. (We're doing our research, but I figured I'd ask here in the hopes people could steer us in the right direction from the start) What time would they allow you to debark if you walked off? Regarding shuttles/transfers is there anything available that time of day to either a hotel or the Anchorage airport? (there would have to be right?) Would we be better off planning to stay at a hotel the day we get off the ship and fly home the next day, or is it actually possible to leave the same day? Thanks in advance for any help

I absolultely agree with you about the cost sometimes being more if more extras are offered. But it still would be nice to have the option sometimes🤣. Also, as someone who does enjoy cruising solo as well, I agree the solo prices on Royal are not very wallet friendly at all.

Hi all, I enjoy checking out the websites for different cruise lines to see what type of 'specials' they may be running at any given time. One thing I happen to notice is Royal never seems to offer an 'all in or 3 perks included" package type of option. It seems most other lines have some type of offering, eg: drinks, wi'fi, gratuities, or shore excursion, free dining, etc. DH and I like to crunch the numbers and find 'usually' it works out better for us financially to take advantage of these specials when offered, but we've never been able to find one from Royal. Has anyone else noticed this or am I just not seeing it? We've enjoyed the specials on other lines we've sailed and keep hoping someday we'll see something similar on Royal's page but so far, no luck.

How do you 'hide' the location? TIA

Does this offer include retired workers also or just active?

Hi all, DH and I are a few points shy of reaching Diamond status. Since he is a skier and I am not, I've been tossing around the idea of doing a solo trip when he does one of his ski trips this winter. Since i'll receive double points and hopefully make it into Diamond status, will he automatically receive the perks as well, or will he need to accrue the points himself on his next sailing? Tia.

I recently read Princess does not require both adults in a room to buy the drink package. (i'm not a big drinker but DH enjoys trying new wines) I thought it was odd since most lines require it, and I can't remember where I saw the article. Has anyone else read anything like this?

Never know about this. I'll have to log into my account when i'm home after work and take a look.

Oh no. I'm sorry you've had such a tough time. Hopefully once you're onboard things will go a little smoother.

Maybe I'm the minority but it looks just too big, and too family orientated for me. (No shade on families, just not my thing) Guess dh and I just prefer a ship that's a bit smaller with more 'intimate' locations. But we're also not in our 30's or even 40's anymore, so that probably has something to do with it😅

You're welcome. Any other questions feel free to ask. I will say, it was nice not having to worry about all the things required for a traditional 'land wedding'. Most of the decision making is taken care of by Princess. They'll give you a few choices for flowers, location, time etc and you just pick what works best. If you're ok with giving up some 'control' over what you can have it will make it so much easier (and cheaper) in the long run. We only had 6 people sail with us which ended up being perfect. Less people to keep informed and keep track of 🙂We had our ceremony in Skywalker's Nightclub on the top deck. We also paid for the photographer for an extra hour which was well worth it. We gave him a timeline for what we wanted picture wise and he was more than accommodating. We did 15 min of bride pics in our cabin, 15 min of groom in his folks cabin, then he went up and did the pics of ceremony and after that he took us all over the ship. (make sure you do some with the wake behind you, those are absolutely stunning with the lighting). We did an hour reception/cocktail hour with open bar and nibbles. We felt it was def worth it as we were so hungry after the pics and wanted to just catch our breath and spend some time with our guests. The only thing I will say about your first dance, be very clear that you want one and when you want it. (your on board wed coordinator will be able to help you with this for sure) We figured to do it after the pics as the reception was coming to an end, but the photographer ended up going over timewise so we never got to have it. We ended up having one in the Disco later that night. My girlfriend asked the DJ to play our song and he cleared the floor for us. (It was amazing and turned out better than if we had done it with just our guests at the reception. The whole club was cheering and respectful not to interrupt.) Since our wedding package included a dinner for the bride and groom one night, we paid for all our guests and had dinner in the steak house after the reception/cocktail hour. We had a cake cutting right after the ceremony and had it served for dessert after dinner. When we finished, we all headed up to the disco and danced to night away. We felt everything we chose was well worth it. Things went pretty smoothly the whole day and the Princess reps on hand made sure to take care of everything.

If you signed a contract with Princess you should have received a packet/invoice either mailed to you or emailed to you with all your information. It has the package you chose, the price and any documents you and your fiancé will need to sign. The photo packages are not a separate item. They are included in whichever package you buy. You can talk to the photographer when on board and he/she can show you different options with the prices. You can also go into the Princess Dream wedding planner and click the Wedding Options tab at the top of the page. This gives all the diff wedding packages, the cost and what they include. What ship are you on. We were on Caribbean Princess and our on board wedding Coordinator-Valeria- was absolutely amazing. Are you doing a shore side, at sea,- legal or non legal,- wedding?. We did a legal at sea wedding which was in international waters. Since the ship is registered in Bermuda we had to provide the Bermuda courts with certain documents per their laws. Make sure you upload what they need as soon as possible. The more info you provide early on, the easier it will be when it's time for the final head count, food choices, etc. Another bit of info ill pass along. If you or your fiance' plan on changing you name after the wedding, you may want to get an extra copy or 2 of your marriage certificate. Make sure to tell your representative at ROE and have them send you the form before the wedding to sign with payment. Some government agencies won't take a photocopy, they want a certified copy with the raised seal from the issuing government. The number I had for ROE is 1-855-434-3550. I called and actually got a real person who was able to help me with an issue I was having after the wedding. Good luck!!

Each one offers their own photo packages which vary depending on what type of wedding package you purchase. You'll need to see what's included up front, and once on board you may be able to purchase all of the digital prints for an additional price. ( We sailed on Princess and had several hundred prints to choose from.) Pricing varies, ranging from a few hundred dollars up to $1100 or more. It can be a little frustrating at times dealing with ROE. It can take up to 24 to 48 hours to hear back from them so be patient. They are located in Canada and if I remember are only available Mon-Thursday. We went with Princess and there was an online planner where we could also send Instant Messages to our planner. We seemed to have good luck using that. Other than that, best advice I can give is keep copies of every correspondence/email, be as specific as possible when asking questions, and remember, ROE is not part of the cruise line. They are a 3rd party vendor, (Think of them like Expedia when you buy airline tickets) They go by a set of guidelines they're given by the cruise line. Any changes you want to make ROE has to email the cruise line as ask. Hope this helps.

Hi all, We usually use a 'travel site' to book our cruises. We have a dedicated representative who takes care of everything for us so I never thought to ask whether we were getting the balcony discounts or not. She has our C&A info so I assumed any/all discounts were applied when she spoke with a RC rep at time of booking. (I know, shame on me for assuming.) Would we be better off booking through RC directly then moving the reservation over after we're booked? Tia