MTdreaming

Thanks to you both.. I just think it would be so fun to watch.. we did this in Roatan in the past and really enjoyed it. and Yeah the Pictures...$$$ but in some ways priceless :-)

Would you recommend Uber? A private shuttle? Other? We are 4 adults going on a ten day cruise, will arrive around 2:30pm the day before the cruise we will be staying at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro and were wondering if we need a special van or extra large car to handle us and our luggage, which will be 4 medium/large suitcases and 4 carryons. Thanks for any help on this.

our adult children are doing the swim with the dolphins at the cabo dolphin center.. is it possible for us to tag along and watch? i know no photography is allowed, and it is walking from the tender. In PV there is an excursion for those who don't want to swim with the dolphins but just watch.. I am assuming that is due to distance from the port etc. here that option isn't available. Any experience with this?

Thanks for your wonderful review..the pictures and commentary were a treat. I enjoyed reading, and looked forward to the next installment.. also went and found your other reviews. I will probably read through them again when I am wanting to escape on a cruise while at home! Appreciate all the time you spent on this.

I am wondering if the crew has a library, and if so if the "left behind" books end up with them.

My husband gets very seasick on ferries, sailboats, fishing charters etc.. but hasn't had one minute of problem on any of our cruises. I take ginger capsules and also some candied ginger to chew on.. take it the first day or two and no need the rest of the cruise. I do have motion issues upon returning, where I feel I am very much at sea.. usually for several weeks. But it is worth it :-)

Thanks for everyone's input... it sounds all very doable.. this trip is just 14 days but we hope to do a transatlantic next year and stay in Europe for a month or so.. that will require a little more planning. i did login and request the distilled water, got a return email asking that I confirm that distilled water was for a CPAP as that is the only allowed use. I did reply and they then confirmed that it will be available. This process was a bit more straight forward on RCL, but I still prefer Princess :-)

Thanks everyone. I suppose I just. feel a little silly for be so naive. To those of you who seem to think I'm just a winger -sorry to have bothered you. To everyone else- your suggestions have been greatly appreciated.

I called Princess UK today and was connected to a very nice young lady who told me they'd had lots of calls about this. She then went on to 're-book us into the same cabin at £750 less than we had originally paid !

That is excellent customer service. Still can't quite believe it !

 

I am glad this worked out for you. It is frustrating to feel like you significantly overpaid and as you are fairly new at this it makes it even more so. We had it happen once as well... we didn't get a rebook, but did get moved from a balcony to a mini-suite and so were thankful for that. Enjoy your trip (and your savings!)

Again thanks all for the words of advice.. I will definitely take a small insulated bag in case I have to go the ice route... I will keep a close eye on the temperature in the fridge.. maybe fill a ziplock with some ice to help it along.

The Cruise Personalizer has been tweaked a bit since that thread from three months ago:

 

• Log into your Cruise Personalizer
  
• Click 'Onboard Preferences' (under 'Guest Check In')
  
• Under your husband's name click 'Medical, Accessiblilty and Dietary Requests'
  
• Scroll down to 'Dietary Restrictions' and tick the last box 'Distilled Water for CPAP Machine'
  

 

And as for the medication that needs refrigeration, you are aware that the 'refrigerator' in your cabin is just a cooler box that chilled air from the air conditioning system circulates through. It will not be nearly as cold as your home refrigerator; if you meds absolutely require being held at no warmer than 35-40F you should make further inquiries.

 

That was a great and detailed response... I appreciate it, it worked for the distilled water! I will double check the actual temp for the refrigerator medications and go from there. really appreciate it.

We will be traveling in April. My husband uses a cpap machine.. and will need distilled water. I use a Forteo injector that needs to stay refrigerated. I assume my issue is easy, as I will just use the room refrigerator. However for my husband how do we request the distilled water? On RCL they have a form for this and it is in your room. On Princess all I see is the medical waiver form, which would require them contacting the doctor etc.. surely all of that isn't necessary? What have people done in this circumstance.. can you just request it from your steward? do you bring in on board yourself? Thanks for any feedback/advice on this.

We recently purchased some CCL stock.. our brokerage acct is online statement only...so help! Do we just print off the online statement and then fax that along with the form? Thanks for any advice.

If your doctor does this, she's an idiot who deserves to have her license revoked!

 

Seriously, this is the STUPIDEST thing you can do. SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY STUPID.

 

Go to any hospital and ask any nurse.... every single one will tell you how stupid your idea is.

 

(Note that I'm not saying YOU are stupid... just that this particular idea (a "just in case" prescription and a "precautionary" prescription) is COMPLETELY, insanely stupid.)

 

My husband has several medical conditions..if you get sick while traveling you can't always get antibiotics compatible with your other medicines...I am allergic to most antibiotics and likewise would not always be able to get an antibiotic. We don't take them unless absolutely necessary but on trips of more than 10 days or so find it to be a wise precaution.. and so have our doctors. We very seldom have had to use them.. actually each of us only once in our many years of travel.. but it could have been very bad if we did not have medicines we need. I think wise and cautious physicians can be trusted in this matter.

I have pretty severe back issues and still don't like spinners. I think the pushing along is an awkward angle for shoulders and elbows. Make sure you try yours out before you purchase.. and also as many have mentioned they work fine on very smooth flat surfaces, but are a pain on carpet, cobbles and slanted surfaces. I also really really dislike that all I have seen (there might be exceptions to this) open in the middle so they fold open from the center. I find this harder to pack and close up and it also takes up a lot more room in hotels.. won't work on luggage racks etc.. I like to slide our luggage under our beds on a cruise and then just pull one out slightly and put in the dirty clothes - can't do this with a center opening suitcase.. for some this isn't a big deal for me it is a constant irritant. I find pulling a two wheeled suitcase through a crowded airport much easier for maneuvering.. the side deal takes up a lot more width.

We are thinking of doing a day pass at CostaBaja Resort which looks like it's on the way from the ship terminal to town. Has anyone had any experience with asking the driver to let you off or will we need to take a taxi?

 

Do they offer day passes? and if so might I ask how much? We haven't found an excursion for this stop and were thinking a resort or beach stop would be nice. Thanks.

About this eco (and animal) friendly tour in Puerto Vallarta: http://www.wildlifeconnection.com/dolphins-tour/

 

thanks for that link.. that looks great.. they don't have an online contact, but I could call. Just wondering if this works with cruise stop timing.

I personally prefer Princess, think the food is slightly better, love the International Cafe, much better than RCL's similar option, however for you with your wish list I think RCL would work best. We tend to do Princess if by ourselves but when are young adult children join us we do RCL.. they love the rock climbing wall, absolutely adore the flowrider, the mini golf is good, it is just much more active. If you do pick princess I would suggest a very Port Intensive cruise without a lot of sea days. We did find the entertainment on RCL to be better as well - the ice show is not to be missed, however Princess has hired a new person to rework their entertainment shows so it is in a state of flux, that might depend when you are actually planning on your next cruise. Hope you find an itinerary that works for you, just go with a good attitude and lowered expectations and you will be pleasantly surprised and have great memories as a family.

We also enjoy walking the promenade decks..I hate Royal Caribbean's indoor mall idea...I can do that in Las Vegas, I want outdoor space, and not just a loud and windy top sport deck. We haven't sailed on the new Princess ships for this very reason. We are sailing on the Ruby in April. I like Princess but this transition by several lines to indoor versus outdoor space is not an improvement. I don't enjoy the onboard shopping... I want to feel like I am on a ship, in the ocean, with fresh air.

Princess didn't single you out when it applied the rules for FCD's to your situation. Everyone here is aware of how they work.

 

Frankly, Princess has some of the best perks afloat for returning passengers.

 

I don't feel like we were singled out necessarily.. just that so many had said we could probably get the second one we each had extended.. and we could not. i would admit that we didn't really remember or understand all the ramifications. Live and learn.

That didn't help.. apparently you can only use one FCD toward one cruise, so we could each use just one of ours not both..regardless of number of rooms in the booking. We might have mis-understood originally.. but it is annoying.

Well we did book a cruise today, two staterooms. My husband and I each had two FCD credits - so $200 each. We couldn't use part of them on the other stateroom so we had to apply them all to our room (they expire tomorrow). Because we did that, we only got the OBC credit for one each...Princess wasn't willing to extend the deposit credit or work out applying them to our adult kids room we booked at the same time. This might all be just us not understanding how this whole thing worked to begin with.. but I won't be buying more than one each at any time in the future.. I don't cruise exclusively with Princess, and this isn't making me any more inclined to change that.

ah.. yes you are right. I didn't scroll down through all the packages to see that there is a special rate for this deal.. it is an extra $60 a night, but for the parking it is well worth it. We are actually flying into LGB and looking at means of transportation to the San Pedro Port for 4 of us... so isn't what we were in need of.

We have stayed at the Holiday Inn Long Beach airport. Free shuttle to and from hotel. Last time was a 15 day cruise to Hawaii.

 

I looked at their site and it states the limit for the shuttle service is 3 miles and the port is 13 miles away.

I booked Avis through Costco.. they have a downtown Long beach office.. we wanted to pick up and drop at John Wayne..it was much cheaper than enterprise Now getting to their office.. still haven't worked that out. will call them and see what they recommend. will update later

You will get OBC (from $25-$150) depending on cabin type and length of cruise.

All OBC on Princess is stackable.

When you book (TA, online w/Princess or phone), you can apply the FCD. Very easy to do.

 

thanks for that quick and timely response...can OBC be used toward gratuities on Princess? I promise no more questions