Saint Greg's Regal Princess - Live - November 12, 2023

[TravelGirlinDallas]

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

 

That one is coming up $89 for a 4-day, $111 for a 5-day, and $155 for 7-day now.

Dang. I reserved our parking back in April, so I guess the increase is more recent. I'm a little surprised the new tariff applies to the official port parking. Usually the city is trying to punish the independent places in favor of the port parking, like a few years ago when they started charging them every time an independent shuttle entered the port area, but of course didn't charge for the port shuttles. 

[Saint Greg]

6 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Dang. I reserved our parking back in April, so I guess the increase is more recent. I'm a little surprised the new tariff applies to the official port parking. Usually the city is trying to punish the independent places in favor of the port parking, like a few years ago when they started charging them every time an independent shuttle entered the port area, but of course didn't charge for the port shuttles. 

I noticed one lot had a breakdown of all of the fees. It was 70 to park but 97.50 after all of the fees. It included state and local taxes, the tariff, port access, and a service fee

[atakkat]

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

I'm going through and updating my Galveston parking prices as I look for where I'm going to park. This is the first time I've done this since the last time I cruised out of Galveston which was two years ago.

 

There are significant price increases. I'm thinking part of it might be a new local tax. I'm noticing a lot of the websites referencing a city tariff that seems to be about 10% on top of the state local taxes which are also 10%.

 

It used to be you could park uncovered for around $50-75 for the week. Covered would be $100 or so. Now it seems uncovered starts around 100 and covered can go up as high as 180.

Yes sadly I found that out last nice after making my reservations for January. Ridiculous. I even used a discount code.

[zencruisers]

Looking forward to following along.

[Saint Greg]

21 minutes ago, atakkat said:

Yes sadly I found that out last nice after making my reservations for January. Ridiculous. I even used a discount code.

And lighthouse, which is up $25 since the last time I used them, charges an additional $35 for Princess cruisers. I’m wondering if they’re trying to keep that parking for carnival since Princess is seasonal.

 

[FTLCruiseGal]

Just a heads up, Carnival Hub app will notify you when something you have scheduled is coming up; the Princess app does not.  We missed a few things because of this.  It may have been a setting somewhere that we did not know about, but I did have my phone settings set to send me notifications from Princess,app.

[nwcruiselover]

Following along.  Good to see you over here on Princes.  My first Princess cruise will be 33 days in April 2024.  Looking forward to your take on Princess.

[cajun-crazy]

6 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I just went through the planner and book marked all of the things I might be interested in. I have to say it feels like they have a lot going on. 

And don’t forget football games, unlike NCL who did not show any during the New Years and National Championship!

[Saint Greg]

1 minute ago, cajun-crazy said:

And don’t forget football games, unlike NCL who did not show any during the New Years and National Championship!

I didn’t see any mention of games in the planner. On one of the video tours I watched they did have football on in one of the lounges. That was NFC/AFC championship Sunday.
 

I was told NCL does have some games. But I heard it’s one game per time slot. They only have that sport 24 channel that I had on my transatlantic. They mostly show soccer, tennis, rugby. They didn’t have any college football on when I was on the Jewel. NCL is mostly out for me during football season. 
 

I have worked this trip where it isn’t a big deal to me what they show. We’ll be in port during the saints game so I will be able to stream it. The Sunday night, Monday night and Thursday night games will all be AFC games so no big deal to me.

[beshears]

Since there will be 8 of us, that is good to read that it probably will be possible for us to get a later seating. I know there are pros/cons on the times for eating, but for us, we like to get back from port, shower, rest, etc. and then go to eat. Yes we might miss a show or two, but I think there is PLENTY things going on (as was mentioned, I will be marking everything I would like to see or attend, and I may not be able to, but I'll see what I can do. 🙂 ) to keep us busy. Actually there were 5 of us discussing where we were going to stay, as well as booking our flights. We know for the most part, the longer we wait, more than likely the flight rates will go up.

[Von & John]

Thanks Greg for a new Live...

Diving in head first - it appears the review is already up to 4 pages & I am excited to be the 80th follower.

Time to actually read the first 4 pages now - I'm guessing the Party has already started w/out me 😎

Cheers  --  Von

Edited November 8, 2023 by Von & John

[Dreamscaper]

52 minutes ago, beshears said:

Since there will be 8 of us, that is good to read that it probably will be possible for us to get a later seating. I know there are pros/cons on the times for eating, but for us, we like to get back from port, shower, rest, etc. and then go to eat. Yes we might miss a show or two, but I think there is PLENTY things going on (as was mentioned, I will be marking everything I would like to see or attend, and I may not be able to, but I'll see what I can do. 🙂 ) to keep us busy. Actually there were 5 of us discussing where we were going to stay, as well as booking our flights. We know for the most part, the longer we wait, more than likely the flight rates will go up.

With eight people you might want to book earlier in the cruise than later - or go talk to the dining room manager on your first day if there appears to be an issue, I'm sure they could accommodate if you don't leave it too long :)

[Von & John]

I just looked - Our last Princess cruise was on the Regal

Wow all the way back to Thanksgiving 2014 & we were in a Balcony Room (A-617).

We had a great time on the cruise/ship!

Cheers from Talkeetna

[Mary Ann 2]

Has anyone looked at the Medallion app to see when the first formal night might be? We don't sail until December, but I thought for sure the second sea day would be formal night and my app is showing the Champagne Waterfall the first day on Monday night?  I need to rearrange some things if it is on Monday and would rather do it now than on the ship. Thanks for any help!

[Saint Greg]

9 minutes ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

Has anyone looked at the Medallion app to see when the first formal night might be? We don't sail until December, but I thought for sure the second sea day would be formal night and my app is showing the Champagne Waterfall the first day on Monday night?  I need to rearrange some things if it is on Monday and would rather do it now than on the ship. Thanks for any help!

 

[Saint Greg]

This is from this week…that feels like a lot of time changes for this cruise. I feel like it’s close to the number I had on my transatlantic.

 

[Mary Ann 2]

4 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

This is from this week…that feels like a lot of time changes for this cruise. I feel like it’s close to the number I had on my transatlantic.

 

Thanks! We go to Roatan first which is different than we have previously done on Princess out of Galveston. And they are not calling Friday night a formal night. In over 30 cruises, I don't think I've seen a 7 day cruise without 2 formal nights! It hardly makes it worth it for hubby to bring a suit or tux for only one formal night.... I'm gonna have to think about this.

[Saint Greg]

I got my mail hold submitted online. I'm going to try to get over to the post office this week to fill out the card as well. 

 

My boss' daughter was sick over the weekend and he was out sick yesterday. I'm hoping he just stays out all week because I don't want to get sick. If he comes in, I'm closing my door for the day.

 

I have been chewing an immune+ gummy every day for a couple weeks now and will through the cruise.

[Saint Greg]

17 hours ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Dang. I reserved our parking back in April, so I guess the increase is more recent. I'm a little surprised the new tariff applies to the official port parking. Usually the city is trying to punish the independent places in favor of the port parking, like a few years ago when they started charging them every time an independent shuttle entered the port area, but of course didn't charge for the port shuttles. 

Here are the prices I updated yesterday Galveston Cruise Parking. With that I checked a few different Breeze cruises for my 4-5 prices. And for my 7 days I checked both my Princess for next week and my Jubilee for next year. 

 

My history with the parking is I did discount last time (2 years ago) for like $65. It's $98 now. Pre-covid I did Falstaff for $75 indoor. I know it was about $95 two years ago. Now it's $145. In 2018 I did Lighthouse covered for like $70. Now it's $95 uncovered and $125 covered. And for some messed up reason princess cruisers can only use uncovered and have to pay $130. 2017 I used EZ Park and walk. I think I paid about $50 for that. Now that would be $118 to park and walk. $138 to park and shuttle.

 

81st Dolphin is out of business now. It looks like Falstaff is in the process of changing their name to Patriot. They have a website for both with the same address and prices.

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Saint Greg

[Saint Greg]

Super important boarding info!

 

Your Princess^® vacation is only a few days away!

We've recently improved our OceanReady^® process. Green Lanemeans you've completed your travel checklist and had your Medallion^® wearable device delivered to your home. Blue Lanemeans you might have some required items left to complete in your travel checklist, or you'll be picking up your Medallion wearable device at the port. Please check the home screen of your Princess MedallionClass^® app for your lane assignment. 

As always, our Accessibility Lane will be available for guests with mobility limitations or other accessibility needs. This is a dedicated lane for streamlined support and will be marked by signage.

Now you no longer need to select an arrival group - Please refer to your OceanReady^® Pass on your mobile device to see what time check-in will open and close

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Saint Greg

[Saint Greg]

13 hours ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

I don't think I've seen a 7 day cruise without 2 formal nights! It hardly makes it worth it for hubby to bring a suit or tux for only one formal night.... I'm gonna have to think about this.

 

I feel kind of the same way. I'm not bringing a tux for only one formal night.

[Saint Greg]

Boss came in sick.

[rwest898]

29 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Boss came in sick.

Stay far away!

[Saint Greg]

3 minutes ago, rwest898 said:

Stay far away!

Yeah I just left for lunch. Ticks me off. 
 

[nwcruiselover]

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

Yeah I just left for lunch. Ticks me off. 
 

Maybe keep your door closed all day and wear a mask when you’re out of your office?