6/27 Pacific Princess (Asia)

Geez, After years contributing a lot to these boards (mostly on the Europe Board) I am very disappointed! Where are you folks. The subject cruise is a sell-out, but we have only seen one lone couple on these boards who will be on our cruise. WAKE UP fellow cruisers.

Hank

I am having the same problem with my Pacific Princess July 25 cruise.. (except my cruise has lots of availability) I believe I did see i poster on your cruise - HelenB ?? Anyway- have a wonderful cruise - and take good care of the ship for us!!

OOPS! Just went to look and see that HelenB is on a different sailing...Oh well..

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[This message was edited by GottoCruise on 05-30-04 at 03:00 PM.]

We will try to keep the ship spic and span for your cruise. Of course I cannot promise there will be any booze or food left!

Hank

Hank I will be getting off the ship as you are getting on! We leave in less than a week and I can't wait!

Gottocruise I finally found someone on my sailing. They made their first post (ever) asking about Bangkok hotels and hasn't responded since!

My cruise mysteriously sold out about 6 weeks in advance. Overnight about 100 cabins were gone. It's very strange and I never found any explanation. I'm waiting to see if there is some big convention or some such on the ship that bought everything out.

Hi Helen -

Our July 25 sailing is still pretty empty....interesting to see what Princess will do about it?? maybe another rate drop at about the 6-week mark?? (Penalty phase goes up)

On your sailing, if rates dropped seriously (again) maybe a "group" picked up on your sailing?? StarsJohn posted the same thing happened on their May 17 Pacific Princess sailing - a large amount of cabins disappeared overnight??? He also thought a group booked?? It will be interesting to hear his comments when he returns. Rates dropped drastically but Princess wouldn't adjust his booking - they told him "for new bookings only" - He was booked in a Cat. AA.

I guess we'll never really know how Princess does their "rate thing" - I can't figure it out. Reps tell me they haven't started "upgrading" on my sailing - so I'm still in limbo with my Cat. BB balcony - hoping for a Mini....at last minute, I just might pay to upgrade myself back to the Mini - I can do this the day before we leave I'm told. (I'm very happy with my rate of $2396 Cat. BB Balcony for this 24 day cruise!!! It will be hard to rationalize paying more $$)

Rates since the last "downgrade" - have gone up a bit - I was lucky to have just "caught" the "special" rate, it didn't last long... I can't understand? there is so much availability?? I will keep a close watch - expecially around the 6-week mark.

I heard from the tourist agency in Osaka and have arranged a "goodwill guide" for our pre-cruise stay.

Waiting anxiously for the return of the May 17 sailing (my same itinerary in reverse)...I hope to gain some valuable information about our Ports and Shorex tips.

We too have "found" only 1 other passenger on our sailing. There have been a few others that posted intentions to book - but have not posted since. They have mentioned getting e-mails from Princess with "special" prices - but have not answered my inguiry???

Are you all ready to go??? You have such a wonderful itinerary - I'm excited for you - I know you will have a great cruise! Regards, Renee

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[This message was edited by GottoCruise on 06-01-04 at 01:49 PM.]

Hey Renee, I have been dying to tell you my news but the boards only just came back up now!

We are ready to leave. Our flight departs on Monday. This morning my TA calls. Apparently Princess wants us to switch our cruise. The June 11th sailing is OVERBOOKED (this means some group DEFINITELY bought everything left) and they are trying to encourage people to move to YOUR cruise! You won't believe this: they offered me $5,000 to take your cruise instead in a minisuite (we're booked into a BB). Basically this means that we get a longer cruise in a better room for FREE. $5,000 is more than we are both paying for our current cruise fare! We would have probably been able to do this with minimal impact on our airfare cost. They are obviously desperate for people to get off the June 11th sailing. I am dying to know why. I guess I will on June 11th!

Anyhow, the bad news is that we can't take the deal (much as it pains me) because (a) my parents are watching the kids while we are gone and we were pushing it to have them for 3 weeks. A month is too much. (b) I have a contract job in August that I can't cancel so I cannot be away in August. Neither of these issues can be overcome. I feel so sad! It's like I found a big diamond ring on the sidewalk and was too stiff to bend over and pick it up.

Anyhow, I confirmed directly with Princess and my TA and our cabin is still booked. I am SO glad we didn't book a guarantee! We're looking forward to leaving Monday!

Geez Helen. Nothing like Princess waiting till the last minute. I do hope you have a great cruise and take good care of that ship!

Hank

HelenB ----Oh-My-G-d!!! I can't believe this!!!-I'm SO sad you are not able to take advantage of the fantastic offer.

However - I know you will have a wonderful time on your cruise---your itinerary is much more interesting for first time cruising to that part of the world!

The little Pacific won't feel crowded I'm sure...I wonder what Princess would have done if you had booked a Guarantee??? - Hey, maybe when you get to the pier - you will find an upgrade ---That is what happened to us when cruising the Royal to Northern Europe 3 years ago...we also didn't take the "move over" offer (it wasn't near as good as yours), the Royal was so overbooked, and we were upgraded to a balcony cabin....what a surprise!

I'm SO curious to know who will switch over and cruise on July 25th. I'm sure there will be "takers".

If they put all those who "switch" in Minis - Boo Hoo - there goes any chance of MY upgrade!!!

Thanks for getting on the boards and telling me about this!!!

Bon Voyage ---have a WONDERFUL time..and thanks for keeping in touch - at least I had you to "chat" with--hardly anyone else - although there are now a few that are posting ---maybe they are "switchers???" I'll try to find out....

Please post when you return and tell us all about your cruise.... Renee (aka GotToCruise)

PS - At least we both got "good" rates. I would have felt really sad if I were still paying the rate I originally booked at (DOUBLE than now) and found out some were cruising in a Mini suite for Free...!! And you were able to take advantage of a rate drop too---so that was neat....

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Yes, sorry Renee but this probably means you will have to get to a minisuite on your own. I seriously doubt we will be upgraded either (hasn't happened yet!) but I'm just glad to be on the boat and taking a vacation! Our last cruise was two years ago and that was WAY too long!

Now the question is how many takers will they get for your cruise? Before all of the available rooms disappeared at the end of April pretty much it was only the BBs and some BCs and the AAs that were booked. Half of the ABs and ACs were there, plus 2 to 4 OS, and it looked like almost ALL of the insides and outsides and lower balconies were empty. So if they get people in lower cabins to switch they may be putting them in balconies on your ship and then you might get upgraded. You never know how the upgrade fairy works (at least I haven't figured it out).

I agree that since we have never been to this part of the world before our cruise has some better 'first-time' ports but I think yours definitely has more exotic ones! When will I ever get another change to visit Midway Island and the Marshall Islands?

We'll be back at the end of June and I'll try to post my cruise review ASAP so you can prepare for your cruise!

Thanks Helen...we'll be keeping our fingers croseed for you to get upgraded!! - Pacific Princess is doing (my) the same itinerary again May 29, 2005 - ending up in Beijing. If rates "bounce" around like this year - It might pay to keep and eye open on the rates, and keep suitcase packed, for a good last minuite opportunity.Once again - "Bon Yoyage" - Happy cruise!!! Renee

PS - No tourists allowed on Midway Island - the only way to get there is on a Princess Ship....I'm a "country"counter" - so this cruise I get to add Midway to my country count.

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I don't know if we're that lone couple or not! We are leaving on June 24 and staying two nights in Bangkok and I just arranged a private tour on the Beijing side. Can't wait.

My wife, Janet and I (scott) are going as well as my wife's parents. We're going to celebrate my wife's end of residency - 12 years of training over!

Hope to see you on the ship.

<font size="2" color="#0000FF">

Pacific Princess (6/27/04, 16 nt Bangkok - Beijing)

Celebrity Millenium (8/1/03, 13 nt Mediterranean)

Celebrity Galaxy (12/13/02, W. Carib)

Splendour of the Seas (9/8/02, W. Med)

Dawn Princess (1/26/02, So. Carib)

Voyager of the Seas (7/22/01, W. Carib)</font>

Yep (swill), you are indeed the lone couple. I was thinking we are the only two couples on the ship, but apparently the cruise is sold-out! Have a nice flight over to Bangkok....this is the part I hate since its about 25 hours of travel from the east coast.

Hank

Roger that - our total enroute time is at 28 hrs, flying time of 22.5 hours. We're going ATL-SFO-NRT-BKK on United. Meeting her parents in NRT as they are coming from Nashville via Chicago.

We booked a tour in Beijing where they meet us at the port of Xingang thru chinahighlights.com Hopefull it will work out.

And just got a confirmation email from our hotel in Bangkok (Holiday Inn) that they can provide a Van for us to Laem Chabang for about 4000 baht. I think we have all arrangements finalized.

Yeah, it's sold out all right. Wonder where all the people are?

Everyone at works thinks I'm already on the ship - at least mentally.

<font size="2" color="#0000FF">

Pacific Princess (6/27/04, 16 nt Bangkok - Beijing)

Celebrity Millenium (8/1/03, 13 nt Mediterranean)

Celebrity Galaxy (12/13/02, W. Carib)

Splendour of the Seas (9/8/02, W. Med)

Dawn Princess (1/26/02, So. Carib)

Voyager of the Seas (7/22/01, W. Carib)</font>

Your plans sound great! We decided to do a post cruise Princess tour (not normally our style) for 8 days in China. We are flying in on the 23rd/24th via United MDT/ORD/BKK and spending 3 nights at the Shangra-La..which we love because of its location. On our previous Asian cruises there have lots of folks from the UK and we are hoping that is the case for this trip. We have had fabulous experiences cruising with "Brits" and made some lifelong friends.

See you on-board and have a safe trip.

Hank

Hey Guys don't feel alone, I'm going on the 12 Nights-Imperial Treasures of China cruise aboard the ms Century Star, Viking River Cruises. So far I haven't found a single soul going on the cruise and it 's a sell-out. Anyone going let me know.

Viking River Cruise Century Star

Hlitner - Hi Hank - Anything new on your June 27 cruise?? I'm busy trying to decide what clothes to pack already for my July 25....Getting excited as the time gets closer -- Princess has been putting out Flash Promotions on my cruise in order to fill the ship (I guess) Still only 2 couples have posted on "our" cruise.

We are originally from Easton, Penna. - Renee (aka GotToCruise)

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Hi Renee,

Nothing new other than we have to get ourselves into pre-trip mode since we leave next in 9 days. I never did see any good last min deals on our cruise, and it appears to be sold-out. Late bookings would be impossible since everyone needs a Chinese visa. We are taking an 8 day post cruise tour in China so will be away for 28 days. We are thinking about packing for a 14 day trip since we will probably do our laundry on the ship. We are looking forward to the trip, but dreading the long flights.

Hank

Hi guys! I'm posting from the Pacific Princess right now!

Gee I love this free internet access (this is my first Platinum Status cruise)! However the access itself is bad. Yesterday (Shanghai) is really the first time it was fast enough to be useable.

Anyhow, some quick info: there is no big group/convention on this cruise. Apparently at the end of April Princess ran some huge Flash promotion for 24 hours and it was such a good deal that their agents were able to sell out the rest of the ship. Then on the previous cruise (the reverse of yours Renee) many people wanted to stay on so they got a lot of onboard bookings. THAT is why they tried to get me off: they wanted to keep some passengers onboard.

The pier in Osaka was slightly difficult to find. Not because we didn't know where it was but because when we got there it didn't look like a REAL port. It was small and not the usual kind of cruise terminal. However it IS at the Tempozan Harbor Village. It is in the building to the RIGHT of the Ferris Wheel (if you are facing the water). If you are coming from the airport you can just pay 1,300 Yen and take the airport limosine bus directly there. From the Hyatt it is a 3 stop subway ride to Osakako station (although you have to transfer trains... long story) and a 3 block walk.

We missed Hiroshima because there was a typhoon that delayed our departure from Osaka. Shanghai was a fun approach: there is a 2 hour stretch that is FULL of boat traffic and the PP is like a giant whale moving among fast schools of fish. You'll have to see it. Oh and the Chinese government gave everyone a SARS check (consisting of taking your temperature with an ear thermometer) before they would clear the boat from quarrantine.

Some quick items about the boat: there is a really nice pizza/foccacia restaurant open next to the pool from 5:30 pm to 12:30 am. It's worth trying. We did Sterlings last night and the food was good but the desserts were awful. Sabbatini's is too expensive for what you get (plus we've been before) so we're not going to do it. Smoke is pretty rare unless you are in the Casino. That's the only place where I have been chased out because of it. Soda stickers are $32.50 (without cup) which is basically $2 per day and COMPLETELY worth it. The waiters and bartenders are always jumping to bring us more soda and asking us if we want more.

There is one theme night (tropical) which I think is an excuse to sell all of the Hawaiian shirts in the gift shop. Beat the system and bring your own!

Tours are going to be offered in Bangkok (the day of disembarcation) but they haven't released the details yet. There are very few shuttles into the ports and it seems that Princess is reluctant to offer them. When they do offer them the charge is $4 per person each way. So if you are not on a tour you may be taking a lot of taxis unless there is public transportation at the pier (such as in Hiroshima or Singapore). So you may find it almost impossible to get into cities that are away from the pier (such as Taipei and Ho Chih Minh City).

If anyone has any other questions about the PP or the ports I will try to check this board again in a few days.

P.S. Hank you do not NEED a Chinese visa. We do not have them because the cost was outrageous for 6 hours ashore. Plus they cancelled the one tour we were interested in (Suzhou). So we just did not disembark. They did have a 'blacklist' at the gangway and we were on it, but they were not checking it as people departed. However I suspect they did check it against the card reader during the day. The Chinese officials seemed very strict about the immigration/customs procedures! You do NOT need the visa for Hong Kong, JUST Shanghai.

P.P.S. Reneee no upgrade for us! We're still in our BB, but it is great so we have no complaints.

[This message was edited by helenb on 06-14-04 at 05:35 PM.]

Hi ya Helen,

You must just promise to save food and booze for our cruise (smile). Its great to hear from you, and I will try to repay the service when our cruise (we are also Platinum). We do need a Chinese visa on our cruise because we disembark at Beijing and will be spending 8 days in China. We appreciate your tip about the port shuttles and we will work it into our planning. We are not leaving home for another 8 days, so please keep us up-to-date on your cruise. Let us know if there are any "must eats" or "must avoids" in the dining room!

Hank

Hank,

a mugshot for you in case you see us running around the ship! (taken last year on board Millennium off the coast of Athens/Piraeus, Greece).

helenb,

Thanks for the great updates! How about souffle's every night in the dining room?! (need to start exercising now) Who's the CD, is he/she good? How's the entertainment (not like we booked the cruise for this purpose but just curious about the smaller ships)? Can't wait til we depart ATL next Thursday morning!!

Take care,

Scott

<font size="2" color="#0000FF">

Pacific Princess (6/27/04, 16 nt Bangkok - Beijing)

Celebrity Millenium (8/1/03, 13 nt Mediterranean)

Celebrity Galaxy (12/13/02, W. Carib)

Splendour of the Seas (9/8/02, W. Med)

Dawn Princess (1/26/02, So. Carib)

Voyager of the Seas (7/22/01, W. Carib)</font>

Scott, You two certainly make a good looking couple and will be hard to miss among us "old folks." You will not find us "running around the ship" but normally in a deck chair with a good book and exercising are arms doing push-ups with drinking glasses (smile). HelenB, now that Scott has raised the question about entertainment, we are hoping there is a really good piano bar player/singer. Whats the good word?

Hank

Hlitner & Swill - I second the "good looking couple" and Hlitner's sentiments about "exercise" (at the beginning of the cruise - I'm at aerobics each morning - that "gets tired" quickly and then I'm back to "sleeping in" - and "oops - I missed the aerobics class" - no chance later in the day - - it would interfer with afternoon "naptime"

right after "teatime" (Never miss those cookies...) You're getting so close - I'm excited for you -

HelenB - THANK YOU so much for checking in....yes I'm going through the "Flash Promotions" rate "thing" right now. I guess Princess is trying to fill the ship- it's annoying because rates continue to drop, but Princess will not honor "Flash Promotion" rates except to "New Bookings" I was tempted to cancel and re-book - with my Gold Insurance there would have been only $60pp penalty (42 days prior) - Bottem line would have been less - but I didn't have the heart to make my poor TA do all the necessary paperwork - she has been so good re-booking and dropping rates up to now. The big advantage was that I was going to switch BACK to a Cat. AC Mini suite - the $$ difference was not that much with the promotion sale - but we decided to leave the booking at Cat. BB. - RU comfortable in the Cat. BB? I think I will miss the refrigerator and the bigger bathroom the most. I doubt that I will be upgraded either, the Minis-suites have been disappering (I keep checking) and this eve. aother Cat. OS has been taken. There is still good availabilty in Cat. AA - and only 2 Cat. OS left - but we've a month or so before sailing - and I think all will be taken at the lowered rates.

I never have had to check and check rates again, as I've done with this cruise - I'm very annoyed at the "games" Princess seems to be playing to fill this cruise.. Seems like Princess will put a last minute passenger, at a "bargain basement" rate into a specific category - rather than upgrade -

I have not "let go" of the "Flash Promotion" inequality - I have mailed off a letter to Customer Relations. (Probably will just get another "form" letter - we'll see - I'll let you know...)

STARJOHN - has posted from the May 17 cruise (reverse itinerary of mine & just prior to yours) - he did not recommend the Princess tours but suggested we take taxis etc. in Ports - He had an awful time on the way home, after his Post-cruise Japan Airlines would not accept his(Princess) air tickets and he had to pay $4,000 to get home - His agent is trying to straighten this out with Princess. What a mess! - I never heard of such an experience ! -

Enough about rates & problems - how about the ship's service, entertainment??? etc. - I'm so anxious to hear - Is the library well stocked? we have a LOT of sea days - and I'd rather not bring reading from home. Thanks for the information about the alternative dinning venues - we are pretty simple diners, and rarely venture into the alternative dining rooms. If I remember from the Tahitian - if you were not in any of the dining rooms, Pizza was the only alternative....not such good news for us trying to stay away from carbs - we wished for at a salad (at the least) with the Pizza...but I'm sure food won't be an issue - it's not the end all for us.

The Ports on our cruise are so rarely visited, I haven't been able to do much pre-planning....I will have to rely on the lectures aboard.

I am very interested and would appreciate if you would tell about your experience in Osaka - We are also at the Hyatt - We plan to take the Limo/Bus from the airport to the Hyatt - did you do this? and if so, was this easily accomplished? Embarkation transfer from the Hyatt to Tempozan Harbor we thought we would p have to take a Taxi with the luggage. Will the taxi cost be too prohibitive ?? How did you negociate your luggage on the subway and 3 block "walk"???

I have arranged for the JTB "Goodwill Guide" program for 2 days in Osaka - so far I have heard from our "assigned" guides - but have not finalized specific sightseeing plans yet. We are still e-mailing back and forth. They have assigned a female guide for Sat. and a male guide for Sunday. (After embarkation - we plan to disembark this ship after lunch and meet the guide to see the Tenjin Festival in Osaka).Hope you are able to read all of this and get back to us ---if not - pleaee post when you return home. I will search the boards anxiously for your comments. Thank you again Helen...Regards, Renee (aka GotToCruie)

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Thanks for the compliments...

Hank - Have you or will you be doing any ship tours? Right now we have planned:

- A Visit to Pekan (Kuantan)

- Nha Trang and Ponagar

- Best of Shanghai

- Pomosa Temple & Cultural Show (Pusan)

My wife, Janet, thinks we can do Singapore, Hong Kong and Nagasaki on our own. Unforunately my good friend in Singapore will be out of his country on a work assigment - geesh, we come all that way by air and boat and not even there.

Helenb, not sure of the ports on your cruise... if you stop at any of ours and have any good advice, please fill us in! We stop at Bangkok, Kuantan, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Nagasaki, Pusan, and Bejing. Hope you're having a great time.

- Scott

<font size="2" color="#0000FF">

Pacific Princess (6/27/04, 16 nt Bangkok - Beijing)

Celebrity Millenium (8/1/03, 13 nt Mediterranean)

Celebrity Galaxy (12/13/02, W. Carib)

Splendour of the Seas (9/8/02, W. Med)

Dawn Princess (1/26/02, So. Carib)

Voyager of the Seas (7/22/01, W. Carib)</font>

My wife and I have a long-standing dislike of organized tours,,, but this trip is going to be an exception. We will be doing the 8 day China tour after the cruise since its nearly impossible to travel in China on your own. As to the cruise, we have been to Asia on a previous cruise, and many years ago I lived in Japan for a couple of years. Hence, we do feel pretty comfortable doing "our own thing" in most of Asia. In Phy My we will take the ships' transportation to Saigon,, but will go off on our own once we get to the Hotel Rex (we have been here on a previous cruise and I spent a year in Viet Nam during the war. In Nha Trang I think we will just spend a day on the beach and browse some of the shops along the beach front. In Kuantan we, if the weather is good, we plan to take a taxi to the Hyatt Regency and spend the day on the beach and at their pool (this is available for about $8 per person). We have previously been to Hong Kong and Singapore and will just go on our own in both places. Shanghai is new for us, but we are planning to just walk from the pier to the "bund" area, do some shopping, and find a nice place for lunch. In Pusan, part of me doesnt even want to get off the ship. Its a pretty short port stop.. and we have no plans at this time. I suspect we will just explore the city on our own,,,although a tour is possible. Our thinking on Nagasaki is to just explore on our own. As to Bangkok,, this is one of our favorite cities and we are really looking forward to a couple of relaxing days. The last time we were in Bangkok, there was a royal funeral at the palace and the grounds were closed to the public so this trip we will try visit those grounds. There is a large market (with thousands of stalls) that operates in Bangkok on weekends (its out towards the airport). We are thinking of taking the Skytrain out to that market on Saturday and just soaking up the atmosphere and doing some shopping. I know we sound boring,, but we tend to relax, dine, drink, and shop (hopefully the window kind) as opposed to running to tons of tourist attractions. In fact, we are really excited about 7 days at sea!

Hank

Hank,

I hear you on the organized tour thing... nothing like sitting on a loaded hot bus waiting to be taken to the next pre-arranged store (like the infamous cameo factory in Naples). Last year we pretty much did Europe on our own. We both love on our own approaches.

This cruise, however, my in-laws will be with us. They are of the school of thought that if its not with the cruise tour then we'll miss the ship. They like the sense safety and security such a tour offers.

My co-worker is dating a gal from Bangkok (studying here in the USA) and we hope to have dinner with them before we leave to get the scoop on the best places and eats in Bangkok. I wish we had more time there already and we haven't even left yet. She already mentioned the floating market and maybe a dinner cruise. Wonder if the SkyTrain is the best way to get around now - seems like anything would help that city.

One week for you and 8 days for us... counting them down slowly...

- Scott

<font size="2" color="#0000FF">

Pacific Princess (6/27/04, 16 nt Bangkok - Beijing)

Celebrity Millenium (8/1/03, 13 nt Mediterranean)

Celebrity Galaxy (12/13/02, W. Carib)

Splendour of the Seas (9/8/02, W. Med)

Dawn Princess (1/26/02, So. Carib)

Voyager of the Seas (7/22/01, W. Carib)</font>