Melcoug

Tell him thank you from us.

Thank you so much, I will!

If you haven't already, make sure your DH gets his military OBC from Princess. One call to Princess and they'll let you know what they need for paperwork. Once he's in the system you won't have to do that for future cruises.

Yes, thank you, we've already taken care of this. Such a nice perk with Princess. I always appreciate companies who recognize military. It really does mean a lot. My hubby just got back home today after a month at sea and will be deploying later this year. Our upcoming cruise will be precious time to spend together!

Melcoug let me know if you figure out the wine thing! Lol. I wanted to get two bottles of champagne to take on board. One for each of us! Taking the transfers means we won't be able to stop! : (

 

 

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This would be a good business opportunity for an entrepreneurial individual! The best option I can come up with is buying a couple travel wine bags from Amazon and bringing my own bottles from home. I have a Wine Skin, but I think I'd like one of the ones with some absorbency to it (Wine Diaper or Jet Bag). Even then, I think I'd pack in a bag with all of our snorkel gear.

No need for all that walking. There is an underground shuttle train bteween all the terminals that also stops at the Marriott.

Thank you for letting me know! I've only ever connected in Houston. The rest of the airport is a mystery to me!

We are also staying at the Marriott to avoid the hassles involved with airport/hotel and hotel/airport. BTW, one of the two hotel choices in Houston is the Airport Marriott. I think it was about $89 PP, tax and transfers included.

Good to know! My husband is military, so I managed to get us a good military rate which helps make it much more economical for the 4 of us.

Now if I could just figure out where to buy a couple bottles of wine in the airport, we'd be all set!

Does anyone know where you meet the Princess agents in HOU? Would love to hear from someone who used the Princess transfers there? Anything you could share that would be helpful would be greatly appreciated!

 

 

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My instructions in Cruise Personalizer specifically say baggage claim in Terminal C.

I'm confused. OP talks about "meeting the rep in baggage claim" but states they are "arriving a day early". Why would you travel back to the airport to catch a shuttle to the cruise port?

 

What am I missing? Personalizer for our August trip shows pick up at airport to hotel, then a pick up at our hotel to be transferred to the port. We are arrive on Mon and sail on Wed. No times yet for us of course.

I understand your confusion. We did not book our flights or hotel with Princess. Just the transfers. We arrive in Houston at 10 pm and have two smallish children with us, therefore we have opted to stay at the Marriott hotel that is literally IN the airport (Orlando also has a hotel in the airport which is fabulous when you have a 6 am flight home). We can walk to the hotel after collecting our bags. In the morning, all we need to do is walk back to baggage claim and meet with the Princess agent who will be meeting arriving passengers. No cabs/hotel shuttles, no car seats, no hassle! Without kids I might opt for a different scenario, but this one works for us.

I have no idea how it works when you book everything with Princess or are leaving from a different port. As I said, this is my first time using cruise line transfers.

OMG I wished I had noticed the congee earlier on in my cruise! It was delicious! Thick and nice ginger flavor, not bland at all like how my mom used to make LOL.

I think I'm going to have to try the congee at breakfast now. Last cruise I got a little cup of grits each morning. I saw the congee but had no idea what it was. I love ginger!

I was on the Jan 11 cruise. We came 3 days early. We arrived at the airport at 9:15 and was on the first bus which left around 10 am for the port. They give you a card when you check in with the Princess. The earlier you show up the earlier you get on a bus.

Good to know, thanks so much!

Yes, we purchased the transfers already. I think this is the only cruise I've ever taken where it seems to make sense to buy them. When we sailed Disney last Fall, we were able to rent a car at MCO and drop it the next day in Port Canaveral for about a third the cost of Disney's transfers.

I think I can offer some input here! We did the same. Flew in from LAX the night before to IAH. We missed our first shuttle from the hotel to the airport which was 10am. So we caught the 11am one. Got to the airport in about 10 mins. The transfer people said they were already almost full with the first bus which holds about 50 ppl. So if you get to the airport around 10 you will be pretty much certain you will be on the first bus.

Thanks for the details regarding your experience, Whataboutport. That is helpful! We will shoot for 10 am if it's a fog free morning. :D

I noticed when inputing our flight info, it asked for the record locator number, so I didn't consider faking a flight. Plus I'm not sure I would be able to find a same day flight that arrived earlier than 11:30am. :confused:

We'll be using Princess transfers for the first time in order to travel from IAH to the Bayport cruise terminal as it appears to cost roughly the same amount and allows us to travel car seat free. Because we'll be coming from the West Coast, we are flying in a day early. When looking at the instructions for the transfers, it says to meet the agent in baggage claim at 11:30 am. :(

We like to get to the port early and board as quickly as we can. It's an hour drive to the port so the earliest we'd arrive is 12:30. Now I know they will have buses available for those with earlier same day flights. Has anyone checked in with the Princess agent earlier and been allowed to board the earlier buses? Ideally, I'd shoot for 10am. I don't see why it would matter since they leave when the buses fill up. But if we'll be forced to wait until 11:30, I'd rather just hang out in the hotel room. I also understand the fog issues with Bayport. I'll be checking the webcam first!

Looking for advice based on personal experiences. Thanks!

We were on a cruise in November with a lot of kids. They created a group called Shockwaves Jr for 7-9 years olds, could have been 6-9. If you are sailing during a school break, the splits could be different depending on how many kids they have sailing.

I was in a mini on Dolphin deck for the Nov 1 cruise. The mattress was wonderful and I normally sleep on a memory foam mattress so traditional mattress tend to bother me. I recall in the past, not only were the beds a bit uncomfortable, but also that the "queen" mattress often developed a canyon in the middle as the twin mattress slid apart. There were no sliding issues this cruise either. I was pleasantly surprised!

For our November 30 cruise, the email has the same as Mary Ann 2 listed except ours has instead of Carlos Oscar:

 

Miguel Washington: As seen on NBC CBS ABC FOX BET's Comic View and is a favorite all over country and comedy clubs

 

The entertainers move around, and those who were on one cruise may not be the ones scheduled for the next. The movies and production shows also change, but not so much.

That's funny, I saw Miguel Washington on the Golden during a 3 day out of LA just a couple weeks ago. He must be making the rounds on Princess ships. I thought he was good. He did shows on two different night. I went to both. Much better than the Caliente show, but then that suffered mostly because of the singers.

I had a Ruby card on my most recent cruise until it was demagnitized. Passenger Services said their machines wee "acting up" with the Ruby cards and asked if it was okay to give me a Gold as a replacement.

Checked SW just for the heck of it to see if anything opened up a bit later and it did, so I changed our flight to 2:05. We'll only be getting in an hour later, and they returned 1000 points to us. Best thing is, we won't do carry off now and be pack horses. Glad for the advice you all gave the OP..made me realize I could be cutting it too close.

I think you made the right call. Nothing would ruin a good vacation faster than missing your flight home! Bonus, you can hang out on the ship a little longer.

My credit from the Nov 1 sailing showed up today! :D

Thanks for the replies. I figured it was a long shot, but since experiences with the rules sometimes vary, you never know what's possible.

Has anyone ever done this? I just returned after an impromptu sailing on the Golden. I made a Future Cruise Deposit while onboard. I happen to have another cruise already booked and paid in full. Has anyone ever successful applied their deposit to a PIF cruise (and received a refund of $100 for applying the deposit), and received the OBC?

I suspect it might not be possible, but it doesn't to ask, right? ;)

We walked off this morning. Had been scheduled for 10:15, but needed to get back to San Diego and drop my kids off at school. I asked at Passenger Services if I could get an earlier time and ended up with 7:50. I didn't make it to the lounge until 8 and they let me walk on off. At 8:20 I was through Customs and in the car on the way home. Traffic wasn't bad that late in the morning, but I wasn't headed north on 405, which can be bad no matter what time of day.

It's certainly possible to make your flight, but any last little hiccup along the way could foil your plans. Good luck!

I saw you docked in San Diego yesterday as I was driving home from work. Glad you got see and enjoy some of our beautiful city! The zoo is an amazing place that never gets old.

I can't wait to board on Friday!