spookyfudge

You will be in shock of all the changes 

So I called after I made a choice to pick another cruise to get my money back.  They really wanted me to pick another cruise but we specficly wanted to cruise in January and as we talked about it we just got our money back.  They did say there were going to be more choices for alternative cruises after Sept 11 but I just dont want to flip our plans around just to help virgin, we just will not cruise with them again even though we truely enjoyed our previous cruises.

This would have been a third cruise with virgin, I am so angry we need to cancel our flights again.  If we don’t get our recommend cruise I am done with virgin, period.

1 hour ago, jrblach said:

we are on Sky - boarded Aug 19, 2023. we bought cruise and  plus package August 2022. there have been many changes to the plus package and cruising. casual dining has been added where you $15 for Alfredos pizza. plus package includes 2 casual dining visits. BUT, NOT THE OLD PLUS PACKAGES. we were told we would have to pay for Alfredos. why dont they grandfather the benefits? instead, Princess want you to pay the difference between $ 60 per day and what you paid

UNFAIR

You can upgrade old package to new and get the free ice cream for me it would be $500 each for us to get the fee icecream and pizza restraunt 

On 5/7/2023 at 5:48 PM, SwimCarrie said:

No, I mean when they do free "surprise" upgrades. 

Free surprises no longer exist unless no one on the ship bids. Surprise yourself and bid if you are interested in upgrading 

On 5/7/2023 at 4:18 PM, SwimCarrie said:

I'm curious...for those who have scored winning bids, when was the soonest you've heard? For example, our sailing is letting us bid 85 days out...did you hear relatively quickly or are they mostly letting you know right before sailing? Will they potentially leave you in limbo until days before? If your bid is rejected early on, can you re-submit for a higher bid? 

Thanks!

We are 33 days out on a 28 day cruise and notified of our win. When I bid I went the lowest tier I think it sai not likely. We paid $985 pp for a 28 day upgrade, happy!

Mmh

3 hours ago, pompeii said:

We're sailing from Seattle soon and had booked a flexible EZ-Air flight on Alaska Airlines.  Since we're within a couple of days of the 45 day cut off for flexible fares, I decided to rebook our flight from flexible to restricted on the exact same flight. Fare dropped from $197 to $157pp.  

 

During the rebooking process for the restricted fare I had the option to choose seats like normal, which I did. Everything proceeded normally until I completed the booking and saw that the seat assignments didn't stick.  I went into manage flights and tried again with no luck.  I then went to the Alaska Airlines website and found that unbeknownst to me, this was a savers fare with no seat assignments until at the airport.  Nothing on the Princess website indicated this.  My previous flexible fare had seat assignments.  I read the "fare restrictions" and only difference between flexible and restricted is that the latter has to be paid at the time of booking and is non-changeable/non-refundable.  Nothing about it being a savers fare.

 

I spoke with both Alaska Airlines and EZ-Air and was told too bad.  My only option is to wait and probably get stuck in middle seats or pony up the extra $$ to buy upgraded seats.  Worst $80 I ever saved...

 

You are penny foolish! Should have kept the seats as is

I am ok with the new prices and downgrade of free stuff if my stock price continues to go up.  With the new charges I think the CCL bottom line and profits will go up! Keep rising prices until you see a drop in bookings and then turn back just a bit to maximize profits and thus raise stock price!

On 10/3/2022 at 8:34 AM, sequincruiser said:

Hi. I've been trying to find a tour operator for a day trip to Blue Mountains from Sydney for our pre-cruise stay in 3 weeks' time. They all seem to offer trips including Federdale Wildlife park/Sydney zoo/ferry from Parramatta but we are not really interested in these extras and wanted to concentrate just on the Blue Mountains area (scenic world plus lookouts, honeymoon bridge etc). I can only find one tour operator to offer a trip of this nature which is "sydneyadventuretours" but there are precious few reviews online and I would have to book directly in local currency with them off the back of their website. It makes me slightly nervous.

 

Does anyone have any experience of this operator before I take the risky plunge and book with them?

We just booked a trip with "tours by locals" and he will pick us up at our Sydney hotel and back for just the two of us.

21 hours ago, emmak8 said:

I am unable to log in . My information is accepted but when I hit continue instead of logging in I am asked for information again. I am currently on the Sky using my ipad. Is this happening to anyone else?

Yes

Yes the quality has dropped and the number of people booking and staffing levels down.  This is such a disappointment

13 hours ago, RANA_5041 said:

THANKS ... the info we received ...

Monday Venice Morning Sightseeing

Tuesday Train to Florence 2 hours, dinner

Wednesday Florence half-day tour

Thursday Bus To Rome stop San Gimignano

Friday Rome Morning tour afternoon at leisure

Saturday morning tour then bus to ship

 

so it seemed ... we had quite a bit of time to do some things on our own ... 

Monday Venice afternoon + evening

Tuesday Florence a few hours after hotel check-in until dinner

Wednesday Florence - afternoon + evening

Thursday Rome - a few afternoon hours after hotel check-in + evening

Friday Rome - afternoon + evening

 

Did they offer additional tours? ... Your Tour Director will be available to assist with questions about area attractions and activities as well as organized optional tours. These tours are available for your convenience and will be at your own expense.    was wondering what optional tours were offered.

 

I was just thinking about attempting to reserve a couple Museum passes in Venice or Florence (Uffizi), Gondola ride in Venice (high priority for my traveling companion), maybe a Catecombs tour in Rome ... and was trying to figure out the timing.

Also ... were there any sites that were "see outside of" vs "go inside and get a guided tour"

 

THANKS

 

They did set up a Gondola ride in Venice as part of the tour (extra cost) and a free tour of the glass works in November.  In Rome you get in late, we ate at restraunt however down the corner is a outdoor cafee we ate at the second nite in Rome.  Venince we had a full agenda.

On 4/15/2023 at 1:22 PM, RANA_5041 said:

did anyone do this?  I'm looking for "details" so I can book additional excursions as necessary to "fill-in" open times.  THANKS

Yes we did this last november it started in Venice and joined the ship in Rome.  The six days are fairly filled with tours so you need to do additional tours before you join the land portion.

1 hour ago, sns1 said:

Deleted

Thanks, great post

Look at the ship they are using for the WC, current onboard passangers are saying the ship has a lot of problems.  Read the posts for the current WC to get what the issues are.  They need to change the ship.

On 4/2/2023 at 11:45 AM, CineGraphic said:

 

Early on during the cruise they have an auction.

There are only 6 seahorses up for bids.

You customize your horses a few days later, and they have the race a day or 2 later. We were on an 8 day sailing, so the schedule is probably tighter on shorter sailings.

We had a blast, made some great friends, and the seahorse is a nice keepsake.

 

 

On 4/2/2023 at 11:45 AM, CineGraphic said:

 

Early on during the cruise they have an auction.

There are only 6 seahorses up for bids.

You customize your horses a few days later, and they have the race a day or 2 later. We were on an 8 day sailing, so the schedule is probably tighter on shorter sailings.

We had a blast, made some great friends, and the seahorse is a nice keepsake.

 

 

Thats my horse I purchased (ship colors in the back) it was fun.  You bid on the horses starting at $50 and goes up.  The cost was $150-$300, winner of the race gets all the money.  You have a one on one with the art director to paint/decorate the horse with drinks.  It was a great time, I almost won  but it was still fun!

On 3/26/2023 at 11:21 AM, Shazambilo said:

I am going on my 1st Princess cruise next month, after going on 40+ cruises on other lines.  Are shorts allowed in the dining room at night (other than formal night)?

On our recent Virgin Voyage, I did wear shorts for dinner in their private restraunts, nobody cared.  For some reason on Princes people get bent out of shape for wearing shorts! 

The money that your wife uses, will come off your bar tab if you have her as the second sailor.  No issues

3 minutes ago, Incognito1 said:

I don't consider a cruise vacation a "waste."  It's an investment in my mental health. 

But giving a criticism to me because I tip the crew above and beyond what the cruise line says, if you dont want to tip YOU may need the  money more for your everyday expenses rather than wasting it on a cruise! Dont knock me because I appreciate the crews work they do on the ship.

5 hours ago, wowzz said:

The cruise line told you ( indeed stressed)not to tip, and you still did so.

I know it is built into the American psyche to tip at the slightest opportunity, but why break the rules !

Branson is trying to break some of the old fashioned traditions of cruising,  and doing away with tipping is one of them. 

Hopefully others will abide by the rules. 

 

I appreciate the work these people give.  I have so much and others so little I do not mind sharing my wealth.  For people who do not, they may need the money more for their everyday living expenses and not WASTE the money on a cruise vacation or tips that go to hard working people.  It must be remembered it was England that developed the tip system when Dukes use to give their servents a "gratuity for cleaning their shoes or taking out their night pots".  Thanks to my Brit friends starting this method of thanking the servents!

1 minute ago, voljeep said:

anything 'special'😉 in your cabin?

Yes on the balcony was a hammock, it was great.  Also it has an ipad that controls lights, sound, temperature, curtains, ordering food, movie selections, alarm features and that is what we used on it.  I think there were more stuff it could do but did not try all the features.  The room was what I call like Ikea set up, different.

What was nice, was power outlets all over the place with multiple USB ports next to the power outlets and on the lamps.  It was a great room we had the mid ship Balcony and it was much lower cost then what we would spend on Princess.

25 minutes ago, FrankieJayIII said:

that's perfect and exactly in line with my expectations 

We just completed our first Virgin Voyages cruise and we gave the room attendant(s) $50 on the first day and instructed them only do the room in the morning (they normally have day and night cleanup turn-down). We also gave them $50 on the day before the last day.  I dont know if they normally get tips becuase it is stressed not to tip and it is included in the price of the cruise.  The cruise price gives every passanger free wifi, crew tips and premium private dinning at all times in the cost of the cruise.  What they did do is have a bar tab for alchoal and specialty coffee. (This was perfect you could buy drinks for you or anyone you wanted to from your bar tab and the drinks were $1-$3 less than on Princess).  We even got comped a free bottle of wine from the restraunt manager (never had on Princess) and we got free specialty coffee on the ship and free drinks at the casino by the casino manager! We loved our trip on Virgin and no kids to boot and crew and passengers were the most happy I have ever encountered! We will be doing more cruising with Virgin in the future.

1 hour ago, FrankieJayIII said:

benjamin was never a president... are we thinking grant? jackson?  

Dont be cheap, 50 or 100

1 hour ago, awinte2 said:

Just wondering if this has ever happened to anyone.

Email pops up from Princess in PDF form cancelling my 14 day Alaskan cruise for this May. I know the cruise is sold out so I am wondering What the Heck.

I immediately call  Princess  (this all takes about 8 minutes).  I explain to the Princess rep and she assures me that my booking is still valid.  I look at my computer screen and the email is gone, recalled or whatever but it is nowhere on my screen. The Princess rep sent me a new email to assure me everything was in order.

I was not imagining, seeing double, . It was there and then it was not.  Has this ever happened to you.

 

yes