Deep Thinking Fish

4 hours ago, RichYak said:

Pretty much the only time I even THINK about covid is when I'm reading cruise critic.

Well said. 👍

The rescheduled cruise for 2022 is on Sky Princess rather than Regal, but it’s the same size ship.

It is what it is, Princess have let us move to the 2022 cruise at the 2021 price point, but I did have a tinge of disappointment about Bergen not being in the itinerary.

I do feel that Port Congestion is a convenient excuse. I shall make it my mission to find out how many cruise ships there are in Bergen on Monday 28th 2022! 

I suspected Port Congestion might be an easy excuse Kentman. 
 

I was slightly irked when Bergen was cancelled from the 2021 schedule but delighted when we could transfer over to the same trip in 2022, pleased wit( the very real thought that Bergen might have been reinstated. We’ve never been there.

So 2022 is a direct replacement for 2021 at the point of cancellation, but not at the point of booking. Disappointing.

We were booked on the Regal Princess Iceland & Norway cruise on 26th June 2021 from Southampton. It’s now cancelled, but back in January Princess advised us that the intended port call in Bergen was cancelled due to port congestion. Shame, but that’s the way it goes. 

We have now taken up Princess’ offer to roll over our cancelled trip to the identical cruise in 2022. I notice that Bergen is still not included as a port call so wondered if there it must be down to similar congestion in 2022? Is Bergen permanently congested???

5 minutes ago, Munini said:

We are from the UK as well. I cancelled our princess cruises on the 24th March which was supposed to sail on the 28th. I will be calling them tomorrow to find out about the refund. Have to think of a way to push them to give our hard earned money back.

Let me know how that goes. I’ll be rattling the cage again this week too! 

9 minutes ago, DavidandHeather said:

 

It's looking like 19th March was the day they switched off the auto refund system, we have the same problem having cancelled on 24th March. 

There’s no logic to any of this. Our request was acknowledged on 14th March for our Panama Canal trip on Island from 9th May. People applying for refund and FCC after 14th March and sailing after 9th May have received refunds. 
 

Good luck with the Small Claims Court. Be interested to know how that goes. I haven’t encountered the 120 day chargeback issue on UK credit cards, although it will take the card providers at least six weeks apparently to even look at the claim. 
 

Its a complete lottery on when and how these rebates arrive, but having been due several refunds from cancelled events this one is the only one outstanding and has been by a long way the most aggravating. I do not accept any further delays. 

12 hours ago, DavidandHeather said:

 

We have received no communication from.princess UK other since our cancellation notice by e.mail on 24th March other than a confirmation of a conversation yesterday chasing up the £12k they owe us  that confirmation was at my request. We have oaid a deposit on an Easter cn Sky Princess, not paying a penny more unti we get our money back, nay even cancel that and never cruise with them again after this despite turning elite on our last cruise. This has turned into a nightmare for us.

Pretty much the same here. Cancellation notice 14th March, random “sorry for the delay” message a few weeks ago, nothing since.

Seemingly the inefficiencies of British Credit card companies are up there with Princess so seemingly no light there either. It’s not as if ours was a complicated trip. Air fares were independent through BA and refunded within TWO days of request, leaving only the cruise and its excursions to be refunded.

There can be no credible excuse from Princess.

Hope you get some joy soon, clearly your happy memories of Princess of old are being tarnished by the day. 

I have monitoring this Board from time to time. I too am generally appalled by the lack of communication from Princess. We were due to sail on 9th May, and submitted the designated form to Princess on 14th March, a couple of days after the central cancellation. So, we’re 83 days and counting, although we did get FCC on May 22nd.

My observation here is that the Canadian/US credit card companies are MUCH more efficient than their equivalents here in the UK. I used two cards for my various bookings (the cruise, excursions, extras etc), and in frustration at the endless delay from Princess I registered a dispute with both card companies. One told me it won’t be even looked at for 40 days, the other was 45. 
 

It would be nice to get a refund by Christmas. Meanwhile I am making no reservations with Princess until I get a full refund. 

Fast approaching our first cruise with Princess, on Golden in June. We have booked Anytime Dining, but can someone tell me if you can or indeed need to reserve in advance or can you just turn up for dinner at any time during the evening?

Yes. The bartenders will answer any questions you have and they will help make sure you stay within your package.

 

 

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Great, thanks. Good to know.

Is it obvious when on board what drinks are included on each package?

As long as one person in the room is 21 then he/she can bring in two bottles of wine per cabin. I recommend putting it in the carry-on to avoid breakage and a hassle in the naughty room.

This ship is sailing from the UK so you should be free to carry wine on board and indeed drink alcohol on board from the age of 18, subject to taking on 2 bottles per cabin limit of course.

Good reviews here everyone, very useful.

We're doing the Baltic in 2017 and domestic consideration is being given by one member of the household as to whether Moscow is an option whilst in St Petersburg for two days. Any thoughts on whether this is viable or just a daft idea?

Thank you!

It's not important at all unless you are a ridiculous coffee snob.

It was in Starbuck's containers, it was called "Starbucks'" and tasted like Starbucks. It it wasn't Starbucks why was it called Starbucks!!!!

Enjoy it.

Just been on Navigator and categorically there is a Starbucks on Deck 5, adjacent to the Cafe Promenade.

All drinks from there are included in the Royal Replenish package including extra shots, syrup etc. In my view, decent value if you have at least one a day. Sadly the Ben & Jerry's next to it is not free............

It's been a while since this thread was activated, but having heard nothing from Thomson re: the flight fiasco of 24th July, I contacted the CAA, the problem of course being caused by Thomson Airways and not Thomson Cruises.

The CAA took up my case, advised me it may take 12 weeks to get an answer, and then lo-and-behold I received a very apologetic letter from Thomson Airways within six weeks with 4 x 400 Euros compensation.

I admit to being pleasantly surprised. and naturally would encourage all those who have a valid claim to progress through the relevant Authority and be prepared to wait.

Or 90 Kunas if you have surplus local currency you want to shed

Taxi definitely best way to get to the old town at Pile Gate. Only takes about 7-8 minutes, most of that time I would advise to keep your eyes shut and pray...............red lights and traffic crossings are viewed as a challenge.

And that was the case both to and from the Old Town!!

I should have clarified, I sent a letter - a slightly modified version from one of the web sites - and haven't had a reply. The letter referred to the specific TUI case that they lost which resulted in this compensation precedent.

Good luck RU Deaf - keep me up to date! I will likewise too.

That's good to know RU Deaf, thanks for the update. You're on exactly the same approach as we are, but we're a week behind as I guess you came home after the Italian Job cruise? We stuck around for the Adriatic week.

My theory is as per yours. I have had no acknowledgement from Thomson whatsoever but will be firing off a slightly more direct response in a couple of weeks, perfectly prepared thereafter to follow that if needs be with solicitors letters and/or claims court.

Which and other websites have set letters for such circumstances and are categorical on your legal position so you can take their advice with confidence I would say.

The recommended letter was very good and actually referred to the test case for delays which was against TUI under which the rule of 400 Euros per person compensation was established for delays beyond a certain limit.............and ours most certainly was longer than that!

No response within the requested 14 day period. Should I be surprised?

Strangely the longer this goes on the more irritated I am with it. This delay cost us money and meant we lost nearly half a day of our holiday caching up with our sleep, and that's not acceptable.

If I treated my clients like this I wouldn't have a business.

The bus from the ship drops you off at the Old Town entrance.

As I've mentioned before on this site if you want to go further afield from Corfu town itself you can get an all day bus pass for 5 euros each. We went to the Achilleon Palace, 9kms from Corfu itself and had a really good tour around there.

Recommended if you're inclined and a lot cheaper to DIY rather than pay for the excursion. The bus sign posts were pretty good to be fair and timekeeping was excellent.

The draught lager is Greek - began with an "M". Might have been the one you referred to. I personally wasn't that impressed with it!

Hi Little Mrs - notwithstanding the on board drill you'll have time to get into Dubrovnik.

Chances are you'll dock around 4.5k from the Old Town. You can catch a 1A or 1B bus but even easier is a taxi - 13 Euros or 95 Kuna from alongside the ship. The taxis accept either currency. You need to be a good passenger to tolerate the manic driving but the flip side to this unnecessary state of panic is that you arrive at Pile Gate within minutes!

One taxi rank to drop you off and plenty of taxis on the other side of the road to take you back - easy.

Enjoy, it's a great place. As is Koper!

Take Kune, no doubt. Always use local currency (if you can obviously).

The exchange rates in Dubrovnik were pleasantly generous. The store right alongside the taxi rank upon arriving at Pile Gate professed to not be beaten on exchange rates and although we didn't visit ALL options in town I was happy enough.

And dare one say that even if the Majesty did have some currency my suspicion would be that their rate would not have been better.