PurpleTraveller

Last June we got the train from Termini to Civitavecchia. There were trains every half hour or so. We got the 11.12am train that arrived at 12.16pm and cost €4.60 per adult. A really easy and inexpensive way to get from Rome to Civitavecchia and we will be doing the same again next year. Just be aware if you are getting the train from Termini that the train platform for trains to Civitavecchia is a long way from the station concourse so leave extra time to walk to the platform.

The issue with this option is for anyone who is not from the USA you get charged in USD and when you get a refund you almost always have a currency loss on the exchange rate. Just recently I cancelled two excursions (for two people) charged in USD and had a AUD125.00 or 11% loss on the exchange rate even though the exchange rate was only one cent different from when I booked the excursion. I will be waiting until I get on board to book my speciality dining and have to accept that I will get whatever is left. Losing money on a free or included speciality dining because the Princess system can not make a speciality dining reservation on the app without charging for it is not good.

For my June 2023 Alaska cruise the excursions showed up about nine months prior to the cruise but could only be booked from about seven months prior to the cruise. Since then times have changed and extra time slots have been added for some excursions. Some excursions have also gone up in price.

I used two FCD's of $100 each bought on board a cruise. It is those that I am upset about losing as when I made the booking I was told that they were fully refundable up until final payment. No mention was ever made of their expiry date. I did also have goodwill FCC's that I had added to the booking well after I had made the deposit with the FCD's. I also lost them because they had expired but I can accept those being lost as I did not actually pay for them.

Maybe your children might like to visit the Old Fort that is close to the old city centre. If you are cruising with Celebrity it is where the shuttle bus from the port dropped us off. It cost us €6 per adult to get in and we walked up to the lighthouse (great views) through a tunnel and past cannons. We didn't spend a lot of time there but the fort and it's history was interesting. The old town is lovely to walk through but I don't know if your children would enjoy that. You could possibly visit the fort in the morning and spend the afternoon at a beach.

Oh, a very nice coincidence and you are very welcome. So pleased you have re-read my review. It really was a wonderful cruise and as I said the Princess cruise experience is wonderful but the Princess phone customer service definitely not so. Somehow I don't think I'll ever be tasting one of those amazing desserts! 😀

I am so sorry this has happened to you and I hope you manage to get a good resolution. I have found that while the experience on Princess ships is wonderful, the Princess phone customer service can be terrible. Just recently I cancelled and rebooked a cruise to get a lower price. Before cancelling my planner told me that the two FCD's I had used to make the refundable deposit had expired and that I would forfeit them. I asked if the expiry date could be extended but was told no because I had already used them. I asked if they would be refunded but was told no because I had already used them and they had expired. I have spoken to numerous people at Princess and nothing I have said will change their mind that I have lost my money that I had given Princess in good faith. I have also sent emails and not had any response. Using a TA can still result in poor outcomes. I had a cruise booked through a TA and the price dropped and also included Three for Free. When my TA rang Princess to get the lower price and Three for Free they told her that I was lying about the price. When I provided a screenshot they told her that I had manipulated the computer system to show the lower price with Three for Free. I had no idea that I am that clever! Eventually I got the lower price but Princess refused to give me the Three for Free. The only reason I had booked my current cruise was that I had FCD's and FCC's (which I have now lost) to use. My next two cruises are booked with Celebrity.

I completely agree with you. When I was about to cancel the cruise my planner spoke with his supervisor who told him that nothing could be done to stop me losing my money if I went ahead and cancelled the cruise even though I was rebooking the same cruise. I have spoken to three other customer service representatives who also spoke to their supervisors who came back with refusals to refund my money. As far as Princess is concerned the FCD's became non refundable as soon as I cancelled my cruise because they had expired prior to the cancellation and they could not be refunded because I had used them. I have also sent two emails and have not had any response. The annoying thing is that if I had been told of this possibility when I was initially booking the cruise I would have used other FCD's that I had that expire after the cruise and let the two FCD's that had earlier expiry dates expire and then got a refund. As far as I am concerned the FCD's were my money that I gave to Princess in good faith. To say that I am annoyed and unimpressed would be an understatement.

I used two FCD's to book a refundable deposit cruise. When I went to cancel the cruise before final payment to rebook the same cruise to get a lower fare I was told that my FCD's had expired. Before I cancelled the cruise I asked if the expiry date could be extended and Princess refused to extend the expiry date as I had already used them. According to them when I cancelled the cruise I forfeited the FCD's and I lost the $200.00 and will not get a refund. I have spoken to Princess a number of times and they are adamant that I will not be refunded the value of the FCD's. I have also emailed them a number of times but have had no response of any kind.

A number of years ago I did a ship excursion that drove us to Riomaggiore then on to Manarola to get the ferry from there to Vernazza and then to Monterosso. Vernazza was my favourite village to walk around, have lunch and admire the very pretty village. The scenery from the ferry was beautiful. Even though the entire area was very crowded I loved our day trip to the Cinque Terre and would love to go back one day for a longer visit.

I did this Naples Underground Tour in 2016 on a port visit to Naples. https://www.napolisotterranea.org/en/ It was an easy walk to the starting point from the dock and did a tour at 10.00am in English. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and thought it was one of the best and inexpensive tours we have ever done. Just bear in mind that some of the tunnels are low and narrow and would not be good for anyone who is claustrophobic.

I was very surprised there were so many on the tour but this was my first Celebrity cruise and shore excursion. I was going to mention it in my post cruise survey but neither my husband or I received one. I don't consider 29 a small group either.

Not the poster you are replying to but I was there last year and I thought Las Ramblas was it's usual busy place with many restaurants and tourist shops open in the middle walking area and I did not feel unsafe. I did not notice that there were many closed shops in the buildings on the road sides but then I wasn't really looking. I stayed in Barcelona for almost a week and it seemed very much as previous visits - busy and vibrant.

It is very easy to get the shuttle from the dock to the bottom of Las Ramblas. I think it cost €3 per person each way last year but may have gone up. I wouldn't walk from the ship as it is a long way. From there it is a very easy flat walk to get to the Gothic Quarter with the Cathedral, Plaza Reial, shops and laneways to stroll. Half way up Las Ramblas is Mercat de la Boqueria which is fun to visit. You can also walk to Casa Batilo and Casa Mila. You can get the Metro to Sagrada Familia and Park Guell or get the cable car to Castel Montjuic. There are also the Hop On Hop Off buses. You can also get taxis to where you want to go. There are lots of very easy DIY options in Barcelona.

Last year in Kotor on a Mediterranean cruise our "Small Group" excursion was 29 passengers on a full size bus. Hopefully in the Caribbean the tours are smaller.

I did a 14 night cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago in 2018 that left at the end of February. We avoided the local school holidays and the weather was great. We were able to dock at the Falkland Islands and sail around the Horn. The only rain we had was a brief shower at Punta Arenas. It was very warm when we left Buenos Aires and got cooler as we headed south then got warmer as we headed north again.

I couldn't agree more about the loss of the free internet. A small change to Princess but a big change to me. I only use the internet on board to check my emails - maybe three minutes a day and I have never even been close to using all of my free minutes. For my next 11 day cruise it would cost me $82.50 with the 50% discount for approximately 33 minutes of internet. I don't get a package as I don't drink alcohol and gratuities are not included in the packages for Australians. I don't feel any appreciation from Princess for my loyalty. Last June I cruised for the first time with Celebrity and had a wonderful cruise and now have two cruises booked with them for 2024. Until last year I had only cruised with Princess but there are many other cruise lines out there and I will not only be cruising with Princess any more.

I have been to Barcelona a number of times mainly on land tours and spent a week there last June. An easy and nice excursion is getting the cable car to Castel de Montjuic, visiting the castle and enjoying the great views. Then it is easy to walk around and down the hill to the Olympic Stadium area and then further downhill to the National Art Museum and then down past the Magic Fountains (the night time light and music show is great!) and to Placa d'Espanya where you can visit the shops in the former bull ring, Arenas Mall and then get a taxi or the Metro back to where you are staying. While there are many stories of people being robbed or pickpocketed in Barcelona I have never had any issue. Be careful of how you carry your belongings and take sensible precautions and you should be fine. Walking the streets of the Gothic Quarter, visiting the beautiful Cathedral, walking through the Placa Reial, visiting the Mercat de la Boqueria and strolling along Las Ramblas are some of the joys of visiting Barcelona.

Thank you for your honest report. It seems that a number of long time Princess cruisers, including myself, are thinking about or are trying other cruise lines. Princess may be getting a lot of new cruisers booking but they also need to keep their existing cruisers rebooking. I cruised with Celebrity for the first time last June and it was so good that I have booked two cruises with them for 2024. I have a Princess cruise to Alaska this June and I will be very interested to see how it is.

When this same error came up when I was trying to book excursions that showed as available, I rang Princess and I was told that it was too early to book them and that is why I was getting the error message. The excursions became available to book about 7 months prior to the cruise and then I was able to book them with no problem.

So glad that the link helped. Regarding tips please remember that tips are not required in Australia or NZ as we are paid decent wages here, though tips are appreciated when given. When we go to dinner at a restaurant we would never tip more than 10% and would usually only round up eg. $55 to $60 for good service. For average service we sometimes do not tip at all and also depending on where we are, such as at a club or pub. If I do not get good service I would not tip at all. If we have a great tour we would only tip $10 per person to the guide and $5 per person to the driver but if the tour is exceptional we may tip more. Once again tips are not required but will be appreciated. Unfortunately when visitors from the USA visit Australia and NZ they are sometimes expected to tip because of the tipping culture in the USA. It is completely up to you if or how much you tip according to what service you receive. Hope this helps a bit. 😊

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the review. We live in hope that we will get in to the Sounds one day. 😀 I really hope you get to see them on your cruise. Have you checked the official Sydney Opera House website? https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/events/whats-on.html The performances are listed through to the end of 2023. On the dates you have mentioned are a few performances. On October 26 is Li-Wei Qin performing Haydn's Cello Concerto No 1 at 7.00pm. On October 27 is Mozart and Haydn with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at 11.00am and a theatre performance of Twelfth Night at 7.00pm. They are listed as being able to book now and when I clicked on the "Book Now" link for the Mozart and Haydn concert it was available to book. If you would like to see one of the performances I would book sooner rather than later to get good seats. You can also sign up for their newsletter for upcoming events. Hope this helps you and please ask if there is anything else I might be able to help you with.

I don't know if this will be of any help to you but I did a review of my Majestic Princess cruise in November 2018 to New Zealand. Also as an Australian I might be able to help if you have any questions regarding Australia or New Zealand.

In Naples they might like the Naples Underground Tour. It is walking distance from the cruise dock, inexpensive and fun. We had a great time doing the tour. Afterwards you could then have pizza for lunch. https://www.napolisotterranea.org/en/

I have decided to not to ever book early again as I usually do, unless I want a particular cabin. Almost every cruise I have booked has gone down a lot in price between booking and final payment. I am in Australia and I have never been able to refare, so I have had to cancel and rebook each cruise to get the lower price and sometimes better perks. For my June Alaska cruise there was a large drop in price but when I cancelled and rebooked I lost my FCC's and FCD's as they had expired between booking and cancelling and Princess refused to extend their expiry dates. Fortunately the saving was still more than I lost. Then the prices dropped again and I could get a Balcony for only $200 more than what I am paying for my obstructed Oceanview but Princess would not let me upgrade unless I cancel and rebook again which I will not do as I have already lost $125 on currency exchange when my original excursions were cancelled when the original booking was cancelled and then I had to rebook them at higher prices. I am not at final payment yet. So in the future I will wait to book a Princess cruise or book with Celebrity who allows me to refare, even on a category that is not available to book and keep my OBC.