Check the hoho website, they have baggage storage available.

On 5/28/2023 at 3:23 AM, Ron the Rev said:

Sometimes there's a White and Gold and a formal. Never heard of Dress to impress before.

Dress to Impress was the White and Gold.

I recently returned from the May 8 Regal 12-night British Isles cruise. Posting the Patters in case it helps anyone with their planning.

Patters_0.pdf

Minimum bid to upgrade from an Inside to Deluxe Obstructed Balcony for our 12-night cruise was $265pp and I bid $275, accepted 31 days out. My TA was able to get our cabin switched to a different location in the same category.

21 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

You did mean a shipload of salt?

Lol something like that...🤣

I am considering booking this service from the city to Disneyland and then to the airport.

8 hours ago, fenski said:

We are thinking to disembark early at Le Havre on our 12 day British Isle cruise in June. I just called Princess Cruise and she told me just simply let them know on the first day of cruise. What number to call to apply the permission? Thanks.

I was told that we needed to apply for a route deviation and be approved by the cruise line and the disembarking country. I do not know what number to call as this was handled by my travel agent. This is my confirmation email from Princess:

Hello,

Attached is your route sector approval letter, please read the entire letter and follow instructions. It is very important that you have a copy of the letter with you at embarkation. If you don’t have the letter with you, you may not be able to debark early.

REQUEST FOR DEVIATION FROM SCHEDULED CRUISE ITINERARY
**Please make sure the guests are aware of the following:
*** Guests must present this form to Guests Services Desk upon embarkation of
cruise
* Princess Cruises is not responsible for missed ports or any expenses incurred in getting to or from the next port of call if the ship does not arrive at the requested port of embarkation or disembarkation, or if the ship is delayed for any reason.
* There is no reduction in cruise fare for any missed nights of a cruise due to a requested route change.
* Guests are responsible for obtaining any necessary visas or travel documents, and for researching what those requirements are.

Has anyone tried changing to a different cabin in the exact same category after winning a bid?

On 1/16/2023 at 6:50 PM, Canuker said:

We are going to London for the coronation and are staying out of Town near a rail station, about 30 minutes journey time to Town. There's a much better selection of accommodation out of town and prices are much much lower that weekend.

I am curious what people are expecting to see/do regarding the coronation that would bring so many people. We will be there and trying to decide whether to stick around on the 6th or get out of town for a day trip.

9 minutes ago, Shoalwater said:

Yes this is possible PROVIDED the ship makes the port of call and does not skip it.  This has happened before in Le Havre due to heavy winds and once due to a labor strike of port workers.  Then you have to deal with whatever onward arrangements you made from Le Havre on your own.

Oh my, hadn't even considered that. Better get that trip insurance in place!

18 hours ago, paradiselivin1 said:

Someone on our current cruise in the Caribbean will be doing that. Yes, you have to apply but Princess will not talk to us about doing the same thing next year UNTIL final payment is made. Makes sense.

We had our route deviation approved 3 months ago and final payment is not due until February, we are still not PIF.

6 hours ago, cruisingrob21 said:

And you won't get any sort of money back for unused portion.

Looks like we are almost neighbors, we are in Molalla.

You can but you need to apply and receive permission. We will be doing this in May.

We are on your cruise also arriving May 5 and wondering the same thing. We have scheduled a tour to Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds for May 6 and plan to tour London May 7, hoping that strategy works. We just need to be able to get to Victoria Station by 8:30am.

On 10/14/2022 at 8:22 AM, John Bull said:

I'm going to assume that those cruises which include "Paris" include it as the last port-of-call before cruise-end in Southampton (possibly Dover) - most British Isles cruises do.

If so, much the better plan,  with your cruise line's advance permission (NCL don't give it, Princess & most others do), is to disembark the ship when it ports in Le Havre (occasionally Cherbourg) and take a direct train (2 hours) from there to Paris.

 

Book open-jaw (also known as "multi-city") return flights out to London Heathrow & back from Paris CDG. Open-Jaw flights cost the mid-point of the two return fares. 

That'll save you 24 hours  and more of travel and the associated fares, at the cost of a dinner, bed, and rushed buffet-breakfast on the ship.

It's something that's frequently been done by Cruise Critic members

 

JB 🙂

Can't answer your question first hand as I have never been as well, but this is the option we chose for our cruise next year. We have received permission to disembark in Le Havre and will spend 3 nights in Paris after the cruise.

I don't know your itinerary, but we are doing a 12-night cruise with the final port being Le Havre before returning to Southampton. We will disembark in Le Havre (you must apply for permission) and spend a few days in Paris and fly back from there.

Following your example, I sent an email last weekend regarding my FCC that was expiring this year which I had been told by Customer Service and Customer Solutions that the cash FCC would probably be extended but that my bonus FCC of over $1000 would not. Just got a call from "Diane" that they have extended all of my FCC, I still need to book this year but can sail next year. Nothing extra but I did get what I asked for.

I get what you are saying. We have to be very careful with our travel dollars, there aren't many and we do tend to spend most of our disposable income doing that (as inexpensively as possible) rather than buying nice things. We have been on about 7 cruises in the past 15 years, only once in a balcony. The people you might be uncomfortable around are not sailing Princess (or RCL or NCL etc); they are spending $50K+ for a week on a luxury cruise line or their own yacht.

2 hours ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

If you got the $330. figure from a Valley Isle Excursions ad about a Road to Hana tour, that amount was for two people.

From Princess website:

I have been researching this and found this tour on a couple other sailings going to Kahului. While I used to see two different tours, I have only been able to find the one that includes the picnic lunch which is now $330, I think $100 more that it was when I was looking at Lahaina tours last year. While I really wanted this tour, I am really having a hard time with the prices of some of these tours; I can't wrap my head around paying $660 for the two of us. Renting a car would be around $150 plus gas and getting to and from the car rental, and driving it sounds a bit stressful.

I think this might actually increase revenue rather than decrease. We generally avoid even walking through smoky areas as the smell permeates hair and clothes. Now I might stop in for a bit of fun.

Here is mine from the other side, a little closer to the shipyard. We are on the 11/27/22.

I'm going out tomorrow to try to get some pics. Our Ruby cruise was postponed until next November but we will get there eventually....

This happened to us and when I called was told you have to take the replacement cruise and select that option through the online form in order to get the price protection. The new cruise as well as other dates for the same itinerary are selling for at least 50% more than we paid so we are sticking with the replacement to get our good price. You can really tell that they are bumping up the prices to account for the extra FCC they were giving out last year; I'm doing whatever I can to protect mine.

Very specific question for those familiar with options in SF, where can we get free rapid tests near the pier? We are flying in 3 days prior and will need to be tested on Sunday or Monday, staying in Fisherman's Wharf area with no car. We have never been tested so the whole process is new to us.