Crookshanks

Hello! I recently placed 4 bids to upgrade my cabin on my January 14th Cruise. I went to check on them today and one shows Pending and the other 3 show 'Expired'. Last cruise when I bid on an upgrade, it was Pending all the way up to embarkation day. Anyone else have this happen?

Upgrading to Premier is dependent on your priorities. I always upgrade, but that's because I have a FABULOUS time with the photographers. We take goofy pictures, fun pictures, formal pictures and they'll also do candids. The photos also include everyone in your cabin, so the 3rd guest will be included as well. The photos themselves are worth the cost for me, but I also enjoy the Specialty Dining, though the MDR food is wonderful. Cool part of Premier SD is that the 4 included can be shared with cabin mates. For example, I am going on a cruise next month with my Mom and my Best Friend. Mom and I have the Premier, BF didn't get a package at all. I booked 2 SD meals, the Steak House first because it costs more. So, that reservation took the first 3 of our included meals, then I booked Sabatinis, the first meal was covered and I had to pay the 2 $35 fees for the second 2 meals. Doesn't save a huge amount, but money is money. Premier also has the Princess Prizes. Last January we all 3(even though only 2 of us had Premier) got 3 $25 OBC prizes, just for opening the cabin door. It's possible that it was a glitch that has been fixed by now, but it was cool when it happened. I've yet to try the fitness classes, my version of fitness on a cruise is "fitness dessert in my mouth'. Premium Desserts were a hit with my children, they were 8 and 12 on their cruise, but 1 a day is more than enough for me. Though I haven't tried some of the new ones they've come out with. My last cruise was March 2023.

I think it's dependent on who you booked through. I booked directly with Princess, so I've gotten the e-mails. However, my brother booked through Costco and he's not eligible to bid on an upgrade. Can you explain what a "Move Over" offer is? I've not heard of that before.

I've cruised out of Galveston twice now. Getting onboard was very quick and easy, even the second cruise when I took my children as they were Blue Lane. Super quick to get through the lines. Waited maybe 10-15 minutes in lounge before being ushered onto the ship. Disembarking also wasn't as issue for us. Facial Recognition was up and running. Did the walk off at 8:30 and had collected bags and were waiting for my brother to pick us up by 9. First cruise out of Galveston was January 2023 and Second was March 2023. These were both on the Ruby, so I'm not sure if it'll be different on the Regal. I'll see in January how that goes. On my January cruise, I had a flight out of IAH in Houston around 2PM, which is probably the earliest I'd consider flying out. My Mom always flies out the next day. Though we are lucky as my brother lives in Houston and has been kind enough to both host us before/after the cruise and do the pick up/drop off as well.

I've done Princess Prizes on 2 cruises, one cruise I won $75 in OBC, 3 prizes of $25. The next cruise, I didn't win anything. Each one was because I'd upgraded to Premier. I have a lot of fun with all the photos. You can look at your 'winnings' on the stateroom TV. Select yourself and then select the Princess Prizes and it'll show all the prizes won. Whether it be a drawing entry, OBC, Specialty Dining, etc. I think you can check on the app now as well, but I'm not sure about that.

Yes, I saw the option on my cruise on Ruby last month to upgrade on board.

I have gone on 2 cruises this year and had the Premier both times. The first cruise was in January and it did not have the fitness classes, juice bar or premium desserts yet. It did, however, have the Princess Prizes up and running. On that cruise we won 3 $25 OBC prizes and at least one drawing entry every day for the end of the cruise drawing. Second cruise, I didn't win a single thing, not even a drawing entry, so that was rather disappointing. On second cruise, I took my 8 and 12 year old sons for their Spring Break. We really enjoyed the Desserts, no we didn't always finish them, but they were delicious and both of my boys got one each day. I'm looking forward to trying the desserts offered on different ships, as I've seen some FB posts showing cakes and different gelatos as part of the packages. Wifi was never amazing, but it's internet in the middle of the ocean, and I wasn't on a ship to stream Netflix.... Drinks were good for me, but I'm a simple person, my go to during the day is Belvedere and Red Bull, and in the evening it's lemon drops, so I never had any issues there. I never used the reserved seating in the Theater, but it was neat having it there. Loved being able to share my Specialty dining with others in the cabin! Photos were my number 1 reason for getting the Premier! Got all the digital photos and 3 prints for each Premier cruiser. Absolutely my favorite perk. Got some sweet shots and one night went and got my martini and took some cheeky shots as well. Kids got some good pictures and that worked out great. I likely will go premier each cruise as I enjoyed the luxury of it all.

They made the smoothies at the Calypso Car, I think, the one under the Movies Under the Stars screen.

To the original poster: The competition is super fun. If you have a large group, there may be more votes to become a finalist, but there are plenty of cruisers that are traveling on their own and truly vote as who they liked the best. The finals are done with a live band and they only have a limited amount of songs they know, but they will speed up or slow down a song if needed. The most talented will not always be chosen as a finalist, but that is the way of these kinds of competitions. If she's interested in trying out, she should totally get up there and have some fun!!

I'm curious as to which cruise this was on. I was on the Ruby last month and the last singer was chosen by the judge, even though the other singer got the standing ovation from the audience. Seemed rather staged, but I wonder if the judge just had a certain preference of song choice/style?