KaiBlue

I also booked directly with Princess and have seen the option to add the transfers after logging in and selecting 'manage this booking' or something like that. But it's kind of hidden under the 'flights' tab - just have to scroll down and it's below the EZAir section. For other lines it's been under 'excursions' so it took me a bit to find it for Princess.

When we get on an excel class ship, we head straight to Big Chicken since we really enjoy those and they aren't available on many ships. Java Blue Cafe has a grab and go section to the left of the counter where they will have a limited selection of items throughout the day (no upcharge). I stopped there quite often to get a bowl of granola (love Carnival's granola) and fruit for breakfast or to save later for a snack. A few non-food tips - seems to us that on these larger ships the mid-ship elevators can have a pretty big wait time. We would just walk to the forward or aft elevators and then had no problem. If you are into comedy, the line will start to form before the show and you might be thinking you won't get in but the space actually holds a lot of people. And the shows in the Grand Central atrium section do fill up well before the show and you will want to make sure you get a decent seat (the sight lines are very limited on some of the seats).

Works for us as well! If it's too busy, we will just go somewhere else! I had to laugh at the chair hog comment @delacruz:)

We are booked on the 9:30 Dominican culture excursion and would enjoy meeting up with everyone beforehand perhaps for a drink? Never been on the Venezia so not sure where to meet but perhaps we pick a bar and set a date/time for those interested.

We are headed to Aruba next summer and have a 1pm -10pm port stop. Will have our young adult daughter with us, so was thinking of going to Eagle Beach for a few hours, then head over to Palm Beach where the action is. We have previously been to Palm Beach (it was very crowded that day) and it sounds like Eagle might be more relaxing for the day time. I've also read that the cruise port doesn't have much open later in the night (thus why we were thinking of heading to Palm). I'm confused however on the Arubus routes and the best way to navigate this plan. I've heard that the stop for Eagle Beach is after the bus goes all the way around the route (after the Palm Beach stop). I can't seem to figure out the maps on the official Arubus website. Is it true that to go to Eagle, we would have to ride the bus all the way up to Arashi/Marriott, and then back again? If so, then to get to Palm Beach from Eagle, perhaps a taxi makes more sense so we don't have to get on the bus, head back to the Oranjestad station and then head back out from there? We would just get a one-way ticket on the bus then (from Oranjestad to Eagle). Another question for the experts here is where to get off at Eagle Beach - seems like there is stop near the Amsterdam Manor that more people talk about. Will we have an issue renting chairs if we don't get there before 2pm? We are prepared to just lay on the sand if need be but was curious whether anyone had any real-life experience. Appreciate any help....

I should add that they work best over a hat. My husband had a baseball hat and I had more of a safari type hat. Put the net over the hat and it stays off your face due to the hat's brim. Worked great.

We had a tour booked with IcelandEverywhere but unfortunately didn't make it to the port due to weather. Was refunded our money within a week with no issues. We did use them for 2 other ports that trip and loved their tours. We are going back to Grundarfjordur in 2025 and intend to book them again and hope we actually make it into the port.

I purchased ours on amazon.

While I can't speak to the ship, we did a cruise that included 4 stops in Iceland last August and have another planned for 2025. My best advice is to buy the head nets for the midges that are in the north - particularly around the Myvatn area. They are cheap and if you don't need them, great. But we took a non-cruise line tour to Lake Myvatn on our stop in Akureyri and the midges progressively got worse at each stop. The first stop we decided to use the nets because the bugs were just a slight nuisance and I think people on our small tour bus were snickering at us. By the end of the trip, they were asking how we knew about the midges and wished they had known to bring them. You literally couldn't open your mouth they were so bad. It would have ruined the experience if we hadn't had them and they were maybe $6 for two and took up very little space in our carry-ons. Layered clothing with a waterproof shell on top worked best for us and allowed us to be comfortable both outside and inside the ship. Waterproof hiking boots were a must. Iceland was wonderful and we can't wait to go back.

Glad to know it's not just me! Taking a screen shot is an excellent idea!

Thank you for the responses! I just called (got through very quickly and seemed to get a knowledgeable rep) and tried to prepay both the gratuities and the wifi together using gift cards. The rep said I couldn't use multiple gift cards on a transaction so I ended up purchasing the gratuities with my largest gift card but didn't have a remaining single gift card that was large enough to payoff the wifi so just used my charge card. This seems like a very antiquated system they use. Then the rep said I would get an updated confirmation via email and the confirmation doesn't even mention the purchases (nothing on their about grats or wifi at all). But in the app it does show that I have wifi purchased and if I go and open the 'travel summary' in the app it shows them all under 'special services' - doesn't say it's been paid or anything but I'm assuming it just wouldn't show there if it wasn't. I'm honestly still finding the entire Princess process (app and website) very confusing as to how to navigate.....

Hello - newbie to Princess - I don't see an option to pay for the wifi up front using a gift card? I actually also wanted to prepay gratuities now using a gift card and also don't see that option on either the website or the app. Is this something I have to call Princess directly to do? TIA!

We booked our first Princess cruise ourselves after waiting days for the first Princess PVP to call back. Then I have been contacted by a least 3 different people all claiming to be our vacation planner but none of them seemed to know we already had a cruise booked - shouldn't they? At this point, I'd have no idea who to call if we encountered a problem. We haven't used a TA in years and the deal we got booking with Princess directly online was better than any of the big box offers I saw. A little leery to use some of the big online cruise travel agents as their offers sound a bit convoluted and I always feel like I'm somehow being tricked. My paranoia probably just working overtime:(

Good for you and your girls! You will have such a wonderful time! I led multiple troops through the years and took two of them to Walt Disney World when they reached their senior year. Takes a lot of planning but you will have a blast!

We used some on our recent cruise out of Dover, UK with no issues.

Assuming you are staying in a standard size room with 2-3 of the kids - highly recommend a cheap over the door pocket hanger to help organize stuff. Doesn't weigh much and takes up very little packing space. We always put this on the outside of the bathroom door so it could be used even if someone was in the bathroom (or even hung it on the wall using multiple magnetic hooks) to provide extra space for the stuff you grab more often (sunglasses, sunscreen, deodorant, etc).

Completely agree! The reviews on that cultural tour are what sold us! While we've had generally good luck with non-cruise line tours, there is always a risk... so much easier in the modern day with being able to check reviews, etc.

As with a few others on here, we are also booked on the Fast Cat (St. Thomas) and the Cooking, Coffee, Casa Typica (Amber Cove) tours. Typically we take non-cruise line excursions but these both sounded good. I love cultural tours so really looking forward to the one in Amber Cove. @hbsurfcitycruiser This will be our second time actually staying in NYC and just starting to plan what we will be doing - coming in 2 days early. Too much to do and too little time!

Thanks for doing this! We are on the 12 day Pride in late August and can't wait to hear how it goes! We have the Delta red eye (no connections yay!) but getting into London early morning and having to push through that first day on little sleep is a bit of a worry for me. It will be an adventure!

My husband had some on the Celebration in May. He enjoyed them. I tried them as I was having the 'fully leaded' version and although the taste wasn't exactly the same of course, I think the essence was similar and gave him something with a bit more 'bite'. Typically most of the mocktails he is able to get are all overly sweet because they are simply the mixes (like strawberry daiquiri) - this was a nice change. He had several over the course of the cruise.

Thanks for taking the time to do such a fantastic review! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Has me excited for our upcoming British Isles/Iceland cruise on the Pride!

We turn platinum on our next cruise and feel a little uncomfortable with opening the doors. Where will our documentation show that we are able to drop our luggage and go? I don't see it on the VIFP pages that lists out the various perks. If I had something in writing, I'd be more comfortable and not feel like I was 'breaking the rules':)

We were there in October of 2022 and while I don't recall how many ships were in port, we were one of the first ones there and had no problem doing PAYG at PB, although you could tell they weren't pleased when we turned down the all inclusive package. I do miss the days when they were only PAYG and all you had to do was to spend $10/pp on food/drink to use their loungers and umbrellas. And no looking out at only inflatables as it is now but instead could actually enjoy the view of the ocean.

This doesn't really surprise me as on our second trip aboard the Mardi Gras, Chibang was so packed, the meal service (and food) was probably the worst we've ever had on a Carnival ship. And it wasn't like the servers weren't working - they were moving as fast as they possibly could, it just was too many people. Now I'm looking at my upcoming Celebration cruise out of curiosity and it doesn't show Chibang anywhere on the 'explore the ship' section and yet it also has Cucina included but P&A as an upcharge at dinner. Not sure what to expect at this point.

When we had a cruise and several shore excursions canceled, Carnival did reimburse us for everything with brand new gift cards. And they came fast - within 2 weeks of the cancellation. But we did have a PVP working for us so perhaps that helped expedite the issue.