karatemom2

I’m able to see and book excursions on the app for our April 2025 cruise. Are you using the newest version of the app?

The current price for the Soda Package is $17.69 per day. Here is what it states it includes: What is Included The package includes all, fountain sodas, and cans of soda and juices (excluding the fresh juice bar), mocktails, and smoothies as per the menu

This!! In 20 years of cruising with Princess, I have tried it on several occasions, always thinking, well maybe it will be better this time. No - Never! It is terrible every time. I have never had the misfortune of finding a bone - but it is basically the equivalent of a very dry, overcooked frozen Tyson chicken patty with a dollop of virtually unseasoned tomato sauce and a slice of melted cheese. I don't know why they even bother - if I had to pick one item on the Princess menu that was the biggest fail, it would be Chicken Parmesan. It is just not good and there is no effort to create a worthy dish - which as has been pointed out would entail a thinly pounded, BONELESS, chicken breast, seasoned and lightly breaded, cooked to the point where it is still juicy and flavorful, covered with a generous topping of well seasoned marinara, possibly also ricotta and then baked briefly to melt and brown the mozzarella topping. Good chicken parm should be tender, easy to cut, crispy, and flavorful! The princess version is about as tasty as eating some Ragu and a slice of mozzarella melted on a piece of cardboard. Can you tell I hate their Chicken Parmesan! 😄

Well that is certainly not a pleasant background for any activities going on in the area. Am I understanding correctly that they were holding a yoga class there with all the grinding going on?

@dides Thank you for sharing this information and wonderful photos. I'm wondering what you thought of the Royal Tea and whether it was really worth the charge compared to standard afternoon tea. We did it once on the Royal, and I must say looking at your photos, it appears they have downgraded the experience - we at least got a glass of champagne along with our tea, and a traditional tiered serving stand with the sandwiches, scones and sweets, plus a nice upscale trifle for a final dessert. While the photos look like it was nice - it strikes me as not that much different then your typical afternoon tea offerings - albeit slightly more upscale. Curious as to your thoughts on it and if you would recommend it to others?

That's been our experience on all three of our cruises this year. And while I certainly do not miss the old method, I do wonder if it really is helpful in briefing new cruisers on what to do in an emergency. We have observed so many people just bringing it up on their phones after boarding and letting it run while they eat lunch or have a cocktail and they aren't even watching it. The sound isn't even turned up. They are just checking the box. Understandable to an extent if you are a seasoned cruiser who has heard the spiel many times over. It pretty much mirrors the level of attention you see on most planes these days during the safety briefing. Hopefully new cruisers are actually taking the time and interest to watch it and learn the basics.

Wow that's surprising. We did the British Isles cruise post COVID on the Emerald, and a number of people from our ship disembarked in Le Havre. We were off first thing in the a.m. to make our full day Normandy tour and saw so many people leaving with suitcases. I asked a crew member and he told us they were people disembarking early and it was the first time it ever occurred to me that this was an option given that we are so used to the restrictions placed on US based cruises. I thought it seemed like a great opportunity and I remembered it when my daughter and her husband were planning their honeymoon on Enchanted last year - their second to last day was in Florence before getting to Rome, and she was bemoaning the fact they would only have one day there. So, I suggested she contact Princess about requesting early disembarkation in Florence so they could spend a couple of days there before finishing up in Rome and they granted the request without any issues. Turns out, there were several other passengers doing the same thing. Did Princess give you a reason for denying your request?

Are you using the newest Princess app? Make sure you have uploaded the most recent version. If you have that app you should find the button to take you to the Internet package options on the Welcome page that opens when you select the app. You just need to scroll down. It’s just below the links for dining reservations and package information.

Agree. I really feel bad for the OP as we would have been terribly disappointed if we missed Le Havre on our British Isles cruise. Going with Overlord Tours to Normandy for Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery, as well as stops at Bayeux and Honfleur, was a special day. OP, I hope you can make a nice day of it in Portland and plan another future cruise that gets you back to Normandy.

We received them about 10 days in advance of our June cruise on the Sky, and about two weeks in advance of our most recent cruise on Ruby. I would bet you will have them in time for your departure. But if not, no worries, they are easily replaced at check in - takes just 5 minutes for them to produce a new one. My husband had to get two replacements on our June cruise - first one due to a low battery in his original medallion, and then another when he lost his medallion in port. It was quick and easy.

That’s what my DH does too. He won’t wear a lanyard or wrist band. It’s been fine for him with the exception of one unfortunate day in Trondheim, Norway where it must have fallen out somewhere along our walkabout. He had to be escorted back in the ship with Security to get a new medallion. He still keeps it in his pocket though despite my best efforts to get him to wear it on a clip or wrist band. He’s stubborn that way. 😏

We had a similar experience on our recent Ruby Princess cruise. We also had ordered the three six packs for Diet Coke. We were able to get through to Room Service shortly after getting in our room and by that evening they had switched out our mini bar and delivered our six packs. However, on our cruise before that on Sky we finally had to use Crew Chat to Guest Services to get Room Service to respond.

Agree. Given you are not going to Glacier Bay, I would want to maximize my one glacier viewing opportunity and the small boat excursion offers exceptional viewing - so much better than from the cruise ship. It's worth it.

Yes, it should. They are comparable in size. I don't use one - I have the bracelet that Princess sells for mine. But I do have an Apple Air tag in my purse in a key chain holder - and my Medallion fit will in it, so it appears it would work with anything designed for the air tag.

Thank you for sharing that @skynight! Very helpful information. I can't say I'm disappointed because we really enjoy The Catch as a specialty dining option. And I can't imagine a Princess cruise without my pizza by the slice! So, it all sounds good to me. I can't say I will miss the Noodle Bar or other restaurant, as you can't miss what you have never experienced. I am glad I will still have two of the things added that I really value!

We just booked a cruise on the Majestic for next April 1. Yes, April Fool's Day! It's a great itinerary that we have wanted to do for awhile and the timing works perfectly for us to squeeze it in and use our current Casino Come Back offer from our trip last week on the Ruby. All good and we are not looking to change our mind. This post is just more curiosity and level setting expectations as it appears ours will be the first cruise on the Majestic following a three week dry dock period. So, I'm just curious what others experiences have been on taking a cruise on a ship fresh out of dry dock.

I don't really consider myself or DH penny pinchers at all. I just prefer not to pay for things we don't value, and since we consume minimal alcoholic beverages and no specialty coffees, I don't really want to pay for a package that gets a great percentage of its value from those items, especially as we still get the half price on Internet. We always just count gratuities as part of our cruise fare and generally prepay those, so not even a consideration. Everyone values different things on a vacation. I value the shore experience - so we are very liberal in our spending on excursions. DH loves the Casino, so he invests heavily there - return on investment varies! 😄 However, because of that we get a lot of perks that make the packages even less necessary, including specialty dining and for him often beverages, which get comped as perks, along with other nice benefits. So, just because someone isn't buying a package doesn't mean they aren't forking over plenty of money and it doesn't make them a penny pincher - just a consumer who knows what they value most. And for those, like my daughter and her husband, who are just starting out cruising on their dime instead of mine - they love to cruise thanks to the privileged upbringing - they really do have to do it on a budget now that the bank of Mom and Dad has closed. No shame in that at all and I defy anyone to call my little princess a penny pincher - she and her husband, however, are a young couple learning to enjoy life within their budgetary limitations. Little benefits like the water package cost Princess nothing and are a nice service that was reasonable and convenient. There is no value now - just buy water as needed onboard. It won't change how we cruise, but it is more the blatantly obvious effort to overvalue the packages so people will fall in line that I find annoying.

Wow! This is so disappointing to read this news. What an incredible rip off! First they more than double the price of the Internet package, and now more than triple the cost for the water package. This all seems a blatant attempt to push people to the packages. We have consistently avoided purchasing the package because we drink very little alcohol - mostly water and sodas. So we have really appreciated how nice and cost effective it has been to preorder the water and soda package for our stateroom. No more! I'm going to book the soda package for our cruise next April today and lock in the price before they raise that too. I imagine that is next!

I think it depends on when you arrive and if there is a wait. For most of our recent cruises, we have walked right on the ship as early as 10:45 a.m. However, on our last cruise just a couple of weeks ago on the Ruby out of Vancouver, the ship was not ready for boarding quite as early and we were directed to the Elite lounge where they had beverages and light breakfast snacks set up. We ended up boarding right around Noon and those of sitting in the lounge were escorted out past the very large group of other waiting guests in the holding area and were first to board. So, loyalty does still have its benefits.

We had a really lovely DIY day in Alesund. We started off by catching a taxi to the Atlantic Sea Park Aquarium where we spent a couple of hours. We then got dropped off back in the heart of town and visited the harbor area, fisheries museum, and walked the streets along the canal with a stop at the kiosk for fish and chips overlooking that beautiful setting. We contemplated doing one of the kayak tours through the canal, but opted to continue our wander through town admiring the stunning architecture. We also took the tiny train up to Mt. Aksla and it was nice to have the commentary and perspective on all we were seeing around town. It’s a pretty easy place to plan your own activities for a day in port.

That sounds right. We heard the same thing the night we were late for our reserved time. We completely understood - it was our fault for being late and were expecting we might have to wait for a table or try another dining room - but fortunately they were able to accommodate us. I think it helped that it was already later in the evening nearing 8 pm.

We were on the Ruby last week and the system worked well for us. We had reservations for our party of 4 each night and were seated expediently for each reservation. We were late for one due to lingering longer in port, but they accommodated us quickly. We ended up skipping two of the seven nights - one for dinner in port and the other for Crown Grill. We had no issues at all with the new system.

I asked my DH, and he said you can cash out any time - either every day or at the end of your cruise. Just go to the cashier, scan your medallion, and collect your cash. Easy Peasy!

They appear to have excellent reviews on other “sites”. You might expand your search to some other reliable travel review websites.

My son in law had a DUI just over 10 years ago when he was underage. He was well under the legal limit, but because he registered any level of alcohol it was an offense because of his age. When we first invited him to join us on an Alaska cruise 7 years ago, we weren’t aware of this issue or that he had an offense on his record. He actually got a call from Canadian Border Authorities prior to the cruise letting him know there was a possibility that he would not be allowed to enter at Victoria. Technically we didn’t even know if that would keep him off the cruise. The agent told him that based on his experience he would be allowed to sail, but might be denied to leave the ship in Victoria. He and my daughter were just dating at that point and it was very hard for him to come and share this. We understood it was a youthful indiscretion - he’s a really good guy. We decided to just go with the flow and be prepared if there were issues. The agent did say based on his age at the time, the passage of years, and the fact he was well below the legal limit would probably help his case. It ended up he had no trouble either boarding the ship or getting off in Victoria. We were nervous for sure though and it was made clear that Canada takes it very seriously. He has traveled with us many times since and is now officially part of the family. We just returned from an another round trip out of Vancouver and he has never had any other issue or contact. But I think this last trip after having so many previous successful experiences, was the first where he finally stopped worrying!