HiCCCs

Question for folks who have taken the Panama Canal before and brought binoculars....or those who did not and wished that they had brought them. What are the pros and cons about bringing them? If you are recommending to bring them, what would we be looking for that would get missed on not as appreciated with the naked eye? Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Question for folks who have taken the Panama Canal before and brought binoculars....or those who did not and wished that they had brought them. What are the pros and cons about bringing them? If you are recommending to bring them, what would we be looking for that would get missed on not as appreciated with the naked eye? Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Thank you for making that clear. I certainly appreciate the "heads up" about it. I always consider myself lucky if I can "cash out" on any winnings since Princess Casino usually gets more than a pound of flesh out of my attempts to make big money! big money! Thank you all for your comments, feedback and insights. This is a great community for learning about and enjoying cruising even more.

Just a thought....since this 'sale' is nothing to write home to mother about....what happens if you make a reservation now and when real sales kick in you simply re-fare it? That way, you at least have the stateroom and location you want today and get a better rate on it later? Will that work as long as there are other staterooms available within the same category?

Pure genius!! I don't know why they can't do that for you at Guest Services!! I'm guessing that doesn't apply for promo OBC, though? Like shareholders OBC or special give-away OBC? Just OBC that has been purchased?

Say what??? You're going to have to draw me pictures to explain this one. I've certainly been able to cash out winnings from my casino adventures (big money! big money!)....but are you saying if I have let's say $275 left in OBC I should charge to my room $275 to my casino kitty and then I can simply cash it out at the casino cage? That's genius!

You are correct! The promos for Princess this time of year are always the worst. I wouldn't book anything until after May 2nd when this promo (I use the term loosely) has ended.

I don't believe they will refund it back to your credit card on the ship. But if you take the OBC and don't use it up, they will send you the refund check of the balance of all unused purchased OBC (not the free promo OBC) -- and that process can take forever. The last time we went that route it took over three months to get the bloody refund check!

Current special promotion touts "Save up to 40% off" which is hardly the case because I booked this sailing back in December 2022 and this new promo price made the fare actually go up $1!! Where's the 40% savings on that???

Greetings and peace to all! We are counting the days until our Panama Canal Cruise historic lock full transit. My status on the app changed from green to blue. Oh dear.... Keeping an eye on it to see if it resolves itself. While it is still 47 days out, I want to make specialty dining reservations. Each time I try, it gives me a "whoops" error message. I miss the days when you could do this on-line in Cruise Personalizer. Do you think it's too far out for them to make the reservation? Or is it a glitch in the system? What's worse, is because we have the Princess Premier package we have two nights of freebie specialty dining. The app shows we have credits...but, again, won't let you use it to make a reservation. I called the app help line....and they were able to "go behind the scenes" and give us the reservation and apply the credit...only to see it showed up charged on the credit card!!! Grrrrr.....we are told that is the way it has to be done in order to book the day and time we want....and then just go to Guest Services and they will issue OBC for the cost of specialty dining credit. Anyone else with these kinds of problems? Or has this been discussed already here?

Greetings and peace to all! I know this question isn't exactly about the bidding system....but I am very new to CruiseCritic and not sure how to search for this information elsewhere and specific to Princess. So if there is a better place to ask I appreciate your direction navigating the system. Here's the question: I booked a BE category stateroom and received some nice OBC promos with that booking. However, now I see there is a B4 category stateroom (aft balcony) that I might be interested in "paying the difference" to upgrade. Do you know, if I do that, will my Cruise Vacation Planner have to cancel my existing booking and thus lose the OBC promo? Or can he leave everything as it is and just change the cabin and I pay the difference in fare, taxes, and the vacation protection? I appreciate any assistance or experiences with this any of you might have.

I had no idea that scooters couldn't be parked out in the hallway outside the stateroom door. I see it all the time. I think that's an excellent point about a "check box" specifically for needing or not wanting an accessible room as the only exception to this game of chance with bidding on upgrades. Thanks for the information.

Very helpful information. Thank you so much. It's a very good point that by the time bids are accepted that most who need an accessible cabin would already have done so. I snuck a peak into an accessible cabin on the Sky Princess when the door was open and the steward was cleaning it. He was very gracious to let me take a quick look with his permission. The bathroom with the open shower sans bathtub was really the only thing that seemed like it just wouldn't work for us. Perhaps if I were traveling alone..... This is what I love about CruiseCritic....the open sharing of information and experiences. Thanks everyone for making it a great place of resources and fun!

Thanks for the information. I assume you get to keep the perks and promos offered at the time of the original booking except to pay for any applicable increase of the vacation protection and other misc. taxes and fees resulting from the upgrade?????

Ah....."thaaarrr she beeee!" I did read that in the fine print about the credit card being charged immediately which made me wonder about not being able to back out of the upgrade - even an accessible cabin. The bathroom just wouldn't be a comfortable for the same reason you cited from the person on that thread. Plus, if someone needed it at the last minute they would be out of luck if it was already assigned. I think those shouldn't be awarded until the very last day possible to purchase the cruise on-line. Thanks a bunch for all of the information provided. It has been a big help. I'd rather take my chances in the casino!! Big money! Big money! 🥳

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This certainly explains so much about the program. Two other questions I forgot to ask: 1) If you place a bid, you're locked into it if they accept it, correct? You can't change your mind and say, "No thank you!" ... or can you? 2) In getting a possible upgraded, the upgrade could be into one of the ADA accessible staterooms, yes? Or are those saved JUST for those who ask for it? Thanks for any information on this you might be able to provide!

Greetings and peace! So sorry if this question was already asked and answered....but is this "game of the upgrade" a straightforward one in which you're going from let's say an inside room to a room with a window or obstructed view? Or let's say from an inside room to a balcony? Or let's say from a standard balcony room to a premium balcony? Or let's say from a balcony to a mini-suite? Or does this game of chance include the possibility of an upgrade from the front of the ship to the mid-ship but still staying within the same type of stateroom? Any information you can share would be much appreciated.