1412p0oi

There’s no need to be so rude and snarky. You can also contact a Princess agent by phone or via chat and find out about this right away without wasting time waiting for an answer here. The agents are quite helpful and prompt in replying.

Thank you so much for the great review and all the pictures! I felt like I was on the cruise with you. :)

Hello CC community, so this is the only excursion I'm booking with Princess directly for my upcoming cruise, with my OBC. There are a few different time slots for it (massage + beach access type), and I wanted the earliest time slot at 8:30am, but while I was reading the details the last spot was taken, so I ended up booking the 9am time (which was also $20 more expensive), and put myself on the waitlist for the 8:30am. Interestingly enough, after I got on the waitlist, the 8:30am slot showed "Sold out" and couldn't be selected anymore, so I don't know if the waitlist only allowed 1 person. Now I have a few questions about this situation: - Should I just get off the waitlist now and talk to someone once I'm on board that I would like to join the 8:30am group if possible? - If I stay on the waitlist and it somehow opens up, would I be able to cancel my 9am slot and still pay with OBC? Or be double charged? It doesn't make much sense for this excursion to pay and go twice in here there's only a difference of 30 minutes which makes it practically not feasible. Other advice on this? To clarify, my position is that I would like the 8:30am time because the timing is better and also because somehow it's $20 cheaper (it's always nice to put dollars to better use), but if this situation may be confusing for Princess and/or difficult to resolve without being double charged then I have no problems getting off the waitlist. Thank you in advance for your advice.

Sharing my experience - I haven't gone on my cruise yet, but I booked a few shore excursions with them and cancelled two of them 14 days before my cruise departure. Got my refund back to my credit card without a problem. I'll have to see how the actual excursions go but as far as the cancellation itself, that was done easily online.

It's totally fine to never want to choose a cruise line or ship again, that's your decision. But to me this sounds less like a problem about the ship (do you really think other ships of similar build and size on other cruise lines are magically better), and more about the condition of the seas, which is not something you can magic away as long as you cruise. And maybe a better location might help. There seems like a sweet spot of conditions you'll need to check for your next cruise to be better, but is there any guarantee that on the same itinerary, on similar dates, in similar cabins, you won't have an issue on other cruise lines?

You can always cancel and have it be refunded to you as well - I did it without knowing. But I was also told, and recent reviews have told me, that dinner reservations for specialty restaurants run out quickly so waiting until you're onboard might be a bit tight if you're traveling with a bigger group or want a very specific time and date for specialty dining.

Honestly given the price differential, the money I saved with my Princess cruise vs. a Seabourn cruise lets me buy 100 restaurant steaks. Of course the difference may not be equal, and rich multimillionaires with tons of money to spare wouldn't care about costs, for those that do I think it's good for passengers to keep in mind what they signed up for. In my case, I'm quite easy to please with all the food offerings and saving my 100-steak money.

Is that shown on the Princess Platter after we get on the ship, or should one ask beforehand?

I booked with a famous travel agency and spoke with multiple agents. Some agents were a bit confused about some things and not as experienced, so I also heard from one that I don't need to pay until "just a few days before" while another said that I needed to pay right before 120 days. I then went on the cruiseline website and checked. Anyways went with the more expensive agent who helped me get booked, paid over the phone, immediately got a booking and confirmation number for both the TA and the cruise line, and even logged into the app and made plans. I think if your husband's friend doesn't even want to bother logging in on the cruise line website to check, then that's his thing. Beyond what you guys can do. At the same time, what he's doing sounds legit if he decided to pay using a payment plan, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Imo as long as he can locate his reservation on the cruise line's website or app, he's set. Since you said the agency is also reputable I doubt it's a scam one. It's easy to tell if you've been scammed if you check out how much money came out of your credit card and whether your reservation actually exists if you contact the cruise line...

I feel like most Americans (who make up the bulk of travelers on Caribbean or nearby cruises) don't care for that much variety in breakfast, and it's a lot to prepare with not that much time left for dinner besides. And a lot of people sleep in too. Personally I don't normally eat breakfast but I enjoy omelettes so will have to see.

I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience with this cruise. At the same time, it also seemed a bit risky to take a 14-day cruise with a cruise line you haven't been on, on an older ship, with exacting standards. You also forget to mention that Disney cruises also cost 3x more than your average Princess cruise for the same itinerary and duration. If you have expensive tastes, just go for luxury cruise lines. Simple as that. It's fine to go for that, but one would think that naturally it HAS to be a lot better to justify that exorbitant price tag. Frankly, the offerings on those cruise lines don't justify it for me when I can take several cruises for the price of one cruise there. FYI - I'm millennial, traveling solo, and not brand loyal, but I do care about what's worth spending more dollars on.

Sure, but it’s still labeled as a solo cabin option that was the cheapest and only kind available on my ship. Does it matter if “they now have some available” if it’s not on every ship and therefore not on the specific ship for my cruise? That aside, the point still stands about the pricing. It’s not necessarily erasing the single supplement on many cruises. Just perhaps a bit cheaper in some cases. I’ve also played around with other itineraries and switching between 1-2 people to see my option:

Thank you for the detailed review through the good and bad! I learned a lot and am glad you guys will continue cruising.

Depending on the cruise it's probably cheaper or the same price for a solo cabin. Only a few cruise lines have them anyways. I recently booked Norwegian for an Alaskan cruise. Solo cabin was literally $50 cheaper than the standard interior cabin (next cheapest option), for like half the space. So not saving much money at all in this case.

I also came across some of the longer cruises though I suppose they fall under the repositioning categories, and they go to places like Asia or Europe. I suppose long cruises are more enjoyable for retirees?

Well sadly that's what they all do. Like all of my credit card companies do that....

I think that's a scam email. Just check the email handle. If the email handle is not legit then you know the email is not legit at least. I say this as a person who gets a ton of scam emails all the time and am always trying to filter and block them out. But if it is real then check it out? Having a room for $50/person/per night is not impossible to find for a 7-day cruise.

Thank you for the information, Hank! I hadn't known a lot of people do back-to-back cruises. I just want one reservation at Sabatini's (there are enough steak restaurants in my city but not a whole lot decent Italian restaurants) and I'm traveling solo, so I'll talk to the restaurant manager to see if they can fit me somewhere. Though hopefully the earliest dinner time since I tend to eat very early.

wow, that seems really annoying. Were you able to use your OBC in the end with specialty dining?

Pardon me for jumping in this thread, but how do you find these personal cruise consultants? As a cruise newbie I just googled for cruises and then booked it on one of the big travel agency sites that also had some special offers, and had to call them a few times for assistance with various things, but I'm guessing that is not a "consultant"

Thank you!

So using the app and the website posted a charge to my credit card, which I wasn't aware of until today, although I have OBC and was able to book shore excursions with it. Is the only way to have OBC apply to a specialty dinner be to reserve it once I'm on the ship? Would I have to go to guest services to do that (and risking a long line) or is there a better method? By the way, would I get an automatic refund if I delete the reservation? I just want to get a meal at Sabatini's, and since I'm traveling solo I'm hoping it'll be easier to score a table if timing gets tough.

I just found this article: https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-cancels-in-favor-of-full-ship-charter/118779 It seems like a lot of ships and itineraries in 2024/2025 are being cancelled due to "full ship charters." Is it billionaires renting out entire ships for a month of partying or something??

Thank you all for the advice! I decided to get it this time, since I'll be on the Norwegian Jewel on a one-way trip from Vancouver to Alaska, with 2 scenic cruise days and a short itinerary day at Ketichikan, so I hope to make use of it enough to justify the price.

Thank you all for your responses! I'm learning a lot of information for the first time, so it's been really helpful!