sandancer

We have decided to take the Plus package on our Princess cruise this summer. For an extra £15 pp pd we could have the Premier package. If anyone has tried both, could you comment on if the extra cost of £360 is worth it.

I think you can only book the package direct either by phone or on the IHG website.

Holiday Inn right next to the dock do a package which includes B&B, parking and a taxi each way to the ship. I highly recommend asking for a room on a lower floor as it’s a nightmare getting a lift. Suggest you ask the receptionist to store your luggage overnight and just take a carry on to the room so you can use the stairs.

We are considering a wine package and I thought I read that if you buy the package it entitles you to 25% discount on individual bottles bought once you’ve used the package. Can anyone confirm or have I totally misread the the information. EDIT Just went back and of course I’ve got it wrong. The up to 25% is the saving you (allegedly) make against buying individual bottles. I think that might have been wishful thinking.

The basic fare for us with BLC saving would be around £83 pppd for a cat BB balcony without Princess plus.

We are also from the UK and we’ve booked the Regal Princess for this Summer. We have always headed for the sun (other than Alaska) and have been to some of the ports on this itinerary, just not on a cruise. It will be great to see it all from a different perspective.

We were happy with the coach service provided by Intercruises and will be using them again in March for our next Iona cruise. Driver going down was excellent. Return driver not so much. However, that being said, after this one it will be The Baggage company for us in future. Thanks for the heads up, we would never have even thought about travelling without suitcases. What a joy that will be.

Thank you both. That’s very helpful.

We have an accessible cabin booked for our cruise on Regal Princess. Since we have been travelling with a wheelchair we have only cruised with P&O who ask you to complete an accessibility form which has the dimensions of the wheelchair etc etc. They are very strict on this. On our recent cruise a lady with a scooter was refused boarding as she had not notified the cruise line that she was taking it. I can’t find a form on the Princess website. Can someone direct me to the correct place to find it, if there is one.

Thanks for the info.

That was Nov 22. I argued with them and pointed out that they had my card on file so if they could charge that card why couldn’t they just refund the obc. They wouldn’t budge so I had to take the other route which is now not allowed.

The only way Princess would let us have our refundable OBC back was by a cheque (in dollars) within 14 days. At that time you could do the casino deposit/play a little/cash out, but I understand that, like P&O you can no longer get cash this way. You cannot use OBC for casino spend on P&O.

We are doing b2b on Iona. However, they were not booked at the same time and one of them was moved from a different cruise. I assume this would cancel out the b2b benefit.

Being a total doubting Thomas or Thomasina rather, I called Intercruises again and the agent I spoke to confirmed that they won’t worry about the size of the bags but only about the weight. Next time it will be the Baggage Company for sure. Thanks to those who suggested it.

Hope you haven’t paid up front.

As we do. Would be nice to know though.

Thanks Megabear. I’m sorry to hear that you had some negative feedback. Unnecessary, especially when you are so helpful.

I would never cancel a cruise following posts on CC Megabear nor would I expect anyone to take my experience as the norm. You pays your money and you takes your chance. We are on Iona for New Year and we’re disappointed that we can’t get an aft balcony. However since Arvia we have acquired a wheelchair and it may well be that our mid ship balcony will prove much more manageable.

Well thank you for that. You obviously paved the way for our very pleasant balcony sojourns. The weather was indeed fantastic. We have been doing TAs for years and weather wise this was one of the best.

No, he wasn’t on our cruise, we came back from Barbados in April. We had heard about the noise before we went and were anticipating it. It didn’t happen though. Must have been a one off - we have an Arvia cruise in September and will now probably cancel.

Can I ask please how the temperature was in the restaurants posford. Not sure whether a jacket will be required for DH (for warmth, not dress code) as he’s already taking a dinner suit and a wrap for me. I’m hoping we’ll need neither as I could do with the packing space for other stuff. Not used to cold weather cruises so packing jeans and jumpers is a bit of a trial.

So you didn’t actually experience the noise yourself? We didn’t have any problem and didn’t speak to anyone who did. I hope the OP won’t be put off. We really enjoyed the aft cabin and spend a lot of time on our balcony.

I have booked the afternoon tea at Reid’s for next March. There is a UK phone number on their website and I just called them and booked. Initially I booked with P&O but cancelled when I discovered we would be in a tour group designated area and not in the general area.

We are on Iona for NYE. Today the speciality restaurants became available but still no dress code. We know that NYE will be black tie and there is one Chefs Table listed so that is obviously the other one. I would have liked one more.

We’ve been using these plastic tags for years now. No better way to tag your bag with cruise line luggage labels. Amazon have them.