Paula_MacFan

I wasn't 'poking' you personally, simply commenting on the many complaints that come up here consistently about the Island. I'm looking forward my upcoming Island cruise this fall, and don't really care what the 'prior' version was. I have no specific knowledge about any potential upcoming drydock, but just did a simple Google search which revealed nothing major of note. That, in conjunction with the Cruise Critic article stating there were no planned upcoming 'refurbishments' was enough to satisfy my curiosity on the matter.

Would that include any 'improvements planned' per the OPs question, or simply exterior maintenance and inspection? The link I attached was from Cruise Critic regarding refurbishments of which they reported none. I'm guessing most people who continually complain about the Island are hoping for a return to its' former state, but that seems unrealistic to me.

Thanks for the nice write up! The Regal is one of our favorite ships and we have another upcoming cruise booked. I also agree that any day with a taco is a good day 🙂

Google search: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=521

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/pre-cruise/what-to-pack-for-a-cruise/ https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/cruise-destinations/cruise-tips-advice-and-information/tips-on-what-to-pack-for-a-cruise.html Google

I find this level of familiarity bizarre. I would never dream of sharing phone numbers with my housekeeper at the Holiday Inn so we can keep in touch until my next stay.

We got a tour of the bridge when we did the behind the scenes ship tour several years ago. It was the tour that was $150 per person and came with all the gifts. Of course this was pre-covid. Like the other poster above, I doubt you could get a complimentary tour in this day and age.

Cash. This topic has come up time and time again.

We used Acadia National Park Tours as well. Nice tour with good guides. And FYI -- it's ACADIA, not Arcadia. https://www.acadiatours.com/acadia-national-park-tours-our-tour/

There are some good threads here from people who have done the Cruisetour. Here are a few I bookmarked back when we were researching that trip:

I was coming here to post the same screen shots as Ombud did above, but they beat me to it 🙂 I also think the Excursion Details tab next to the Customer Reviews tab is very helpful for a breakdown of specific travel times and where you'll visit. If you are looking for other excursion reviews there are many online sources such as Tripadvisor or simply Google which will have thousands of reviews of tours and attractions. Sometimes just an easy browser search of the tour or attraction will do the trick. I've also found that other cruise lines have similar if not identical excursions and tours, and many of them have way more customer reviews posted than Princess. So you might try searching for the name of the tour and 'Carnival' or 'Holland America' etc and see if there are more customer reviews that help you. Good luck! Edit to say -- I see you doing an Alaskan cruise so you should visit the Alaska port section of Cruise Critic where you will get much more information specific to that area.

Sorry you are struggling with EZ Air. I got a message over the weekend my airfare had a schedule change. Email with the details just popped up this morning, no problems. We've used EZ Air before with no issues and have flights booked for our Europe cruise this fall. When traveling domestically we book our own but you can't beat the international flight prices. Plus I love having the ability to change if prices drop prior to ticketing (we re-fared a couple weeks ago and shaved off $650). Also when buying Princess insurance and EZ Air that's covered as well. Based on our experience I'd say what you're experiencing is not normal. Maybe they are working on rebooking you and it just hasn't shown up yet? I always handle my own booking online and rarely have to call, but when I have there has been no long wait time like others have reported. Good luck in your resolution.

I looked under Princess EZ Air and 'contact us' and got this from the website:

Edit to delete

As others have said, it depends on the cruise. Our upcoming European cruise has had excursions open for well over a year. Caribbean ports seem to be open pretty early as well. As expected there were some delays getting up and running after the covid re-start, but I would think your June 2024 excursions would be open soon based on our own experience. In the meantime you can look at the port offerings on the Princess website, even if they aren't open for booking quite yet.

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/beverages/ Each package details are listed here.

https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/cruise-ports-and-hotels/ Explained on the Princess website.

Sounds like our kind of evening 🙂 My comments weren't directed solely at you-- this comes up every time we discuss MDR room service for suites. I just don't see what the big deal is -- they deliver any other room service order 'all at once' too. They also brought us a nice fabric tablecloth each night and a bread basket too. So much better than schlepping down to the MDR IMO.

Can't answer your specific question but remember the package includes gratuities and other non-alcoholic drinks. It's not just wifi and booze. There have been many threads about the value even without alcohol so you might do the math and see if it still makes sense.

We just returned from a Hawaiian cruise in January (different cruise line though). We used our phones normally the entire time while in the islands. It's still USA so there's no problem there 🙂 We had cell service even in the evenings sailing between islands.

https://www.princess.com/learn/ships/staterooms/suites/ PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf

Best suite perk IMO 🙂 We used it most nights on our last suite Caribbean cruise. We had a full sized dining table and ate on the balcony. People make a big deal out of 'everything being delivered at once'. I say 'who cares' -- it's MDR food I can eat at my leisure in my swimsuit if I am so inclined. I don't cook meals by courses at home and am perfectly able to 'serve myself' from room service covered dishes.

The Travel Summary isn't super obvious on the website and they could do a better job of high-lighting it IMO. I always keep a PDF copy because it has all the info documented in one place in case there are any issues onboard about excursions, packages, etc.

My package shows up under the Onboard Services tab and also Travel Summary document.

https://www.princess.com/learn/ships/staterooms/suites/ PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf