Paula_MacFan

Thanks for the review! We're going in January. Any comments on the Kona zodiac? We are considering that excursion and welcome any feedback.

Alamo is open 6AM - 10:45PM every day per their website. I also assumed they were open when they accepted our booking to pick up the rental car on Sunday.

We have a rental from Alamo booked from 8:30 am - 8:30 pm in Maui for one day in January. I know we could have parked overnight at the airport but we really just wanted the rental for the day so that's what we're doing.

I haven't stayed in those cabins but was also curious about that uniquely-shaped balcony and location when I was researching an upcoming cruise. I did a search for those cabin numbers and found several first-hand reports. Maybe you've done that already -- but if not I'd recommend it. You may have to expand your search to all Royal class ships. I found some here on CC and some on other sources, both video and written form 🙂

?? Their profile says they've been a member since 2016......

Princess has sailed from Galveston in the past. We sailed from there many times and that's what hooked us on Princess to start with 🙂 Granted they haven't been there in many years now, but they have sailed from there. The Caribbean Princess also sailed from the now-defunct Houston port for a season too (we sailed from there twice) so people in the area should be somewhat familiar with Princess.

I had same problem recently -- there have been a few threads here on payment processing issues over the past few weeks. Princess rep I spoke with said they have been getting lots of calls about the problem so they should be aware and fixing it.....

I recently had to call to complete a booking -- same problems with accepting payment on the website. The rep I spoke to said they have been inundated with calls seeking help with payments. You'd think Princess would fix the problem when they are clearly aware of it.

This may be extreme for you, but WAY back when they first took away the balcony tables we bought one of these roll up tables for around $20 and took it with us. It rolls up to the size similar to a camp chair and comes in a bag. We used to sail from a port within driving distance, so it wasn't an issue for us to throw it in our luggage. If you were flying it might be more of an issue. Since then we've flown to further ports and booked deluxe balcony cabins that had the larger coffee table and we used that for in-room/balcony meals. Other than that, a full suite is nice too since it comes with a full-sized dining table. We've had that too, but only after getting an upsell offer 🙂

I've had the same problem this week. I left a message for my PVP last week, to which he responded he'd get back with me on Monday this week. Yesterday (Wednesday) after not hearing anything back, I tried to call him again. I got a message in someone else's voice saying it was my PVP's mailbox but he was 'out of the office'. Maybe he is ill, I don't know. In the meantime I tried to book online myself, got all the way to the end to input payment, and got a message saying 'sorry, we can't complete your transaction at this time' or something like that. I tried the PVP number again, got transferred to a customer service rep, and after sitting on hold for 43 minutes, finally got someone to help. She was very nice and was able to complete my booking. She said countless people have called in needing assistance with completing bookings online and they 'were working on it'. I really love Princess cruises, but they are making it darn hard for people to actually book them. 😞

We've been offered full suite upgrade offers before and took them. I thought it was a reasonable alternative to booking full price and we enjoyed all the full suite perks. I would be interested in this program for upgrades such as that. But having said that -- we always book the specific cabin we want and are willing to pay for it. We have never booked a guarantee room as we like specific, quiet areas with large balconies 🙂

Same here -- we've booked our own independent air fare (not leaving that up to someone else no matter the cost) and we also have hotels booked as 'Plan B' just in case. I figured we're going to Hawaii one way or another, but I hope it's on POA 🙂

Ugh -- not to be Debbie Downer but I've read several reports of people in suites, celebrating 50th anniversary trips, large groups, some on the pre-cruise land tour, etc all getting cancelled! I hope for your sake you're not one of the unlucky. We are sailing in January so I've been following POA cancellation stories. The only rhyme or reason I've read/heard is people with NCL air and those who booked later than others are primarily getting cancelled. Good luck! 🙂

In my case the booking window had just opened up, so there's no way that every Deluxe and Premium Deluxe Balcony was booked. Which the PVP confirmed when he said it was a glitch in the Princess booking system.

Just telling you what the PVP told me. I'm no Princess rep. 🙂

I had the same problem on Friday and contacted my PVP. He told me there is currently a glitch in Princess' system for people trying to book 2 passengers in a room that will accommodate 3 or 4 passengers, such as a Deluxe Balcony or Premium Deluxe Balcony. He said they are aware and are working on correcting it, and he's supposed to call me back tomorrow (Monday) to finalize my booking.

Not arguing that point at all. I know there some way more knowledgeable CCers here who have posted about the entire process since hiring Americans and meeting all the strict requirements takes a much longer time.

I've seen online ads for NCL hiring fairs in Kansas City, Alabama, and North Carolina. I'm sure there are a multitude of others that didn't pop up in my feed. It appears they are trying to hire from all over the country.

We're treating the POA as a floating hotel and nothing else -- just a means to enjoy multiple islands in a short time. Not worried about night life, casino, etc. I think going in with realistic expectations is the key for that ship 🙂 All of my comments were about NCL and I was simply chiming in that other lines are also having staffing, capacity, and cancellation issues, not just Princess -- per the OP's original question.

Maybe this is what you're looking for

We're longtime Princess cruisers who are trying NCL's Pride of America Hawaiian cruise in January 2023 for the unique itinerary. They have been sailing at 40% capacity since the restart and have been regularly cancelling passengers around 60 days out due to ongoing staffing issues. Right now only 2 of the many specialty dining options are open, despite pushing the specialty dining package when booking. NCL has done hiring fairs all over the country -- in fact here in middle America I saw one recently in KCMO. That shows you they are looking all over the place for help! I keep reading report after report of people getting cancellation notices. Yesterday I read one where the cruisers who had been waiting months for air assignments, finally got that email, only to get the cruise cancellation email within 24 hours. Many people are frustrated. So yeah, other lines seem to be having issues too! 🙂

We're booked for January 2023 so it hasn't impacted us (yet), but I've read many reports where people with NCL-booked airfare were predominantly the cancelled group. Also anecdotal reports from TAs that those booked last were first cancelled. Who knows.....we've already booked independent air arrangements and have 'plan B' hotels booked, so we're going to Hawaii one way or another 🙂

The whole cruise isn't cancelled, NCL continues to selectively cancel bookings to remain under the 40% capacity threshold, which they've been doing since resumption of POA itinerary.