JillK

That's interesting about your shareholder benefit being applied in CDN. May I ask if this was on MyNcl.com? Last year I booked in USD and the shareholder credit showed up in my onboard portfolio in USD. I see you're cruising this month - enjoy!

Thanks everyone. What you are all saying is exactly how I thought all the cruise lines worked.... which is why I was surprised by her assertion that my on board account would automatically be in CDN dollars at the exchange rate in effect the day I book the cruise (and is how any pre-purchases on myncl.com would function). I generally book in USD but even when I have booked in CDN, as others have said, it is always at my discretion if I want the cruise line to do the conversion for me to CDN using their fee/rate which I have never used. This is not the first time that she has given me incorrect information so I'm not sure how reliable she is! I'm hopeful that the exchange will improve at least a little bit between now and the fall so think I might gamble booking in US and hoping that I can save a few dollars down the road in exchange rather than locking in today's NCL rate (guessing around 1.33 since their daily gratuities are $26.61 pp in CDN 🤨).

Was speaking with a PVP for NCL today to determine if it would be better for me to book in CDN or USD for a cruise later this fall. Was surprised when she told me if I book in CDN dollars, my onboard account would also be in CDN. I have always booked in USD with NCL... but when I've booked with both Royal and Princess in CDN dollars, my onboard account was always in USD. Can anyone confirm? Thanks!

Seems like they are offering different discounts to different folks. Our NCL PVP called and emailed in mid-January telling me what a "great" promotion they were running and that I was entitled to 10% off. However after reaching out to her, the discount was only applicable to one sailing on one ship (Escape, April 16th sailing). Was not too happy to find that out after spending time identifying a cruise in October we want to book!! Very misleading and limiting a discount to one single sailing is of little value to most. Really glad to hear that others are getting an offer that is applicable to a sailing of their choice. That is an actual incentive to book as it offsets others costs (especially in light of NCL's recent daily gratuity hike). As it stands we are still considering the October cruise with NCL but are getting much better offers from Carnival so might go that route instead.

Hoping a fellow Princess cruiser can provide some advice.... We booked direct with Princess in Canadian dollars for an upcoming cruise. In my planner, I can buy what is being advertised as Canadian OBC.... I am assuming that it will actually appear on my on board account as USD but then thought better about assuming... $31.25 Cdn (assume this is $25 USD) $62.50 Cdn (assume $50 USD) $125 Cdn (assume $100 USD) This is a relatively favourable exchange rate right now but before I bite the bullet thought I would check here for further advice. Thanks as always!

We are considering renting a cabana on Roatan for our family of 6 when we are there in December on the Ruby. On Princess' website it states the rental cost is $299.99 for four but that extra people may be added at additional cost once on board. Just curious if anyone knows the cost for extra people? It would be for two children (ages 11 & 12) if that makes any difference. Thanks!

Testing costs suck all round but the above price isn't too bad, especially when you consider the nurse is coming to them... when the cruise line regulations changed after we had booked our cruise and flights and we suddenly needed to test our sons (10 and 12) when we would already be in California, Carnival was willing to provide testing at the pier for $150 USD per! We bought the Switch tests and did them from the hotel for around $100 Cdn.

We have not yet cruised on Mardi Gras but hope to over the next two years. We recently cruised on the Panorama (July 9th) and would love to cruise her again. My three kids (16, 12 & 10) are accustomed to NCL and all agree that they would cruise the Panorama again in a heartbeat. I have a lot of cruises under my belt on various lines, but rank this one in my top 5 easily. Fantastic ship and wonderful cruise experience. That being said, you have to do what works best for you and it sounds from those who have been on both ships that you can't go wrong either way - that's what I call a win-win!! Happy cruising!

I feel the same way and I am a parent of four! We have taken many different configuration of cruises, some with all the kids, some with just our daughters or just our sons and some without any of them (thank you mom and dad). A cruise is not a vacation from parenting. We had three of our kids on our cruise a few weeks ago and if they weren't playing at the splash pad/using the slides, they were with us either in the pool, hanging out on deck, doing a ship activity or in the cabin. There were over a thousand kids aboard but the only time you could tell was when you would see small groups of pre-teens/teens hanging out. I didn't see any untoward behaviour from those groups so didn't have any issues personally. We are cruising over Christmas with all of our kids in three cabins so no 3/4 pax free for us (doubt that would be on offer over Christmas anyhow though). It will be our first time with Princess since 2008 and our kids' first time with the line. They are older now (11, 12, 16 & 18) and I have already told them not to expect the same type of activities they have on NCL (the line they've cruised the most with) but do hope my sons (the younger two) will take advantage of the kids' club which we've heard is excellent. I personally like a mix of passengers when cruising and that's exactly what we experienced a few week ago on the Panorama - lots of multi-generational cruisers, young families, young couples, old couples. The only cruise where I felt out of place was on the Celebrity Silhouette where we were with all our kids and my parents. We had taken advantage of a kids sail free promo so they were trying to attract families. A lot of fellow older passengers didn't get the memo and they would openly scowl at my sons in particular (3 & 4) even though they were always supervised and extremely well behaved. It made me feel very uncomfortable and I have not been back to the brand since. I just hope that any families giving Princess a try don't have a similar experience as I have very good memories of some fantastic cruises with Princess and have high expectation for December.

Depends how forward you are. If I had done what I usually do and meticulously studied the deck plans, it is apparent that our inside cabin (#9341) is directly in the middle of the action. I would recommend that you not worry about it and bring ear plugs just in case. It was annoying but certainly didn't impact the enjoyment of the cruise. Our balcony cabin was a bit further forward (#9303) and they had no issues with noise from the deck above as they are all cabins on Deck 10 forward. That being said they were victim to the thoughtless loudmouths in the hall and my husband and two young sons were treated to multiple occasions of the couple in the cabin next to them having romantic time. Hubby told me it was happening two to three times a day and was rather lengthy. The person on the opposite side of this particular cabin had apparently had enough and one day my husband heard them yell "Just finish already!" when they were in the throws of it. Interestingly they didn't hear another peep for the rest of the cruise. Hubby found it awkward to try to explain to my 10 and 12 year olds what was happening the times they picked up on it (I think movies got blamed for a lot of it). Forgot to mention this in my first post as I didn't experience it myself. Moral of the story - the soundproofing will only stop so much!

This is a perfect ship for a multi-generation cruise. There is something for everyone and the demographic of passengers when we sailed ranged from babies to grandparents. No one will feel out of place. Happy cruising!

Sort of is a good answer. It was generally in full sun most of the day but they did have a smattering of umbrellas throughout the deck chair where you could find some reprieve from the sun. We only used this pool once, on our first full day around dinner time when it wasn't busy and the sun was beginning to set. Otherwise, too busy and too sunny for us.

So glad that your son had a fantastic cruise- no doubt this was a special vacation for you all to alleviate the tension of the past few years. Thanks for sharing - sounds like you had as wonderful a cruise as we did!

Quick question regarding wifi.... I have the option in the Ocean Medallion app to upgrade my free wifi plan to 4 devices but I am currently booked in a cabin for two, myself and my 11 YO who won't need wifi. However, I would like to purchase wifi for my teenage daughters who are in their own cabin next to mine. My question is, can I hit this upgrade button and add their devices to this plan once on board so I can take advantage of the reasonable upgrade price or do I have to get one of my teens to download the app with their booking number and buy it through there? Thanks!

I think that you will be quite pleased with the ship. It's a mature design with crisp blues and brown tones that looks modern and clean. There were lots of spaces where couples can have a lot of fun - the Havana bar if you like a latin vibe and high energy dancing, the piano bar for a singalong and a drink and of course the sanctuary during the day to avoid the kids if desired. Lots of different dining experiences on offer too so you can have your casual nights but also some fancy ones if you feel for it. There were folks from every age demographic onboard so you will find some fellow cruisers that you have things in common with. A lot of the people I spoke to were first time cruisers on the Carnival brand and a few made the comment that they had a certain expectation that wasn't realized about what Carnival would be like. Looks like the old reputation is hanging on. I hope that you have an incredible cruise in October and wish you a very happy anniversary! We are halfway behind you and celebrated our 22nd onboard. We are cruising on Princess over Christmas with our four kids (11, 12, 16 & 18) and we haven't been on the brand since 2008... I've got a lot of learning to do - especially about Ocean Medallion!

Good point on location... we tend to book mid as we have a few of us prone to sea sickness. Obviously there is always some noise coming in from the hallway but this was extreme compared to all my past cruises. I am not much of a spa person normally. I have had a few treatments done in the past (on Princess and Royal) but dislike the strong sales pitch to the point that I usually don't bother going at all. This was unique for me. I did speak with a few folks who had spa cabins (rocking the cozy robe) and they seemed very happy with their cabin and were enjoying the spa amenities as much as I did. I only ever went first thing in the morning but it is definitely a private experience on port days. Sea days were busier but not to the point of being able to not fully experience the various suites or get a heated lounger. A lot of couples were there enjoying it together and that would be my only regret - that hubby had to mind the kiddos and wasn't able to join me. I think it would be nice to be with someone so hopefully a cruise companion can join you!

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a review but I thought I’d share some thoughts on our recent Panomara cruise (July 9th sailing). This was our fourth Carnival cruise and second this year. We had been cruising primarily with NCL prior to the shut down so this was going to be our kids’ first Carnival cruise. We were curious to try the brand again as our last cruise on Carnival was on the Glory in 2013. Embarkation This was a seamless experience for us. We showed up at our appointed window and only had a 10 minute wait in the first line where you clear the verifly/documentation stage. We walked through security and had another 10 minute wait to check in. We were travelling five of us in two cabins so were told to separate but because our accounts were linked for payment, hubby had to come find me to finish the second cabin check in. Our boarding group was called just as we finished checking in so we immediately proceeded to line up to get on the ship. This was a good sized line but moved smoothly. This process took about 25 minutes and voila we were on board. The Ship Panorama is a gorgeous ship filled with fantastic activities and amenities. This was my 18th cruise and we felt that this was among the top 5 cruises we have done. There are areas of the ship that we didn’t get to experience (Havana area, Family Harbor area, Serenity) but we tried our best to do everything else. The ropes course is small enough that it’s fun for those of us who aren’t daredevils and SkyRide is so much fun that everyone should try it. The decor is pleasing and the flow of the ship makes sense so I didn’t spend all week getting confused and turned around as I have on some other ships. The Cabin(s) We split our group into two cabins on Deck 9, the three boys in a balcony cabin mid-fwd and the girls in an inside mid. Hubby had a much better promo than I did in his VIFP profile so scored a better cabin at a similar price to what I paid for the inside (still not happy about that one Carnival - you clearly don’t know that *I* make the travel decisions in my family). The balcony cabin was spacious for our crew where the biggest negative is that the cabin is left with the bed deployed for the duration of the cruise so during the day, the guys would have to sit on their own beds rather than having a couch to use. That sucked for our family dynamic where on a few evenings the three kids would hang out in the cabin and watch TV/play video games and hubby and I would go to a show on our own. The inside cabin was cozy and met our needs. The biggest issue was that in the month’s delay between booking hubby’s cabin and ours, the cabin I had wanted to book got scooped up so that when finally booked, I just picked the next one down the hall that was the closest. This means that I didn’t look at the deck plans - big mistake. We ended up being underneath or very close to the pool. This led to a significant amount of noise bleeding into our cabin, ranging from what I would describe as water trickling all night at least two nights, to the bass from anything happening on deck (movies, music) or stomping from dancing. Often we were at those parties so it wasn’t an issue but a few nights we retired early only to be kept awake by the late night movie or a party that was still going (one night until 12:30 am even though it was scheduled to end at 11:30 for example). I didn’t realize that I would have to re-learn a lesson I thought I learnt 15 cruises ago…. Always check your cabin location on a deck map! I would also say that there was a large amount of fellow passenger inconsideration that would wake us up most nights. Why people insist on speaking at above normal volume when going down the hallways at all hours of the night was surprising. There was only one night when I was able to sleep through the night without some inconsiderate jerk practically yelling as they walked down the hall in the wee hours of the morning. I’m glad you had a fun night but I’m sure you could have managed to find your way back to your cabin without waking everyone as you found your way home. Maybe try a normal speaking volume or here’s a thought… whisper when it’s 4:00 am? The Food We did a miss mash of things for our meals on this cruise. There were a lot of burgers eaten and I feel that Guy’s burgers remain the best at sea. The breakfast burritos were a huge hit as were the tacos. We did two specialties this week - first night at the steakhouse (which has become a cruise tradition - go big while we still have an appetite) and another night at the Pig & Anchor. I would highly recommend the steakhouse though we all agreed the filet minion served in the MDR on the second formal night was every bit as good as the steakhouse (shocking as I will not even touch the steak in the MDR on NCL but the kids don’t discriminate). We would not return for pay at the Pig & Anchor - the servings, while plentiful and reasonably priced were super awkward to eat (I still haven’t figured out how they expected us to eat a full rack of ribs which was tough to separate with a regular knife) and while tasty, not worth the premium. Our server also completely ghosted us after clearing our dishes so we never received a bill after waiting for half an hour for someone to come back to our table. Stick with the freebies at lunch on sea days, it’s more than enough to get the experience all without the bill. Our experiences in the MDR were really good - service was the fastest we can ever remember receiving and one server in particular (whose name we didn’t catch unfortunately) was exceptional by greeting us each by name and anticipating our needs (which reminded me of the old days when you had traditional seating and the same wait staff every night.) We liked everything we ordered so we were very impressed. The Sea Day brunch is really quite excellent though we found the service in our case lacking. Definitely a must-do one day so plan for it. The buffet was good - nothing spectacular came out of this area that I tried. Good salad bar and fair breakfast offerings but nothing on par with what you get on NCL at the Garden Cafe. The biggest failure that we could see was the severe limitation of food options after 10:00. This did not affect us very much as we usually weren’t looking to eat that late, but on a ship the size of the Panorama, it’s shocking that they only have the pizza place (staffed by two crew members) and the deli (staffed by three crew members) open to serve food. Those five crew members deserve a raise and a medal for putting up with the onslaught of hungry people after 10:00. They could at minimum have a portion of the buffet open with a selection of cold things that are pre-made - sandwiches, cold cuts, cheeses, chips and salsa, etc. to ease the burden. This was the one thing that made no sense to us at all. The Entertainment The Sports court was incredible. We spent lots of time here playing chess, foosball, pingpong, mini golf, billiards (had to pay for that on NCL). Such a fantastic use of space with something for everyone and it’s very clever that a portion of it is indoors for when the heat is unbearable. There was a lot of comedy and we did get out to a number of shows. We didn’t go to the broadway style shows… we had our fill in March but did enjoy the game shows in the Liquid Lounge and also Ocean Plaza and really had a lot of fun at most of the deck parties. The silent disco was a big hit with our family in particular. We did the dive-in movie one night and really enjoyed it - the movies repeat during the week so it’s a matter of finding an evening that works best. We were surprised by the size of the two main pools given the size of the ship. They felt undersized and at times were very crowded (body to body). We used them only on port days when we elected to stay on board. The waterworks area was an awesome place for the kids to play and for adults to cool off. I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids did. The two slides are also a lot of fun and easily accessible on port days. Line ups are significant on sea days as expected. The kids were signed up for the kids clubs but the teen wasn’t interested. The boys only went twice to their respective clubs but left quickly out of “boredom.” It was the first time the boys were separated (one is 10, the other 12) so I suspect this had something to do with it. I also think they should have gone when there was an activity happening but in any case, we were just as happy to hang out with them so it wasn’t a big deal. During the welcome aboard show they said there was over 1,000 kids on our sailing and it showed in the many families aboard and especially around the pre-teen/teen club area in the evenings where it looked like there were a billion teens. The Spa After so many cruises, I finally decided to treat myself to a thermal suite pass for the week. I managed to make it there five days and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was still getting up well before my family so I was often done at the spa when the rest of my family was getting up or had been up only a short while. I was surprised that the thermal suite only had 9 heated loungers and the whirlpool is quite small but they must dole the passes out accordingly as it was never so crowded I couldn’t get a lounger. The morning we had an early debark in Cabo I had the place to myself for over an hour. I found the experience very relaxing and may have found my new favourite routine when at sea. Well worth it for $149. Disembarkation A very easy process. We had a flight before 1:30 so Carnival gave us the option of 8:30 self-walk off or luggage delivery in terminal at 9:30. When it’s just hubby and I we do self but with three sizeable bags and the kids in tow, we felt delivery in terminal would be best. Once called, the line to disembark moved very smoothly and in no time we were off the ship. The line moved well to get down to the luggage concourse where we quickly found our bags and then we zoomed through a the line for non-US citizens with no wait to clear customs (the line for US citizens was significant at this point). We had a very friendly customs agent who especially kind to our 10 year old (made him show his build a bear’s birth certificate which made him beam with pride). After that it was a quick exit to find our transportation to the airport. Overall it was about 30 minutes from getting called to leave the ship to curbside. Overall This was a fantastic cruise and a great way to introduce our kids to Carnival who are accustomed to NCL. We wouldn’t hesitate to book with Carnival again, particularly on their newer ships due to the innovations they have (Mardi Gras, I’m looking at you). The only drawback vs. NCL as their offerings are so similar is that Carnival’s loyalty program (onboard rewards) cannot compare to NCL. We are four cruise days away from Platinum with NCL where the perks really start to add up but even at the gold level the perks include discounts on shore excursions, photos, laundry and spa services whereas with Carnival we get one free bottle of water. That's it. This may push us to stick with NCL more often assuming itinerary/ship/price are comparable. That being said, Carnival did a lot of things better than NCL… embarkation/debarkation were significantly faster and easier with Carnival and Carnival was able to give me a way to limit my kids’ spending while still allowing them to be independent (it’s full spending or none with NCL which is really dumb). Overall a fantastic week at sea and one that ranks up there among the best I’ve done.

I had to call Carnival to clarify this point with respect to my sons for our cruise on the 9th. My 12 YO only qualifies to receive his booster next week and Health Canada has not yet approved the booster for kids 5 - 11 so my 10 YO cannot receive one. As far as we and our government is concerned they are up to date since they don’t qualify for boosters. I was explicitly told by the rep I spoke with “NO BOOSTER means NOT UP TO DATE.” With that in mind your safest bet is to test 2 days prior (or day before which we ended up doing with our sons). Happy sailing!

I had two bookings at Cucina for my cruise on the Panorama next week and received emails a few days ago telling me that the bookings would be cancelled as they are keeping Cucina closed across the fleet (except Mardi Gras) until the end of July.

Badfigner - Thank you for sharing your rule of thumb but other than an admonishment of something I've already done, I'm unclear how that actually helps with the question I asked. Joe817- I like to think that I'm a generous friend but I wouldn't pay their grats.... both cabins are for my immediate family (we are a family of 6 so always need two or more cabins)- the one I'm having an issue with is for my husband and sons. Since the feature has become available I generally pre-paid the tips and pay them off before we cruise to help manage the total owing at the end of the trip. Us Canadians have to add 32.5% (30% exchange rate and 2.5% bank conversion fee) to our purchases in USD so making even modest costs that much more and adds up faster than yours will. Looks like I'll be calling Carnival to resolve.

I have two cabins booked for a cruise in just a few weeks... thought I had pre-paid the gratuities for both cabins shortly after booking, but it now appears one of the cabins has it added to the booking but it was not paid. When I select "View Invoice Details" I can see the pre-paid gratuities total and there is a button that reads "Pay Now" but it is not active. There is no where to de-select pre-paid gratuities and no way to pay it. Since it's considered invoiced and unpaid, I am unable to access/print the boarding passes for that cabin. Any way I can get this either paid or removed without calling Carnival? Thanks!

Thank you Redwing55 and dog. I haven't downloaded the app yet as our cruise is at the end of the year so hadn't fully explored that. Makes sense but I was surprised it wasn't anywhere on the cruise planner - glad to know I'm not crazy!

In all honesty - that was my first thought since I don't use Wifi when I'm on vacation (hubby will use his to check in with work and keep up with sports scores of course). I didn't know if I could let them use my login/password with Princess or if I should just get them their own... At least from what I've read the Princess pricing is reasonable compared to other lines (NCL is particularly ridiculous in my opinion). I did give my wifi credentials to the oldest when we cruised in March but it was a limited plan and was gobbled up within a day.... She had a real issue not being in touch consistently with the boyfriend that week. We figure this could be our last trip all 6 of us as she is starting University in the fall so we just want to make sure everyone is happy for a harmonious cruise (and hopefully lifetime of good memories)!

Hi everyone. We have booked a family cruise over Christmas and it will be our first time cruising with Princess in a very long time... well before medallion net was a thing. For the life of me figure out how to pre-purchase wifi for my daughters for the duration of the cruise. Hubby and I have it included as we booked under the princess plus fare, but I l cannot find it in the cruise planner when I'm in my daughters' non-princess plus booking (they have their own cabin as they are 16 & 18). Can anyone direct me where to find it? Thanks!!

Can you tell me how you were able to book your antigen testing appointments being non-citizens with CVS? Carnival made a policy change a few weeks ago making my sons not "up to date" with their vaccinations (they aren't boostered as they don't qualify yet) meaning they cannot test before we leave home and have it valid for boarding - we need to get them tested when we're in Long Beach. I am having a hard time navigating their booking system as a non-citizen and am unclear as to the pricing.... might go the proctored switch health route but if I can get them booked into an in-person test, I think that would be my preference. Thanks!