chubbypiggy

59 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

But it definitely did on our recent 33-day transpacific cruise in April/May from Syndey to Vancouver by way of Hawaii. Even though there were aft-facing cabins available when we booked the TP cruise, we wound up choosing one on the starboard side where we saw the morning sunrise, but also avoided the afternoon sun as well as the west to east winds on rough sea days, which there were a few.

 

We were on the same Transpacific cruise with you (Majestic); we only did the 27 days, got off at L.A.  We had cabin R515 on the starboard side; so nice having the morning sunrise.  ☺️

14 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Back in March (with only 80% occupancy), they only had 3 (out of 5) MDRs open:

 

*Deck 6 dining rooms (Santa Fe and Pacific Moon / midship. 

 Club Class was in Santa Fe (Deck 6 midship/starboard). 

 

*Lunch for everyone else (and breakfast) was aft at International Dining Room / Deck 6

Thank you.

17 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Our plan is to eat in the Reserve Collection dining room if we’re able to board while it’s open for lunch. Unfortunately, we won’t know which MDR it’s located in until we’re on the ship, unless someone else following this thread might know.

Thank you.  I do recognized CC names of 1-2 posters following this thread that I remember they were recently on the Diamond Princess.  Hopefully they will have information on the embarkation lunch in the dining room. 

@Ken the cruiser  Do you plan to have lunch in the dining room on embarkation day?  If so, do you already know which dining room will be used for embarkation day lunch?  I know on the Royal class ships, it is the midship dining room on deck 6.  I am not familiar with the Grand class ships.  TIA.

18 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

Possible cancelations?  
 

I’ve been through this process only twice so far.  In each instance, I booked ocean view and was offered three higher categories to bid on.  Nothing nicer than balconies. Currently I am being offered deluxe ocean view, balcony and deluxe balcony.

I agree.  Since the email said my upgrade bid acceptance can be up to embarkation day, if there are cancellations, Princess still accept upgrade bid to get more money.

For my upcoming Sept. Japan cruise on Diamond Princess, yesterday when I viewed that cruise on the Princess website, it shows only Interior cabins still available, and all other categories showing "Sold out".  Also yesterday, I received an upgrade bid offer, in which I can bid from my Balcony cabin to mini-suites or club class mini-suites.  If it shows "sold out" on the website, how come I still received an upgrade bid offer?

16 hours ago, possum52 said:

A half day tour of Auckland and you only saw the port area? The port area is not that big or do you mean the harbour area? How long was this tour? What were you supposed to see?

 

We did a half day tour - three hours which took us through various harbourside suburbs on both sides of the central business district. We visited the beautiful Auckland Domain where we stopped at the War Museum. We then went across to Devonport on the other side of the harbour where we drove through the historic village and stopped at a beachside cafe for refreshments after driving to the summit of North Head with a fantastic view of the harbour and Auckland. On the way back to the ship we stopped at the yacht marina where there were some very expensive yachts moored. A very interesting tour which had an overview of what Auckland is like.

We took a Viator tour that has a lot of good reviews.  The guide was very nice, but almost all the points mentioned in the descriptions were just "pass by".

https://www.viator.com/tours/Auckland/Discover-Auckland-Scenic-Tour/d391-52297P1

58 minutes ago, KKB said:

Such a bummer! Yeah missed ports hurt more on bigger trips like this

So for our 27 days cruise, we ended up with only 5  ports;  Auckland, Moorea, Papeete, Honolulu, and Kona.  Definitely a lot of sea days. 🤣

23 hours ago, KKB said:

If you see this...did you do a TR of this trip?

We are doing it next April!

Due to weather, Captain decided to skip Tauranga and Bay of Islands.  Replaced with one additional sea day and one day in Moorea.  We did a half-day tour in Auckland, driver only took us around the port area.  Our original plan was to spend the 2nd half of the time doing shopping in Auckland.  Because it was Easter Sunday, all the shops were closed.  So, of the 3 NZ ports, only saw port area of Auckland.  Big disappointment.

On 6/18/2023 at 6:57 AM, Steelers36 said:

See what they say, but I now think it seems doubtful.

Talked to my CVP today.  He said we can only use credit card for the bid upgrade payment.

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

See what they say, but I now think it seems doubtful.

@Steelers36 I need to call my CVP on Monday to pay final payment on one of my cruises, I will ask at that time.

@echoshipmate  Thank you.  I will ask my CVP on Monday.

Thank you for all information.

The email says "Or if you booked through a travel advisor, contact them directly for help with the upgrade. ". 

I wonder if I call my Princess CVP, and ask him to do my bid upgrade, will I be able to give him gift cards for the bid payment?

After I submit the bid, usually how long will it take for Princess to let me know if my bid was successful?  And will I be given the cabin number upon notification of my successful bid?  Or it is similar to guarantee cabin in which it can be up to the time of embarkation before knowing the cabin number?  

17 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

A bid upgrade doesn't change your booking benefits such as OBC.

 

You should be able to change to an available cabin in same category.

 

We can pay cruise fare cost with GC's and the upgrade bid is just more cruise fare, so should not be a problem.  I cannot say if you have to phone in or can do it online.  Don't recall from the older extensive thread on bid upgrade process.  Have you looked at some of that info?

Thank you for your information.

I will try to find the old thread and see what I can find.  From the email, it seems like when you click to bid, you might need to give credit card information.  

I just received an email for "bid to upgrade" for my upcoming Sept. Diamond Princess 7-day Japan cruise.  The starting bid is $200pp to upgrade to mini suite from my mid-ship balcony stateroom  (catg BA).  I am thinking of bidding it with the lowest bid of $200pp.  I just checked on the Princess website, at the current price, the difference between BA and ME (lowest category of Mini suite) is only $250pp; but between BA and MB or MD is $600pp.   I am thinking of trying my luck and bid for $200 and hopefully get MB or MD.

I have a few questions: 

On my current booking, both of us, each will get $100 OBC from Princess promotion when we booked.  But currently, it is not showing any OBC if book today.  So, If we bid successfully, will we get to keep our current $100pp OBC, or it will be removed as if we are doing a new booking?

If we were assigned a cabin that we don't like (for example, last room aft), but there are still available cabins in that same category, but not as aft, can we ask to change to that cabin?  Or what they assigned is final?

Can we pay for the bid with Princess gift cards?

Thank you for any inputs! 

17 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We stayed at the Park Royal (I think we were on the 71st floor).  Getting a taxi was no different than getting a taxi from any hotel....just ask the doorman...wait a couple of minutes...and than the taxi appears.  I do not remember the exact cost, but it was no more than $15.  To be honest, most folks flying half way around the world to Japan, and taking a cruise, should not be overly concerned about whether a taxi fare is $10 or $15.  

 

By the way, we loved our hotel location because we were part of a huge office/shopping complex with a large shopping center next door.  The day we got to Yokohoma (we took the bullet train up from Kyoto) it was chilly with heavy rain made horizontal by a nasty wind.  But, from our hotel we could simply walk underground to the shopping center where there were plenty of restaurants and some decent browsing (of shops).  

 

Under normal circumstances, it would probably make sense to be in a hotel closer to Chinatown (which is relatively close to the port) since that is a fascinating neighborhood in Yokohama (the largest chinatown in the country).  But getting around Yokohama (and/or Tokyo) is relatively easy since Japan has an amazing public transit system.  Subways in our country are not that clean the day they are new!

 

Hank

On 5/22/2023 at 8:20 AM, Hlitner said:

What I find fascinating is the opinion of DW, who was on her first trip around Japan (I had previously lived in Japan for 2 years).  During our trip we spent 5 nights in Tokyo, 6 nights in Kyoto (used the bullet train between the two) and 1 night in Yokohama (pre cruise).  We also had 2 turn-around days in Yokohama and spent one of those in Tokyo (took the subway) and the other just exploring Yokohama (with an emphasis on Chinatown. 

Did you stayed in the Minatomirai area for your 1 night pre-cruise?  In Sept, we will be staying at the Intercontinental Yokohama Grand (Minatomirai area) pre-cruise.  Mainly want to know if it was easy getting a taxi from the hotel to the Osanbashi Pier and how much for the taxi ride?   TIA.

20 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Do you also know about the “…” box in the upper right hand corner of each post? Once you submit a post, you have about 15 minutes if you need to correct something after you “Submit Reply”. The Edit option is one of the options behind the “…”. Once a post is successfully edited, you’ll see the below at the bottom of the edited thread, like this:

That is nice to know.  Thank you. ☺️

10 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Of course, you can click on the “Quote” button at the bottom of the post you want to reply to, like I did to reply to your post. Now if you want to add a CC member’s handle in a message in a thread like the two above, you first type an @ then start typing the first few letters of the CC member. For example, type @ke and then a list of handles will start to appear.

 
Sometimes you need to type 4 or more characters depending on the handle. Once you see the CC member’s handle you’re interested in, click on it. Is this what you’re referring to?

@Ken the cruiser  Thank you!

6 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@Cruise Raider was your cruise from San Diego when they just brought her online or Japan?  Thank you for your comments.

 

@Ken the cruiser looking forward to your live.  I doubt Jennifer (receptionist CC) will still be there. She’s so friendly.  

Sorry to be off the topic of this thread.  Since I have seen it many times in CC, I have been wanting to ask this question.  How do you reply to a post with the name of the poster you are replying to?  For example, in your case, "@Cruise Raider"?  TIA.

On 6/1/2023 at 1:42 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

 

2 pieces of tuna sushi was $5 a plate.  Restaurant opened at night and on sea days.  Much fresher sushi and sashimi at every port.  

Thank you.

We really enjoyed the Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar on the Discovery.  Fresh sashimi and very reasonable prices.  Just noticed there is a Kai Sushi on Promenade deck on Diamond.  Just curious to know if the quality and pricing similar to Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar on Discovery? 

3 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

Correct. On this cruise anyway. It was 25 days so maybe purchases of fewer days are available on shorter cruises. 

Thank you.

7 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I just found this RC thread. Check out post #126.

 

 

 

Thank you!

3 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

 

7D412C4E-CA51-4473-8ECB-3B086236E34F_1_201_a.heic 1.05 MB · 3 downloads

Thank you.  So the minimum purchase is 7 days?  There is no 1 day pass or 1 time pass?