NavyVeteran

Princess has been paying him and much of the rest of the Love Boat crew for years to do public relations. After all, that show was the best public relations advertisement for cruising in general and for Princess in particular ever. They were doing a lot of special activities for the Pacific Princess that year, since it was her last year in service for Princess. They had already sold her and announced the date she would be leaving.

We sailed on the original Pacific Princess on a 7-night cruise to Bermuda round trip from New York in 2002. It was the last season that Princess had the ship, and they had already announced that they were sailing her. When we returned to New York, Gavin MacLeod met us at the pier and welcomed the passengers ashore. Sailing on her was fairly similar to sailing on other Princess ships. This was our fourth Princess cruise - our earlier ones were on the Sun Princess in Alaska, on the original Regal Princess from New Zealand to Australia, and on the original Royal Princess around the tip of South America. Compared to the other ships, the Pacific Princess was definitely older and ready to be retired - but nothing interfered with our enjoyment of the cruise. Our cabin was much different than the ones on the show. The interiors on the show were shot on stages in Los Angeles and were much, much larger than the cabins on the ship. Our cabin had two single beds that could not be converted to a double - and they called her "The Love Boat".😉 We did not see the captain and other officers walking around the ship all day. As far as I could tell, the ship's doctor was not hitting on any of the female passengers - at least, not in public. I was interested in seeing Bermuda, and this small ship was a good fit for Bermuda, since we were able to stop at three different ports there. However, one of the main reasons I selected this cruise was to sail on The Love Boat on her last season. That show was the first introduction to cruising for me and, I suspect, for many of us.

If you change to a different cabin type, then you have to re-fare to the current price and promotion. As long as you didn't book with a nonrefundable deposit promotion (and seeing that you are in the United States), there is no fee for changing (or cancelling) a booking prior to the final payment date. You should be able to keep your booking number, your EZAir flights, and your prepaid shore excursions (even if they are currently sold out or their price has gone up). But you will lose the benefits from any promotions on your original booking that are not currently available (while gaining any benefits from the current promotion).

It is one per cabin - not one per family. If husband and wife are in different cabins and they each own stock, they can each receive the OBC. If husband and wife each own 100 shares and travel with two children who do not own stock: If husband and wife are in one cabin and children are in another cabin, then they receive one OBC. If husband and one child are in one cabin and wife and other child are in other cabin, then they receive two OBCs - one for each cabin. It matters how you book the cabins - not where you sleep. Once you are onboard, you can ask Passenger Services to give everyone access to both cabins.

I don't believe calling Princess will do any good. They will not be able to re-fare you, since you booked through a TA. They can tell you what they think, but that doesn't mean that is what will happen. This will have to be handled by the TA. Tell the TA the potential problem, and ask them to make sure they excursions are not cancelled when they re-fare you. You may want to ask the TA to pay the excursion balance (with your credit card) at the same time of the re-faring. You may also be able to pay for the shore excursion online within 24 hours of making the change. I did not have the same issue of losing OBC, but I did have a possibly similar issue. I was waitlisted for a shore excursion for two on a British Isles cruise in July-August 2021. I did not have to pay anything to be put on the waitlist. When I cleared the waitlist, I received an email from reservations@princesscruises.com with a list of my booked shore excursions, a list of the amount paid to date, and the following statement: "We're delighted you've pre-reserved shore excursions for your upcoming cruise vacation. To ensure your shore excursion reservations are complete full payment for your excursions is required. To confirm your reservations please complete payment through our Cruise Personalizer or by contacting us at 1 800 774 6237 at your earliest convenience. All unpaid shore excursion reservations will automatically be cancelled if not paid in 24 hours." I went online and paid the additional balance. I don't know if the same would happen in your place. I would not wait for an email. As soon as the TA re-refares you (whether or not the TA handles the shore excursion payment), I would immediately go online to check the shore excursions on the Cruise Personalizer. You can check the status of the excursions and pay any amount owed at that time. I don't know if they would handle your case the same way, but I wanted to provide the information on how they handled this case.

This sounds like a dietary restriction to me. I recommend you talk with the head waiter about this dietary restriction. If you order from the head waiter a day in advance, they would be able to leave the sauce off and they may be able to substitute another sauce that you could eat. You would need to tell the head waiter exactly what you mean by "rich sauces" so that he would be able to avoid them. Without ordering a day in advance, you can still make some adjustments to the MDR menu. For example, you can order different sides with an entrée than the ones listed - as long as the sides you want are available (and they are available if they are listed with any other entrée on that menu). You may also be able to order without the sauce - depending on when the sauce is added. It certainly would not be any harm to discuss your issues with the head waiter and ask his advice on how to handle them.

I used the app on my iPhone on my recent trip on the American Duchess from Memphis to New Orleans and return. It worked fine most of the time. Not only did it show the location of the bus and its estimated arrival at my location, it showed the bus number. It did not show the name of the coach captain, but if I had noticed the bus number when I got off, then I would know that information also. It was useful to know when the bus was coming so that I could spend a little more time inside without missing the next bus.

I don't know why you would want to go to the airport to pick up a rental car. Usually rental cars are less expensive in town. You could look for a location near the dock or near the Intercontinental Hotel (and take their shuttle to the hotel instead of to the airport). If you plan to drive back into New Orleans, you may be wasting time going to the airport first. If you are staying at the hotel one night prior to your cruise, you could make the arrangements then after talking with the AQSC people at the hotel and the hotel concierge. Are you planning to drive in New Orleans or out of the city? You may find parking in the city difficult and expensive. Are you sure you want a car? If you have a very late flight and you are looking to spend a day in the city, you may want to take the shuttle to the hotel and check your luggage there. Then you could return to the hotel to take a shuttle to the airport. You may want to discuss this with the hotel concierge. You may also want to call the hotel concierge in advance instead of waiting until you get there.

See comments embedded above.

If you are doing the lower Mississippi, are you going upriver or downriver? It makes a big difference as I said in my previous post. If you are going downriver, you will have plenty of time in most of the ports to do several different things, including a half day premium excursion and a half day on the hop-on/hop-off included excursion. Also you could go with your MIL in the morning and visit the more excessible sites and then go back by yourself in the afternoon to visit some of the less excessible ones. That's what I did with my wife several times. I would highly recommend the two premium excursions I took, but I would recommend only one of them for your MIL: Front Lines of the Civil War in Vicksburg: This was very interesting if you are interested in the Civil War. It is a bus excursion that would be very easy for someone with mobility issues. There are places you can get off if you want, but you can stay on the bus if you don't want to get off. Plantations of the Backroads in St. Francisville:: This was one of the best organized excursions I've had. The visit to the second plantation was hosted by a descendent of the original families of both plantations, and that plantation is still the house where she lives (not a museum). The guide on our bus was a family friend of that family for many years as well as an outstanding guide. However, this trip may not be a good idea for your MIL. None of the plantation houses were built with accessibiliy in mind, and they all require stairs and significant walking. If you are going downriver, you could do the hop-on/hop-off with your MIL in the morning and then do this premium excursion in the afternoon while she rests back on the boat. Upriver, you only have a half day, so you can't do both. If your MIL is going on the hop-on/hop-off without you, there are some steps to get on and off the bus (since she would not be using the wheelchair lift iin the back of the bus). The coach captain would help her with the steps if needed. The local guide on the bus could tell her the accessibility issues at each stop to help her decide which ones to see and which ones to skip.

I just returned from two weeks B2B on the American Duchess from Memphis to New Orleans and back to Memphis. The cruise was great. The service was very good. This was the first cruise I've been on a U. S. flag ship with a U. Sl. flag crew (if you don't count cruises on ships painted haze gray), and I didn't notice much difference between the service on this boat and that I received on ship flagged in other nations. To answer some of the previous questions: You definitely do not need a coat or tie for dinner any night. There is no alternative dining room for dinner. The only choice for dinner is the main dining room. Most days you have a choice for breakfast and lunch between the main dining room and a buffet in the River Club. The hop-on/hop-off tours were very well organized. They were particularly good for those with mobility issues. A guide on the bus provided information. You got off at the stops you wanted and stayed as long (or as short) as you wanted. No one had to hurry to keep up with a guide or wait for the rest of the group to show up before leaving. I'm really glad we did the two-week B2B. The two weeks were much different. On the southbound cruise (downriver), we had ports every day with most of them full days in port, but we had no time to enjoy the river during daylight. On the northbound cruise (upriver), we had two river days and all but one of the port days were half days in port (not good if you were looking forward to the ports), but we had lots of time to enjoy the river during daylight. The boat moves much faster downriver (with the current) than upriver (fighting the current). Also downriver vessels have the right-of-way, since they are less maneuverable. Several times on the upriver cruise, we had to pull to the side and stop to wait for a large tow moving downriver to get through a bend in the river.

Are you going on the lower Mississippi? If so, they probably will not cancel. Sometimes the upper Mississippi is too high to get under the bridges but not the lower Mississippi. I just returned from a lower Mississippi river cruise B2B from Memphis to New Orleans and return to Memphis. The river was above the flood level. It resulted in the following changes: The boat not able to land at Nottoway because of the high water. On the southbound cruise (downriver), the boat stayed overnight in Baton Ridge instead of going to Nottoway and they took us to Nottoway by bus (not missing any excursions). On the northbound cruise (upriver), the boat missed Nottoway, and they added an extra river day (no ports that day). The boat was not able to land at St. Francisville, because the road from the landing to St. Francisville was flooded. Instead the boat landed across the river at New Roads. The bus took us to St. Francisville for excursions. The only impact was that the round trip for the included hop-on/hop-off excursion took longer. I believe the boat also landed at slightly different locations at some of the other ports, but the changes didn't have much impact.

You don't need sodas in your suitcase only if you are happy with the sodas they have in the bar guns. The PBP does not include canned sodas. If you want a particular soda or if you want a canned soda, you still may need to take them on with the PBP. If you are happy with the bar sodas, then the PBP may be the way to go.

I have never had any problem ordering alcoholic drinks on disembarkation morning on Princess. If you have the PBP, the package works (with a new 15-drink limit starting at 6:00 am that morning. I have found it different on other lines also. I just returned from a cruise with American Queen Steamboat Company.(with an all-inclusive beverage package). They did not serve alcoholic beverages on disembarkation morning - the bar was closed. But I have always found alcoholic beverages available at a couple of bars and in the dining room for breakfast on Princess on disembarkation morning.

The AQSC Essential Travel Guide provides the following Clothing Suggestions: "We suggest that you check a national weather source to plan what to pack for your voyage. Daytime dress is casual, and be sure to bring comfortable, non-slip walking shoes for ports of call and shore excursions. Slacks and shorts are acceptable in all public areas of the vessel and ashore. For evenings, we suggest country-club-casual attire: a dress, a dressy skirt and blouse or a pantsuit for ladies. Gentlemen may wish to wear a sport coat, but it is not required. We kindly request that guests do not wear shorts to dinner in the main dining room." The AQSC Essential Travel Guide states that for Dinner: "An alternative dining venue is also available." But this apparantly has changed for the American Duchess. According to the AQSC website, the buffet in the River Club & Terrace is only available for breakfast and luncheon. Dinner is served only in the Grand Dining Room. This also matches the information they sent me prior to my cruise next week. Although they may have had dinner service in the second dining room in 2018, it appears that they no longer do.