NavyVeteran

Club Class has the same menu as the rest of the MDR, with the possible exception of an additional item or two. The food is prepared in the same kitchen, so there's generally no difference in the food. However, the service is better. It combines the best of traditional dining (with the same group of waiters who get to know you) and anytime dining (with no wait). I believe the service is better than the rest of the MDR, since there are fewer diners per waiter and since the head waiter and the waiters get to know you. You do not need to make a reservation in the DMW app for Club Class. When I went into the app, it recognized that I had Club Class and stated not to make a reservation. Please do not make a reservation in the MDR (unless you want to share a table with someone not in Club Class) or you will take up two tables - one in Club Class and one with your reservation. The only reason for someone in Club Class to use the DMW app is to reserve specialty restaurants. The special breakfast with a different menu on Princess is in a specialty restaurant for suite passengers only. The food and service there is fantastic, but it is for suite passengers only. That's why you won't see many suite passengers in Club Class for breakfast.

I agree with the recommendation to try to book a cabin close to public men's and/or women's rooms. You can see their locations on the deck plans online.

If you cancel and rebook instead of refaring, you need to watch out for a couple of other potential problems: If you have booked EZAir flights, they disappear with the cancellation and you have to rebook. You may not be able to get the same flights or they may cost more. If you have booked shore excursions, they disappear and you have to rebook. They may be sold out, or the price may have increased.

You may have a problem if you booked the cruise tour including the pre-cruise or post-cruise land portion. The cruise tour is priced as a single price - the land and cruise portions are not priced separately. You probably won't be able to reprice if the cruise price goes down unless the cruise tour price goes down. Since cruise tours often sell out, there is a good chance that there won't be a lower price on the cruise tour even if the price of the cruise decreases.

Our pre-cruise hotel in Memphis was the Peabody. It's a great hotel for one night because of the history and atmosphere. I wouldn't want it for a long stay because it's an old building and the rooms are small. The greatest part was the ducks. However, our cruise was pre-pandemic and I don't know what hotel they use today.

The weather would be the same in both directions. the water levels and accessibility to ports will be the same. However, the two directions are very different: Memphis to New Orleans is down river with the current. You will have a lot more time in port with ports every day, many of them all day. New Orleans to Memphis is up river against the current. You will have more river time during the day and less time in ports. Some of the ports will be half day instead of all day. You will probably have one day on the river with no ports. There is a strong current on the lower Mississippi, so the ship makes much better time going down river with the current. The river has many bends where large barges (possibly one tug pushing seven barges) require the entire width of the river to go around the bend. Down-river traffic has the right of way over up-river traffic, since boats going against the current are much more maneuverable. The boat sailing up-river may have to wait at some bends for down-river barges to go around the bend first, delaying the up-river boat even more. Neither direction is necessarily better. It depends on what you are looking for. If you want the maximum time in ports (so you may be able to do both a premium excursion and the included hop-on hop-off excursion, for example), then choose to sail down river from Memphis. If you enjoy sailing on the river during the day, then choose to sail up river from New Orleans. We did a back-to-back - two weeks round trip from Memphis - so we got to see both directions. Even though we had mostly the same ports, we had plenty to do in most of them to stop in them twice. We took several premium excursions and still had time for the included hop-on hop-off excursions. We also had plenty of time at stops on the hop-on hop-off without having to hurry (an advantage since my wife has some mobility issues).

I just looked at the definitions in the Princess plan documentation. Note that your need to download and read the specific documentation for your state of residence, since it may be different. This policy does define the term "Traveling Companion". "Traveling Companion means a person who has coordinated Travel Arrangements or vacation plans with You and intends to travel with You during the Trip and is further described on Your purchase confirmation. Note, a group or tour leader is not considered Your Traveling Companion unless You are sharing room accommodations with the group or tour leader." Note the requirement that a Traveling Companion must be "further described on Your purchase confirmation". You need something in writing at the time of trip purchase specifying you as travel companions. Certainly if you are listed on the same booking document there should be no problem. I don't know if an email from the cruise line confirming your purchase and confirming that the two of you are traveling companions with linked bookings would be adequate or not. Family members are a different issue. You may cancel because of illness of a family member even if the family member is not traveling with you. Another possible reason to cancel and possibly collect on the insurance is if you are a close contact of your traveling companion who tests positive for COVID. You would not be cancelling because your traveling companion is sick. You would be cancelling because "you have been in contact with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19, or a person under monitoring for COVID-19." Note that this reason would apply if you and your traveling companion have been in close contact - it would not apply if you were flying from different cities to meet on the ship.

If it shows in your Cruise Personalizer, then you can apply it to booking a Shore Excursion in advance. Most OBC offered by Princess shows in advance. Some OBC offered by travel agents does not show until onboard and cannot be used in advance.

That is correct. I just returned from a cruise from Sitka, Alaska, to Vancouver, British Columbia, on the Ocean Victory (American Queen Voyages). Per Canadian rules, we had to have a COVID test to board the ship in Sitka since the ship was sailing to Canada, but we did not need a test to disembark in Vancouver or to fly back to the United States from Vancouver. I would not expect Canada to change their rules just because the CDC did. Their rules have been stricter in the past and they may stay that way.

Cruise lines still have to follow the restrictions of all of the countries visited on the specific itinerary. For example, cruises with Canadian ports (including all Alaska cruises) have to follow the vaccination and testing requirements prescribed by the government of Canada as well as any US requirements. A cruise visiting several different Caribbean countries has to follow the requirements of all of them. Since my next cruise embarks in Canada, the CDC changes won't make any difference as long as the Canadian requirements are stricter.

The rules for Canada are set by the Canadian government, so they are different from the rules from the US. Note that the rule for Canada states "When to Take Test Before Boarding" - not "Before Sailing". That is a significant difference - especially for a cruise overnighting in Quebec City and sailing the day after boarding.

I have also never seen any evidence of an automatic reduction in fare. If before the 45 day deadline, you should be able to get a new fare by rebooking using the Cruise Personalizer. You have to rebook both halves of a round trip (if you originally booked a round trip), so it works only if the total cost went down. This is one advantage of booking a B2B, since each direction is booked on a separate cruise on a B2B. Your Travel Agent is not involved - you do the entire process in the Cruise Personalizer. The confirmation you receive when rebooking air before confirming the change will show the fare difference. Make sure to make a copy of that screen. You will need to contact your Travel Agent (if you used one) to get an updated invoice after rebooking your air. If you book through a Travel Agent, you cannot see your invoice online. When booking direct, I have found that I needed to call Princess to request the refund after completing the air change, so I would expect you would need to contact your Travel Agent.

Note the earlier post that had quoted "When to Take Test Before Boarding". You need to look at the scheduled boarding time instead of the scheduled sailing time.

However, cruise credits aren't worth anything anymore once you're Elite. They used to make a difference for Loyalty Credit, but Loyalty Credit doesn't exist anymore. All other benefits are based on number of days only, and number of days is not adjusted for solo or suite.

If you are on a pre-cruise Princess tour, then you can ignore the arrival group selection. You will board when your tour arrives at the ship.

The MDR is open from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm on embarkation day. It is usually not crowded, since most people go to the buffet - and most staff direct you to the buffet. If you board later than 1:30 pm, you will need to choose another option.

Your post wasn't clear. All of your mocktails are part of the drink package. What you meant was that the mocktails are not limited by the 15-beverage limit.

I had already completed entering information for our upcoming cruise in the MedallionClass app, Both DW and I have arrival status "Green". Click "My Preferences". Click "Accessibility". Under "In-Cabin Accessibility Amenities", I ordered "Hand-held Shower Head", "Raised Toilet Seat", and "Shower Stool". These should help DW use the shower and toilet. With these items and the large walk-in shower in a full suite, I do not believe DW needs an accessible cabin. I'm not sure how the Shower Stool would fit in the small walk-in shower in a standard balcony or outside cabin, but it should work with no problems in the large walk-in shower in a full suite.

I'm glad you're back. I'm looking forward to spending Christmas and New Years with you on the Crown Princess.

We never book a mini-suite on Princess. Although DW does not use a wheelchair, she has mobility problems with her knees. Except for accessible cabins, Princess mini-suites have shower in tub, and that would not be useable for her. We will book a full suite, a balcony cabin, or an outside cabin - but not a mini-suite. I would recommend you not book a non-accessible Princess mini-suite. If you book a balcony or outside cabin, make sure you mark it "No Upgrade" so they don't upgrade you to a mini-suite. You stated she does not need the wheelchair in the cabin, so it is only an issue of storing the wheelchair and getting it through the door. There would be room to store a wheelchair in a full suite. In a balcony or outside cabin, there would be room to store a collapsible wheelchair - but possibly not one that is not collapsible. Would you be with your mother to help her every time she enters or leaves the cabin? If so, a collapsible wheelchair could work even if it were too wide for the door. She may need to stand up outside the cabin and use a cane to walk through the door while you collapse the wheelchair to take it through the door - and do the reverse when leaving. Another problem would be the cleaning carts used by the cabin stewards and left in the hallways. It may not be possible to pass by the cart to get through the hallway. If the cabin steward is there with the cart, he would move it out of the way, but the carts are often left unattended. To get by, you may need to move the cart for her. Another option would be for her to stand up and walk past the cart using a cane and for you to collapse the wheelchair and move it past the cart. On one cruise (pre-COVID), DW was using a collapsible walker for walking long distances. It would not fit through the cabin door without collapsing, and it also needed to be collapsed to get by carts in the hallway. However, we had no trouble using it.

Please note that most of the answers to your original question are not applicable to your specific case. A mini-suite is not a suite. It is larger than a balcony cabin but provides no additional amenities. DW and I never travel in a mini-suite. We book an outside, a balcony, or a full suite. DW has mobility problems with her knees. A mini-suite (except for an accessible one) has a shower in tub, which is very difficult for her to use. An inside, outside, or balcony has a (small) walk-in shower, which is much better. A full suite has separate tub and (large) walk-in shower, which is even better. If you have a preference for a tub or small walk-in shower, this may be a major influence on your decision.

I don't have much confidence that listing the allergies in the app will work. Whether or not you are successful in listing them pre-cruise, the most important thing is to speak with a head waiter in the dining room. This is pre-COVID experience, so I don't know what's changed. Anyone with any dietary restrictions would order their food the day before from the head waiter (not the waiter). With the advance notice, they can often modify dishes to meet your restrictions. It may be helpful to eat in the same dining room every night so you can deal with the same head waiter. Once they understand your restrictions, I have found them very helpful in making suggestions for modifications that would work.

It is supposed to recognize the credits only if you have a free specialty dining promotion. It does not apply OBC to specialty dining reservations. The only thing you can book pre-cruise with OBC is shore excursions.

I use a dual adapter with the 220v European plug behind the bedside stand. That plug is normally used for the bedside lamp. My adapter has both a US output and a European output. I unplug the lamp, plug in the adapter, and then plug both the lamp and the CPAP into the adapter. No extension cords. The only problem is remembering to unplug your adapter and take it home after the cruise.

This is based on pre-pandemic experience, so it's not recent. I booked excursions with a combination of OBC and credit card. When I looked at my folio onboard, all of the charges for the excursions were shown as charges (whether prepaid with OBC, with credit card, or with a combination) and all of the credit card excursion payments were shown as refundable OBC. If this happens, then you don't have to do anything. Your non-refundable OBC is used first automatically to pay for excursions (even those you paid by credit card) and the credit card payments are refunded as refundable OBC if you don't use them all. This may have been only because I paid with a combination of OBC and credit card. I don't know if it would have worked the same way if I had paid entirely with credit card. Also, I don't know if it still works this way. On another occasion, the excursions and payments didn't show separately on my onboard folio. I then cancelled one of the prepaid excursions. At that time, all of the remaining excursions and payments showed separately. If this happens, you can take advantage of it by prepaying for an excursion late in the cruise that you don't plan to take and then cancelling it onboard. I have no idea whether or not either of these cases is applicable to anyone today. You're welcome to try and see. These experiences are several years old, and consistently and repeatability are not Princess trademarks.