azbirdmom

We had a free inside that we paid to upgrade to a mini suite at the time of booking for a cruise last December. We got the invitation to bid on an upgrade right after Princess started that program and 8 days prior to embarkation we learned that they accepted our bid for a Penthouse suite. Since they weren't shown as aft, we knew it would be one of the ones on either side of the Suite Concierge lounge. So yes, you can win a bid when you book a comped casino cruise.

Wow, prices on that menu are less expensive than they are for the same items at our local Keg here in Arizona. Excellent choice!

And it took them a long time to figure that out? Yikes.

Oh my, I've had to prove my free play at times but have never had a problem with getting the deposit that turns into OBC credited. Hope they made it right for you at some point.

Sorry it turned into such a hassle for you, it shouldn't have to be that way. Could you see Plus listed under packages on your Medallion? Given all of the issues with casino bookings I check there and in the Personalizer frequently to make sure it is still listed. And it's good advice to always take hard copies of documents along. In fact every time we change something that is listed on the Travel Summary I download a new version and save it to a file on my computer. That has been helpful at times when I've had to prove out that I had certain perks and then they mysteriously disappeared. It doesn't hurt to be overprepared!

You're welcome! Here's the times that booking will open (from the letter sent to my TA):

Appreciate that you are taking the time to provide such great detail on the boarding process. We will be embarking from Southampton next month and while we've cruised out of there a couple of times, this will be our first time since the Medallion was released. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your adventures. PS - Our embarkation lunch tradition is Alfredo's too.

Princess has updated the document with the other Caribbean cruises that will go on sale on the 24th to include the Port Canaveral cruises. 2024-2025_Caribbean-B_Release_MK_2023_0427.pdf

Whistler looks amazing - you chose wisely. Enjoy the rest of your time there and have a fabulous cruise!

There’s a Holiday Inn on the beach that is across the street from where the Mardi Gras docks at terminal 1 but lots of other choices in close proximity to the port. Also some fun restaurants at the port where you can watch the ships sail away.

Love it! We can combine a stay with our best friends in Cape Canaveral with a cruise. 🙂

Oh my goodness, so sorry to hear. What an awful way to end your trip. Hope you feel better soon and that your mom stays healthy!

Yes, that happened at the end of February in 2022. I know because I did get the 10% off sale merchandise on the last day of our cruise on the Regal and was told to enjoy it because the policy was changing the next day. And reports here on CC confirmed that indeed it did change.

Thank you for sharing the Patter and also the port info. We will be visiting most of the same ports next month and have some DIY stuff planned so it's very helpful. Also interested in hearing how the Wifi is and if they have implemented Starlink yet. Enjoy your cruise!

Oh dear. ONE (with staff in the Philippines) has been doing the casino reservations since last fall. It takes forever for them to actually book a cruise and often they need to escalate issues to supervisory staff when it comes to booking with Princess Plus etc. It's been a giant mess and I can't fathom how this will be a good thing.

Yes, I did notice that the attachment didn't have all of the excursions that were shown on the website. And excursions for all ports aren't listed yet (cruise in February). I think I'll wait to see what they are offering in a couple of the other ports before I buy the UPC but right now it is looking like a good deal.

Thank you both for pointing me in the right direction! We booked this cruise quite a while ago and I didn't notice that there was a shore excursions attachment along with all of the booking documents our TA sent. It definitely answered the questions that the website didn't (excerpt from the pdf below). Thanks again!

Question about UPC. I'm new to Oceania and was wondering if all excursions are available under UPC or just select ones. I cannot tell from the website and have tried searching for answers there to no avail.

You zipped through the terminals. In October it took at least 45 minutes from the first stop at terminal 1 to our stop at terminal 7. Traffic was miserable and we had a packed bus. Our United flight was around 2ish so we had plenty of time but it definitely took longer for the bus to get through the terminals than it did to get to terminal 1 from San Pedro.

Haven't been in the Polaris lounge since before the pandemic started but will be there a couple times this year. It is a nice perk. Enjoy your lay flat pod!

Good to hear. Discovery had the absolute worst WiFi of any of the ships so I'm happy that Starlink is making a noticable difference.

The only noise you may get in the cabin is if the sliding door isn't shut tight. I had posted a video of M107 on another thread and you could hear the whistling as the wind was howling. All we had to do is shut it firmly and the noise stopped. By the way at times when it was too winding to be on the forward or "wing" part of the balcony we were able to sit comfortably on the side near the sliding door. And there is also a forward facing window in the bedroom that affords awesome views that you can see from the bed. Wouldn't hesitate to book one of these rooms again.

Will be following along. We'll be on almost the same cruise next month (except we are going to Liverpool instead of Portland. Good luck with your travels!

Last October we were told the same thing re: taxi prices at the taxi stand. So we decided to take it. Wrong move. Traffic was terrible and the meter read $110. Will do Uber or Lyft. By the way we landed at terminal 7 and walked to the ride share area. It's next to terminal 1 and there were a couple of walk lights that helped from a safety perspective. At least we were right across from that area, wouldn't recommend walking from other terminals (other than 1).

Thank you for sharing this. We will book the early transfer when we are onboard in June.