dreaminofcruisin

Yes. When we cancelled for our January 2023 cruise, the payments made by gift cards went back to each gift card. In fact, this was after Final Payment....I think about 65 days prior to sailing.

You do know that if you are traveling Virgin Upper Class, your luggage can weigh up to 70 lbs right? DH has a problem with 50 sometimes....but 70? https://help.virginatlantic.com/us/en/baggage/check-in-baggage-allowance.html

I still think they are doing some kind of maintenance....or they have some new formula in which after a certain percentage of cabins are booked, they make them unavailable to select online. For example, if I go to select All Caribbean cruises, there are all kinds of them that I can book and select a cabin and are not Guarantee. I happen to have a Caribbean cruise on the Sky booked next year. That one doesn't come up on the list because it is one that is 'currently not available'. In fact, I have 4 different cruises booked now and all of them are 'currently not available'. They are all within the next 6 months....if that matters.... I can't see the pattern...but my guess is either they are moving ships around or raising prices or something? Or....just the 'exemplary' I.T. staff at Princess strikes again..... 🤪

It will make it nice if DH wants to go the buffet and I want to go to the IC...... Of course, if DH wants to go to the buffet and I want pizza or a burger....not so much...🤷‍♀️

Is espresso available on the Sky either in the specialty coffee area within the buffet or at the Wake View bar? Thanks.

I think you will find Princess much better than MSC. We did MSC years ago and it was a 1 and done for us also. That being said, your cruise dates are getting pretty close to the Christmas holidays, so it will likely be more crowded than usual for a Princess cruise. I think you'll still be fine, but just bear in mind that the crowds and number of families might be higher than average.

A bunch of cruises say currently not available, on a variety of ships. It's the weekend....maintenance likely occurring....

Welcome to Princess Indykid! I think all your questions have been answered by previous posters. I will note that I just booked an Arrival Group for an upcoming cruise at 59 days out and that has been my experience on the last few cruises. YMMV. That being said, we've never been asked to show an Arrival Group as Princess is pretty laid back about it. I would still get one set up though, because things change all the time and you never know when they will decide it is needed. I haven't been on Royal Caribbean, but I think Princess will be less crowded than you have experienced just based on a smaller capacity. If you are eating at the buffet and can't find a table in the buffet area itself, our favorite spot is either all the way aft by the Terrace Pool or at the tables by the mid-ship pools. I hope you enjoy Princess!

It has been a few years for us, but when we took the Princess transfer bus, it also dropped us off at the train station. I remember that there were a couple of Princess reps that were there because there was a bit of chaos as apparently taxis are normally available and for some reason they didn't get the message. The Princess reps handled it nicely calling to get more taxis. There was a bit of a wait, but we did get a taxi to our hotel.

Has anyone sleuthed out any larger balconies on the Sun that are like the aft Dolphin deck larger balconies on the Sky? I know there are cabanas....but not sure about those....just want a larger balcony..

Likely in Montreal. It does sound like there are kiosks for US Citizens. https://www.admtl.com/en/guide/customs-imigration-united-states#:~:text=Montréal–Trudeau provides border preclearance,arriving in the United States.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....This is still happening. I have a lot of OBC. DH doesn't have enough for the excursion. I have so much that I don't want to have to pay for it and end up with OBC leftover. After waiting on hold for quite a while, the contact at Princess said 'each person's OBC is for that person' and refused to use part of mine for DH. Maybe each person's is their own....but not after you get on the ship....Unfortunately, this excursion is likely to sell out before I get on the ship. I guess I'll try again in the morning and hope for a different person.....Frustrating.

You'll get lots of opinions, but as long as you don't wear shorts or raggy jeans to the MDR, you are probably good.

Try a different browser? Or a different device?

On the App, you should be able to book it from the first box (Ocean Ready Travel Checklist). Last option in the box: "Payment Methods and Packages" "Packages" If you don't see that, it might be different in the U.K. (I'm in the US), or different because you booked through a TA. Yes, you can also book on board which currently would be at $60/day with no guarantees that the price doesn't increase. I should add...I am just assuming this works....I already have Plus, so I can't try it....

Plus and Premier packages only include passengers 1 and 2. In your picture, regarding crew appreciation, you will see in the long listing of all the package benefits, crew appreciation is listed only twice (as well as all the other benefits). Any beverage packages for passengers 3 and 4 must be purchased separately. I don't 'think' there are Plus or Premier options for passengers 3 and 4...but if they are over 21...maybe that would be an option? You wouldn't want to pay it otherwise.... If you want to downgrade to Plus from Premier, the status of passengers 3 and 4 will not change, so certainly you could do that, but you will need to call (or contact your TA). Also, to pre-pay crew appreciation (if desired) for passengers 3 and 4, you would need to call or contact a TA. All that being said....I suppose there could have been some type of sale that included something for passengers 3 and 4, but I have no information on that.

Your question got buried. I responded to the same question by another poster in the other thread, but if you didn't see it, here is my response: I had to cancel a cruise in January that I had partially paid with gift cards. I used 5 - $500 gift cards. Each gift card ended up with $500 again, except one that ended up with MORE than $500....which was weird. The balance had been paid by credit card and that also got a credit. The Math all worked, so it was fine. I had printed off paper copies of the gift card numbers/pins when I got them which turned out to be a good idea as it helped me keep track of them until I then applied them to another cruise. It's good to be aware that this will happen since one would need to take another Princess cruise to use the gift cards and if you don't cruise often, you have to keep track of them until the next time you cruise.

I'm not sure who told you that EZ Air only guarantees Same Airline....but that isn't true. Now, it might be that they FIRST try and get you on the Same Airline, but if there are no other options with that airline, they will put you on a different airline. Last summer (which was one of the worst messes in flying ever), Delta cancelled our flight home from LHR 7 days before we left for a 12 day cruise. It took "Princess EZ Air's Back Room" about 48 hours, but they finally found us an Iceland Air flight. It wouldn't have been my first choice, but it was acceptable and it got us home. I agree with the poster who suggested you look up options on your own, though they didn't really give me an option and I was so close to leaving, I just took what they gave me. It is stressful when this happens and I'm like you where this is too close for me to be comfortable---I like my planning all set to go---but you do actually have enough time for them to get you an acceptable solution. Since you are working with a TA....everyone keeps saying this is why you have a TA....so they should be working hard to find you something acceptable.

Nope. Google is your friend....

Nope. This sale is from a 3rd party. Not Princess.

I had to cancel a cruise in January that I had partially paid with gift cards. I used 5 - $500 gift cards. Each gift card ended up with $500 again, except one that ended up with MORE than $500....which was weird. The balance had been paid by credit card and that also got a credit. The Math all worked, so it was fine. I had printed off paper copies of the gift card numbers/pins when I got them which turned out to be a good idea as it helped me keep track of them until I then applied them to another cruise. It's good to be aware that this will happen since one would need to take another Princess cruise to use the gift cards and if you don't cruise often, you have to keep track of them until the next time you cruise.

Yes. You can REFARE if the price drops. However, if there is a sale you book under originally, you may lose the perks from the sale....OBC or the like. Also, sometimes you can't REFARE if the price is for new bookings only. Then you would need to Cancel and Book. For this reason, be careful when you book that your deposit is Refundable. Lately, Princess has made more of their down payments not Refundable especially if booking as Guaranteed instead of picking your own cabin. We usually book as soon as we find something interesting. Most of the time, it seems like the price goes up, but occasionally we will see a price drop and have been successful refaring. Welcome to the Princess Board!

Exactly. Soooo...let me get this straight.... you either have to exercise or shop. Yup. Those go together.......???? 🙄

Congratulations that you have found agencies that work well for you! (2 even!) My experience has not been the same as yours working with agencies....and yes...they are large high volume agencies....I have now been through 4 agents at 3 different agencies. I never found them to be worthwhile. My experience was that they call Princess and talk to the same people that most of us talk to. If they get a clunker, they relay the same bad messaging and insist that they are correct. Even if I have insisted they call back, they continue to tell me that's the way things are, even though I have read differently here on CC. I've pretty much given up on them and figured I have a better chance to present my case to a Princess rep myself, even if it means waiting on hold on the phone for a long time. It would be wonderful if people could share their great TAs so we could all find them...and don't suggest talking to people on cruises. That's where my last one came from. They raved about her, but I think they thought they were getting special deals when in reality they were things they would have gotten just booking online. I don't doubt that you have good agents. Just please don't assume that everyone can find them.

This. Or renting a car from Montreal to Quebec City is another option...