Wishing on a star

Date, please....

We were on the Regal Dec. 2019. Food was good! Not outstanding, but good. The time before that, on the Regal, with a different person in charge of all food and dining, was NOT good.

I am assuming that you will be booking the room two, your son/daughter, and the person they might be sailing with. Yes, you can book the cabin, of course. The second name is not confirmed with any further information needed until closer to sailing. As mentioned, you might want to go ahead and book the room for two, so that you have another person accounted for. Cancellation, if a person is not coming, is no problem until final payment date. Also, if you are wanting to book several rooms close together, make sure that these get marked NO UPGRADE. And keep checking. As there have been some who have had Princess move their room.

It will be interesting to see about the ice cream.... Sadly, something tells me that it is gone, and the only option will no be the expensive ala-carte 'designer' ice cream that they are promoting. I will def. pass. Not interested in anything from that type of promotion.

I would look at the itineraries, and also all other factors involved. Ship. Time in ports. etc. Yes, the inside passage is a real plus. But, remember, the ship could either be going thru there at supper and dusk on embarkation, or pre-dawn on the return to Vancouver. And, there will be shortage of absolutely beautiful scenery throughout your cruise. Have you cruised Alaska before? I assume that you are looking at these itineraries because of Glacier Bay, which is always a 'must'. I know that there is one Northbound itinerary, with a long Port day at Juneau, which would allow you to also take the Adventure Bound boat tour up into Tracy Arm Fjord. So, that would get both of these highlights. This has been much discussed, and you will get a lot of thoughts and opinions. Many love the smaller older ships, many think that this route is a must. Others might have other opinions and priorities.

DiRonT, if you are still reading. Were you on a sailing on the Sapphire where Princess had some top dining officials onboard, working on upping the game on the Princess menus. That would me very much needed!

I think the difference might also be in putting in the request the day before. They probably do not make these and have them sitting ready, immediately upon request. I have never asked, as that is just not my thing. Love alfredo though! I saw a great recommendation for the veal stuffed pasta at Alfredo's. Has anyone here had that? What are the best items on the new menus at Alfredo's? I also saw that one cruiser thought the braised short-ribs at the Gastro Pub were one of the tastiest things he had onboard. (not all ships have this dining option)

This is a good thread, because it would be nice to know whether you wanted to make, and then keep, a booking for UBD. The thing is, there is a lot of Princess 'misinformation' out there. We are seeing a lot of it here in this board. On a lot of topics and questions. Whether the Ultimate Balcony Dinner is actually available onboard, or whether it is just 'dropped off'. (NOT ULTIMATE OR ROMANTIC OR ANYTHING AT ALL) could probably vary by ship, by sailing, and even by day. It has nothing to do with Covid protocols. It has everything to do with whether the ship is so understaffed that they can not spare any dining staff to deliver and serve the UBD. The number of these, per day, are limited, so it seems as if the thing to do is to go ahead and make the reservation, knowing in advance that it could be 'iffy'. Make sure you have printed out your reservation, your receipts for payment, the charge on your credit card. And, then, verify onboard with somebody who is staffing dining reservations, that this will be a fully served dinner. If not, then hit the Customer Service Desk, with all of the documentation, to be refunded. I would be afraid that if I just went to the front desk, that I might not get a real answer, as they might not know the current details on if, or how, the UBD is being offered.

You must have just won the lottery, because we haven't been able to get ours to even respond to us in MONTHS.... We know she is there... Just NO response, at all. Good luck stopping the SPAM princess planners. If I had no luck by calling Princess directly, I would be blocking numbers. The thing is, official Princess Planners often are all linked in thru the one main Princess number, with their extension. So, blocking that number will mean all calls from Princess thru that number would be blocked.

I think it all might come down to how full the sailing is, and if the ship has the available staff. If you can book it, then you can go ahead and do that, but I think your past experience shows that it isn't a real guarantee. Good Luck in getting it this time!

Do compare Princess, Big Box, and third party insurance. Especially regarding Covid, or Cancel for any reason, and other coverages.

If the sailing Is close to capacity, then pre-booking might save a lot of waiting! Just saw that on Discovery, which just came off the full booked Love Boat Cruise, it seemed that with lack of more staffing, even reservations had a real wait. Having supper early when the dining rooms open might not be a problem, or dining late. Unless you really want the totally casual, go when you decide, whatever, kind of vibe - then you might want to go ahead and book so you can get the most desired times I would say the seven o'clock hour would book up pretty fast.

I would think that any agency that handles Princess SHOULD be able to sell the Princess Insurance. But, I have no experience. I just can't imagine why they could or would not.

Tedferg, which sailing and which cabin? I don't know if Big Box only offers so many cabins? Princess seems to have, like, contracts with some companies. For example, the new Princess Bidding program states that some agencies are not eligible. Some offer Princess Cruises. But some might have a limited availability or inventory of 'so many' cabins available. I think I have seen online agencies, at least one, that does not even pull up Princess at all. Or, it could be the funky system that we have been talking about, where the 'system' just shows certain cabins available for two guests, for three guests, etc. Seems to just be kind of odd. If the Big Box does not see this cabin, ask them if you make the booking, with a same category cabin that they have access to, can they then change your cabin over to the one you like. Maybe a work-around? This is all very very confusing!

You shouldn't have to worry if they don't take/accept your bid. The real catch is that your bid could be accepted, and you would be upgraded, but the new cabin assignment can be located anywhere on the ship. Your upgraded cabin assignment is already made, immediately upon Princess accepting that bid. For example I would not want to be far forward, or over/under a loud venue. That kind of thing. The cabin assignment if they accept your bid might be the only concern. If your bid is accepted, it is supposed to be a done deal. But, from what is being posted here, the upgrade comes with a notice that tells you to PAY the bid price for the upgrade. My thoughts are that if, IF, you did not like the new cabin assignment and did not see other cabins in that exact category available, that if you were to be able to get out of the upgrade at that point, your current cabin could be taken. In that case, you would not be able to get that same cabin back. I don't think anyone has heard of somebody NOT paying for the bid. But just wonder if, or how, that would work.

Well, 'Formal' is a good deal less formal than it used to be. Of course, you can dress to the nines if you like!!! Yes, on Princess, there are two more 'formal' nights, which I think are also called 'dress to impress'. Even then, I think you will see slacks or nice pants, dress shirts, maybe some coats and or ties. And, of course with the ladies, it can run the gamut from nice pants and shirt, to skirts and dresses, with some more fancy formal dresses around. If I am right, the second formal night is the most formal night... the menus in the MDR usually reflect that. There will be the photo stations set up for those nice pictures. More recent cruisers might post the latest insight. But, no, there is no dress-code, formal or otherwise, that is suggested ship-wide. Formal guidelines seem to have been loosely enforced in the MDRs.

I am not big on the 'ignore' button. But, will refrain from responding to anybody who's only, and singular, motive is to quote others and issue personal attacks. Just saying' !!!

Wow.. people... This is a cruse board, and sharing info about different cruise lines is a part of why we are here. It is the topic, not a banned topic. Any other 'negativity' that does not share valid information just reflects on that individual poster.

I think I would really like Viking! It might not have the limited 'vibe' that Princess has, but the overall ship, food, and experience, sounds super nice.. The better food, service and experience do come with a price.

In the interest of sharing information, regarding more adult cruising, It would interesting to know exactly what those regulations are, and which UK ships are considered to be 'adult'.

No... No honest and open conversation is silly. No 'questions' are silly. Yes, there are some opinions thrown in here. As mentioned, there are posters here who are putting Princess down while proclaiming their switch to this other cruise line. In light of that, I posted this to share information. It can be helpful to shed some light and put this kind of info and video out there. Do I want to try Virgin... No. That is my personal thing. Not why I would spend the $$$$$ and fly halfway around the world to visit Europe. I could go looking for that experience here in the US, or Cancun. If others do want that kind of vibe and very different cruise experience, then, hey, whatever floats your boat! An informed decision is always best.

I really could not say why there are such a limited number of cabins available on this sailing, especially as compared to the others. It seems Princess and their website have really been picky about which cabins they show when you are looking to make a booking. I did a quick search, and I did not find any mention of any major 'group' or special cruise for this sailing. Just a Facebook page with like 50 people joined, which I would guess is a Facebook roll-call. Just like here on this forum. Nothing about this date seems to come to mind. As, it is actually very early in the season to sail Alaska.

Yes. Remember that the info we are getting on the Sun Princess 2024 is general info, and not full itinerary details. Europe 2024, including the Sun Princess (except for this early inaugural sailings) are not on the web-site, and are not available for booking. We are lucky to get a sneak peak! I imagine that all of Europe 2024 will be finalized, announced, and become available for booking at the same time. Hopefully soon!

True!!!! Hahahaha!!! Arguments that will go until kingdom come! But, CC can still be a good source of information and insight! Cruising has gone thru a lot, and is also really changing.

I know that there has been a lot of talk here about the issues with Princess. And, some have looked at cruising with Virgin. Maybe because they like the thought of a more kid-free adult experience. I too have looked into Virgin Voyages a bit. And here, I think, is one video that shows more of what it can be like on onboard than some others so far. When I first heard about Virgin, I loved the thought of an all adult cruise and one with a different 'vibe'. This video shows some good Ideas that Princess could maybe use, like in The Dome on the new ship. And, on 80's cruises. etc... But, there is too much there that I, personally, am hoping to avoid. One, yes ONE, tiny pool for the entire ship. The entertainment choices.. And, this video doesn't hit on the dining options. the lack of the usual options onboard. Etc. All are very different than what many Princess cruisers are used to, or might be looking for. I think I might go to South Beach Miami, or LA for that kind of thing. Not a cruise to see Europe. Here is the link if anyone is interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rks1Y4ZpIVs