bonship

Just completed Alaskan cruise with Princess last month with whole family R/T from Seattle.  My son and all six of my grand children DID NOT have passports, only birth certificates.  No problems checking in and no passport needed at the stop in Victoria--just needed cruise card.    Lots of wrong information is this thread, although I agree that it is best to be safe and have a passport whenever leaving the country and always if Princess says you need one. 

Had the same issue last week with American.  It took Princess a couple of days to ticket my flights ( I purchased flexible fare),then I went to AA site and pulled up my flight using confirmation number and purchased comfort seats.

jlduchin, when I booked my Indianapolis to Auckland flight with EZAIR for $1300. a few weeks ago, I went to the AA site and upgraded to premium economy for $130 per person using my EZAIR confirmation number..  When I re-booked today at $930 on EZAIR, I lost those seats, even though I had the same flight as I had originally for my return.  I called AA and, after an hour and a half of waiting, was told that my new flight needed to be ticketed first and that  I needed to purchase new premium economy seats and then call AA to ask for a refund for the prior booking.  The AA agent was rather curt and wouldn't say if I would be granted a refund.  Sigh... Oh well, I saved $400 a ticket by re-booking so I will still be ahead.  Call the airline, but you might not get an answer.

Just got off the Ruby a few weeks ago, and as a good grandma  and frequent cruiser, I punched holes in all my grand kids' cruise cards so they could wear them on their lanyards and not lose them.  First time we left the ship, they told kids they couldn't use them and  cards could not be punched.  We had to scramble to the front desk for new cards and then buy new lanyards (overpriced in the gift shop) with plastic sleeves on them. 

fluffybunny22, I really don't think there is a better time of day to check.  I haven't checked fares for quite a few days and lucked out today.  I just checked again and the $932 fare is still there.  I am surprised because we are flying out the day after Christmas, which I would think would be more expensive.  Good luck and keep checking.

We are sailing on Ruby Princess out of Auckland, NZ on Dec. 30 and home from Sydney on Jan. 13..  Booked air through EZ Air about two weeks ago for $1500 (flexible), which was considerably cheaper than booking on my own.  A few days later, the fare went down to $1300, so I re-booked.  I felt really good about that fare from Indianapolis as every travel site had the fare at around $2000.  Today, just on a whim, I checked the fares again and it was $904. with one stop and good times.  Of course, I re-booked.  Lesson learned:  Keep checking fares even when you're happy with the fare you have.  I never expected to pay under $1000 to fly to Australia/New Zealand. 

We sailed on Ruby Princess last week R/T from Seattle and the grand kids swam every day except Ketchikan.  The weather was sunny and mid-60's but felt much warmer.  I didn't pack my swimsuit but wished I had.  Many people were swimming on a daily basis late afternoon.  The only day we wore a hat and gloves was in Glacier Bay.and it wasn't really even cold.  Check the forecast before you go and I hope you get nice weather like we had. 

Thank you all for the great reviews and photos.  You really lucked out on the weather and wildlife viewing.  We are leaving leaving for Alaska next week.  Hope we get a fraction of your good weather and wildlife.  I've been checking the webcams and it looks like a lot of rain this week.  Fingers crossed 

Thank you for the great review.  Your photos are really stunning.  You should enter some of them in the Princess at Sea contest.  We are on this same cruise in a couple of weeks and are, also, doing mostly DIY excursions. I was glad to hear that Port Valet works as described.  We have exactly the same plan as yours at debarkation.  Getting excited!

Thank you all for your comments and input.  When my daughter talked to the Princess agent via the 800 phone number, my daughter didn't make it clear that we had a group booking.  After talking further with our Princess Vacation Planner TA (who I trust and have used for years), she called the higher-ups on the phone and they said that the grand kids were all fine with just birth certificates, since all the adults in our group have passports. She said that everyone must have a passport if only ONE adult is traveling with minor children for all the reasons you have all referenced.   Our TA made a notation on our booking about the situation. (Not sure that means anything.)  We will all check in together at the pier,  but I am still nervous about it. We will also get a notarized letter from the kids' dad, and  I will look into getting passport cards today.  Thank you, thank you. 

We are headed to Alaska in 3 weeks RT from Seattle with kids and grand kids to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  My divorced daughter was told, adamantly, by a Princess agent yesterday that her three small children needed passports to get on ship .  Our Princess TA said they only needed birth certificates.  One of the reasons we chose Seattle RT was because our six grand kids would not need to get passports.    Does anyone have experience with this situation at check-in?   thanks in advance.

We have been on 20+ Princess cruises and at least once per cruise we  bring a bottle of wine back on board at a port stop.  We know the rules and bring it on knowing that we might have to pay the $15 fee, but we have never once  been asked to pay.

Haven't been on the board for a while and just saw this thread.  I heard on April 26 that one of my photos was chosen for the SKY.  If chosen they send you a license release and a congratulatory email.  The email said that my photo would be in the corridor and, because they liked it so much, it would also be used in staterooms.  I was really pumped and now need to book a cruise on the SKY.  I took this photo of King Penguins on our South America cruise when we were in the Falklands.

My DH and I were on the Ruby a month ago.  The Ruby is my favorite Princess ship, so we loved everything about it except the high cost of drinks.  We were traveling with family who typically cruise with RC.  They said that drinks were cheaper on Princess so that put it all in perspective.  In Mazatlan, the four of us took a ferry to Stone Island and spent the whole day at the beach at Lety's Restaurant and Bar.  We ate lunch  there and had about 10 beers or so and several margaritas.  The bill for the four of us was $44.  Now that's what  I call cheap drinking!  Just get off the ship and enjoy Mexico.  Had a great day.

Took Supershuttle Direct for four of us about three weeks ago from port to airport and it was around $60 plus tip. 

We love the Riviera aft balconies.  We like in the R720's because it is nice and quiet but still fairly close to elevators and just one floor up to the buffet and the bar. 

I'm loving reading your great review.  It is 20 below zero right now in Indiana where I live, and we are going on this same cruise this Saturday.  Thanks for the respite from the cold.  Can't wait for Saturday.

We have taken upsell offers on our last three cruises from an inside to a balcony and I've always been able to pick the cabin. See what's available on the website and then make a list of preferred cabins so you are ready when they call. Better yet, take the call while sitting at your computer. Good luck. Hope you get the call!

Four of us just returned from our British Isles cruise two weeks ago and used Invergordon Shore Excursions with Allen as our guide. He took us to Cawdor Castle, where we not only saw the castle but got the inside scoop from Allen about the duchess who lives there . Then we went to the Culloden battlefield ( my hubby is a big Outlander fan) and drove around the countryside looking at highland cows and horses. We then went by Castle Stuart and around Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. This was a great private tour and much cheaper than anything similar that Princess offered. Oh, and by the way, Loch Ness was the least memorable part of the day. It looks just like many of the big lakes in our area. Enjoy your cruise! It is wonderful but plan ahead.

We arrived on June 22 at 8 am and it took 1 1/2 hours to go through immigration. Other people on our cruise said it took them 2+ hours. Go to restroom before getting in line.

We were on the May25-June 6 sailing and there was a magician show, but we didn't go. Sorry, didn't save the Patters.

We were on same cruise but arrived at Heathrow two days early. We were in passport control line for 1 1/2 hours at 8AM. Crazy.

Darcy, we are on the Royal British Isles next week. Thanks for the shuttle and pub info. Do you happen to know if there is shuttle in LeHavre? We are renting a car in town and wondering if we need a cab to get to Enterprise rental.

We have an inside on the Royal and are sailing on May 25 British Isles, 12-day cruise. We were offered an upsell to a balcony for $699 two weeks ago and didn't take it. Yesterday we got another email upsell offer for $249 and jumped on it. Interestingly the couple we are traveling with did not get the second offer as this is their first Princess cruise and we are Elite, so it seems--at least in our case-- Princess does favor loyalty. When I explained to the agent on the phone that our traveling companions did not get the offer and we wanted cabins close to each other, she said she could give them the same offer since they received the original offering two weeks ago. We now have two balconies next to each other and I'm a happy cruiser and so are our friends. We just booked this cruise about 6 weeks ago and the balconies were $1000 more than the very, very cheap insides, so I feel like we saved some money.

Six weeks ago we flew from Chicago to Paris on Air France and then to Lisbon on a "strike day." We had no problems but were worried about the Lisbon connection . Two weeks later (another strike day) when we were to fly home on AF out of Barcelona, they cancelled our flight about 24 hours out. We rescheduled through Delta, but had crappy seats and long layover at JFK. It certainly didn't spoil our trip, but was annoying to say the least. I will never book AF again. They strike every couple of weeks. Hope for the best and you will probably find out your fate abut 24 hours out, so look at other optional flights that might work with Delta.