Dar & Bob

That may be coming. For our November Sky cruise a bunch of cabins appeared on Dolphin port side about a week ago, which from prior posts was the covid isolation area.

We got one on the Regal in January but none in July on the Grand in Alaska. So yes, it is hit or miss. That said I don't like carrying it around and with the Medallion we had them deliver drinks so we wouldn't have used them.

I understand this wouldn't bother some people - but I think we all have to agree it's quite rude, impolite or whatever word you want to use, of Princess to just drop this on a ship load of passengers a week before their sailing. We have been at resorts where filming was done and it did affect our vacation. Venues are crowded enough on the ships without have areas closed. I say shame on Princess.

We use the tags and I put them on before flights, that said I also print a second set to have in my document folder just in case. No fumbling around at the cruise port (we haven't lost them yet). Also, I bought the RCL/Celebrity ones which are larger than CCL/Princess but they work for both. .

As long as they don't swap the Sapphire out again - as they have for the past two years. Made us quite upset because when it came down to it she didn't even sail this last summer 😞

It did rain a bit, we sailed in July (rainy season) but the balconies do not have an opening under the railing so it wouldn't drain. Ours was at the end of a block D425 in Club Class. Our friends next door was wet and they do put down mats like used in bars but it was deeper than that - so not just a little bit wet. Unfortunately that wasn't the worst of our problems on this cruise. We had a loud mechanical noise followed by a thunk that went off every 19 to 26 minutes 24/7. We were above the lifeboats and the head of housekeeping speculated that might have made the noise. It wasn't resolved before we disembarked. Two days before the end they did offer to relocate us, we chose just to sleep in another cabin since we didn't want to pack and we were next to our friends. That shouldn't affect a future cruise however.

We did just the northbound cruise this summer on the Grand. IMO I would avoid the ship. We were in a Club Class mini suite. Our balcony was constantly flooded, the room was in rough shape. We had orginally the prior two years chosen the Sapphire, 2020 cancelled due to Covid, then they changed the ship for 2021 and no comparable cabins on any ships. Rebooked on the Sapphire for 2022 and they took her again so we moved to the Grand. After sailing on her we probably should have went with the Majestic. It doesn't do the inside of Vancouver island but hindsight after sailing we were busy with dinner etc and didn't really see much anyways. Also, supposedly the smaller ships get closer to the glaciers - again, I don't think it made a difference. Given the condition of the ship I don't think we will sail Grand Class again.

As a note if you like Pizza - on the Royal class ships there is Alfredo's (it is on the other ships but limited) It has really great pizza IMO and some salads etc.

We have been looking at cruises in the Caribbean for November of this year. A couple of weeks ago many of them were "waitlist" only. We booked the Sky and there were very few cabins available. Just this week there is now availability on the sold out cruises and many more available on the rest. When looking at the cabins available specifically on our cruise, the majority of them are on Dolphin port side. I glanced at a couple of the sold out cruises and it looks similar. I am wondering if Princess is done with holding cabins for covid quarantine. Anyone else notice this?

The medical centers are not hospitals. Generally speaking, when cruising you will be transported to the nearest hospital. We have had someone in a group travelling with us injured on an excursion (he turned out to be fine) and the cruiseline wanted him off the ship to a hospital in that port. The ship sailed before they could get him completely checked out. On another cruise a member of the group we were travelling with was traumatized and was put off in the next port for a mental evaluation. IMO I would not cruise if your husband would have to have a transfusion, that would be scary enough at your home hospital much less the ship or whatever hospital is nearest.

That's exactly what we all thought. Thus our conclusion that the masks are due to the Canadian government. We wore them mostly onboard but occasionally forgot and didn't really get reprimanded

The Grand has been doing a Vancouver to Whittier and Whittier to Vancouver itinerary. All summer any of the ships doing this itinerary have been requiring masks (we were on a July sailing). Most were guests were wearing masks most of the time but it wasn't stictly enforced - more enforcement by other guests than staff 🙂 The ships that sail roundtrip to/from Seattle there is no mask requirement. Go figure. I believe the "requirement" is due to the Canadian government since we also had to wear masks on our flight into Vancouver and friends had to wear them for the last 20 minutes (canadian airspace?) of their flight.

I will offer one possible explanation. Princess had a new phone system put in this week. I was reassigned to a new CVP - she wasn't calling me back, so I messaged my prior CVP and got assigned back to him - I had also left him a voicemail. Three days later after taking care of all my issues I got return calls from both. The voicemails were humg up in their system. Just a suggestion for the future - What I have done when bringing someone new to any cruise line is to have my CVP pur the cruise on hold and they call in to make the deposit.

We were looking at several cruises in November for the Caribbean and were told they were basically sold out - waitlist only. To be waitlisted you still had to pay the deposit! It appears everyone wants to cruise and on the cruise we finally booked it is sold out for anything above a regular balcony. I really wonder how much there is going to be to even bid on. We have a deluxe balcony that we are happy with so no worries 🙂

Well this is about the OP and quite obviously it didn't work out for them. In this case they may have been better off booking direct rather than with a TA.

Yes correct since they booked with a TA - they asked if booking direct would it make a difference. Sorry I didn't clarify, if they had booked direct they could have called or did on online chat. Booking direct I have been able to get an adjustment and moved past final payment. We have had very good CVPs

Even though the OP couldn't put it on hold they could have done an online chat or could have called Princess direct. At least in the past that has worked for us.

No cards or tshirts on our July Grand cruise. I would have just loved the recipe cards!

I would like to also say that I had a very good experience. I called Princess and used the call me back feature - to my surprise I was called back within 15 minutes ( LOL I was in the shower) but the issue was resolved.

LOL on #2 they say on their website "Expedited seating with no wait" On our last cruise we were sent away for about 15 to 20 minutes because they were full. Maitre d' came to get us and they did bend over backwards to give us great service but I don't understand not being able to accomodate when the ship was not full. That said, allowing people to just purchase the dining portion would just make the situation worse. For a 7 day cruise it's about $400 per person extra for CC. If we are cruising alone we probably will not book it. When we had a group of 8 in January it was fabulous as they just held a table for our group, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

My CVP basically said since it's on my confirmation all is well. She doubled checked it and it still showed on their system. Just checked my cruise planner and it still shows cancelled. I'm not going to worry about it but will check it again in a week or so

I emailed my CVP about our drink packages and she reassured me that they haven't been cancelled. I sent her screen shots to forward on to IT. I would have thought I would have gotten the "this is a known problem" response but if it is it hasn't been conveyed to the CVPs 🙂 Keep your confirmation emails! The way Celebrity displays cruise information is my one pet peeve.

Normally I would agree with this but in the terms of the offer the Casino is specifically excluded. †$100 Shore Excursion credit per guest. Offer is applicable to all four guests in a stateroom. Offer is only applicable on bookings with Princess Plus and Princess Premier fares. Guests with single occupancy will receive double the per guest credit amount. Shore Excursion credit may be used on a single voyage only, is not redeemable for cash, cannot be used in the casino, expires at the end of that voyage and is not applicable during the land portion of cruisetours. Shore Excursion credit is based on the ship’s onboard currency.

So the person who deleted their post telling me to google the highlighted words was being helpful. UM not so much, probably the reason they deleted their response. I appreciate the help people have given and will possibly reach out to the travel site tomorrow if I receive a no from my CVP Thanks for your snarkiness!

I want to use my FCD & FCC and not sure if that is possible on the travel site.