missbsmom

Hi, we have cruised on the oasis class ships in their 1 bedroom grand suites and you get to eat your meals in their special dinning room, the coastal kitchen .also get hors d’oeuvres and drinks included. Since the mariner does not have a specialty suite dining area what benefits do you get if you book a one bedroom suite on it. I assume they do have a suite lounge. If so, is it open all day or just in the evening. Do you get unlimited drinks there? Trying to decide if it’s worth paying the difference for that versus just a mini suite.

Hi everyone, we are going to try once again to take our Panama Canal cruise through the new locks next February. Since the cruise is just one way, San Pedro to Fort Lauderdale we can’t leave a car at the dock. We will have to fly home either into LAX or Burbank . My question is if I leave my car at LAX how much does princess charge for their transfers ? 

Because it’s about 25 + miles from San Pedro to LAX.  Based on traffic a taxi price can fluctuate a lot. We have checked into renting a car where we live which about 70 miles away from the pier and drop it off at the Enterprise car rental company which is the closest car rental company to the dock bases on my research , and then  either taking their comp shuttle or a taxi to the pier , but when I checked for a vehicle that is large enough for 4 adults with luggage . According to the  quote there is a drop charge  and it was over $250 . I’ve checked and I can’t leave a car at the dock because the lot is locked a d only unlocked when a ship is in port, so you can’t get you car even if you took a taxi from LAX to the dock. I know there are 2 hotels (doubletree and crown plaza ) near the dock that allow you to leave a vehicle but then the original problem exist, getting back to San Pedro fromLAX

We are scheduled to ( second try) take the Panama Canal cruise from San Pedro to FLL. Ext February. We live in LA but not near San Pedro . Does anyone know what princess charges for transfers from LAX ? Can you get transfers the day prior or only on the day of sailing ?

Yes, I would like to know more about getting to the airport at the end of the cruise too. If I could get them comp that would be fantastic ( especially since I am boarding another Viking cruise 5 days later ), but if not and I would have to pay for them then I have a question.

If you book the airport transfers with Viking while on the boat, does Viking add them ( $60 pp as I understand it) to your ship board account ? I only ask because we are suppose to have approx. $200 SBC coming and except of my laundry I really don't know what we will spend it on. I read that we can't use this SBC towards our tips. The wine/beer/ soda at lunch and dinner will probably be enough for us so I don't think we will have any big bar tab. I have done this cruise before with Uniworld so don't think there are any shore excursions being offered that we will want to do again. Right now we have reservsed a private car to take us to the airport but if I could use the SBC that would save me 90 Euros + tip for something else.

Robert2005 , you mention outlets . Since this is a new boat does the ship have 110 V or only 220 V outlets in the room ? Also, if they have 110 is it our normal US style plug configuration ?.

Thanks everyone for the info.

This should work out if Viking mails those 2nd docs by the end of July.

Thanks rpnickel, I appreciate the info. I have never booked viking through the "c" big box warehouse store's travel dept. so I'm not sure if they get their docs from viking and then mail them out like a normal TA. I did book Uniworld a few years ago through them and think they were mailed directly to me by uniworld, but really can't remember. Based on your info it's going to be close for my second cruise . Guess early next month I will have to make some calls. Someone suggested that I ask them to have our docs either sent to our ship I paris while we on on the first cruise or at the our paris hotel (the hotel nights at the start of the cities of light cruise are included ) for us to pick up if they can't assure us we will have them before we depart for our first cruise. Not sure if they can do that. Has anyone ever done this ?

Hi,

We are taking 2 "almost " back to back Viking cruises and was wondering from anyone who has cruised lately with Viking how far out they received their docs. Our first cruise ( Paris Normandy) leaves Aug 17 but we leave from home about 5 days before. When that cruise ends we have 4 days on our own and them start our Cities of Lights tour/cruise. I have read some post where people haven't received their docs until approx. 10 days from their sailing date... This concerns me, especially for my 2nd cruise . I really don't want my docs. sitting at the post office . I booked these cruises through one of the big box warehouse "C" travel depts. When I mentioned my concerned and ask if they would cross reference them and bring this issue to Viking's attention they didn't seem that concerned. They said Viking sends out docs approx. 45-60 out. What have your recent experiences been with Viking and their document delivery. I haven't contacted Viking directly yet, mainly because I have read post that say since it's book through a TA, Viking will instruct you to contact them.

Leaving this morning on the Golden. We want to go to the Crown Grille 1 night for dinner. One these 3 night cruises, which night in your opinion has the better menu options in the MDR, the 2 nd or the 3rdfancy than the others ? Since they don't have a Captains Dinner, is 1 night's menu more I know they don't serve lobster on either. Do they still offer lobster in the Crown Grille ?

We purchased about a week ago a 3 night LA-Ensenada cruise on the Golden for Nov 30. Wanted the promo price Princess has going that includes a $100 per person SBC. We usually book Mini Suites but for this 3 night cruise decided on a balcony since they were only asking $199 pp . Our logic was, given a person gets back $100 SBC, before port taxes and any insurance that makes the cruise $99 pp. I can't stay home and eat this good for that !! :-) According to 2 different agents I spoke to at Princess the $100 SBC promotion was only good for the forward cabin which were only available at the time as guarantees. So we booked it hoping with all the cabins available that we would get assigned a cabin in a better location. Want to print out our boarding passes and luggage tags so I keep checking my cruise personalizer on the Princess site and as of today, 17 days before sailing, our cabin has still not been assigned. Has anyone recently taken a guarantee on a last minute cruise ( under 30 days) ? How close to the actual sailing date was your cabin assigned ?

When I check the ships availability I would estimate that the ship is really only about 50-60 % sold. I checked some other dates (before this one) and notice the same thing. Today being 11/13, I was surprised to see that Princess still had the Nov 17 sailing still open for sale. I was told on a recent cruise that cruise lines are required to turn in their manifest list to Homeland Security approx. 1 week prior to sailing. Has anyone cruised on these short ones recently ? Are they sailing full or is Princess just cutting back on crew, food etc. and sailing them half empty ?

Thank you for responding and your review. I appreciated reading a little about the various port stops. About how far from Berlin is the port ? We are planning to do some touring on our own pre and post so I don't we will able to take advantage of Vikings air. I understand that Viking has ( or will have ) 2 new boats on the Elbe. Will need to look more into those.

We have done 4 other river cruises and really enjoy them. I am looking at the various river cruise companies for a cruise other than on the Rhine or Danube. We have also done Paris to Normandy ( was very good too !). Have been looking at some on the Elbe River from Berlin to Prague. This would be an entirely new area for us. I understand that not many ships cruise the Elbe due to the fact that it is considered a "shallow " river. I know that if a river is gets too low the ship can't sail and your trip is either cancelled or you are put on a bus very day and they bus you to each city. Not want I want to happen since we love the river boat cruising experience. Would appreciate hearing from anyone who have done this itinerary with any of the various river cruise lines. It there a lot of scenery to view while you are cruising along ? In your opinion is there a better month of the year to do this trip? Who did you sail on ?

Thanks

Thanks for the quick replies. I prefer using the credit card. My has a "chip" in it. Will I still need to set up a pin ?

We are taking a Alaska cruise from Anchorage to Vancouver. We are not staying on in Vancouver after the cruise. Have a early afternoon flight home on disembarkation day. Does anyone know if there is a ATM or somewhere at the Canada Place dock that I can exchange some USD for CAN money to pay for my taxi to the airport ? Do the taxis in Vancouver take credit cards ? If we would decide to take the light rail system does the fare have to be paid in CAN currency or do the machines take credit cards ?

Hi,

We are doing a South bound Alaska cruise from Anchorage to Vancouver. We are not staying on in Vancouver. We will disembark and then head to the airport. Does anyone know if there is a ATM in the Canada Place terminal or how I can get approx. $40 CAN to pay for the taxi ride to the airport ? Do the Taxis in Canada take credit cards ? Does the cruise ship offer to exchange USD for CAN currency on board ?

Thanks RDC1.

I just went through Google Chrome and got into Princess' excursions and booked a couple that I wanted . Others might want to try it too !

Thanks everyone for your responses. I use Internet Explorer and since so many others are having the same problems I don't think it's them. I guess I will keep trying.

We are doing a cruistetour in August. Interesting when I have gotten on a number of the land portion tours were available, now they say "not available" but others say "sold out". Wonder what the difference means ?

I have been trying to book my shore excursions for my Alaska cruise over the pass 4-5 days and have not been able to. I can get to the excursions through my cruise personalizer but when I click on the port it says that their is a error and if it continues contact Princess at 1 (800) princess. I did that 2 days ago and the agent said they were working on it. Yesterday afternoon it was working for awhile but by evening it wasn't. This morning it is still not working !!!!! Anyone experiencing this ? Anyone else talk to Princess and been told anything ?

Hi Cruisemom , yes, I am requesting to join the list of all those others who have requested a copy of your notes on Herculean, if you could send them to (no spaces) bowren at pacbell dot net

Also, our friends were interested in knowing if we decided to hire a guide instead are they available for hire at the entrance or should we try to arrange one in advance ? We will be there in early September on a Sunday

Thank you,