Pre-cruise advice for Princes Cruises

 I just booked my third Princess Cruise in 2 years.  Why- they are going to the places I want to go, for as long as I want at relatively (the key word is relatively) decent prices.  I like cruises to be 14 to 20 days as this way I am relaxed when I get off.  

I was given the advice from a fellow solo traveler that you can get a back to back Alaskan cruise at very low prices.  They were definitely right.  The 14 day cruise on the Sapphire is costing about $650 per week for an obstructed ocean view guaranteed.  They no longer offer cabin selection for obstructed ocean view.  I really like to pick my own to get the best view but at this price I am taking the risk.

Below is some pre-cruise advice for Princess and some mitigation suggestions

1. If you pre-book the internet which I did as its half off for Platinum members book it at time of booking via your travel agent.  The only issue I am having which is the same each time is that the purchase shows up on the website when you log in but not the app.  Call to get that corrected as otherwise you have to line up at guest services when you get on board to correct it and then go to the ocean ready area for a setup. So annoying. 

2.  Pre-book your shore excursions early as the good ones always seem to sell out early.

3. Use a travel agent to do your booking - as the few times I booked thru Princess directly I did not get as good of a deal and the agent will help you with pre-cruise issues.

4.  I have booked the ezair option twice now when the price was better than booking direct and they guaranteed flexibilty and getting you there same day  However they will only pre-ticket before final payment when you pay in full and then the ticket is no longer flexible.  Its annoying when you like to pre-select your seats.  And if you are Canadian - Air Canada will charge in US dollars for the seat selection (it works out to about the same price Canadian). 

I hope this helps 

Marcia

MSC cruises - pre cruise advice and some updates once on board

 I am trying MSC again in June, even though it took them 14 months to return my money after cancelling my cruise due to the COVID pandemic.  I tried to book any other cruise line for a cruise to Iceland but they were all about 40% more, so I am going to risk it on the MSC Virtuosa.  Below are some things I learned in the pre-booking process and advice to mitigate any potential issues

1.  Read the reviews on Cruise Critic, Cruiseline and in particular as this cruise leaves out of Southhampton - you need to read the TripAdvisor UK reviews as they are many more reviews on this site.  Note the reviews are mixed with more leaning to the negative side.  The primary dislikes appear to be food (it’s like that for most cruises so I tend to disregard them as food is to personal taste), lack of public INDOOR spaces for seating and relaxing. It appears there is lots of outdoor seating but in northern climates this does little good.  Universally all reviews say guest relations is a nightmare to deal with.  On the positive side the cabins get very positive reviews with a few complaints on the size.  The reviews also say the staff (excluding guest relations and shore excursions) are great and very service oriented)

Take the negative reviews as potential problems areas so far other than the line ups  for internet help, getting dining time set and booking the carousel shows, no problems.

2. Don't expect a lot of shore excursions to be available.  In some of the ports I am going to there are no shore excursions offered, and for the few that are they are much more expensive than if you booked a local tour.  My suggestion is you create your itinerary and find local tours or explore on your own using public transport.  That is what I am doing in every port.  I found that in Reykjavik you can take the local bus to downtown and the harbor or walk. Its a similar situation in all of the other ports.  

3. MSC doesn't advise pre-cruise,  if transfers to downtown areas will be available in the ports. However reviews show that they appear to be but at a much higher cost than local transport.  Again do your research and importantly print out instructions, prices using rome2rio, or google maps.  Get printouts of the local bus routes by going to the local transport sites.  Note almost all buses require exact change for tickets.  Pre-purchase some local currency in small amounts to cover these expenses.  I always purchase a minimum of $50 per port in local currency,

4. I pre-booked a guaranteed ocean view cabin and while they say the cabin number usually will be provided 2 weeks before the cruise, they assigned my cabin within a few days of booking.  It’s an unobstructed ocean view which would have cost me about $200 more if I picked my own cabin.  Its risky to book a guaranteed cabin but in this case it appears to be ok except its beside an elevator.  Reviews rave about how quiet the elevators are but I will just have to see.  It’s people talking while waiting for elevators that can be an issue.  Remember to bring ear plugs.

the cabin is clean, small and you can not hear the elevator.  

5. MSC does not offer transfers from UK airports to the cruise port. In this case I am using National Express direct buses from Heathrow to Southhampton. Its about 15 pounds if you pre-book each way. Its only a 10 minute walk to the cruise terminal from the bus terminal.  I am going in the day before as the UK has so many people on strike. 

6. MSC will not confirm your dinner dining room time pre-cruise. This is for all categories but if you are the Bella option (the only one offered to Solos- clearly they don't want our extra money ) you may not get your desired early dinner time regardless if you booked really early as I did. 

Went day one to sign up for the time and restaurant. About a 15 minute wait.

7. You will get almost no pre-cruise emails from MSC - they don't try to sell you anything. They only sent me one cabin upgrade promotion but the prices are double for singles so never a good deal. 

8. MSC will offer you two types of internet - a basic for reading emails (but universally all that purchased it say it doesn't work well) and the streaming and download version for double the price, which I purchased at $224 for two weeks. It is a luxury that I will not do without. 

9. The MSC for me app seems ok but the true test will be when I am on board.  At this point I can not pre-book shows etc, but perhaps on board?

Easy to do once on board.

I hope this helps

Marcia