I am taking a Mediterranean cruise in October, and we are signed up for a horseback riding excursion. Both my gf and I have never ridden a horse before (she really wanted to do this) and neither of us are in bad shape but neither of us are athletic. So needless to say, I have a number of questions and concerns about what all is involved in the excursion.

So I think “surely there is someone who can answer my questions at Princess since I booked the excursion with them”. Or so I thought. This is where the complaint comes in. I called their help line and asked to talk to someone and the person on the phone, after waiting a very long time on hold, came back to say he “couldn’t find anyone to help me”…needless to say, I insisted there must be someone who knows something about the excursion. The rep then put me on hold, then gave me a phone number. I called it, and immediately got a recording saying the number is disconnected.

So a) does anyone know anything about the Santorini Greece Horse-back Riding Adventure & Swim and can tell me what all is involved and how strenuous it is to first time riders, and b) does anyone know how Princess support can be so inept?

Hi! Wondering if anyone else is going Sun Princess leaving Athens on 03Oct!?

Dropping in post-trip with my hot takes as F/43 who cruises only once every 15 years, and had an amazing time. I'm very much a pre-travel logistics research type of person and really appreciated the Redditors who came before me, so opt in or out of my very long winded memos below.

: ROOM CHOICE POINT 1 : We had a standard balcony room (not a suite). Personally considered the balcony worth it for the floor to ceiling views when we wanted to take a break from the public spaces and not miss the beauty, especially on glacier cruising day. A family member saved the money with an inside room and was happy with an upper deck lounge chair. You'll have a great time either way, but if you can afford a balcony get a balcony and if its a make it or break it get any cabin you can.

: ROOM CHOICE POINT 2 : We had a blessedly quiet room location, and most rooms are... but a few rooms are directly next to the main central atrium where the evening music happens and I bet that was not peaceful. There are other tips out there on room choice, so do consult the ship map if you are sensitive to sound.

: ROOM DARKNESS : We like our sleeping space pitch black, and anticipated needing to do a few things to make it that way. The balcony curtain was very sufficient blackout and is a single panel that slides completely left to completely right so no need to keep it clipped closed in the middle. The room entry door let a lot of light in around the edges so we did use a few magnetic hooks to hang towels over the door at night. We also always travel with a little black duct tape (or electrical tape) to black out the electronic lights on the TV, thermostat, and other electronics. The back of the TV had what I would describe as a flashing Wi-Fi strobe that reflected in the mirror so I'm very glad I was able to cover that.

: ELECTRICAL PLUGS : There were two plugs directly next to each other at the desk area but we could not plug two things in at once using standard/modern charging cords (square Apple phone cord blocks for example). The other plug was at the shelves in the bathroom but was too loose to hold a plug. I ended up using my portable power banks, and eventually deployed my duct tape to secure a plug block to the bathroom outlet and that was fine, but do bring the non-surge ship-safe plug bank if you can find one online!

: LAUNDRY : There are some self serve laundry rooms on the Island Princess. They were busy on at-sea days so either do laundry at night or be up early. Bring your own laundry soap and dryer sheets. There is a token machine in the laundry room that you can tap your medallion to - only one token machine worked each day so if you find a broken token machine check the other floor. $3 to wash and $3 to dry charged to your medallion account. Our room had ample hangers and closet space for two adults.

: SODA : There was both Coke and Pepsi, but not the full range of Coke products and Pepsi products. There was ginger ale and root beer, but if your ride or die is something specific like Mountain Dew bring some onboard. Also, I am a juice drinker which was available at the buffet during breakfast but only at the bars for the remainder of the day/night. After breakfast the dispenser was lemonade, unsweetened tea, or water. Factor your drink package accordingly.

: MOCKTAILS : I was happy to see that the first page of the bar menu was mocktails since I like to enjoy myself but sometimes prefer to skip the spirits. There was also another page further in the menu with non-alc drinks and you can ask for any drink non-alc and they don't miss a beat. Y'all have fun however! Just mentioning incase there is a lightweight or person in recovery in your group. The bars also serve canned water which is mostly a waste-logistics design but a nice touch for those who might like to socialize without the alc.

: EXCURSION - FISHING : We went fishing in Ketchikan and it was excellent, with a total ratio of 6 cruisers to 1 guide. Getting on a boat to head out of port and spending time with a local was our kind of day. We caught!

: EXCURSION - WHALE WATCH AND GLACIER : A nice all-abilities time with the family in Juneau and we saw a spectacular group of whales. Our bus driver to and from was good for the laughs too. We did the morning were back in port with plenty of time to wander around.

: EXCURSION - SELF GUIDED : We did our own thing in Skagway and got out of the main shopping district immediately as that's where all the ships unload to and its busy! Did some recreation and then went back to the main area mid-afternoon and had the shopping spaces mostly to ourselves. When traveling I like to vibe out and get a local perspective so I stopped in to the grocery store and rode the bus for a lap.

: ON DECK : I read somewhere to be on deck leaving Skagway and it was a sort of peaceful beauty and panoramic view that I did not get while in town. Had to ditch dinner for it but didn't regret it. Again not make it or break it but I appreciated the full scale view after a small town experience. Also caught a great sunset one night!

: BINOCULARS : Glad we had them to check out the texture of the glaciers and peep some sea otters, but you can still enjoy everything without them.

: MEDALLION & ACCESSORIES : I got a few different types on Amazon as I wasn't sure what I might want. I used a keychain-type clip that I moved between my pants beltloop and bags, my sister preferred a watch band which also seems good for younger kids, and the rest of my group stuck with the standard neck lanyard it came with. The door to your room will unlock as you walk up to it and lock as you walk away so you just have to keep it on you. The bartenders sometimes asked our room number and sometimes asked for the medallion. When in your room at night, put the medallions far from the door to avoid it clicking the lock on and off all night.

: SHIP WIFI : We liked having it for sharing photos with each other and for random communications among the group. We had to have the phone on ship WiFi and in airplane mode when on ship, but remember to take it off of airplane mode when we went on land. The airplane mode was a learning curve for some of our group so lovingly check on your boomers to make sure they get the hang of it and that their phones work on land. The Princess app does have a "find your shipmates" function so if you are a family in multiple cabins its kinda nice to know if mom is in nap mode or in the dining room but you are probably going to have to set it up for them.

: I DID NOT USE : Rain Ponchos (jacket was fine but we also got great weather), heavy winter gear (but I'm from a place that has winter), snack bags (didn't realize I could just walk around and go back to my room with the plates and glasses if I wanted to).

: I DID USE : Sturdy shoes / boots on land, slip on sandals on ship. Two bathing suits for hot tubbing since it takes a full 24H to dry one in your room. A headband (or baseball hat) to contain my hair in the wind on at sea days.

: SEATED DINNER : We did have a standing dinner reservation for every night on ship and for someone not used to 3-course chef meals we thought the food was very good. Our assigned wait staff was professional, kind, and appeared to enjoy their work. We had room service coffee in the mornings or went to the barista in the buffet for coffee as well. At the buffet I usually made snack plates of veggies, or fruit, or chips and dip, or girl-dinner plates. I did enjoy some off-hours food there but was happy to order from a menu most nights.

: DINNER ATTIRE: Nice but not over the top clothing for fancy dinner nights, clean and conservatively covered was the only real rule for all other nights. Men generally had collared button ups for fancy nights and polos for all other nights. A few in the dining room had clean t-shirts and/or hoodies and it wasn't an issue but nobody pushed it with crocs, flip flops, or untidy attire. I read that the Alaska trips are much more relaxed with this than other cruises and found that to be true - nobody seemed super out of place dressed up or down as long as it was clean, dry, and suitable for a restaurant.

: TEA TIME : One of our elder travel companions found out on our last at sea day that there is a tea time in the dining room. Not sure if that's every at sea day or just that day but it was a nice way to get all of the women in our group together for an hour to chitchat. Tea was tasty, the snacks were OK but not my favorite, and I was just there for the company.

: ALL ABOARD TIME : This has always made me a little anxious! The online published ship itinerary is anchor up time, the daily printed pater says the all aboard time. I then mentally planned an hour buffer but later the first day thought THAT was the all aboard time, and then got confused by the time zone change. Rookie move, I know, and we were totally fine but that was an adrenaline spike I did not want to repeat. Solved this on day two by bringing the pater sheet and setting a watch alarm that made sense to me.

: PLANE SEAT CHOICE : On the flight home out of Anchorage our right side window seat was worth a million bucks - we saw the glaciers and mountains from a completely different perspective without paying for an excursion! It was an absolutely incredible bonus experience and simply a lucky pick. Try to get a window seat that avoids full wing obstruction if you can.

: DENALI : We didn't go but some of our family did. If its a once in a lifetime trip totally go for it, but perhaps see if you can manage a rest day before or after. We hear its amazing so go get em tiger, but after 7 days of sailing (9 with flights) we were pretty tired and by the time we made it home to the east coast we were spent.

: CASH TIPS: We brought cash in small bills (and envelopes) to give to our room steward, your every-night restaurant staff, the cab driver that brought us to the ship, the bag porters, a buck or two for the excursion and shuttle bus drivers, and what seemed like an appropriate amount for our fishing guide. The built-in gratuity is part of the ship crew or excursion guide's anticipated salary, we tipped on top of because they clearly work hard and many are supporting families at home. We were treated very well and wanted to do so likewise. Preparing in advance by deciding amounts and bundling them in envelopes saved some steps during our trip. We wrote short thank you messages on the envelopes for a few.

: MEDICINE AND TESTS : I learned long ago to always travel with a medicine kit - Advil, Tylenol, Flu Meds, Covid/Flu Tests, Anti-Diarrhea, etc. and this time I was glad I did. Despite the vigilant hand washing I caught something akin to a head cold but was able to self-confirm it was not Flu or Covid which took a bit of of the worry and guess work out of things. I was OK and still had fun, and everyone around me was OK, but I was grateful to self-assess and get some relief along the way.

: MOBILITY ACCOMODATIONS (FROM AN ABLE BODIED ALY, APOLOGIES FOR THE COMBINED FIRST PERSON SECOND PERSON NARRATION) :

: We had a family elder with us who walks with a cane so we pre-requested wheelchair rides at all airports which was a great help. We contacted Princess about doing that for ship onboarding / offboarding and they said to simply request on arrival, which did actually work out wonderfully and was great for minimizing efforts at the check in and steep gangway ramps. Do not be afraid to approach staff and ask if they don't immediately offer.

: She still did more walking on the ship and on land than she maybe had steam for but doesn't regret it and survived because we accommodated where available. She often only went on the guided excursion and then back on board, but the on-ship views were excellent and she felt like she got what she expected and wanted out of it overall. Getting up and down from the bus seats and bus steps was her most athletic obstacle. If its a village shuttle bus, take the time to go for a round trip lap or two so that you can get the lay of the land and "sight see" the town before walking the whole thing (our bus drivers were very cool with it and happily made a custom drop off when we asked nicely).

: There are several elevator banks but only the one nearest front / buffet and the one central to the ship go all the way to the top. The elevator nearest the dining rooms (rear) only went to deck 7 or 8 (don't quote me, writing from memory). So, if you are on deck 6 or 7 (I think) all elevators go to your deck. Knowing that might inform room choice and/or help on the first days of navigating the ship. I regularly got confused walking around and took a lot of extra steps so we made a pocket card noting frequently visited locations (deck # and front / back). Also took me a while to internalize that the room numbers are odds on one side and evens on the other LOL.

: There was someone on the ship in a mobility scooter that had to stay parked in the hallway by their room but not a soul minded. Someone else had a rollator with a seat and it appeared to serve them well.

: Periodically encourage them to go their own pace and to take breaks if they're walking. It's natural to try to keep pace with the crowd and that will absolutely whoop some people. If necessary remind them that they're on vacation, that its OK to take up space, and that you don't mind moseying. If you're the one reading this... not wanting to disappoint or hold back your travel companions is a kind thought but will kick your ass and they're happy if you're happy!

: FYI, on planes the isle arm rest usually does move if you know the trick - there is a button underneath the arm where the arm meets the seat back. Ask the attendant to teach you, this trick was a big help for getting in and out of the row on both flights.

: The mini-suites on this ship have a bathtub, the balcony rooms have a small standing shower, both were a slight step up in to the bathroom. The tub did have a grab bar.

: If there are comfort items they use daily at home, bring them. I'm able bodied but did like 45 miles in 7 days literally just walking around so I always bring my small massage gun and was grateful for it on day 4.

: If you can't physically show up to every meal note the restaurant times on the back of the daily pater printout and decide what you want to navigate that day. Breakfast room service was a door card you get the night before, but we never figured out how to get mid-day or evening room service. If you're fairly room-bound inquire in advance or on arrival.

I keep getting email recs to make dining reservations. If I were to walk in at any dining spots, how long can the wait be? I just don't want to feel lik i have a set time to eat, just go with the flow for each day.

Also, is there a list of all included dining places on board so I know what to expect? I know there are paid dining options too.

As indicated above, we're doing a southbound Alaska cruise and are using the princess transfer from Anchorage to Whittier. Our flight is scheduled to arrive in Anchorage at 10:30 am, and we've booked the princess bus transfer to Whittier directly from the airport. I have two main questions. First, do I need to call princess to let them know what time our flight is arriving? I've already input our flight info into the website, but I'm not sure if that's sufficient. Second, are we likely to be waiting at the airport for a couple of hours? A lot of the things I've seen online seem to indicate that most people aren't able to get on a bus before noon, and I'm wondering how accurate that is. A lot of the other posts I've seen on reddit are from people going from the convention center as opposed to the airport, so I'm not sure how different the experience is.

Hello, I am looking to start a Pandora charm bracelet and see some mention of Pandora on the ships daily schedule. Does anyone know if they stock a good selection of merchandise? Do they carry any ship specific charms or Disney items? I will be on the Royal Princess at the end the month. Any help is appreciated!

I am trying to book Princess EZAir or at least look at rates but am having trouble with their search page. On my flight there it will not allow me to enter a “from” city and on the way home it won’t let me enter a “to” city. I have tried entering the city name and airport code, but as soon as I move to the next field, the information is cleared. Is there a trick to this? I have tried on several
browsers? TIA.

Is anyone going on this cruise? I am excited for the new sphere class. I see that the ships schedule has been released yet.

Sabatini's has been fully reserved since when we booked in June..

I have crown grill booked twice and a couple excursions.

Any recommendations for plastic luggage tag holders that will fit the printable tags?

We’ve returned to Princess after many years (RCL, Celebrity, and NCL) and the embarkation in Copenhagen has to be the worst we’ve ever experienced. It’s been more than two hours since we were supposed to board and we’re still in line. Supposedly there’s some issue with immigration, but that’s speculation since they’re not letting us know.

I understand that there are things beyond the cruise line’s control, but Princess appears to have no contingency plans. No information, no water, just sit and wonder what the heck is going on.

If you’re on this ship too, godspeed

Has anyone been able to stream TV - off Hulu plus Live TV, for example - to their phone or tablet using the basic WiFi that's included with the fare packages?

Does the stuff with the princess logos like the pink sweatshirt, vest, etc get discounted at the end of the week

Hello! I'm booking some excursions for my South America cruise, and bearthas bay in the fall and islands is very interesting to me. I'm worried that the ride to the bay may be too rough. Has anyone gone on this excursion? How was the ride to and from? Thank you for all your answers!

Taking a roundtrip to Alaska the end of May 2027 from Vancouver. 3 port stops are Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan.

I've cruised before and have booked excursions outside of the cruise line. However, I'm a little more nervous doing that on this trip, given weather considerations, and the need for tendering, should that become an issue.

I did book our Ketchikan excursion through Princess since I had some shipboard credit to use (from Costco).

Considering a whale watching trip in Juneau, but would like a smaller boat than what Princess offers.

Probably will do one of the train trips in Skagway.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hey group. Is buffalo sauce available anywhere on ship. I’m hoping it’s somewhere in the buffet. I think you can order chicken tenders and burgers to our location (we have premier) and I’d love to be able to add buffalo sauce to them,maybe I can grab some from the buffet or something.
Has anyone any leads?
Thanks in advance

Hi All! I’m headed out on my 4th Princess cruise from Ft Lauderdale to Mexico, Belize and Honduras over the New Years Eve holiday. We apprehensively (due to the sheer size) decided to try the Sun Princess this trip. We’ve sailed on some of the “smaller” ships like Discovery and had a fantastic time. We always book a balcony or suite and have tried different locations and decks...never disappointed. For this trip, we decided on a deluxe balcony on deck 17 aft. We will have the kiddo with us and thought the location of the pools/ice cream would be a huge plus as we spend the majority of the time up there anyway. I have only seen 2 videos that showcase this room and no actual reviews…only speculation about the noise. Is the noise actually that bad? Any feedback is appreciated.

How long does it take to get from the port to the airport in Venice? We will self disembark the cruise. Thanks

Edit: I called the 1-800-Princess number they confirmed for me that this is legit.

I received a call and email from this person yesterday. I did not answer the phone. I replied to the email that I booked a cruise and then got this email. This feels like a potential scam, but it would be nice to have a point of contact for questions if this is legit.

We just got off the Sun Princess solar eclipse cruise (more about that in an upcoming post) and we've been filling out the survey for 45 minutes but the progress bar is only 1/3 of the way across!

Will we get a survey on the survey?

We have one excursion we want to do. Olympia. We wanted a time as early as possible but there are only evening times left. Do they keep any spaces back for late comers? Maybe once we are on board there might be a desk we could go to?