To Sea to See, a GRAND trip to Hawaii-TR complete 4/1/2014 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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To Sea to See, a GRAND trip to Hawaii-TR complete 4/1/2014
To Sea to See, a GRAND trip to Hawaii-pre trip report
One nice thing about my last cruise, a fifteen day Panama canal cruise, was lot of sea days. I learned I that I loved sea days and in the process watched the on TV mini cruise ads. About ½ way between Nicaragua and Cabo, I meandered down to the future cruise office and charged $100 to my credit card on file for a ‘future cruise credit’(FCC) on Princess. With the $100 (totally refundable ) you get the $100 as your down payment on your next cruise and an onboard credit (OBC) on the next cruise which will be based on your length of cruise and room category.
The cruise ended on February 21st, and on the 23rd I emailed my beloved travel agent who verified she was notified of the FCC.
First thing after coming home was to do my taxes, then when I knew I was financially free for another year, I contacted my TA and got to work. She shared several options (I had already made my mind up to take a Hawaii cruise). She gave me several quotes, with prices changing based on dates… and told my about one cruise their company had a ‘group’ special on. You had to do that date, but it would garner extra OBC and a couple onboard perks.
Credit card in hand, I called her again on March 27th and in my best Hawaii 50 imitation I told her to ‘book it Dano’. I booked a 15 day..San Francisco to Hawaii to Ensenada(to meet the PVSA) and back to San Francisco. I was already ahead of the game as I live 200 miles from SF so I don’t have to fly).
Initially I booked a ‘interior-guarantee”—inside with them picking the room. Price with cruise insurance (with some health issues of my own and an elderly mom I always buy it) $2,848. Before you gasp at the price remember that since I am single I pay double occupancy price- i.e. pay for two…only savings is only one port fees/taxes). One nice thing is that now that I was up a class in their frequent cruiser program (I do get credit for double the # of cruises since I pay for two, but # of days remains the same—Princess’ Captain Circle does it both ways) . This means as a ‘platinum’ I get (based on cruise length) $250 free internet time , priority boarding,
On the 28th I got confirmation from her and a thank you letter from the president of the cruise line. On my booking my Onboard credits were: From future cruise credit $100 , From travel agent $75, and from Princess $250 for having served in the military (ranges from 50 to 250 based on cruise length) for a total onboard credit of $425.
On the 5th of April the listing of excursions became available. (They had to finish setting their 2014 excursion prices first) With Princess your excursions are not charged to you room until you board, but you have your reservation. In addition, you can usually cancel and excursion up to 36 hours before the excursion. In addition to getting a space reserved, you (based on 3 prior cruises) save about 20% on the price of the excursions if booked in advance). Went and reserved one excursion per island.
Since I am a Captains Club member, I get periodic sale notices, and on 5/26 I got notice of a sale, and decided to upgrade to a balcony. Price was $4815 after insurance which was compared to a normal $5,400. I was assigned room L243 (Lido deck right under the beauty salon..not a great location but a balcony. On July 18th I got a notice that Princess upgraded me to C305 which is a nice mid ship, both midway between bow and stern and on deck 10 instead of 14.
So in summary of pre report to date: booked 15 day cruise to Hawaii. Board Sunday, sail Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday-Honolulu, Oahu, :Saturday-Lahaina, Maui (tender port) : Sunday-Nawiliwili , Kauai : Monday-Hawaii: Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri at sea, Saturday-3 hour stop in Ensenada, Sunday at Sea, Monday-Disembark in San Francisco. Cruise 1/19-2/3, 2014 on the Grand Princess
Price for double occupancy balcony $4,800 including tax and travel insurance.
I will cover excursions, and rest of planning in part two. I will try to do a daily update , without photos , during the cruise, then a full trip report with pictures (lots of food pictures-yum ) after I get home.
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and a couple onboard perks.
I booked a 15 day..San Francisco to Hawaii to Ensenada(to meet the PVSA) and back to San Francisco. I was already ahead of the game as I live 200 miles from SF so I don’t have to fly).
Price with cruise insurance (with some health issues of my own and an elderly mom I always buy it) $2,848. Before you gasp 
at the price remember that since I am single I pay double occupancy price- i.e. pay for two…only savings is only one port fees/taxes). One nice thing is that now that I was up a class in their frequent cruiser program (I do get credit for double the # of cruises since I pay for two, but # of days remains the same—Princess’ Captain Circle does it both ways) . This means as a ‘platinum’ I get (based on cruise length) $250 free internet time 
, priority boarding, 
On my booking my Onboard credits were: From future cruise credit $100 , From travel agent $75, and from Princess $250 for having served in the military (ranges from 50 to 250 based on cruise length) for a total onboard credit of $425.
. Price was $4815 after insurance which was compared to a normal $5,400
. I was assigned room L243 (Lido deck right under the beauty salon..not a great location but a balcony. On July 18th I got a notice that Princess upgraded me to C305 which is a nice mid ship, both midway between bow and stern and on deck 10 instead of 14.
, without photos 
, during the cruise, then a full trip report with pictures 
(lots of food pictures-yum 
) after I get home.
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