AE_Collector

Why would you need an answer before booking your next Celebrity cruise?

Code for I’m already PO’d at Princess over this trivial little thing so I may be going Celebrity next time.

I think there was just once in our cruising history where we had more OBC than what was used just to cover gratuities and combined with some ships shore excursions and the occasional visit to Happy Hour this just has never been an issue worth creating all the negative vibes before even boarding the ship ... but that might be just us.

AE_Collector

I agree with CruiserBruce. Many people only consider that they received an upgrade if they moved up in cabin type, not location so they are likely to mess up your survey results. Also, upgrades diminished substantially a couple of years ago once Princess began selling last minute upgrades rather than giving them away. So, old info will skew the survey results.

In 2014 we booked 6 Cruises all in Obstructed OV cabins and were upgraded once to Full OV and three times to a Balcony. This sort of luck no longer follows us.

AE_Collector

So it may be a crap shoot if its open.

And on the flip side, if it ISN'T open then it WON’T be a Crap Shoot....I’m thinking. :)

AE_Collector

1 night, what a waste of time.

Ships are full of passengers trying to make Elite with 15 nights total at sea with Princess. Have seen inside cabins as low as $39 each over the years. Have heard of people booking two insides between then to get double the points then they leave one empty. Thus they bought a Cruise credit for an additional $39. They can make Elite with 8 days at sea and an investment of about $600 each with Princess. All perfectly legal with Princess but just a little annoying when we board a cruise with an average of 11 days per cruise credit and it takes 3 days to get laundry returned and priority tendering is cancelled because there are too many Elites onboard.

AE_Collector

Cruise lines should bury the tips in the price of the cruise.

Amen to That! But, they figure there pricing wouldn’t be competitive.

I and many others view Celebrity as one of Princess main competitors. Celebrity now includes at least one free “perk” for all but inside cabins and one of those perks can be “gratuities included”. Quite often you get more than one free perk. So, IMHO Princess is missing the boat not going “All inclusive” including gratuities and taxes/Port fees. Just like in Australia.

AE_Collector

Always interesting how indignant people can be when challengered for bending the rules too far. Sure, they might let you do it once in awhile but this sounds like it was the plan for the entire cruise s8nce this discovery was made on day 1.

How about the first person on a particular cruise who wants a brewed coffee from the IC buys a card and tapes it up on the wall at the coffee bar so everyone on the ship can make use of it. At the end of the cruise the crew can use the 15 punches for speacialty coffees and then the manager can use it to order one for himself even if all punches are used before finally throwing it out.

AE_Collector

Will we have to disembark in FLL on the second leg of our cruise,or can we stay on the ship? thx Gil:confused:

Unfortunately you WILL have to disembark at FLL on the second leg...time to go home. But on the bright side you may not have to at the end of the first leg!

AE_Collector

The crew get a set amount, after the pool goes to corp for distribution, the rest goes into employee incentive programs for Princess like employee of the month and parties. Better to be spent on something you like or want.

Uuhhh, you forgot to emphasize that the vast majority of it gets distributed to the appropriate crew members forming a significant portion of their wage for the long hours, weeks and months that they work away from home.

Stop implying that the OP should just cancel the Gratuities and spend it all on themselves. Gratuities are a part of the cruise cost and should only be adjusted if dealing a problem up at Passenger Services fails to resolve it. If you can’t afford to cruise and pay the gratuities, cruise a couple of days less per year.

AE_Collector

Best place to wait for the tender to return to the ship....the Pioneer Inn Happy Hour! Don’t get too happy and miss the tender...

AE_Collector

Careful, I suggested something like that on a prior discussion, limiting to one bag every few days and someone on here stated that “unlike you I change my underwear every day”. OUCH!

People can really get their knickers in a knot over this subject.

But that poster was likely a super elite, not one of the new upstart Elites like me, lol.

I remember that discussion and that reply to you very well. And it was a well known regular on here whos credibility dropped several notches in my mind with that reply.

I still say a non refundable laundry credit to your account when you board the ship based on the exact number of days you will be on the cruise would be perfect. It would be very easy to administer as every item already has a dollar value which is charged to your account and then credited back if you are Elite.

This system would put some controls on the amount of laundry and would create a future potential perk (a higher laundry allowance per day or even unlimited laundry) if they decide to create a higher loyalty level.

AE_Collector

We’ve had this scenario before as well. We always try to use all 5 possible crew member recommendation spots on the survey and have resorted to using one of our survey for 5 crew members and our other survey (spouses survey) for up to 5 different crew members.

Contrary to what many think, these people are not highly paid by any standards and they work mega hours for months on end away from their family the entire time. Yet, they still manage to do an amazing job with a smile. I often wonder if people who cancel or reduce gratuities to these crew members at least attempt to partially make up for it by spending the time to both fill in the Consumate Host cards onboard and naming crew members on the post cruise survey. I would hope so but if I had to guess........

AE_Collector

Just to show that it is probably pointless trying to pick the time with the best weather...

We’ve been 4 times, twice in May, once in June and once very end of July/beginning of August. Good both times in May, outstanding in June but not good July/August.

As for ships, not sure yet about 2019 schedule but Emerald and Ruby have been cruising from Seattle which means round trip only, no land portion. Coral would be our choice as well.

AE_Collector

And shareholder benefit OBC and Military Service OBC and Captains Circle Loyalty OBC and.....

Most here incorrectly call it a FCC.

You purchase a FCD. When you use the FCD to book a cruise it generates a FCC once inboard.

AE_Collector

I often wonder how many Elite passengers try to help reduce the load on the laundry in other ways especially on Cruises where the 3-4 day laundry notice has been received.

We always hang our towels up after use and reuse them for about three days. But where I really notice a waste of laundry resources is on Lido Deck. If we head to Lido to lounge for a bit we take our pool towel from our room, use it and take it back to our room afterwards to use a couple more times. If it is a spontaneous lounge for a few minutes we don’t need a towel.

Other people seem to have to cover every square inch of lounge chairs with towels and roll up more towels to prop up here and there and then either leave the whole pile on the lounge when they leave or stuff the works into the towel return bin. If you use this many towels I would think you would help make up for it by folding them and taking them with you to use again but the only person I see occasionally folding a towel to take with them is the person who is happy with one towel. Can you imagine the reduction at the laundry if everyone were more considerate in this area especially on the Cruises with a high percentage of Elites?

AE_Collector

The confusion comes because the Auto Gratuities are not really Gratuities, they are a Service Charge. Why a Service Charge? Because the wages without Gratuities/Service Charges are ridiculously low due to competition keeping cruise prices low. If you received reasonable service even if not “over the top” then the Auto Gratuities should be left alone. The way to deal with an employee who you feel really missed the mark is to discuss the problem through Passenger Services. All employees are a bit different but the fact that they are still employed there indicates that you may be the only one seeing this as a big problem.

With Auto Gratuities left in place the employee is now being paid reasonably for their service provided. If you are very happy with their service then give them a bonus Gratuity of a few extra $ at the end of the cruise so they know you appreciated their service. This isn’t necessary as they signed up to provide this level of service in exchange for their (low) pay and percentage of the Auto Gratuity but this potential extra $ is really the “Gratuity” which they get to keep since you left the Auto Gratuity in place.

AE_Collector

4 day turnaround on the Royal at the moment, 85% passengers are elites

Is this a “guess” or a confirmed 85% Elite leaving only 15% of passengers to be divided amoungst Blue Cards, Gold, Ruby and Platinum? I ask because I seem to recall you previously claiming something like 80% Elite on a cruise.

Of course while 100% Elite is a possibility, even 85% seems very VERY unlikely to me to ever happen. We were on a cruise with LOTS of Elites and three day Elite laundry recently. Captains Circle host made a big deal of ALL the Elites onboard, there were 1200 Elites out of 3000 passengers. (40%) (Emerald Princess)

Again, 85% Elite seems like a number pulled out of thin air as opposed to a confirmed number.

AE_Collector

We turned around to check a capsized boat we had passed when on Pacific Princess in 2014. They decided it had been floating upside down at sea for quite some time, reported it to US Coast Guard and we were on our way to Hawaii again.

People need to take responsibility for their actions. I cringe seeing people go down the “inside” rather than the outside of the curved stairs. People just don’t give any thought to what they do then want to blame others.

When going DOWN It is much more likely that you will slip and fall down the stairs when travelling down the tight inside curve with very short step length as compared to using the wide portion of the steps on the outside of the stairway.

When climbing UP these curved stairs while the outer edge still remains the safest, climbing the narrower inside of the curve doesnt have the same danger as going down them has and this leaves the outer edge of the stairs for the people travelling down.

Another place I frequently see similar bad stair choices is when on bus tours mainly in Europe where the busses have a second door half way to the back. The stairs to these rear doors are twice (or more) as steep as the front stairs yet people who should be using the much safer front stairs routinely head to these back doors. Again, not thinking.

I watched a man who was not very steady on his feet and using a cane fall from the top of those stairs all the way to the sidewalk below on a transfer from airport to ship. I have no idea if he made the cruise or not.

AE_Collector (safety department)

It’s just because there were more Elite passengers. It happens all the time.

Tony

Poor wording. No it doesn’t happen all the time. It happens on some cruises that have unusually high percentage of Elites onboard.

We have only ever had the notice card (on occasion) indicating that it would be 3 days, never 4 or 5 days. This card doesn’t automatically mean it will take 3 days, we have had next day, 2 days or 3 days evening cruises with the card saying 3 days. If you leave the bag for the steward when you go for dinner you have missed the 6 pm cut off time making it potentially seem like an additional day.

AE_Collector

Cant swap (just) the alcohol but can swap the entire minibar (10 alcohol items and 10 non alcohol items) for two coffee cards. No swapping 5 and 5 for one card, it’s all or nothing. Have done it lots of times. Call room service to arrange.

AE_Collector

Princess does the Vancouver coastal 10 day round trip and the Vancouver Hawaii 15 day round trip once each just before the Alaska season and again once each just after the Alaska season. When they started this routine probably in 2013 they were doing two of each pre Alaska season and two of each post Alaska season but unfortunately right then is when the Cdn $ started a big slide in value against the US $ which caused some of the demand from Canadians to dry up so they cut the number of trips in half. You doing one of the early Alaska Cruises from Vancouver means you could very easily do three different B2B2B Cruises.

AE_Collector

Yes, dry dock at Esquimalt (Victoria). Ruby did the trip to Vancouver and then back to LA at the same time of year last year. Last year I think Ruby was off to Hawaii once she was back to LA.

This made me wonder why someone planning these itineraries doesn’t get a bit more adventurous and do something like Vancouver to Hawaii to LA on the way back or the opposite route coming to Vancouver for dry dock. They could completely go off the rails and combine the 3 days back to LA with the usual 15 day Hawaii trip to come up with an 18 day Vancouver to Hawaii to LA reposition meaning they would have time for 5 or 6 Hawaiian Ports and an overnight or two in Hawaii Ports.

A cruise like this would be certain to get the attention of those who like a Hawaii cruise but would like more than the usual 4 Ports. Just thinking out loud...hopefully loud enough for Princess to hear! A missed opportunity!

AE_Collector

Since you are from Canada you most likely want to book Cruises in $ Canadian. Therefore buy your FCD’s while onboard in CDN. You use the FCD as your deposit when you decide to book your next cruise. When you board the ship booked with the FCD you get free Onboard Credit for having done so.

The currency of the FCD determines the currency you will book the cruise in. I have had FCD’s changed from one currency to another in the past where it was beneficial to book in a currency other than that of my FCD’s however it can be a hassle to change after the fact and can take 24 hours. This can be a hinderance when you spot a screaming good deal and want it booked NOW. Since $ in the bank earns next to nothing lately we choose to keep extra in the Bank of Princess in the form of extra FCD’s.

We always keep three CDN FCD’s each and a couple of US$ FCD’s each to keep us covered for multiple back to back Cruises and/or changing exchange rates. Princess sets their Canadian exchange rate and let’s it run for awhile before reviewing and possibly adjusting it. They recently dropped it from 1.30 to 1.20 but the Canadian $ is slipping against the US$ again making 1.20 look pretty good at the moment.

AE_Collector

We received the invite to our first ever MTP lunch on Pacific Princess a couple of weeks ago on the August 28, 2017 Iceland cruise. We had 356 days before boarding this cruise so we hit "one year", 365 days while on this cruise.....seemed like a fitting time for the lunch invite!

I believe that quite a few responses to this question when it was first posted more than one year ago were by people confusing the MTP lunch with the Captains Circle party where the CC host introduces the three most travelled people on the cruise and drinks are free. The majority of passengers are unaware of the MTP lunch until they are eventually invited to it but almost everyone is aware of the CC party which To me sounds like the title of this topic, the "MTP Cocktail Party".

AE_Collector