antsp

The don't care at Southampton, welcome to the free world

1 hour ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

I won't be booking or utilizing Sanctuary. 

Just like we won't be having fun on Park 19 rides either. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♀️

 

I won't be going rock climbing 

30 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I suppose you can call the satellite antenna a tower but that's not the common terminology/understanding.

All ships have true cell access at sea, it's provided by cellular at sea

On 7/27/2024 at 11:24 AM, Mara4166 said:

mobile phones sims and esims rely on having a signal from a tower.  There will be no towers at sea, only when at ports (or possibly very close to land where there are towers).

There is a tower on the ship

On 6/27/2024 at 10:09 PM, Rubynic said:

We have received confirmation from Princess that this only applies to bookings in North America. As with most deals & the ability to refare without charge, it is not available to customers in the UK,

That's incorrect, also applies to UK bookings 

10 hours ago, cruizingOmi said:

Generally only prepackaged and factory sealed food is allowed to be brought onboard.

No restrictions at all. 

On 8/25/2024 at 6:16 PM, JF - retired RRT said:

Many think the daily gratuity goes to the steward and waiters...that is incorrect.

It is split out to laundry workers, cooks, dishwashers and probably many others. If you DIY your tips, you are cutting into the $$ that other unseen workers share.

There's also a rumor (not completely substantiated) that when you zero your gratuities at Guest Services, it's viewed as you are/were unhappy with the provided services.

This is incorrect, the crew don't even know anymore. The used to find out, but only a few days after that particular cruise ended. No they are on a fixed salary, it no longer the case.

On 8/21/2024 at 8:29 AM, Cruisemeister2002 said:

Don't like to argue with you. But P&O also have a daily onboard charge for gratuities. The only way you can get around this is to go to the reception desk and tell them you don't want to pay gratuities that way. You can also reduce the amount that P&O set. You can of course tip individual staff as you wish. Just as you can if you take out a Plus or Premier Package with Princess. The Princess Packages have set amounts per day based on your grade of cabin.

You can argue all you want, but you are wrong 

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

the answer is - you should be prepared if they are ...

No, when they tell you to hand them in at the desk just ignore the request and walk on by

38 minutes ago, memoak said:

Never ever. We.cruised in April no charge with plus packsge

Conflicting information in this post

6 hours ago, Thrak said:

Has this changed very recently, because a few months ago the $5 charge was there for phone orders, regardless of a package in place 

31 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Incorrect. If one is booked with the Plus or Premier package calling Room Service on the phone is included with no extra charge.

Don't think that's correct 

On 7/19/2024 at 6:42 AM, Eaglecw said:

Ok we got the tipping out of the way. I've heard that there is now a charge for room service if you don't have the Plus and the Premier package. Is this true?

Yes, but you can pay a onetime $15 fee to access ordering via the app, if you call it in, everyone pays. 

On 7/17/2024 at 1:50 PM, BlerkOne said:

Perhaps not yours, but in general I think you'll find most who are aware, tip.

I've already tipped, it's in the $17 a day I'm paying 

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

It is customary to tip for room service. That gratuity is not included in any of the pre-pay crew appreciation options.

It maybe your custom, but it's not mine. 

10 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Also worth noting that I submitted proof of my 100 shares before my May sailing through the app. When I went to apply for the credit to my August sailing, they did not require me to resubmit proof of ownership. Theoretically, I could have sold my shares between the two sailings (I didn't), so I am not sure how frequently they would require you to resubmit proof of ownership.

How does Princess even know you own the shares, these days with photo shop

15 hours ago, mrpayroll said:

Wine is for embarkation day only. If bought while in a port , they will keep it until end of cruise. Soda can be brought on anytime.

This is the theory, when they tell you to check it in at the table, often out of sight, just ignore and walk on by

22 minutes ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

To give you an informative rather than snarky response:

 

They actually compare pretty favorably to many cruiselines, including Princess, *if* the inclusions would be something you would've paid for anyway. I am a big RCCL fan, and out of curiosity I priced out a couple of cheap western Caribbean cruises that were roughly same length/same destinations. Initially RCCL looked much cheaper until you realize VV includes

 

All port fees and taxes (I know, now all cruise lines include that in the advertised price)

Gratuities (those can add up quickly)

Internet for 3 devices

All specialty dining

Soft drinks (Pepsi/Diet Pepsi/etc.)

Premium Ice Cream 

 

Equivalent of RCCL would've been buying the "unlimited premium dining package", the "soda package", the internet package (for 3 devices), and of course adding gratuities 

 

After adding all of that in - prices were roughly the same. I know on Princess you can add one of their upgrade packages that gives you some of the same. 

 

I've done one sailing on Princess that was very cheap - $600 for 10 nights + fees&taxes + gratuities+ internet = added up quite a bit. 

 

If you don't normally buy internet or specialy dining, then VV is more expensive. If you do, than they are probably the same. VV has been having some good sales these summer - saw some offers via TravelZoo (yes, it's still a thing) and on points through Virgin Red (which is why we booked three more cruises with VV). 

 

I have another sailing booked with Princess to Alaska, and my total (for 2 people in a balcony) for a "cheap" end of the season cruise is close to $3,000 (that's if I include port fees&taxes and gratuities). By comparison, you can book a Med cruise out of Athens this summer in a Balcony for 2 people for around the same. My Princess price doesn't include internet or specialy dining or soda package (or any upgrades). So VV actually has a better price. 

 

Honestly, you should take a couple of similar itenerary cruises on Princess and VV and consider that VV includes all of the items I listed above. Price the same inclusions in Princess, and it will give you a clue as to what the price difference is (probably won't be much, or might very well be in favor of VV).

 

I am curious to see what VV Alaska pricing is going to look like. I live in Seattle and sale to Alaska a lot, so it will be pretty telling to me.

 

I am NOT a VV fanboy, but if you do buy all of the extras, their pricing is good. We *don't* normally buy internet for 3 devices (1 device we share is sufficient for us), and we *don't* normally buy speciality dining (if MDR on a ship isn't good enough for us, we simply sail with a different line, but honestly, even on Carvnival, MDR has been great for us). That makes *regular* (non-sale, non-points) VV pricing a bit too high for us, but only because of that. Like I said, I normally book VV when they have a "rewards" sale when you can pay with VV points. In that case VV are between "great" to "incredible"

We are booking a 4 day for end of a August to give them a try, and thanks for the information 

33 minutes ago, Eric&Pam said:

 

If low prices is all one cares about, and not what you get for the money, you might as well stay home. In the long run, considering what's included with Virgin, and all of the add-ons Princess charges you for, Virgin is only slightly more.....sometimes even less than Princess if you catch a good deal and factor in the added benefits. The food is substantially better on Virgin and cooked to order, and the happiest crew at sea makes a huge difference.

Since we became converts early on, our Deep Blue Extras come in handy with $100 each OBC, free laundry, early boarding, private party, etc... Currently, they are only offering "Blue Extras" for new status matches.

I wasn't asking in a critical way, I was just curious 

On 5/29/2024 at 11:17 PM, CineGraphic said:

We left Princess in 2022 and have not looked back, with six Virgin sailings in the bag, and 4 more on the books.

How do they compare to Princess on price

5 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Welcome back!  And Elite, at that!

 

Crew shortages seem to be on quite a few ships.  We have been very lucky to not have noticed so much.  Part of it, I believe, is all the extra crew running around doing deliveries from the OceanNow.  

 

Have a great time and hope you don’t have to work too much!

 

 

 

Is it crew shortages by choice of Princess, or because they can't get crew

11 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

And absolutely had a hard copy of any OBC from either Princess or your TA.  About half the time needed guest relations to correct missing OBC.

Never in 50+ cruises have I not had the obc showing in my account when onboard 

I feel sorry for all the newbie cruises standing in line with there phone in hand and qr code on display, waiting ever so patiently 

8 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

I guess they would know where you live when you show your passport on boarding day.  For some of our family/friends group cruises folks have book cabins to include non-US citizens.  No one ever blinked an eye.   

Your passport doesn't have your address on it 

Nothing at all, princess have no idea where you live