cadien

FTR, on the Sapphire it's just in one of the main dining rooms.

On 2/24/2024 at 8:02 PM, Muffinz said:

We've got the plus packace on our December cruise... for us it worked out more beneficial than not having the package and that's why we chose it plain and simple

 

some people don't drink much alcohol or speciality coffees like flat whites, or don't use wifi, so if you're one of those people then the package is not going to be beneficial to you

Yep. We had one cabin with Plus and one cabin without and it paid off in both cases.

On 2/25/2024 at 2:35 PM, YYZnewbieCruiser said:

Also, the itinerary shows the embark date as Dec 18 for EZE,  but doesn't actually set sail till Dec 19th.  Does that mean we can embark anytime on the 18th? or the 19th before sail off?  We plan to fly into EZE from Toronto a few days earlier and stay a few days after so we can check out EZE area.  A side trip I want to make is to fly out to Mendoza for couple of days to tour some vineyards(I am trying to visit all the wine regions of the world).  So just trying to plan for whether to do it before or after the cruise.

We also just did this cruise (without Antarctica). You can embark anytime on the 18th until Customs (which Princess doesn't control) closes for the evening. Which our travel agent said is 5pm but we didn't verify that at the terminal. Or you can embark on the 19th. If you do board on the 18th, you can leave the ship.

4 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I guess I'm confused (shocking). Can we check in noonish on the first day, board the ship, leave the ship for dinner in the city, and get back on the ship that night? If you are already checked in do you have to clear customs again? How late does Princess run the shuttle? Thank!

Yes. No. 11pm I think.

Many people leave the ship on that first evening. We went to a tango show. If you show them your medallion when you get back to the terminal, there's just a metal detector and scanner.

4 hours ago, Goldenrosebags said:

I was going to ask the same thing. I'm on Sapphire so it would just be Chef's table. How do we book that?

There was a table in front of Crooners with menus (and prices) for all the different meals. Then you call the dining line to get on the wait list. And they call you back on the in-room phone if you get selected, not a message via the app. (Was also on Sapphire.)

I was just on the Sapphire, which only has the one venue, and was surprised how empty it always was. Most of the ship probably had Plus but I was regularly nearby and never saw more than two tables occupied even at regular meal times. Our travel companions had Plus and one only used one of their free meals and the other never got around to it at all.

I am not a wine person, but I just cruised with one who had the Plus package and they ended up ordering the Premier wines at least half the time. By the glass.

12 hours ago, Goldenrosebags said:

That's great info. Thanks. Did you enjoy it? Was it worth the money? I think our cruise is the 2nd part of a b2b so it might be full but I'm interested.

We did enjoy it. And since you were also asking about the wine dinner, I'd say the Chef's Table was a better deal (being about $50 less) if you're more interested in the food. I'm not qualified to compare the value of the wines served. It was our first Princess cruise, so we didn't expect to get into either one, so you never know. Both dinners were 12 people, although that probably depends on the ship, and being able to chat with a neighbor can be nerve-racking, but the food was tasty and creative. A sommelier gave extended descriptions of the wines at both dinners and they refilled every glass until you asked them to stop.

On 2/14/2024 at 4:42 PM, EDVM96 said:

Do you know if the Torres del Paine National Park Princess ShorEx (10.5 hours PUQ-155) was available today? Did they go?

It was canceled. We had dinner with a couple who had booked it. 

I boarded Feb 5 as well. Do you mean you’re checking in at 4pm on the 5th or on the 6th? We looked into boarding as late as possible on the 5th and the warning was that Customs was only open until I think 5. Princess runs the shuttle to the ship until quite late but getting through Customs was the tricky part. Especially with two other ships boarding at the same time. 

We just got back. One of the mocktails is just a smoothie in a rocks glass and our 12-year old had several each day. I don’t think he repeated any of the soda-based mocktails. 

We did the Chef’s Table on the Sapphire last week and it was $118 including wine. I don’t know the price without. That includes surcharges. There was also a Super Tuscan wine lunch but I don’t know the price. 

We did it on Feb 10 and the total charge was $165.20.

We're doing the Bluff Cove excursion on Feb 11 so it's great to see a preview.

On 1/28/2024 at 9:20 AM, birdergal said:

We have an aft cabin on Sapphire leaving Feb 5.  You will warm up when you get to Buenos Aires.  I'm seeing low 90's for this upcoming weekend.  Been loving your photos!  My husband and I also love wildlife and he's a birder.  

We're boarding on the 5th as well.

I called customer service and told them the app wasn't working for me. They mailed me the medallions without saying anything about the credit card requirement.

16 hours ago, PapaGoose said:

We will be visiting Stanley, Falkland Islands on Feb 11. I wonder how many will skip the penguins that day to save a seat for outside Super Bowl viewing that night? Temps seem to be around 8-10 C or 45-50 F during evenings down there right now. Not to mention the windchill while sailing towards Cape Horn the next day. It’ll be almost like watching a game live in Kansas City or Buffalo….

We'll be on the same cruise. Sadly, it didn't help us get a penguin tour. They're all sold out.

We're boarding next month and trying to decide whether we can board later in the day. Especially since the ship is in port overnight. How does staffing work? I assume that people are showing up throughout the day because of flights.

19 hours ago, aprilsp88 said:

@gam888

There were many more activities than the patter could list.

First-timer question. For the activities not on the patter, how do you find them? Are they on the app or just posted outside the venues? Thanks!

We're also traveling with a child (12) and will not be getting internet, so I've been wondering the same. Especially with a brand new app.

I ordered the carabiner clips because we have Apple watches but now I'm wondering about that version above that slides onto the same wristband. It seems like it would be in the way but there are lots of photos on Amazon posted by users and they seem happy. For $8 I might order them just in case.

So here was our experience FWIW. We only have the new app because this is our first (Princess) cruise. Leaving in just under a month. Husband and I each filled out everything except Shoreside. My app showed me as blue and him as green. His app showed him as blue and me as green. And it would not let us order the medallions until we entered Shoreside. Instead, I called customer service and ordered the medallions over the phone. Wasn't on hold at all because I did the call-back option and that took maybe 10 minutes. The rep did not question why I was calling instead of using the app.

Unrelated, we're traveling with another cabin and they made the dinner reservations for all of us. I can't see them on the app. It still wants me to make my own reservations. But I'm assuming that will show up properly on board.

We're doing Buenos Aires to Santiago without the Antarctica part next month, so this preview will be great.

1 hour ago, nbsjcruiser said:

Noticed a bit of funkyness with the old app - I deleted the new one and won't use it until I have no choice. I tried to purchase internet for our upcoming cruise on Feb 3. When I got to the payment screen it stated that since I had not set up a cc in the app yet to provide one now to pay for the internet. Huh? I set that up weeks ago. So I exited and checked the payments section - yep there it is. Back to the internet section, tried to purchase, same message. Well, guess I'll re-enter my cc info. After about 5 mins waiting while it thought spun its wheels, it fails. "Please add a valid card". WTH? I go back, check the payments screen again, yep there's my card. Try the purchase again and it immediately works.

 

I wonder if they actually test these things before rolling them out or do they just wing it?

Ran into the same thing booking excursions two days ago. Apparently on board payments really means on board not, because I had to enter the card number.

21 hours ago, potchak said:

Yeah I have tried logging out and back in, and even uninstalled and reinstalled. Still same issue. Under my profile picture includes an Add Journey button, but when I try to add my booking number, it says it is already added.

I had that problem and it turned out that I had two different Medallion numbers assigned. Customer service merged them and then it worked.