winnifer

4 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Definition of the word "Bribe":  persuade (someone) to act in one's favor, typically illegally or dishonestly, by a gift of money or other inducement.

 

It's not a tip - it's a bribe.  Why let the OP down-play that payoff by calling it a 'tip?'  It wasn't just the ship's employee that was wrong here.  They're both lucky that they didn't get another set of photos for free - taken at the nearest police station...

Hey now, as OP I must interject - I didn't do it!  I'm not downplaying anything. I was merely asking about other people's thoughts on a story I'd heard from a co-worker!

On 11/26/2019 at 5:03 PM, bluebelt said:

Of course I know I can get it anywhere but it spreads faster in a confined space on a cruise ship.  I plan on bringing hospital grade wipes to wipe down the room.  I know how to take precautions.  I really just want to know if there are still a lot of people coming down with it on the current cruise?  Do they sanitize the cruise terminal after  the cruise as well?

I'm also bringing hospital-grade wipes for our stateroom (Sani-Cloth with Chlorine, yellow label, which is the one that kills Norovirus, and some with the purple label which are also powerful) and regular sanitizing wipes to keep in my pocket just in case. I'm far from a germaphobe, but I do want to be safe, and from work I'm used to wiping down surfaces around me. 

I don't have room for the entire containers in my suitcase, so I'm fully expecting that my labeled ziploc baggies with printouts of the labels will give TSA pause! 😂

2 minutes ago, Schonert said:

If it did happen the Photographer  could get fired for something like that.

See, I'd wondered about the implications on the photo attendant's part there. And he said it was the guy who rang up the photos at the stand where they display all the printed photos (so not the one taking the photos), but still. Yes. I'd wondered about that. He did make it seem like it was a slick kind of transaction, like on the downlow.

Almost like a pre-paid drug deal! Ha! 

Hello, cruisers!

During a conversation with one of my coworkers, the professional photos on board came up, and how wasteful it seems to print all those photos out, and what they do with them afterward if not purchased. He said that his roommate had tipped the photo attendant $50 to put all of their photos aside and hook them up with them at the end, bypassing purchasing the photo package or individual photos. They got their photos, saved a chunk of change (which they said they did a few nights of specialty dining with) and the attendant made a nice tip, plus the paper and ink didn't go to waste.

I'd never heard of such a thing and figured I'd ask my fellow cruise critic members if this is a thing. I know that the experience of my coworker's roommate is very much a "heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend" kind of situation, so I was curious if anyone else had any input (besides the obviously-incoming comments about being cheap and just buy the damn things, or how immoral it is). 

Thanks! 🙂 

Those custom cookies are so cute!! 

Our last cruise, I folded my tip bills into little shirts - it was a Hawaiian cruise. I was thinking like little Hawaiian shirts! 😛 I put them into little envelopes with a Hawaiian print and the word "Mahalo" (Hawaiian for "thank you") printed across them. 

4 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Never said they lied.

The info they gave was not that they worked on a Princess ship but "another" cruise line.

So you qualify them and that make its all ok? 

Qualified person?  Oy Vey...........Giving the "OK" to a poster that needs critical medical advise for their cruise as to what is handled onboard and what is not is flat out wrong. They should be directed to Princess. 

Calling a clinic versus receiving medical advice from an unknown person on the internet is the same??? Yeah that makes sense.

Not sure why you are so triggered. Don't be a bully.

 

 

Clearly we're both looking at different sides of this, and that's OK. FWIW, I'm neither triggered, nor am I a bully. I simply didn't understand your reply directed at boone2 is all. I looked back at their first answer to see what you were referring to. I was looking at their statement "I worked for princess medical in the clinics". Upon further looking at this sentence, I see two spaces after that, which could indicate either there was originally an "and" or perhaps an ampersand, or that it was a typo and there is something called "Princess Medical" on other cruise lines, which didn't seem to make much sense. But I will openly admit my ignorance on that - I don't know what facilities may be called. To me, I took it as "if anyone answering would know if they perform INRs on board, this person would."

Yes, ideally OP would be best served to contact Princess directly, but I can say from personal experience that contacting Princess for specific questions that aren't directly related to the Princess reps' bank of dining-, entertainment-, pricing-, or excursion-related info like this is unreliable. And while I found a phone number for the fleet medical department in seconds with a quick google search, I have learned that not everyone knows how to quickly and accurately find this information, and sometimes it's preferable to get the "human element" and looking for the addition of personal experiences. 

But I see your point. I hope you can also see where I was coming from. No harm, no foul, no shade, no hate. 🙂 ☮️

6 minutes ago, voljeep said:

a belated welcome to Cruise Critic ... enjoy the postings ... and keep the shaker of salt handy .. for the popcorn and all

 

I've learned quite a bit from this thread about the medical center that we have never had to use and hopefully never will, but would now be much more comfortable doing so if that happens

I suppose that salt will also be handy for taking posts with grains of it... and rimming my margarita glass! 😛 🍸

4 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Yes of course.  After all everything that's on the internet is the absolute truth.  🙄

 

I completely understand and agree with some healthy skepticism when it comes to info on the internet. But why would boone2 lie? What would they have to gain from providing false information? Moreover, as stated (in reply to your direct query), they worked onboard Princess in the medical department. If anyone would know the information requested, it would be someone in that unique position.

IDK... I just don't see the reason to come to someone else's post and reply to the one qualified person who answered that you wouldn't request medical advice. That's not what happened, nor is boone2's answer medical advice in the least. It was information on procedure. It would be NO different from calling a clinic to ask if they would do labs with an outside order. They would tell you their procedure and that is not in any way medical advice. 🤷‍♀️

7 hours ago, boone2 said:

Didn’t dispense advice and nor would I. Some asked if the test could be done and I told them it could -  end of 

Gotta love when someone who has actual working knowledge of a subject from firsthand experience is poo-pooed for providing a direct, clear, and informative answer to a query posed by someone wanting access to the information that someone with actual working knowledge would possess... 😛 

Thanks for answering the question, @boone2! 🙂 Working in the medical field myself, I now find myself curious what equipment they have in their medical area. Do they only have x-ray, or do they have CT, ULT, or MRI as well? We've learned they can do certain labs onboard, can they perform any other outpatient (or, I suppose, inpatient as well) testing or procedures?

Thanks in advance! 🙂 

1 hour ago, tv24 said:

I'm going to be the cruiser who brings the bad news, sadly.  We sailed in a Neptune Suite (not the big corner suite) on the back of the Noordam.  We were excited about the views of the wake of the ship and we did not mind the very long hike to the Neptune Lounge.  HOWEVER, our verandah was coated with huge, huge amounts of soot everyday.  Our steward did his best to clean it once per day, but it was filthy within an hour of his departure.  When I sat in the sun, my body was coated with soot.  So except in ports, the verandah was not useable,  And it made me question the huge amount of pollution that the Noordam was spewing into the atmosphere.  Really filthy!

Yikes! I'm curious - was your verandah covered or open?

Our first Princess cruise was in 2014. It was our first cruise at all. We booked an interior and I wish I could remember the details, but ended up being upgraded to an Oceanview (non-obstructed - it was beautiful!). 

Our second cruise is also our second cruise with Princess, and we're repeating the same itinerary as 2014 (down to the day, same trip, but on the Star instead of the Grand and they've switched up the port order). We decided to splurge and book a balcony and have a note that we're open to upgrades. We know the risk of going somewhere less desirable, but hope we have options if we are visited by the Upgrade Fairy again (for instance, do you get any time to think about it and look up the deck plans and call back to accept or pass on it? Can you ask for OBC instead?). If not, we really like our cabin location now, so either way we win!

On 8/28/2019 at 2:50 PM, memoak said:

The Grand did have the original Skywalkers (believe me in my younger years I used the disco)  It was removed I believe due to metal stress

Haha I misread that as "due to mental stress" and thought What would be so mentally stressful as to justify removing the entire thing? 😂

26 minutes ago, ckb104 said:

Don't give up yet.  When 3 for 3 starts, call your travel agent and see if you can transfer to the new promotion. 

We don't have a TA, and booked directly through Princess.

On 8/20/2019 at 1:21 PM, ckb104 said:

I'm a big fan of the 3 for 3 promo and it should be coming up soon.  It gives you paid gratuities, which can save you around $100 per person for a 7 day cruise.  You also get some on-board credit.  We are getting $100 each for our 7 day.  The third is an upgrade in your cabin category. 

If you are a drinker, there is also a promo (I think in the Spring) that gives you a free drink package.  

I wish I would have held out for this sale! I did the current one (up to 40% off + same-class room upgrade) and it has the non-refundable deposit. Darn it! Lesson learned, I guess.  😞 

@CCFC what a great video! Thanks for posting - I had no idea they were pre-fab! Fascinating!

Travaustralia - I would imagine there would be shuttles waiting, but as this is my first cruise I'd rather let someone who's had this experience answer this, to ensure accurate info for ya! Happy travels! :D p.s. when are you going? :)

Cruisin' Chick - thank you very much for your experience! I'll be on the lookout and if things go wrong, I will not hesitate to contact my credit card company; they're really good at sticking up for me (thank goodness!) but hopefully there will be no need and all will go smoothly. If it doesn't, well, we've already decided to make the very best of everything and see set-backs/disasters as challenges and adventures, all part of the story. Here's hoping we can keep that attitude in the midst of things! ;)

vivian02 - Thanks! I'm known for going overboard in my research of things, but I see it as being prepared. And if things go sour, things go sour. Cross that bridge if we come to it, and all :)

itil4get09 - Oh dear. Thank you for sharing, too! For sure, I'll keep my eyes open and either Chris (my bf) or I will not hesitate to chew someone out and make them make it right.

val92ag - Thank you so much! I figure this can be a learning experience if nothing else :)

<snip> BTW, the specialty restaurant thing reminds me of what happened on one of our recent Celebrity cruises in Europe...I typically only book a specialty restaurant when we have a special occasion--like our Anniversary, which seems to always happen while we are cruising...

But, there we were on Silhouette having drinks during the Elite Cocktail hour (Celebrity and Royal Caribbean both have lounges for free pre-dinner drinks for repeat passengers with a certain number of "points" (basically, the equivalent of about 10 cruises on the line though bonus points are given for suites or longer cruises) with two other couples we met here on Cruise Critic on the Roll Call...A crew member comes in publicizing the specialty restaurants, trying to urge us all to sign up. One guy in our group tells him, flat out, that we will all sign up if they'll give it to us for HALF PRICE...I am sort of astounded, thinking, no way...But the crew member then shocks all of us by saying YES! To make a long story short, the following night, all six of us had a wonderful dinner at "Qsine" for a $20 surcharge each rather than $40 each! What my friend knew that I wasn't even thinking of was that if they were pushing sales like that, then they weren't filling up...and they'd rather discount it than leave tables empty. I don't know if it's that negotiable everywhere or every time, but it certainly made that specialty restaurant a far better deal...

Even though this was a different line, I read this to Chris and now we know if they ever come around to ask us (though we're not Elite, so IDK if that would ever happen, but hey) we may try bargaining. Worst they can say is no, right? :P

Its exactly the same on the Grand, metal walls and doors, you appear to be getting on as we get off her!

Awesome! Thanks for the info! Enjoy your cruise :D

Hi Steve!

Your info from the other thread was not lost on me; conversely, it was strongly taken into consideration while comparing cost and value/priority.

As you had mentioned, we did indeed note and confirm that the difference in price was dedicated vs. shared. The thing that makes this work for us so well is that are perfectly fine to share the ride, and had anticipated a shared ride being part of the experience. I considered posting on here to see if anyone was arriving on the same or a close flight and wanted to share the Super Shuttle, since it was the dedicated one, but really, after being so weary of things and just wanting to get the transportation and accommodations done and out of the way, I figured I'd try Prime Time and take it from there. :) It ended up working perfectly for our needs (and had MUCH better customer service :rolleyes:).

As far as getting from the airport to the hotel, we're not on any set timeline, so if we are on a shared shuttle and they have to stop several places, we're fine with it. And we booked a flight for 3 in the afternoon after a 7 am arrival back to the port, so accounting for customs and traffic, we're feeling pretty confident with the arrangement. We also have a day built in at the end of this vacation as a dedicated buffer in case something happens *knock wood*, just in case.

The choice of airport (as heavily influenced by a great sale on airfare) was also weighed against the cost of transportation for each. In the end, we decided to stick with the smaller airport, trading the much lower price and lower level of crowded insanity (hehe) for the convenience of the more easily-found shared ride.

I'll gladly do a review of PrimeTime and the Sunset after the cruise; thanks for the suggestion to do so! :)

My other half and I are taking the Grand Princess 15-day Hawaiian cruise out of the Port of Los Angeles in December, and for a first-time cruiser, let me tell you: navigating all of these options is a BIT overwhelming!

Deciding whether to come in the day of or the day before came down to the debate between possible delays and spending extra money on a hotel room. (I won: we're coming in the day before hehe)

Then to decide WHERE to stay. I tried for DAYS to find a place that had both shuttles to and from the airport and to and from the cruiseport, AND didn't cost an arm and a leg. We're traveling on a budget, so this was important. We did factor in that if there was a more expensive hotel that had shuttles available over having a cheaper hotel but having to pay to get there and back from the port, we'd consider value over cost. Let me save you some time: No such mythical place exists. (Finally settled on a cheapish hotel - Sunrise Hotel for $69 - with decent ratings that has a cruiseport shuttle but not an airport shuttle).

Next was which airport to fly into. I figured LAX, being an international hub, would have competitive flight rates, but Long Beach (LGB) is closer, so the taxi or shuttle would be cheaper. Ended up finding a great rate on JetBlue to fly into LGB, so that decision was made.

So now I have our hotel booked and our flight booked, and a way to get from the hotel to the port, but nothing decided for going from the airport to the hotel, or from the cruiseport to the airport. I did some research on the CC boards and the same three options kept coming up: Princess transfers, Super Shuttle and Prime Time.

I started with the Princess transfers, as plenty of people on the cc boards had said this would be one of the best options price-wise. $39. Per person. Per way. Total cost: $156 (IDK if there were any taxes or fees, as I put that on hold to look elsewhere).

Next top recommended on here was Super Shuttle. I looked online, put in 2 passengers round trip, and it quoted me $59. Hey, that comes out to $14.75 per person per way, which was plenty cheaper than Princess. Score! Went to book it and what the site didn't say is that is per way. I got to the end and it said $118! Hello bait and switch! I called and was told that's just how the system is set up and yes, the total would be $118 (so it was ACTUALLY $29.40 per person, per way). I pushed back, saying that this was NOT detailed on the website, and asked what the reservations clerk could do to adjust this to the price I was quoted. Sounding quite bored, she said there was nothing she could do but submit a complaint, and I should hear back from someone in a week or so. I had her do that.

I considered renting a car from Enterprise to get from the airport to the hotel, because the Enterprise dropoff location is next door to a fancy hotel two doors down from our hotel. Then I realized that between the cost of the rental, putting gas in it, and having to drive in an unfamiliar place with crazy traffic (I come from a town with four stoplights...), it wasn't worth it. Again comes down to money vs. value.

So then I went to Prime Time's website. Entered 2 people, round trip, and was quoted $30.40 each way. I proceeded with checkout to see what absurd total they came up with, but there was no total displayed before they asked for my Visa info. Whaaaa? No. I'm not falling for another bait and switch. I got online with the chat available to confirm total price and the chat rep told me the price displays once at the beginning and not again, and that's just the way it's set up. They said that price is for 2 people if that's what I entered. No actual, specific information provided. I asked if the chat rep could book and she said she couldn't. I asked if I could call to book (so I could confirm the price before giving my payment info), and she told me it would be a higher price because online bookings get 10% off. Well it says right on the 10% off banner that this does not apply to hotels or cruiseports, and I have both, so I called the reservations line.

I was able to confirm that yes, the price was $30.40 each way (though the second leg was $2 higher because we were coming from a different place than initial dropoff) which included both parties, meaning a total of $62.40, breaking down to $15.60 per person, per way. Way cheaper than SuperShuttle and way way cheaper than Princess.

I whipped my credit card out of my wallet so fast that I think it may have sparked a little... LOL :P I was so frustrated with everything from before and she lady, Blanca, was super nice. Excellent customer service. The only thing that was throwing me off throughout our conversation was for the airport-to-hotel leg she said "Arriving at Long Beach Airport" and I would reiterate "From Las Vegas, to the hotel, right?" and she would confirm. I guess the scripting is centered around your flight info, not the trip to the hotel/back. Once that was established, I could look past the wording. She was incredibly patient with me as I confirmed five different times that this was the complete total total charge, and not per person, and not per way. Nope. Total charge to me is $62.40, period.

We'll see how the actual experience with the shuttle is, but I gotta say, aside from the weird not-displaying-a-total-before-checkout thing, the booking itself was a nice relief! Saved a good chunk of money and that's money we can (and gladly will!) use in Hawaii!

Just wanted to share my experience in the hopes that perhaps another newbie out there could use the information! Happy cruising, folks!

Anyone know about the Grand Princess? I called customer service and they told me the walls would not hold a magnet, but I'm inclined to not believe them so much... Also, the operator thought I was cuckoo for asking. LOL

Excellent way to look at it, Steve, thank you for that! :D

My parents grew up in LA and I remember my mom telling me that the driver's license test back then was to make it from the DMV to LAX, around it, and back safely. She said if you can survive that you can survive anything. :P

Knowing that LAX is bigger, I figured maybe flights would be more frequent/hub-to-hub, etc. and maybe I could find a good price. I can find pretty close prices, but exactly what you said, I'm leaning toward LGB because it's smaller and less people milling about. I like that. :)

I know that my cavalier comment did come just after yours, and the timing was suspect. And again, it truly was not aimed at you. It was just one of many that I'd seen about this forum that made me chuckle and wish I was in a better position to feel like I could be more free with my choices and less concerned about cost. It was what made me think of it specifically, but was not specifically the post I was talking about. Hope that makes sense :P

I do appreciate your insights, though, for sure! As I am new to cruising and have not been to LA in many, many years, I am trying to gather and absorb as much as I can and make an informed decision from there. Besides, you live there, right? You know!!

Personally, I would rather spend any saved money on doing something fun on port days, but my boyfriend would really like to do one of the specialty restaurants at least once. It's all a matter of what is a priority for an individual.

I sincerely hope I do not come across as unappreciative of your knowledge in any way, as that is far from the truth. I was just feeling a little overwhelmed at that point. Still am, a bit, but not as badly.

Thanks again! :D

I don't think it doesn't helps that some of the cruise lines will say they're sailing out of Port of LA (LAX). It leaves an impression (especially with those who have never been here) that the port is really close to the airport. Sure' date=' if you compare the distance from, say, San Diego airport and the Port of LA, or Ontario airport and the Port of LA. Then the distance from LAX is much closer:rolleyes:. Amtrak does the same, by using the airport abbreviation.

 

It's not the only city with this situation. Imagine flying into SeaTac and thinking you're just a few miles away from Seattle and the port there?[/quote']

 

Oh yes; I was very thrown off when I looked at the map and saw such a difference between LAX and the PoLA! I'm looking at flying into Long Beach Airport instead of LAX since it's closer, and looking at staying at the Sunrise Hotel. I know it's nothing fancy, but on a tight budget, it's a place to stay before we leave.

 

I also noticed the crazy markup on cruise packages through hotels... it's nuts!

You've really got to examine the fine print on things.

 

I'm amused by how many people on the CC boards (and no, this is not aimed at anyone in particular!) are cavalier about the cost of... well, anything. I would love to be at a point in my life where I could be, but in the mean time I wish I could offer those people a friendly reminder that people have differing budgets and some of us had to save for a long time to afford our cruise and would prefer to spend that money on, say, eating at a nice restaurant onboard if we can save money elsewhere to do it, or be able to afford to do more on a port day. :) I do know that cruising is not necessarily a cheap vacation option, but I'm still amused by it (including a discussion about how a full balcony suite is simply THE only way to travel, etc.)

 

I suppose better to be amused by it than get upset over it. But I know I'm not the only cruiser pinching those pennies, either. And hey, if I ask a question that answers another cruiser's same wonderings, awesome! :)

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I figured that was the case, but didn't know for sure, and most of my searching just came up with info from years ago which I feared may be outdated.

As for the mile and a half issue, what I meant was a Google search of their address showed that the hotel I'd called was 6.6 miles away from the LA port, and their shuttle only goes 5 miles. That's an extra mile and a half. Well, 1.6 miles. But yeah.

I'm a worry wart by nature, and while my boyfriend thinks we'd be OK coming in the morning of, it makes me really nervous. Then again, we'd be taking a direct flight from either Vegas or Phoenix, either of which is about a 5-6 hour drive, which is how far from our home the Vegas and Phoenix airports are anyway, so if we found ourselves being delayed, we'd have our driver just take us the rest of the way (my mom's going to be driving us to the airport).

Also, I feel silly for calling it Crown Pointe instead of Plaza... IDK what I was thinking! haha

Do these mythical places exist? I'd really like to find a place that offers this! I've not yet booked our flights but need to figure this out ASAP.

We'd really like to avoid dropping even more money on transport if we're able to, y'know?

I called Crown Pointe and they said they don't offer either. Called a Holiday Inn in Long Beach that does airport and LB port but won't even talk to me about going the extra mile and a half to LA, even for a small charge. Won't even consider it. Weird. anyone find the hidden holy grail of accommodations?

I know the Super Shuttle is about 17 pp from LAX, but that adds up!

Thanks, cruisers! :D