FrankieSue

Let me clarify here… My question was to ask if friends who are travelling with us as a party of 4 could board with us, in the same way as you can bring a non status guest to Specialty restaurants or bring a non status guest in most airport lounges… But the vitriol on this post leaves me speechless… We have Priority status because we earned it after a long loyalty to Holland, which used to be the only way to attain it; we did not buy it. I get it, we will wait with our friends and board with them…. But calm down please…. Geez!!!

We will very happily sit and wait with our friends…. After all, the ship will leave at its appointed time when everybody is onboard. 

14 minutes ago, Petronillus said:

As W. S. Gilbert was known to say, "If everybody's somebody then nobody's anybody."

Actually I like to think of everybody as somebody….. thanks for all your inputs

Thank you very much…. We may ask at the Port (with a nice smile). Does not cost anything to ask…..

We are travelling with friends who do not have priority boarding, will they be allowed to board with us?

The irony here is that those passengers were left in a dire situation so that the Ship could make its next port on time, which according to reports, they had to miss because of adverse weather!

I agree that in some instances passengers who do not return on time are left behind. But the Captain must balance the need for time keeping with the safety and well-being of his passengers. In this case passengers were left on a small island of a so so safe Country without medication or luggage… what if these passengers come to harm, or get sick for lack of their medication? They were not left behind in Aruba! I think in this case, the Captain should have waited. If the Ship can wait because passengers paid more for their excursions, the Ship can also wait to guarantee the safety of its passengers…. And the “if they do it for them, they will have to do it for all” does not hold water for me (excuse the pun)… This should have been treated as an exceptional situation, which it was… In my view the Captain used poor judgement and I sincerely hope that no harm comes to those still trying to rejoin the Ship.  This is a very bad way to promote the Ship’s expensive excursions with an “see what happens to those who do not book shore excursions with us”

2 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Me too. I rarely go to the MDR for lunch. The Lido is easy enough if I go early. On my last cruise, I never had trouble getting a table out by the pool--Lido pool, I rarely venture "out back."

 

But on embarkation day, I like the quiet of the MDR after the hustle and bustle of port traffic, queues at security (I always get behind the guy who forgets about the change in his pocket), waiting to board. I'm on the ship, unpacking can wait, I just want to sit and have a nice lunch that doesn't involve standing in line.

I could not have said it better…. My feelings exactly!

8 minutes ago, daisy-mae said:

So I guess that you have never grabbed a tray and ventured out back?

 

 

yesI do, just not on embarcation day!

6 hours ago, daisy-mae said:

I'm going to insert a discordant note. As infrequent cruisers (compared to many regulars here) part of the excitement on embarkation is seeing our stateroom and exploring our new surroundings. And after escaping the winter cold, we delight in dining "al fresco" on the pool deck.

The last thing that we feel like doing is sitting in a dining room when the outdoors beckon.

 

Could it be that there are other like-minded folks who have collectively contributed to the lower attendance?

We have been cruising since 2006 and part of the pleasure on embarcation day is the relaxed main dining room lunch where we can sit, eat and relax without the queuing, pushing, shoving and clinging of dishes in the Lido.  The Lido buffet is served indoors, not outdoors.  We are very disappointed to learn that the main dining room is no longer opened on embarcation day

We did 32 days (Ft Lauderdale/San Diego back to back) on Zaandam and did an ocean view cabin for first time (previous cruises were always balcony)… we loved it…. 

As 4* Mariner we get discounted wine packages. We have purchased wine packages in bars, and taken the remainder of a consumed bottle to the dining room, to finish with dinner… and this at the suggestion of our bar stewart… 

14 hours ago, kazu said:

I sailed NCL years ago (and I do mean years).  My friend was a huge fan.  We sailed with them a few times.  Once they switched to free style dining she said never again after one cruise.

 

I owe it to NCL that we started to travel more.  Our first TA was on NCL - a classic, no longer in service & really nice but talk about Assisted Living.  I’ve never seen so many people with oxygen tanks and nurses ever.  DD DH and I swore that we would travel while we were healthy and good enjoy it.  HAL is nothing compared to what I saw on that cruise 😂 

 

I know from reports that  the Haven offers a wonderful experience but that’s pricey and not sure I like the “ship within a ship’ concept.  

I totally agree with you Kazu and we also do as much travelling as we can while we are fit and healthy but I admire those with nurses and oxygen tanks who are still travelling rather than vegetating in nursing homes and I hope that when I need some nursing I am still out there enjoying life as much as I can

Last year, we spent a few days pre cruise choosing to stay in Civitavecchia rather than Rome, and loved it…. Civitavecchia is a lovely small town with a beautiful walk on water front, lovely restaurants, shops, etc…. And within an easy, rapid train ride to Rome….. we spent a couple of days travelling to Rome to see the sights but were happy to get back to Civitavecchia at night for the comfortable small town feel, lovely restaurants and very friendly B&B.  We would do the same again, it is worth considering.

In November 2022, during a Transatlantic crossing, I was able to receive and make calls using Facebook messenger, while at sea without any problems.. I had the lowest cost Internet package allowing social medias.

Thank you everybody. I get a good picture of the cabin. I guess its biggest asset is its location….. Food for thought…. On the ship in an inside or not being on the ship……….. 

yes I checked Halfacts and no info

Any input in an inside cabin on deck 10 of the Rotterdam… I am looking at 10049.  Thanks for sharing

27 minutes ago, dickinson said:

You said you got a new booking number.  That means the agency cancelled the first booking and then rebooked.  Sounds like the incentives today were the same as when you originally booked.  One would have to be careful doing it this way because someone else could have swooped in and got your cabin before the big box agent rebooked.  Also, if the price had gone Up and you were trying to transfer (because of an incentive they had offered), then your price would have gone up.  Usually what is done instead of a rebooking is a refare.  You retain the original booking number.

 

I'm glad it worked for you.

I had the Big Box doing it and they were handling the booking with Princess and making sure that I was not losing anything… they confirmed that the only change would be the lower price…. 

1 minute ago, sunviking90 said:

May I ask you if it was a Canadian company or US and if you were booking in USD or CAD? 

Canadian company, and the booking is in CAD $ …. I just had to stay on the line for a bit while the Agency was dealing with Princess, then got a confirmation when all was done…. It was amazingly simple.

There has been a few discussions regarding turning a booking over to a Big Box Agency and also about getting price match when price goes down.  Well today I did both, I turned over our Next booking to Big Box Agency and they secured the lower price from Princess…. It was all done in a very simple seamless way and I could not be happier… The Agency took care of everything with Princess, confirmed everything to me and we saved a lot of money… Could not have been easier…We retained original cabin booked, package purchased, and all incentives received from Princess….. the only thing that changed aside from the lower price, is the booking number….

Thank you for your input…. It is much appreciated

Thanks to info I read here, I was able to transfer my late Fall Princess cruise to one of the Big Box travel agency and get myself a great big bonus from the Agency..So thanks for all the knowledge CruiseCritic members share….my question is that during the call to transfer I noticed that the price of my cruise had gone down a bit. Will my price be automatically adjusted during the transfer process or do I need to ask? Again thanks everybody for sharing.

PS… one info that I read, which turned out to be incorrect for me is the advice to « make a booking with a curtesy hold with Princess and then call Agency to transfer » The Agency said that only bookings made with a deposit paid, and no older than 60 days could be transferred.

There is no telling when the best time to book is…. We booked a cruise 8 months ahead and actually saved over $2,000 as the price kept going up plus we were able to get the HIA Early Bird package which has many extra benefits…. So I would say, the best time to book is when it feels right to you

1 hour ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

And you get a lot for that.  But you can make yourself unhappy if you ignore the many things you do get and instead focus on something you don't get.

We are indeed focusing on all the goodies we get, even more so as we were able to add the HIA early bird to our next cruise which includes gratuities, premium beverage package, premium internet, etc…. We cant wait to board! Happy sailing everybody!