Knickearth

3 hours ago, Dee_Jay said:

No

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

No fee to swap out the mini bar, because you have to call RS to do that.  Sometimes the cabin steward will do it, but that’s really a function of RS.

Same here but our recent cruise instead of risking an unwanted fee, we had the room steward swap the mini bar for water bottles.

3 hours ago, 555 said:

After our last so-so experience at Sabatini's, we've taking a break from all the SD restaurants for a while and just enjoying the regular main dining restaurants.

12 minutes ago, cruisinsince75 said:

We are on the Regal this coming Fall.  Do you recall if the beef was from Nolan Ryan's ranch?  I know they announced it in December for sailings out of Galveston. https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2023/12/princess-cruises-brings-the-ranch-to-the-high-seas-with-goodstock-by-nolan-ryan

Same here.  Crown grill has been disappointing and our recent cruise Sabbatinis was not great shakes.

Just an update.  Got email that for our trip home delay we are being reimbursed all but 30. Dollars.  Now just need to deal with the medical end reimbursement for seeing the doctor while onboard.

4 hours ago, uprivermama said:

Yet another Plus Package question...I searched but couldn't find the answer to this specific question.

 

I will be the 3rd adult in our cabin. The first 2 adults (DH and DS) have the plus package included as a promotion during booking. I am 3 months post-op gastric sleeve surgery and don't drink alcohol, sugary drinks, soda, or specialty coffee; I barely eat 3 oz of food per meal; and don't really need internet for this Alaska sailing. However, I might enjoy the fitness classes. 

 

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that certain benefits are tied to the individual (drinks especially) but some benefits are just pooled for the cabin (casual dining, fitness classes). DH and DS certainly won't use the free fitness classes, and if they aren't, it would be nice to use them myself.  Has anyone had any experience with whether some of the plus benefits can be shared among cabin mates? Just curious (and I'm certainly willing to pay for the classes if necessary!)

Our last cruise without the package my hubby paid for internet for entire cruise.  I had my iPad and could not use it.  Then we noticed on the app that I could switch usersfrom his phone to my iPad.  Don’t know about your ability to do fitness classes as wherever you go, the medallion shows your picture as well as having a package.

4 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Is there a fridge in the room where I can put cans of pop? I appreciate peoples responses. I know some can't understand those of us who don't get packages.

Yes there is a fridge.  We recently cruised without a package.  We had $1150. In shipboard credit.  We are not really drinkers, but a few evenings we did have a glass of wine.  In a blink of an eye ourshipboard credit was gone.  Hubby paid for an excursion and got the thermal spa.  With all the daily gratuities which I believe are now $16. Each daily.  Plus I needed to see doc onboard.  You can imagine.  Another warning is we constantly checked the folio at the kiosk and found drinks we never ordered.  So be sure to check regularly..  

2 hours ago, Ellipooh said:

I spent hours looking at short cruises, but they all involved a flight/hotel/hassle.  This idea finally occurred to me and feels more relaxed and ultimately less expensive.

 

Thanks very much for all the great information and confirmation that I'll get free laundry on my big trip!

35 minutes ago, Ellipooh said:

Thanks! I will have a suite on the Christmas cruise, not on the 28-day.
 

I am definitely aware of the cutback in Elite benefits but the promise of free laundry (even the non-express variety) on a 28-day, port-intensive cruise, and after spending four days tooling around Sydney, sold me on this plan.

I think I would regret being only 2 credits short when I can grab an Interior for cheap* and enjoy my first b2b!

 

(*Yes I realize that I could use the Interior fare to buy my own damn laundry, but this way’s more fun😝)

We were able to reach elite with about 12 cruises as we take longer cruises, so 150 plus days got us there early.  Are you counting your days

21 minutes ago, CenTexan said:

First time to have Plus package. I have never used the Ocen Now feature in Princess app on previous cruises.

 

So if I am in the theater waiting for a show, should I flag down a waiter to order drinks - or just do it through the app?

 

What about for sitting at the pool?

 

Thanks.

Having recently gotten off the Emerald, depending on where and what time, it could take 45 mins or more on ocean now.  Many times certain bars were closed even with a lot of people in the lounge so ocean now had to go the other end of the ship.  If there is a wait staff available use it.

If you don’t really want the casino, how about considering the enclave?

5 hours ago, Grace61 said:

We sail on the Royal Princess, Whittier  to Vancouver, 7 day.  Port stops in Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan.  Scenic cruising of Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay.

 

Now, I'm probably not going to frequent the casino, as I am not a smoker, don't like smelling the smoke, or having myself/clothes smell like it.  I however do have the Premier fare package.  So in the event I have the luck to win a Princess prize with OBC, I may put up with it for a short time, to use any OBC.

 

I'm not sure what else I would spend it on - Im NOT a spa person, more drinks than I will need included in my fare, specialty dining included in my fare, Gratuity included in my fare.  I shouldn't have any extra charges in my folio- all excursions are prepaid, and I have paid cruise on full.  Maybe a round of Bingo, but not multiple times. I'm not a shopper, doubt I'll even be in the shops.  I would rather pick up souvenirs in port.

 

So when is casino open during a cruise such as mine, as the prizes aren't active if casino isn't open.  Alaska doesn't allow gambling, so not in port, I assume.  It seems we wouldn't be far enough out at sea, except maybe a little while after leaving Whittier, and on the way into Vancouver.  

 

I've only been on one other cruise, and it was Disney, so no casino that time.  

 

Anyone done the above itinerary ? When did the casino operate

on a different issue - my NY friends cannot buy Princess coverage.  It isn’t allowed in NY.  Anyone know why?

On 4/26/2024 at 11:16 AM, LoveBoatLvr said:

Such an interesting perspective, although it only seems to address the issue of needing to cancel. What about medical coverage ON the ship? Genuinely asking- since the ships are registered overseas, would your regular health insurance or credit card cover that? And what if you needed to be flown home from a poAs for the ships medical coverage it has saved me a fortune.  Over the years I caught the flu 3x including this last cruise.  Each time it is considered a foreign port and my home

44 minutes ago, Ereggae said:

Is there a way to have folios for both passengers combined prior to the cruise into one running invoice to avoid issues, especially since we have a lot of onboard cedit.  Would not like one person having a discrepancy over the other.  Took me all cruise last time to get issues resolved as the lines at Guest Services were very long.  This was after the Premier package was implemented so everyone that upgraded had problems as the shoreside and onboard systems were not in sync.  I had to wait almost a month to get a check refund.  On board accounting is horrible and despite numerous complaints they have done nothing to fix it.

Since I make all the reservations as primary passenger, the folio reads my charges and my husbands charges and the combined totals.  My husband can only see his charges.  Further, I always bring onboard a copy of the travel summary to prove what I have coming.

On 4/25/2024 at 9:03 PM, Mud_Shark said:

Just about ditto to the previous post.  24 cruises to date.  Have not purchased any extra insurance or cancellation insurance.  We have health and travel insurance through a government retirement policy and our travel credit card.  Sometimes have to top off if out of the country longer than 40 days.

Just felt that if we had to cancel for some reason or got delayed, we would just eat the cost and in the end it would not be more than the amount we would have paid if we had purchased cfar insurance for all these trips. To date, have not had anything major.

But now, as the years pile up, the possibilities of problems is tending towards us being a little more cautious and protected.

That’s how we always felt.  Aging makes one more cautious.

19 hours ago, toofewcruises said:

Then you may not get reimbursed by the Princess insurance. 

Ezair covers getting to ship and home.  The airlines don’t cover hotel etc for delay of trip IF due to weather.  But the platinum insurance does cover delay of trip.  I have filed, so we shall see.

3 hours ago, Mark_K said:

Yes, my insurance covers overseas medical.  I read somewhere that your odds of needing a helicopter evacuation are something like once in every 10,000 cruises. I decided to take my chances.

Not for me, but I have been on 2 ships where a helicopter had to land on the ship while at sea.  You just never know.

8 hours ago, dog said:

were hotels, air booked through Princess?

No they were not.  It was due to delay of flight and cancellation of connecting flight.  The cruise portion was done.

After 6 hour flight delay and cancellation of our connecting flight - told by airlines since it was weather delay they take no responsibility for Two nights in a hotel, meals etc. because weather is an Act of God.  So I went on line to read what the platinum insurance package covered and it covers hotel, meals, transportation due to delays.  So today I sent in all the paperwork and fingers crossed that one day the reimbursement will arrive.  lol

Just now, Knickearth said:

 

Sorry, the cruise port is at the bottom of Las Ramblas which is a main road.  We have always had to grab a cab to get there.  Years ago if you walked to bottom of las Ramblas the ship was right there.  Now Princess built a docking area approx. 2 miles from las Ramblas at the dock.

1 hour ago, MudderBear said:

It's my understanding that there are two terminal locations in Barcelona?  Which one does Princess use?  And can anyone suggest the easiest way to get from Plaza Cataluyna to the terminal?  Thank you.

7 hours ago, memoak said:

I personally like it when they know my regular drinks. They have always done this by memory well before the medallion

Interesting because our friends on cruise we finished last Sat. Had the drink package and decided to never order same drink twice.  

On 4/21/2024 at 5:51 PM, dawcruiser said:

Sailed Princess before but never had Medallions.  What are they and what is the benefit of them if any?

Another thing is that after approx. 12 days onboard the battery seems to be dying.  You have to walk up to the cabin door and put medallion up to screen to unlock.  Learnt the hard way.

On 4/21/2024 at 6:27 PM, Outerdog said:

A nifty little coin-sized device which replaces the cruise card. The system is able to locate people (medallions) around the ship, crew use it to see who's who. 

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/princess-medallionclass

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/princess-medallionclass/medallion-accessories-customization

 

Some will tell you it's a curse upon humanity. They think Princess is tracking them all over the place and the Medallions are the gateway to a privacy violating dystopia. Psst, you're already a customer, you're already on the ship having spent hundreds or thousands of dollars to get there, and they were collecting data long before the Medallions.

 

But do they really need to know when or if we go to the bathroom?  lol. It is literally Big Brother at its best.  Found it annoying that if I went to a bar two days in a row the greeting was, oh would you like another martini,

On 4/21/2024 at 11:17 AM, karatemom2 said:

I love the Grand Class ships in general, although I would agree the CB is probably my least favorite. 
 

The Emerald is a wonderful ship. We really enjoyed our British Isles cruise aboard her a couple years ago. If it is an itinerary you want, I would encourage you to give it a go. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed - I like the Royal Class ships, but the Grand Class really have a special charm and design that gives more of an old school cruising vibe that I actually really love, especially with the full promenade deck. 

We were on it 3 times in the past. Just ok.  This past Sat. Got off it after 15 days in Panama Canal.  The buffet area since its refurbishment looks wonderful.  Certain areas were ignored and therefore very noticeable on the ship.

On 4/22/2024 at 4:41 AM, Knickearth said:

Congrats.  It is 6:40 am Monday and we are at the gate in Dallas awaiting an 8:14 flight.  Can’t wait to get home.

Have to add that we all boarded the early flight but after an hour an announcement was made about something wrong with plane. We were told the whole plane had to exit.  We got sent  to the other end of Dallas airport and another plane was sent in.  Finally landed in sac. Only to learn two of our 3 bags went to San Diego?  Last night after midnight the luggage was delivered.  Will think long and hard about American Airlines.  Their customer service sucks.  They don’t control the weather so I don’t hold them responsible for the delays.

6 hours ago, DUCHESSRN said:

We made it home ... American came through for us after the most helpful lady worked hard to get us on a standby flight . I hugged her as I boarded our flight .

I have to say the not having to pay for flight until final payment is a huge plus for us .

Our friends on SW Saturday connected in Dallas Love Field maybe less rain there .

We survived , we made it have our bags and all is well . 

Congrats.  It is 6:40 am Monday and we are at the gate in Dallas awaiting an 8:14 flight.  Can’t wait to get home.

On 4/20/2024 at 11:51 AM, buckeye7 said:

Anxious to follow along, as we’ll be on the Emerald in July. We sailed her many years ago and I like the larger cabin / balcony size compared to the new ships.

 

If you eat in any of the “casual” restaurants (Planks and whatever else) we’d love to hear if they are worth it. 

4 hours ago, MissiCruzs said:

Thanks for the info on slots and bummer on the canceled flight issues. 

Two things to know.  Get to theatre early as seats get taken every show.  If you enjoy trivia, that too you need to get to early.  Many days people had no where to sit.