CAZephyr

Great idea!  Hope it is true.  We're in traditional column.  Early/Late matters little to us. 

On 4/11/2024 at 9:49 AM, Drew B 58 said:

However, by making one simple choice - to buy one of the packages - the cruise immediately switches from basic and utilitarian to bountiful and indulgent.

I, too, do the math.  You eloquently put into words what I consider when contemplating the package.  Our last cruise spanned celebratory days: Superbowl, Fat Tuesday, and Valentines Day.  I left the wine at home and ordered wine from the menu; I ordered single malt scotch at the bar or via Ocean Now, instead of, drinking what was available in the room; brought espresso infused drinks to the room with a pastry instead of buffet coffee.  I am perfectly fine with a Blue Hawaii embarkation cocktail and less during the cruise.  But, for celebratory occasions I will lean toward fun instead of fundamental. 

Nice.  Congratulations on finding an alternate Cruise Line that fits your needs.  Cheers.

9 hours ago, L11 said:

Wi-Fi right now is still slow. Not too surprising. I was hoping it would be a little faster though since I have a bit of online business to do near the end of the cruise that will be very difficult to accomplish if I can’t find faster service. I will be experimenting to see if there are any areas on the ship where I can get a slightly better signal than in my stateroom. Wish me luck. 

Linda

I think you will find that the internet is just slightly faster when in port while many passengers and crew are ashore.  We were able to see our Gd perform in 720 res at an event in Florida in early May while docked at an Alaskan port.  As passengers returned to the ship I notice a slow but steady fall-off to the point that we were unable to see other performances in her group.  First there were slow freeze frames...then nothing, even at the lowest res, over the hour before departure from the port.  You may want to test that at a port before relying on the ship's internet when it counts.   The Medallion App stopped working toward the end.

20 hours ago, grak said:

My booked cruise changed ships. The medallion app doesn’t reflect the new booking. I’ve tried accessing with the new booking number but won’t allow me….still has old number and says the cruise was cancelled.  Suggestions?

Same with us.  Royal Princess took Ruby Princess' place as the San Francisco based ship after we booked Mexico Riviera cruise last year.  I was dissatisfied with our assigned location on the Royal Princess, so I cancelled the original booking and booked in a better location.  The old booking number continued to be displayed in the Medallion App.  After six calls to Princess, and the obligatory reinstalls of the software, the problem was resolved.  I finally got a tech that took charge of the help ticket (I actually insisted on a help ticket number earlier in the process) and truly escalated the ticket.  The old booking number appeared Thursday; the correct booking number appeared Friday without a reinstallation of the Medallion App software. 

So, that tells me the ticket finally got to the right level.  I was able to make dinner reservations yesterday.  On one of the (plus or minus) six calls, a tech suggested we wait until embark day to resolve.  You may have to let them know that resolution is unacceptable....that you want to be able to make reservations, get your medallion, etc. ahead and have a smooth embarkation day.  Good luck.

4 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

I did as you suggested, but the June 9th sailing is still showing "currently unavailable".   It defaults to the July 9th sailing which had me fooled for a bit.   

It fooled me.  I see this now.

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

The two upcoming cruises on the Ruby, on the 9th and 19th are showing as sold out on a popular site I check.  On Princess, they both show as  Currently Not Available.  

It's been displaying like that for a week already.  

 

Not sure if they are just stopping all new bookings or what .... maybe full, maybe just halting bookings at a certain capacity based on crew levels / stock.   Last week when still open for bookings, there was nothing higher than an oceanview room available, though.  Of course, with the number of CoVid cases increasing in this area, I would think there will be some cancellations right before the cruise.  Time will tell.  

 

1 hour ago, cruzin4us said:

Our cruise the Ruby, June 9th is now showing Currently Not Available....it's been that way for the past few days.   There was quite a few inside/OV available last time I checked.    Don't they usually state "sold out" when it is in fact "sold out"?   I sure hope to hell it's not sold out if it is still short staffed.

Restart your browser to refresh, then check Princess.com again.  The availability of cabins on cruises seems to "zone out" if you go in and out of the cruise schedule lately.  Unsure why.  I restarted my Chrome browser and saw many cabins available throughout the ship for June 9 sailing.

On 5/22/2022 at 3:39 AM, Dreamer333 said:

I’m surprised at the negative comments regarding the medallion app. By no means am I a techy but I love the app. I’ll soon be on my 3rd cruise since the app has been implemented and it’s been very positive. 
For those who have not cruised with it yet, you may be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to use once you get on board and get the hang of it. 

Is your Medallion App on an iphone or android?

10 hours ago, 7seascruising said:

I was planning on posting more pictures, but my wife and I tested positive this morning, so we will be enjoying the rest of the cruise from our stateroom. I hope everyone here continues to have a great cruise and maybe we’ll see some of you in another live on the Discovery in October for the “Love Boat” cruise. 

Thanks for posting.  Good to hear you will stay in your original cabin.  Nice that you live an easy drive, just over the hill.  Hope you both have a speedy recovery.

Any idea how many passengers we will share Ruby with on the 23rd?  Princess website indicates no cabins available.  Thank you.

22 minutes ago, andio2of5 said:

Ok…here we go

 

started with this …these little bread pillows were the absolute best thing of the entire meal….when we return for another meal here I @m going to ask for seconds

Nice.  We sail next Saturday provided the swab is removed cleanly (oxymoron?), Canada stays on board (figuratively), and the debarkation is timely (we left after midnight on our last cruise in Feb 2020).  Green and prepping.

Getting Ruby Real.  Be well, all sailing.

22 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I tested negative this morning  but fully expect to test positive at some point and be in isolation myself. If I don’t ever test positive, it will only be because I received my second booster shot a month ago, and the strongest endorsement ever for the effectiveness of the vaccine and boosters.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.  No joy.  Based on your experience, DW and I are getting our second booster next week for a cruise two weeks later.  We live within 100 miles and will be parking near Pier 27, so we can make our way home with little person-to-person interaction.  A full tank will get us to the cruise port and back.  BTW...You truly deserve First Class.  Hopefully that will be the first step to a brighter couple of hours that will stretch long term.

Anyone know...Is a spouse given the option to go into isolation together is one is negative?

6 hours ago, kiwimum said:

Thanks, discharged yesterday now recuperating at home.  Missing the golf at Torrey Pines, TV will have to do this year.

 

Breakfast burrito from IC is also to be avoided.  Sounded good and was small in size.   The photo says it all.

 

Eeeww!

On 1/19/2022 at 6:12 AM, bowsertoo said:

Was on Princess Caribbean last sail before covid shut down. i had a wine package for a number of bottles of wine in a certain price range. There was two amount of bottles option. These packages were not posted anywhere. I had asked at MDR about it a waiter took me to close bar to purchase package. They would save a bottle for next meal. Had three bottles left last night ordered three for table. 

Good to know.  Will try that on a cruise sometime.  I've only seen the wine package offer on transatlantic cruises.  Never thought to just ask.  Next cruise we are doing the Best Value for the first time.   We'll bring a couple of bottles in case we want to share on DTI (formal nights) nights.  Sad Princess did away with Traditional Dining.

Unsure if Princess does the coffee card-like promo anymore.  Maybe someone will answer.  Best Value fills that gap next cruise.  We do like our specialty coffee each morning. 

11 hours ago, MishelleMcc said:

We are here!  The hallway is chilly but we don’t mind. The bulkhead juts out just aft of L312 so we can’t see aft from our balcony but we still love the location!!  Will try to post pics.  

The hallway between the stairs and doors to the pool area are chilly and create a wind tunnel affect in that portion of the hall way.  IMO, RunForFun passengers are in a better spot, for the wind tunnel tends to dissipate at the stairway and they are farther away from the suction noise as the automatic doors close.  We like Lido deck for all the reasons set forth.  I think RunForFun is in a sweet spot and far enough from the gym to avoid the twaap that accompanies the sound of someone pumping too much iron to control the descent of the weights.  Enjoy.

3 hours ago, croozer said:

Forgive me if this has been asked before, but what pier did you embark from?  I'm sailing on 1/31 and had to search for info that the the ship could be at Pier 27, or it might be at Pier 33.  Did they ever tell you specifically where to go or were you on your own to find the right pier? And thanks for all the great posts.

Here is the San Francisco port schedule for this month:  https://sfport.com/files/2021-12/2022.pdf

The following site usually shows pier info...not now:  https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/san-francisco-port-2.  Nice map and picture of the site, though.  Princess will likely post info as the day approaches.

On 10/17/2021 at 11:25 AM, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

Mine is working fine & spouses, doesn't.  At least both our pics are on My app.

We plan to show up Sat with all our Paper boarding stuff, and quit fiddling with it, Again.

 

First time on this thread.  Unsure if already covered.  App was troublesome until I logged in by selecting "booking number" rather than by "email...."  The difference was like night and day.  The first cruise on our list began behaving.  Every thing is easy to work with now.

5 hours ago, LynnForestgate said:

 

I still find it hard to believe that "Laundry" facilities are the selling point of a cruise ! 

 

I enjoy Your sense of humor 🙂 

And, I bet you never thought of a laundromat as a social hub.  A club for like-minded, self-sufficient individuals fulfilling the satisfaction gained by, once again, full draws with neatly folded cloths and a closet lined with fresh garments.  Who can deny calming affect from the rhythmic sound of a dryer with your left over euro coins banging against the sides.  Or, the humid odor of a too full lint trap.  Before you say, whatever floats your boat....remember we're on a cruise. 

On 10/8/2021 at 2:33 AM, LynnForestgate said:

 

I am surprised that people actually use these.

 

Love the name beryl patricia 🙂 

One personal favorite, selling feature of Princess ships is the ability to do self laundry and use ironing stations.  The self-laundry rooms on each floor get packed so one needs to go during less popular times during the day.  We've used the facility on the second day of our transatlantic cruises....no crowd; thereafter, once opened in the morning.

Thank you to those who posted your experiences.  Lots of new stuff for cruisers post-onslaught of The Rona.  We are thankful that you took the time to tell us.

On 8/17/2021 at 3:23 PM, Roxydog15 said:

So after years of giving my husband a hard time for probably being the only one who orders this in MDR, and that X stocks it just for him, thought I would toss it out there..

Do many of you ever order Escargot?

Yes!  Followed by Crème Brule at the end.

On 7/21/2021 at 5:20 AM, AF-1 said:

My wife wears seasick bands, wears the patch behind her ear, she cannot take rocking and rolling on the high seas.  No big deal.  We sail a lot in the Mediterranean where its calm seas.  Going across the Atlantic or Pacific oceans for five days is too much for her.  It's all good.

Seasickness...not good (understated).  Even short trips can have choppy seas....ginger may help.    DW often feels seasick right out of port.  She tried various drugs (knocked her out), wrist bands (spotty performance, on edge waiting for choppy seas), ear patch (failed).  The only thing that works for her is ginger.  We ask for some from the buffet where we've gotten as much as a bowl of shredded ginger (goes in our fridge).  She starts nibbling it right away, tapers her intake, then drops it couple of days out.  The ginger helps her cope early on, then her sea legs take hold and she feels unfazed by the chops thereafter.  We also bring ginger pills for backup though she likes to savor fresh.  Hope she can find a remedy for sea days.

On 7/16/2021 at 9:25 AM, 1965 said:

I'm thinking of switching our inside for a balcony due to price drop. Our trans Atlantic cruise departs Southampton this Nov. 3. We have 4 ports & 10 sea days. For those who've done fall trans Atlantics in a balcony were you able to use your balcony often enough for it to be worth the extra cost? Thank you for any info & input.

Balcony is my vote.  We've only sailed transatlantic cruises (3) in cabins with balcony; though, we've done inside cabins on local cruises out of California.  Royal class ship balconies are smaller than every other ship we've been on....so you could feel cheated.  We never do.  We like to retreat to the cabin at times to play cribbage, or read and/or have morning coffee on the balcony.  For us, the soothing sound of the ship moving through water, and fresh air and views on demand is worth it.  The following is a sample of balcony size on the Regal Princess.