Jimorel

Norris,

I haven't been on Cruise Critic (or anything else for that matter) since the start of the year!  Your review is more than enough to draw me back to CC.  I look forward to reading and viewing every post.  Thanks in advance for what I am sure will be a wonderful experience.  I will probably never get to Cuba, but when I read one of your reviews I feel like I was there.

Jimorel

What if anything are the perks of having a minisuite?  We have booked one on the Royal and it is a first for us.

NICE deal!! That's practically a free cruise! Sounds like they oversold your cruise, at least the balcony's!! Someone just posted about about obstructed views on the Star, it has a lot of photos of the window views. If you are curious about the cabin you got, search for it.

Enjoy your trip!!

Where do you search for the cabin?

I quit reading after a few of these replies, but here is my take. I have had two hip replacements both on the same hip. A full and a "revision" after 11 years. After the first full hip replacement I would not have enjoyed a cruise that close to the surgery. The second surgery the cruise would have been iffy at best for me. That said, everybody heals at a different pace and each surgery cause is different. I think my first was MUCH MORE COMPLICATED then is normal. Usually a hip replacement surgery is in the hour to hour an a half range (well then anyway) mine was a little over six hours and I had a top notch world renown surgeon. After my second surgery I have been good to go. In fact I just had a an examination because of some pain and I am assured that the hip is in great shape and I am experiencing some muscle problems. All I can really say is good luck because anyone who tells you that yes he will be good to go, doesn't really know for sure. He should be good, he could be good but nobody really knows for sure. Without the insurance I wouldn't chance it. I hope this helps. MORE THEN THAT I WISH HIM WELL!! Been there done that and glad that I did. Once he is fully healed he will think I wish I had this done sooner.

Thanks everyone, I am on countdown at 64 days (too long actually) and I am primed to CRUISE!!

We’ve never had any noise problems when booking cabins adjacent to elevator lobbies.

 

After researching cabin E436 on the Royal we decided to book that cabin. That’s located 4 decks lower than you & is located over the forward portion of Crooners. Based on feedback I received about any potential excessive noise issues it won’t be a problem.

 

And as posted, there are cabins above & below your location so there won’t be any noise from bands which are many decks away from your cabin.

Where do you research a specific cabin? I thought that I read of a web site where you could do this but that was like last Jan.

Easy to find out when you are talking directly with the bartender. But if you are ordering the specialty coffee in a dining room, your waiter will need to find out for you and tell you when he returns with your drink.

How do you order a specialty coffee in a dining room? My wife only drinks iced coffees and she would love to have them instead of soda.

What if any specials might there be the first day onboard? Any dining or perhaps drink specials? Also what might you suggest doing the first day?

To all the great cruisers out there, THANK YOU for taking the time to read my post and a double thank you for any suggestions you reply with!!

Uber - won't travel any other way unless they are not an option or are difficult to use (San Juan).

 

What was your bad experience? Perhaps we can give you some tips to avoid that in the future.

We had a horrible driver, I would swear he had never been to Port Everglades before. On top of that he was rude and very unhelpful. Not a good experience with Uber, for my first time I was left with a horrible impression. So I am thinking of trying Lyft.

I am wondering if anybody has experience with Lyft in Fort Lauderdale. We are looking to get from the port to the airport. I have used Uber once and had a bad experience, so I am considering trying Lyft. Also any idea what it might cost to get from the port to the airport?

Thanks in advance for any help!

So does anybody have an idea what happens to the last cruise before the "wetdock"? I booked a cruise on the Royal last week and didn't know it was going to "wetdock. I wonder if that will have any effect on our cruise, such as short supplies on anything.

 

Yes, indeed I am. Although I grew up in Indiana, I went to MSU. A few years later in DC, I met my future husband who is a "native" of Detroit. He got a job offer from GM he couldn't refuse so we've been in the Detroit area for 47 years! Were you at Sawyer AFB or Kincheloe? We spent a week-long vacation in the UP some years ago and have driven through it several times, to or from Saskatchewan, my mother-in-law's birthplace.

I was at Sawyer and enjoyed everything there but the weather! Even being from Wisconsin I found the winter to be too harsh and long. I remember a Friday in the 80's nd snow flurries on Saturday! Not my idea of good weather.

As I said we have booked a W Caribbean at the end of November. This will be our first cruise on the Royal our last cruise was on the Regal in an inside cabin. As we have limited cruise experience (I wish I had started cruising years ago), I welcome any hints on:

1) The difference between the Regal and the Royal, if any.

2) What if anything can I expect from a minisuite? We chose it for the extra room, the balcony,

and it was a good price.

3) I had read some things about a balcony dining experience. Is this available in a minisuite and any comments about it from someone who has done this!

I greatly appreciate your taking the time to read this and even more so for any answers. I have found that CC is an invaluable aid for cruising information and appreciate everyone who shares info on here!!

We have connecting balconies for our upcoming Nov Royal cruise, will the partition open up to create a large balcony

My wife and I just booked the Royal for 11/24 we will be in a mini on the Caribe deck. Our third cruise, first on the Royal and 2nd on PCL

Again My thanks to all for the replies to my inquiry! We decided to take a Western Caribbean cruise do to a wonderful the l (for us anyway) price on a mini-suite! I got some useful input to store for a possible future cruise to the Southern Caribbean. Happy cruising to all and to all a good price on your next booking!!

 

We've have been to the ABC Islands multiple times. While Curacao is my favorite, I enjoy the other two as well. Snorkeling is good at all three, if that's something you enjoy doing as much as I do. There are more excursions to choose from on Aruba than on Bonaire because it's much, much larger. We don't usually do sightseeing excursions in the Caribbean, but did one the last time we were on Aruba because it's a large island and we wanted to see what the northern part of the island was like (far different from the south side where ships dock). We've also done one on both Bonaire and Curacao. Bonaire is known for its pink flamingos and its salt mines and an excursion would show you both (you can see the mounds of salt from your ship while in port). If shopping is important to you, then Aruba would be your best bet as shopping is quite limited on Bonaire. Finally, if you like to have lunch onshore, Aruba would offer many more restaurants to choose from.

Thank you so much for the reply and the information! I am filing it as we got a really wonderful deal on a mini-suite at the end of November and decided to take it. When I read what Norris had posted on his ABC Island cruise I decided it looked great and was planning on it for our next cruise in the spring, but this deal was too good to pass up.

Again thank you BarbinMich!! Are you from Michigan? I spent most of my USAF service time in the UP and we travel there a lot. I love Michigan, just not as much as I love reading when Norris post a Seafarers Journal.

Hi- alas I am not on Celebrity Silhouette right now as we pushed that cruise off exactly a year to September 1 2019. It's a 5 figure spend and with Cuba coming up in January it seemed too much , so now we have almost 8 months between sailings. We kept the same aft S1 suite.

So the next review will be January 25th when we return from Azamara Journey 9 day to Cuba.

Our longest cruise so far. Final payment is 120 days out-September 17, 2018

Having only been to Bonaire once and Aruba 3 times I would side with Aruba if I had to choose. I think there would be more to do-excursions, shopping certainly, more restaurants and bars and plenty of taxis. I loved our last visit to Aruba from morning to night. If I was to scuba dive then Bonaire but I haven't done that in almost 30 years.

Thanks for asking!

Norris

Thank You very much!! I appreciate the rapid reply and will wholeheartedly give your advice and opinion heavy consideration.

Although I did discover a very tempting Panama Canal Cruise, unfortunately it is not ocean to ocean, but still is tempting. Decisions, Decisions, so little time so little money. I may have to actually ask my wife for help.

I think Norris is on board Silhouette in the Norwegian fjords at the moment. So maybe a delay in your reply.

I guess I was right about him having a cruise coming up! THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW.

Also I hope you had a great time in San Francisco!!

Hello Mr. Norris, I just started thinking about another cruise. I am looking at a couple that go to only two of the ABC Islands. Both go to C, so the choice is A and C or B and C. I would like your opinion on which Island you found the better of two. The other ports and the price are basically the same, so it mostly comes down to Aruba or Bonaire.

Also do you have a cruise coming up soon? I seem to recall you were considering one and I would find reading your Seafarers Journal an enjoyable event.

Thanks for any help and advice you can give me.

Based upon the discussions dealing with Medallion the OBC amount seems to also be influenced by when one booked, the sailing date, the ship. Those that booked when the marketing push was heaviest, before their were any known problems, when the problems were first being identified after the full payment date seem to get the higher amounts, if they were on a cruise that was sold intending to have Medallion available. If they booked after the problems started to be made public they seemed to get less. If they were notified prior to full payment date they seemed to get less. Those that booked after marketing push on Medallion was pulled seemed to get less. If booked after the cruise was identified to no longer have Medallion pretty much would get nothing. So there would seem to be a component of timing of booking, sail dates, marketing plan, etc. that enter into it as well as the possibility of room category. That would make sense since those that booked based upon the marketing info or atleast during the time it was heavily marketed and thus potentially influenced and were not told of problems either before the cruise or prior to last payment date would be the most impacted. Unfortunately it would also for a pretty complex approach that would be determined and awarded by corporate that would potentially having different people on the same cruise getting different amounts.

 

Basically you can either accept what you were given and I assume told on board that was the correct amount according to their system or you can just feel that Princess screwed up. I kinda suspect that at this point anything that they would tell you that did not include oh we made a mistake and here is more OBC is not likely to change your mind.

 

Since your case was already responded to from someone in the level of customer service that responds to post cruise issues (the individual that seemed to have the least knowledge) and since that will be documented in the computer file related to that cruise I would not be surprised if you do not get an additional response.

RDC1, on board I was told that nobody ever got anything for not getting the Ocean Medallion! Even after I told the rep that we had each received $50, he continued to say nobody got anything. This was the real start of the problem.

And I was not looking for or expecting to get any more OBC because I knew that I had booked a low rate interior cabin and I expected that was the reason I only got $50. I asked even though I thought I knew why, because I wanted to be sure. If the original rep had said anything but an outright lie (well anything that sounded reasonable anyway) I would have been happy. I no longer expect anything from Princess Cruises and I hope they aren't expecting much from me in the future.

I think the determination of the amount of the OBC was simply determined by the fare paid for the cruise. The more your cruise cost, the more OBC given for the inconvenience of the failure of the Medallion system to function. The why of the amount would have been a corporate decision, not the staff at the front desk.;)

Based on what Princess Customer Service and people on either Cruise Critic or onboard the ship, I do not believe that it was based on the amount you paid. More likely it was more of a flat rate as so many people got $100. If it was "just" a corporate decision how come at no level of discussion was I ever told that instead of being told nobody got OBC, or that I was asking for something I wasn't entitled too, when I only wanted a straight forward answer. Personally, I think that this was just one big foul up on the part of PRINCESS!!

I have usually had very good luck with Princess customer service, as with most organizations. Might be because at one time I had a customer service organization reporting to me (along with some other departments such as legal, contract, strategic pricing).

 

There are a few rules I follow:

 

1. be very clear what your goals are for either information or some other result, and clearly state those goals during your communications with customer service. Keep it short and to the point with critical facts

 

2. It does no good to get upset with a customer service agent. Agents operate from scripts, systems and FAQ's. If it in one of those sources that they have they will answer it, if it is not then usually the best that they can do is to elevate it to a supervisor. Asking the same question over again does no good. If you push them for an answer they don't have a good customer service agent will say they don't have an answer and forward you to a supervisor. A bad one will just come up with whatever answer that they think will get you off of the phone.

 

3. At each level of escalation there is a limit to what they are authorized to do and to say. Again if your question cannot be answered at a level, arguing with the person will not help, best thing is to just ask if there is someone else that might be able to answer the question/resolve the issue and if so who is that?

 

3. Customer service will not and should not talk about another customer and any resolution that they might have received. You can certainly supply that information in your request, but a well trained customer service department should not respond with any information about other customers, neither to confirm or deny.

 

4. If you are unable to resolve the situation during direct communication, then a well written, focused letter identifying the issue, the steps taken to resolve and your desired solution sent to the appropriate areas in the corporation would probably get the best results. This may include the head of the appropriate department, senior management or in some cases the companies general counsel.

 

With that keep in mind that most issues raised with a company can be sorted into 3 categories.

 

1. An issue where a companies policy or level of service was violated. In these cases the company failed to deliver something that their standards indicate that they should have. These are pretty clear and one should get a positive response when raising these issues.

 

2. An issue where the company delivered according to its policy and standard of service, but the customer did not find that acceptable and wanted some other policy or level of service. Those may or may not get a positive response other to acknowledge the issue that the customer raised. An example of this might be like an airline that guarantees baggage delivery in 20 minutes, but the customer got their luggage within that time, but wanted it sooner. (keep in mind just an example).

 

3. The third is more a customer type, not an issue itself. This is where they generate a laundry list finding fault with many things and where the company might have fallen short one an item or two, it is clouded with a whole list of other "faults" that the customer things will strengthen their case. We used to label such as CYWG (customers you want gone). These are the ones that are not a good fit for your product, they complain about everything, to customer service, the staff and other customers. You are better off having them go elsewhere because if you try and satisfy them they feel empowered and complain that much more. If they go away then they are your competitors problem and no longer complaining to your customers.

 

In this case the company promised something that they could not deliver (category 1), but for which there was not a quantifiable value. So the company granted an OBC.

 

In this case I feel that the OP was asking a question, that while it seemed simple, was one customer service could not answer, unless they had a current written policy for addressing the topic. The decision making for the criteria is something done by Corporate and while customer service might be given a directive authorizing them to grant OBC up to X amount, I would expect that there would also be rules associated with it. They are usually not authorized to discuss the internal corporate directives behind it. Imagine if a company did release such information. The first thing they would find it someone now publishing the criteria to the web and instead of 1 irate customer you now have 5000 calling saying that according to that criteria they should have gotten x, or that the criteria did not take into account Y.

 

 

In any case corporations usually will NOT give out their reasoning and logic for there is not benefit for them to do so. First of very few customers will ask. Those that do ask will, in general, search for loopholes as to why they were not treated correctly or argue that other criteria should have been included. All of which just raises the potential for more hard feelings and argument and does nothing beneficial.

 

Would the OP been satisfied with an answer of "the decision for authorizing OBC was done according to criteria that is not public and that they did received the appropriate amount of OBC for their situation"?

I like your answer to my original post and yes that would have satisfied me. What I expected them to say was that my OBC was based on the category of cabin booked. I would have been most satisfied with that answer at any level of discussion. As it is, I feel that I was lied to at the first level and either brushed off or ignored at higher levels. I am very upset that after emailing the company president a second time I heard nothing more from Princess. Well except for the almost daily requests to book with them again.

levels of issues:

 

1) disappointment

2) unpleasant

3) discomfort

4) money lost or extra cost

5) issue of safety

6) issue of health

 

1 thru 4 are a pain and tough luck

5 or 6 demand serious response

 

My experience is that service personnel do not understand the levels and

when it comes to the level 5 or higher, they are often insufficiently trained.

 

example 1: handicapped person on the life jacket drill. no seats or provision. told he had to stand. he could not. I went and got a chair for him. applause. the manager overseeing the drill said I broke federal law.

 

example 2: improperly cooked food as per the cdc standards. Complaints disregarded. Man died.

 

Point is that there is no provision to escalate when its a level 5 or higher. Pretty much everyone bails out .all the way to hotel director, food and beverage mgr, captain and security manager...

I somewhat agree with your levels for most things. I have to say my level would probably fall under 1.

Further, I would have to say that was one of my worst customer relations experiences ever. There have been times when I was told so sorry or so sad and even though I did not like the answer I came to understand it. This was more like shut up and go away.

Most people on the ship probably received $0 compensation for not having Ocean Medallion. Consider yourself lucky that you each received $50 OBC. They probably enjoyed their cruise even with out the OBC.

 

I agree - the people on the ship have no clue what CA corporate did.

 

I hope you enjoyed the $50 OBC. Corporate can change what they offer at any point. They have stopped giving any OBC out because of this. You were one of the lucky ones!

I did consider myself lucky to have gotten the $50. I just wanted to know why some got more both before and after I was given $50. At no time did I ever ask for any additional OBC, I just wanted to know why there was a difference in what people were getting and being told. I would have been happy with being told that we are sorry but it wasn't handled in the best way.