finucane

4 hours ago, MissP22 said:

We were also on the Crown in Oct and didn't have bedside lamps with USB ports. Maybe you were in a full suite? 

We were 1st sailing on the Crown after last drydock for refurbish a couple + - years ago with 3 other couples. What we found was some cabins got the usb lamps and some did not, even in same category...

They did not finish the  refurbish by 1st sailing. As often happens a work crew stays onboard to finish up. Since some of our group got the lamps and some did not, even in same catagorys (we did) we figured they were coming. Have sailed Crown since and will be on her in 2 weeks. Guess not all cabins got the complete refurbush...

Its not a suite/standard cabin thing as we were not in suites, 3 of our 4 BA CAT cabins all were refurbished and got the lamps, 4th one did not...

50 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

And why does the system allow  double bookings for two itineraries that are for the same date or overlapping dates?  Last I checked you can't be in two places at once.

The way I look at it that becomes the cruise lines problem when they allow that...

30 minutes ago, bobby3334 said:

I can understand why Princess and other lines are going to non refundable deposits.

 I have meant a number of people who already are holding 12-15 cruises for 2020.

They select which cruises they are actually going to take...perhaps 3 or 4 and want a complete refund for all others some “held” for more than a year and thus “off the market” and can’t be sold to serious buyers.    I can see why a cruise line only wants those to reserve “for a price.”    I have a feeling this is the wave of the future for all cruise lines....you take off the market for a price....and not for free.   Easily understandable.   I always wondered why they let them hold for free until 90 days before a cruise.  Just business!    Mike

I get it!

Why punish the bulk of your customers for the sake of those over booking, most of which I'd be willing to bet are fairly new customers and are working the system. 

Solution would be, limit the amount of bookings one can make by your past history. 

Example, we have 5 or 6 15 to 20 day voyages booked through 2021, I'm sure Princess feels fairly safe with us as we next to never have cancelled with them over the past 25 years.

I think they know who's scamming the system and those who are legit...

It's a big gamble for the cruise lines to piss off its loyalty base, which is huge. There will be a time that money won't be as free flowing as it is right now and the market will be saturated with all these mega ships.

Me pappy taught me a very long time ago, you might burn me once but never twice...

9 hours ago, steelers36 said:

This is sad because I can only think you got a poor rep.  Or you had to specifically ask.  Jeez, are they that secretive about alternate booking options?

Yes it is sad.

Used to be you might remember a rep from past bookings or vica-versa, rare now.

And I think their not as regimented now that most are working out of their homes, higher turnovers...

Sing of the times I guess...

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

for myself NRD don't work for me if booking more than 6 months out. I will wait closer to sail date to be sure that vacation time or family obligations aren't an issue.  The prices on Princess and Celebrity seem to drop significantly after final payment anyway. I haven't had that success with Royal Caribbean but I won't book a NRD with them if I have to book a year out in order to get a good price.

Once again, we're in agreement.

Only wish we had that option for booking 3, 6 months or even a year out but we don't. Maybe I wouldn't have such issue with this NRD issue if we could.

Wife is a paraplegic, very active but confined to a wheelchair, cannot walk or stand so accessible cabin is only option. To get that we have to book a minimum 15 to 18 months out or it doesn't happen. Hard for many to go that far out with certainty but our cancel rate is almost nill. We'd give anything to take a standard cabin and book within a 3 to 6 month before sailing.

NRD isn't going to happen for us and last 2 booking attempts with Princess there was no mention of any other options so good bye. They lost two 20+ day bookings as that's almost all we do anymore, 60 to 90 days a year on the water.

Guess being loyal with Princess for 25+ years doesn't help get anymore info during booking directly with them....

5 minutes ago, Kiran said:

It caught me by surprise also

I booked a Panama Canal cruise on Princess Web site and didn't see any of the usual warnings about deposit being nonrefundable for a sale price

When I checked later, It was listed as nonrefundable deposit on the booking confirmation in small print.

 

Sad but Buyer Beware...

3 minutes ago, jsquared said:

 

You are certainly entitled to your opinion and I am not trying to beat you up. And I agree having to deal with non-refundable deposits will definitely have to be taken into consideration when I plan future travel. However, I also try to see it from the other side. I imagine that there are many people that book multiple cruises knowing full well that they are going to cancel some of them (I've seen posts of people talking about doing just this). The cruise line can't sell these cabins to a new customer while they are being held by another customer. If held until the last minute the cruise line might have to sell these cabins for less than the original reservation. And of course they're all about the money - this is a business after all 🙂.

 

There are a lot of land based businesses (specifically thinking about those that provide services for weddings) that have non-refundable deposits too. Ultimately it's all about their bottom line. 

 

We, as consumers, have the choice on where to spend our disposable income and should let that speak for us. Eventually someone will have to listen.

 

BINGO, totally agree on both sides...

On 8/18/2018 at 10:43 PM, RDC1 said:

Princess deposits are generally still refundable. I currently have 3 cruises booked in 2019 and all three have refundable deposits. Princess has run some sales this past year, with non-refundable deposits. I suspect that you booked under one of those sales and did not notice the conditions.

JMHO

It appears that even as of today, Princess, even on their "3 for free" promo is taking the non-refundable deposit route, for their bookings as far out as May of 2021.

To me it appears that, at least for their promos (to this date) are going to be non-refundable deposits!

For us, if that's the case, we are done. Have been with Princess for 25 + years. Many, many wonderful voyages/memories so we have done more than our share, guess its time to step aside and leave the adventures for others.

Again, IMHO, all the cruise lines are getting even more greedy. I guess its time to find another venue for our travels after our last 6 bookings we still have are done. Lots to do out there...

I myself really cannot understand why they would be going this route, but then again, I am only the consumer...

The good times are not going to last forever for these cruise lines, or for the paying public, someday the tides will turn, no pun intended. Maybe we (wife and I) need to take a sabbatical and wait for those tides to turn.

They are saturating the market with all these new mega ships, ruining the ports with so many more people, quality has diminished greatly, troubled ports and they still want more, the list is endless.

Its all about The Money and always has been, especially for the cruise lines!

A good book to read for an eye opener would be "Devils on the Deep Blue Sea". It tells about entrepreneurial genius and bare-knuckle capitalism that mate with cultural kitsch as the cruise lines dodge U.S. tax, labor and environmental laws to make unimaginable profits. A true (read) story...

Just imagine the whole deposit thing alone. Take every deposit for every person for every ship for every sailing (every week) and most often hold it for a year or two. Even if they were to take a simple interest (let alone invest all that deposit cash) the $ numbers are a staggering, shear profit for the cruise lines just to hold onto whether you cancel or not.

Not to even mention the topic of how much cruise fares have increased the past 5+ years is another story...

Well that felt good, was fun, rant over, eat me up now! 

48 minutes ago, idahospud said:

I emailed you. I still have 70 some days of cruising coming up this year so I might be skipping M&Gs. 

Got it and replied.

Understood!

This could go on forever...

Off Topic (so excuse me)!:

See ya soon Deb? Although we may never know as I see no M&G for you guys?

Ya lovin this Boise weather or what!

Hit my "signature link" and shoot me an email if ya get a chance...

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

I'm not eating you up here but I genuinely would like to know what causes such a strong reaction to the concept of non refundable deposits.  I've seen postings of people who have taken huge numbers of cruises in their lifetime and are complaining that they will not place a non refundable deposit on any cruises in the future.  To me, if 50+ times a PAX has placed refundable deposits that ended up being applied to the total cost of the cruises wasn't that really non refundable deposits since the deposits were not returned?  On the other hand, what percentage of the time did the 50+ cruisers cancel and claim the deposit back?  What is it that makes PAX so dependent on refundable deposits?  Again, I'm not condemning anybody - I just don't understand the logic. 

Seriously!

The whole thing refundable or non-refundable leaves a whole lot of cash to the cruise lines...

I'd hope we can agree on that

For those who have been cruising for a longtime, we have seen (like everything else) things watered down. The changes are so very drastic anymore I guess this is just one more nail in the cruise lines coffin. So I guess the disdain comes from just that.

Maybe its just a "I'm not going to take it anymore" that so many have issue with, who knows.

Maybe some day you'll understand but on a different topic perhaps...

OK, off to other more productive threads. Six other bookings we have that we'll not be cancelling, possibly our last six bookings it may appear.

Again, we had a good run, not really a big deal if its over, so many other things to do...

6 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

This all sounds good in theory but when the share holders see that bookings are down, watch how fast they run the $1 deposit promotion. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are already offering two prices for RD and NRD. Royal Caribbean is very sneaky about it as you have to go through the entire booking process to see how much more a refundable deposit will be. NRD is the default.  Newbies fall into the trap and then find Cruise Critic to complain when they cancel and are penalized. I'm still part of the working world so planning 18months plus out won't work for me with a NRD. I will wait for the fire sales or the special deposit offers before I commit to anything. In reality I'm sure that it's only a remote few who follow cruise critic that book a dozen cruises at a time. The average person doesn't have time to keep track of mass bookings unless they are at TA.  Celebrity's formula of offering NRD and no perks while offering a refundable deposit with two perks that most don't want doesn't seem to working. I have been receiving more last minute fire sale adds than ever before. 

Bingo!

I believe the cruise lines are just continuing scalping us all.

Think of all their deposit/bookings on all of their ships on all of their sailings for all of the weeks. And then consider the majority are booking 1 to 2 years out. The $ deposit numbers they are holding for that time period is horrendous. The $'s they make on investment or even a simple interest rate is staggering.

Regardless they are still going to book every cabin at a premium before sailing refundable or not. Their still going to make a boat load from holding your deposit for 6 months to 2 years.

Do the math, it is truly staggering...

After almost 50 two and four week voyages, guess we are done after our present (refundable) 6 bookings are completed.

I'll never book a non-refundable voyage, premium, discounted or whatever smoke screen they want to hide it with, its all corporate greed on a massive scale.

Will gladly give others that will allow themselves to be ripped off our cabins, we will be done...

I am predicting they will screw themselves in the long run, the market is rapidly becoming saturated. People are getting tired of over crowded paradise. The quality of on-board help is getting impossible to sustain, they've all become Americanized.

Premium pricing, not to mention a guaranteed downturn in the economy in the next 8 years.

Time will tell, this is all JMHO and I am far from alone.

Well, guess I got off topic but in the long run its all related. A lot less for a lot more $'s

We had a great run...

OK, eat me up!👌😁

Not much of a perk for the Platinum and Elite.

These perks are being watered down big-time, I mean 3 day wait for our laundry???

And they'll let us purchase our Medallion Net at same rate as everyone else???

More cuts on the way!

They created this mess and now we pay for it.

Just my 2 cents worth.

We are about done with Princess, have 3 or 4 more on the books and we'll see from there. We have just found our dollars go a lot further on some other lines that dont have the growing pains.

Like I said on another posting, we were on the Inaugural Medallion Cruise on the CB and the internet was fantastic but doubt I'll pay the extra. I feel that should be passed onto the P & E's with the free internet, weve earned it and I was told by the tech support on that inaugural Medallion cruise that this new system doesn't have bandwidth Issues to worry about so no limits, bring it on Princess... 

OK all, eat me up!

3 minutes ago, voljeep said:

as are answers on this board ...

BINGO!

1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

I seriously doubt you will get an accurate answer calling.

I think each ship has their own interpretation so you may have to wait until you are onboard.

However don't let that great pre cruise unlimited price get away.

 

Pip Pip

Your right, what was I thinking. 

Answers from reps are most often not what you get onboard...

Thanx, I'll have to contact Princess as we'll be on the Royal...

Thank you

5 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

We found the pre cruise unlimited deal if offered is an excellent price.

I would not hesitate to purchase again pre cruise on a Medallion Net ship

IE: Regal 10 day @ $69.

It was $10 per day if purchase onboard.

We were on the CP Inaugural MedallionNet cruise, it was free for all on several of the 20 day voyages because it was under testing.

Any notice how they are working this for Platinum and Elite. On that cruise they were not sure how it was going to work...

Princess still hasn't gotten it's MedallionNet act completely together yet. :rolleyes:

 

For Regal's April '19 trans-Atlantic, you get the "Save over 50% on Wi-Fi pre-cruise" panel on the

"Onboard Reservations" page, but when you click through to the [View Options] page, there are

zero internet options available. Just the "In-Cabin Calling to Shore" for $49.50 / 10 minutes

To far out, it will come until they decide their selling enough onboard and I think thats a ways off.

I think you'll be OK...

As far as having their act together, it is a huge task on each ship, lots to iron out.

Deb is correct on all. We were on last cruise together and this present one. Next will be pay.

I could be wrong but believe if you purchase entire voyage at once the cost breakdown is $9.99 per day and $24.99 individual days.

Not in cabin right now to check paperwork.

The $9.99 per day for entire voyage is way worth it. Cost of a drink.

DR, the reps know nothing, information is slim onboard from the horses mouth.

Deb is right on the money she's your new Rep!...

I've talked to two customer service reps, one a Medallion rep. I was told that currently on the CP, that the MedallionNet while available for everyone, is free to those in a Medallion Cabin, and also to Platinum and Elite members.

On CP for 2nd back of 20 days. Free only until testing is done. Been told by on board reps that most likely next boarding on the CP MedsllionNet will be an extra charge for everyone, that was expected for this portion we are on.

P&E status will still be by your minutes...

We’re now into our fifth sea day on the Regal and still no issue issues with fast internet. Can stream video with no problems. We are Elite and were given the unlimited internet for free as a “make good” for not having Ocean Medallion. Glad we didn’t .... much happier with free unlimited access.

Currently still on the CB for 2nd half of 20 days and also no issues. Also given the comp of the free unlimited internet, good score.

The ship is coming along great with many more features added this past 10 days. They're working non-stop to wrap this ship up with additions and testing.

They pull you over to ask if you want to participate in "new this" or "new that" costantly.

End product is going to be incredible...

You'll be aloud to use as much of the system you want or just the basics, your choice.

Great system/tool, can't imagine the cost of this fleet wide let alone corp. wide...

 

Nope, didn't do sail away or M&G. Hubby fell in FLL on turnaround day so didn't do much around the ship this week other than babysit him. Although I think I saw the two of you coming out of the aft elevators yesterday...

So sorry to hear that, hope he has healed some and can manage the trip back to Boise OK.

Trina is the young blond (long hair) in her blue wheelchair, I'm the older tall bald guy...:D

Safe travels home, looks to be hovering around 80, nice fall weather.

We'll board again todsy and head to Panama for next 10 days then spend another 4 days down in the Keys.

Keep the weather at home nice for us.

Sorry we didn't meet, maybe another cruise.

Take care, back to Spudville...

How was the speed and reliability for you?

Speed? Totally unreal & have heard of zero issues.

PS Deb, where were you, didn't recall running into you at the Sail Away or M&G on the 9/8 voyage?