jat1977

6 minutes ago, Stevie17 said:

We are in the exact same situation. We have a cruise planned on Regal set to sail on March 29th. We have until March 15th to cancel and get 25% back. 

Ugh - you are on the Regal just after us.  I am so sorry others are in this same situation.  😞

1 minute ago, JerrySueW said:

We are in a similar situation - scheduled for a 21-day Mediterranean cruise and have until the 14th to cancel at 75% penalty. My only input into your decision is the fact that Princess did take care of people who cancelled cruises in Asia that were subsequently scratched. I would hope they would do the same in the future should more cruises be cancelled, and hopefully, apply the same grace to any change in cancellation policy. Best wishes to you and your family!

I am sorry you are also in this predicament.  I appreciate the input - that is something to think about.  I know nothing is guaranteed.  But we do have some cases of the virus in Florida and realistically, I think we likely have many more that have gone undetected.  So I think it is just a matter of time before the caribbean cruises are affected.  Best wishes for your travels as well.  

With other cruise lines allowing currently booked passengers to modify or cancel their cruises without penalty, regardless of whether they have CFAR insurance, what do you think the likelihood is that Princess will follow suit?  Especially since another Princess ship has been impacted by Covid-19?

Asking because we are currently scheduled on a caribbean cruise leaving March 22.  As of yesterday, our medallions are in the mail and the cruise is a go.  But, we do not have CFAR insurance (only basic travel).  My parents were coming with us.  However, they are in their 70's and have underlying health conditions; my Dad is very high risk for the virus.  We have until Saturday to get 25% back.  My parents want to cancel, but I am trying to decide if we should just cancel now and eat the 75% loss or wait and see if Princess either (a) modifies their policy in which case we could move our cruise and not lose any money or (b) cancels our cruise altogether and we get a refund.  My husband is wanting to wait it out.  

*Please no lectures about the benefits of CFAR insurance.  We are obviously wishing we had purchased it, but hindsight is 20/20 and no one could have predicted this truly rare situation.  This was going to be our kids' first cruise and this is by far the most expensive vacation we have ever planned so I am just trying to decide if we should eat the 75% loss now and at least get a small portion of our money back or try to wait it out to see if we can modify later.   

So I pulled the trigger because I had the Amex offer for $100 back when you spend $500.  I got the notification that my Amex offer had been used, but still waiting to see the actual credit on my account.  I got the gift cards (both the $1000 and the $50 bonus) within minutes.  But I used a TA to book the cruise originally and I am hoping Princess will apply the gift cards for me whenever I get someone on the line (been on hold for over 15 minutes now).  I had a gift card given to me at Christmas and my TA said she couldn't add it since the cruise was paid off.  I called Princess and they applied it, but it took longer than I expected.  

Has anyone had trouble getting a person on the phone at Princess?  Is the long delay because of calls about the Diamond?    

49 minutes ago, SportsFanatic said:

Hello. I have a question about using the gift cards. . Can you call Princess Cruise Lines and have the gift card added to your onboard account? I have done this with Disney and Royal Caribbean, but first time cruising with Princess and not sure if you can. Thanks for any help.

When I called Princess and asked this, they said it could be converted to OBC but that I wouldn't be able to use it until I was on board the ship. 

41 minutes ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

Is your cruise before the end of April?  The bonus card expires 4/30/20 so make sure to apply it to something before then. 

Yep - end of March. And Princess emailed me back and confirmed what you said about adding services and paying with the gift card over the phone.   Thanks for your tips!

19 minutes ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

I bought a gift card last night and it worked!  

Is your cruise already paid in full?  I applied mine towards my balance.  I have noticed for some items, it doesn't give the option to use gift cards.  But I think I was able to call princess to take care of that.  Hope it works out for you!

Ok awesome! I may just wing it and try it then.

Yes. Cruise is paid in full but we want to do some expensive excursions and we've got 5 ppl to pay for so I was hoping to use the gift card for those.  But I may just have to wait and use it onboard. We will have over $500 in gratuities to pay as well as spa rez so I am thinking we can easily find a way to use all the money even if not for excursions. 

18 hours ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

And don't forget to use the Amex deal with spending $500 get $100 back!  bonus bonus!

Will this work with the gift card promo?  Because I called Amex and they told me--after putting me on hold for a while and speaking to their card offer specialist--that this promo is only valid for cruise bookings, not for anything like prepaid gratuities, shore excursions, spa reservations, etc.  And when I look at other sites that talk about this promo, the comments were that for Carnival, you can't purchase onboard credit to get the credit as it isn't billed as a Carnival rez.  Since Carnival and Princess are related, I am hesitant to try it on gift cards, especially since Amex said it was only valid on cruise bookings. 

I was hoping to combine the two offers myself, but Princess told me that I could only use the gift cards to prepay gratituties and that if I converted the gift cards to OBC, I would have to wait until I got onboard the ship to use it (and the fine print on the Princess site does seem to suggest that as it only mentions using the gift cards to book cruises or for "onboard purchases").  What I was hoping to do was buy $1000 in gift cards using the Amex (and get $100 statement credit), apply the gift cards to my account, and then prepay gratuities and book some shore excursions at the very least.  We don't want to wait to book them until we get on board because at least 1 or 2 are very popular.  Then I thought that perhaps I could at least prepay gratuities and book spa services, but when I did a mock booking on the Princess site, it only showed the option to pay by CC or Paypal.  There was no gift card option.  So now I don't know whether I could even use the gift cards prior to the cruise at all.  

I can remember reading about the soggy luggage issue on this board a few times over the years. Sorry this happened to you. I'm glad to hear Carnival tried to compensate you, but I find it disheartening they didn't even try to notify you. There's no excuse for that. My large Samsonite suitcase was severely ripped by the airline coming home from my cruise this month. I just received a new one in the mail yesterday, taking advantage of a good sale at eBags with no shipping charge nor sales tax. I'm pleased with the quality of my new suitcase (link below if you're interested) although I know it's just a matter of time until the airline tears this one up too. That seems to happen to me every 3 years or so.

 

Congratulations on your anniversary.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1447392

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2160654

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=747163

 

http://www.ebags.com/product/it-luggage/amsterdam-iii-8-wheel-313-inch-spinner/322827

Thanks!

I think I may know you... Great recap! Too bad the cruise wasn't everything you hoped it would be. Every time we ran into you guys it looked like you were having a helluva time! Hope our paths cross again some day. Until then, safe travels!

Now that I see your Avatar, yes we know you! We sat next to you at the Chef's Table. :D

I think I may know you... Great recap! Too bad the cruise wasn't everything you hoped it would be. Every time we ran into you guys it looked like you were having a helluva time! Hope our paths cross again some day. Until then, safe travels!

If you are who I think you are, then you and your wife are who I mentioned in my review of the Chef's Table! ;) We really enjoyed getting to meet you both. Hope you enjoy your next cruise!

Great review, could you post the chefs table menu?

 

TIA

I had trouble posting a pic, but here is what was on the menu:

Spring peas & matcha soup

Berkshire pork belly, shrimps (veil of yuzu mustard, crustacean essence)

Slow cooked crispy lamb (roasted beet & port au jus)

Olive oil poached sea bass (asparagus & white miso)

Quail, wild mushroom and carnaroli (parmasean, pepper threads, roasted onion au jus)

Veal, crushed green apples (light cheese broth)

Dessert was:

Citrus cream (lime snow & elderflower caviar)

Chocolate hazelnut (basil moss, cocoa logs, chocolate soil)

We also had several amuse-bouche items, including an olive covered in cotton candy.

As I mentioned in my review, we loved everything! Even though I wasn't especially fond of the quail, that was more of a personal preference. It did not taste bad. We would do the Chef's Table again, probably even at the higher price point.

If it hadn't happened to us, we probably wouldn't have believed it ourselves. The first night, my husband and I just kept wavering between being angry and then laughing at our bad luck. We figured that with 4500 passengers, the chances of something like that happening were incredibly small. There was another family whose luggage ended up on the Valor . . . and they didn't get it back until we got back to Port Canaveral. So I'd say their luck was worse, and we were grateful to have at least had our luggage on the ship. I googled when we got back and found several reports of luggage falling in the water so I guess it isn't as uncommon as I would have guessed. It does make me want to pack multiple smaller bags next time though and just carry them on.

I wish I could say the cruise went exactly as we had planned as it was our long-awaited anniversary cruise. Unfortunately, it didn't. However, we made the best of it.

Embarkation was a breeze. We got to the port around noon, dropped one bag to be checked, and walked on with our garment bag and a backpack. We were eating lunch at Guy's Burgers by 12:35. Our cabin was ready by 1:15 so we dropped our extra items and explored the ship. We entered the spa raffle and ended up winning $100 credit towards a spa treatment. So far, so good.

However, it was about to go south. We had anytime dining so we were planning on a late dinner as we had a massage scheduled for 7:30. Around 6:30, we called down to guest services to inquire about our luggage as we had noticed that every other cabin on our deck had already received their luggage. Guest services told us to come down and look amongst the bags that had lost their tags during loading. We came down to look and immediately saw that our bag was not there. We went to the desk and notified the guest services crew member. She inquired what our cabin number was and after typing it into the computer, it became quite apparent that something bad had happened. She had no poker face so her eyes got as big as saucers, and she inquired two more times what our cabin number was. After we confirmed, she asked us to hold on while she called someone. As she was speaking with them, I was telling my husband that I was worried our luggage was on another ship. However, when she was done, she told us she needed to escort us somewhere. We followed her to a small room next to the main dining room where we immediately saw several suitcases that had towels on top of them. At least one of them was entirely covered in mud/muck. As we walked towards our luggage, one of the crew members began "There was an accident . . ." and his voice trailed off. I completed his sentence "And our luggage fell in the water." He nodded. He and the guest services supervisor apologized while my husband and I just stared at our brand new luggage (purchased specifically for this trip) in disbelief. Thankfully, ours was not one of the ones covered in mud. We had to inventory everything. Most of my husband's clothing was soaked, but thankfully his nice dress shoes were not. Only a few of my things got wet. It appears that Samsonite either makes water resistant luggage or ours had only been floating for a few minutes before it was retrieved. :rolleyes: We had several electronic items in the luggage (hair dryer, razor, cell phone chargers), and thankfully only one cell phone charger ended up destroyed. The other items still worked. Carnival cleaned and dried all of the wet clothing. They attempted to clean the luggage, but in doing so, they broke an inside zipper, and the luggage ended up not being really cleaned. They gave us the money for the value of the luggage and the cell phone charger. They also offered to give us a comp meal in the Prime Steakhouse, but as we had a Chef's Table dinner already booked, we asked them to comp that, and they agreed. And on the last night of the cruise, they gave us an additional $250 of onboard credit which we could have had refunded as cash if we had wanted to (instead of being applied to our onboard charges). We felt that that was a nice courtesy considering my husband had no change of clothes for an entire day (except for one formal outfit that had been in the garment bag we carried on with us), and considering that we had to keep checking back with guest services about the status of our luggage for half of our cruise (we didn't get it back until the 3rd day of the cruise). From what I learned over the course of the cruise, there were anywhere from 5-12 total bags that fell into the water.

I will say that my biggest disappointment with how the luggage incident was handled was that we were never notified and only learned about it because we were proactive in looking for our luggage. Guest Services insisted they tried to leave a message for us, but there was no message on our phone or on our ship account (via the tv message system). As far as we are concerned, as soon as the bags went into the water, Carnival should have IMMEDIATELY made an announcement for any affected guests to come to the guest services desk. They certainly made announcements for other reasons so why they let our wet luggage containing our wet/damp clothes sit for several hours without making any attempt to find us is beyond us.

Since we didn't have our swimsuits to change into for our spa appointment, that got moved to the following day. We ended up getting the embarkation special (swedish full body massage, foot and ankle massage, and scalp massage) and added the bamboo enhancement. It was terrific! We really liked the spa amenities, and took full advantage of the thalossotherapy (sp?) pool, heated loungers, and aroma steam room. We had a spa cabin so all of that was included at no charge. We also spent a good deal of time on the Serenity deck. On sea days, it was crowded, but if you waited a few minutes, you could usually find a cabana or hammock.

Food in the main dining room was not good. My prime rib looked and tasted like ham. I took two bites and couldn't finish. My Mahi Mahi was overcooked. My husband's choices weren't much better. The appetizers were only slightly better. And the only good dessert was the chocolate melting cake. This was a big change for us as we have typically enjoyed the food on our prior Carnival cruises. I will say that Guy's Burgers and the breakfast burritos at Blue Iguana were good (my husband ate at both places there three times). We also tried Tandoor and liked it, though it was very spicy (and we like spicy things). Breakfast buffet was just ok. I stuck to the french toast, bacon, and fruit. The eggs were cold and flavorless, and the turkey bacon was gross. We weren't able to try Pig and Anchor as the wind prevented them from opening it. We tried the Red Frog and the conch fritters and wings were really good, as was the beer! Their dirty Mojito was not. Alchemy bar was great! We did the tasting the first night and like everything we tried. Our favorite was the "Forty is the New Twenty" martini. For us, the Chef's Table was a new experience and was a highlight of the trip. We liked everything (except I wasn't too fond of the quail), and we enjoyed having a more intimate dining experience. We even met a nice couple who doesn't live too far from us.

Ports - we were able to stop in Amber Cove, but unfortunately our waterfall tour was cancelled due to flooding and damage that had not yet been repaired. So we opted to do the zipline adventure tour through Carnival, and we really enjoyed it! The port area itself was pretty. It was our first time there and we were surprised at how lush the mountain areas are. We were hopeful about getting to see Grand Turk, and we actually could see the island as we were working out in the gym on the morning that we were supposed to stop there. But at the last minute, the captain decided to turn us around due to high winds. This was very disappointing to us as Grand Turk was the reason we selected this cruise, but we obviously understood that safety has to come first. The replacement port was Nassau. We have been there several times so we opted not to do an excursion there. Instead, we just walked the waterfront, tried some coconut water (and the raw meat), bought some souvenirs for our kids, and had a drink at Senor Frogs. It ended up being a nice day.

The only show we went to was the "Love and Marriage" show. It was pretty funny and Dr. E was a great cruise director! He made us laugh daily. We also watched one movie under the stars (Star Trek and Beyond) which was a first for us. We enjoyed the experience. We did not go into the casino as it was full of smoke and we don't like that. We did the ropes course once; it was a little scary but fun. And we tried the water slides once. They were fun, but you can feel the joints in the slide so they were also a little painful for my adult back. ;)

The cabin was nice. It was an interior spa cabin on deck 11. The decor was nicer than other cabins and we liked being able to use the special elevator nearby. We also liked the upgraded toiletries and the use of the robe and slippers. Our cabin steward, Romel, was very nice and funny, and most importantly, he kept the cabin clean! He gave us a card for a free 5X7 photo in celebration of our anniversary. Unfortunately, we couldn't use it as Carnival literally took no photos of us that they printed in that size. We appreciated the gesture though.

Debarkation for us was a breeze. Since we didn't trust Carnival to handle our luggage (for obvious reasons), we walked off with our own luggage. We were off the ship by 7:50 and headed home by 8:30 (we had used a park and shuttle service).

Overall, we had a good time. It did not end up being the little escape we had anticipated, but we tried to make the best out of a bad situation. We were thankful that Carnival owned up to their mistake and tried to make it right, but they definitely need to work on some things. We will cruise again, but we may take a break from Carnival.

Hello All!

 

We are confirmed for the Chef's Table on our Magic cruise in November. Does anyone know where it is held on the Magic. I know it varies from ship to ship. On the Sensation we were in the Library. On the Liberty we were in a private dining room just off of the main floor.

 

TIA!

We are also confirmed for the Chef's Table on the Magic and from your sig, it looks like we will be on the same sailing. We are looking forward to it as we have never done a CT experience.