Mapu

Kazu.

Will there be any cooking demonstrations?

Has anyone had experience on a HAL cruise advertised as a Culinary Cruise? If so what distinguishes them from other cruises?

46 minutes ago, DE Solo said:

Currently on Emerald, docked in Brooklyn. Entire ship is doing customs and immigration this morning, and then those who wish to can either disembark and head home early or return to the ship and use it as their "hotel" as they explore NYC. We left Saint John on Wednesday, cancelled Halifax for Thursday, and had a sea day yesterday as we headed back to Brooklyn. Tendering in Newport and Rockland on our cruise was a major mess, with long delays to board boats to shore and even longer delays to return.

I would assume the Captain and the Princess personnel that make this type of decision are in communication. At Least, let's hope!

Just now, MVPinBoynton said:

Howdy neighbor!  I used to live in Boynton Beach, hence my CC name.  I sold my house in April and moved in with my girlfriend in Wellington.  I love this part of PB County. 

1 minute ago, MVPinBoynton said:

Howdy neighbor!  I used to live in Boynton Beach, hence my CC name.  I sold my house in April and moved in with my girlfriend in Wellington.  I love this part of PB County. 

We are actually a Lake Worth address . The BB post office didn't want to add our community to its rolls. 

56 minutes ago, MVPinBoynton said:

Since we don't smoke anymore, I didn't pay attention to it; but I am glad that you did get an answer.

I just realized we are neighbors. We don't live in Wellington but are southeast of there.

1 minute ago, LMaxwell said:

I think one side of the aft pool is designated outdoor smoking area. 

Is that on deck 9 near the Seaview Bar?

Do you have any idea whether or not there are bars and seating areas where smoking is allowed?

2 hours ago, MVPinBoynton said:

We were in a Neptune Suite and they gave us one large bottle.  We had to pay if we wanted more. 

If ordering and paying for a large bottle of water as opposed to getting a bottle of water and having it count as one of the drinks in the beverage package would seem to make sense.

With the all inclusive beverage package is bottled water provided in cabins?

I agree with your statement about Publix, however when the price for the first person is the same as the second person is not really the case. First person price should be 60% higher than the second, not averaged so they are the same.

On 4/26/2021 at 6:24 AM, govanguy said:

Any  thoughts around a May Bank Holiday Sale this weekend coming? Buy One Get One Half Off?

If that promotion is similar to the BOGO60% offer here in the states it will not really be transparent. Look at it carefully.

On 4/9/2021 at 8:32 AM, mwf7501 said:

I tend toward cynicism, but for cruise lines to hype "60% Off..." is really just smoke and mirrors.   60% off of what?   There is no fixed base price.  The prices can be changed daily, or even more frequently.  If you're not regularly tracking a specific cruise in detail it seems you have no objective metric to judge what constitutes an actual "sale."

 

I've noted elsewhere that we're booked on the Sept 28 2021 Pursuit, Athens to Rome, and I watch the cruise just about every day.   A week or so ago the Club Continent Suite was about $7K and the Spa Suite was about $13K (Avg Per Person).

 

Today the Club Con Suite is  $10,399, and the Spa is $10,799.    Each stateroom category is tagged "60% Off Second Passenger."   Again I ask off what?     My interpretation would be "Off of the arbitrary (and temporary) price we have currently set in order to run this promotion."

 

This is not a ding specifically on Azamara; my sense is that these practices are common across the industry.  And indeed across many industries that do not have set prices for their product.

 

Apologies for the repetition if others have already posted similar comments.

The BOGO60% off second person really boarders on fraud since the cost for the first person is not disclosed until after you have worked through the booking process. I have never seen this happen on other cruise lines. There have been many BOGO offers where the first person’s fare is higher with the second person’s fare considerably less. The current promotion is not really transparent or a bargain.

I just canceled a December cruise with Customer Relations so that the FCC sale by date could be extended. It was due to expire if I didn’t sale by February 2021. It is now extended until May 1, 2022.

5 hours ago, KetoCruiser said:

Our cruise to Asia was in mid Feb and they cancelled it 2 weeks before we were due to sail. We received full refund + 50% FCC as compensation which had to be used before  end Feb 2021. 

We booked a Baltic Cruise using the FCC and that was later cancelled and that FCC expiry date remains the same as the initial one. Don’t understand why taking it up with Princess.

 

You should request to speak to Customer Relations and ask for a later expiration date.

14 minutes ago, ed01106 said:

The cruise lines should have taken out insurance against needing to cancel cruises due to disease.  It is the cruise lines own fault for thinking they could self insure this type of problem.  If this doesn't convince the cruise line to buy comprehensive business interruption insurance nothing will.  😀😀😀

We don't know whether or not they have insurance. Obviously they are refunding effected passengers quickly any insurance claim would take longer.

Carnival Corp. has so far estimated that the disease outbreak will cost it $290 million to $342 million if Asia cruises are canceled through April. RCCL said on Feb. 13 that the 18 canceled sailings in Asia as of that date had already cost it $136 million, and it anticipates another $115 million hit to earnings if cruises are canceled through the end of April.

On 2/18/2020 at 12:08 AM, Veerraj said:

Will never sail with them again. Our cruise is scheduled in March. In light of the coronavirus, I requested a refund/ future credit to cancel my trip. This is a huge cruise company yet when it comes to a global crisis like the spread of the virus, the company is money minded. Instead of taking precautions to cancel future sailings while the outbreak is in effect, they rip customers off by not refunding and customers are forced to cancel at their own cost. Customers are cancelling without a refund as a precaution to help stop the virus from spreading further. Yet this company is focussed on generating revenue at the cost of well being of its customers and the world in general. The diamond princess belonging to this same company is stuck holding coronavirus infected customers. How does it expect future sailings to happen as planned. Where is social responsibility?
 

The agent for Princess cruises told me numerous times that my only option is to cancel the trip and receive 50 percent refund. As sailing was 1 month away, I had no choice but to cancel the trip on Feb 12 2020. 2 days later Princess announced that they would be cancelling this sailing. When I contacted Princess about the other 50 percent refund, they have refused to respond to me. I think it is only fair if they refund my remaining 50 percent as the ship wont be sailing anyway on March 12th out of Singapore.

 

If I do not receive the remaining 50 percent as a consumer I will take this further as this is not fair and I urge other customers who cancelled their trip due to the virus to fight for a full refund.

I am not sure who you spoke to from Princess but as a travel agent I have talked to Customer Relations several times for information on two different bookings on the March 1st sailing of the Sapphire canceled by Princess on February 14th. One couple canceled their cruise on February 11th and will be given the same compensation as the couple that had not canceled but was waiting to see what Princess was going to do. A total refund of all money paid to Princess including insurance, plus a 50% future cruise credit has been issued  to the couple that had not canceled. The refunds for those who canceled after January 20th will take a few more weeks, future cruise credit of 50% will probably appear in accounts sooner as was the case for those where Princess canceled first. Full refunds will be issued to the credit card(s) used to pay for the cruise.

26 minutes ago, dns65 said:

 

For people who are already there, will they get reimbursed for things in their trip that were used?  IE: The airfare to get to Singapore, their hotel room they booked for overnight?   

 

Still amazed that they'd cancel with less than 24 hours notice and frustrated they are only looking at near term, nothing cancelled for March or later.   Other websites are flooded with concern from people booked for the sailing departing March 1st. 

 

I'm not sailing til May but if you're gonna pull the plug on Asia cruises, do what NCL did vs one or two at a time on short notice. 

What is truly disconcerting is that the Princess Website has not been updated today with the most current information. The last update was yesterday.

1 hour ago, lhall85917 said:

Thank you. Does anyone know the best email address to use when contacting Princess customer care? 

customerrelations@princesscruises.com?

2 hours ago, lhall85917 said:

We were on the Sapphire sailing leaving Singapore on the 13th and it has just been cancelled. We cancelled Sunday evening before flying out Monday morning and received a 50% FCC, will now check to see if we are eligible for additional reimbursement. Princess has given a full refund and 100% FCC to passengers who are still booked.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

22 minutes ago, Videopark said:

 

Seabourn's web site says, "Van Flandern will use fresh produce, botanicals and flavor profiling to create a unique list of handcrafted cocktails that take advantage of the local markets that Seabourn ships visit. Guests will enjoy a number of fresh,  balanced, remarkably tasty, food-friendly cocktails with flavors from around the world. Additionally, he will work with our bar team to standardize the classics to provide guests with the same perfectly balanced and served cocktail throughout their cruise. "

 

Perhaps a little bit optimistic.

Cocktails in the Grill were outstanding.

19 hours ago, Isklaar said:

in my experience the breakfast service in MDR is always quite slow. I do like it for a very relaxed breakfast on sea days for example but on port days it's too slow! 

 

Our breakfast service the last morning was painfully slow. The hostess was doing triple  duty clearing and setting tables as well as seating guests. There were at least 10 servers but obviously the kitchen was slower than normal. We did have breakfast in the dining room one other morning and the pace was relaxing not nearly as slow.

3 hours ago, Isklaar said:

can confirm that Sean is on board.

internet awful, was hoping to do a live from thread but if speed doesn't improve that's not going to happen.

dinner in MDR last night- service slow and confused, food though was superb.

 

Emperor Norton, thanks for your thread. 

Not sure why but breakfast was very slow in the dining room yesterday morning. Hopefully the dining room service will improve.

On 10/20/2019 at 7:58 AM, rols said:

I think I have to agree, the steaks at the TK grill are consistently good however I've had better steak in the MDR, although I'd say it's a bit more variable and I've had some shoe leather too. Generally I don't see that the TK grill has magically improved on steak. On our last cruise we ate steaks in the MDR and when we went to TK enjoyed other dishes. 

I also agree that steaks in the main dining room were very good. There are too many other options in the TK Grill to have a huge steak that I can't finish. Dover Sole as well as a unique preparation of lobster thermidor are not to be missed, in my opinion.

On 12/5/2019 at 4:35 PM, Videopark said:

 

I read somewhere that you may not get a bottle of Champagne delivered to your suite only glasses. Seems some pax loaded their suitcase so full with full bottles that they could not pick it up. 

 

Can you order bottles to a suite?

We did not order a bottle of Champagne but it was in our suite upon arrival as well as a liter each of vodka and gin as ordered.