SiliconCruiser

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Aren't jeans considered "work clothes"?

These days, jeans are considered to be part of the wardrobe for "business casual" and full accepted in many professional "white collar" environments.  In the last couple of companies that I worked at in the tech industry, the President and/or President/CEO routinely wore jeans.  One of them even wore jeans and boots along with the top half of a tuxedo at a formal event.

And I've been to a few business formal events where most of the people that were wearing formal wear were the blue-collar workers.

All of the MDRs serve the same food, including the ones for Club Class.

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Passage contract:

https://www.princess.com/legal/passage_contract/pcl.html

 

Guests are also prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages on board that are packaged in bottles. A small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, juice, milk) packaged in cans or cartons may be brought on board on embarkation day, only if carried on in Guests’ hand luggage (not in checked luggage). A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less per person.  Guests will be asked to discard open beverages in plastic containers prior to boarding.

I wonder if someone might be able to describe what their current actual practices might be.  Pre-covid, they were pretty loose about what people brought back onto the ship on port days.  As a matter of fact, people even brought bottles of alcohol back onto the ship and there was never an issue; unless you declared it, then they would hold it for you until the end of the cruise.

I was thinking of picking up soft drinks from markets on port days rather than hauling it, along with luggage, on embarkation.

1 hour ago, Sea Hag said:

Here's what I'd like to add about room service. They will track you down! On the Ruby last fall, we ordered lunch from room service. After a nearly two hour wait, my DH was done with that. He wanted to be fed! We went down to the buffet and got some food. We sat down and started eating. A room service guy showed up at our table with our lunch order! We didn't mean to make the poor guy run around tracking us down - we just couldn't see that our order was going anywhere. So, we gave up. We apologized to him, but I'm not sure that was called for.

With the medallion, they can track you all over the ship.

On 6/29/2022 at 2:45 PM, BlerkOne said:

 

 

"Guests are also prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages on board that are packaged in bottles. A small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, juice, milk) packaged in cans or cartons may be brought on board on embarkation day, only if carried on in Guests’ hand luggage (not in checked luggage). A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less per person.  Guests will be asked to discard open beverages in plastic containers prior to boarding."

Where is this passage found.  I don't see any of this in my travel documents.

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

In recent years it's become less and less formal.

(especially just after the return from the shutdown)

It's all what you want to make of the night. Some still dress up while others dine in what used to be considered casual. Princess doesn't seem to enforce any dress code like they used to.

Up until mid-2019, I always brought a tuxedo.  On our last two cruises in 2019, I brought a business suit.  This time, I'm debating on whether or not I should even bring a tie.

I've been offered that a few times, and then when I reminded them that we required an ADA cabin ... crickets.

14 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

According to Marine Traffic, the Crown left Hoonah.  Not sure if this is a replacement or the port they actually use for Icy Strait Point.  

 

 

Hoonah is the name of the city where Icy Strait Point is located.  Icy Strait Point is a tourist attraction that is owned and operated by the native peoples of the area.

19 hours ago, sjde said:

Are the midnight/chocolate buffets a thing of the past? We'll be on Princess soon.

Given some of the responses, I don't know how accurate Princess' information might be.  But they do have the dining options and the "supposed" hours of operation at https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/food-and-dining/dining-options.pdf

4 minutes ago, Ombud said:

So its about as 'Alaskan' as Princess Cay is Caribbean? That's disappointing 

That was exactly my thought.

On 6/28/2022 at 9:45 AM, Ombud said:

Yes. Icy Point Strait instead. I've also never been there and I can't find a port guide for it. If any one has a link, I'd be appreciative 

Icy Point Strait is not a community, it is a tourist attraction in the city of Hoonah AK.

6 hours ago, trvlwrld said:

Those of us on the “other “ side of the pond are much less formal than most Europeans.  

We took a Baltic cruise in 2019 on the Regal and there were very few people in tuxedos on the formal nights.  Though it should also be noted that most of the passengers were not European either.

I'd like to express my appreciation to everyone who posted to this thread.  We're booked on the 7/9 sailing.  The posts to this thread are probably the closest I'll get unless there are other threads for the Ruby.  I did find out that an old friend of mine will be on the Ruby on the trip before us.  Many of the postings have painted a reasonably good cruise experience, others have substantiated some of the less than pleasant passenger experiences that have been posted in other social media.  I'm aware that the Ruby is an old ship, just like the Grand that it replaced in San Francisco, but we did enjoy the Grand.   So far, the only Princess ship that I will never board again is the Island.  And it would appear that we probably should not expect the level of service that we previously enjoyed.  The only downside is that Princess Customer Service cannot be reached by telephone, and even their sales lines are pretty much non-existent.

The PCR test has to be sent to a lab.  The only medical observation necessry is that a trained person observe that you get the sample properly (you do your own swab.)

That happened me on the Regal a little over 3 years ago.  I just plain forgot.  Not a big deal. Though I can't remember why I was wearing shorts on a Baltic cruise.
Though I teased that hostess when we were on the Regal, again, for a Caribbean cruise.  "I remember you ... you're the one that threw me out because I was wearing shorts when we were in (whatever port it was.)"  She was apologetic, until I assured her I was only teasing. 😁

Can anyone help with trying to reach someone at Princess who can speak English and not be verbally abusive?  I'm thinking that the Carnival brands are going down the tubes financially.

On 7/9/2021 at 9:36 AM, tarheelz1995 said:

For the newbies among us sailing on Majestic Princess, I found this old bio on our CD, Dan Falconer:

 

"I was born at a very young age in my hometown of Bournemouth in the UK. I have worked for Princess for 12 years, 1.6 days and 42 minutes. [ed: Now 13 years+] Some people say I'm superficial, but that is just on the surface. I actually have a heart of gold, but then so does a boiled egg. I'm humble and proud of it and I must be useful to the running of the ship because yesterday my boss called me a tool. I have high initiative, I just need to be told when to use it and I never repeat myself. Integrity is important to me, I'll sell you mine for $50. I also never repeat myself. Say hello if you see me around the ship or shore. Follow me on Instagram @ cruisedirector_danfalconer."

He used that one when he was on the Regal as well.

Princess cancelled our August cruise in Alaska in April.  The only deposit was from our future cruise credits.  We didn't want to bother with the hassle of trying to go through Princess's evasive phone system, so we just let the matter sit to see how long they might take.  They finally put the credit back into our cruise credit accounts in early July.

Got off of the Regal a couple of days ago.  I don't know if it is something new option or not, but I found that if you press the Home button on the remote, it will take the viewer to the regular TV menu.  I didn't experience anything locked the viewer into watching the entire clip.  The annoying thing about that video was the use of an actor that had a similar appearance resembling a younger Gavin McLeod; pretty cheeky.

Thanks.  We're getting on the Regal tomorrow.  But it doesn't look much different than when we boarded the Island earlier this year at FLL (except that we know that the experience on the Regal will be more pleasant.)

1 hour ago, weedpindle said:

People don't pay attention. The screeners, all the people in the blue jackets checking you in, directing you on an off the ship are employed by private companies that are contracted by Princess or Carnival Corporation. The only Princess employees you will see in the terminal will be in a ships uniform or serving elites coffee.

A lot of people also aren't aware screeners at airports may not be TSA employees.  They're more easily fooled, because the private contractors wear TSA uniforms with the initials of their companies on the epaulets.  At some airports the screeners are all employees of private companies (probably due to some political influences that were in place before TSA was formed.)   In others, it just may be a tough labor market, when TSA employees are compensated at  a much lower rated that other Federal employees.

3 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

No, you still board before the non priority, but it does appear they let platinums in the elite lounge.

 Platinum, Elite, and Suite have shared embarkation and disembarkation lounges for a while now.  It is at most if not all of the embarkation ports now.

On 11/26/2019 at 9:01 AM, weedpindle said:

Princess has no control over the procedure. It is not TSA, only private outfits screening you.

I was wondering about all those references to TSA.  I've never encountered TSA at any U.S. port, just contracted private security companies using outdated equipment for screening (probably more like alcohol  control and detection.)  The only time we've encountered governmental officials has been on disembarkation, and that is usually a cursory passport check (not entry/re-entry.)

On 11/7/2019 at 8:29 AM, PRINCESS Sweet Pea said:

It has been a while since we cruised, and I am thinking of breaking with the usual and trying the variety in the Buffet, instead of always the dining room.  We will also do Crown Grill and maybe Sabatini's too.  We will be on a seven day Caribbean.  So, I think the nightly menus will be the usual menus.    I like to be seated and waited on, but also love to try the different variety of things on a good buffet too.  Which nights would be best for the Buffet, and not the favorites for the dining room?   I know people have different favorites, but I wanted to get some ideas!

Quite honestly, I think i depends upon the ship.  Our most recent cruise was on the Regal, our first experience on a Royal class ship.  It was the first and only time that I felt that the buffet measured up to the level of the dining rooms for dinner.  For breakfast, they're all decent and it would appear that the dining rooms are serving the same menu as the buffet, except in smaller quantities.  For lunch, it is kind of a toss-up and you should decide by reviewing the posted menus for the dining room to see if anything appeals to you that might not be served in the buffet.  In the Grand (or sub-Grand) class ships, there is seldom anything palatable in the buffet for dinner, and it is even worse in the Panamax ships, and I would highly recommend the dining rooms, based upon my experience.

Not to worry, it takes 4 days to get to Hawaii.  I'm pretty sure they'll be able to crank it up after the first two days and get back on schedule.😉  The first couple of days can be a little rough though.