jagoffee

From the your thread you started the above. I am confused. You said that you do not and cannot drink alcohol. You said that Celebrity gave you the option to take the Zero proof package and you stayed with the Classic. Why? Unless Celebrity has made a change the Zero proof has an expanded choice of non alcoholic drinks, why did you take it?

Doesn’t the WhatsApp require you to be logged into the Internet? Yes, I know. The messaging built into the Princess AP did not provide you a notification when you received a message. (With an IPhone) One had to call it up and check it to see if you had a message. I really like the functionality of the location tracking. It was very useful for our party. The feature not only allowed Princess to know your location, but you could find members of your party (after they approved the feature for you) and find directions to any location. Like a Navigation system. This is what I remember, but several others are saying that cruisers staying in the same cabin were automatically enabled in the location tracking. There were four in our party, so I may have been confused.

Yes, we shall see. The elimination of the Just Coffee and Grounds package might nudge a few speciality coffee lovers. Purchasing any of the Beverage packages alone does not make sense to many people. The Plus package is a much better deal. But perhaps some people will buy the Zero Proof package. Or just buy drinks, pay for their internet, and pay the gratuities. I am not sure it makes much difference to Princess. I suspect most Coffee and Ground packages were free swaps, so Princess will probably make more money on Speciality Coffee now.

Perhaps Princess could do a better job of communicating their changes. Also might help to remove references on their Website to the Coffee and Grounds package that has been eliminated. Can swap for something that is not available.

Let us know what you find. As long as the flights with the class you want are available you shoukd be able to book it. Of course the price will be different. Good luck.

Yes, as I recall. But other people recall it differently. Perhaps I am confusing messaging and location tracking. Messaging was worthless with an IPhone, because there was no notifications.

We were on a January 14th cruise and I had the $40 a day version. (Before it was called the Plus) The $12 limit was used in our cruise. I understood that for cruises departing after 2/20 the new limit would be $15. At the time a lot of people were complaining and suspecting that Princess was going to increase drink and wine prices across the board. Basically cancelling out the actual difference. Have those of you with cruises departing after February 20th noticed an significant increase in the cost of drinks and wine? IMO Princess’s $60 a day Plus package is still the best deal when compared to other cruise lines.

Panama must have made a recent change? we were in an Ocean to Ocean Panama cruise in January 2023 and Princess did not collect our passports nor did we need to get anything stamped in Panama. Perhaps they do it electronically now? Our cruise included the Panama City stop. Of course that does not mean that we did not need a passport that was not expiring in the next six months.

You stated earlier that you used your offer confirmation link to review your status. I think it is a strong indication (but not a guarantee) that you have won you SS bid, since your bid cannot be changed or cancelled. Perhaps Celebrity is waiting to see which cabins will be available. Perhaps someone currently in a SS has a bid in for a higher level suite. Celebrity may be making sure you are placed in the lowest level SS category available Good luck..

I doubt if anyone in CC would find that acceptable. Really hard to believe. I assume you did not escalate the issue? I wonder if there was a misunderstanding about what was really happening. Perhaps a a arge group staying in AC with a few suite guests mixed in? Not too late to let shire management know what you were told and that as a result to had to wait over an hour. I suspect the ship management will deny it. But a formal complaint might help someone in a future cruise.

If someone does not want to load the Princess AP, use it, turn on their smart phone, or even own a smart phone that is perfectly fine. The medallion is a separate feature and Princess will allow you to acquire and use the historical plastic card if you wish. For me, the combination of the AP and the medallion provided convenience for my traveling group and me. . I could use the AP to look up menus, and the schedules of activities. I purchased a watch band and had my medallion on my non watch wrist at all times when not sleeping. I loved that I could use it to do anything the historical card used to do for me. Additional I could locate my travel party when necessary, and find where something was located (including bathrooms) with a map on the best way to get there. I did not find the AP as useful for ordering drinks and having them delivered. Perhaps if I was just order a beer it would have been convenient. Botton line is that your BIL can do whatever he wants. I would guess his issue is more with the medallion than the AP itself. He can switch his medallion for a card and just throw the Medallion in the trash. I ran into one man who had the same feeling on our last cruise. Some people do not like to do anything on line and still write hand checks. They will probably only change when that approach comes with a surcharge.

Small world. We live on the Golf Course and we used to live in Cambridge West off of Butterfield road.

Thank you.

Just to clarify. You checked in using the confirmation email link that you received after you made your original bid. If not, you might want to check it. Good luck

What do you mean by “ if the TA bought the cabin when the cruise was first offered”. Are you suggesting that a TA actually put down a deposit with an actual customer named? Or was just allocated some group space in that category? Is the price of the cabin allocated firmed up when it is allocated? Thanks

Thanks for the clarification. I just misunderstood what you were saying.

The same on the Emerald as I am sure you know after spending 28 days on her. The overall area is not very large.

What was the status of your bid prior to 2/14? In my experience most bids are pending. assuming you called up the bid correctly, the fact that you cannot modify or cancel it is encouraging. If you have other bids that have expired that would be even more encourage. Make sure you are using the email that they send to you after you made your bid to check the status. Good luck.

Very good point about all the money you spent it the Spa and you were still excluded. I would think they would let you use it for a day. We were on an Apex TA in October 2021. I do agree about the limited shade on the Retreat deck. Although there is shade in some areas without umbrellas. We like the outside area connected to Retreat Lounge. (One deck down) I have always had the premium package, but I am fairly confident that all Retreat guests get free drinks in the Retreat Lounge even if they do not have any drink package. (Including Premium) Just to confirm what you are saying. They had certain kind of drinks available at the Retreat Lounge bar and they would not serve them to you without you paying an up charge? Did you anctually order one? Are you sure that you are not confusing the Retreat Pool deck? (You need a drink package there). Did you talk to someone in management about the drink issue in the Retreat Lounge, because I really do not believe free drinks a fallacy. It does sound like you are done with booking a Retreat experience. We are not Spa users, so we find the Retreat experience much more attractive. Did you try the Blu on the Apex? I just looked in and it did not seem as nice as the Blu on the Solstice Class ships. The view was not as nice. Good luck in whatever you pick next.

Any frozen drink normally make with some kind of Alcohol would be included if you say to not include the Alcohol. Perhaps you are confusing smoothies or those type of drinks not made with alcohol?

My point was that for those with the Plus package get little value from the Elite free mini bar set up as they already have everything included. Yes, it is redundant for many of us. Those without a package can get the full value from the mini bar set up and/or from the previously trading option of the Coffee and Grounds package.

IMO that is an excellent idea. I think that is exactly what Princess has in mind. Purchasing any beverage package (except the fountain drink one) makes no sense without the Plus or Premier bundle. Might as well buy the bundle and offer a non alcoholic bundle option as well. I wonder how many cruisers actually purchased the Coffee and Grounds package? Princess would have those numbers. I suspect a significant majority of the packages were mini bar trade in and/or part of the Plus or Premier bundles. Princess might want to determine the cost of a mini bar set up (they know) and offer a small/equivalent OBC amount as a trade in option. Or perhaps just eliminate the mini bar set up benefit and apply the equivalent extra OBC. Those of us that have the Plus package are not getting a lot of real value from the mini bar set ups. (Except for can soda - marginally) Those of you that traded for two Coffee packages were receiving a much better deal. Of course since Princess has eliminated the Coffee and Grounds package, it cannot be offered as a trade in. Which is the real issue.

I have never been on. pub crawl. How did the Pub Crawl work on the Millennium? Good point as I do not see how Celebrity could prevent 30 people from showing up to an open bar at the same time, although service would be slow.

No refund for a cancellation if I recall correctly. Basically a Priceline.com Advance payment option. I would guess it is no less expensive than booking with an advanced payment on Priceline.com.

I am fairly certain the expired prior to you boarding. I guess they did not notify you until later. IMO there is no way that they would automatically charge you for the move up bid and expect anyone to change cabins. I have always received my Dear John e mail prior to boarding.