Torfamm

5 hours ago, Tedferg said:

I see the coffees and water only come with the higher package.

Not sure what you saw but Princess.com says they are included in the Plus package https://www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions/plus-premier-cruise-packages/

It depends a little on location. Many people on cruises out of the US eat early, from the time the MDR opens till 7:00 can be very busy. European cruises seem to have more people eating later, around 8:00 

You can see which nights are scheduled as formal in the JourneyView activities timeline in the app. Each evening will show either casual or formal portraits. It can populate as much as a couple of months ahead of time. The only certainty before then is that they won’t be on the first or last night 

13 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

We used to love getting "all dressed up" with my wife wearing a long gown, and I would be wearing a formal tuxedo.

But....the problem is that it adds to the baggage.  Especially since airlines like Delta limit you to one suitcase per passenger.

I much prefer  semi-formal or casual.  Men may wish to just wear a nice shirt and pants, perhaps a sweater or a blazer.  Women a dress, but of course pants will also be permitted.

Just some thoughts

Delta doesn’t look limit passengers to a single bag. You may pay more, but you are certainly free to bring more than one 

On 5/9/2022 at 4:58 PM, CalTexCruiser said:

Thank you for your efforts @Steelers36, but I'm afraid it'll probably be for naught.  I voted to ban smoking in casinos.

 

I believe the survey the casino operators really care about is of gamblers, and especially of slot players who are the most profitable.  If you walk into any casino, you will most likely see many slot players with cigarettes dangling from their mouths while pounding on spin buttons for hours on end. 

 

Cruise lines such as Carnival, Princes, Royal Caribbean, NCL have decided that the profit from those players outweigh any potential loss of business from people who dislike smoking in casinos.

We both received a survey today from WAVES by Carnival specifically about the casino smoking policy. I feel hopeful that policies may change.

The specialty dining benefit is the one that puzzles me. Two meals on a cruise no matter what the length of the cruise just seems weird although if I think of it as an OBC, I suppose it is somewhat reasonable. What I really don’t understand is how they expect us to take their advice to “book early” when it isn’t possible to book specialty dining pre-cruise without paying for it. I wonder if they’ll be adding an option to pay with package credits or regular OBC?

7 hours ago, Roxyjoan said:

What port has the water taxi to an island off shore, for sun and beers! I’ve read you can take a water taxi to an island and have chairs, umbrella, beer and food. I thought I read you could take a water taxi just 5 minutes for the port. 

Where are you going? You can check the cruise port pages and find helpful information 

4 hours ago, sirclean said:

Everything seems to have been computerized for your convenience... so you can pick the time you want to dine, but I dont think that you get the honor of the same waiters or the same table mates. That is too bad, as they quickly learn your preferences and your table mates can become your long term friends.  I will miss that.

 

But you will have a lot of choices! 

I think traditional dining had positives but as more specialty venues were added it has gotten hard to manage the large number of empty seats on any given night. We have asked to be seated at the same table for 2 each night  on our last 3 cruises and they accommodated us on two of them

5 hours ago, sjde said:

Thank you. But SHOULD you book ahead- does it fill up?

There can be a wait sometimes, but not everyone minds that. It depends on how flexible you are

13 hours ago, akeasley said:

Other than opening your door, is there anything else you have to use the medallion for? Everything else can be done by phone or going up to a bar and ordering your own drink?

You use your medallion wherever you used a key card. Getting on and off the ship, paying in shops, getting chips in the casino, buying bingo cards, paying at bars etc

You can see which nights are scheduled as formal nights in the JourneyView activities timeline in the app. Each evening will have either formal or casual portraits listed as an activity. I have seen it populate up to 60 days before a cruise

2 hours ago, FritzG said:

We were on Enchanted for 20 days in March, and the food was very good.  The only meals I wasn't fond of were some of the fish entrees, but the salmon was very good.  We ate in Club Class, Crown Grill, and several times in Gigi's.  This was our 31st Princess cruise, and we didn't notice that servings were smaller.  However, we think smaller portions are a good idea due to waste, and you can always order more food if you're still hungry.  We only had lunch in the buffet twice because it was the first cruise since masks were suggested, not required, and we didn't feel comfortable in the buffet.  Unmasked passengers were crowding and leaning over other passengers' plates.

I am grateful for smaller portions than in most US restaurants For me it’s a treat to be able to order 2 or 3 courses and finish most of it. The joy of eating out is getting whatever I want, even if no one else likes it. I hate having to throw food away though

The food isn’t bad at all. I don’t think you will have any sort of problem.

You can connect your phone to Wi-Fi and use it. The results are sent by email. You can take a screen shot of the results and QR code Then you will have them available even if you don’t have Wi-Fi 

3 hours ago, riffatsea said:

Hmm? Wondering the purpose of medjet when the geo blue policy also covers evacuation?

I wouldn't have medjet alone since it only covers evacuation but not medical care in the country in which you are traveling

I agree that covid coverage requires some new thinking about policies

We haven't traveled far during this pandemic so haven't thought about it yet

The GeoBlue provides for care only in a local hospital or what they deem to be the nearest hospital that can provide adequate care. MedJet will transport you to the hospital of your choice. In a really serious situation, or one requiring a longer stay, I would have the ability to get home.

https://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/pdf_docs/certs/samples/SAMPLE_TrekkerChoice_0004.pdf

9 hours ago, pms4104 said:

Didn't Princess indicate Crew Appreciation pool includes entertainers and those in the onboard revenue areas?

 

Tho they were coy about who might be part of that group.

 

Fortuna Luck, perhaps?

Casino staff are not in the gratuity pool

12 hours ago, MissP22 said:

So Princess introduces a character on all their cruise ships that does nothing except walk around and be a hostess by talking to all the passengers. (presumably to entice them to gamble ?)

Obviously they have to pay them a salary which only adds to the cost or doing business.

 

At the same time they eliminate pens, paper, chocolates each night in order to save a few dollars since their still hurting from being shut down from the pandemic.

😂😄

They’ve always had casino hosts and someone to host bingo. They just have one person in a costume now. I don’t think it’s added any staff hours

We sail primarily with Celebrity and Princess and find them to be more alike than different. On Princess we like the availability of savory food in the international cafe, formal nights, ordering  with the medallion app and self-service laundry, especially on longer trips. Celebrity has significantly better food in the MDR in our opinion and we appreciate that there is no smoking anywhere indoors. If you like Celebrity, it is well worth trying Princess

We have an annual policy with GeoBlue and evacuation coverage with MedJet for medical emergencies. We also get some coverage from our credit card for delays, lost luggage etc. Much cheaper than insuring by the trip for us

23 minutes ago, qqwer123 said:

Ok so to start off fortuna and the pirate queen are the same gal….dif costume..ALL the fortuna luck girls have the same wig and costume. If people don’t like this character (s) can you just not worry about it and enjoy the fact you are on a cruise? The (fortuna) gals I’ve talked to on our cruises are really nice people with just a job to do. Our last cruise I didn’t do bingo and saw the character perhaps once in passing on the ship. Just sayin….

I am pretty sure I saw Fortuna Luck at the scratch-off card table in the casino at the same time the pirate was doing the poker game. I’m not sure that the same person always plays both characters 

7 hours ago, OKCruiseMan said:

I'm reading that Canada has not approved the rail excursions into Canada. Obviously some rail excursions don't enter Canada and should be OK. Some on the list still appear to go into Canada but transfer to a bus.

Is it safe to assume any listed excursions are still possible with the restriction on border crossing via rail???

I don't want to book something that is later canceled!

 

In general it is the train excursions that mention “passport required” that are being cancelled. Some private tour companies are doing the Yukon excursions using busses

2 hours ago, Daniel A said:

The passport book is the only form of identification that can be used for air travel back into the US.  In the event of an emergency, an incident where the cruise is cut short and the only way back home is by air travel, you're stuck and then need to deal with the State Department at an embassy which may or may not be located on the island where you are stuck.  Better safe than sorry IMHO.

Yes, I agree. I don’t suppose it’s much different than people who don’t make sure that they medical insurance for travel. It’s not a risk I would take, but it’s a gamble that people choose to take every day. 

1 hour ago, lheske said:

The 7:00pm on the slide was London time (which is 2pm EST)

It would have been helpful if the showed the time zone

My confirmation was for 2:00 EDT. The webinar started promptly with a slide showing it would start at 7:00pm.UGH

19 hours ago, satxdiver said:

It never ceases to amaze me as to how many ways our fellow citizens go to keep from getting a passport.  It is not that expensive as it is good for 10 years and is the ONLY identification recognized by all nations on the earth.  It is recognized by the two countries on our border (Canada and Mexico).  Other countries do not have this problem nor should we.  

 

Two weeks past debarked from a Caribbean cruise at Galveston.  Walked off the ship, past a very long slow-moving line without passports, went to the passport line and was out of the terminal in less than 10 minutes.  Really fast now that they use facial recognition instead of having to present a passport.  

I think the cost is an obstacle since the are not "needed" for so many of the locations that Americans commonly visit.  At $130 for adults and $100 for children with $35 acceptance fees for each application and the cost of photos, it could easily be over $850 added to the cost of a family's trip. For people who don't travel often or who don't travel beyond North America, Mexico and the Caribbean, they may just have other priorities. If we weren't able to travel without a passport it might be different.