caribill

On 4/9/2024 at 6:04 PM, Arizona Wildcat said:

 

Seems like much ado about nothing.

Unless you do not have a smart phone. (Yes, some people who cruise do not own one.)

3 hours ago, TRLD said:

As you say different cruise, different itinerary, different set of facts driving the Captains decision on how long to wait.

 

Pretty sure he was not sitting there trying to figure out how to annoy the largest number of passengers.

I'm saying not all ships are required to depart the embarkation port at the scheduled time and that the end of shift for contracted porters and check-in personnel does not always mean late arriving passengers cannot board.

4 hours ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

Ever had bad weather cause you to miss a connecting flight?  Even the airlines won't wait for their own passengers.

I have seen where they will often delay the last flight of a day for late arriving connecting passengers. (Can't do this if crew would time out though.)

Also have been on earlier flights during the day when the plane will wait for connecting passengers that have already landed.

On 3/24/2024 at 9:02 PM, Panhandle Couple said:

Add in...

The Porters are probably unionized, they have their set rules and work days.  If it was raining so hard all day, think they wanted to work an extra 2 hours OT in that rain?

 

What about the harbor pilot and boat?  Think they wanted to wait around extra hours in bad weather?

 

And the check in people, the luggage screeners, the cruise port staff....waiting an extra 2 hours could be paying 60+ people OT.  Assuming any of them would stay and then drive home in horrible weather.

 

 

Was on a different cruise line in a different port.

Bad weather led to plane arrival delays.

Scheduled to sail at 4 PM, delayed until 10 PM for the delayed passengers,

Was only ship at that port that day. Certainly check-in staff and porters had left as scheduled.

So ship's personnel helped with the luggage and check-in completed after boarding.

NCL could have done the same for this cruise.

#1 because two of the stays include a full day at the site. 

When you are at a lodge for only one night, most of the day is spent traveling between lodges.

On 3/4/2024 at 2:28 PM, Arizona Wildcat said:

You need to go to Share Perks.  App only.  Could use a friend's phone or use a computer at your local library.  

Just what computer security experts recommend, putting your personal information on someone else's digital device.

3 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Change happens. You will be assimilated.

Yes, Resistance Is Futile.

5 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Yet it lives. There's your sign.

 

Carnival switched to using stockperks while the prior benefit was in effect, causing much confusion and gnashing of teeth. The benefit, as described in the final annual report was not correct. Annual reports are for historic reporting, not for looking forward benefits that change.

The benefit dates as listed in the annual report have always been accurate.

Switching to stockperks just makes the way to request the benefit different. 

. 

On 3/4/2024 at 3:44 PM, ninjacat123 said:

Doesn't Carnival typically wait till their July meeting to confirm this stockholder benefit?  Hey, I'm happy and I just requested my shareholder credit for my Sept 2024 cruise. Thanks for the post!!

On 3/4/2024 at 4:00 PM, n6uqqq said:

They have changed the dates up a bit instead of renewing until July 31st of 2025. I wonder if that means it gets renewed in Fall of the year now?

On 3/4/2024 at 4:02 PM, BlerkOne said:

I would think so. Then it really could be included in the Annual Report.

Historically it is approved by the Board of Directors in February and listed on page 3 of the annual report sent out in early March. 

It is not in the new annual stockholders report.

Not a good sign.

On 3/4/2024 at 4:40 PM, ontheweb said:

Wait until next year when the same posters will authoritatively tell us all that it is about to be eliminated. And then the same cycle of posts and responses will happen until it is of course reinstated as it is every year.

It is reinstated "as it is every year" by late February and is listed in the annual report.

It has not been extended yet and is not listed in the just issued annual report.

On 3/4/2024 at 2:09 PM, lostsoulcruiser said:

The benefit is available on sailings through December 31, 2024.  Applications to receive this benefit should be made at least three weeks prior to cruise departure date.

 

Fresh off the corporate website. Benefits are the same as previous, only now they refer you to this new Stockperk app.  I have never used it (not cruised since its inception), however other posters have cautioned about how to enter the necessary data, including caution regarding entering your brokerage account number.

Best of luck.

By now it should have been extended to sailings through December 31, 2025. 

Using the app just means you can get it a different way for sailings through December 31, 2024.

No sign at all the benefit has been extended for another year.

Usually by late February the stockholders OBC is approved for an additional year. 

I have not seen that this has happened as it should have been extended by now for bookings though December 25, 2025.

Has anyone seen any notice that it has either been extended or is being eliminated?

It usually is listed near the front of the annual stockholder's report, but is not there this year.

1 hour ago, beg3yrs said:

Princess does not go to the Galapagos. I wish they did as the Galapagos is on our short list to visit soon.

In 2008 Princess did have a cruisetour that did include the Galapagos.

The cruise part ended in Guayaquil. The tour part then had a flight to the Galapagos and (depending on the date) a four day or three day Galapagos experience that visited multiple islands.

On 11/30/2023 at 10:36 PM, cruisedoctor said:

To better align with the rest of the cruise industry, Princess is adding an 18% service charge to all paid food and beverage items and experiences

What a poor excuse.

Let's become more like the competition instead of being unique and differentiating the brand from other cruise lines.

From this change to now also charging for room service to building larger and larger ships that can no longer go to many unique ports that used to be on Princess itineraries, Princess looks more and more like the competition.

If one is going on a Caribbean cruise or an Alaska cruise on similar size ships with almost identical itineraries (different private islands in the Caribbean), why pick Princess unless there is a price advantage?

3 hours ago, DHP1 said:

I have been having problems in the last month. When I select Flight Quotes, it states - Air will become available for this cruise approximately 300 days prior to departure. You may reserve air after booking your cruise.

 

My cruise is in August. In the meantime, I have figure away around it. 

Call Princess. The air department can help you do it over the phone.

On 12/7/2023 at 8:19 AM, coo359a2 said:

I would make partial payment on all our pre pandemic cruises and then have a smaller final payment due.  Once the pandemic started and cruises were being cancelled, it was taking longer to get back  whatever pre payments you had made - either paid in full or with more than just the normal deposit.  I decided at that time that when cruising  started back, I would only make the $200 deposit and wait to pay in full on the due date.  That way, if anything else happened in the world, I would only be waiting for $200 refund versus several $1000.

In my case I had a cruise booked pre-pandemic and had paid 95% of it before final payment.

When it was cancelled due to the pandemic, Princess offered 100% of the deposit extra (plus the deposit itself) as FCCs. I assume Princess figured that a $100 deposit that resulted in a $200 FCC was good PR.

As a result of having almost fully paid for that cruise, the extra OBC was basically enough for a free cruise.

Will this apply to the Chef's Table and/or the Winemaker Dinner?

On 11/30/2023 at 10:52 PM, startedwithamouse said:

Do you ever leave a specialty restaurant without leaving a tip? Sounds like it's just going to be included in the 18%. 

The difference is that the staff in the specialty restaurants have always been included in the tipping pool for food service personnel. You are paying for that in your daily gratuity charge where it is part of a plus or other package or on your daily onboard account.

On 12/1/2023 at 2:14 AM, Mud_Shark said:

Just looking for clarification - it says for all paid beverage items.  Wasn't this always the case?  If you bought a drink without a package, were you not automatically charged a gratuity as well?  I assumed we were, so if not, I guess I have been stiffing the servers for the past few cruises.

The restaurant  servers are included in the daily gratuity charge.

The bar staff are not, so their tips have always come from the gratuity charged when you purchased a beverage or as part of a beverage package.

29 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Im on shaky ground here because my memory is sketchy.   Seems we once got a better deal on a discounted four device plan by waiting until we were on board.  There were three of us.   The discounted four device plan cost us less than three separate plans using the 50% discount.   Maybe someone can confirm if they still offer something like that.  

 

 

Currently same price on board the first day as pre-cruise.

There may be a larger selection of 350ML bottles avialble on board from room service than there are available in advance on the web site.

No benefit to ordering in advance as even if you so so, you must call room service to arrange delivery once aboard.

17 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

NCL ....  I was surprised by the number of USB ports in the room (Princess had none).

For Princess it depends on the ship.

The newest ones have USB ports on the bedside lamps. Also some of the recently refurbished ships have them.

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Looks like they are essentially extending the ability to make a Future Cruise Deposit (FCD) while on board to buying one for a couple of months after the cruise.

They have done this in the past, but with lower OBC amounts than if purchased on board.

Since the current top OBC if purchased onboard is $150 (17+ days in a full suite), with this offer having a maximum of $125 OBC indicates again the OBC is less than if the FCD was made onboard.

(Note that while the maximum OBC if booked on board is, as shown above, $150, more typical is 7 days in a balcony cabin for which the OBC amount is $50.)

49 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

the TA and stock are supposed to be non-refundable. The veterans benefit, $25 for the Princess plus not being usable in port and the other $25 are supposed to be refundable per my statement and guest services.

 

Earlier this year the veteran's OBC was changed to be non-refundable. That may be the $25 discrepancy you have between what they told you on the ship and what you are really getting.

Ship's staff are not always up-to-date in knowledge about changes like that which HQ makes.

Pre-cruise the part of the Personalizer on the Princess web site that lists OBC indicates which OBC is refundable and which is not.

On the ship, unless the Regal is different, the printed onboard account statement should indicate by each OBC if it is refundable or not. For example, on my last cruise the statement said

                 "Shareholder Benefit (non-refuindable)"                  -100

50 minutes ago, depplep said:

Just out of curiosity, how would anyone know beforehand that there would be a Gold and White night to pack accordingly?

Only if it shows up in the App when you look at the daily schedules.