travelin.sisters

as others have said you can tell them you are celebrating your birthday even if it is not during your cruise. there are never good cruises from our local port around my birthday so I celebrate when I can. 

I have gotten all the way from nothing, to free beverage when I was by a bar & the bartender noticed it on their screen, $40 spa credit, last cruise I got these flowers from our room steward in addition to the cake & door sign...it just depends:

haven't cruised specifically with a electric wheelchair or scooter, but some things from traveling with other mobility devices;

1. I would aim for as near an elevator as possible, as @hobo1937 said there are often cleaning carts in the hallways, if the room attendants are around, they will move them for you, but I spent most of a Panama Canal cruise moving carts when no one was around so my sister could get anywhere from our cabin
2. some cruises people are very good at letting people with devices into elevators...others they rush in front & it can be very hard to get on an elevator (our last few cruises have been full of considerate, happy people, but other not so much)
3. I never chose the main dining room that can only be accessed by stairs/elevators as this can be a real bottleneck with mobility equipment (on the Royal this would be Allegro)
4. When getting off the ship in port, they will often specify one of the gangplanks that should be used for wheelchairs etc.

we did LA-Hawai'i on the Crown this past March & I did a "live" for that cruise (link in my signature) if you are interested...I believe  @Elua will be on the Crown again this season & if they are your Hawai'ian ambasadors, I would highly recommend anything they (Tiki Dave & Leialoha) do...

I have only been able to add my whole travel party's onboard accounts to my credit card once onboard..I have never figured out how to do it online before sailing since they switched to the app, I just go to guest services & ask them to put all the rooms on my card which then allows me to monitor all the charges for our group for charges we did not make (one cruise there were a LOT) we also have them set the medallions to all open each room so we can visit back & forth.

there is no time limit...if you are a certain level (Platinum & Elite for sure) or have paid in full you can make dinner reservations in the app...we have reservations for dinners for our cruise next March (was even able to include travel companions who were not yet Platinum

he can apply online with the link here  Military Cruise Benefit Program - Military Benefits - Princess Cruises , it says it needs to be done 14 days before your sailing, but can't hurt to try & once it's done you automatically get it for future cruises.

10 hours ago, theloo said:

Not to hijack this post, but does Princess do anything special other than birthday cake for birthdays?  I'm considering a cruise in 2024 that will coincide with my kids' 15th birthdays.

sometimes...I have gotten spa credit, a free drink, door signs (they no longer do ballons) & this last cruise flowers from the room steward...the onboard signs will wish them a happy birthday...you can order a birthday celebration package before sailing

3 hours ago, jdacombe said:

A spot of advice if possible please:

Have booked a cruise for next April with my wife in a standard balcony cabin and our eldest son now also wants to come along with a friend.

Unfortunately his friend is now unable to come, and I'm thinking of options for him:

a. See if he can find another friend to join him and share the cost of the cruise

b. Goes solo in a cabin, which would mean a solo fare of nearly £2.5K

c. He stays in a cabin with us, which would mean we would need to upgrade our cabin to either a Premium Balcony Cabin or a Mini Suite. He's pretty tall (6ft+) so I think the love seats in the balcony cabins would be too small for him, so a mini suite would be the best option.

If he chooses option c. could I just pay the extra for the upgrade and his fare, or would I have to cancel my booking altogether and re-book a mini suite for the three of us.

Grateful for any help (although I think I know what the answer maybe)

in my experience a balcony for two & a inside for one (even with the single supplement) are about the same price as a mini suite so we (3 traveling together) book a balcony & an inside near each other which gives us more space, extra privacy, an extra bathroom & we can share the balcony when there are things we want to see

13 minutes ago, amcankid said:

It’s a 10 day Mexican Riviera cruise. Total of 5 sea days with 4 ports. 
And it’s funny but if I don’t have a handheld shower nozzle it’s enough to be a deal breaker! Call me silly but without whisker clean body parts I’m not a happy camper!!

In that case, I would check when you get to your room that they have put in the handheld shower nozzle & if not remind them right away, ours arrived within an hour or two once I asked (we had pre ordered in the app but...)

On that length of cruise, I would anticipate a comedian, a magician & probably 2 musical acts(they rotate the guest entertainers in & out at the various ports) & a couple of production shows from the entertainment staff...during the day there should also be enrichment talks which can cover a variety of topics depending on who the speaker is & port talks...there will be musicians around the ship in various locations throughout the day.

I hope you have a wonderful trip, it is so nice to sail from a port close to home

We did a 15-day Hawai'i on the Crown in March & yes, she is older, but we did not have any major problems.

You didn't say how long your cruise is, but depending on the length they will have guest comedian, magician & musicians, they will usually do 2 different shows one in the theater & another night in one of the lounges. There will be game shows & lots of trivia with the cruise staff. 

The handheld shower head really helps because when it is on the holder it is in the middle of the shower stall over your head rather than at wall & for me that made the space feel less cramped somehow.

I did do a live from our cruise with a lot of photos of the ship & my detailed thoughts on her condition...if you are interested the link is in my signature. There are also daily schedules which will be different because of the itinerary, but will give you an idea of the kinds of entertainment Princess does.

10 minutes ago, ski_mom said:

 

Thank you for that comment and I agree - I know my comment sounded negative and that's not really how I feel.  I'm getting to travel with my family of 5 (my husband, daughters 26 & 25 and son 20), my sister's family (her, her husband and two daughters 18 & 14) and my mom.

 

I just worry too much about it because my family travels more, so I tend to be the one to handle all of the details. My sister's family is not nearly as "go with the flow" as my family so things that we wouldn't worry about or wouldn't bother us in the least tend to be bigger deals with them.  I know it will be a great trip and we always have fun together.  We all live in the same town and see each other often. 

 

Thanks again for the reassuring comment!

 

 

you didn't sound negative at all...I just know how much it can be when you are the one trying to juggle all the details for a group...sounds like a great group & I am sure you will have so much fun together & make wonderful memories!

3 minutes ago, ski_mom said:

Thank you all so much!

 

 

I'm not the best at vacationing with multiple families and just worry too much about things not going smoothly.  You all help me feel better - thank you!

 

 

a cruise is a great way for multiple family groups to travel together as everyone can pick the things they like to do & spend as much or as little time together as they wish...make sure that you take the breaks you need & do things you enjoy & don't wear yourself out worrying about everyone else...

customer service can (& will easily) program the medallions to open different doors as long as one person from each cabin is there when you ask (we travel as 3 in 2 cabins & always have all our medallions set to open both cabins)

5 hours ago, anewmac said:

Thanks for sharing. I am doing an Alaskan cruise so came for the pics of the ship (and food porn is always great to see also!) Going in with low expectations of this ship. 

 

Also had to laugh as Im originally from San Pedro, its my childhood hometown! 

hope your sailing is better than you expect & you have a great time in Alaska

4 hours ago, keyboardjunkie said:

HI!  We are relatively new to Princess Cruises (only 2 sailings so far on Princess).  The last time we were on board we bought two of the medallion holders - the type you clip on to something and a lanyard.  I am currently looking for a locket style necklace or bracelet style that will hold the medallion.  I have looked on ET__ and can't tell if the ones I see will fit the medallion.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this and/or any recommendations?  Thanks in advance!

I have purchased quite a few air tag holders for our medallions & this is my experience...the silicone/plastic ones work great (I prefer the one that clips to my phone case which I always carry, also have ones that go on lanyards or whatever) they are easier to get the medallion out of than the Princess ones & seem to hold them better...I have also bought several metal decorative (rhinestones & stuff for formal outfits for my sissy) ones & sometimes these interfere with the signal so the Medallion has to come into direct contact with the reader rather than registering as you walk up, she got one of the expensive metal bracelets one cruise when we couldn't figure out what to spend extra OBC on but has only ever worn it once

the desk will have as good a mirror as the bathroom & natural as well as electric lights & a chair so that should work for you to use your hair dryer there

2 hours ago, no1racefan1 said:

Is this typically on every sailing?

in my experience, it is on many cruises but not all (will depend on the cruise director/staff) on  some ships you can gather stuff & pre-make your egg drop container (maybe the most creative i have seen was stuffing it in a container of cooked oatmeal from the buffet) & on others you can only use the items they supply (think paper towels, stir sticks, disposable coffee cups, string & tape) I have only small Princess/ship branded items as prizes (like coasters)

I had to check the date, I kept thinking it must be a leftover april fools joke

8 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I really enjoyed reading about your Hawaiian adventure. You put so much time and effort into this; thank you! 
 

DH and I laughed when we saw one of the Eggs Benedict pics because it reminded us of when I had it the first day on the Royal over Christmas, and the sauce they gave me was vanilla sauce instead of Hollandaise!! Talk about a mouth full of surprise! 🤢

eggs Benedict with vanilla would definitely be 'interesting.'! 

the 3 Stanley bears (& their wardrobes & accessories)

after them, many of the things mentioned here: fuzzy blanket for napping, orthopedic pillow, good chocolate, fan & alarm clock w/thermometer, room & door decorations, magnets, collapsible storage bins to organize all the things we bring, crafts...the last cruise it was a queen-sized quilt that I needed to finish for an upcoming wedding (but we live only miles from the port so we can always just add another bag if there are last minute things we decide to take)

19 hours ago, beshears said:

Thank you for both of your postings to my question. Travelin.Sisters I gather what you were posting about March was for this year and not year, is that correct? Do you know how soon after a person books, that we are able to find out about their specials?

no, it is for our upconing cruise in March 2024...they say it is a 10% discount so might not be worth prepurchasing for that small a savings

6 hours ago, Thrak said:

If you book with the Princess Plus fare the first two in the cabin have to take that rate. If you are just booking the Princess Plus beverage package there is no requirement for anybody else in the cabin to purchase it.

 

It's incredibly stupid of Princess to name both the fare and the beverage package the same.

apparently, Princess thinks someone is charging by the word as they are constantly reusing the same names for slightly related but different things...or they just have a very small vocabulary...

26 minutes ago, beshears said:

I know Covid and etc. have made changes with companies in many ways. I am very old fashion in some ways, and I prefer having the photos, instead of the small disk, or whatever you call it. Does Princess still offer anything like this? We will probably be cruising in February of next year and how soon ahead of time, if they do, will I know?

there are 2 photo packages offered for our March sailing...5 prints & the digital files on a thumb drive for $89 or 10 for $169 (10% savings)...there are also photos included if you get the Premier package (3 prints & all the digitals)...you could also take the digital files & have them printed at home

you can pre purchase bottled water for about $7 for 12 bottles...if you are not doing the package, it is a great savings over buying on board (yes, the water is fine to drink & we usually refill our water containers, but it is nice to have some for excursions etc.)

have done LA-Hawai'i 3 times (Jan [left the 4th], Apr, March) weather & seas are unpredictable any of those times, you will get cooler weather the first 2 days out & back...but being from Ottawa, what Californian's think is really cold may be fairly moderate for you, our last cruise there were people out by the pool sunbathing when it was still pretty cold & others very bundled up...there will be some bumpy seas somewhere on the cruise...they have always closed the pools at least once on each of our cruises but only drained them on one...bring some layers but realize that cold will probably be 50's/60's not 20 below