HleeCruiser

23 hours ago, donaldsc said:

You have left out the most important factor when selecting a ship for AK - port time.  You need to look at which ports you visit, port arrival and departure times and time in port.  For example, I assume that this is your first trip to AK so eliminate the cruise if it doesn't visit Glacier Bay.  If you can find one that visits Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier so much the better although ships that plan to visit Hubbard Glacier sometimes miss it while a good visit to Glacier Bay is a certainty.  Glacier Bay is not a National Park for nothing.

 

Look at time in port and arrival / departure time.  As an example, there was a thread on CC about a cruise that ported at Icy Point Strait from I believe 6 PM to 10 PM.  This might have looked good on the list of ports visited but stopping at a port for 4 hours which gives you maybe 3 hours on land is a waste of time.

 

Many cruises arrive at a port early at say 7 AM and depart at 1 or 2 PM or else they arrive at 2 PM and depart at maybe 10PM.  Consider what tourist places will be open early in the morning or late at night.  You want as much port time as possible at the ports you visit.

 

One thing and I know that many people will disagree w me is that I feel that Sitka is vastly over rated even though every cruise visits it.  When things open up again, you might have 5 large cruise ships in port at the same time.  That will be 10,000 to 15,000 people in a small town w 1 short main street.  True that you can book good stuff to do out-of-town but eventually everyone ends up on the main street which will be overrun by people.  Just my opinion.  I will add to this and I am sure that many will disagree with me is that I prefer visiting smaller AK towns as opposed to the big 3 of Sitka, Juneau and Ketchikan.

 

One final thought.  When you go to AK, I feel that you go there for what is outside of the ship and not for the amenities on the ship.  Food, atmosphere and amenities is of limited importance to me.  Good outside viewing spaces on deck is important to me so I don't have to be fighting for railing space as we go through Glacier Bay.  

 

Hope that this helps.

 

DON

Not every cruise ship goes to Sitka.  As a matter of fact it is one of the least visited of ports.  Most go to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan.  I do agree with you after visiting Sitka a couple of times I found it underwhelming and would not make an effort to find an itinerary that goes there.

I have been on Princess 24 times and never experienced their enforcing boarding times.  In the past the times have been suggestions.

Where will Enchanted Princess be from Sep 2 until Nov when she is scheduled for her first Caribbean cruise?

20 hours ago, wowzz said:

Well, that should only take about 3 days to sort out!

Seriously,  trying to sort out those logistics for 1000+ diners is a nightmare. 

The app designers should have left TD in place as an option, with a choice of table size, and 90 % of the complaints about dining options would have dissppeared. 

As has been said before,  whoever briefed the app designers did not recognise the attraction of TD. 

Abandoning TD is Princess's fault for  not understanding the desires of their most loyal clients.  

19 hours ago, OCruisers said:

The Club Class Dining Room is very nice.  

Yes but there is no dining room dedicated to just Club Class.  They section off part of one of the regular dining rooms which is shared with other passengers.  

5 hours ago, mellon1 said:

Not what I wanted to hear!  But thanks for being truthful.  😝

When they sail at full capacity there is no way to serve everyone in the time allowed with only two people per table.  Impossible.

6 hours ago, rbtan said:

I like the fact you can order items from each alternative restaurant. The Crown Grill is decent, but we're in the food industry & find that they & Sabatini's are really nothing special but the ambience. My spouse buys hundreds of thousands of $$ in beef for his company & notes that the USDA quality is no higher than "Select" in these restaurants. The MDR's serve no higher than "Standard" grade. The Chef's Table & Ultimate balcony dinner is where you might get "Prime" grade. At $100+ a meal, it's what you SHOULD be getting. When in one of these restaurants ask what USDA grade is this steak, trust me you'll get the answer "It's Premium grade". That tells me nothing! Remember that you are feeding hundreds of pax at the same time. It's pretty difficult to have 5 star dining with that many. We do cruises on Oceania & find 5 star quality dining, but the cruise may very well be $4000pp or more! We will say we like the staff on Princess more than any other line we cruised on.

Thanks for your explanation.   My experience is the same as yours on the beef served on Princess.  

2 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

This is the answer....you can then tap on the different bookings dates.

Yes,   my new cruise populated the app automatically.  Just clicked on my picture and it showed both cruises.  The info from my profile populated also.  I had to select dining times and was good to go.

The other methods stated above might work but this is definitely the easiest.  IMHO.

2 hours ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

The Dining SPEEDS has me chuckling..... just imagining Fast, and them speeding

your food to you & taking it away before that third bite, and the next plate being slid in.....🤣

Yes,  that choice of speed of dining is amusing.  I have no idea how they plan to implement this.  

8 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Let me ask you this?  Have you ever used the medallion class app before?  Princess started doing medallion cruises in 2019.  I believe you would have to be on same cruise to use the medallion class app.  Since you are not sailing the only way, I know of it to contact Princess directly and tell them you would like to pay for your friends' dinner or possibly buy them a gift card and have it sent to their stateroom.

Yes, we have done several MC app cruises but this is the first time the App has incorporated the dining option.  I used to be able to do the comped meals for friends on the personalizer but there are no dining options available on the personalizer since the MC App for dining became active. 

Again thank you for your assistance.  I was hoping to avoid the long wait times for Princess to pick up the phone.  We have two cruises booked and I like the way we can make reservations in advance in the App.  Both my cruises are Green Lane except the Boarding Time which I understand can not be selected until closer embarkation time.

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

good luck.  It worked for me so it should work for you.  Have a great weekend.

I should have said that I will not be on the cruise with the folks I wish to comp a specialty meal to.  Does that make a difference?

30 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Go into the app, click on the dining link, click on view or book individual daily reservation, click add a reservation,  click on specialty dining, next you will need to add your friends name under guests, you have to add their reservation booking number,  once you do that your name will have grren check marks, click on your name and undo the green check marks,  next you should be able to add your friends and pick a time for them to dine in a specialty restaurant,  it will have your credit card number and click yes  to confirm the reservation.

Thank you very much.  Will give it a try.  

20 hours ago, wowzz said:

Can you please stop asking the same question in multiple threads!

Just give your friend $50 !

No!  and it is none of your business where or how many times I post.  Just scroll on by dude.  You are not a polite person. 

1 minute ago, AF-1 said:

I just made a reservation in Sabbatini's for four guests.  I never saw an option to use OBC; only my credit card that is on file.  Go figure.  

Did you do this in the MC app, on princess.com or by phone?  Was this for you or a third party?

Thank you.

10 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Use this link:

https://book.princess.com/cruisepersonalizer/thirdPartyGifting/showHome.page
 

This takes you to the page to order.  You could do a balcony breakfast or balcony dinner or cruise credits for a specialty restaurant.  Or, call the number I gave you

To see if you can pick a specialty restaurant maybe?

Regards, Tonna

 

Tried the link and it took me to a sign in page using First and last name along with booking number and it says to sign out of the booking and try again.  Was not in the booking and neither was my friend whom I was trying to book for.  Appears the gift ordering link is broken.  I will try the number you gave me tomorrow when I have time to hang on the phone.  So much fun--NOT.

Thank you for your suggestions. 

I want to make a reservation and pay for it for a specialty restaurant for a friend.  I used to be able to do this at princess.com in the personalizer but that option is no longer available.  Does anyone know how this can be done so I can use my cc to pay for the dinner?  Thanks

6 hours ago, wowzz said:

You would be better off asking in the Ports of Call section.

Thank you.  I found that page after posting.

On 1/18/2021 at 7:13 PM, mskaufman said:

Probably needs to be on the Spain forum.  We have been to Barcelona three times.  Hotels we have stayed at include Avenida Palace and the Hotel Jazz. Both have as good locations near Placa Catalunya. 

Which hotel did you like better -- Jazz or Avenida Palace.

Looking for recommendations for hotel for 2 night pre-cruise in Barcelona. Have been there before and stayed at Hotel Jazz. Enjoyed it but would like to try something different this time. Price range of $250 per night. Thanks.

11 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

And this just shows what a cluster**** Princess have set up. You do a small amount of check in on the Personalizer then the majority of requirements on the App, if you can get it on your device, and then you get your boarding tags from the Personalizer.

Beyond words really how a company could set it up this way.

Totally due to poor leadership.  The top brass is out of touch with the wants, needs and desires of their most loyal customers.

14 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

The pricing on board is definitely higher.  For 1 device, it is $15/day instead of $10/day pre-cruise. 

 

You can buy individual days on board.  That price is $20.  So, do the math for $20 x #days you want internet for and compare that to $10/day x full cruise.  If you want internet for at least half the days, then just get it for whole cruise.  

 

I would phone in and pre-order it. 

 

The rep was wrong - UNLESS Princess has instituted a temporary policy to relieve guests of the on board price ($15) because of the MC App and pre-order issues and time for Princess CSR's to process.  That would be my educated guess if a recent change was made.

 

I have been interested to find out from the first Majestic cruise what the internet pricing was for on-board, but no one posting to the "Live From" answered it and it could be no one following it waited to board to order internet or they are on the PLUS package and doesn't matter. 

 

If I was unable to pre-order due to system bugs and such, I would be insisting on the $10 rate on board in any case.  They can always override or give an OBC to compensate. 

 

 

As for pre-ordering, the internet is going to be added to the MC App for pre-ordering.  I do not have a date.  Of course, they took it out of Cruise Personalizer prematurely or we could have continued to order it as before until MC App is ready. 

 

(Of course 50% discount applies to the list prices.  When pre-ordering, you get 50% back as refundable OBC.  When ordering on-board, you are charged the net amount).

 

Once it comes to the MC App, we will be charged the net amount if qualify for the discount.

 

Another great example of how bad the Technical Staff responsible for implementing MC App is.  The whole bunch should be canned.  Medallion implementation was terrible from the start.  Took two years to get it working on just two ships -- Caribbean and Regal.  This poor leadership starts at the top Jan!!

Since you are not Princess Plus,  have you bought the wi-fi package pre-cruise?  If so what was the price.  If pre-cruise purchase how did you buy it?  Have to call or is there a way to do it on line?

Thank you,

Henry

18 minutes ago, muffin said:

Let’s talk medallions!  How are most people wearing theirs and are they convenient or a pain?  I’m thinking of just getting an old fashioned card as I know just where to put it on my body / clothing for different needs!  Don’t like the idea of presenting my neck to,be scanned for a drink etc!     am I being silly? 

You can keep the medallion on your body just like the card.  We just carry ours in a pocket.  Like that it opens the door of the cabin.