Daniel A

What did the head waiter say when you questioned it?

I'm getting into the Holidays spirit, and I thought we could have a little fun. I'd like to see what one thing people enjoy most about Haven sailings, and the one thing about the Haven they can do without. It should be interesting getting some viewpoints about what counts most and least with the Haven experience. ( @Sthrngary - No. you can't list the almond croissants! They're already a given 😊 )

I took a second look at the Google Play Store listing, and it appears that on November 28, they posted an update, where they removed the new Princess App information. This screenshot was taken from the very bottom of the page. It appears that Global Experience Innovators tried to remove the original 'Coming Soon' description, but the change was merely added to the end of the listing, keeping the original statements at the top of the page.

Thanks, I just looked it up in the Google Play Store and it wasn't Princess that posted the information there. It was put up by Global Experience Innovators apparently the IT contractor for Princess. I think they're the same people who botched the initial rollout of Medallion Class App. Thanks again for posting that screenshot. It looks like Global Experience Innovators jumped the gun (or the shark) again! 🥱 I suspect Princess is keeping their powder dry until they're satisfied it won't be the same mess as last time.

Did CB have Starlink yet?

As I recall, when the Medallion Class app was first released, there was a lot of advance hype about the benefits of Princess' app. I don't remember Princess waiting until it was actually released. Again, I'm not saying it didn't happen, I just would like to see something more definitive than some vloggers or internet postings.

I got on this set of threads pretty late, and I don't want to sift through every post on this topic. I realize how fun it is to trash any cruise line, but I haven't seen any formal public announcement from Princess or Carnival Corporation regarding plans to release a new app by a certain date. As far as I can tell, all of the hoopla is being spread by vloggers who may be more interested in getting clicks than actually researching and verifying what they heard from another vlogger or passing along something that may have been 'floated' in a private meeting. Has anyone actually seen an announcement from the cruise line to the public? It's not on the web site and their news releases page. I'm not saying it didn't happen and that maybe an announcement got pulled down but the only place where I've seen any kind of news release is from the vloggers. Sometimes an email can be sent out prematurely before being reviewed by higher ups. I would think if such an email went out promising something and threatening to stop service on an existing app including 'drop dead dates,' that follow-up emails usually follow. I cruise on Princess in February, and I would have thought I'd have been notified that my current app will not work on my sailing.

🙏 for all of us.

Our first Haven experience was on Epic and we liked Epic's best. It wasn't too large, and it was very comfortable. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

A phrase I heard some years ago was "Are you planning to be the richest person in the cemetery?"

Math was never my strong suit...🙄 I should have written seven or eight hours of your time if you plan to be at the airport two to three hours before your flight. OOPS!! My apologies for taking part in the thread drift. 🙈🙉🙊

It seems to be a relatively straightforward equation. Look into the above-described options and the costs you would incur. If the price is worth it to you to save 6 or 7 hours of your time, then book an alternative. If saving the six or seven hours isn't worth the expense, then bring a good book. (I am saying six or seven hours as opposed to the ten and a half you quoted because in any event, you will need to be at the airport two to three hours before your flight anyway. So, your issue is more about saving six or seven hours of your time.) I hope this helps.

I chalked it up to new hires replacing crew members who got laid off during the pandemic and got new jobs elsewhere. Maybe the newer bartenders don't know they were available pre-pandemic. I can't imagine bartenders personally stuffing olives, but the bartender might be responsible for ordering supplies and stock and doesn't know they're available.

My last cruise on Regal, Crooners didn't have the flights of stuffed olives. When I asked why, I was told that it is up to individual bartenders to have the flights available.

Because you care if they're easily offended, they win by getting inside your head with their values. If I say something that I truly believe, and someone is offended, I'm not really sorry - I just don't care... I wonder how many people will get offended by that? ☺️ P.S. Is it ok if I'm offended if I can't get an olive flight at Crooners?

I'm just wondering if we'll need to get the latest and greatest operating systems and have to replace our current devices to use the new 'upgrade.' Nope....not gonna happen. I'm not buying new devices just so I can spend thousands on a cruise in the first place.

Just show up when you want and the hostess will seat your party at your own table. If you wish to share a table with specific people, just mention that to the hostess. Trust me, the Haven Restaurant's staff will know your preferences after the first day. I wish all land based restaurants were as accommodating as the Haven. You will have a very enjoyable dining experience.

I just took @Sthrngary first post from this thread and made a PDF of it. Here it is. It was done in February of 2022, I don't remember @Sthrngary making up another. NCL Haven Secrets 2022.pdf

Bon Voyage!

You're sailing out of Panama?

I'm just curious - Has anybody bought any AARP gift cards while onboard through their wi-fi and applied that as OBC? One could then take their device down to the passenger services desk and apply the cards to their current account. Would that work?

I think the point is that if you use the gift cards to pay off the cruise and worry about OBC later on, you are probably saving more by getting 8% off the cruise fare. I know I'm spending that money, but I'm not sure what I'll end up spending onboard. I just used $8600.00 in AARP cards to pay off my upcoming cruise fare which included my drink pkg, wifi and crew appreciation. I saved $708 off the cruise fare and the discount AARP gift cards covered the bulk of what I might have spent while onboard. ( Plus, I am getting $950.00 combination nonrefundable and refundable OBC from Princess, Travel Agent, Shareholder, and Casino) I don't think this is a 'one size fits all' type of situation.

As I understand it, Non-refundable OBC gets used before refundable OBC. Thus, in your example, you spent $950 onboard during your cruise. Princess will use up the $800 non-refundable OBC then start to dig into your refundable OBC. In this case they would only be taking $150 of your refundable OBC leaving your account with a $350 surplus. Generally, refundable OBC gets returned to the original form of payment which in this case would be your Gift card(s). That being said, I have seen some people write that they were mailed a check for their refundable OBC. But, given the discounted price of the cards, I don't see Princess refunding OBC that had the discount by giving cash or a check.

That's why I suggested doing it onboard. If they are 'must haves.' then they should wait until they are onboard, but then they'll need to use a CC to confirm before boarding. I ran into a similar problem with HAL earlier this year. ☹️

Another alternative is to book your wife's excursions now with a credit card, and once onboard you might be able to cancel the excursion and immediately rebook it using the OBC. If the excursion is a 'must have,' make sure it isn't waitlisted first. I recommend doing this as soon as you can once aboard so that the excursions don't fill up by people using their OBC to book popular excursions.