Bwana Tom

Looking for magnets simply go to my favorite site "ebay.com" and search for "magnets strong". There is a great selection.

Now that the books are coming in digital form they won't any longer work for door stops or coasters. DARN!

On a recent cruise we booked aboard the ship and provided our TA's contact information for them to transfer the booking. They assured me they would, but we heard nothing from either party after that. I called our TA and sure enough Princess hadn't contacted them. I provided our TA the details of the cruise and she took it from there. Easy Peasy!

One of the best things I have found to take along are 3 large paper clips. Some people call these bulldog clips which are used generally to hold a large stack of paper together. I can't claim this as my own idea; I read it on this board several years ago, but clip these to the bottom of the always short Princess shower curtains and they keep it in place....no water on the floor. We put one on each corner and one in the middle. They work great! Duck tape is a great item, but rather than take a little bit wrapped up on a pencil or popsicle stick we take a roll that has already been partially used up. Baggage handlers are terribly hard on luggage and on a few occasions they have been known to damage the bags so severally they won't even close again. If that should happen a partial roll of duck tape would surely be handy to have along with you. When the airlines once damaged our luggage I asked the guy taking the report if he thought when the baggage handlers went on vacation themselves if they stand back 6 or 8 feet from the trunk of their car and throw their bags inside, but I got no answer. I also use several pieces of duck tape to secure the top of the laundry bag that we send out for washing. I've seen dozens of bags out in the passageway that are apparently in transit to the laundry room with the tops wide open and wonder how many cloths become lost along the way.

Someone actually uses the coupon books????

They would certainly deserve it. They were responsible for raising a couple of really great kids.

WOW! What great story. I hope your parents come onto Cruise Critic after the cruise with an update on their experiences. Most cruiser will usually say their first was the best, but in this case I'm betting your parents will say "their second cruise was the best -THIS ONE.

You too kids are the best! This will certainly be a trip your parents will severe and enjoy the rest of their lives and they have to you two to thank for that. I would agree with those folks that suggested to put a little extra money in onboard credit. If they drink that would be worthwhile, or tee shirts and other gift shop items would help them to remember the good times you provided for them. WiFi access would also be good to they can tell you how much they love you and the gift of the cruise. And lastly, I would certainly give some serious thought to upgrading to an ocean view cabin. In my wife and my mind if you feel you can't afford a balcony cabin the next best thing is ocean view. Again, great idea and wonderful kids! Hope to read about their trip on Cruise Critics in the coming months.

Any word on the Enchanted Princess getting Starlink? Hoping it will be onboard for our Mediterranean Passage and Western Mediterranean cruises in November/December 2023.

Are the Caribe balconies larger on the Enchanted and/or partially covered?

Don, I agree fully. Have done both and also found the new canal totally uneventful. I would recommend looking for a different and smaller cruise ship and do the full transit through the old canal that has the history behind it.

And easy way to find out what OBC is refundable and what is not is to sign onto your account on your computer. Then click on "Payments" and go to the very bottom of the page where it shows "credits". All of the OBC is listed item by item there. If there is an asterisk after the listing that OBC is non-refundable and if it has no asterisk it would classed as refundable. Hope this helps.

That is largely where mine comes from, military vet status. On a long cruise that amounts to $250, but we seem to usually accumulate some other small amounts which I can't remember what they are.

You make a very good point which I forgot to recommend everyone do - make sure your accounts are linked together. We always do that because we discovered they were not a few years back on a cruise. One of our first stops after boarding we head down to customer service and verify that.

I certain agree with you. There seems to be no clear reason as to the amount they have shorted us. And a thoroughly agree also that their IT folks could certainly do a better job.

Usually Princess only classifies OBC as refundable if it comes from being a military vet and sometimes smaller amounts when they have to refund port fees due to missing a port on a cruise. I think you will likely find most if not all of your OBC will be non-refundable (spend or loose it). If however you do have some classed as refundable please be sure to get a final account statement to prove they owe it to you. I've been told if the refundable amount is $25 or less you can go the Customer Service Counter at the end of the cruise and they will pay it to you in cash. Otherwise they are suppose to pay anything over $25 by mail in the form of a check. Have a great cruise.

Before I get started I feel I must apologize to the readers for being so long-winded. Nevertheless, I feel it is important to point the problems I have had getting Princess to refund our unspent REFUNDABLE onboard credit (OBC). This is continuing problem at Princess, which I have experienced on my last 2 cruises as well as others that have said so on this board. I don’t know whether these are fraudulent activities taking place, or due to simply terrible bookkeeping practices. As it has gone on so long and seems to be a post-pandemic problem I’m personally leaning forward “fraudulent”. The first cruise we experienced this problem was on March 5, 2022 on a 4-way B2B cruise on the Majestic Princess. On that cruise we were shorted approximately 25% of the refund owed us. After several phone calls and a session on the Live-Chat line with no resolution I decided I would send snail-mail letters to both John Padgett and Jan Swartz. Within those letters I enclosed all the appropriate documentation including a copy of the check we received as well as our final onboard account statement. Finally after several weeks I received a call from a gal named Peggy at Customer Relations. She agreed to cut us a second check for roughly the same amount we were due. It was actually a few dollars short, but I was tired of dealing with this problem and agreed to that amount. A couple of weeks later I received the check and was happy to put this whole issue behind me and investing in many hours to accomplish that goal. On January 2023 we took another B2B cruise this time on the Diamond Princess. We had even more refundable OBC left over this time. Because of the problem we had on the last cruise we made sure to keep all of our records and it was a good thing we did. When our refund check finally arrived on February 17th it was once again short, this time by over 50% leaving $191.19 still owed to us. I first thought I could call Peggy directly at Customer Relations to get the issue resolved because she had been able to help us on the last cruise. That turned out to be a worthless effort on my part. Even though she pulled up our records on her computer with all the specifics of the problem she said she wasn’t going to help me because I had to get in line behind all the other people experiencing a problem. She instructed me to send an email to Customer Relations which I did as soon as I hung the phone up with all of the appropriate documentation to support the shortage. I also copied John Padgett and eventually I sent a copy to Jan Swartz. By March 13th having not received any response from Princess I decided to once again try their Live-Chat line, but it was busy and after 10 or 15 minutes waiting I noticed I could report a problem through the website. I went ahead and sent them a note briefly explaining my situation and asked if there was a better contact person or office I could go through. I did receive a generic form email back indicating they had received my request and would be in touch later on, so at least that was something I thought. Finally on March 29, 2023 I received a phone call from Peggy, once again from Customer Relations. I must wonder if she is the only one working at that job. She had all of my documentation and agreed to cut us another check this one for the remaining amount of $191.19. Like the last time, she asked why we didn’t spend all of the OBC and like last time I told her we generally have more credit than we need to spend. Also like last time, she lectured me that we should spend it all because that is why Princess gives that to your customers. I told her if Princess insisted on use spending it all it shouldn’t be classified as “refundable”. I also asked her why this problem persists with many people testifying to its occurrence on Cruise Critic. She said she didn’t know. Eventually on April 4th, 2-1/2 months after the cruise, we received the second check. In both of these cruises it seems that the amount we had been shorted could not be logically explained. You would think if it was simply an oversight on their part a person could go back and figure out why that amount was left out, but in both of our cases we could not. I also wonder how many people do not pay any attention to the check amount they receive and whether that amount matches their account statement. My best advice to anyone cruising on Princess that has refundable OBC on the books to make absolutely sure you keep all the documentation to support what is owed you. You should not simply count on the end of the cruise statement that Princess provides you because we have noticed that on that statement they do not always breakout the refundable from the non-refundable amount. We simply do down to the customer services desk at the end of the cruise and ask them to print out our account document. That one always breaks down those two amounts separately. Good luck and I hope you eventually get what is owed to you. No one should have to go through this kind of a hassle.

I'm new to this idea of AARP gift cards for Princess. Are the gift cards issued as an actual physical card mailed to you, or do they come in a digital format emailed to you immediately? And can they be used to offset the cost of initially purchasing a cruise and/or applied to your OBC account? Thanks for the education.

I did not place an upgrade bid on our Panama Canal cruise on the Emerald Princess departing on April 16, 2023 when it was first offered. To me the minimum bid prices simply were too high to move from our BE balcony which we liked to anything else. Nevertheless, I was curious if those bid options would reduce as the departure time got closer, but rather than being lowered I found this morning that the minimums had been raised considerably. Possibly this was the result of fairly full booking for the cruise.

For the wife and I the Plus was questionable at $40/person/day. We are very moderate drinkers. When it went to $50/person we thought it was unquestionably not worth it and that is doubly the case now at $60/person. As far as tips go we generally have onboard credit to cover at least some of that. As far as your situation goes maybe it would be best to avoid buying into the Plus option the first time around then think about it the next trip. And certainly don’t get sucked into the very expensive Premier package. You’ll still have a great time. Happy cruising.

I thoroughly agree. Princess customer service folks whether through the website, over the phone or on the ship are extremely poorly trained and anything they tell you should be taken with a truckload of salt.

One more thing - more activities will be added to your Journey tab as you get closer to the sail date. Have a good cruise!

As earlier said, your steward will make sure to meet you early on the first day and will be available throughout your cruise. You will frequently see him in the passageways as you enter and leave your cabin and usually he will provide you with a card with his ship telephone number on it. They are always extremely helpful. As far as the self-service laundry goes this is a great thing that most other cruise lines do not have. As also said you purchase soap, etc. onboard either inside the laundry facility or from the passenger services desk. Sometimes they run out inside the laundromat and when that happens the coins are always available at the services desk. My wife always brings her own soap, usually in pod form because she likes the type she uses at home and it is cheaper that way. One tip though, if you are flying to your destination and are bringing pods with you in your checked luggage you might want to seal them up in either a plastic bag or a small container so they don't explode from the air pressure changes on the flight. Also, the port in Galviston is quite a ways from the airport so it is a good idea to check into transportation costs for the best deal. I'm sure you will have a great cruise and I hope this information is helpful.

Great upgrade! You will certainly enjoy the large balcony. Just don't open the balcony door and the room door at the same time while underway and you will be just fine. Congratulations and have a nice cruise.

I agree wholeheartedly! If Princess doesn't begin to get their act together they will surely loose business from faithful customers.