FiftyOnePlus

On 8/11/2020 at 9:10 AM, Loreni said:

Many here are diehard cruisers who can’t wait to sail. Although I wonder if the volume on these boards is reduced since Covid. When cruising really starts up again, I believe many people who fall into the following groups may think twice. 

 

1. People who had to wait so long for a refund.  Especially those who really needed their money back due to Covid related hardships.
 

2. People who booked after March and had their cruises canceled and are waiting for refunds. These people may rightly or wrongly believe Princess expected to cancel and is effectively using them for a loan.

 

3. Anyone in a high risk group.

 

4. People who have spent the last few months exploring other vacation options such as road trips or visiting family who they will not have seen for a long time.

 

5. People who have committed to other options by buying an RV, boat, or a vacation home.
 

6. People who no longer trust the cruise industry or perhaps Princess in particular.

 

7. People who fear being quarantined either on a ship or near a port.
 

8. People who were financially hurt by the pandemic.

 

9. People who don’t want to be shepherded when ashore having no contact with anyone but their guide.  Many excursions won’t even be possible under these conditions.  For example, how would one tour the Sistine Chapel?

 

10. People who don’t believe the ships have adequate medical facilities.
 

11. People who don’t want uncertainty regarding which ports they will actually visit.  Who wants to buy a pig in a poke?

 

12. People who don’t want to wear masks.

 

13. People who do want to wear masks, but wonder how (if) mask wearing will be enforced.
 

14. People who have never cruised before. They may not be able to get past the stories in the media.

 

15. Frequent cruisers who believe cruising has been going downhill and fear more cuts will be made as cruise lines struggle to become profitable again.

 

16.  People who always believed there were pluses and minuses with cruising, but greatly appreciated the value it offered.  This value may change if prices go up even if service doesn’t go down.
 

17. People who don’t believe social distancing is possible on a ship.
 

I believe cruising will survive in some form, hopefully not too different than we remember.  But I wonder how.

Happy to cruise with Princess again as soon as all the nonsense stops.
Get back to normal....and we are on there!

How absolutely dreadful.

This is not a relaxing, enjoyable holiday.

 

I wont sail with RC again.....treatment is appalling compared to other cruiselines.
And so expensive!

6 hours ago, betty barnacle said:

Good.  The buffet is disgusting and we never use it anyway.

 

Just think.......with no more Buffets.....all those people will now eat in the MDRs....shorts, bad manners.....greed.

MDRs will never be the same again!

Be careful what you wish for!

8 hours ago, zonacruiser25 said:

Just put Noro Virus routines on steroids.  Personally, I love the salads!

Actually, the bacon is very healthy, providing its not cooked in grain oils.....
and is better for you than the lettuce.

You cant socially distance on a holiday....lets get that straight.

People go away to socialise, for one....to meet new people. Dance, chat, play games....have fun. You cant do that and socially distance.


As for no Buffets.....
No Buffet = No cruising for us.

There is absolutely no reason to remove Buffets from cruises.

 

On 5/16/2020 at 3:07 AM, JJG99 said:

Yeah!!!!

Just checked our individual Princess Captain Circle accounts and we have received our 225% FCC on the base fare from the  <48 hour notice cancelled Sky Princess cruise that was due to sail on 14th March. No notification from Princess that they had given us our FCC onto our account, so as someone previously said- just keep going onto your account and check.

Our was one of the first cruises cancelled by Princess- so hang in there everyone- it will happen!!!! 

Still no taxes/port charges or shore excursion refunds into our CC, but will check the status of that with our TA on Monday.

To be honest- I never thought that we would see it.

Jenny

To be fair....you still havent seen it.
FCC in your personaliser is just a number in a computer.  Its not a refund.
You can use it to book a cruise with next year, and they could cancel that cruise......its just a way of stalling actual cash refunds.

You have not received a refund.

9 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I for one would be thrilled to order Princess merch online right now! I know they have a small shop website, but wouldn’t it behoove them and us to put ALL of their onboard shop merch for sale on line during this time?? I’d go crazy buying up stuff! 

Are you joking?
Thrilled?

Im not sure why anyone would want to buy Princess merch when not on a cruise anyway....I mean, its one thing buying that souvenir T-Shirt....or being suckered into buying a pretty brooch.......

But to buy stuff online from a cruise company who are refusing to refund any of its customers????????

You have to be kidding!!

On 5/16/2020 at 6:40 PM, oceanlovinmama said:

Wrong....you should be though.  They have promised you your money back, but you aren’t giving them the time to follow through.  Do you know how many people they are dealing with, and with a reduced staff? Give them a break...but my agency may not allow us to do business with clients who do this.  It takes away any protected commission and technically the supplier(cruiseline) could come after us for payment.  It’s a huge headache for people who can’t be understanding and patient.  

Im sure most people are understanding........definitely, at first, people were very understanding and supportive and also prepared to be patient.

But when does patience run out in your book?   3 months? 6 months? A year?
How long is reasonable to wait for a refund?

As far as I can see......there does not seem to be a progression of refunds happening.   Its at a standstill.
Noone seems to be getting anything.

If people could see .......'Ahhh, we are up to the end of March refunds now......April next'  and can see people posting  "Yes, I got my refund today for cruise on 1st April"   then perhaps there would be some faith.

But since March 12th, there doesnt seem to have been anyone refunded at all and that leads to frustration and disbelief.

Dont tell us "Your refund will be with you in 30 days"
Then change it to "Your refund will be with you in 60 days".....
Now 60 days is past.....and we are being told........."Your refund will be with you in 90 days"

And still people in March are waiting for refunds.

Enough is enough.

If they take Buffets off cruise ships, then I wont be going.

Buffets do not need to be removed.
Those who dont like them, dont go to them.

Buffets were fine before Covid 19 came along....and now all of a sudden they are being blamed for it?
Nope.

 

The refund process seems to have stopped.
I keep seeing posts in various places asking people to state when their sail date was/is and if they have had a refund.

Early March seems to have been refunded....but has stopped somewhere in the middle.....
And its been like that for a few weeks now.

Im not sure why they blanket cancelled so many cruises all at once when they hadnt dealt with cruises up to May as yet..........all they did was open up the phone lines to even more people demanding a return of money.

No. April 4th 2020

On 5/2/2020 at 4:34 PM, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Since there are new restrictions for those cruisers over 70, we may never be able to use our FCC. I think we should get a cash refund instead of a FCC.

 

PS: We are still waiting for the FCC; however, the FCC link on our home page disappeared several weeks ago.

No.
FCC is a gesture of good will to say sorry for the cruise being cancelled....and here is a little something to put towards the next one.

Noone should receive it in cash.

On 5/2/2020 at 10:31 PM, jocap said:

The first call from the UK government in March was for over 70s and those with various ailments, to stay indoors, except for necessary shopping/medical needs- which meant us.

As my OH has a couple of medical problems, I went to the shop, but when the following week, everything shut down, we were advised that both of us should stay at home, because of our ages.

The local council has organised voluntary shoppers for us all, including repeat prescriptions,  although most of our shopping is delivered from a big supermarket.

Our last trip out was to lock the 2 churches we look after. 

We are allowed outside for exercise by walking or cycling once a day, and there have been checks by the police.

Nothing is open, apart from essential items, and it probably will stay like this for some time.

 

This is not really accurate, if you're from the UK.

The over 70s group can go out now and it is only recommended that people from the vulnerable group need to stay shielded. So those with specific illnesses, such as COPD and issues, such as some cancers and transplant recipients.

~Anyone who cannot work from home can go to work so long as the employer can do as much as possible to aid social distancing/hygiene. 
~People can go out to exercise, go shopping, help someone vulnerable, visiting people when cooling down after arguments, or collecting medications.
~Numerous shops are open. Supermarkets, DIY stores, Home Stores, Newspaper/Book Stores, Banks/Post Offices/Building Societies, Off Licenses, Food Markets, Individual stores that sell food (plus other things), Convenience stores, Take aways etc
~Schools are open for some pupils

Quite a lot of things are open and more things are opening next week.

Need to get back to some form of normality before we totally wreck our children's and grandchildren's futures.

 

On 5/1/2020 at 3:18 AM, clo said:

We have a couple of English friends (not London) and they're only allowed to go to the grocery or to "essential" work. Good decision.

Hotels are open.
My daughter is a hotel manager, and is working with guests in the hotel.

The restaurants and bars inside the hotel are closed, but hotels themselves are open.
There are a lot of people working who need hotels, travellers who are going from one place to another.....key workers need hotels etc

 

On 3/1/2020 at 2:21 PM, voljeep said:

I know it would take extra time and personnel , but I wouldn't be opposed to Princess taking everyone's temperature sometime before the actual boarding and going thru ship security

So are they going to have a doctor on hand too to let the powers that be know what the fever is attributed to?

Someone can board with a fever that has nothing to do with any infectious virus.......why deny them boarding?

18 hours ago, Kartgv said:

IF we go on our scheduled May cruise on the Royal, I intend to take thin vinyl gloves to use in the buffet - remove them after using serving pieces, pulling my chair in, and using any condiments on the table, just before handling any food or utensils.   I'll also be more selective choosing my food (picking items farther back in the display, taking advantage of any stations that prepare and serve the food individually, and use the dining room and burger and pizza stations more.    And, of course, washing hands as often as possible - maybe even excusing myself from the main dining room table to wash after handling menus.   

We are in the highest risk group (both age and medical factors) so are possibly more concerned than some others.     

Actually my biggest fear is being trapped in an elevator with someone coughing and/or sneezing.    We'll avoid them when we can, but can't do more than about 2 flights of stairs.    

Why would you need to do any of this?

Just keep your fingers out of your mouth and you can touch whatever you like. Viruses dont seep in through your skin.
 

One thing I noticed on Princess cruises was the utensils were wrapped in napkins and placed in the middle of the tables.

Everyone talks about serving utensils in the buffet....lift buttons and handrails.....
But the biggest culprit is sitting there in the middle of the table.

A rack with the next persons utensils wrapped in a napkin sat there being sprayed on with saliva, touched by kids perhaps, or even other adults.

Watch a video of how far saliva is sprayed when you bite into something.......youll be horrified.

Doesnt bother me......Ill use those utensils every time, eat with fingers, stick them in my mouth and even  lick the  floor....I wont be getting any bugs because I dont compromise my immune system with these silly measures........

On 2/24/2020 at 6:44 PM, Steelers36 said:

You have presented your case multiple times in much the same way - and I get it.  I understand the frustration and the seeming unfairness.  IDK what Princess would have to say on the other side.  Have you tried to contact Customer Relations (ask to speak to them OTP as I presume time is of the essence)?  Perhaps you will be pleasantly surprised by a creative solution if you present a logical calm case to them.  Venting on here isn't getting you anywhere.  Good luck.  I do think an appeal to CR is your best bet.  Either that or perhaps another cruise line will be sympathetic to your situation.

We have telephoned them. Twice.
First lady didnt understand no matter how much we outlined the issue.
All she kept saying was it was a good deal and she would happily take it when her and her husband go on the next cruise with their children.

Yes, I thought....Id like to take it too.......for me and my husband. But we cant, because we are in separate cabins with under aged children........despite paying adult fare for 2 children, we still cant just buy 2 BES deals.

I came on here to see if anyone had the same problem or could at least see the unfairness of the situation..........but it doesnt seem as though many can see what I mean.
 

On 2/24/2020 at 6:44 PM, voljeep said:

2 or more PER CABIN and pay for 2 

simple, really

Err no....because we pay for 2 in one cabin, and one of them is for an under 18 year old.
So cannot get the full package for 2 adults without buying 4.....

 

On 2/22/2020 at 2:06 AM, cujosmom said:

 

With that kind of attitude, not only will you probably "catch something", you will also be spreading whatever you do catch to everyone else on the ship.

You do understand that its just a cold, right?

Don't care one jot about viruses and illness.

We are around them everyday in shops, schools, airports, hospitals etc etc

Not likely to get ill on a cruise ship
 

16 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

How old are the kids?  Maybe you are able to book at least two of them in an adjacent room?  Maybe not?  

Have you tried working with a personal cruise planner down at Princess?  They know all the ins and outs as far as what can be done and how you can make it work ... if at all.  

 

The problem is because of rules, under 18s cannot be in a cabin by themselves on the booking form.
So one adult has to go in one cabin and the other in the other cabin.

And because the BES must be taken by guest 1 and 2.......Guest one is the adult and guest 2 is a child.  (even though we are paying adult price for them)

They will not allow us to take BES in just one cabin and let the two adults have them........because 'technically' it would be issued to an underage child.
And they will not allow us to book in the two adults in the same cabin......as they arent allowed to.

So we have to take out 4 BES's even though we dont want them for the kids..........

We pay twice as much money, paying adult fare for 2 children, have 2 cabins, will be buying 4 soda packages............yet we are denied the BES deal.

Our issue is because we have 2 cabins.

Cabin one.......Im in there with two children.
Cabin two......Husband in there with two children

Because we are separated as a couple, we can't get the deal as a couple.......
We can only get it if 2 children get it.

But.....
If we were to only book one cabin, and only take 2 children...........we can both have the offer and the two children dont have to take it.

We are paying 4 adults fares.
So therefore we should be allowed to take out 2 BES in one cabin but we cannot.
In order for me and my husband to have it........we have to take out FOUR of the offers.

So taking 4 children penalises us...........yet Princess are getting twice as much money out of us.

How anyone can look at this and see it as fair is beyond me.
 

On 2/23/2020 at 12:19 PM, Coral said:

This makes sense. No, it is not unfair.

 

You can get it - you just have to get it for the kids also. The other lines also require both passengers in the cabin to buy it to get it. It is part of the promo that both have to get it. I don't drink alcohol or soda but got the promo. I will use it for bottled water, fresh squeezed OJ and Mocktails.

How is it not Unfair?
A couple taking 2 kids on a cruise can both have the deal and the kids dont have to take it
A couple taking 4 kids cant take the deal unless they pay for 2 for the kids as well.

They will not allow me and my husband to take the deal as guest 1 and 2 in one cabin because it has to be shown that there will be one adult in each cabin.

Its Grossly unfair