Loveh2ofl

13 minutes ago, NownZen said:

There are two sets of requirements, the internal Princess requirements and the various government requirements. Princess cannot change the government requirements so it is simple--if you refuse to get boosted, then cancel the cruise.

Yes and i have been following all our stops - Greece is the only country that still requires a booster - and only for those arriving on ships - if you arrive by plane/train - don't even have to show that you're vaccinated.  The 'rule of 270 days' is gone everywhere.  That doesn't mean countries won't revert.

26 minutes ago, NownZen said:

It would probably be smart to wait a few weeks and get the new booster which will be a lot safer against the new variants. There is no real reason to not get a booster.

We have lots of reasons why we don't want to get boosted - which is why we asked for (and are marked as having) exemptions.  But the new email makes no reference to that possibility and we have to make final payment in the next few days.

2 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I just posted #19 above what is required for Enhanced voyages.  Just got this from Princess.  
It says that those on Enhanced voyages will be contacted by the ocean Navigator team.  Guess this is the notice.

I just received the email too - we're booked on the jan world cruise and got an exemption but if we can't get one wrt to booster (we're fully vaccinated) - will be canceling a trip of a lifetime in the next couple of days.

5 minutes ago, NownZen said:

This applies to all the "Enhanced Guidelines" cruises. See the list in post #2 above.

Sorry - not seeing it.  There is a list of enhanced guidelines cruises - with no vaccination specifics and there is definition of fully vaccinated testing requirements - and elsewhere there are definitions of fully vaccinated and up to date - but again - not specific to applying to 'all enhanced guidelines cruises....

But the post by PacNGonow - makes it specific.

37 minutes ago, NownZen said:

Got an email from Princess today discussing the Enhanced Guidelines cruise we have coming up. It requires up to date vaccination (including a booster) and the precruise covid test. It also notes that masks and in cruise testing may be required.

This is different from the Sept 6 guidelines allowing unvaccinated passengers.

 

Sounds like they may be concerned with the increasing number of covid cases.

Where are you going where they said you needed to be 'up to date'?  And how soon?

10 minutes ago, clueless2 said:

Back to back requirements seem to have changed.

Will I be able to book multiple cruises, back to back?

Yes, we offer back-to-back bookings, subject to availability. Guests ages 5 and above on these sailings may be required to take a complimentary rapid antigen test before the second voyage – shipboard medical staff will notify guests of any testing requirements. Guests who test positive for COVID-19 may be required to disembark, and if so - will be entitled to a 100% Future Cruise Credit (FCC). We will closely monitor guidance from government and health authorities and will adapt and evolve this policy accordingly.

Well seems like progress:   'may be required' instead of the past where it said 'will be required; and listed everyone accompanying them on the booking. would have to disembark whereas that now says 'may be' as well....

40 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

I can't find any mention of the booster requirement for the EU, except for Greece.

The booster requirement/270 days for Greece is still listed under requirements section dated 8/16 - however if you go to FAQs for Europe dated today, it no longer specified a booster - so I'm hopeful things still aren't completely updated:

4 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Ridiculous, but we don't make the rules.

We're on world cruise - fully vaccinated but unboosted - Greece is the only 'booster' requirement remaining and while I got us an exemption as current Princess says is required, but doing so flags us as being totally unvaccinated which would make the testing processes untenable.  Only hoping that things get cleared up before 2023!  

Thanks for all of your updates and reviews!

I tried call back yesterday - made my call about 2pm EDT - never received a callback (with my cellphone as the callback number).  While I was waiting, I used my phone (android) to chat via princess.com and got my issue handled within minutes.  CHAT has been very responsive most of the times I've used it but I can only access it via an android device - doesn't show up for me via Chrome or Edge browers on my computers.

8 hours ago, sidvan said:

Just arrived Athens from Rome and will be continuing on to Barcelona. Athens is our 3rd Greek stop and we have Santorini tomorrow. Other than the last minute change from 3 days to 2 days pre-boarding in Rome for testing, there has been no further discussion or mention of testing. 😁

Did they care what vaccination level (boosted or not) you were?  Did they check?

39 minutes ago, SiliconCruiser said:

I had no problems using Wi-Fi for phone calls, though most of the people I know tend to text rather than call (mostly old folks too!)  My wife called a couple of times to find out where I was, and then there was a call concerning the extended warranty on my car ...

Who is your wireless provider and android or i-phone?

6 minutes ago, konatyme said:

We have Samsung Galaxy S21s and Verizon. Verizon told me that we should be able to put phones in airplane mode, then turn Wi-Fi on (on the phones), and  then enter the code/password that Princess gives us for using our Wi-Fi package, and it should work. We are not "smart phone- smart" and have only had smartphones for about a year, so we'll see what happens!

I'm sure you'll be fine since Verizon worked on my husband's galaxy phone doing exactly as you describe.

20 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

Texting will work from an iPhone to another iPhone, since iPhone uses iMessage to send texts, and iMessage uses data - not text. I don't know about texts between an iPhone and an Android or between two Androids.

Well my husband and I are using android phones.  I-phone didn't work either for my relative.

2 minutes ago, Bwana Tom said:

I am happy to inform that I finally got resolution to my problem of Princess holding back some of OBC. It took me nearly 5 months to resolve the issue, but finally I was successful. I was asked by PacnGoNow to keep everyone updated so here goes. After about 2 months from when I mailed my letter to John Padgett (with all documentation enclosed) and a month after sending an email (including all documentation) to Jan Swartz I finally received a telephone call from a person by the name of Peggy at (877) 888-1869 Ext. 44670. I was away from my phone and missed her calls, but I called her back a little while later. She immediately picked up (none of the usual one hour plus waiting to be connected). She apparently had all my documentation which I had included with both of my earlier letters) including copies of: particle payment check for $163.93, Princess vendor sheet, my account statement obtained on the last day of my cruise and a copy of my 6-28-2022 letter to Padgett. I started to go over the situation anyway and she cut in and said it looks like they still owed us $52.78 and she would have them cut us a check in that amount. While this was a few dollars less than what I thought was owed I wanted to see the end to this situation and kept quiet at that point. I did expressed my concerns that many people seem to be experiencing a similar situation and always the difference seems to be a payment of 75% of the owed amount. She didn’t seem to go along with that assumption. Maybe she didn’t think my own 74+% situation fit that criterion precisely. She only said that in the future I should just spend all my OBC on board to eliminate a future problem with reimbursement. That being the case I wonder why they even make a distinction between refundable and non-refundable OBC. 

The bottom line: My 5 month journey finally ended on August 24, 2022 and I received my check for the remaining funds. It does seem strange to me that apparently so many people have had a similar experience and it always seems their refund is only for about 75% of the owed amount. And possibly worst of all no one seems to want to get the bottom of the problem in order to prevent it from occurring again. My best advice to everyone that have refundable OBC exceeding $25 and not being able to get it refunded on board is to make sure you have all the documentation to prove what is owed to you. We always get a print out of our account on the last day before debarking. While my own situation wasn’t a great deal of money I still wanted to carry it to the ultimate end. I’m not sure whether Padgett or Swartz forwarded my documentation to “Peggy”, but I am going to personally keep her telephone number handy in the event this happens to us again in the future. She was actually pretty pleasant to deal with and actually came through for us in the end.   

Good luck to you folks. 

Peggy is the same person who resolved my issue with taking two months to get a copy of my shipboard account.  Fixed it in minutes.

8 minutes ago, rjack22 said:

I too am interested in wifi calling onboard.   Sounds like it will work.   What about texting?   Does that work through wifi?    I am not interested in installing Whatsapp.

My husband has verizon prepaid - wifi calling (and texting) worked for him;  I have att prepaid - while wifi calling works ashore was never able to get it to work on Princess.  Both of our phones, obviously, support wifi calling.  A family member on ATT postpaid was unable to get wifi calling to work aboard either.  I too do not want to install whatsapp.  I would like zoom mtgs to work however - haven't tried.

8 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

did you find table tennis?

Yes - there were tables on one of the upper decks.  Pickle ball was set up every so often in the sports area at the very top.  It's been awhile and I've been on another cruise on another ship  since, so can't remember if it was on the sports deck area or the deck below.

5 hours ago, pcjmom said:

This is what is confusing to me:

 

https://travel.gov.gr/#/

 

Not sure why testing is needed to visit Greece on a cruise when it says this on this website and this article from March 15 forward .....

Later in the same Greek post is direct wording for yachts and cruise ships which are also clear as mud but could mean anything ;-):  Yellow highlighting is mine.

@Jimmys ChippyWhat is the current mask policy on this leg of the trip?

3 hours ago, Denali2003 said:

I see that the Patisserie is still listed on the above link for the Island Princess.  Some people have posted that it is no longer there.  What do they have instead of that?  Can you get ice cream on the Island Princess?

the answers are on the pdf above.  And the 'patiserrie' is on the forward part of the buffet

26 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/

 

Here's a link from the above page to all the hours for each venue for each ship

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/food-and-dining/dining-options.pdf

@We_like_to_cruise  Still asking about masking - are the full masking requirements still in force on this next leg?  Thanks for all your writeups - they're great!

24 minutes ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

Our next day was turnaround day.

 

Our ship returned to Southampton to disembark passengers for this cruise. 

 

We will stay on for another 16 days for the Iceland /Greenland cruise.

 

More tomorrow !

 

 

Let us know if any change in mask protocol.  And enjoy!

23 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

Someone asked about masking.

 

They are pretty diligent about that on this ship.  After you wash up before entering the buffet, a crew member hands you a plate and silverware.  You are reminded that masks are required.  If you do not have one with you they give you one on the spot and ask you to put it on.  There is signage that states masks are required.

 

In the Princess Theater announcements are made pre-performance that masks are mandatory.  Crew members stand outside the doors and hand out masks if you forgot one.  Also, they do walk up and down the aisles requesting those without masks to put them on and providing one if needed.

 

Additionally masks are required inside on the tenders and while walking through the dining rooms and lounges.  Of course you take them off for eating and drinking!

 

Regardless of one's personal feelings, it appears the Captain of this ship has decided that mask wearing is essential.  We signed the contract so we comply.

@We Like 2 Cruise is the masking in response to a particular outbreak (like the one several weeks ago?  Or just the  Captain's position on masking?

We originally booked the 97 day from LA to FL but added the missing segment from FLL to LA later (in a different cabin) since we live in FL - so in for the whole thing.  There is a world cruise thread - roll call - you might ask your question there.