Cruisemeister2002

More of a question rather than an answer I'm afraid as when we next cruise on Sky Princess it will be our first medallion cruise. I have seen people say that because of how bar staff use one medallion that it racks up the 15 drinks and then you get charged even if youv'e have say ten drinks and the wife 5 and the same medallion has been used for all of them. Is there any way that you are advised before going over this allowance or do you just find out that mistakenly you have been charged ?

Went on Ventura a 35 night cruise in March/April  she holds around 3,000 and according to the Captain there were 2,400 onboard. Sadly wished I wasn't one of them, but that doesn't answer your question. Have been transatlantic now 9 times and hope, God willing to make it 10 next year. Have never found them completely full, but as with certain shows, acts etc you still need to be at the venue well in advance of starting time.

On 10/25/2023 at 9:47 AM, bonox55 said:

G,day All,

Just had a question re Alfredo's new charges. My wife and I are booked on a cruise in March. We have both paid for the Plus Package,so we each receive 2 complimentary vouchers for the $14.99 set menu. We are not big eaters and we have in the past ordered one starter and one pizza between the two of us. My question is, does anyone know if we would be able to just use one voucher between us?

Paul

Can't say I know for defo, but you could I suppose both sit together and just order one. I know drinks packages which Plus is part of you need to have obtained two, one each.

On 8/1/2023 at 4:47 AM, Thrak said:

Now... Has anybody seen the new Casual Dining added onto their Travel Summary? I'm not seeing any mention of it on the cruises I have booked with Plus 60.

Don't know if this is any help, but I recently booked a cruise on Sky Princess. Included in our fare are two casual dining visits which apparently is a new addition. Must admit I wasn't sure what these were as P&O only have the MDR's and Speciality dining like Sindu, Beach House and Glass House.If you go for the fare where you get drinks up to $20, ours is $15, you also get unlimited Casual Dining.

Having been a waiter in my younger years I must admit that tipping was a big help. The restaurant I worked in had a "Trunk" where tips were put and shared out at the end of the week. Unfortunately being the junior , a trolley boy, where I served hors d'oeurves and desserts, washed up the glasses from night before bar and had to clean spirit lamps used to keep food hot at the work stations I got the least tips with the senior waiters, wine waiters and Maitre 'D getting the most. I got £10 in wages minus tax and N.I. left me with £8 plus £2 in tips. I would pay for my digs £2, have £3 for myself and save £5. I still tip even in the UK, barbers and waiting staff. I can't say I totally agree with the situation in the US and Canada where 15% is expected regardless of quality of service or what's dished up. But I go along with it as you don't have much choice, apart from the fact that if it's not good enough you can complain.

On 10/9/2023 at 12:34 PM, FangedRose said:

Seems to me that apart from cabin number mix up (which should not happen, and I would be upset about) it seems that the majority of problems were caused by USA port officials. You can't blame P&O for that! Very common on all non American cruise ships calling at USA ports.

No it wasn't just the cabin number and whilst I appreciate that problems regarding immigration aren't the fault of the cruiseline, they could have done more to make it comfortable. I was suffering from a leg problem, some people older than myself had more acute problems and seating along the way was virtually non existent. Without doubt out of 8 trips across the pond the worst immigration process I have known. Not only that, the food was poor onboard, again the worst I have known in 17 cruises. There were long queues at reception virtually every day, with many passengers telling us they were keeping a record of their problems, backed up by the fact that when we contacted P&O post cruise the lady told my wife we were logged on the system along with many others. As I say the entertainment, tribute acts apart, were poor. Talks apart from a guy talking about photography for most of the cruise non existent. Bearing in mind we missed Bermuda on our way out, due to the Captain stating about four days before getting there that we would not be calling in due to the weather. No problem, when we were in the vicinity and personally I believe it was done because of the five and a half hour delay leaving Southampton. Yes we will complain when things aren't right, we are not purpetual moaners. In my opinion, because the Brits accept poorer service than the Americans do that's what we get. I can't think which port it was, but it was a very hot day where the lifeboats were used to ferry passengers into the port. At the same time a ship with German passengers docked. On their return, they had a place to shelter from the sun and various drinks. P&O passengers had to wait in the sun with a galss of water available. Maybe they paid more, I don't know. What I do know however is that P&O standards have dropped considerably since we started cruising in 2002.   

1 hour ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Whilst in Boston we did the Walk the Freedom Trail tour and the day trip to Salem.

 

We found both tours very good and informative.

Also have done the trip to Salem, a lovely place and the Witch museum was great also. Bought a very nice witch in the shop. Told the wife to wriggle about a bit so I knew which was witch.

Hi, myself and my wife are in our senior years, I am 73 and she is 67. Apart from our second cruise on Sea Princess we have always cruised P&O. Next year I have switched allegiance to Princess again due to lots of problems we had on P&O Ventura in March this year. My question really is do we go for the "Devil we know" because we are afraid to switch to another cruiseline or is it because we are just contented to plod on with same old, same old. 

3 hours ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

I think it's safe for us peons. Though, I will say if RCI, NCL, or CCL begin to remove or significantly lesson the benefit, the others seem to follow if the PR isn't too bad. They're almost all in collusion with each other (in layman's terms, not the legal and actionable version).

 

That being said, if they remove the benefit, what are you going to do? Not cruise anymore? I think for the most part, people spend the benefit on shore excursions, gratuities, gift shop, specialty dining, etc. It's not stuff that cost them full retail to begin with.

Yeah your correct. I always say to my wife whatever OBC they give you onboard whether that be the highest or lowest amount in monetary terms the real value is probably a quarter of that. For instance a bottle of wine onboard cost the minimum of £18 around $21.96, whereas the same bottle in a UK supermarket would be £8 perhaps £9 or $9.76- $10.98. so around a 50% mark up. Then you have things like watches, perfumery, handbags and sweets (Candy) quite a mark up also.

On 10/5/2023 at 4:29 PM, Ocean Mouse said:

Our 5 week roundtrip cruise to the Caribbean was due for final payment today. After our experience on our last cruise we have decided we will not be going.

This means losing our deposit but as we booked this cruise nearly two years ago the money is long gone and its loss is not regretted. Far less painful than forking out another £8k+ for something we would not enjoy 

So an aft facing balcony cabin on deck D should be available shortly. I hope it finds a good home

Same as yourself. Went on Ventura in March/April this year. The only cruise I have ever been on when ten day's before disembarkation I wanted to get off. It was a 35 nighter to Caribbean, USA and Mexico. Started badly and didn't get any better. Cabin changed the day before we set off. Queues like you wouldn't believe at Southampton due to Ventura getting in five hours late. Got onboard and went to cabin. Someone else's door card in slot, went into cabin and wrong dining arrangements with no table number. Had paid for a Celebration package £400 for flowers, chocs, spa, champagne, bathrobes and slipper, champagne flutes, formal photographs and two speciality dinning times. Absolutely nothing in the cabin. Spent 15 days of the cruise to sort out everything. No photographer onboard, although one turned up halfway through the cruise, no frames for formal photo's. Went to make bookings at spa, didn't know we had changed cabins. Immigration into US at New Orleans a nightmare having to trudge along endless lengths of airbridge and once inside building even more corridors before getting to desks which had about five officers for 2,500 plus crew. Considering it was supposed to be a two day stop we lost a morning and some didn't get off the ship until late afternoon. Miami we had done most of the excursions available, so went to a shopping mall. Late away as a passenger needing wheelchair facilities couldn't board as lift wasn't working. Poor person ended up being left behind. The guy who was the "Guide" hadn't a clue, didn't know what time we were supposed to depart mall, was supposed to have been provided with a map and vouchers, nope, didn't see them. Got back and went through terminal building on to airbridge, again up and down, around and around to ship, but wait, problem with the part that joined the ship had moved. Waited fifteen minutes in a tunnel of 91degrees, then told to go back to terminal building and access ship on the quay. Stood in a queue of around fifty people, thirty went onboard and then an official said the port manager didn't want anyone on the quay, so back to terminal building. Fifteen minutes later back onto airbridge to ship. Entertainment so, so, although tribute acts excellent (Robby Williams and Cher). Food very poor except Sindu three times and Beach House. Speakers non existent except one on photography virtually the whole cruise. Many passengers coughing and spluttering onboard before the cruise even started and then Ventura left five and a half hours late. Third day La Coruna, then 10 days sailing due to missing Burmuda, on return 6 days to Punta Del Garda and a further three days to Southampton. So the best part of 19 sail days to and from Southampton. Going on a Princess cruise next year five days each way. Bliss.    

8 hours ago, Mike07 said:

 

I think we're already here... vets can no longer receive military and shareholder credit. Though a cabin with double occupancy can receive one of each or two vet credits. I don't think you could ever receive two shareholder credits though.

Do you think it's because buying 100 CCL shares has become within the means of "Ordinary" people who like myself purchased them because an outlay of, in my case, £700 isn't an enormous amount and given that cruises of I believe 14 days or above gives an OBC of £150. Therefore taking 5 cruises you would have recouped you outlay and still have the shares and that is why they, that is CCL, may look at whether a holding of 100 shares really is of benefit to the Company? Perhaps they might consider some other form of incentive or increase the stockholding to 500 shares and give a larger OBC but costing the buyer a lot more. This isn't a suggestion to them, it's just what could happen.   

6 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

With absolutely no qualifications, I think there are better options than cruise lines. But the shareholder credit is safe, and I don't see the cruise lines folding unless additional catastrophes come along.

I agree. It does make you wonder whether Carnival will reach the heady heights of £40 a share seen a handful of years ago before the pandemic and let's face it you only need another Covid, a war or heaven forbid a shipping disaster to tilt a fragile situation into another crisis. It does concern me when you have this constant desire by cruise company's to go for larger and larger ships such as the one Royal Caribbean have coming into service in 2024 at 250,000 tonnes and nearly 10,000 passengers and crew. Don't fancy the embarkation, disembarkation and shore ports of call with that amount getting on and off. Not that it will affect the UK anyway, but I prefer ships with the maximum of 3,000 passengers and even better those of 2,000 or less.

9 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

I paid $1,090 for 100 shares less than a year ago.  I have received $200 in OBC to date and expect another $100 in June.  That’s a $300 return in 18 months, that’s an 18% annualized return.  So it’s doing better than your 5.XX% for me.  I’m 70 and expect to cruise at least once a year for another 10 years, should I live that long. I’m not counting on it, but maybe the stock will still have at least $1,090 value when I’m ready to stop cruising and sell.

Good luck. I looked at it like this.If I do one cruise a year for the next 4 years which would be my maximum amount and I doubt very much they would be cruises where I would get £150 OBC. Therefore the £600 I made on my Carnival shares would be minimum plus 4 years OBC maybe up to six or 7 years and we are Caribbean tier or Elite on P&O/ Princess so 10% discount on any £150 or the same value in dollars. I do know that several of the fund dealers are saying Carnival is a BUY. But I prefer the guarantee of knowing what interest i will receive. I'm not a high flyer, a wealthy business man or have a pot of gold stashed away. I love cruising and believe, considering I have never earnt really large wages that I have done pretty well to have had 17 cruises since 2002 and due to Covid I missed four years of cruising.

On 10/5/2023 at 1:29 PM, PrincessLuver said:

 

As interest rates go higher investors are moving their money away from stocks and using other financial instruments where they can to make more money with the higher rates.  Inflation is taking its' toll too.

Then who knows what is going to happen now to the economy with the upheaval and dysfunction in DC?

Stocks may be headed for the doldrums for a long time. 

Must admit although I still have a Stocks and Shares Isa I have withdrawn all of my money, what little I had, out of Stocks and Shares. They really haven't done well for quite a long time. Most of what I have I have tied up in 2 or 3 year bonds at between 5.65% and 5.80%. I sold my small holding of 100 CCL shares at £13.40 having had £150 OBC on a P&O cruise in March. I had bought them at £6.99 and decided due to my age that although I hope to take a few more cruises it will only be one per year and I am 73 now.

On 9/26/2023 at 4:34 PM, deltahog said:

I will make a couple of ship notes. It is new and pretty and well decorated. A good aesthetic experience.

 

However, it is EXTREMELY poorly designed for traffic flow. Getting from here to there is at best slow, at worst nearly impossible, and almost always counterintuitive.

 

For example I visit the Fitness Center on 17. The only two ways there are to cross the outside upper deck (which has often been closed due to inclement weather), leaving literally the only route to the Fitness Center.....through the buffet???  Why would I want to walk through the buffet to get to the Fitness Center? Opposite goals. 

 

Ketchikan dining room on aft end of 6 can only be reached by the very last set of elevators, or the very last set of stairs. There is no flow from Ketchikan to.... anywhere.

 

The running track is all the way up on 18 sports deck, and again, it has often been closed. So there is nowhere to walk around outside. The elimination of a promenade is maddening.

 

"You Can't Get There From Here" is the theme of the day. Whoever designed this ship's traffic flow should be fired, or at least a stern talking to.

What would happen Aft the Stern talking to ?

2 minutes ago, Hampshire Steve said:

sorry never had one of the packages. 

 

I think, and happy to be corrected, that whilst many things on room service are free, there is still a charge for premium items, for example after you have paid your approx $15 for your first room service delivery (no charge after that) you would get say a burger and fries free but would pay for a steak. Drinks are shown as chargeable on room service but perhaps someone who has paid for one of the packages would clarify that.

 

Sorry for being a pest. But with regards to drinks P&O allow 1 ltr per passenger to be taken aboard, does Princess do the same. Maybe we won't need it as apparently we get a "Free" mini bar in our cabin. Again don't know if this is replenished and if it is whether it continues to be free.

1 minute ago, Hampshire Steve said:

Princess, from the UK, have a small kettle, Douwe Egberts coffee sachets and single pack Tetley tea bags. Unlike P&O no biscuits.

You can get specialty coffees, teas and hot chocolate on room service at a charge - from $2.50 up to $8.00 for an Irish Coffee

 

If I have paid for the drinks package and that includes alcoholic drinks up to $15 per drink, juices from the juice bar and speciality coffee's how does this work with room service or is it still extra ?

Hi everyone, having been a fairly regular cruiser on P&O from Southampton we are used to having tea and coffee making facilities in our cabin. Can anyone of you regular Princess cruise passengers tell me whether Princess ships have these facilities. I know that our next cruise will have access to free delivery to our cabin by a steward but would prefer a kettle and tea, coffee and milk to be available whenever we are in our cabin. 

On 9/12/2023 at 6:23 PM, amajaa said:

Now reading on here and other social media the main concern about the Cabin Stewards not servicing the cabins in the evenings is people saying they can't now get their towels changed twice a day, which personally I ( and others) find a bit rediculous with most people saying how often do you change them at home.  If they are that desperate to have clean towels twice a day go up to the pool deck and get clean ones from there.  Aren't we supposed to be saving the oceans or whatever it says on the leaflet in the bathrooms? 

 

Well read this - unbelievably a staggering 44% of people only change their towels every 3 months. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-66735226?xtor=ES-211-[64317_PANUK_NLT_37_ENG_StateOfChaos_RET_O35]-20230912-[bbcnewsbeat_howoftenshouldyouwashandchangeyourtowel_healthandwellbeing]

 

Now that's taking it to the other extreme. 

My take is that if you believe a towel needs changing you put it in the shower tray. Never had a bath in a cabin but presume you would leave the dirty towel in the bath. I am lead to believe that Princess cruises cabin stewards visit your cabin twice a day. On our most recent P&O cruise in March apart from in the morning when going for breakie it was the only time I saw our cabin steward and to start with he kept our stock of tea, coffee, milk etc well stocked. But the longer the cruise went on the more I had to chase after him to keep the supply going and in the buffet area the supply of cups was appalling. The dispensing machines were constantly breaking down.

On 6/7/2023 at 2:25 PM, Simonthesailor said:

We have a 4 day cruise booked for late in August with a grand daughter. We have just been invited to bid for upgraded - and presumably unspecified actual - cabins. Anyone had experience of doing this and is it worthwhile. A bit of a gamble? We already have a reasonable & specified balcony cabin, with the necessary third pull down bed.

Is this bidding a new thing for P&O?

ideas and feedback welcome.

I have recently change allegiance to Princess from P&O and found that they have this bidding system as well. Apparently other cruise lines outside of the Carnival group have been doing this for a while and now it seems they are introducing it. I am lead to believe that a bid of say £200 would be per person for a higher grade cabin, this isn't the amount you have to bid it's up to you but the amount you bid would be x two unless of course you are a single traveller, but then I am lead to believe that single fares are the same or almost the same as two passengers sharing a cabin. The bidding is allowed 5 days after the cruise balance is paid and although I cannot remember exactly it can continue up to a day or so before your cruise. It is apparently best to bid on several cabins although if successful you will only get one and be charged for one and again the cruiseline will contact yourself to inform you that you can bid.

On 3/26/2023 at 8:12 AM, Shawn5 said:

So it's no secret that cruise lines' stock prices are in the toilet. This chart shows CCL's stock price vs. the S&P500 since 2020. Certainly the pandemic didn't help, but you can't help wondering if there are other factors at play. One thing might be their lousy customer service and the way they treat current and past travelers. Unless you're classified as an "Elite, Platinum, etc." they couldn't care less about you. Try calling them with a simple request or question and you'll get nowhere.  Perhaps they should provide better customer service to those who are spending $3k, $5k, or maybe over $10k on a cruise instead of "escalating" your question or issue to a different person or department that may or most likely will not resolve your problem.

Since the pandemic CCL stock did rise in the UK from a low of a little over £5 to a peak a few months ago to £13.75. I purchased 100 at £6.99 before our cruise in April for which I got £150 onboard credit. When they reached £13.40 per share I sold them making £600 profit as being in my 70's I wasn't sure how many more cruises I would embark on and even if I did four cruise where I received the maximum onboard credit of £150 it would be four years before I was in an even situation and if I spent £150 onboard I would receive 10% off as we are Caribbean Tier on P&O.

On 9/25/2023 at 12:34 PM, Bill Y said:

We had not come across celebration nights before this year, one of more formal nights were named as celebration nights, before they used to have black and white nights etc. As others have said P&O no longer appear to push the boat out for formal night menus whether this applies to the two smaller ships we will find out next year.

To be honest if I was one of these top chefs putting my name to some of the fare dished up on our March/April cruise to the Caribbean, Mexico and the US I would think pretty long and hard as to whether I wanted to be associated with this food. I do believe that since we first started cruising back in 2002 that the food quality has gone down considerably. During this 35 nighter onboard Ventura I can honestly say that only four evening meals were good. Three at Sindu, excellent and one at the Beech House which was good. The food in the MDR was bland, varied between cold and warm. Desserts that were Rum or Pina Colada infused tasted nothing of either. Custard was thinner than water. One reason put forward was the fact that many of the crew were new recruits. I felt sorry for our main waiter as he spent most nights asking why people on our table had left a lot of the food. Yes I know that cruising is probably cheaper than before but I would rather pay another £10 or £20 per head per day to get better quality food. The same applies to excursions that include meals. They always remind me of coach type tours in the UK where it sometimes seems that a hotel or restaurant that gives the cheapest deal is chosen and again the food is substandard compared with customers who come from off the street to eat.

28 minutes ago, Coral said:

This is because they start as toddlers with two fingers and an iPad.

When I was at school I started with two fingers. The teacher clipped me round the ear. Can't think why ? 

18 hours ago, dickinson said:

Sorry to hear that food on the ship and sometimes on land is not up to snuff.  It happens everywhere.  However, if things are as bad as you say, I would have sent it back.  That is how they know there is a problem.

Trouble is even if you send it back and they know rhere's a problem it's whether they do anything about it. Myself and wife went on a P&O cruise on Ventura, 35 nights to the Caribbean, Mexico and North America in March this year. Sadly the only cruise I have ever wished to leave at least 10 days before it docked in Southampton. It just went from bad to worse. Cabin changed the day before, upgraded to an outside rather than an inner, great. Pity that only ourselves and a few others seemed to know. But getting on to the subject of food definitely the worst we have had on any cruise and this was our 17th. Luke warm, custard thinner than water and soup and desserts no resemblance to description. The best four meals during the entire cruise were three at Sindu and one in the Beach house. Waiters always enquiring was there a problem, but despite various complaints food remained poor. To add insult to injury we had two glasses of Sauvignon Blanc one evening at dinner at it cost me £19.  

Every cruise I have ever been on I have taken cash. Maybe not the most sensible thing to do, but hey ho. Never had a problem. Obviously I take a cc with me and put the cash in the cabin safe and depending on the port of call I take what i think I will need. I don't think in 17 cruises and endless ports of call I have ever not had enough money on me and in 99 out of 100 I will take money back to the ship. As for onboard it really depends. Take for instance my next cruise where all drinks are prepaid and any excursions we on go on will be booked pre-cruise. So what I allow for each day will be less than previous cruises as drinks and coffee's are prepaid. The wife will probably want a handbag and I will no doubt get a bit of duty free. Think whatever that unless you have an endless supply of money it's necessary to budget. I'm not saying that x amount per day has to be strictly adhered to but you have to be sensible. No point having a great cruise only to get home staring at a chasm in your bank account.