Dock B

We learned the hard way that the bandaids need to be the waterproof type.

I was on blood thinners for a year and we had a cruise during that time. The tender bumped around and the lady next to me cut my arm with her long fingernails!! Needless to say, it was a bit difficult for DW and I to get the bleeding to stop. DW had a tiny first aid kit so after cut was cleaned, a bandaid was applied. However, this was in the Caribbean so heat and humidity did nothing for keeping that bandaid on!! Fortunately, we ran into a relative who was on the same cruise and she had a waterproof bandaid that stayed one.

My DW now brings  waterproof ones (and regular ones too) as she also noted the waterproof ones would be best in the event of a blister from her shoes.

We each had $100 refundable OBC from our travel agent (in addition to lots of Celebrity non-refundable OBC). But for that $200, we had it returned to the same credit card we used to book a future cruise while onboard.

The new booking required a deposit of $100 each of us, which was not a refundable deposit if we were to cancel. So if we have to cancel, we won’t be out anything as the deposit was “paid for” by our travel agent!

As for the non-refundable, we used it for:

— extra gratuities for staff

— paying the difference in price, plus gratuity, for wine that wasn’t in premium package

— treating 2 first-time cruisers to dine with us in Luminae 

Princess EZ Check, which is the same type of offering as Celebrity’s Luggage Valet, is being offered at Port Everglades. We just used it a week ago (2/12) on Sky Princess. EZ Check has been available for a few weeks now, so I hope Luggage Valet starts soon as there seems to be no real reason to not have it again (IMO).

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

On the Regal deck plan on the Princess website on Deck 7, there are 2 small “ocean viewing” sections outside Crooners (port side forward) and near the Shops of Princess (starboard side forward) and the Vista Lounge (near the aft both sides). There are also tenders noted between these two sections. Is there by chance a passenger accessible walkway next to the tenders, but not shown, that connects those small “ocean viewing” sections or are they pretty much isolated like they appear to be?

We are just off Sky and walked the ‘promenade’ on both sides one day. As the post above this one notes, it’s difficult to see under/around tenders & equipment. But, once you walk all the way aft, there is a deck, with nice teak chairs!! I imagine most folks don’t find this place. Now, it may not also be on Regal (I’ve sailed Regal twice and don’t remember finding it…but probably wasn’t looking!) so YMMV.

If you have time before your cruise, you might ask on your ship’s upcoming Roll Call (even if a different itinerary than yours) if someone would inquire for you on how appointments #2 and #3 are made, after  the first is booked online when purchasing the package.

55 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Another question. We like to walk outside around the promenade to burn off calories. Not a lot, maybe around 1.5 miles which is usually around 5-6 laps if I remember correctly. Are masks mandatory outside as well during continual walking situations like this?

Caribbean has a full promenade deck to walk…might only want a mask if there are smokers in the bit of smoking area!! (Of course, who knows what the mask policy will be when you sail??)

On Regal, there are areas on both sides where you can get outside on the “promenade” deck but can only walk up & down each side as no access to the bow & stern. Regal does have a nice walking track way up high, behind the MUTS screen. It isn’t an oval so it’s nice that it curves this way and that. There are little exercise pieces along the way if you want to try those.

Back from our cruise—here is what happened with the saga of the two not-refunded $50 promo gift cards.

Refresher: booked a cruise, had the two promo gift cards applied as OBC, cancelled cruise, promo card amounts weren’t reinstated even though they had not expired. My Princess vacation planner worked on this, to no avail (full story on that can be found in my earlier posts).

So once onboard, I took the printouts of the two bonus cards to Guest Services and explained the whole story. She took the printouts so she could discuss it with the finance folks onboard. With it being such a convoluted story, I didn’t hold much hope they’d be able to sort things out.

I received a phone call the next day where she told me they could see everything I said, but what they could not see is a date where the cards were ever used. So they gave us two $50 ‘good will’ credits (OBC) as replacement for the promo cards!!! Wow!!

And to make things even more unbelievable, it was refundable OBC (which didn’t matter as we used our OBC)!! But what a gracious thing to do as a kind gesture for all the time & trouble I went through to get back what should have been an automatic refund to the promo cards.

As an aside in this story: our PVC had also re-fared our cruise just a few days before sailing, as the price had dropped. This re-fare caused the CCL OBC to drop off the cruise. My PVC contacted the department who puts the OBC onto a cruise and also had me re-fax the document, which I did along with a note stating what had occurred.

I brought the document, the original and second-time fax confirmations with me. The same Guest Service person scanned those documents and returned my copies. She was able to also get that $100 OBC applied to my onboard account!!

Of course, we have both praised her, the finance people, and the Guest Service department on our post-cruise survey.

Those with similar situations may or may not have as much luck getting things resolved as we did but it helps to have all your paperwork with you and to be kind; also keep your expectations low, as we did, so as not to be too disappointed if things don’t work out as desired.

If staying at a hotel, print them at the business center. I just printed our Covid test results at our hotel.

I’ve tried to keep the following post succinct but I’ve also tried to give enough reference back to my previous posts (#7 & 15) so the story can make some sense. Apologies for the length but I hope it can help others prepare if they need to fight for their bonus/promo card refunds.

Heard back from my Princess agent last night. He spoke with someone who told him my two $50 promo/bonus gift cards were actually refunded into my FCC from my cancelled cruise—WRONG!!

I had previously written down all the payment amounts and did the math to account for the monies paid for my cancelled cruise. I reviewed all those numbers with him and he could then see that the person he spoke with was definitely wrong—yay! However, she had also told him that the cards are “non-refundable”, which, she said, is noted in the fine print. [[What I found interesting, is this person also told my agent I could phone Guest Card Services to see what they could do…of course, I had already called and was told it is Princess who issues the promo/bonus cards and only Princess who could refund to them]]

I then read the fine print to my agent concerning refunds and transfers—both of which are allowed until the expiration date 5/1/22. He agreed that the money should have been refunded to the two bonus cards that had been applied toward OBC on the cruise I cancelled.

But, he is now left with only one option: emailing his “bulldog” boss who, he said, has many contacts. He hopes the boss will be able to push this through but it may not happen before I sail on 2/5. He suggested I take the paper versions with me in the event they are able to reinstate/refund the bonus cards so that I’ll have the account numbers & pins and can use the cards.

You could also go to hotel group websites like Hilton, Marriott, etc. Enter Fort Lauderdale and then select hotels that provide airport shuttle. They’ll have a map function that will show all of the locations, so you can zoom in to see the proximity to the airport and port.

The crew’s little pads may show our photos but those photos do not have masks on them!!

It has to be quite a challenge for the crew to discern if a person behind the mask is the same one showing on the pad!

I’ll be booking a room at the end of January 2023. Just looked at our preferred hotel group and they have only opened booking through about mid-January 2023.

Here is an update on my two seemingly “missing” $50 Promotional Gift Cards. I had previously applied them as OBC to a cruise I cancelled under Cruise with Confidence and these promo cards were not refunded even though they haven’t expired.

—my Princess travel advisor tried to help so I can get these applied as OBC to a cruise; he had to find out how to apply them as OBC; they didn’t go through and he checked further and saw they had already “been used”. Of course, not actually “used” in reality, but had been applied to the cancelled cruise

—he gave me the phone number to the 3rd party company who generates gift cards for Princess, to see about getting the funds reinstated to the promo cards

—Gift Card Services (the 3rd party company) said they only issue the regular gift cards and that it is Princess who issues the Promotional Gift Cards and it would be Princess who needs to refund and reinstate the promo cards

—as instructed by my travel advisor, I have contacted him again to let him know the results of the call to Gift Card Services; I’m waiting to her back on his further research into this (with my fingers crossed!)

If/when I get more information, I’ll post it.

5 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

What is a bonus gift card?

Occasionally Princess will have a special. In my case: buy $500 in gift cards and get a bonus $50 gift card. 
 

It’s the bonus cards that the OP used to pay for their cruise and that I used to buy OBC on cancelled cruises, that we’re having trouble being able to use on a future cruise, even though the bonus cards haven’t expired.

We cancelled a cruise that was paid for with credit card and regular gift cards. I had two $50 bonus cards set up as OBC.

We got money back on credit card and most of regular gift card back…no problems with that at all.

However, the two $50 bonus cards have seemed to disappear as I tried to have my Princess TA apply them to an upcoming cruise. He said he’d check into it but I’ve left a few voice mails and sent 1 email and I’m still waiting to hear. I have both the original electronic gift card and the print outs; hoping for the best.

I have no direct experience doing this but back when you could rent a tux that would appear onboard, I seem to remember that minor adjustments could be made onboard. 
 

Might be worth taking the chance…

28 minutes ago, Straughn said:

I am on Edge now and agree100% with all your suggestions. The down lighting over the sink and at the makeup area (with the lighted magnifying mirror) is ghastly or ghostly!

 

I have the same issue with the motorized curtains.

 

And yes, yes, yes to a regular bar in The Retreat Lounge. 

We slid in the desk that’s in front of the full length mirror about 8” or so. There was still enough room for the tray with water, glasses, etc. By giving those few inches, then we could get close enough to that mirror to get good light for my shaving or DWs makeup application.

2 hours ago, sassycruiser said:

Currently on Sky Princess. Sip and cover is the sign posted at the entrance to all lounges, dining rooms, etc.   We wear our mask until we sit down and then take it off.  Have had no issues whatsoever.   I have been asked twice in a week to put a mask on (asked nicely) and it was completely my fault.   Got up from dinner and totally forgot to put my mask back on.  

Thank you for this update; we’ll be aboard on 2/5 so it’s good to know what to expect.

If you don’t mind answering an off-topic question please: which deck did you board the ship at embarkation? Thank you so much for your time!! Enjoy the rest of your cruise!!

Have only sailed on Celebrity once and that was on Edge in a Sky suite.

There wasn’t much we would change but here are some little things:

—better lighting at the mirror in the bathroom: when ‘window’ is open, then the natural lighting helps but when standing at the mirror, the lights shine on the countertop and don’t light the face

—eliminate the motorized curtains: they are kind of neat but there were times we only wanted one side of the drapes closed (to eliminate glare on TV) and drapes could only have open or closed

—larger nightstands and include a drawer in them: yes, with the balcony-facing bed (loved that!), there wasn’t much room for nightstands but as this is only a wish, thought I’d add it

—an actual bar in the Retreat lounge, with a bartender to make cocktails, pour wine, and in the AM would also be a barista

I haven’t looked at the Beyond details to see what is the same or different on it vs. Edge. But we’re already booked for Jan 2023!!

3 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I have also seen where a single day or two seems out of whack with the rest of the voyage availability.  Hard to figure that one out.

I guess we may be dining in that new specialty restaurant: The Twilight Zone-lol

Was able to book every night at the same dining room and same time, by entering each day individually. But the weird part is just one of the seven nights, a sea day, has consistently shown there is no availability in any dining room at any time.

I keep checking, multiple times each day for weeks, and I still cannot book MDR on that first sea day.

I see specialty dining in our future!

On March 3rd, they’ll open through Nov 5th, 2022.

I had never clicked on that little i in the blue circle—thanks for the tip @pcur

Regarding answering “YES” when you have allergies, migraines, sore muscles, etc.

DW and I were on Edge Jan 2-9 and both of us answered “yes” to the nasal congestion question as we were both suffering from pollen allergies, with very runny noses and some sneezing. We knew we were fine but wanted to be honest when answering.

We were flagged and were escorted from the Retreat boarding area, taken back through security, back downstairs to the main floor, to the area under the main escalators where a person checked our temperature, pulse oxygen, and re-asked each of us ALL of the questions but explained that they were to be answered in regard to Covid. 
 

So, if you have unexplained headache, muscle aches, nasal congestion, or any other symptom that you don’t have a reason for it (like migraines, aging body, allergies, or whatever reason that explains your normal symptom), THEN answer “YES”. If you have a reason for your symptom and it is not related to Covid, then answer “NO:. 
 

This was explained to us by the people in the Retreat waiting area and the health person who doubled checked our health status.

And we did get to sail…it just took quite a bit of time to board. After the health re-screening, we were escorted back upstairs, had to go through security again (fortunately, they let us leave our bags in the waiting area), then we could board.

A rapid test is done on a passenger, after they isolate in their own cabin for 24 hours, if identified as having close contact to someone who tested positive.

I know this as it happened on Edge last week to a passenger who had had a massage on Wednesday and had to isolate from around noon on Friday (after being contacted by guest services due to contact tracing of the therapist’s clients) until about 2pm on Saturday. The rapid test was done about noon Saturday and took about 2 hours until passenger was contacted with the negative results.