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SCX22

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Everything posted by SCX22

  1. Cat IF was $949 pp plus $540.55 pp port charges. Got $400 OBC for the cabin and this fare code is combinable with FCD OBC.
  2. I just off the phone with my CVP. I was able to get the $400 OBC on the Emerald Princess 01/07/24 LA to FLL Panama Canal in an Category IF guarantee, Princess Standard. I think you have to call a live person and make sure the correct fare code is used. Also, I'm sure that this offer is capacity controlled and the sailings for which this rate code and associated OBC can be applied have already been booked by others.
  3. There's no guarantee that there will be no line, period. Reports from posts on this board account that Galveston embarkation is a cluster and there's a long line for green and blue lanes. It all depends on how organized and competent the port agents are.
  4. Not a door decorator myself. Don't really want to waste my luggage space/weight on decorations, especially on long cruises. Some like to purchase a magnet as a memento in every port and stick it on to their door. Just got off a 22 day Med cruise, and our next door neighbors did this. By the end of the cruise they had so many magnets because this cruise was so port intensive.
  5. We got an upgrade on a 22 day Med cruise on the Enchanted Princess this November. We booked the lowest Interior guarantee and were upgraded to a Deluxe Obstructed Balcony. The ship wasn't full. We knew this because many of the ship's officer's families were on board. Also, many third party mechanics that sailed with us who were doing maintenance on the ship's propulsion. I think it depends on the fare that you paid (we have a friend who when he does pay the single supplement, always gets an upgrade), how full the ship is, and now, how many upgrade bids make the cut. We usually book the lowest Interior guarantee and when we do, we've always, at bare minimum, a location upgrade.
  6. There's no way to get into the Green Lane unless you complete your check-in through the App or the desktop version of the App. Even with Medallion in tow, unless you've completed check-in prior (green checks by all the rows in OceanReady section of the App), you will be sent to the Blue Lane. You still have to check-in at the terminal so a live agent can verify your WHITI Document and identity and register you as a live passenger on the manifest.
  7. I did the B2B of this itinerary, RT Vancouver, on the Majestic Princess this year. The difference between me and you is that I was transiting in Whittier. The ship will arrive in Whittier at around midnight. (Recommend staying up as the approach to Whittier is very scenic.) Gangways, however, aren't opened until 6:00 a.m. No immigration formalities in Whittier as you will have cleared U.S. immigration upon embarkation in Vancouver. I would research what time the direction of the tunnel changes to Anchorage and plan from there. IMO, better to wait an hour on the ship rather than in line in a car.
  8. The earliest flight time that Princess recommends is 6 hours after published ship arrival for same day flight departures out of Rome. It's 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 30 minutes drive to Rome's Fiumicino Airport. Also remember, it's Italy and there's no sense of urgency. In the several times I've disembarked in Civitavecchia, there's always been some sort of delay, regardless of the cruise line. The delay has been as little as 15 minutes and as much as an hour. Sometimes the delay is due to another ship's delayed arrival, which blocks the narrow channel that cruise ship's have to pass. I think that's why Princess pad the first disembarkation group by two hours from the published arrival time. Below is the disembarkation schedule for the Enchanted Princess on 11/23/23. Note, that the ship had a scheduled arrival of 5:00 a.m., the ship arrived on time (a little before), and first self assist group to disembark was supposed to be at 7:00. There was a 15 minute delay in the disembarkation times because there was a problem with attaching the moving gangway.
  9. Princess will assign you a room when it's convenient for them. TBH, the night before embarkation is the latest I've ever been assigned a cabin. I make it a habit to re-check my Travel Summary the night before a cruise to make sure that I didn't receive a upgrade (one can hope). Since I arrive at least a night before embarkation, I always bring a laptop so I can do this and print my luggage tags (either by accessing the hotel's business center or forwarding PDFs of the luggage tag to the hotel's front desk). Don't recommend having the porters checking for you cabin assignment as this can hold you up (you'd be surprised on how many passengers don't print their luggage tags) and they aren't always provided a passenger manifest.
  10. The QR codes have been meaningless from the get go. No one will ever ask to see it or scan it. Not sure why Princess has not done away with it. (In the less than hand full of times I've ever seen the QR codes scanned, it's been because a passenger has brough it up at check-in and the agent was being polite and I don't even think that it was scanned; the agent just pretended to scan it.) All you need to know is your cabin number and you don't even need to know that as the check-in agent will be able to look you up by last name from the passport(s) you present. As far as the check-in window goes, that is the same check-in window that is also listed on your Travel Summary. It just gives passengers a general time of when check-in is open. I guarantee you there will be passengers in line even before the listed check-in window. Princess did away with the boarding groups in August of this year. Just show up. In your case, as long as you show up before 2:00 pm, you'll be permitted to check-in.
  11. I've done several of these cruises out of SF. The port order on California Coastal cruises vary. It's safe to say that you will have to clear immigration at the first port of entry back into the U.S. On one cruise the port order was Santa Barbara, San Diego, Ensenada, LA and back to SF. We cleared immigration in LA. It meant Guest Services giving all guests a time frame to disembark the ship in San Pedro, and having to hand our passports to an immigration officer for a glance, facial recognition was down. The ship was required to reach a zero count before letting anyone back onboard. The process was quick and easy. The problem was that I had to carry my passport all day because I didn't want to wait for the zero count to return it to my cabin. On another cruise, the port order was Monterey, LA, San Diego, Ensenada, and back to SF. We weren't required to clear immigration until we returned to SF. This was the best order of ports, IMO, because the immigration formalities were done upon final disembarkation in SF.
  12. If the origin of the crab matters to you, the Alaska king crab season has been cancelled for the past 3 years due to low crab population. What's being served worldwide right know is from South America, even at the the crab shacks in Alaskan ports. The legs are skinnier and smaller. Better off going to a wholesale club, buying frozen crab there, and re-heating it yourself. You'll save a ton of money.
  13. Another thing to consider is that there is high volcanic activity in Iceland at the moment. No one knows when this will end. The situation is being closely monitored. In 2010, air traffic over Iceland was closed due to a major eruption, which cancelled a lot of flights. Not sure how this would affect cruising, but I imagine if there was major volcanic activity, this would prevent cruise ships from calling.
  14. It's free and open to all. Kind of takes a while for your nose to get used to the chlorine smell, even in the Hollywood Conservatory with seating up front.
  15. Cruising isn't the best way to see destinations on your bucket list. Too many variables that could prevent the ship from calling in destinations. The primary one to be concerned about is weather. Because the climate in these destinations are like Alaska, the season is during the summer only, which also coincides with the Atlantic hurricane season. If there is a hurricane sailing in the ship's path, there's a chance that itinerary will change, which may or may not include Greenland and Iceland. This summer, Carnival and RCCL's Greenland cruises from NYC ditched Greenland altogether for New England and Eastern Canada because of a hurricane. Winds can be a problem in Iceland. I had friend who twice went on a Norway and Iceland cruise on Princess and both times the ship never called in a port in Iceland because of high winds. Iceland and Greenland are expensive period. They are islands and everything has to be shipped in. Last time I was in Reykjavik (this was Iceland Air still flew to SFO), a cup of plain brewed coffee converted to around $5 at every coffeeshop. Great destinations and one of a kind scenery to be seen, but expect the unexpected if visiting by cruise ship.
  16. The closer to the 12 day prior to sailing cut off, the more likely the Medallion will be shipped by FedEx. The expedited orders (those completed closer to sailing) are fulfilled in Singapore and shipped via FedEx. There's no way they can be handled by the freight forwarder that Princess uses and sit around in a warehouse until time to be tendered to the USPS and make it in time before a passenger's departure from home. Back when Medallion shipping was still free, I always ordered my Medallions super close to the deadline so I wouldn't have to get them via the USPS, which isn't as reliable. (One of the reasons why companies don't like using USPS for time sensitive deliveries, despite their cheaper rates, is that the scans are never live as they happen. There can be a delay of up to 24 hours. Also, except for next day delivery, the USPS has 72 hours to create the origin scan upon receiving a item.)
  17. Feel sorry for the passengers and the Internet Cafe/Ocean Front staff. Sorry for the passengers because they will have to potentially pay more. Sorry for the Internet Cafe/Ocean Front staff because they will have more to explain. Some of Princess' current demographic can barely wrap their head around the current plan and how to connect/switch devices on the current plan.
  18. Just got off the Enchanted after 22 days on Thanksgiving. Speed test may look slow, but enough for checking e-mails, streaming YouTube at 720p, surf most websites, and doing work related stuff through a VPN. Was also able attend to Zoom meetings in the evenings (morning in the U.S.). After 10:00 pm, passenger speed is throttled down (assuming to give bandwidth to crew), but speed is restored at 6:00 am. Princess could give faster speeds, but they would also have to raise the prices and this is the best that they can do to be fair to all users.
  19. What was the outcome? Did the CVP put you into the originally assigned cabin in the upgraded category or was the CVP successfully able to change your cabin in the upgraded category?
  20. Yes, you will loose the seat assignments you paid for. EZAir cancels the air reservation altogether in the event of a re-fare. If you cancel and re-fare with EZAir, it's up to you to go after Virgin for the refund for the seat assignments for the cancelled reservation. Some airlines, automatically refund the ancillary charges attached to a reservation when cancelled. Can't speak to whether or not Virgin Atlantic is one of these airlines.
  21. Is there a net refund showing on your Travel Summary? Princess should at least give you the upgrade amount back if you're going to settle and keep the original category you booked.
  22. As of recent, Princess' service has taken a dive. Crew that interacts with passengers does their jobs, but there's no passion in what they are doing and rarely do they go out of their way. Lots of newbies on their first or second contract. The ones that have returned are managers or supervisors. Many of the crew with seniority but in low positions have expressed the desire to move on to greener pastures and take contracts with Disney/RCCL/X because they pay more. On the Enchanted in the Med currently and there was a group of servers that were sent home because they didn't make the cut. No replacement crew until ship reaches Fort Lauderdale. Lido managers have had to have room service folks brought up to the buffet in the evening because there is no one else to do the job. Mini bar swap is handled by room service on this ship but didn't happen for 2 days because they are short staffed. X's service, to me, is more polished. I always write in my surveys Princess can't raise their fares because what's being put out on their ships doesn't warrant it. If Princess were to charge more, I'm taking my money to X. Saying that after having sailed on the majority of Princess' itineraries.
  23. In Livorno, Princess shuttle bus is free and drops you off at Piazza del Municipio. You cannot walk in the port area because it's an industrial port. In Barcelona, Princess shuttle bus is $10 and drops you off in front World Trade Center. If you take the Port Bus it's 4 Euros round trip and also drops you off in front of the World Trade Center. Port bus will stop at every terminal. Not sure if Princess will be using the new port in Tarragona, but the shuttle will no doubt cost $$$ because its an hour out of Barcelona. In Civitavecchia, the Port Mobility bus is free to Lago della Pace. From Lago della Pace the Port Mobility bus to the Civtavecchia train station is 6 Euro. In Bilbao, the Princess shuttle bus is free to downtown Bilbao because the port is 20 minutes from town in Getxo. The shuttle bus drops off in front of the Museum of Fine Arts. In Gibraltar, the public shuttle (vans) 5 Pounds one way and drops you off at City Hall. In La Seyne, Princess shuttle (a ferry) is $35 round trip to Toulon. The public ferry is 2 Euro one way to Toulon. Both drop off in the Toulon waterfront within meters of each other. In Piraeus, public bus X80 is 5 Euro for an all day pass, and takes you from Theomosicles Terminal B directly to downtown Athens. Alternatively you can take public bus 843 to Piraeus Metro Station and take the Metro to Athens and get off at Monastiraki. This is as of November 2023.
  24. Don't recommend taking and excursion with Princess if you really want to go to the actual Memorial. In January there were plenty of unhappy passengers who returned to the ship from their Princess excursion that advertised a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial but weren't able to go to because there were no more tickets available for the day. Some one told me that they only got as far as the Visitor's Center, but did get a partial refund.
  25. Not available. Nothing flavored either. Choices are cream, milk, half & half. Extra charge for nut "milks." Flavors come from syrups and are only available with specialty coffes.
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