Cruise Raider

Time will tell if they disable the old app in early February as planned. You can hold onto your old app and just download the new app. That’s what I did last month and everything transferred over to the new app, even my dinner reservations. The only problems I had with the old app is it would not allow me to get credit for watching the muster drill so, I simply turned it on again in my old app and that worked. Not accepting your booking number was actually a problem with the only app that seemed to resolve itself within a couple of days. Hopefully, that same issue won’t transfer over to the new app but if it does, just give it a bit of time and that may do the trick.

It’s hlaf of the Take 5 that you can find on the Discovery. I think they call it the Double Down Bar. They’ve even taken out Churchills and have replaced it with an arcade. It is down in Australia right now so, I think I read there is no smoking allowed in the casino anyway. We should be so lucky.

You sound a lot like us. When we first started cruising, we’d pop into dinner about 15 minutes before they closed for the evening. Now, we usually don’t even go into the MDR past 6 PM, if even. And live music is just the best! And in every survey we get from Princess, we mention there should be no smoking inside, period! We, along with so many of our friends have to avoid the casino simply because of all the smoke. The Royal Princess has a true, albeit very small, nonsmoking section in a completely separate room. I actually wish they would switch that up and make the majority of the casino nonsmoking and that little section could be assigned to those that smoke.

The weather here in the SF Bay Area is usually good in October. If you are using EZ Air, if you miss the flight for one reason or another, they will either get you on another flight put you up in a local hotel and get you to the next port of call. The time change works in your favor. And spending on how many people are going to be late, they may try to hold the cruise for a limited amount of time. I am not a huge risk taker but, I would probably chance it if I was using EZ Air! .

We also got a couple of those wine trollies for cruises from our home port. Best things ever!

If you lose your medallion, yes they will replace it onboard with a new one and your name and cruise date is printed on it. I’m pretty sure it will just be your standard color but it never hurts to ask while you are getting your new one. It’s my understanding that the face of it is just a heavy sticker anyway. You keep the same medallion on a B2B. Sometimes, it loses power and you will need to get a new one but it’s rare for that to happen on a two week cruise .. maybe more like after a month.

Sorry to hear it. Hopefully, the blue line won’t be too intense.

I was getting that notification as well last week so didn’t finalize it. I just went back in yesterday and bingo! I got it shipped to my home. I have found that if there is an issue in the app, I wait a couple of days and it all gets solved.

Several of ours just fell apart, too. But we had been using them for groceries all this time. I am happy they are coming out with some new ones now. PS .. I saw a joke on the internet during CoVid about carrying a Princess bag with you when out and about, just to ensure social distancing. 😆

I never even thought about them charging for them. Perhaps they will go out to those that purchase a package 😉

I’ve seen Chandon in the past but think it is only by the bottle. Their stock is really up to what is ordered and it can be ever changing. The champagne they serve is about $18 per glass. It is pretty good. They may also stock some Gloria Ferrar for just under $15 a glass but again, it’s all on what they stock. You may see it on one ship and not on another ship. Or, they may have it on one cruise but not on another on the same ship. I think the Prosecco they serve is $9 per glass. All of these, you will need to add and 18% gratuity if you don’t have a package.

We were just on the Discovery last month. You should have gone to Rudi’s, the service and food were spectacular! The maitre’d there runs a tight ship, meaning he is awesome! We were 5 minutes late for our reservation and he had the hostess come find us. We were already getting up to go. We are rarely late but realized he really keeps things moving along. We never went to dine in the MDR on that trip so can’t speak to text but the only place we found that was kind of slow was at the GastroPub. We’ve had that same wait team before so, I knew it wasn’t them. They apologized for our food taking so long but explained they had recently gotten a new cook there and he didn’t have his rhythm down yet, as it was so crowded that day. Turns out, it was worth the wait. The sushi bar, Alfredo’s were also crowded but never had to wait long once we were seated. We never tried the Crown Grill or Sabatini’s on that trip.

Loreto is still a very quaint town and nobody is beckoning you to check out their wares. I love that. It is clean and has grown a bit but in town under the canopy of trees, it’s still the same as before. It’s my favorite port in all of Mexico and one where I will usually break my ‘no tendering’ rule. It’s just worth it for that port. They usually do have dancers performing at the town square. The Royal was dodging a hurricane in Sept 2022, so they had to make a schedule change rather last minute. Even then, they welcomed us all with open arms, a great show and absolute wondering food and service. La Paz is rather so so if you catch that bus into town but if you like more physical activity, the tour for kayaking through the Mangroves in the other direction from town is simply breathtaking. It was only about 15 minutes away from the port as I recall. There are zero services out there but gorgeous turquoise water and beaches. You are so right, haggling at the shops right there at the port is so much better than in town. While I rarely buy souvenirs anymore, I got such a nice hand carved miniature musical set in a case there years ago. Even if it was made in China, and I don’t think it was, it’s a nice trinket we’ve not seen elsewhere else in Mexico.

I don’t think you will be disappointed. We oftentimes upgrade and never regret it!

Hard to choose, they are all so good. We upgraded to the premier package so, we ended up never going to the MDR and never missed it. We did go to the PES happy hour a couple of times, as well and of course, we ate at the Catch a coupe of times. That is my absolute favorite!

I just read that they might be coming back. They will look a little different than the bright blue bags of the past. It may just be rumor but even saw a photo of someone on the Sky Princess and they mentioned that they were to be giving them out fleet wide. Time will tell.

We went in February once and it was spring break for schools in Canada. It was an 8 day cruise and spanned two different weeks so we thought we were safe. Nope! May is actually safer.

I’m pretty sure you are right!

I just checked mine, as well and while it wasn’t working at all a couple of weeks ago, it’s working fine now.

Just of note, you now have to go through StockPerks to request the OBC for stock.

Over the last year, Princess future cruise consultants onboard are no longer Princess employees. They work for a company that are basically contracted with Princess to sell their cruise packages. They do have access to all of your bookings. So, I don’t think it matters if you book directly through Princess or not. You are still going to get those calls. I spoke with my CVP yesterday and she mentioned we would get one for every cruise we have booked. 😆 That’s a lot of calls! I just tell them it isn’t really worth it for us as we very rarely stay in hotels as we tend to cruise out of our home port or fly short distances the morning of our sailing. They don’t push. I haven’t gotten any emails but also heard from my CVP that they are mailing out more promotions to qualifying passengers. I think we haven’t gotten any because we have so many cruises already booked.

Nothing for Medicare really works on the ship but good to know. I’ve had CoVid 3 times, the first two bouts were very mild and I thought that was because I received CoVid from the get go. I struggled to get get Paxlovid the third time I got it as my PCP retired. I had symptoms for one day! Period! Either the strain was much less virulent or I would have recovered the same with or without it. Who knows but I won’t bother with it again.

Pretty much! If you booked the specialty dinners through your dining credits, then what ever you book afterwards via the app PRIOR TO YOUR CRUISE, you will pay for those reservations through the credit card that is on file. Any booking made before the cruise is charged. You can book while onboard and not be charged. If I didn’t explain that very well, I’m more than happy to answer any questions you may have. The point I was making about canceling and rebooking prior to the cruise is that the dining credit doesn’t show back up immediately.

Until the packages are unaffordable to me, I will continue to purchase it and all the cruises that go with it. I like having wine with my meals, WiFi, gratuities paid, casual and specialty dining, room service, etc. I don’t have any false illusions that the price of the packages won’t increase. It will be what it is. Prices in the SF Bay Area have skyrocketed, too. I don’t see many people blaming the legislation that has caused that. When cruises are no longer within our budget with our discretionary funds, we will just book any more cruises. Good thing we both like my cooking.

If you are booked double occupancy, you will get two devices automatically and you can switch back and forth between devices. You are able to upgrade for just one person to the 4 devices, which yes, will give you 5 devices for a double occupancy cabin. Or, for a solo occupancy cabin, you will get 4 devices. They really don’t care if you share your plan with others. And, the plan is prorated, so if you find you don’t need all those devices until day 3 or 4, maybe day 17 or 18, you won’t be charged for the whole cruise. You can upgrade using your app.