mikjr

3 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Mahalo @mikjr for the video...missing a video of Leialoha and her graceful hulas.  

I might have one of those also…. Maybe ELUA part 2 is needed

For those who never had the opportunity to sail with ELUA, here’s a video I put together after our last (and now final) cruise with Dave and Leialoha.  Taken in the Summer of 2023
 

27 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

Maybe it's too soon to know, but does anyone have any idea if this means that if we selected "anytime dining" when we booked, we now have to go back and make another choice (i.e., reservable vs walk-up).

 

This is going to irritate me if we have to go back and make a new selection. I thought we were all set and I could concentrate on other things. Grrrr 😀

The way I read it, ALL current reservations have been cancelled and on June 17, we can rebook our dining preferences. 

I assume everyone who has a booked cruise, has received an email outlining the NEW Main Dining Room options, starting Sept 14, 2024.   ALL CURRENT reservations will be cancelled! 

From what I read, the only change I noticed was the difference between Anytime Dining options will now be in separate dining rooms based on whether you have a Reservation OR you are a Walk in with NO reservation.   REZ use one dining room exclusively; NO REZ uses another dining exclusively.  Traditional dining will remain the same.  

I guess my question is, will you be able to reserve the SAME TIME for every day of your cruise, using the APP??   

HERE is the contents of the EMAIL:
 

Starting with voyages departing September 14, 2024, Princess will designate separate dining rooms aboard every ship in the fleet* to three table service options: 

• Traditional dining offering an early and a late seating every evening 
• Reservable dining times 
• Open seating to support walk-ins anytime 

To support these changes and the transition to the new system, main dining reservations that you may have already made will be cancelled. 

This change does not affect anyone booked in specialty dining restaurants or suite or reserve collection accommodations, who enjoy a dedicated dining room on Princess ships, where no reservations are required. 

Starting June 17, you will be able to use the app ahead of your voyage to opt for traditional seating in a dedicated dining room with the same waiter, same table and same time each night, or flexible dining, allowing you to enjoy dinner at any available time and table size of your choosing in either the Reservable or Open Seating dining rooms.

Has anyone else read about the Privacy Lawsuit against Princess, HAL, Celebrity and RCL???  

It appears that those cruise lines illegally shared info with META.   According to what I read, if you booked your cruise online through their websites, you could be entitled to "Compensation".   

Here's the website:   https://www.classaction.org/cruise-line-privacy-violations

Looks like the previous post laid out the regulations...  

My understanding of the PVSA is that as long as you are on the ship when it docks at the foreign port, you are not in violation.  

Has anyone ever left the ship at one port and rejoined the ship at another port?    Why I ask...  we have family in HILO Hawaii, and Princess is now added KONA (Maui replacement) to the itinerary.  SO, if allowed, it would be nice to leave the ship in KONA, spend the night with our family in Hilo and rejoin the ship in HILO the next afternoon.    Is this allowed??

 

The problem with Hawaii,...  it takes years to build anything.  My brother in law was a native Hawaiian and developer in Hawaii.  He said it takes years and years to get approval for projects.  And supplies and resources are always the other big issue on the Islands.   Hopefully, the STATE and local leaders will be smart enough to move this project along quickly.  Not only for the obvious financial issues, but for healing the emotional sadness and impact to the Hawaiian people.  

21 minutes ago, Bellapenella said:

Hello.  My mum is currently on the Emerald in Hawaii Aug 5-16th.  Her first time cruising and I'm sure they are ok .. but does anyone know the status of the ship and/or is there anyway I can find out? I've tried reaching her but I'm sure due to the current situation they may not have internet and/or cell service.  I've never cruised so I apologize for all these questions, I'm just concerned.  Would the Hurricane/storm effect the ship?  Will they dock it instead of going to various ports?  I'm sure they are ok, but would like to educate myself so I won't feel helpless not knowing what's going on in these types of situation.  Thank you SO much in advance.

Do the have Cell Phones and did they buy a WiFi package?  The WiFi is via Satellite so the weather might affect service.   And have you tried to text them?   I would keep trying

7 hours ago, LawDog61 said:

I am onboard the emerald now, 2 days out of Hilo.   The ship and captain are very quiet.  Not a word. Yesterday we did speed up for a medical emergency, trying to arrive 15 hours early….but now…who knows.

Has anyone mentioned what they plan to do?  In March, weather was bad and we missed Lahaina and Nawiliwili.  The ship spent an extra night in Honolulu.   Hopefully they will do something like that.  

3 hours ago, BCHappyGal said:

And their beautiful Banan Tree looks to be all gone... soooo sad

We were just there in July on the Emerald, but this photo was taken in 2019

3 hours ago, WYB! said:

So the Emerald Princess is currently (Aug 05th - 21st) on it's 16 day round trip Hawaiian Island with a scheduled stop on Mon, Aug 14th to Lahaina, Maui Island, which I don't think they will be making due to the fires currently burning in Lahaina, https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com

Prayers for the all that are effected.
Does the ship typically need to re-provision food and/or bunker fuel in Honolulu before returning to the mainland?

I also wonder how weather and specifically the smoke from the fire will effect this voyage overall.

I'm guessing that the ship instead of Lahaina, Maui may overnight somewhere or take a slower route towards Ensenada.

Safe travels,
- WYB

we were on a Princess cruise in March and missed Maui and Kauai due to weather.  Capt decided to spend an extra day in Honolulu.  which was OK.  

This is very sad news!  we were just in Lahaina in July on the Emerald.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/08/09/coast-guard-joins-brush-fire-response-lahaina-where-crews-continue-battle-wind-whipped-flames/

4 hours ago, coo359a2 said:

Don't follow your reasoning on holding back on tipping room steward on 2nd half.  As far as I know, the room steward makes no decision on who gets the mini bar on any cruise B2B or single cruise.

very true, it is room service that sets up the bar....  

19 minutes ago, trvlwrld said:

We got both segments of shareholder benefits, but they wouldn’t restock the mini-bar.   Seems each ship makes up their own rules…good luck trying to get it elevated…we just got rather indignant responses from ship staff and made to feel like we didn’t know what we were talking about…what happens and what is supposed to happen doesn’t necessarily mesh when you actually get on the ship.   They have so many new people making decisions that aren’t familiar with rules or policy, so be prepared for anything.  Who knows, maybe you’ll get double mini-bar restocking both times!

Maybe that's a good reason to hold off on giving the Cabin Steward an additional TIP for the first half...  NO mini bar 2nd half, SMALLER TIP!!  
 

In over 20 years of cruising, our upcoming cruise will be our FIRST Back to Back:  7 day coastal with 7 Mexican Riviera.   I have a question regarding Shareholder benefits.  

Since it's TWO separate BOOKING numbers, I assume I will need two separate forms?   Also, will the benefits be given as two 7-day at $100??  or will they combine the benefits to 14 days at $250.00???

Thanks! 

32 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

There could be a fly in the ointment.  It looks like sharing could be allowed at Alfredo's.  There are a la carte as well as the 14.99 option.  At the Salty Dog though, it's currently three courses per person for $18.00.  Unless the Salty Dog's menu goes a la carte, then sharing would be verboten since it's a per person charge similar to Crown Grill and not a la carte.  Salty Dog looks nice, but is way too much food for lunch and there are better options for dinner.

We just got off the Emerald in July and from what I remember, someone mentioned that the Salty Dog now has an A la Carte menu.   We did not eat there, so I can't confirm

20 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

As for the Ocean Now service charge, I just think it is quite odd and ironic that Princess (I am talking about YOU, JP) came out with the Medallion App - the great differentiator to the competition - and now guests have to pay a free to use one of its prime features

Well stated Steelers...  I totally agree with your comments...  I'm just upset that this is our first cruise on Discovery, and the decide to change the "Complementary" dining venues AFTER we fully paid our fare.  It would have been nice to allow those FULLY PAID PAX to still take advantage of the old PLAN.  After all, that was part of the agreement we paid for.  

33 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

And why on Earth would you need/want such a thing?  Just show up for check-in when convenient for you, but not later than they request in the Travel Summary itinerary information.

we live and cruise local to the port here in SoCal.  We arrive when our RIDE can take us.  So it's important for us to at least get an idea when we can board so we can schedule our ride accordingly. We like to arrive early enough to walk the ship, have lunch, and unwind.

28 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

After factoring out the gratuities and wifi, I believe the balance is 29 per day for all of the non alcoholic drinks, plus the 2 included casual specialty visits, and the included ocean now and room service.  Only you can determine if it's valuable or not.

And don't forget, you have to double that amount for couples!!  so that's now $58 per day, per person.  on a 16 days Hawaiian cruise, that an additional $928.   I'd rather spend that on a better cabin.  but that's personal choice. 

39 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Mike, how can an optional package that you have no interest in purchasing since it brings no value to you makes your cruise a lessened experience? And if you have read all of the posts in this thread, there are a small percentage of non drinkers that still purchase the plus package because it does bring them value with the combination of no n alcoholic options with the grats and wifi.

Maybe LESSEN was a bad choice of words.  The fact is, I can still pre pay TIPS and WIFI, pre order packs of bottled water for our room and still come out ahead.  We are coffee and tea drinkers.  We used to buy a coffee card @ $40 for a 15 day cruise.  NOW, they've thrown the coffee in with the Beverage package.  So now, we don't drink as many specialty coffee drinks as we did.  We both lost out....  we don't have the option of using the coffee card and receiving a small discount, and Princess has lost additional income from us.  YES, that's a minuscule amount of money... but multiply that by 100s of other older passengers that feel the way we do.   

2 minutes ago, c-boy said:

my quess is they're  (princess ) still  going to tinker with the packges in the future, and it will depend on their bottom line future cash flow. Could go, add more or delete some.

And as a Shareholder, I'm also interested in their bottom line!!  

1 minute ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

There have been several non-drinkers who have stated otherwise.  They said with the specialty coffees, bottled water, mocktails, in addition to the gratuities and wifi, it has definitely been of value to them even though they don't drink alcohol. So maybe hold the blanket statement.  The Plus or Premier FARE might not be good for you but it is for many other people, whether they drink alcohol or not.  Remember it is a FARE that includes several items, not just adult beverage. 

I realize the profit is in the beverage packages, and they are not going away... but it would be nice if NON beverage packages could be offered.  We all like to save money...  

13 minutes ago, memoak said:

Then why buy them just go standard fare and pay for what you want

I don't buy them...  but it would be nice if they offered packages that would be good for those not wanting beverages...  TIPS,  WiFi, Specialty Dining, Photos, Sanctuary, etc, would be a few options to include.   With the new packages, you can now buy your way into "Priority Embarkation".   As an Elite for many years, what does that do to our embarkation status??