millie-may

Just saw on Facebook that Deputy prime minister in Thailand will not allow the Westerdam to dock in his country.   This is not good news for the souls on board if true.  I'm sure that a lot  of them have already booked flights home.  Such an awful situation to be in.  Dreadful thought but maybe it would have been better to have one suspected case and then the ship could have been quarantined somewhere like the Diamond princess has been.  It seems the Westerdam is doomed to stay at sea.

just a thought that I wanted to put out there.  Many, many people have more than one passport issued by different countries.  Wonder how HAL are going to be able to check if any of it's passengers on the upcoming Westerdam cruises have such a scenario.  Hopefully it wont be just a case of providing one passport and not the other (which could show recent entries for black listed areas  or countries).  We know someone who went to Israel using one passport instead of her other one as that had stamps for Arabic countries.  Just hoping that no one slips through the net.

15 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I feel the same, although slightly older than you. I am on Westerdam's April 14 sailing (Japan and Russia, no China) and am following this with interest but not too much concern for my own cruise. As more details emerge, I may change my opinion, but for now the virus appears to have similar mortality to the flu.

 

I too am on the 14th April cruise and following posts for information.  It's very concerning for everyone and must be so difficult for cruise lines to deal with logistically.  My hope is that avoiding China will be sufficient caution to allow the cruise to continue.  I'm onboard until it docks in Vancouver and at the moment my mantra is "carry on cruising".  This, of course, depends on how things evolve over the next 2 months.

If you get on the HOHO bus at the port, you can pay in foreign money or use a credit card. Other stops take a credit card.

 

The Carnival Museum takes credit cards.

I am sure most tourist companies are used to being paid in US dollars.

There is an Abitab near the Carnival Museum where you can change different currencies including Argentina pesos and Brazil reals if needed.

https://www.abitab.com.uy/innovaportal/v/381/11/abitab/agencia-19_30

That's great, thanks for the info. Regards Sheryl

Usually there are some tourist buses at the port you can hoho but some folk say they are not that often and can be full when they arrive at popular stops.

Here is the website - https://www.busturisticomontevideo.com.uy/

cost is just under $23.00 US at present.

 

There are also tourist guides with cars and vans that wait for prospective passengers.

The small Carnival museum near the port is interesting if it is open.http://museodelcarnaval.org/en cost about $2.00 US

Hi, were you able to pay in US dollars?

We have the Ultimate beverage package as a perk. Our confirmation also says coffee beverage. Any idea if this means that specialty coffee is included? I have trailed the NCL site and cc boards but can't find any mention of it. We booked in UK. Thanks

we are travelling on Preziosa on July 14th. Having been on MSC 6 times , I have to say , as long as the Europeans do not alarm you with there no waiting for anything policy you will have a great time. (Italians mostly) I would love to know how your cruise went and how the new entertainment is. How wonderful to be in the yacht club, Ive never been able to afford this luxury. Enjoy!:)

Noticed that you are from Javea. We have a home there too. Small world. Any tips for MSC as we have only cruised with them once. We thoroughly enjoyed it but had our elderly mothers with us so were a bit restricted. We are going on the PREZIOSA from Valencia to Brazil in November. You will have to let me know how you get on.

I sent MSC a copy of the form which I downloaded yesterday. I used the Adobe fill and sign app and simply provided my Princess circle number and sent it back to them. This morning I had an email confirming our new MSC status as Black. At first it was not showing on a booking we have for November but, after another email to them, I received confirmation a few minutes later. Thrilled. They certainly are a breath of fresh air when compared with Princess.

Gelato is not included on the Regal anymore. Just got off on Sunday and had to pay for it :(

Hi, are Princess still doing the silver and gold wine packages. They were up to 7 bottles varying in price depending on quality of wine. I am on the Regal in August/September and usually buy one.

Did you have a good cruise. Any tips? This will be our first time on the Regal. Thanks

We are also on the Fantasia Christmas cruise. Because we are traveling with our mothers and a wheelchair and the security risk as in Jerusalem, we will spend our time in Haifa. It looks as though there will be plenty to do there.

I totally get your complaint. Oftentimes, the cleaning products are so pungent that you cannot enjoy your meal and the noise factor probably added to your lack of enjoyment....not to mention, if your waiter was busy with other things, maybe he/she didn't have his/her attention on his service duties. Plus, if there were dirty buckets of water, I would question how clean his/her hands were when bringing my dessert, utensils, coffee, etc. to the table. YUK comes to mind. Unless he/she was constantly washing their hands in between serving and cleaning, this doesn't seem very sanitary to me.

Not trying to sound like a dictator here -- I have compassion for these people that work hard so we can enjoy our vacation but you did pay for this experience -- it doesn't sound as though it was a pleasant experience that you got...I don't think it wouldn't have been for me.

I did feel sorry for our waiter's who were clearly embarrassed. I wanted to take some photos but didnt as i protect their feelings and any backlash from H.O.

Complaints because they were doing too much cleaning. Okay.

Thought I might get at least one response like this. My complaint is that it should have been done when the restaurant was c!osed and not when passengers are trying to eat their meal.

Hi

 

We were on this cruise, we ate in MDR and were often one of the last tables to leave, often around 10.00pm

 

cleaning had started by this time, but was not an issue for us as our table was in a corner away from food station.

 

 

 

yours Shogun

May I ask what restaurant you were in. After we complained we were sat every time right next to the stations. I guess that was a coincidence! We ended up very unhappy. What a way to treat a loyal customer.

I've seen this happen on another line. It's regrettable, but necessary in some cases.

 

A full deep clean of an MDR takes about 8-12 hours minimum allowing for things to dry etc. If one was required prior to inspection it would have to start about 9 PM (and that MDR would not be open for breakfast).

 

They should have closed the MDR but capacity may not have allowed it. They probably could have staged it better as well.

I know that they have to do the clean but surely not for every one of the last seven nights of the cruise!

I was recently on the Emerald Princess Transatlantic cruise to Fort Lauderdale from Barcelona. Having cruised many times with Princess and also done several transatlantic cruises with the line, I was shocked at what happened in the main dining room nightly about half way through the cruise.

We like to find around 8pm taking our time, enjoying the food and wine and finishing around 9/9.30 in time for a late show. Starting around 8.30 the waiter's started to dismantled the service stations and carry out a deep cleaning the drawers, cupboards and trays. Buckets of dirty water were placed near them and the smell was awful. Glasses, crockery and flat ware were placed on the tables which were not occupied and the restaurant began to resemble a jumble sale (rummage sale). When we complained to the maître'd he said that I.t was because of the inspection due when we got to Fort Lauderdale and nothing could be done about it. We tried to eat in other Ares of the restaurant etc but were a!ways confronted by the scene of disarray.

Never before, on sea or land, have we experienced anything like it. I have contacted Princess Cruises regarding it but the response was very lacking. I wonder if anyone else was on this cruise or another one and encountered anything like it. This year we took four cruises with them and have been wondering if the cutbacks have left them more than a little below the standards which we used to receive.

I've always considered Princess Cruises to be very accessible. Now I'm hearing that the Salty Dog may not be so.

 

I am physically unable to get onto a high stool to eat. Just not going to happen, for several reasons. I'm sure I'm not the only one. We're going on Crown in December, and I hope they rethink this by then, because I/we were planning to eat there.

 

i've been on Crown several times, happily, because it it much more accessible than the other (earlier) Princess ships I've been on. I know this doesn't matter to most of you, but how would you like to compete for only six accessible seats, all in the back of the theater, to go see a show? That was my choice before Crown Princess.

 

I hope Princess is not taking a step backwards. But if I find that they are unable to accommodate me (and I'm really not asking for much, only a "normal" height table to eat from),I'll definitely file a complaint. Hopefully if enough of us do, they will change things.

 

I'd hate to have to miss Salty Dog. I hope they fix things before we get there.

 

M.

Princess should look at their demographics. Fortunately, I am able to use a bar stool but prefer to eat my meals/ snacks at a conventional table. I would have thought that as they are charging for this they would need to accommodate everyone in order to get as much revenue they can. I for one, will not be partaking. I just hope that we can still get a drink and entertainment there as this is one of my favourite areas on the ship.

Check out the latest Princess Cruises news from Cruise Critic:

 

Princess Cruises Introduces Gastropub on Crown Princess

Where are we going to go for just a nice drink now? It leaves us with just the Piano bar. They have probably done this on the back of the popularity of the "pub lunches". $19 for small pub meals is expensive. It will be interesting to see how it does.

Hi

 

Just off the Emerald, relax you will have a great cruise, nothing wrong with the Emerald, might something wrong with some off the passengers.:)

 

 

yours Shogun

We are just off the Emerald too. Sorry to say it was a much diffent experience to our Emerald cruise in April/May. Big shortage of restaurant staff meant long lines for anytime dining, shows and films re- runs and lack of wine available made it not a favourable cruise. The worst thing was the deep cleaning of the waiter's stations while we were all still eating!

I think that any ship's standards are governed by its management. This time sadly there seemed to be low control. By the time you travel I am sure that things will have improved back to the normal Princess standards as it was earlier in the year.

Hi can you tell me if you had a love boat party on board for princess,'s 50. We had one on a Caribbean cruise earlier in the year but not on the transatlantic in April which was a shame. It was a great party with entertainers, bands etc up on deck.

We are on the Norway cruise on Saturday and the weather looks awful. Think I will take some gloves etc just in case as I hate being cold.

Hi there millie-may. I found this out recently about it being outsourced to India, apparently this is where all the Military Benefits World wide is now being dealt with.

All you need to send is a copy of your discharge papers and 'Military Benefit Request Form' which you can download from the Princess site under 'Cruise Deals' and 'Military Benefit Program'

Have you got a 'Princess Cruise Specialist' allocated to you? If so contact them they may be able to help.

However, I think that we are in the hands of the Outsourcers' :(

On the positive note hopefully we will come in line with the Americans and will not have too claim every time we book a cruise :)

Should add that we did eventually get it credited to our OBC.

As aikensbest said, it is much appreciated that Princess recognises Armed Forces from around the World, "WELL DONE PRINCESS" and all the other parts of Carnival that buy into this.

Thanks for info. I have sent off forms and will just sit back and wait. It is great to get this credit and, together with shareholder and other OBC's we'll have a wonderfull cruise.

Not sure what you mean by "Princess Cruise Specialist". We are Elite and normally book direct.

Hi,

Yes I agree with the UK replies.You have to apply for the Military OBC each cruise you book.We have scanned and saved our info and just email it to Princess or to our TA for them to sort out each time.Not too much hassle,but I do agree Princess should keep it on file.

 

Enjoy your cruise :)

Hi. I recently applied for military OBC.. As I had not heard anything I contacted Princess who told me it had been outsourced to a company in India and they had no control over it. Oh dear. Can you let me know what you used as evidence of service? I sent a copy of my discharge paper but am not sure if this is sufficient and no-one seems able to help at Princess..

We always get cash back at Passenger Services on the last night of the cruise. There has never been a question or a problem.

 

We did a TA on the Emerald last month and cashed out on the last night.

 

With Stockholders, Military, FCC, and Elite over 31 (plus extras on some cruises) we often begin with +/_ $1000 OBC on a 2 week cruise and seldom find ways to use it all.

Do you get an OBC when you have cruised more than 30 times with Princess? We have just reached Elite and wondered if there were any further incentive goals to reach.