ljhershey

On 2/22/2024 at 2:03 PM, mamafun said:

Thanks, @skynight this is honestly very helpful!

I agree with Botticelli.  A lot of people can't find it, but it is readily accessible from (only) the rear set of elevators.  The 7:30 production shows are often full by 7:15 or earlier, so you want to plan your dinner early if you want to go to the early show.  If you get a waiter you prefer, you can request to be seated in their area on the following nights.

5 hours ago, MacMadame said:

stroopwafel. 😄 (Cyclists eat them all the time so I've learned to spell it.)

So yummy!  Thank you, now I can spell it too.  

Norris,

Our upcoming Princess cruise is our first as Elite.  Did you find the laundry service dependable?  I am hoping to pack  "less" if possible.

The laundry service on HAL for $49 per cabin per week is fantastic.  Get a bag to your room steward by 9 am and next day you will find clean clothes hanging in your closet and clean undies folded nicely in a basket on your bed.  We sent out clothes daily.  Well worth it for the peace of mind.  I did write laundry instructions (like warm wash) on the order sheet.

The artwork on HAL is exceptional.  If you like to experiment, one lunchtime in MDR, try the "stropfwaffel" (I have stumped the spellchecker on that word).

So any other Princess elite tips we should know?  I will be swapping the refrigerator contents, likely for pop/soda.  Getting afternoon tea worthwhile?

Thanks so much for sharing your experience.  I will look forward to hearing about your next adventure.

Looking forward to my upcoming Orange Souffle!

15 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

Lavazza is also available in the buffet. 

Illy is not available anywhere.

 

Norris

Gotcha.  You just made my day...or should I say cruise.  So happy to hear this.

38 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

It was harbor bottom sludge before they switched to Italian Lavazza. X had Lavazza in 2016 when we first sailed them. It's still second best.

ILLY, not IFFY is what the Doctor ordered.

 

Smooth, rich, tastes like caw-fee! Accept no substitute.

Since1933. Trieste, Italy

 

Norris 

 

Love the description...harbor bottom sludge...exactly ... Why I asked.  Is this available shipwide or just at IC?

It would be like a miracle if it were shipwide ❣️

How was the coffee on board...has been iffy in the past?

Just now, Shippy said:

  Thank you. I just sent an email to Mr. Steinke

Hope that resolved the issue for you!

4 minutes ago, skynight said:

If you have one of the plus fares coffee at the International Cafe is included. Without a package I.C. brewed coffee is somewhere around $3. It is supposed to be LaVazza coffee. I don't have the current price list.

Royal Class ships have drip coffee prepared from grinds in the buffet area. It is decent. This coffee is also served in the DRs and for room service. Many of the Grand Class ships have also converted their buffet coffee to the drip coffee. What ship? Some of the older ships have converted as mentioned.  

Ruby Princess.  It just had a drydock so maybe there will be better coffee... certainly would be nice!

Thanks for the info!

Here's some contact info...

Executive Contacts

Primary Contact
Collin Steinke
Director, Customer Relations
24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
csteinke@princesscruises.com

Secondary Contact
Lorna Warren
Vice President Guest Services
24305 Town Center Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
lwarren@princesscruises.com

7 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Just noted….. Best to bring one’s own French Press and cruise supply of good coffee.

 

Yes.  I was also thinking about Starbucks Via packs.

Any thoughts on where to get good coffee other than purchasing at the International Cafe.  In the past Lido coffee was not very good.  How does MDR coffee and room service coffee stack up?  Any secret sources on board??

22 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

Leslie, thanks for the compliments.

I'm glad you found this helpful. I didn't have much in the way of humor-it's been a rough couple of weeks since we got back and the energy level is low. Sleeping a lot.

I have a couple of friends who just joined the Ruby today so they'll be getting off as you get on. You'll have a great time!

Meantime I have our last day to recount then our day in Ft Lauderdale where we get the best meal since we left Chicago and I get some good photos of the Ruby sailing away and leaving us weeping on the beach.

Stay following and catch us on the Rotterdam! Christmas is only 11 months away!!

Norris

I had COVID following my last cruise also, and it is exhausting.  But...I am ready to go again.  Paxlovid certainly improves the outcome.

I am looking forward to your Fort Lauderdale experience description!

Best wishes to you are Carol.  I think you will enjoy Holland America also.

Leslie

Thanks so much Norris.  I feel well prepared for our Jan 29 cruise.  I really appreciate your thoroughness, illustrations and humor.

Leslie

1 hour ago, IndyKid said:

We cruised last month for a week aboard the Caribbean Princess, had WiFi as part of our package. Both our cells are Androids (Google Pixel and Samsung 23) and Verizon is our carrier. Both phones had a WiFi calling feature, which is no-cost when calling or receiving any calls with a US number. So we enabled it on both phones and put them both on airplane mode. Texting worked fine both between us and people back home. Calling sometimes took a few attempts but when it went through it worked well, sound quality was very good, no noticeable delay, echo, etc.

I have t mobile also....good to know!

12 minutes ago, Deck Chair Queen said:

Actually we did not use the Medallion messaging so I don’t know about the notifications or internet requirements. We used regular iMessage SMS texts using the ship wifi and Verizon in ports. For full access to your wireless data plan (unlimited data in our case) you pay $10 per day per device with a Verizon Travel Pass. $5/day for Canada and Mexico. 

Thanks for clarifying.  As an Android user, I am hoping WhatsApp will work similarly for us 

2 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

I can only say one thing for certain- internet was required via Medallion Net/Airplane mode.

Ashore we used our Verizon plan.

I don't recall getting tones or vibrations. I carried my phone on a belt holster. I have the sound turned off.

I only knew if the message had been received if I saw an answer to my text.

Norris

Thx very much.  I shall continue to enjoy your journal.

On 12/1/2023 at 5:45 PM, sandsunsurf said:

 

TL;DR- you buy wifi to access the internet, not to make phone calls. If you buy internet, you can use data messaging apps and use FaceTime or the like for communication. If you dig deep into your phone, you probably CAN make traditional cell phone calls and send texts, but it takes some knowledge and work. 

----------

There is not an easy way to explain all of this. Even the (seemingly) conflicting posts are actually correct from that person's experience.

 

I'll try to break this down into two parts: first being the connections the second being phone calls and texts. Unfortunately to be technically correct I will have to use some jargon. Please bear with me..

 

Generally, your phone connects to three "networks" in different ways using radio frequencies (not cords).

1) You have your WiFi connection, which accesses a local computer-type network (Princess MedallionNet or your home network, for instance). On Princess, if you pay for Internet, then the local network also gives you access to the internet, over the WiFi connection. If you are on the Internet, you will get data like from the web or the cloud storage using different protocols. These could be "internet protocols." Also, to picture this in your head, wifi is when your phone is acting like a computer connecting to the internet.

 

2) You have your cellular connection for the other two networks (which are now really just one connection)- a voice component and a data component. This is a radio connection to a tower that is then connected to the provider's "telephone" network. On the ship, the "tower" or "cellular connection" is operated by the Ship, and this is the expensive way to use your phone for calls and texts (more later). The data portion of this is now so advanced that this direct cellular connection to the internet is like using your wifi at home, but it's not using WiFi, it's using cellular. This part is simplified, but just understand that it is very different from WiFi.

 

For the next part of this, we have to include a little history.

 

Initially, a (dumb) cell phone just connected to the cellular tower which then connected to the "Plain Old Telephone System" which you know/knew as the plug in your kitchen wall with a phone attached using copper wires. In the 90's it was trivial to use a police scanner and actually listen to people's cellular phone calls, they were a two-way glorified walkie-talkie.

 

Over the next 20 years or so, the cell phone introduced the ability to have some simple data attached to the radio signal, and SMS messaging was introduced. Then with 2g digital and later cellular, a separate data channel existed which ultimately gave us smart phones that could access the internet and have a voice conversation simultaneously.

 

Now this is where the conflicting possibilities and posts come in...

 

With your current 5g iPhone or Android, there is still backwards compatibility with the old SMS messaging, which means that your cellular carrier AND your phone's capabilities and settings matter.

 

Talking on a cell phone NOW actually means you are talking on the data channel using a "voice-over-internet-protocol" or VoIP. GoogleFi as a cellular provider takes advantage of this and allows you to make a "cell phone" call over your WiFi connection to the internet or over a cellular data connection to the internet. 

 

Now we need to separate out the texting options. SMS is still (mostly) a cellular phone network function. iMessage is not a text message- it's a really complex data messaging app that happens to bring your SMS texts into the fold. WhatsApp or Messenger or Signal are all chat apps like that, also. The catch is that the person you want to talk to has to have the same app, vs SMS which is basically universal without regard to your cellular provider or phone make/model, because it is the old-school standard that used to share the cellular signal.

 

With all of that background: If you buy internet on the ship, have an iPhone, and don't change settings on your phone, you can seamlessly message people with iMessage if the other person has iMessage also because iMessages is a chat app, but you WON'T see any texts from your friends with Android. If you have an Android, you can use Google Messages, which is like iMessage and integrates SMS with a chat app but you won't see SMS texts from others. So with Internet package on a ship, you can surely use chat apps if your friends and family have that same chat app.

 

Where it gets more complex is that some phones and some providers have a setting that allows "WiFi calling" which means that you can use VoIP to make cellular calls and send SMS texts over a WiFi connection to the internet. Sometimes this ability is limited by your provider, not your phone. This is what the post from the user using GoogleFi is specifically talking about. So if you are able to change the setting on your phone, you may be able to send SMS texts and make phone calls using the ship's internet connection and package.

Thanks so much for this thorough explanation.  I have What's App loaded on my Android phone and have tried it from home with family over WiFi....successfully..

My question ..on board the ship, how would I message my husband who prefers not to have WiFi.  Will he get a notification of the message?

Thx very much.

Gorgeous photos!  

Could you please comment on how the messaging service in the app functioned... specifically

Does the sender know if the message has been sent or received?

Does the recipient get a notification/tone/vibration when they receive a message? 

Is internet access required for messaging?

Thanks so much for your thorough coverage of your trip.

Thank you for this helpful, fun-to-read preview for our upcoming cruise Jan 29th!   Hope you are both now feeling healthy.

Thank you!

Thank you for such a s thorough review of this tour.

13 hours ago, Serious Cruisers said:

Booked on the Nov 20th sailing  could  do a live if requested 

Please do....it would be great to hear your experience.

15 hours ago, trin880 said:

Looking forward someone doing Live Ruby Princess while it is sailing to FLL from SF. We are booked for Jan 29th Panama Canal from FLL. 

We are also on that cruise.  FYI, there is a roll call on line for it also.  I am certainly curious about the dry dock fixes and upgdrades.

On 4/11/2023 at 10:32 AM, Jim_Iain said:

Uber has a an elevated product called Uber Black (Lyft has a similar service).

 

It is a premium Service with Large Capacity Luxury cars and  SUV's (generally black) at a premium  cost. (About  3X the cost of their regular service).    Think of it as a Limo Town Car vs a Taxi.

Thx so much for explaining.  We had arranged with a small company with black (non Uber) SUVs.  I will check with them to be clear on pick up point.

On 4/9/2023 at 11:44 AM, Jim_Iain said:

Yes.   You have to either walk or take a shuttle to the LAXIT lot .    Only Black Service is permitted to pickup curbside at the terminals.

 

Once there one lane is setup for Uber and One for Lyft

What do you mean by Black Service?  Is this a company name or mean black limos?  Thx for clarifying.