CHK

On 1/23/2024 at 2:10 PM, SargassoPirate said:

I just enjoyed an included casual dining on the second segment without any charge showing up on my folio, so I guess it works.

 

So are you saying you used 2 casual dining meals per person on the first "segment" and then were able to use a casual dining without fees on the second "segment" even though you booked both segments together as one cruise? We're going on a cruise we booked as a 20 day cruise but it's really 2 ten day cruises B2B. Thanks

So as long as we go to the casino and charge a certain amount to our onboard account (say $500), we could still cash out any balance on our casino account at the casino cashier--regardless of whether we had $10 left or had won another $500, right?

We used to be able to buy casino credits in advance and then turn them in for cash at the casino service desk. Way better than carrying cash while traveling.

I see that we can buy "onboard" credits but it only mentions using them for excursions, purchases in shops and spa. Does anyone know if we could charge

our onboard account for using funds in the casino?

This is what the website says--mention of the casino is missing: 

Please Choose The Credit Amount And Quantity  Onboard Credits $25.00

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions. We've done many of the things suggested--arrived a day early and stayed overnight in a hotel (not an option for us anymore due to my allergy)--as well as rented a car and driven to the port on the same day. But we live quite a distance north of Tampa and  it's not really a short drive (5 to 6 hours). Our old backs don't do well with long non-stop driving. Since we have an early non-stop flight we should be okay. On cruises out of foreign ports, we fly in days and even weeks ahead of time but many hotels in foreign countries are able to provide cotton bedding. This will be our 55th and 56th cruise with Princess in addition to many cruises on HAL and other lines. But this is only the third time we've flown in on departure day. One was our very first cruise in 1983 and the second one as escorts with a large group of seniors. I'm sure we'll be fine--and I already have our Princess luggage tags attached to our bags with those stainless steel loops. Glad we attached them in advance because it's tricky to screw those two ends together! Thank you all again

18 hours ago, trvlwrld said:

We always attach our Princess luggage tags before leaving home.  A gate attendant clued us in a couple of years back…if the airlines see a cruise tag or tour group tag attached, they will do their best to make sure your bag arrives with you because they don’t want to be responsible for trying to get it to you when you are a moving target on your vacation.

Wow, that is really interesting! I think we'll do that as well. Thanks for the tip.

31 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

We ordered these from Amazon:

 

 

I will not post a link because there are *hundreds* of choices just by typing in "cruise ship luggage tags".

Yes, these are the exact ones we got.

16 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Now that you have been told about how to handle your baggage tags you might consider our simple solution.  We NEVER use cruise line transfers in Florida ports (or most ports around the world).  We simply pick-up our luggage, walk outside, and grab a taxi (or summon an Uber).   No waiting around for others, no sitting in a van waiting for others, no looking for reps, etc.  We simply get in a car and off we go.  And the other benefit is that in Miami and Ft Lauderdale, using a taxi or Uber is generally less expensive than a cruise line transfer :).

 

That being said, we can only repeat the advice given by most frequent cruisers.  Do not fly in to your embarkation port on the day of a cruise!  You are putting your trip in the hands of an airline,  Airlines run late, airlines cancel 10s of thousands of flights every years, airlines lose luggage which can take hours or longer to catch-up, etc.  Yes, we have heard all the excuses why folks fly-in the day of cruises, and most are just excuses!   You want to deal with the anxiety of a last minute flight?  Ok.  

You might want to see my reply to another member--would love to fly in a day early and have always done that in the past--but I've developed a severe allergy since 2020, cannot tolerate hotel sheets (they contain polyester) and would end up very sick before even getting on the ship. The only other possibility would be bringing my own sheets, pillowcases and maybe even pillows. Too much to deal with. We only booked the ship transfer because we're hoping that if we do end up with a flight problem, the cruise line would willing to hold the ship. But since our flight leaves at 7 a.m. I sure hope there's little risk in that happening.

21 hours ago, Jaymuxman said:

Unfortunately, your biggest concern might be the fact that you are flying in the day you are embarking. With all the crazy weather this country has been experiencing I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully, no airline delays or cancellations for you.🙏

We should be OK since only flying from Tampa to Miami--no direct flights to Ft Lauderdale from Tampa and didn't want to end up stranded in Charlotte or some other transfer point. We used to fly in a day ahead of time but I've developed a severe allergy to polyester (as bad as a peanut allergy would be) and every hotel in the US uses cotton/poly sheets. Thankfully not the cruise line!

This is a really dumb question, but for the first time we are flying in on the day of the cruise. We'll be arriving at Miami airport and have purchased a Princess transfer. Others have told us that Princess will have someone at baggage in the terminal with a sign so all we need to do is fetch our bags off the carousel and follow the reps directions. Question: when will we have time to attach our Princess luggage tags? Should we put them on as soon as we get our bags, wait until we arrive at the port? We have purchased luggage tag holders that attach with woven steel loops that attach by screwing the ends together.

Oh Lordy, as if anything else can go wrong!  We are finally logged in and checked in on the new app on our phones. Still the same old story on the web version--but not sure I care about that right now.

BUT I went to login to Princess on my PC under my husband's login and was told the password was wrong. So I asked for password reset. Followed through with that and now it shows a completely foreign Capt Circle # plus it says ZERO cruise and ZERO days! We have nearly 800 days cruised with Princess... Long time on the phone and it's supposed to be corrected in 24 hours. Want to place bets whether this will get corrected...

UPDATE: After reading that a new Princess app is available I went searching for it. The old app shows up first but if scrolled down past all of the kiddie princess apps, I spotted it under the "Global..." creator name. Downloaded that app and, praise GOD, showed the first cruise we have booked for the Enchanted Princess. I was able to complete most of check in except for some reason it wouldn't let me order the medallions in advance.  I took a peek at the old app and for the first time it said "there is a new version, do you want to update"  I decided not to temp fate and just deleted it from my phone.

Do I have to delete old app first? When I got to apps on my iPhone and search for Princess all I see is "open" and that just gets me to the same app I have downloaded that doesn;t work

I've tried everything--still stuck with cancelled cruise showing and paid cruises not listed. No reply from email to IT. LESS THAN 60 DAY TO CRUISE!

44 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I’d send a message to IT to fix your account.  It definitely sounds like a corrupt account.

 

A360ad7@Carnival.com

You will need: 

Full names

dob

booking numbers

sail date and ship

cancelled cruise info

 

new booking info

 

Explain what has happening. Errors, etc

 

Not sure how quickly they will respond, as they have been working on a new App or revised?

Seems to be impacting bookings on the App.

 

Let us know

thank you so much for that information!  I'll do that today and let you all know the result

I've tried all of those suggestions. Log in with my booking number--ends up at the cancelled cruise. Tried the "web based" check in same result. Cancelled cruise is not listed on either of our accounts.

Have also tried removing and reloading app, logging out and back in. I did call the Princess Concierge number, talked to someone who tried to log in for me and he had the same result--so "wrote up a ticket" to send to tech support. Still waiting. 70 days to cruise--sure would like to get our boarding passes, credit card number on file etc. If nothing changes I'll contact Princess again after Christmas.

Our Medallion app is showing a cruise in March 2024 that we cancelled right before final payment. I had already completed check in on the app--unfortunately. We have since booked two cruises in the Caribbean departing late February. But, the app still shows the cancelled cruise and neither one of the Caribbean cruises. I've tried checking in using the web based check in but with the same result. HELP!!

4 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

 

It's easy -- first you click 'manage flights' and then you click 'change flights'.  See what is available and if a better flight is available or the price has dropped on your existing flight, then you make the changes.  

Thank you!

10 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I check our EZ Air flights every day for every cruise we have booked.  I've re-fared many times over the years by simply using the Personalizer.  It's one of the best things about using EZ Air in my opinion. 

We are just using EZ air for the first time taking a flight from Tampa to Miami on the day of the cruise. I don't understand how you can get re-fared--don't you have to cancel your booking to do that? We booked the flight that we did because it is non-stop. Would love to be able to upgrade to premium or even first class but EZ air didn't have premium seats and first class was outrageously expensive for a 90 minute flight.

On 6/1/2023 at 3:49 PM, Nicole&Pete said:

Does anyone take a stapler with them for luggage tags?

To avoid having to bring or borrow a stapler we bought special luggage tag holders made for cruise ship tags. Can't remember where we bought them but here is a photo from Amazon

We bring a small collapsible hamper--one time I tossed an item of clothing on the floor underneath the hangers because I was going to put it in the bag to send out with our laundry. The cabin steward came in and cleaned the bathroom and in the process of grabbing the used towels carried off my clothing with them. And it was never seen again! We also bring Shoe Glue, a denture repair kit, a multi tool (pliers etc), a champagne stopper, duct tape wrapped around an old pen--and probably every pill known to mankind including lots of Nyquil and Dayquil because one of us always gets the sniffles. But most stuff we bring in small quantities in little mini zip bags so doesn't take up too much room.

14 hours ago, Twickenham said:

 

Well, technically you don't have to fly anywhere - you can take the train if so inspired. London to Rome would require an overnight somewhere, but you've got 8 days to play with, so no reason why a couple of those days can't be spent in Paris or Milan. If you're interested in the train option, check out The Man in Seat 61 website's Italy page.

A truly lovely thought--traveling via train. Years ago we would have jumped at the chance. Unfortunately during Covid I developed an allergy to most synthetic fabrics but especially to polyester. You can't even begin to imagine what a nightmare it's been to replace everything I wear plus carpets, bedding, furniture.... Luckily, Princess cruise lines use only 100% organic cotton bedding on their ships. And their Access Dept, made sure to provide feather pillows. We had originally planned to stay at least one night in UK before flying to Rome but none of the hotels have 100% cotton sheets. But we found two hotels that use cotton bedding in Rome (IHG Indigo and Harry's Bar/Restaurant). There may be others but trying to find out by contacting each hotel takes too much work.

17 hours ago, CHK said:

I don't think there's a time limit--at least not that I'm aware of. I have some Canadian friends who fly back to Toronto but not sure how late the flights are. What I am wondering is if all airlines are available as part of this. I'll ask and see if they know.

 

That's a sweet deal you have flying to and from the Caribbean. I would do that as well if we could.

We actually hate those flights back and forth from Europe (or anywhere else for that matter) which is why we're taking a cruise from Ft Lauderdale to Southampton, flying via British Air to Rome and staying 8 days before boarding the Island Princess back to Florida on the final segment of the world cruise. When we originally booked the trip in 2021 there was a Princess ship that sailed from Port Everglades to Italy and arrived just 2 days before the world cruise segment back. Would have been much easier but oh well...8 days in Rome will be great too.

 

PS: We live in Florida so going to the Caribbean is pretty much like walking outside our front door.

 

I checked with my Canadian friends and they said that "no" they can't do the airline luggage check in when disembarking in Ft Lauderdale. They have to fetch and drag their luggage through Customs and to the Princess airport transfer bus. The on board air line luggage check in is only available to U.S. citizens flying home to a U.S. airport. Pity!

52 minutes ago, John Bull said:

No, there's no such service between Southampton terminals and Heathrow.

Simplest is ship's airport transfer. You do have to schlepp your bags between cruise terminal & bus ((driver loads and unloads) and between your airport terminal's bus stop & baggage drop or check-in, but no real effort needed

Altho not cheap, Princess has certainly always been (one of ?) the cheapest cruise airport transfer services between Southampton and London or its two main airports.

 

One reason why our Caribbean cruises have always been on British ships (beg pardon, one on MSC) is because they provide fly-cruises on cruise-chartered aircraft - check in luggage at UK airport & next see it outside your cabin, then at the end of your cruise leave it outside your cabin & next see it on the luggage carousel at the UK airport.

 

Yes, it makes life a lot easier.

And for Europeans so much easier than cruising out of the USA.

 

Flights back to Europe from the USA are almost all early evening, leaving cruisers in FLA stuck with their luggage all day, or with expensive and/or awkward arrangements to store it.

Do you know if there's a limit on the latest flight time for which the Ft Lauderdale service is available? 

And whether other US cruise lines and ports offer the same ?

 

JB 🙂

I don't think there's a time limit--at least not that I'm aware of. I have some Canadian friends who fly back to Toronto but not sure how late the flights are. What I am wondering is if all airlines are available as part of this. I'll ask and see if they know.

That's a sweet deal you have flying to and from the Caribbean. I would do that as well if we could.

We actually hate those flights back and forth from Europe (or anywhere else for that matter) which is why we're taking a cruise from Ft Lauderdale to Southampton, flying via British Air to Rome and staying 8 days before boarding the Island Princess back to Florida on the final segment of the world cruise. When we originally booked the trip in 2021 there was a Princess ship that sailed from Port Everglades to Italy and arrived just 2 days before the world cruise segment back. Would have been much easier but oh well...8 days in Rome will be great too.

PS: We live in Florida so going to the Caribbean is pretty much like walking outside our front door.

On 5/8/2023 at 1:58 AM, nini said:

Go to the Princess board and learn about how to book your flights from LHR to Rome. Princess offers a bus from Southampton to LHR which is $59.00 per person and very worthwhile.

Look at your cruises on the Princess website and go to the Flights tab.

Under the Flights tab it says to contact your travel agent for transfers. Since we are flying from Tampa to Ft Lauderdale but not returning to that port, Princess EZ air wouldn't let us set up flights from LHR to FCO. Is there a way around this??

I've actually got a second question: when Princess ships disembark passengers in Ft Lauderdale, FL passengers are given the option to include transferring of their luggage from the ship directly to the airport--complete with flight tags to their destination. In other words, you don't have to find your luggage and drag it though Customs to a waiting bus. Instead you leave your tagged bags outside your door the night before disembarkation and you don't see them again until you pick them up at the airport of your final destination. BIG time/energy saver.

Is this unique to Ft Lauderdale or U.S. ports or is this something that would be available at the port of Southampton?