snowskier

7 minutes ago, Coral said:

Thanks - I have 2 different disputes that I opened and I have to say I am more pleased with Costco Citicard than with Chase United. I may just need to use my Costco card more often.

My Chase United card provided a resolution to the dispute quickly -- the provisional was changed to dispute resolved in two weeks. All money is back in my account.

Chase United Explorer -- dispute resolved in about 2 weeks. Received credit for full cruise fare and excursions. No additional documentation or whatever needed. Provisional credit was there in less than 24 hours.

Totally bored so quickly put a spreadsheet together with the answers in this thread through #85:

- 88 total booking dates are included in the following:    

-    9 received FCC

-    4 received CC refund

-    1 of these 13 received both

Booking dates that received FCC - note many with these same dates did not received FCC yet:  

Booking dates that received CC refund - note many with these same dates did not received CC refund yet:

Not real scientific -- I blew by the responses that got wordy with cancelled then rebooked then called - etc. etc., the ones about Celebrity, and those that decided not to respond to the question but did share comments.  Probably left 10 +/- responses out. Results were pretty random. 

Did this just for fun -- not doing it again as it did nothing for my boredom.

Just as they may not give money back when the fare goes down, they won't charge you more if the price goes up.

Now that we have the medallion I have saved the wristband I bought and reuse it. I have never saved anything else from a cruise and know I never will. 

We have never been charged the gratuity.

Layers are the answer but make sure they wick -- wool is nasty as it gets wet and you will be cold. Sweating feet in wool socks. sweating with a wool layer next to your skin -- not going to be happy. There is a reason those of us that work / play in the snow all winter avoid wool and anything else that doesn't wick. 

Under Armour and others make great base layers. As for outerwear -- there is a reason Columbia is a price point product (i.e. cheap). Don't let those silver dots that they brag about fool you -- silver dots are just that, silver dots. Guarantee it will be a one and done purchase when it comes to cold weather.

Funny how many people responding to this question appear to feel it is just wrong to flaunt their status by wearing the pin but make sure their response states how many cruises they have been on or what their loyalty status is.  

22 hours ago, voljeep said:

I hope Princess is indeed enforcing that if you sign up for TD,  that you can't get into AT before 7:30pm

Just off the Royal and not a chance this happened. Still a significant number of people with TD that waltzed into AT whenever they wanted. Every time we sat at a shared table, at least half the people were proud of the fact that they had TD as a backup if there was a wait for AT.  It wasn't after 7:30 -- 

44 minutes ago, pthjudy said:

Wouldn’t it be profitable for Princess to follow Royal Caribbean’s lead in having New York area departures year round?  Whether it’s a week cruise to Bahamas or an 11 day to the Caribbean, Anthem of the Seas with its almost 5000 passengers nearly always sells out. Princess has several ships in Florida all winter. There are usually availabilities on each,  and each of these ships holds many fewer passengers. Does anyone know why this port is ignored except for the fall? 

I would be willing to bet a business case has been done across the Princess brand indicating that going to NY year round just isn't a profitable decision.  Seems there are many more variables in making this business decision than "the other guys sail full from NY and we don't sail full from FL so we should move a ship". If only things were that simple.

Worn it with a wrist band on three cruises and never had a problem. When you first put it in the band it seems like it will fall out but once on your wrist it is secure.

I have worn the wristband on three cruises. Never had a problem with the medallion falling out. Initially I thought it might but once it is on your wrist no problem. 
 

Husband used the clip and it went missing while on shore. Real pain when we returned to the ship with no medallion. He had it clipped so it would ‘land in his pocket’ if it came off - didn’t work. 

Two weeks ago on the Royal I asked for Volcano and was informed it has been removed from the kids menu. If I really wanted one it they would probably make it but I had no desire to be "special" so ordered the Banana Split which they now have on the kids menu as a replacement.

1 minute ago, stoneharborlady said:

You could still go, and just stay on the ship when in port.  Better than missing the whole cruise.

Because there is no way one could get bit by the Zika mosquito on the ship???? How Princess keep them off the ship? Really doesn't matter how many CC members are about to jump on the bandwagon with -- I have never seen a mosquito on a cruise ship. If there is one, it carries Zika, bites a pregnant person, who cares that others have never seen a mosquito  on a ship. 

Bottom line - Take a chance with the health of your unborn child or miss a cruise and lose some money. Is the gamble worth it? Only OP can decide.

On 1/18/2020 at 11:51 AM, Thrak said:

What's wrong with just using a credit card?

Because (as the OP stated) they have Euros left over from previous trips and would like to use them? Credit card just doesn't accomplish that.

We ordered ours well in advance and received them two days before the cruise. Previous responses to this question have been all over the place. Some say they came FEDX, ours came US Mail. Some say they came from Singapore -- ours came from Miami. Some got them a couple weeks before the cruise -- some didn't. 

Bottom line -- they will come when they come -- there is no answer that works for everyone.

Princess has it on a regular basis -- saw it in the Patter several times last week. They even have Karaoke on steroids with Voice of the Ocean. I never saw it, never even walked by the venue where it was held so don't know anything else about it. If OP wants to make sure they don't sail on a line that has Karaoke not my place to judge and tell them how to cruise (just don't attend) -- but did want to provide a response that reflects what actually happens on Princess. 

Yesterday Marcus was the CD. Haven't seen him today and things constantly change so can't guarantee who it is today or will be tomorrow.

I asked the excursion desk on the Royal Princess yesterday and they said $34/pp for transfer from San Pedro to LAX. 
 

Google is your friend for checking rates for taxi, Uber, Lyft, etc. 

We have done bike tours in all these places had a great time. Hilly? Narrow Roads? Isn't that what riding is all about? Yes you can rent a bike and try to figure out where to go and what you are seeing. Personally I feel, the info the leader provides is a great way to learn about the country without sitting on a bus packed with people.

Bike tours eliminate much of the whining we see on CC -- no fighting over seats on the bus, small group of like minded / active people, fun way to burn some calories, no shopping. You get to see local places a big bus can't get to and are too far to walk to. 

If you like to ride -- go for it. They always have a "chase vehicle" to pick up riders that can't make it. No shame in getting on the  vehicle, at least you tried. 

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

That's a stock Princess photo ..

Not mine. ☺️

We just throw all our cards & medallions in a box at home. 

All mine get thrown in the trash.

On 12/29/2019 at 8:33 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

Confirming...only INTRAnet on your ship will work.  Anything Princess related will be available.  Lots of little nuances; some good, some useless.

Following the above logic the Princess INTRAnet (never have seen it written with the caps this way) should let OP access the Princess Travel Insurance App because I think we can all agree Princess Travel Insurance is Princess related. The Princess INTRAnet allows access to princess.com so maybe the app can be accessed as well. 

Would be interesting to hear from someone that tried so we all know the real answer. 

31 minutes ago, ducklite said:

1.  The shipyard falls behind and your cruise is cancelled--possibly with very short notice.

2.  The crew is all new to their jobs and/or the ship and/or each other and not flowing well leaving massive gaps in service.

3.  There are workers on board during the cruise finishing many things and creating noise.  There are amenities that aren't usable as they haven't been completed.

4.  The first passengers are the guinea pigs who might have to suffer through issues with HVAC, water pressure, outlets not wired, or exploding shower doors.

 

I could go on, but that's a decent start.

Respectfully, with the exception of the first point, if one believes the posts on this board these challenges happen over and over and over on ships that have been in service for weeks and years. Might be a different reason for the problem but the reason really doesn't matter. No one here has the stats to start saying -- it is more likely to happen on a new ship / line. Maybe, just maybe, a new line will have learned from the mistakes of the current lines that keep doing the same old thing, maybe they will be more Guest Service oriented and maybe the first cruise will be close to perfect? My  glass is half full. 

We would do it in a heartbeat IF there was a new destination. There are too many places to explore in this world that are not accessible from the water to repeat ports we have already been to. The only cruise I would repeat would be an expedition ship to Antarctica -- no ports just the beauty of nature. 

1 hour ago, caligirlfashionista said:

 Now, the reason I was devastated Was because I was actually upgraded to the mini suite and for some reason princess didn’t bother to honor the agents notes

Devastated --"cause (someone) severe and overwhelming shock or grief". I am so sorry OP has experienced such a severe reaction to a mistake / challenge related to a cruise. Sure hope things get better.  

31 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I know on Celebrity, you can go to CS and designate available OBC to your cabin steward and/or butler (if you're in a suite). However, with regards to the Celebrity MDR wait staff, it would go into the general MDR wait staff pool (or the Luminae wait staff pool in you were in a suite) which makes sense as it takes a "village" to serve folks in the MDR.

 

What does this have to do with answering the OPs question about Princess?