JoRoy218

Am interested in getting Princess gift cards through AARP. Is this still a thing?

CCL stock today, upgraded from “hold” to “buy.”

🤣😂😖 Maybe they had an inside connection?

We spent a short time in the Wheelhouse, wanted to like them but… actually felt sorry for them.

Oops, I stand corrected! 😉

Unfortunately (at this time) one cannot make advance reservations. Suggested to go straight to the Sanctuary upon boarding for your reservation. Yes, there are plenty of loungers but the “prime” seats near the windows, are taken quickly. it is $40. for a half day (1-5). The afternoon treats include “tea time” with a very generous selection of finger sandwiches, sweets, scones (including clotted cream and raspberry preserves - yum), and of course hot tea. You can order food off a limited menu but that is extra $. Staff is very attentive, but not intrusive.

We too were on the same Emerald cruise. We also booked a suite, a Vista on deck 8. We have quite a few Princes cruises under our belts, don’t even look at other lines. Was sorry to hear about your embarkation difficulties, the procedure seemed to be a “cluster” with staff shouting out instructions and very few listening/following. It was hot and crowded, got there around 1045. Lunch in DaVinci was perfect, as were all the meals in MDR, staff excelled. On most cruises, there are “hits & misses” but we did not experience any “misses.” We spent quite a bit of time in Sabatini’s, love to go on every ship. Ate bfast there almost every morning, and two dinners. Maybe because we ate later we did not experience the delay you described. The courses were spaced nicely and it seems we were departing within 1.5 hrs, more or less. Staff of course was top notch! Loved Stefan from Romania, his enthusiasm was contagious. Yes, the ship is older but it seemed in very good condition. We noticed new carpeting in quite a few areas. We also spent one afternoon in the Sanctuary. It was almost full, staff kept busy, nice, peaceful day. Shows were good though “Blame it on the Boogie” was not our favorite, “Rock Opera” was outstanding and probably the best show I’ve seen on a ship. They also had two comedians (who did two shows each), who were also very good. All in all, probably the favorite cruise at this point. Itinerary was just right with two sea days thrown in. Just my two cents…

We were on the Emerald last week, arrived in time for lunch. Got a printed list of lunch possibilities, DaVinci was listed. There was no “Reserve seating” for lunch that day. Opened at noon. Was packed within 30 min.

Thanks for all the above, never realized I needed to stay on top of ticketing issue. I check on all the other moving parts. Spent two hours today being shuffled back and forth with 3 reps at EZAir and then finally they turfed me over to Princess Guest Relations. I was given two Princess email addresses and suggested I write a very detailed note re: problem. It sure would be nice if they are not ticketing appropriately, that Princess would hold their staff accountable and not leave the passenger holding the bag. We’ll see what the next step brings. 😖

Yup, same here. Flights frequently changed well before embarkation day. Never had it happen this close to start of cruise. Appreciate everyone’s tips and advice!

Good question, didn’t check, was thoroughly frustrated at having to use my “cruise time” to settle something EZAir caused. This is main reason why we elected to buy our own return tickets instead of accepting the EZAir flights. I spent more than 2 hours on this issue instead of enjoying the beautiful ship. 🤬 The only person who seemed concerned was the Guest Services lady on the ship who was powerless to do anything.

We’re just off a CA Coastal and though the cruise itself was absolutely flawless, EZAir was a bust. ONE DAY before boarding, I got an email from Princess stating there was a flight change to our return flights home. Like most everyone else, these flights were booked approx. 7-8 months ago. The new flights were on another airline (which we never use due to poor service) and added 4hrs to our initial 8 hr travel day, having us land around midnight. Once on board I called EZAir and was simply told “your flights are no longer available.” Now before calling, I checked the Delta site and saw there were seats left (not many) and stated this to the rep. Her response was “the airline changed it’s schedule.” I repeated what I saw and said nothing changed with the schedule. She said there were no other flights available with one stop. I asked for another rep and was simply told “your seats are no longer available.” I again said I was ON the Delta site and saw our original flights were unchanged and yes, our original seats WERE available. She then offered other excuses, none of which made sense. I also spoke with Marybeth in Guest Services (Emerald) and she was trying her best to help. She even phoned me back later that day and the following day to see how things were. She deserves a gold star! I had no success in returning to our original flights and after discussing with DH, decided to book ourselves on our original flights, of course paying for it ourselves and would tackle this headache when we got home. Got home late last night (on our originally booked flights, no changes in schedule) and ready to do battle. Makes one not want to use EZAir in the future. It sounds like the issues with EZAir have been increasing for many.

Similar experience, re-fared flights after final payment, requested refund to original form of payment. It took approx. 10 days after request. I too have had similar issues with Princess reps not having good command of English. I try to work with them but frequently find my self saying “ I can’t understand what you just said.” Or they misunderstand and simply use the algorithm to answer questions, etc. Very frustrating and time consuming.

Yes, thanks, visited there a few years ago. Great place!

We had planned on Scoma’s for lunch but when calling to reserve, discovered they’re closed on Tuesdays. That figures, we’ll be there on a Tuesday. 😟 There are other good choices. Will also look into Fish as mentioned above. Thank you!

Wow, thanks all! No issues with walking, fortunately. We need to stay in SD more than 1 day! Really appreciate the feedback!

We’ll be spending the day in San Diego (during a cruise stop) and looking for opinions on a good, local lunch spot. We’re particularly interested in quality Mexican or perhaps a family owned Italian place. Appreciate your input! 😎

We’ll be there in a few weeks, love a good margarita!

Thanks! That was exactly our plan. Will make lunch reservations for Scomas and wander around. Love the idea of ferry ride in SF Bay!

Error

Re: lion1956 quote on Sausalito: we’ll be on this same cruise in a few weeks with an overnight in SF. We had tentatively planned to visit Sausalito but questioning this after reading your comments. Anyone else think it might be worth a visit? Planning on using the ferry.

Even though we’d all like to know the facts, it’s not appropriate for the ship Physician to discuss numbers of Covid nor anything else about passenger’s health. Of course, he should be relating this info to ship Captain and if elevated, should recommend passengers wear masks. We all know how that would go over. Minimal compliance.

Appreciate your response. It was a total “cluster.” I can’t tell you how many different departments I spoke to, mostly to RS, Mgr of RS, cabin steward…nobody would take responsibility. Was also told by all “Do not put dishes outside door, they have to be red-bagged.” I’m an RN and understand infection control. Certainly don’t want to contribute to problem. Our terribly overworked cabin steward frequently picked up dishes, red bagged all WITHOUT wearing gloves. 😳 Can’t understand why it was not more organized after all this time dealing with Covid. Room Service did pick up on occasion. Was the first time on a cruise I felt depressed and trapped, fortunately my DH did well. After he was diagnosed, we were scheduled to be in Aruba in 2 days, I researched flights to get home, that’s all I wanted to do! Was told by Medical that this was a public health emergency and would not be allowed to leave ship. Sorry…the frustration lingers. I can understand both sides.

We were on the Regal in Jan., DH developed mild symptoms, used one of our home tests, unfortunately +. Medical notified, tested again, another +. Fortunately I remained neg. They were going to move me to another cabin but ship was at 100%. He had to be isolated for 5 days but said I could leave cabin with mask on. Re: those little tables, we never got one and had to make lots of phone calls just to have piles of food dishes removed in red bags. Actually had to put some out on balcony there were so many. Nobody would take responsibility for removal. It seemed there was no protocol in place. Very frustrating. He did turn negative on day 5 which was the last full day of the cruise. We stayed busy all day. We’re scheduled for CA Coastal in a few weeks, just a bit anxious about this! We try to stay prepared, fully boosted. And yes hubby was given OBC for the 5 days of isolation. And the travel insurance fully reimbursed us for expenses on board for medical.

I realize room service varies even on same ship. I have to add a compliment, we were on Regal in Jan., unfortunately DH became + with Covid. We enjoyed meals from MDR over 5 nights. They were all served at same warm temp as one would get in MDR. We ordered a special meal on New Years’ Eve and it was absolutely wonderful. No complaints about temp, quality or amount served. They took good care of us!