Purple Gallinule

I have a question that may have been answered, but I missed it. Is there still a requirement to pick an arrival time at the port for embarkation when we get there next Saturday? I cannot find anything on the Medallion app about that. Thanks.

2 hours ago, talkorpi said:

Got our specialty dining reserved very easily. Sabatini’s tonight and The Catch tomorrow. MDR for the rest of the cruise after that.
 

Muster is finished and we are ready to go. Of course the cabins aren’t ready because we got onboard so fast - not a problem at all. 
 

We are allegedly on a sold out sailing. I’ll try to find the full passenger count a little later and also take photos of the officer board for those who are interested.

 

Felt a little too early to have a dirty banana so I just got a basic rum and coke… let’s get this vacation started!

Great idea to post a pic of the officers. We will be on board next Saturday. Have a great week.

In the past, I have purchased the wifi package and when we boarded we received 50% off in the form of On Board Credit. I think this was because we are Elite. Does anyone know if this is still the case.

BTW, I see the price has go up dramatically! (What hasn't?)

We were looking for future cruises and found a Circle Caribbean 14-day cruise for December of 2025 that we liked. We wanted to put a specific cabin on hold so our CVP could get the credit for booking it. We could not find anywhere that said HOLD, so I sent our CVP an email and luckily the cabin was still available when she returned to work on Monday (this was a Saturday morning). 

Does anyone know if HOLD has been discontinued? Thanks.

We have tried Sabatini's and see no advantage over Reserve. Don't care a thing about mimosas. Want something off the menu? No problem. Our wait staff gets to know us right away and if I ask for James Beard french toast, it is there for the asking. Same table, same staff, terrific breakfast.

7 hours ago, Esprit said:

It’s so unfair that us Brits can’t refare after the initial booking.

I’d have more cruises booked way in advance if I could do what you guys can do before FP.😒

Why can't you refare? Did you book with Princess directly or through a TA? I am curious about that.

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I noticed a price reduction on a 2024 cruise I had booked on princess.com and emailed one of my alleged Princess planners - I get emails all the time that claim that. No response after days. Crickets.

 

So I called the main Princess number and went through the robots to indicate I needed help with an existing booking. I am glad I didn't have to sit on hold forever - I could select to have them call me back and after a while, they did. I told them I wanted the better price. They indicated they would have to check as some fares are only for new bookings, and after being on hold off and on, she said she could do it.

 

So our cruise price (and insurance) was adjusted for a savings of over $400. The airfare and transfers weren't affected. And now I also have $100 OBC because of some promotion they have going on.

 

That will buy a lot of pizza. We'll still buy a package once on the ship.

Sorry to hear you had so much trouble with a CVP. Ours has been great and very responsive.

6 minutes ago, nasa1974 said:

Doing a family cruise in April 2024. Saw a nice price reduction. The problem was if we re-fared we would lose all our OBC. The OBC was more than the reduction. 

That is certainly a consideration. It almost takes a spreadsheet and a math degree to figure out what is really a bargain. We skip the Plus/Premium packages, booking Reserve Collection instead. That is where we want to spend our $$$ since we don't drink or use the specialty dining options.

While reading the Roll Call thread for our Aug 2024 Canada/Greenland cruise on Emerald Princess, I saw a post that said the poster had saved $3,000 by rebooking. That is a lot of money, so I went out and checked all our booked cruises. The 2025 cruises were the same or slightly higher, but we saved big time on the two 2024 cruises. For the W. Caribbean on Enchanted in April, we saved $500. On the Canada/Greenland cruise on Emerald in August we saved and incredible $5,354.

Always keep checking! That is the lesson for today, Class dismissed.

While we have sailed on Princess many times, this is our first Celebrity cruise. We booked a Concierge Class (C1) cabin with the All Included package. It seems to be similar to Princess Plus and Premium packages, but I cannot find any real details. The gratuities is not an issue. Here are my questions:

1. How many drinks of all kinds are included? On Princess it is 15/day.

2. How does the wifi package work? 1 device? more?

3. Is the wifi unlimited?

Thank  you.

After analyzing the costs with Plus and Premier packages and comparing to what we actually participate in when on a Princess cruise (we are elite), we have come to the conclusion that the extra money for the packages is better spent securing a Reserve Class Mini-suite. We do not drink alcohol to any extent, we do not go cruising to eat pizza (even though we love pizza), and we get the minibar setup exchanged for drinks we do like. We eat breakfast, lunch (on sea days), and dinner in the Reserve Class dining room. Plenty of seafood, pasta, meat dishes, custom menu items, great service, no lines, no reservations. We do not use room service or order food on our medallions.

Yes, I know, we sound boring. However, we have a blast on our cruises and even have four more booked. Cheers, y'all.

19 hours ago, geepmaley said:

What's the laundry situation? Seeing on other ships that it may be free, but not much on whether that applies to Majestic also. We are doing a land tour starting in Fairbanks Sep 5 before our Sep 9 southbound but are also staying three days before and three days in Vancouver on the back end, so laundry would be nice

We did our own laundry on the turnaround day in Whittier. The laundry room was near our stateroom, and I believe it was $3, but don't quote me on that. We could have sent it out for free (elite perk), but decided to just do it ourselves.

First time on  Celebrity and wondering if they offer any OBC for retired military like I get on Princess. Thanks.

We booked our 2025 Alaska on Discovery just now. Got the Reserve Class cabin we wanted with the extended balcony. Yay! 

We always book port side cabins for Alaska. 

16 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

That’s for the TA. 

Thanks.

For us, a big benefit is getting to book cruises a day before they go on sale to the general public. We have seen certain cabins or classes of cabins (suites e.g.) sell out fast.

On the Alaska spreadsheet, the last column on the right is labeled "NCF". I am unfamiliar with this. If someone can tell me, I promise to remember (until next time). 🙂

Totally unacceptable. I am Elite and I would never place myself before someone that had reserved that trip more than a year before! How could Princess ever expect those folks to come back to another cruise? That is just shoddy treatment!!!!!!!

The article I just read from Cruise Hive shows that there will be three status levels for check-in. Green Lane, Blue Lane, and Accessibility Lane.

Green Lane for those who have completed Medallion App requirements and have had their Medallions sent to them before embarkation day.

Blue lane for those that have or have not completed app requirements but did not have their Medallions shipped to them.

Accessibility Lane is self-explanatory.

The article does not mention Elite priority embarkation at all. It also does not mention if there is a charge for having the medallions shipped. We have always picked them up at the port, so I don't know about a charge for that. 

Here is a link to the article: https://www.cruisehive.com/princess-cruises-details-new-embarkation-procedure/106468 

2 hours ago, KillerSnake said:

Thank you, Chief.  Thank you for your service.

 

I did 15 and had to leave under the Clinton era draw down. My wife was able to serve 28. So I played "Army Wife" for a bit. It was fun to see some traditionalist spouse group leaders try to make me feel unwelcome only to have the newer spouses welcome me and ask for my help. Hoot and a half it was.

 

Yeah. I could have never served 23 years without my Army Wife. She still directs my activities. That is why I always wear a suit and tie on formal nights! 🤣 She always said, "Don't confuse your rank with my authority."

5 hours ago, KillerSnake said:

I only own Army dress blues. So I wear a block bow tie as needed instead of 4-in-hand.

 

No big deal. This is our 40th Anniversary cruise. We will be on the ship on our actual anniversary. I just that I would do it up. We chose this cruise to see SE Alaska after having spent two summers in the interior using Ft. Wainwright as our base of operations.

 

I have a good suit that travels well rolled up into a Pringles can. I guess I will use that.

 

Two things: Happy Anniversary and thank you for your service. As a retired CW3, USArmy, I would be proud to salute you in uniform for your special day!!!!!!!!!!

On 7/3/2023 at 7:08 PM, Thrak said:

 

When was the last time you cruised with Princess? We've only cruised twice since the restart (Royal Princess and Ruby Princess) but neither cruise has had the small envelopes available. I couldn't find them so I asked and was told they no longer have those available.

 

Tipping wait staff on the last night has declined drastically with the change from Traditional Dining to the current "whatever" free-for-all. People don't have the same wait staff every night which has changed things quite a lot. Many people also don't eat in MDR the last night because all of their clothes are packed to be picked up by the crew and they only have their travel clothes to wear which are much more suited to the buffet or the Lido eateries.

 

If you want to point fingers at the people who no longer tip the waitstaff on the last night try looking at the line of people who are removing gratuities at the end of the cruise.

We just got off Majestic and they had the envelopes at the Customer Service desk. We always get them to tip our waiters in Club Class and our room steward.

We have three cruises booked for 2024. I checked all three and came up with a total savings of $2. Oh well, thanks for letting me know, anyway.

Do keep checking! We have save major dollars on refares in the past.

And to shiny2000, we have never lost any OBC on refares, but that does not mean it couldn't happen.

Recently returned from B2B Alaska on Majestic Princess. Here are a few comments:

1.      Alaska in the sun is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

2.      Majestic Princess is a great way to experience Alaska.

3.      Vancouver Cruise Terminal is an abominable place to embark. Lonnnng lines (2 hours), no priority embarkation for Elite/Platinum passengers, no water.

4.      Reserve Collection (formerly Club Class) is worth every penny.

5.      The crew works incredibly hard to make the trip memorable.

6.      You do not get funnier or better looking when you try to max out your drink package.

7.      The only way back to the ship at Icy Strait Point after an excursion is a long unnecessary (half-hour) walk through an area of shops to a gondola ride.

8.      Who knew Whittier was so gorgeous? Our first ever sunny day there!

9.      Who knew Avis in Juneau only rents TINY Chevy Bolt electric cars? At least it came with a short class from the friendly customer service rep.

10.   The funniest thing on the trip was not the comedians. It was passing the ridiculous ice cream sundaes off as “Premium Deserts”.

11.   I’ll always remember our gun-toting excursion leader in Hoonah.