dreams_of_travel

23 hours ago, GeorgiaGirl14 said:

Wow to the info about Canada's security.  That's where we will be flying from.....

That's why I posted about it so one can be prepared.   Good luck! 

1 hour ago, GeorgiaGirl14 said:

I would like to ask another question on this string, if OP doesn't mind.  (I have cruised with CPap and your suggestions seem spot on). We, however, usually drive to ports.  This time we are flying and I have not flown with my CPap.  Any hints on how you pack your CPap and how to get through security with it?  I want it to be sanitary and to be as light weight packing as possible, without having to invest in a travel CPap.  Have any of you used a special travel bag, etc?

I usually fly with it in its case inside my carryon/rollerbag.  Be aware that Canada is a special (read most annoying rules regarding CPap) place.  They will make you take out your machine (not the tubing or mask) and place it in a bin.  You are not allowed to use a clear zip-lock/plastic bag (in some cases, it depends on the person doing the screening. I have use a clear zip-lock at various times.).  No idea why they do this. 🤷🏻‍♀️  I have held up a line requesting a supervisor to try to work out how they would accept not putting my medical device in the same bins where people have put their shoes.  In the end they allowed some chemwipe/tissues under the machine in the bin, and over the machine while it traveled through the xray machine.  I also carry disinfecting wipes for after the xray machine before I put it back in its bag, and then inside my carryon. 

US security is easier, allowing the machine to mostly stay in the rollerbag, though I have TSA precheck, and it has been a long time since I went through the regular line.  Europe, and other countries do ask to have the machine taken out but often can stay in carrying case.  It just depends on their rules. So be prepared with a zip lock, and wipes just in case.

YMMV

@JamieLogical is your balcony very windy while you are at sea? 

I was cold called last week by these sharks.  The call number showed up as Princess from Santa Clarita.  I thought it was legit Princess calling me about something, and then the spiel started.  I said, hold on, I know who you are and what you are selling, I am not interested.  The caller tried to 'splain it to me, and I finally had to say, I am hanging up now, I am not interested.   FWIW whenever I get a "sales" call I am very careful to NEVER say yes, or I agree in case they are recording the call, and will later try to say I agreed to whatever they are selling.

OP, I hope your parents are able to get this resolved, and get their money back.  These promotions people are clearly preying on people they are counting on to not read the fine print, or research the plan.  It is so shady, and we as consumers need to make sure Princess knows we don't like their tactics or the terrible plan they are promoting.

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

The future cruise sales office had some 50% off cruise deals available if booked onboard but, they are not nearly the deals they were last year.  They are unable to sell the packages with the deal so, that can only be purchased once onboard.  But still, they may save you some money.  Keep in mind the deposits are non-refundable on these discounted sailings.  You cannot use a FCD on these either.  

 

I asked about those 50% off cruises when I was on Discovery, but they waived me off, and told me those weren't available anymore.  I would be interested to know if it is a seasonal thing, or more like, when do these show up for purchase onboard?

Glad you had another great B2B cruise experience.  I do enjoy reading your write-ups. 

6 hours ago, sandancer said:

I can’t find this on the Princess UK website. Any idea how to get the info other than using an agent based in the USA?

It won't be listed quite yet, that's why you can't find it. It is not even listed on the US site.

6 hours ago, phabric said:

I am curious if your travel friend-travel agent was informed about this cruise by Princess with notification in advance of the May 23 selling?

 

or She/he was informed by you with this post?

 

I am going to email my agent to book when it opens for Elite on May 22.  I wonder if she will be informed in advance of the selling or will she not know and ask me what I am talking about?

I messaged her about this cruise, mainly to let her know to keep an eye out for any communication from Princess.  She is not just a Princess cruise specialist but for all cruiselines, and other travel types, so it could get missed in the amount of mail she gets every day.  I think travel agents may have a small window before the elite access is released, but I can double check that data point, and report back.  

3 hours ago, bladerunner6 said:

They also gave us certificates and had eclipse cookies.
 

I was up on the top deck, and somehow missed the cookies. 😞  Probably b/c I was taking pics, and just enjoying the whole experience.  But still.....mmmm cookies.  😉 

My travel friend, who is also a travel agent, will be putting a block on hold as soon as she is able.  I have discussed the probable up-charge pricing for this cruise, and how I would be fine with an inside cabin to help save of cost.  While a balcony or mini suite is nice, I can't justify the pricing they want for the "new" ship, and TSE cruise.  I priced out a similar 14 day Med cruise on the Sky and was shocked at what they wanted. YMMV

10 minutes ago, PR-Texas said:

Quoting from this website:https://www.mpi.govt.nz/import/border-clearance/ships-and-boats-border-clearance/cruise-ships-and-passengers/

• "Only commercially bottled drinking water,

Well that is certainly "convenient" for the cruiseline. (Not dissing NZ, and their effort to protect their country)  You cannot bring on a case of bottled water on embarkation day b/c they are saying no to the plastic bottles.  So then if you want to bring off water you must get a bottled water ($2.50 -$3?) from the ship.  And for cruises leaving from Australia and going to NZ, you cannot pre-order a case of water for your cabin to save some of the cost.  

To stay on topic, I have several future cruises booked, and none of them are with the drink package, or Princess Plus.   My most recent cruise last month did have the package but I didn't feel I was getting I was getting any benefit from the drink portion.  I was ordering breakfast via the little card left on the door overnight, which included a pot of coffee.  I was drinking water poured at each meal in the dining room, and rarely had a single glass of cheap wine with dinner.   As an elite, the mini bar can be traded out for soda, or water, so in the end, the package just doesn't work for me. YMMV

14 hours ago, bumble_b62 said:

$65AUD no gratuities included on sailings not in Australia &NZ.

Australia and NZ cruises have gratuities built into our price.

 

 

I don't think I explained my question very well.  I have a cruise in Australia/NZ coming up that was booked without Princess PLUS. When I get onboard I have the option to buy Princess Plus.  Since I bought my cruise in the US, gratuities are not included in the cruise fare price.  If I buy when onboard in Australia it is ONLY drinks and wifi?  I am just confused about if or how they will charge me gratuities.  Further more, if i don't buy a package, will they still try to charge me the daily gratuity fee to my folio b/c I booked via US Princess booking site.   

On 4/18/2024 at 6:24 AM, bumble_b62 said:

Updated post..
Princess reply

I am very sorry that you were advised of wrong information. You will be charged $65 Australian dollars per person per day. There will be no service fee charged. Crew appreciation is automatically added to the guest shipboard guest folio.

Please clarify:  the Princess Plus cost is $65AUD/day which includes drinks, wifi, and gratuities? or did you mean Princess Plus cost is $65AUD/day which is only drinks and wifi? TIA

I have considered buying Princess Plus once on board the ship, but I am still trying to work out the costs for everything for my cruise in Australia in November.

4 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

I am going to try this.  A friend of mine has made mention this is what she does.  
at least I write out a list of everyone that made our cruise special and put them in their proper areas on that list.  I take photos of name tags so I don’t misspell their names on the survey, although autocorrect tries to trip me up every time.  

I use the note function on my iPhone to list crew, and their job, or what they helped me with on my cruise.  I agree that there needs to be more space options to mention specific crew commendations.  On my recent cruise survey I ended up listing all the dining room staff and their titles on my last option.  So annoying as I wanted to thank one of the chefs specifically for preparing a special pasta dish for us one night in the MDR.  He had simply wanted to do something different for us.  It was a nice and unexpected experience.  I agree with a lot of yours and other's points made throughout this thread.  I am glad to see that I'm not the only one who wishes Princess would consider a few of these rather simple things that could may the cruise experience better for little cost. 

2 hours ago, TheMichael said:

 😀

It wasn’t arbitrary, at least in the Emerald - the captain turned the ship for the least amount of movement, and to avoid rolling. Afterward, he mentioned his sleepless nights leading up to this one (on Day 1 he made sure to remind us that he couldn’t control the weather). 

Our captain was very transparent with Discovery Princess decisions. He discussed past eclipse strategies, and why/how starboard toward the eclipse was chosen, including position and drifting during the eclipse. Of course it is a different ship from Emerald Princess, which could have very different requirements to hold their position based on ocean current and wind. 
 

Either way, the experience on Discovery Princess exceeded my expectations. 

2 hours ago, MacMadame said:

How did you know which side to book on or was it just luck you could see it from your balcony? (Asking for 2026 planning.)

They made an arbitrary choice of which side would be toward the eclipse.  That said, if you were above deck 11 you would not have a clear view from your balcony.  There was plenty of space up on the upper decks, space to sit to watch, and many people did have their tripods set up.  Due to the angle of the sun I did not need to be right up on the railing to get good pics.  Overall, great experience on Discovery Princess. 100% would do again!

5 minutes ago, gardengalaz said:

Stopped by Crown Grill Bar for a Salted Watermelon Margarita 

Is this the only place one can get this magical sounding drink?  This sounds like a must try it one for me. 😄

15 minutes ago, Mud_Shark said:

Did you get that OBC applied before stockperks took over as the portal to apply through?  There didn't used to be an outer time limit, but I was told by stockperks that there now was.

Yes, that was the case for me.  I had done an email for shareholder OBC back when the short lived "only one OBC (shareholder or military) per cabin" rule happened.  I had applied for all my cruises through 2025 so I could have both.  Of course, that odd rule was walked back.  Recently I added a cruise for 2024 that is in November, and tried to get StockPerks to add the shareholder OBC.  It rendered a message that I can't apply for it until June. 

2 hours ago, Charlie_and_Tracey said:

Has anyone been able to log into the website that had a previous account with Princess. My Wife and I have 12 cruises total and we are about to embark on 13, but we cannot see any of the data on the website, it constantly says login attempt was unsuccessful.  I've reset the password several times and I have tried contacting the Princess Technical department with no luck.  Anyone else have this issues? Thank you for any help!

 

 

The website can be a bit "extra" at times.  I have had that happen quite a lot.  To solve it, I just keep hitting the log in, with a slight pause between ignoring the notices,  .  Eventually it will log me in.  Hope that works for you.  

On 1/30/2024 at 5:28 PM, CruizerBill said:

How I received my SOBC with minimal personal info release.

• In the Stockperks app, create an account by providing only your Name and Email address. My profile is still at 10% completion, but that is enough information to proceed. 
• For validation without providing brokerage account info, choose the Fidelity or Alinea option. This will allow you to upload a redacted shareholder statement for validation. Do Not select the Plaid option, which prompts for more info than necessary.
• After shareholder validation is completed (within a few days), go back to the app and "Redeem" the perk. OBC was in my account within a couple of days. Note: A recent glitch caused the Redeem button to be greyed out, but Stockperks resolved that issue a few days ago.

Refer to the StockPerks YT video.

Thanks for the detailed info.  Question:  Do you add your booking info in the app when you are able to select "Redeem"?

26 minutes ago, 1Virgo said:

went to submit questions and survey closed. Said open until 15th which normally means until midnight.     

This should surprise no one.  They probably got so many questions, of the type they really don't want to answer, that they closed the submissions early. LOL!    I kind of hope the questions were all about removing gratuities from All Included, footstools, and charging singles more that double. 😈

I do hope for a points opportunity for the submitted questions Webinar.  While I haven't got any Celebrity cruises booked, I have no problem inching my way towards Elite + on the chance Celebrity figures out how to not tick their loyalty members off. 😉

5 hours ago, tashaaa said:

Sorry for so litle info… here a little bit more 🙂

 

We are planning to spend max 3 weeks, beacuse of our jobs, we can’t get so much time off. I think if we have a max of 14 day cruise, maybe 2 days when we arrive in Sydney. 

When I look into cruises, I see that the option from NCL on 21st December 2025, to be a good option, it visits Melbourne, Eden, Tasmania, Milford Sound, and some more ports in New Zealand. 
it doesn’t visit Wellington (ehat do you think about this prot, is it a must see?) and I know it’s high season, with many people, so I’m looking maybe for some other cruise. 
But a lot of them are round trip, which automaticlly means fewer ports to see, more sea days…

I think a must is the Milford Sound and other Sounds, its good to see also Melbourne, if we are there. I guess we won’t have time to visit it after a cruise. 

We are felxible with the time when to visit, just looking into a really interesting cruise. 

 

I have done this type of cruise several times.  One cruise was never able to get past Christchurch (Lyttleton) sailing from Sydney, around the north island headed to Milford Sound.  So keep in mind weather may play a factor on what you get to see. 

Wellington has two (at least for me) attractions that are a big draw:  WETA aka Wellywood, and Te Papa museum.  Both Australia and New Zealand have so much to see/do so you do need to read up on what you want to see/do/accomplish on this trip. (So much to see/do, I think this is similar to the notion that some Europeans may have about coming to the US, and seeing "it all" in three weeks.  It simply cannot be done.  Don't get me started about how some may think they will simply just drive in a few short hours from NYC to LA.  LOL! )  Good luck with your research, and trying to decide which things are the most important to you. 🙂

I once upon a time did a land tour thinking I would never get back to NZ again. Then I did an around NZ from Sydney as a "one more then done" trip.  And since then I have done another around NZ cruise. LOL!  Now, I've got another set of cruises going to both Tasmania, another around NZ, with yet another one that ends up in SYD from southern Asia.  So yeah, so much to see/do, and I still haven't repeated much of anything. YMMV

The whole tipping culture in the US is out of hand.  I hate it, and the business model it was built upon.  I cannot imagine how American tipping would be received in those countries where you don't tip, AND is considered highly offensive to tip.   I find the no tipping culture in the countries I have had the pleasure of visiting over the last two years to be an absolute delight.  I already have two more trips planned for both Australia and NZ for 2024 and 2025.  I very much appreciate the advice, and good info from the Aussies and Kiwis in this thread.  

2 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

With the Princess shore exc. being so expensive, do you think it's better to go with another company for the Great Barrier Reef tour?  Or is this one that is better to go with Princess?

 

If anyone reading this is planning to take the Kuranda Railway, it's suffered a lot of damage due to ex-tropical cyclone Jasper and will be completely closed until late April.  

I took the Green Island "Great Barrier Reef" excursion in Cairns.  It was a relaxing day, but I know it wasn't all the way out to the Great Barrier Reef.  We didn't snorkel b/c it was during the Box jellyfish season, but we did enjoy walking the island, and snoozing on the beach after our glass bottom boat cruise.  Mainly we chose the Princess excursion instead of booking independently b/c of the distance etc.  YMMV

6 hours ago, daydreamer16 said:

Thanks for your reply! Wow, never thought that the laundry would be closed for Noro! We are on for 3 weeks & that laundry will be piling up! LOL

They have to close the laundry as a precaution. Same with serving yourself anywhere on the ship. Def pack some soap powder just in case. 😉 

6 minutes ago, daydreamer16 said:

Thanks for your update, we have an overnight planned at the zoo in March. Also have been to the San Diego Zoo & that's quite a compliment!

On another subject, how did you enjoy the Grand Princess? We will board in April.

Thanks, Denise  

Off topic comment warning: 

I liked the Grand fine.  We had an aft Aloha inside cabin, and loved the access to the aft pool and bar area.  You just head a few cabins down the hallway, and go out the door, up the steps, and you are right outside.  We didn't miss having a balcony (I usually book a balcony) at all.  The food, staff, and ship were fine. We didn't experience any issues aside from the ship having a Norovirus outbreak which caused the self-serve laundry to be closed.  We did sink laundry for days. LOL!  Our favorite routine on the ship was to order breakfast delivered in the morning, watch the bridge-cam during coffee as we prepared for the day, walk out to our "balcony" at the aft pool area, and then hit the International Cafe for more coffee or snacks.  We had set dining every night in Boticelli dining, and had great wait staff.  Loved the Cruise Director, and would make a point to go to the evening shows just to hear her "story" after the entertainment.  I hope you have a great cruise. 😄 

While I didn't really want to pre-pay for my next 5 cruises' wifi, I went ahead and did just that.  I ran the numbers, and will end up saving over $300.   The $5 increase($7.5 to $12.50)  for the Elite pricing going forward adds up for sure.  It would've cost me almost double for the many 14+ day future cruises I have booked. 😳

I do realize that people either want or don't want wifi on a cruise.  I am one of those people whose family needs to be able to contact me no matter where I am.  It is better to save money when/where you can so you can keep cruising/traveling.  YMMV