dreams_of_travel

18 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Maybe similar to the way a payment app knows what "type" of credit card you're using when you type the first 4 numbers in? It may very well be in the GC numbering scheme. Again, this is just a guess.

19 hours ago, julie3fan said:

I would love it if a TA would offer input regarding if it's known what the source of the gift cards is when offered to them for payment.  Or if a poster has in front of them printed out gift cards from both AARP and Princess.com, that could offer a side-by-side comparision.

I have two gift cards, one purchased from AARP, and one purchased directly from Princess.  Both start with the same numbers.  I don't know how a travel agent would be able to tell the difference.  It's not like the lead numbers are different like an amex vs. a visa card would be.  And now I see your followup comment @Ken the cruiser. 

I think the above mentioned agent is just being difficult.  YMMV 

Whelp, that's sad news.  😞  I was waiting for payday to buy this month's allotment. Hope they come back at some point.  

On 5/31/2023 at 3:39 PM, whee-sailing said:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2925912-princess-specific-carnival-corp-plc-shareholder-benefit-faq/

 

From above:

 

2.8 Can multiple travelers in a cabin redeem Shareholder Benefit OBC if they are each shareholders?

 

By policy, no. From the official notice: “Only one onboard credit per shareholder-occupied stateroom.” 

 

In practice, guests occupying the same stateroom, with different last names and different addresses on the booking, report success when each submits a separate benefit request. 

I would like to know the specifics of this. I have sailed with a friend who also own stock,  and it has always been one shareholder benefit per room. I wonder what key words, or other info is needed to result in both shareholders getting OBC. 

On 5/29/2023 at 3:17 AM, possum52 said:

We booked our tour through Viator and the tour operator was Zealandier. I think it would be difficult to combine both a Hobbiton and Rotorua visit because of co-ordinating your experiences in both places. A round trip from and returning to Tauranga (Mt Maunganui is where your ship will dock) is over three hours. We spent more than four hours at Rotorua then there was two hours travelling time plus the two stops we had, around seven hours all up. This is similar to the tour we did - Rotorua

I was going to comment about the logistics, too. You are correct, you really can't do both in one day. 

3 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

Never heard of an airline that opens check-in counters 1:15h before departure. Ever.

3 hours ago, Ukigirl said:

I agree! We stood in line to check our bags and she said we were too early! Needless to say, I’m pissed right now because the line is twice as long 😡

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

What airline?  United will let you to check bags three hours prior to departure. 

 

Yeah, Delta is the outlier at FLL.  Showed up early after a cruise, wanting to enjoy the lounge, only to be told couldn't check in early.  We went back and forth with customer service, etc, and it all boils down to lack of space to store baggage.  It seems that things haven't changed in the 5-10yrs since this happened to us.  With all the cruise traffic, you'd think they would do something about that baggage storage issue. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

3 hours ago, possum52 said:

This photo is of stinger suits that will be provided either free or for a fee by the tour boat operator. They are made of lycra and will usually have a hood.Your face will be mainly covered with a mask and your feet with flippers.

Thanks for the info.  I've been looking on various sites to see how the sizing is. Many brands do not go up to the size I would need,  tall torso, and curvy girl size.   I am not sure they will have many meeting those sizing needs.  But when I decide on a tour, I will email them to ask about it. 

16 hours ago, possum52 said:

A couple of things to think about for this cruise - it will be the wet season, hot and extremely humid and also it is stinger season. Stinger Season

 

 

I've got a cruise booked for late Oct - Nov, and have been reading about Stinger Season.  I am quite bummed about that, and wonder if there is anyway to still snorkel.  Or maybe I should just settle for a glass bottom boat excursion, and plan for another time at the GBR.  

18 hours ago, Jilliebean28 said:

This sounds wonderful!  Would you mind sharing the tour and guide info for me?  My daughter is a special effects makeup artist in LA and I think she would love to do this.  TIA!

Jill

If you will be visiting Auckland, I highly recommend the WETA Unleashed experience.  Loads of displays and info about their special effects/makeup/props in the huge walk through space.  

On 4/18/2023 at 5:25 AM, Over from NZ said:

From Airlie Beach, we took a day trip to Daydream Island and that was a great day out. Snorkeling there too. 

 

Singapore there is just so much to see and do. We had a week there and only scratched the surface. Are heading back there end of June for more 🙂 

Where exactly on the Daydream Island site can you book a day trip?  I spent way too much time on their site, and couldn't find that option. 

Update:  I called in this morning and got a super helpful agent.  He eventually transferred me directly to the Loyalty dept.  Before the transfer I asked about direct numbers to various depts.  He said that those had been done away with.  (Which should surprise exactly no one here at CC. LOL!).   

The Loyalty agent was stellar.  She truly tried to figure out what happened/why I had another Capts Circle number, which suddenly started after Oct 2021.  She mentioned that she had one last thing to try, to restore my old number, and would call back if it was successful.  Restoring the old number may not be possible but none of my cruise history is gone, so it may be moot.  It would just be nice to have my original number back as it matches the rest of my family.  YMMV

Thanks for the previous replies about the correct Princess phone numbers, etc.  It truly was a case of HUACA (hang up and call again) to get a knowledgeable agent.  

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Doesn’t sound right.  Are you sure you called 1 800 Princess?

How do you know It was a Russian phone no?  A SE Asia no?  They said they were located there?

 

Yes, I dialed the 800 Princess number.  While Google is not the end all for searching things, it was weird that a search didn't turn up anything related to Princess.  I'll try again later with the 800 Princess number.  For reference she gave me 800 -130 - XXXX.  That's quite an odd number to start with.  YMMV

1 hour ago, brisalta said:

It is Captains Circle, not Captains Club. You may have confused the clerical workers by using the incorrect terminology.

 

The phone numbers are:

United States: 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237)
Canada: 1-800-LOVEBOAT (1-800-568-3262)
Australia: 13 24 88
New Zealand: 0800 780 717
United Kingdom: 0344 3388 674

 

You are correct, I misspoke calling it Captains Club and not Captains Circle.   I will try again tomorrow.  Perhaps I will get someone who can properly transfer me to the correct number to fix the loyalty number. 

I book a few cruises a year, (yes, I am aware this is CC, and people here book many cruises, and often. LOL!)  and just noticed I somehow have gotten a second Captains Club loyalty number.  Somewhere between a cruise I booked in 2021, and a few months afterwards a new loyalty number has been attached to me.  I do want to get this fixed at some point.  Both show the same loyalty level on my booking emails, so I'm wondering what happened.  Is there a dedicated Captains Club phone number?  I just need someone who can look at what happened, and give back my original loyalty number. 

Meanwhile, I just got off of the strangest phone call with Princess.  I called the listed 800 phone number on the Princess site to ask about fixing this loyalty number issue.  The agent was unable to help, but suggested I call an 800 number that she provided.  It did not sound like a US number, so I googled it.  It was a Russian phone number.  Wait, what?  I questioned the location of the number she gave, which then caused her to give me another 800 number that appeared to be somewhere in SE Asia. I do understand that outsourcing is a thing, but this seemed really odd.  Any insight about this? 

I know this thread is about the Premier Package but I have semi-related question:

Do we know if they converted previously booked "Princess Plus" bookings to the new packages?  Nowhere in the app does it show the desserts, drinks up to $15, or the exercise classes.  Mine shows only up to $12 drinks. 

4 hours ago, LAX-HKG said:

Since I used 3 gift cards, how do I know which one is the credit going back to?

You would have to use the website "check your gift card balance" to see which card it was refunded to.  It is a step that isn't too hard to do.

15 hours ago, Ombud said:

Courtesy of another CC member:

It's not THAT expensive by the cup!!

Though they will add that pesky 18% gratuity onto that price if you don't have the drink package.  So the cafe latte is really $4.13.  Still not that much compared to Starbucks.  YMMV

11 minutes ago, YoPhilly said:

What is WETA?

WETA Workshop is the company that does special effects, costumes, prosthetics, etc for a variety of movies. They were the main company that worked on the Lord of the Rings movies.   The company chose the name WETA after a rather large strange looking native to NZ bug.  

18 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

Skagway visitor’s bureau has a map of hiking trails that start from the town rated according to difficulty.  Yakutania Point is a favorite for families.  It begins by the airport and follows along the inlet, no elevation but a wooded area with plants and tree roots to step over.  If you continue on the trail it will lead you to Smuggler’s Cove which has amazing views.  

This is a favorite of mine. It's usually quite serene. 

The Rocks passenger terminal.

13 hours ago, iuki said:

We both have an iPhone 14 Pro.  We downloaded the Australia’s ETA app.  Our phones will not scan our passport photo page nor is it able to read the NFC chip on the back page of the passport.

 

We need help.  Is there anyone out there that can advise us how to apply for Australia’s VISA?
 

I haven’t tried the New Zealand one yet.

 

We have an Apple computer.  If the iPhones don’t work, then what?  Can we use the Apple computer.  I am so frustrated.

 

Just keep trying.  When I did mine, I had to give up after several tries, and try again on another day.  When I did my son's it worked the first time.  The app is very finicky, and will eventually work.  There is not another way to get the Australia Visa.  The NZ eTA is a breeze for whatever reason.  Just different technology I guess.  You cannot do it on the computer.

Both the accts I manage rec'd the gift box.  10 PUP pts = 1 Captain's club point.  

EST 12:02pm 

It's been a while (7/2021) since I've eaten there. Many of the dishes were good, but the one that I talk about (even when no one really wants to know. LOL!) is the seafood ceviche with the cilantro ice cream.  It was phenomenal.   Of course if you are one of those that have that pesky cilantro gene where it tastes like soap, skip this one. 😉   My friend and I shared quite a few dishes, and we were able to try just about every item on the menu.  I will definitely book it again when I get back on a ship that has this restaurant.  Enjoy!

Glad someone posted about that odd email line.   Certainly weird that their staff can't proof read marketing emails properly. 🙄

4 hours ago, yarramar said:

Apply for the new one NOW as there is a possibility that it is flagged for manual processing and may take some time to be approved. Best done before making any non-refundable bookings.

If this reply was directed at me, I'll wait a bit since my travel isn't until October.  I think waiting until late August to early September should be fine.  Please define "may take some time to be approved".

6 hours ago, possum52 said:

Yes you can apply for a new ETA before you travel and you will have to as you can only apply before you arrive here.  All it will do it reduce the length of your current one as it will expire once a new ETA is issued. 

 

 

Thank you.  That makes sense.  It's like renewing a passport before it expires, which replaces the old one.  

Australian ETA question:  I applied last year for a trip this past January.  My expiration date is 23 Oct 23.  I am returning to SYD, leaving the US on 23 Oct 23, arriving SYD on the 25 Oct.  I know I need to apply for a new ETA.  Is there a problem with applying before the previous visa expires?  I searched the Australian govt site, and couldn't find any info about overlapping visas or other time constraints.