Habs_Fan

Princess was/is lacking in the beer department. I was looking forward to trying all 3 of the Seawitch options next week especially the IPA. Didn't have high hopes based on the Untappd ratings and comments/reviews (3.46 average for the IPA and Red and 3.36 for the Blonde) but will still try them all since I have the AIBP. The IPA is made by Strike brewing, the red by Denali and the blonde by Shipyard.

I hope they don't take this as a failed experiment and scrap the craft beer idea altogether.

Has anyone done the kayaking tour at Balandra Bay and if so did you enjoy it? I booked it through the cruise line. We never kayaked before but I am active. The total tour is only 2 hours with just 1 hour of actual kayaking.

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Thanks everyone. I do have a screen shot and it no longer shows on the cruise personalizer. I'll give it a few more days. I know sometimes it can take up to 7 days to get a refund back so I'll give it a few more days. Surprised they don't send out an email confirmation like they do when you purchase it. As long as it goes back to the card I'm fine with that. I have more than enough OBC and would rather just have it back on the card.

I canceled the pre-purchase of the AIBP online and it said it was successfully cancelled. No email confirmation or anything yet but was wondering if others have cancelled and if they credit the card used for purchasing it and if so how long does it take them?

Thanks for the warning! I'm going to ask how to make reservations as soon as I board! I did not want to sit with a group of strangers for traditional dining. I am already planning on attempting to book specialty restaurants the second we board since I heard those disappear fast. I don't understand how people are making reservations for either type of dining before the cruise??? 30% booked pre-cruise for specialty dining? You can't reserve it on their website, and I called and asked and was told it could not be reserved until I boarded the ship. How are people doing this???

Check your cruise booking on Princess. I'm able to book specialty restaurants for specific dates/times for my upcoming cruise (Star Princess at the end of the month). The only caveat is you have to pay in advance. That being said, I never had a problem booking the Crown Grill onboard.

Didn't they used to have Pub crawls? I remember having a card that was stamped when you bought a drink at the bar. After you completed visiting each bar you received a gift. Somewhere we have T shirts that say "I completed the bar crawl"?. Or am I thinking of RCCL?

Chris

They had the cards that they stamped every time you bought a drink. Once the card was filled (maybe 10 or 20 drinks?) it was then put in as an entry to have your bar bill paid.

They also did have some type of pub crawl before that because I do have those t shirts from princess.

I'm guessing with the AIBP they did away with both.

Thank you for the great videos. I'll be on this same cruise in March and after watching all your vlogs I cannot wait!

I'll be taking a cruise on 3/28/17 and looking for a pre-cruise hotel. I think the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro might be my best bet. We will just be staying the night before so likely will just have dinner (preferably not at the hotel) and a few drinks, then relax for the night.

I'm wondering the best way to get to the hotel from LAX? I see on the CPs website I can book a fly and sail package which includes a shuttle to the hotel but wasn't sure if a cheaper room is better and just get either a private car or some type of shuttle service or taxi

After the cruise we will be staying 2 nights at the JW Marriott in the LA Live area (attending Kings game after) so I'm also not sure what the best way to get from the cruise port to the LA Live area would be?

You can call (DINE) once onboard to reserve a table or usually during the first day there is often someone outside the crown grill taking reservations. I typically just go there once onboard after eating lunch on embarkation day and make a reservation. You can't make a reservation pre-cruise.

Where will I find the kiosk? As long as I can check my charges, I don't care how I get them.

They are located right near the passenger services desk.

I did notice an error once but can't even remember what it was for but it was removed the day after I went to passenger services. It is much easier with the AIBP as there are no longer a ton of small charges. I'm sure prior to that I probably had a few mistakes that I did not notice.

Definitely a good idea to check your accounts on the ship but even in restaurants. On valentines day I thought our bill seemed high but just put my credit card down. My wife looked at all the items and saw a $52 steak that we did not order so it can happen anywhere.

I saw something similar when boarding the Royal on my last cruise. This group of older ladies with canes all cut the line and boarded first. They certainly put on a good act because I commented to my wife that one woman with the cane should probably be using a walker. They were also quite rude to the passengers and staff around them. Saw them several times on the cruise walking around with no canes and even dancing. Couldnt believe people would do that just to board first.

I realize that with this package you will most likely have to sign the slip for each drink, but, does just the charge per day show up in the folio or do they list each drink and where you purchased it also show up in the folio??

 

Mark

There is just 1 charge on your folio for the total cost of the package. The charge is listed on the first night for the whole cruise so it isn't like the general tips where they list out a per day charge. They don't list each drink you signed for.

Are we on the same repo? :)

Yes, we are!

Well they sure have me thinking about it! :)

I was on the fence about it, but with the 8.95 drink prices I'm definitely going to purchase it for me and my wife. Our next cruise is mostly sea days since it is a repo (7 sea days, 3 port days) so I think we will be able to make it worthwhile. Plus I can try new drinks and if I don't like them it's no big deal. I would have a harder time "trying" a $9 drink.

The package is now 56. per day. Princess needs to update the website. ;) The package includes glasses of wine up to 10. Of course you can have a glass in your room. To order a bottle when you have the package you get 40% off the bottle. Personally. I would just drink it by the glass.

Is that before or after the gratuity? The $49 advertised price + 15% = 56.35/day so if it is now $56 that would mean 64.40/day with gratuity.

I was just checking my guide to see if by chance I got this channel (I get some international) but don't :(

I'll be sailing on the Royal at the end of Oct so it would be interesting to watch this.

I looked online and they do have an online player, but it's only available for UK residents as it checks your zip code and IP. With a UK VPN or Proxy it could be watched though.

Maybe the travel channel will pick it up at some point.

You can add a tip but why would you. Just my opinion but why would anyone tip above 15% when all the bartender does is pour a bit of alcohol out of a bottle and maybe add some mixer or else hand you a can a beer? I can never figure that out.

 

DON

I've tipped above the 15% but always cash given to the bartender usually at the end of the cruise but sometimes during (such as they tell me they are going ashore for the day). I usually find 1-3 bars/bartenders I really like (good personality, prompt service, makes good drinks, etc...) and stick to those bars and there are always a few servers that I get to know.

In the evenings or even before/after lunch, I'm usually sitting at a bar so I get to know them really well. I had one bartender actually buy me a gift when he went ashore for the day. It's just a reward for good service. I know they are getting the 15% but I usually tip 20% at home anyways so so an extra 100-200 for the bartenders/servers isn't really all that much over 20%. Plus they really appreciate it and I know they are sending money home to their families (just like most of the crew).

No different really then giving Stewart a little extra at the end of the cruise even though he/she is included in the tip pool.

Thanks for the pictures Pam. I can't wait to sail on the Royal in October! Seems like so far away.

Thanks for the replies. I can deal with a little reaching the club from the casino. I do like that the club itself is non smoking.

I'll be sailing on the Royal in October and was wondering if smoking is allowed in Club 6?

I asked this in another thread relating to this topic, but I don't think it was answered. The question is related to US ports only. I've seen some examples that list the final check-in time is 30 minutes before the all on board time. Even 60 minutes could be a problem, depending on the number of passengers that need to board on the last time.

 

Is this onboard time the same time that all passenger info has to be submitted to Homeland Security? I believe the manifest has to be submitted either 90 minutes or 2 hours prior to departure. It is also my understanding from previous posts on various boards that passengers are not allowed to check in after that time.

 

So my question is if it is true that for US ports the last boarding time is 30 minutes prior to this time, what would happen if they cannot get these passengers checked in by the 30 minute deadline. Would they be forced to deny boarding to the remaining passengers or would they have to request the port allow them to leave later to meet the Homeland security requirement to receive the manifest?

 

While I know no one here can really answer this, but just something that I would worry about if I were one of the passengers stuck with the last boarding time. I would hope that Princess has taken this into consideration and the onboard time has the cushion to ensure all passengers can be checked in and Princess can meet the Homeland Security requirements.

They do need to submit the passenger manifest to Homeland Security, but they typically have this together beforehand because everyone enters the information online (hopefully). If someone doesn't than they would need to check-in 90 minutes before so Princess can supply the necessary info.

Now if someone didn't enter this all online and had a 2:30 check-in time for all aboard by 3pm, they don't have a lot of time to sort out any potential issues. I have seen some problems (documentation, on board account setup/credit card issues) all of which could take longer than 30 minutes to resolve.

Sure, you really should have all this organized beforehand, but things do happen, and not everyone is aware of what is needed when they arrive at the pier. Who knows what Princess would do in this situation. I would imagine if someone arrived at 12 and was turned away and then had a problem when they came back at their "assigned" time closer to departure they would be quite upset if they don't have enough time to resolve it, but would have at 12.

I book mine with a TA out of state. I've never met her, but she came highly recommended by someone so I gave her a shot and glad I did.

Well not everybody in the younger generation, that's why my younger sister takes her computer to bestbuy and pays $119 to format and reinstall windows lol

 

I've never waited more than 1min. How do you get instant gratification? it's not done till you hang up and the TA passes along the message. By time I hangup, the confirmation email from the cruiseline is already in my inbox and my redlight is flashing on my phone lol

Same thing happens to me with the TA. She logs onto the cruise line booking system and makes the reservation. I hang up and have an email as well as being able to view it online on the the Cruise line's site.

So I shouldn't book onboard for an OBC? The one cruise I did book directly through my TA the price was the same as was listed on the RCI website.

 

Should I wait until the quarterly cruise-a-thon type open house things with my TA or any time?

 

I'm very particular about my cruises, I know exactly which ship, sailing date, and cabin I want. Will I still save any money?

I'm the same way. I just email her or call and say I want to book Voyage XYZ. She gives me the price which is always several hundred dollars cheaper than booking directly and I give her my credit card. She asks me what I would like for a cabin and offers suggestions if I need them. I can usually have the cruise booked in less than 5 minutes since she already has all my info.

As for waiting for sales, I usually don't bother as most TAs can already get better pricing. The last cruise I booked, she was $300/pp cheaper plus I got an onboard credit.

So you can call your TA at 3am and make changes?

 

But it is a personal choice, it's a generation gap more than anything. My mom's generation likes dealing with TA's and middleman, while I avoid them at all cost. I want things done now and fast, one call to TA or cruiseline, latter will be faster for what I need/want, i guess that's why they call the young people the instant gratification crowd! lol But as long as it works for you, that's why PVP's and TA's still exist, even if they are a dying breed.

I'm in the younger generation, but still prefer a TA. Other than not being able to call at 3am I still get instant gratification. I don't need to call an 800 number and press 4 for existing bookings and wait on hold. I just call an 800 number and someone that knows me answers by the 3rd ring. And of course, the $500+ I save each cruise is nice to have in my pocket to offset my bar bill a little.