cruznliz

From his website: Star Princess September 5th to October 17th 2015

http://bertstratton.com/171474BE-CE36-44E7-A01C-238DC42B4FBE.html

All this over a 10% discount? The prices are jacked up >100% as it is. Princess might make more money NOT requiring Elite status for the perk.

My sentiments exactly! :rolleyes: Even if you're purchasing something for hundreds of dollars, it's only 10%. Big deal. :p (That being said, I of course use if for my refrigerator magnets and t-shirts! :eek: )

There should be a laundry bag in your closet.

 

Simply list the items on the ticket (and take a picture with your phone for a record) and give the bag to your steward. Laundry is usually returned the following day.

 

That's all there is to it.

 

Mike:)

I forgot to mention that taking a picture of the items you send in is a good idea. ;)

There are paper laundry bags hanging on a hanger in the closet area. You can always ask your steward for more. You fill out the paper with what is in the bag, such as how many socks, undies, t-shirts, blouses, jeans, etc. If you are sending in dry cleaning as well, I would probably use a separate bag. Yes, things are ironed. As for turn-around time, we've never had a problem. We usually hand in the bags in the evening and receive them back the following evening. I've read that if the ship has a large number of Elite passengers the turn-around can be longer. I don't think it's ever been more than 48 hours for us, but I guess it can be as much as 72 hours. They usually leave a note in the cabin warning you. They do charge you and then it is deleted off your shipboard account the following evening.

How do you apply the credit to your credit card statement? I tried to do that a couple of weeks ago and talked to two different people at Barclays and I was told I couldn't do it. I know I have done it at least twice in the past and the second time I had difficulty also but managed to get it done. I can't remember how. Is there a certain number to call or person to talk to?

I would just do it on the Barclay website. Go to View your Rewards, Redeem Your Rewards, Cruise Discount and Free Cruises, Cruise Discount, do the drop down menu for how many points you want to use. Add to Cart, View Cart, etc. Then under Delivery Options they ask for your Booking Number. I think it's pretty self explanatory. It might take a couple of weeks to actually appear on your Barclay statement. Good luck!

So the strategy could be: use your visa card while on board to receive double points...and then apply those points (along with what you have accumulated before your cruise) to a credit on your next statement?

I think you have to have a cruise booked in order to apply points/money to your credit card statement. You need a booking number. You can make your final payment and then apply the points to your statement.

I cash in my points by getting a cruise discount rather than OBC. The discount comes in the form of a credit applied to your credit card bill.

Someone pointed out that using the points towards your credit card bill was better. This way, whatever expenses you incur onboard give you DOUBLE points toward your next cruise! I've become a fan of using points towards cabin flowers and the Special Occasion Package. If I have a lot of points, then I apply them to the credit card bill after final payment.

Just be sure your Cruise Personalizer is completely filled out in advance.

We forgot our boarding pass one time when we were with some newbies. Very embarrassing. Our friends had theirs and we had nothing but our passports. No problem whatsoever though.

There is quite an extensive catalog on the Barclay site. You can use the points for discounts on cruises, onboard credit, photos, flowers, wine, celebration packages as well as Amazon cards, restaurant, gas and retail store cards. As I said, very extensive. In the past we've used points for $500 off a cruise, onboard credit, flowers for the cabin and a special occasion package. :D

Yes, we cruised from NY to Southampton. We cruised back on a 30 day Emerald Princess cruise. In our opinion (4 cruises) we wished we'd booked first class airline tickets instead of that cruise. I hope you are very happy with your experience, but class cruising is NOT for us. Good Luck and Enjoy every moment of your journey.

In the 90's my mother took the Concorde over and one of the Cunard Queens back and she said the same thing. They loved the flight and were very disappointed in the crossing. She was sorry they didn't take the Concorde both ways. That being said, it's on my bucket list to do a Cunard cruise as well. :D

We were on the same cruise last October with our shiny new smart phones. We enjoyed them in Hawaii and then shut them down completely and put them in the safe for the remainder of the cruise. ;) My research had conflicting info on American Samoa, so I didn't want to take any chances. BTW, the ship internet was painfully slow essentially the entire cruise. They used the excuse that the satellites didn't work over the equator. :rolleyes: I honestly feared the poor internet manager would commit suicide he was so stressed out. One trick, it seemed the Princess postcards went through. I sent many from the Internet Cafe. You're only allowed like one or two sentences, but it was fun to send them to the grandkids. :D

padrek: This Roll Call is actually going better on the "All River Cruise Roll Call" board. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2179263

Please join us there. There are 3 of us chatting there. We're landing at 4:30 in Spokane so maybe we can meet at the Davenport.

We're on it! Just got a reply on the "All River Cruise Roll Call" board too, so that's 3 of us, or 3 cabins. :eek:

Have you done river cruising before? We are definitely "newbies" on rivers. We're looking forward to a green itinerary. The California drought is beginning to depress and worry us. We are Liz & Al from Southern California and will be driving the Coastal route to see my brother in Tacoma before the cruise. We'll drive back to Portland on the 23rd, leave the car in Vancouver, WA, and fly to Spokane. Maybe we can meet at the hotel? :D

On the Crown last Fall they had outstanding banana bread in the Horizon Court every morning for breakfast. It might have even been better than mine! :eek:

Anyone else on this cruise?? I have been reading lots on Lewis & Clark as well as "Astoria". Also watched the 1930 John Wayne movie "Big Trail". Any other recommendations? This is our first river cruise but we've done many, many ocean cruises. I'm very excited about the change of scenery. :D

They have been doing it for many years. We did it in 2007 on the Dawn and now they are using the Golden Princess which is larger.

I enjoy all the comfort foods. Everyday there is a hot pudding or crumble: rice pudding, bread pudding, apple crumble, etc. Also love the mashed potatoes. Blintzes on Embarkation Day and all the cookies. The chips are average but the guacamole is very good and the scones are excellent. All the things I don't have at home for obvious reasons. :D;)

My votes are for David Klinkenberg the violinist and Carlos Oscar the comedian! :D

We greatly enjoy Carlos Oscar. He's always funny! We look forward to all the comedians, but are too often disappointed. :rolleyes:

We saw a solo violinist a couple of years ago who was outstanding. He was a very personable young man who had been playing since he was 4 years old. Unfortunately we only saw him on one cruise and I can't remember his name. Anyone know who I'm talking about? :confused:

We also usually attend the production shows even though we have seen them numerous times. One thing about having seen them all, if we can't find a seat we just leave. :eek: I also like the short acts they present in the Piazza.

I've never had "bad" food on a cruise, but my pet peeve is room temperature or cold food. I rarely send anything back because I'm too shy, but it truly annoys me. I've noticed some ships are worse than others. :rolleyes:

I keep trying. I've attended on 2 or 3 cruises and yes, it is always disappointing. :( The books are good but there is no leadership for the discussion. I understand that the cruise staff may not have time to read the books, but on my last cruise the staff person admitted he hates to read and hadn't read a book since high school! :rolleyes: Also, titles change and there are never enough books to go around. On my last cruise, 28 days, there were 4 books listed. Before sailing I downloaded 3 to my Kindle and read them all. The 4th didn't appeal to me and other passengers said it was a terrible book. Glad I saved the money. The 3 I read were "Fault in our Stars", "Whistling Past the Graveyard" and "Heroes Are My Weakness". Princess must not have received the copies of Fault in our Stars, because that was never mentioned. They did receive other titles by the author of Heroes are my Weakness. That was confusing for people who were reading a random book. In any event, about 4 passengers had about a 10 minute discussion on Whistling Past the Graveyard. This was on the Crown with 3200 passengers. :p

This is good news. I've been wondering where to find the old episodes. DH announced the other day that maybe he should watch some Love Boat before we go on the 50th Anniversary Cruise in December next year. Of course, this shocked me because a) everyone had seen the Love Boat, and b) EVERYONE has seen the Love Boat. (I have known the man for decades and how did I not know he missed Captain Stubing?:eek:)

We're going on the Anniversary Cruise as well. I haven't been following the roll call thread too much because it's so far away. But we are looking forward to seeing the Love Boat cast - maybe! It could happen!! ;)

We have been watching Love Boat episodes 7 days a week on the MeTV Network. :eek: It plays in the morning but we set the DVR and watch them in the evenings. Unfortunately they are going down to once a week in September. Better than nothing. MeTV stands for "Memorable Entertainment TV" and they only show old shows. Here's there website: http://metvnetwork.com/wheretowatch/

Just noticed that the TV show "The Talk" (CBS) is having the Love Boat cast and Jack Jones today. (1PM Pacific time). It's from last November but I never saw it! :eek:

Just wanted to say that I think Princess WANTS you to cash out any leftover OBC. I've never heard of any refund checks! :confused: Last Fall we had about $12.00 left and cashed it out the morning of debarkation. :rolleyes: Sure enough, the computer system didn't register it and we were stopped at the gangway and forced to return to the Passengers Services Desk. :eek: Very annoying. Since then we cash out the night before and if we spend anything that evening, it just goes on our credit card. ;)