skrodle

How about those Draconian changes?! lol ;)

 

Just kidding!!!!

 

I really do hope you enjoy your suite. At least you're booked far enough in advance to see these changes occur, then cancel if need be should the reviews come back less than favorable.

 

:D

my thoughts exactly.... looking forward to photos, and an updated diagram... i am sure the layout is still not finalized. When I first booked the cruise they had they "sail before or after May 2015" on deck plans, but both sets of deck plans were the same... it wasnt until they released the current plans that we changed to the new corner suite. I am sure there will be final updates after May 2015

there were posts about this about 6 months ago, they had a cruise available (to astoria) and they canceled it for a charter... people we crazy mad on here because a cruise they had booked was cancelled for a charter

I remember that post you made about Carnival Destiny/Sunshine and I have since viewed the deck plans and was extremely surprised.

 

I guess the more we travel the more used to ships we get. I can now look at a ships deck plans and once I board know exactly where I am going and not get lost. I just recognise patterns in design and have a good memory for names and locations.

 

It would be good to see the changes not proceed. Sadly the parts have probably already been ordered and manufactured. It would be good to see a public uproar about it once it is done. I would love to see Princess have so few sales on that ship that they are forced to undo the draconian changes.

 

Island Princess was one of my preferred ships but now I have to avoid it. It was a nice ship. At least there is still the Coral Princess.

OMG Can you say DRACONIAN CHANGES one more time????

I for one am excited about my 2016 cruise on the Island as I was able to book one of the new Aft corner Lido Suites!!! The size and shape look spectacular and cant wait to sail through the canal on her in my comfy big suite.

To travel agent or not to travel agent... that is the question...

To the OP, sorry you got hosed on using rewards points and now they dont want to help (or cant help)... I know to you and me and Joe traveler we see it as this. An ocean view is currently $500, a Balcony is $600, I have a ocean view currently so to upgrade to a Balcony it should only be a $100 because that is what my room is worth minus the current cost of the new room. But infact, they look at the price you actually paid minus the cost of the new room. And using the travel points company, they are probably a wholesale consolidator, and may have only paid $150 for the room, or who knows. But you are going to have to pay the difference between what was paid for the room and then the new cost. Its like that on Airlines too.... it stinks, but its how its done...

but in otherwords. this thread is going slightly off topic, so I will continue that. I use to be "OH I DONT NEED A TRAVEL AGENT" kind of guy... I can book myself, I am not 900 years old, I know how to do this... But then I found out about discount travel agent through Cruise Critic and now have two that I work with and Book the cruise myself that I want, the room that I want, etc, and they put the cruise out to bid between the two agents and they come back and tell me how much they will discount it, and I go with the cheaper agent. Both are INCREDIBLY responsive, have no change fees or BS like that, and will do anything to keep me happy and never act like I am bothering them. I am so happy using a travel agent now that I will never go back. I will say the ONLY complaint I have is that I cant make payments directly on the website, I have to email her and tell her to charge my credit card on file. Not a pain, but wish I could make payments on the website myself.

On our last cruise our Future Cruise Consultant -(FCC) (Kyler) was awesome. We asked about booking on board if he had any specials, and they had a 333 special, it was $3 deposit (WOW!) and 33% off select cruises. It was only good if you booked on board. You also got a $25 OBC pp with it too. So we booked a 4-day S6 suite on the Crown coming up (ONE WEEK!!!!). We were able to transfer it to our TA when we got home and she got us another $100 off of it with her discount.

So yes, it pays to book on board and actually talk to the FCC and not just fill out the paper and buy your FCC (two different things for the same abbreviation... ha!)

And it was funny, our TA had applied our FCC to it when we transferred it to her, and we would have gotten another $25 OBC pp, but we had her remove it because we didnt want to use up a FCC incase we needed to book anything else.

thanks Pam, I will be on her in 10 days. I am glad you and i dont sweat the small stuff (like rust) and just enjoy the cruise for being a cruise. This will be my second time to ensenada, and first time to ever not get off in a port. We booked a spa day and couples massage.

Good to know about Crown, we usually eat there at least twice... for sure will get my reservations in asap :) also good to know they let you board so early. Our flight lands at 9:30 and were worried about getting to San Pedro so early. I have been begging my So Cal friends to do a BVE with us (we even offered to pay) and no one would do it. So I am glad we can hopefully board quickly.

Ill be in this cabin in 10 days on the Crown... ill report back

I would add that depending on the line to retrieve your passport and get it to the port agent is at best iffy. You will find it very difficult to get transportation from Grand Cayman or any where else outside the US without it. I would never leave the ship in a foreign country without my passport.

When we did our Grand Med Cruise, we had to turn our passports over to the cruise line, it wasnt until about day 8 or 9 we were not able to retrieve them from the pursers desk. So sometimes you have to leave the ship with out your passport.

also, I am not sure if this has been said, but two of the independent operators we used offered guarantees on getting you back to port in time or paying for your transport to next port. One we used in Belize for cave tubing had been in business for 10 years and never had to live up to this guarantee as they had a 100% success rate for getting pax back to ship. We had a longer tour, a better smaller tour, and didnt have to carry our inner tubes!! There were several pax on a Princess tour along side us who paid twice as much and were on the same bus back with us.

Elites are supposed to get the bathroom amenities that suites get--separate tubes of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash as well as an emory board, Q-tips and cotton balls, shower cap, eye gel mask, linen spray, and luffa scrubby mitt. Sometimes the items vary. On our back-to-back cruises, for instance, we had to switch cabins. Our first cabin steward did not give us any conditioner. I still had some from our hotel stay.

the shampoo and conditioner you get is the same crap thats mounted onto the wall, just in an individual sized bottle :(

Our first 7 cruises were in Mini Suites and you got the Lotus Spa Eucalyptus shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion.

Cruise #8 We were in a balcony and I experienced for the first time what everyone was talking about mounted to the wall... not only is it horrible, you need to pump like 27 times to get any reasonable amount to wash with (I figured out how to un-mount it and squeeze it directly out of the bottle to get an acceptable amount to shower with)

Cruise #11 was back in a mini suite and left to the wall mount, very sad, but I thought they had just cut back for the mini suites :(

Cruise #10 was in a full suite and I was excited for the SUITE bathroom amenities.. everything was perfect except for the bottles of shampoo/body wash which was the blue gunk from the rest of the ship, just in TSA size bottles :( utter sadness

The good stuff is gone

So this is my thing with the center stairs.. I have not been on Royal/Regal, and started reading all these reviews of the horribleness of no center stairs and how it just ruined peoples cruises. Then I found out that the Grand has no central stair case either. I was on that ship for 12 days and never noticed. I find that cruise critic members like to *complain a lot over trivial and trite matters. I have had cruising buddies go on both the Regal and Royal and said they are amazing.

* I would like to use another word here for complain... its much more apropos, but my post might get deleted... if you know what I mean :)

You may have dropped into a lower percent due to higher fare.

 

Princess Vacation Protection is available for 8% of cruise fare subject to a minimum plan cost of $39.00* for fares up to $2,999.99. Cruise fares of $2,500 - $4,999.99 will have a plan cost of 7%. Cruise fares of $5,000 or greater will have a plan cost of 6%. Princess Platinum Vacation Protection is available for 12% of cruise fare subject to a minimum of $59.99* for fares up to $2,999.99. Cruise fares of $2,500 - $4,999.99 will have a plan cost of 11%. Cruise fares of $5,000 or greater will have a plan cost of 10%. *Plan rates will apply to children 18 and under traveling in third and fourth berths with no minimum plan cost if all adults in the cabin purchase the plan.

perfect, i knew i had seen a chart like this somewhere! Makes sense as to why it dropped, I was on the cusp of 1 and moved into the cheaper percentage so thats why it dropped ;)

thanks!

I know i have seen somewhere on Princess how they price their Vacation Protection, but cannot find it.

I just refared into a different cabin and I am paying more for the cabin, but the vacation protection was cheaper.

I just found this as odd... wondering if the cost of vacation protection went down?

Turkey, ham and cheese in bread that has been battered and deep or pan fried (kind of like french toast). Usually served with grape jam. Known elsewhere as a monte cristo (also a french name!).

croque monsieur is completely different from a monte cristo... you have described a monte cristo perfectly..

the croque is usually made with a bechamel (a french white sauce made from butter flour milk and nutmeg)... princess' croque is simply a ham and cheese on egg bread.. so it is not a true croque.. and i was very disappointed when i ordered it

anyone know what they are doing to her?

the terminal is beautiful.. so much nicer than any other terminal i have even been too. Its nice that they have a drop off area now, rather than traffic backing up on the Embarcadero, but traffic on the Embarcadero is ALWAYS bad anyways... cruise days were just worse...

check in was so easy when we did our BVE

i was just thoroughly impressed with how nice it was

Has there been a final decision made in regard to adding the International Cafe to the Island during her refit next year? I have read contradictory posts about this.

 

My husband and I are booked to cruise next June with 2 other couples on the Grand Mediterranean itinerary. We really want to do this itinerary, but I am incensed that Princess thinks it's OK to add cabins for 240+ more guests with no additional dining venues, while taking away the Universe Lounge and it's unique theater presentation, taking away Skywalkers lounge, taking away the 360 promenade and other outdoor viewing areas, and turning the fitness center into a crowded, stuffy windowless enclosed area - all without offering passengers anything positive in return!

Island/Coral never have had a Skywalkers.

Thank you guys...I saw online the "port prices" but having cruised Carnival in the past, I remember that sometimes they ran some sort of special for port days.

we've booked online for port days to get the discount when the ports are not popular ones (for example Ensenada) because the spa tends to fill up. Also when doing Alaska, Ketchican is a port day, but you leave at 12:30pm, if you book online for a 2pm appointment, you will still get port day pricing even though you are sailing, but they wont give you port day pricing if you try and book something like that on board.

Just be sure to print out your confirmation from online of the time and price as once they haggled me over the price and because I had the print out they had to honor it.

Remember the spa is not operated by Princess

OP, did you take any pics? Would love to see them if you did!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

sorry no pics :( it looks like the other grand class ships ;)

Sounds like a great way to have a few hours on a cruise ship. I presume you were at the new dock?

yes new cruise terminal... its SOOOO nice... nicest cruise terminal Ive ever been in.

skyodle:

 

Which dining room was it in?

Portofino Dining room. The odd thing was they sat us on starboard side so we only had a view of the dock... Port would have been much nicer with a view of the water.

Sounds great. I thought you were allowed on for 4 hours?

Since sail away was 4pm, they were kicking us off at 2:30, so just over 3 hours

Hey there... just back from the BVE on the Star Princess in SF. It was so nice.. The only tough part was the time where we realized we had to get off the ship. We were allowed on until 2:30 but I think we left just after 2... we were getting too settled in and too comfortable, we might have become stowaways. The weather was perfect in SF today.

We got to the terminal just before 11 (allow for traffic... the Embarcadero was HORRIBLE) they were expecting us and just after us they started general check in. We checked in right away and got our cruise cards (Be sure to bring your passport for the BVE, and print your boarding passes) it makes the whole process much smoother.

They had a small area for all BVE passengers to wait, about 11:20 the FCC came and got us and took us on board. They took our picture as we boarded. We had the option to do the tour, since we have been on so many grand class ships we opted out of the tour and got some drinks. A couple of the bars were open and you can charge to your account with your cruise cards. They do charge tax on drinks in the port.. .just be aware.

At noon, we had lunch in the main dining room and they had a special area for BVE guests. We normally dont like sharing a table, but we had a really nice couple with us. They were just doing the BVE too, as they were doing a full cruise next week, but wanted to check out the ship (he was also a little nervous and she thought this would be a good way to show him how nice the ship was). Our lunch was great, one of the better lunches I have had in the main dining room.

Afterwards, we just relaxed by the lotus pool till about 2pm. It was so nice, we were the only ones there the entire time. The water was a little cold in the pool, but the Jacuzzi was actually not hot so that felt great. Our friends from lunch found us as they dropped off our pictures during lunch to them (the letter you get says you can get them at the photo gallery). It was funny because the pic has the map of the ships route and says "we travelled 1400 miles". We got a good laugh out of that.

Knowing that the $39 goes towards you future cruise bill, it was basically a free afternoon of food and relaxing. It was also really nice for about an hour being the only ones on the ship. It felt really special. I will definitely do this again! And the fact that we are only 2 miles from the terminal doesnt hurt :)

there are several posts on this thread saying "suites are never discounted"

this cannot be more than wrong.

My last Alaska cruise I booked it and got a price reduction about 6 weeks before final payment. I am booked on a 4 day in Feb that I booked onboard and they were offering 33% off current prices for suites (well for all staterooms, but suites included). I am also booked on a 10 day in April, and I've gotten two price reductions on it and now prepaid gratuities. Plus both of us my upcoming cruises my TA discounted even further from what Princess was offering.

So yes, suites are discountable, maybe not at the same rate as what you will see other staterooms, and yes its quite a jump in prices on most itineraries from a mini to a full suite, but the benefits are so worth it.

just my 2 cents

i agree that you would be ok..

you are not doing a r/t as the 2nd poster stated, but travelling from Vancouver to Seattle.

the problem with your first trip was you were traveling between two US ports. here you are traveling between 1 international and 1 US.

Its the whole reason for the 1 day repo from Vancouver because they cannot repo it from LA to Seattle, so they have to put that break in there.

You should be good

Its a easy drive from PS to LA. If you have a GPS its very easy. I do it all the time when I go to PS

agreed... its almost a straight shot, almost entirely on the same freeway, used to live smack in the middle of palm springs and LA. just dont drive during rush hour and it should only be a 2.5 hour drive