Dbld777

Olympic surfing competition in Tahiti is scheduled for July 26th thru Aug. 11th. Athletes, coaches, officials, visitors attending the event, all need housing, arriving in the week before the event. It can probably bring a very nice nightly revenue per room. Not the first time a ship would be used for event housing. Should have been planned long ago though, but maybe the housing demand is much stronger than forecasted. Who wouldn't want to travel to Tahiti to watch the surfing event?? Just another possible explanation.

24 minutes ago, cbfb said:

Great information. So even though you and your wife were on the same cruise reservation/same cabin,  it allowed you to make separate reservations. This is a great idea because as you said it was noticed by the staff and taken care of. Also great tip to have lunch in one of the dining rooms. Thanks so much! 

Yes, I was a little surprised the app allowed it but I just made sure I was logged in under my login for one reservation and then logged on with her password for the second.

We had a family group of 14 last Summer on the Majestic in Alaska. My wife and I each made a booking for a table of 7 at the same time slot(5:40) each night, in the same dining room and also specified private table. Make sure that everyone(12) is already linked or included in your "travel party" on the app. Then you'll need to link or include 5 others(that are already in your travel party) in each of your two reservation. On embarkation day, try to have lunch in the one dining room that is open. You're likely to be able to find a dining room manager that can help you at that time. Ask them about ensuring your two tables are close to each other and that you'd like the same tables every evening at that time. The dining room manager that I spoke to had already planned a location for our group of 14 with two tables in a private nook area around the corner from the entrance. He had obviously already scanned the reservations looking for large groups and since the two reservations were both from the same cabin(wife and I) he knew that it was one larger group. So convenient then to be able to walk in each night to the same tables and everyone in the group could find their way in to the tables without everyone being ready and out front of the DR at the same time.

1 hour ago, TheMichael said:

That would be a brilliant idea, if reservations are actually handled by holding a specific table for each reservation. With very few exceptions, after the initial opening crowd, people who arrive for their reservations simply get a place in line before the walk-ups, that's all. 

Yes, using the word "reservation" does seems to be a bit misleading to many of the DMW diners using the app. They just can't hold a table open for a 6:30 reservation. That's the only time we've seen some longer lines, the 6:30 to 7:00 timeframe.

11 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

For me, it’s PG. I struggled through the same decision but booked on PG mostly because I know what I am getting. I have friends that have recently been on PG and absolutely loved it.  As others have said, we need to see what Windstar brings to the region with their “stretched” ship. I would guess that they are going to have to bring on new staff for the larger ship and from recent experience on other luxury cruise lines it takes a while to get new crew up to the quality and personalization of experienced staff. It was a close call for me but I have confidence that either choice will be a good one.

We would agree with the training requirement for a top notch personalized service that many tout Windstar for. We were on the Star Breeze in Tahiti in March of '22 and we did not experience the personalized service and the "they'll know you by your name after a day or two" type of experience that  many Windstar fans spoke about here on CC. It was our first WS experience and we chalked it up to new crew still learning the WS service standard after the restart from the pandemic.

We were on the Star Breeze last year. When the watersports platform is out, you are generally in deeper waters. Excursions get you to the beautiful coral gardens such as we saw in Raiatea(Taha'a) and Bora Bora. You are often snorkeling in quite shallow waters to see the most beautiful corals and fish. Look up "Drift Snorkel Tahaa" on YouTube. We highly recommend booking with H2O Bora Bora(boraborah2o.com). Some of the best snorkeling on a small boat(4-6 person) tour, that we've ever had. Lots of great posts over on the Pacific Islands CC Board regarding good snorkeling and other excursion in FP.

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. Your French Polynesia knowledge and recommendations have been such a help to so many, including us. My hope is that you will find others who are on the same path as you, who can help you navigate your way when cruising solo. I also hope that you will feel his spirit with you on your future cruises.

We stayed 3 nights pre-cruise at the Sofitel and it was very nice. If you like sunrises they are on the East side of the island so you are gazing out at Papeete to the East and the sunrise. The sunrises we saw were absolutely beautiful.

I would highly recommend Fabrice at Tahiti Eden Tours. We did a full day island tour on our disembarkation day when our flight out wasn't until 10 PM. He knows the island very well and provided a great tour with great insight into the history of the island and the people of FP.

tahitiedentours.com

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I didn't enter a card for my wife separately. I did all the setup on my phone. I entered my credit card number and then checked the box for her to be an authorized user. That's it. I think people keep trying to do separate setups and the system doesn't like having the card entered twice.

Yes, it won't even accept the same credit card number for a separate booking on the same cruise. I tried to put my credit card in for other family members cabins and it won't take it and says "invalid credit card number". Same cc number that I had just entered for my booking. 

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

You can have any old picture for a profile, mine is of my cat. They are much more strict about the security one they seem to want head shots. I grew a beard between cruises and they took a picture at embarkation

Embarking the Majestic a couple of weeks ago, about half of our family had their security pic retaken as we first scanned our medallion on the ship. Took an extra 5 seconds to complete the embarkation. They're really looking for a headshot only, that looks like you currently do, as you are boarding. They were really looking closely at us and our pic every time we reboarded. I'm glad to see the increased scrutiny and security as we boarded.

@oakridger I'm a '79 grad. You wouldn't recognize the campus at OSU. So many new buildings and not much greenspace left except for the Oval. The whole Columbus area has grown tremendously.

If you'd like an island tour while on Moorea, we had a great tour with "Lady in Blue", Spirou.

During a stop at one of the pearl stores, we met the owner, a native, who had once lived in Ohio for a few years. She was a pearl diver at Sea World in Aurora, Ohio for several years. Small World. The pearls there are beautiful btw.

https://ladyinblue-moorea.business.site/

https://www.facebook.com/MADAMEBLEU2

We rented directly from the Avis car rental on Moorea. It's directly across from where the ferry from Papeete docks. They have their own website to make a reservation, which is better than going through the Avis corporate website.

https://www.avis-tahiti.com/en/

Check out Huahine Private. We had a great island tour with Janou. She will customize the tour based on your preferences.

https://www.huahine-private.com/

6 hours ago, martincath said:

Appreciate the tap-in @Ferry_Watcher - my understanding backs up @Dbld777's interpretation, that only Air absolutely requires a passport for border-crossing, Land and Sea do not, BUT while this is fine and dandy from a governmental perspective unfortunately it isn't a government-run ferry service involved!

 

Whether or not you will be allowed on the ship comes down to the cruise line - their conditions of carriage are what you need to be compliant with since as US citizens, with both parents present, CBP are not going to prevent you or your child returning to your home country (even CBSA crossing into Canada, with both parents there, shouldn't give you any grief although they may ask some follow-up questions about your trip when the kid has no passport just to make sure you didn't book a flight back unaware that you could not fly!)

 

Princess' rules seem unfortunately very cut and dried - no cruise for you! Only Closed Loop cruises even mention the birth cert option for any age of traveler... so you definitely need to clear it with them, or you may end up unexpectedly vacationing in Vancouver and having to drive back over the border and fly domestic back home to Ohio!

 

Escalate it as high as you can, as fast as you can, because call centre minions are going to toe the company line, their supervisors likewise, so you need someone on the compliance side of things to sign off on your kid cruising without a passport I would guess - the folks who get involved on all the unlawful cruise combos actually seem to understand the rudiments of WHTI and PVSA laws at least!

 

Hopefully there's someone else who has done this, on Princess, and can walk you through their experience - and frankly I would love to be wrong here, for your sake! - but I think the odds are against you, this is definitely an uncommon situation.

 

Just in case you do make it as far as the pier and then get rebuffed, what's your exact departure date? Late July I should be in town and I've helped out in more troublesome situations in the past - a couple of Francophone ladies I was guiding around town got trapped when the US border closed during Covid, so their Amtrak to Seattle then flying home plan fell apart... at least you guys speak the local lingo and the border's open, so helping you figure out accommodation/travel/stuff to do in the mean time would be a doddle in comparison! Drop me an email at cruisecriticmarty @ gmail dot com if you don't want to share info publicly.

Thank you so much for all the info @martincath. I really appreciate the time you've taken to help guide us through this dilemma. I will be reaching out to my CVP at Princess to start the escalation process to get a commitment one way or another on the possibility of boarding with just a birth certificate on this one way cruise. My understanding is that you're basically reentering the U.S. when you board the ship, as all future port stops are in the U.S. So I would think Princess should be okay with it since any disembarkation enroute(early or not) would be U.S. territory and no passport is needed to get back home from there. But as you say, their rules, not necessarily the government regs. will apply. We also appreciate your offer of help should we get rebuffed at the pier(possible even with pre-approval from somebody at Princess). I will email you closer to our sail date if we are taking the risk and haven't received the passport yet. I'm still hoping we can break through the bureaucracy at the passport agency and get the PP expedited. Much Thanks!

Just now, Ferry_Watcher said:

I would say that the children's US birth certificates will only work if you plan to drive into Canada.  If you plan on flying, you will all need passports.

Driving in to Toronto to catch flight to Vancouver. Passport not required for a child to cross the border by land.

5 year old going on a NB Princess Cruise from Vancouver to Whittier in late July. Applied for a passport on March 4, 2023. Still waiting. Passport application was kicked back twice for minor issues on the application, since both parents were not present when submitting application at the post office. If we don't receive the passport in time for sailing, can a child board the ship in Vancouver and go through U.S. customs and immigration with a certified birth certificate? Lots of conflicting info on this topic on both governmental websites and travel websites. Since it is a land/sea border crossing, a birth certificate should be adequate to reenter the U.S.

Has anyone actually embarked in Vancouver recently with a birth certificate for a minor child? Both parents will be present and have valid passports.

P.S. We are doing everything we can to expedite the passport, but it seems to be a difficult task to expedite a passport already submitted for standard processing.

2 hours ago, sckal said:

I've been on the phone twice with the Ocean Ready customer support at Princess with no resolution so thought I'd ask this forum. I'm guessing someone has had this issue.  I'm trying to enter my Payment Method using the same MasterCard I've used for at least 10 prior Princess cruises.  It gives me an error "Invalid Card Number." I have the card in my hand and I've typed the card number correctly. Anyone else have this issue and can provide guidance?

 

I'm getting the same error when I try to enter my credit card number for my daughter's cabin. It worked fine when I entered it for my payment method on my booking, but when I enter it for the second booking it says Invalid Card Number. I'm holding the card in my hand and double checking I've entered all the numbers correctly. I have a feeling that there is some kind of bug that if that card number is already in use it won't accept it for a second booking. Is your booking the only one that you are using the credit card for?

45 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

ANDROID Version 3.0.107773.

 

- Bug fixes and improvements

And yet so many bugs remain unfixed.

- Won't let me update the zip code even though the street address and city were updated(by me).

- Won't let me add my credit card info to my daughter's booking(which I made).

- Won't let me update an incorrectly entered(by Princess) DOB for one of our passengers.

How does management at Princess and/or CC not make fixing this app a priority????

8 hours ago, Mauidiver said:

I believe whether your ship will be affected depends on their assigned berth.  I’ve heard only ships scheduled for the railroad dock will be affected, but those assigned to the Ore or Broadway docks shouldn’t be affected.  We’re on the Celebrity Millennium at the end of May and scheduled for the Ore Dock, so hopeful we won’t miss the port. 

I'm guessing that certain cruise lines have more pull than others, in the Alaskan ports, based on the number of ships they have there and the number of passengers they deliver to the economy of each of the towns. Thus, I wouldn't count on the current dock assignments if they decide to close the railroad dock for the Summer.

7 hours ago, jbooth2099 said:

How does one train to be a rock watcher?

Previous experience watching paint dry might help you land the job...

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

How did you get into your cabin without using your Medallion? 

Yes, the door automatically unlocked with it in my pocket. I was thinking of when somebody wanted to scan it.

2 minutes ago, Eamon Chute said:

OK.....dumb question (or two).......

 

Can you just keep the Medallion in your pocket like a coin, and will it still work? Or do you have to take it out each time to use it?

 

I don't wear a watch as I don't like anything on my wrists, and I don't want a lanyard dangling around my neck. Soooo......can it be used if it's in your pocket?

Yes, that's exactly what I did last week on the Regal. But quite frankly, most of the wait staff and servers kept asking for our cabin number and never scanned the medallion. Only used the medallion to enter the MDR at dinner and when getting on and off the ship.

We did a nice tour with "Lady in Blue" on Moorea.  She will ask you what you want to see and arrange stops for you according to your wishes. We did stop at a couple of pearl shops and they were very low key, not pushy whatsoever, if you just want to look and see what they have.

https://www.facebook.com/MADAMEBLEU2

https://ladyinblue-moorea.business.site/

46 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Which brings us to another question.  Especially from a Shareholder perspective.  While I understand that the various brands like CCL, HAL, PCL have their own identity and such, surely they could have shared technology platform and made it possible to have a similar app with custom badging and wording and such, but the base functionality should be the same in terms of registering for a cruise and so forth.  Whatever technology works for booking dining ought to work across cruise lines, just as it should across different ships. 

Great questions. Would be interesting as a customer and shareholder, as many here are, to attend the annual shareholder's meeting and ask questions like these. Change is needed.