Cruiser411

That's like saying since the local police are responsible for your safety, they should have 24-hours a day access to knowing where you are.

 

Sorry. I do not agree. Neither Princess nor the police should be tracking my every movement.

I don't think the system will be doing real-time tracking of everyone onboard. That would need a lot of computing power. Instead, when you request something, then the system will determine where you are. Or if you enter a venue, it may note your entrance for crowd control purposes. It's not going to be a virtual Marauder's Map.

Oh my... they just reported that he had the gun in his checked bag and had flown in from Canada...:eek:

On embarkation day, when I've gone to a table outside the specialty restaurants to make my reservation, they've had all the menus for the cruise.

So far, what we know is that someone on a Ruby sailing was denied entrance to the MDR for embarkation lunch and told it was only for Club Class. That's all we know, I think. Someone mentioned that there was big Princess Corp. thing on the Ruby that day, suggesting that maybe that was taking up the MDR at lunch, leaving only the Club Class section available. We really don't know enough yet to start panicking. :D

 

(For the "who cares" crowd, I would ask you how you would feel if Princess eliminated something you really liked. You might be disappointed, and I might say "Who cares?")

If this happened in December, Princess typically has its employee Holiday party onboard a ship in San Pedro. Sounds like a one-off to me.

No, read the articles again. The medallion is optional and cruise cards will still get you into your cabin.

Hmmm... I guess. But if you can limit what the medallion does to only opening your cabin door, then carrying it rather than the cruise card isn't much of a difference.

Why did they append 'class' to the name? "Medallion Class" makes it sound as though you have to pay extra. :rolleyes:

It sounds like the ships with it will be "Medallion Class" ships. Everyone on a ship so equipped will have a medallion.

I'll lock mine in the cabin safe for safe keeping :D

It's replacing the cruise card. You'll need it to get into your cabin.

which ship left from Ft. Lauderdale on Sat. 12/17.

 

Thanks

Caribbean Princess

As others have noted, the Grand is in dry dock right now. Unfortunately, was not planned. The Grand sustained some damage a few weeks ago. So, the main purpose of this is to repair that damage. I'm sure that Princess will take this opportunity to make some upgrades/refreshes, but what can be done without a prior plan is unclear.,

 

This is incorrect. The drydock was scheduled. Because the ship was damaged near Hawaii, she disembarked her passengers there and entered the drydock two days late which forced the shortening of her next cruise.

I use Windows 10.

 

To decrease my onboard waste of internet, I do the following:

 

WiFi connection - I set my ship connection to metered so Windows won't try to download the monster sized OS upgrades.

 

eMail service - I only download a small amount of each eMail, and never attachments. If I need more text or the attachment, I can do it on a case by case basis.

 

Internet browser - enable flashblock to stop downloads of videos. Enable adblock to stop downloads of adverts. Again, if I need them I can do it on a case by case basis.

 

Other software programs - I disable automatic updates.

 

For security I never have software remember my login ids/passwords or store files containing personal info in case my computer decides to grow legs. Since it isn't likely there will be another passenger with my last name on a cruise, just my last name is on the computer in case it gets sent to the purser's lost and found.

 

Question about wifi security - I haven't used the ship's wifi to do any banking, etc. Just how secure is a wifi connection? Can someone within range log all my keystrokes even if the website address is using "https" ?

 

Any other tips? Thanks.

Good advice. As for WiFi security, if you're using https:, the entire transmission is encrypted. Someone might be able to intercept the data stream, but it'd just be gibberish.

Outsourcing can also be to companies in the USA.

 

It is just that the IT folk at these contractors earn less than they used to working directly for a company. Often an outsource company will offer jobs to displaced IT folk, but at a greatly reduced salary.

 

I once worked for a company that outsourced its Help Desk to a USA company with USA employees. My company's people would dial a Help Desk person in our company whose sole function was to pass on the question/problem to the outsouce company. In fact, the Help Desk people in our company were reprimanded if they actually helped anybody, even someone with the simplest of questions.

I agree. Outsourcing does not necessarily mean offshoring. I'd bet that many of the folks jobs that are being outsourced have to be on-site. Techs that setup equipment, do installs, etc. That can't be done from India...

If Princess and Cruise Critic now have an "arrangement", I'm sure part of that arrangement is for Princess to ask their passengers to post on Cruise Critic. The more people posting to CC means more advertising dollars in their pocket.

It doesn't matter to me. But if i can't understand them its my right to ask for another person. This brand will not be on the top of the list to cruise, and avoid them like the plague. I'am not santa but i just added them to the avoid list......RADICAL

What are you talking about? They are outsourcing IT (Information Technology) jobs, not reservation agents... :rolleyes:

What are the rules for minors in their own cabins? I know I can book me in one cabin and my wife in another but if I can put the kids both in their own cabin by calling to book I will do that instead of booking online.

 

If it matters the kids would be 18 and 15 at sailing.

Definitely call as it will make booking easier. The bookings need to be linked and at least one kid needs to be 16 or older in the other cabin, so you're good to go.

Probably children...

vibeguy .. thanks for the feedback ... Yes .. "if" is purely hypothetical, but it would be a short-cut "if" you needed access - "if" required - you know ... "in case of emergency - break glass".

But we are very much looking forward to not spending too much time in the room .. if we wanted to sleep we would stay home.

rdsqrl: ditto - and thanks for your input.

The main Promenade deck is just one deck down and it goes under the lifeboats/tenders. The Diamond's Promenade is very nice and wide.

Princess charges $19 to get a "gourmet" burger in the Salty Dog Cafe.

But that IS a gourmet burger and worth the price considering all that you get with it...

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2349

I am so happy this thread was started. Thank you!! We are platinum with Princess, in fact Princess has been the ONLY line we have been on. I am a teacher and have a very specific week that we can cruise. The Royal and the Regal are the only ships that are in the Caribbean that particular week.

 

There are two non-negotiables for us; a balcony and a promenade deck. We are out of luck with both of those with respect to the Royal and Regal. The balconies on them are so small and not anything close we to we expect from Princess. Not having the promenade deck on the same deck as all the major social decks was a deal breaker for us.

 

We are saddened that we had to book another cruise line. We are sailing on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. We would much prefer to be sailing on a Princess ship but it will never be the Regal or Royal or any other new ship they roll out that does not have what we want.

 

I have wanted to write Princess and tell them, so thank you very much for this thread!

 

Enjoy your next cruise!

You do know that Oasis doesn't have a proper outside Promenade deck either. It's a running track that runs behind the lifeboats and only offers a few chairs to sit in. :rolleyes:

Im wondering about security at sea and what princess provides.

I know most of us are civilized people, but with an all inclusive beverage package (I'm not a tea totaler, I enjoy a drink or 2)there is potential for both physical as well as sexual assault to take place among other crimes when 3000 people get together.

Does princess cruises have security personnel? Is there a brig on the ship?

I've heard they have plenty of video cameras to document this for legal proceedings. Has anyone seen any security action take on their cruise?

I would hope that if someone gets beaten by another passenger or their wife/ daughter gets their you know what grabbed, that the person caught doing this spends the rest of their cruise in the brig and handed over to authorities upon their return.

There seems to be a large security contingent onboard. They are the ones who take your picture as you board and they are there when you leave or come back on the ship. I have been told that there is a brig onboard each ship. I also believe that, depending on the severity of the crime, they will hand offenders to the authorities in the local port.

Or they like to offer some variety in the itineraries.

My computer will not let me even get to the part where I get to "choose my own" or let them choose for me.

 

I just went to my husband's computer and it works fine from there. I don't get what my problem is!!!:mad:

Try clearing your browser's cache.

I don't bring my own, so yeah, I use it. No problems...

On an Apple device, try the Puffin browser which works with Flash content.

I remember most of what was positive or negative on a cruise actually. This was our 8th Princess cruise, and I have never found absolutely nothing that appealed to me, yes they have the everyday options that are available, but I and my husband would prefer quality for quantity, especially in the main dining room. We actually have done anytime ding the last 3 cruises and it was excellent service as well as this time. Probably the uncharge on the dining in the specialty restaurants had something to do with the lower quality.

I was surprised on the formal night the choices it always seemed to be very special but didn't seem like it this trip.

It still was a very fun time, with great entertainment and a positive helpful attitude across the board.

Next time we might just do a couple of the specialty restaurants.

4 day cruises have a formal night?

My take is that this was reported three years ago and an investigation started. Princess assisted with that investigation and the perpetrators have been fired. Since only 5 ships were involved (out of a fleet of 15-18 ships depending on the year) I would surmise that certain officers were involved as they moved from ship to ship. That the majority of their fleet was found to be compliant suggests that it wasn't a corporate mandate to cut costs.

Since Princess has taken corrective measures, I think we can be assured that their ships are probably the cleanest afloat, otherwise the punitive fine if they are found to be non-compliant again would be devastating.

At this point, I have no problem sailing with them again.

Last time I was on Crown to the Mexican Riviera, Skywalkers was hopping until about 1am. 'Twas a fun crowd.