fedexretiree

6 minutes ago, ReadyToCruise2 said:

We purchased the Princess Plus package once we boarded the ship on our recent cruise.  From my viewpoint, there is almost no reason to purchase the Princess Plus or Princess Premier package pre-cruise.  The only reasons I can think of would be that the price goes up (it didn't, it was still $60) or as noted, they limit it/sell-out, which seems highly unlikely.

 

The reasons not to purchase the Plus or Premier package pre-cruise:

 

1) It becomes part of the cruise fare and the cancelation guidelines.

 

2) Princess has your money earlier than purchasing on-board.

 

3) In our case, we had some on-board credits and the Plus package included everything we would purchase, so we were able to use our OBC's against the purchase of the package.  We made the mistake on a prior cruise pre-purchasing the Plus package and then ended up using the OBCs buying stuff we didn't really want/need in the ships stores. 

 

4) If you purchase the Princess insurance, the insurance goes up when you purchase the Plus/Premier package pre-cruise (added 8% of the Plus package cost to the insurance). Obviously there was no bump to the insurance cost purchasing the Plus package on-board.

 

We wondered how hard it would be to find a crew member trying to "sell" us the Plus or Premier package once onboard.  We bumped into a crew member holding up a advertising flyer in about 10 feet after boarding.  We knew we wanted to buy it, so we were a really easy sell.  It just took a minute - he just entered the purchase in his hand-held computer.

 

The package was activated in their system immediately upon purchase.   

 

Checking our on-board account, it showed a refund of $10 against the Plus package purchase price for both my wife and my statement ($20 total) to compensate for the medallion shipping without even asking.

THANKS for this info!  This is what we are going to do!

And doing that 60.00 on the 1st day on board you get wi-fi gratituties casual meals with that too....correct?

Thank you so much for all the replies.  So let me be sure that I totally understand this.  

1.   If I wait to purchase this plus package on board all I get is the drinks no Wi-Fi or gratuities included for $60.  Total will be 1600.00 for 2 people.

2.   If I add the plus package 3 days before departure it is still $60 but I will get the wi-fi and Gratuities and the drink package. Total will be 1600.00 for 2 people.

 But I will also need to increase my insurance coverage Because then it becomes part of the cruise fare.  

 This is becoming so confusing and unfortunately the Reps at Princess don't tell you the whole story.  

My friend and I will be on the Emerald in a few weeks and I need some information about the Princess Plus Package. 

I was on the phone tonight with a Princess rep for almost 1 hour with a few questions about cost and never got a confirmed answer so I will ask the experts here.  Hopefully someone that just got off a cruise can help me here.

Here are the questions I ask the rep.

1. It shows on the Princess web site that the cost for the Plus package is 60.00 a day. Which is 1200.00 for 2 people.   Do you have to pay an additional 18% fee on top of that? Or is the total cost 1200.00.  

(Under the terms and conditions it states an 18% fee is added to the I package)

2.  Is that 60.00 cost a special deal that we have to purchase before boarding?

3.  If we purchase the package before boarding and for some unknown reason we have to cancel at the last minute do we get a total refund on the package?  (Rep told me if I purchase it now it goes into the total cost of my trip and no refund of package if we cancel.  Never heard of that before)

4.  Rep told me that if we wait to purchase the Plus package on embarkation day it will still be 60.00 and no 18%fee.  I'm not sure I believe that because he was so unsure of everything he was telling me.  Hopefully someone out here who has just gotten off a cruise can clarify this.

Reason I would like to purchase this package onboard is because we have some credits coming but they can only be used onboard the ship, can't use them before boarding.  

Please help 

Can anyone please tell me what restaurants you can choose from on the Emerald for the casual dining perk. Also any menus would be very helpful as well.

Thanks so much.   How long does it take to get there?  Do shuttles to the island run all day or just at certain times?

15 hours ago, eclue said:

I will respond to this post since we are going on the Regal again on Feb 18th - obviously I love this ship. We were on the sailing from FLL to Galveston - Oct to Nov, 2023, then again Dec 10 to 17th and again Dec 27th  to Jan 7th so many , many trips on this ship. We are counting the days to return on the 18th of Feb.

On every one of them, I have found the room stewards always to be super friendly even when one is just walking by, exp the ones on Caribe deck. We were on Emerald deck last time but often went back to say hello to the steward on Caribe.... We never tip the steward on the first day - it is totally unnecessary...they always do a great job  - we tip on the last day!!

 

The piazza is a great fun place to be - we enjoy the diversity and the music....It is quiet in the area off the Crown Grill near the library - often people will be found there sitting and reading. It is quiet up at the Retreat pool for adults only.....The Vista Lounge is open when there are non events and it is quiet there.

 

We are not foodies so we are more than happy to eat at the buffet or the International Cafe. On sea days, the grill is open inside the buffet and the food is wonderful.... it is gyro type meat with wonderful grilled veggies..On the Friday before the cruise ends, they have a phenomenal dessert

buffet on at the Lido buffet...they also had longostino lobsters and other seafood...it was great.

 

Regarding the Internet - it was great. The new Starlink provides excellent internet access.

 

So her is my differing opinion from the original poster.  We are not crazy about these western caribbean ports -we just like to cruise- obviously after 53 on Princess. I do recommend the Tabayana beach excursion - the snorkle site is great and a nice buffet lunch on the beach...Massages are inexpensive and it is a short 30 min ride from port. The beach at Mahogany Bay is wonderful...a trip to French Key is nice.

We have been to Belize so manyh times taht we just stay on the ship but if you like to snorkle, the reef there is very nice. We have a special place we go to in Cozumel - not willing to share it.

See you on the next one!!!

How did you get to French Key and are the beaches nice there?

My friend and I will be cruising on the Emerald and we are thinking about bidding on a suite.  The problem is we need twin beds in the room.  On the deck plan it states that some of the rooms can't be changed to twin beds but it doesn't show which ones.  I called Princess to ask if there was a way to tell exactly which rooms these would be and they had no idea.  Told me if we got assigned one that one of us could sleep on the pull out couch!   That's not an option for either of us.   Does anyone know how to get this cabin bed information please?

Back in 2015 we sailed on the Regal.  At that time the buffet was AMAZING.   I'm a shrimp lover and there were several dishes that had shrimp to choose from each night. I'm going to assume that after all the cutbacks there is a major difference in the buffet food now.   Would like to hear anyone's experience lately in the buffet. My husband is a meat and taters guy so typically he prefers the buffet too.

11 hours ago, CanadianBurger said:

It’s on the menu, but there’s a limited

supply. Outrigger’s bartender said only the Calypso bar currently has it. 
 

 

THANKS so much for taking the time to check on this for me.  Love your review.

Can you get Miller lite beer at any of the bars on the ship?

2 hours ago, CanadianBurger said:

I doubt there’s anything free. The other tournaments, like blackjack, have an entry fee of $20. 

Ok thanks..I typically cruise on Celebrity and in the past almost every night they had a free slot tournament that was free and they would give out little prizes 

Does Princess offer any free slot tournaments in the casino?

Thanks very much to everyone that responded.  I think I've made my mind up and I'm going to skip this cruise.  Good price ..but.. If I got stuck on the Marina deck under the noisy pool deck it would most likely ruin the trip for me.  After looking at availability, mostly balconies on that deck are what is still showing available.  

I have never booked a guarantee room before because I like picking the room in advance.   However the cruise that i am interested in taking only has guarantee balcony rooms (that I can afford) available right now and I have a few questions about the process.   I do not want a room on the Marina deck below the pool deck and the BD category  doesn't include the Marina deck.  So by booking this category

Does that mean I will only get a room in this category or could I end up on the Marina deck?  Also I don't want to end up with an obstructed balcony which is another reason that I spent a few more bucks for this category as opposed to booking a guarantee in the DW category. Help with this please so I can understand the process.

Geoffs was closed last year for their renovations.  They are open unless they closed just recently.  Just checked Resorts for a day and nothing at all is offered when our ship will be there in November.   We went to Geoffs years ago and I loved it.  Just wanted to find a reputable tour company to go with this time. Having trouble with that

On 9/14/2023 at 11:49 PM, TTEllis said:

Goff's Caye best ticket on Belize, on the way in hit The Wet Lizard for a drink makes for a great day on the island.

Which company did you use to book this excursion with

1 hour ago, fravenstore said:

This event is included in the cost. It is an evening event on a private island.  You get fed and then watch a Polynesian show.

 

For my cruise, they ran exactly three pontoon style boats (much more seating than the tenders) to take people to the event. Then they run three back after the event.  There's no coming and going for this one.  People could stay on board the ship and order room service for dinner if they wished to skip.  As far as I recall, they stopped tender service at about 14:30 the day of the event, so whatever you have planned that day on shore, you'll need to get back for the last tender.  I hope I remember that all accurately. 

 

To confuse you more, there's another day with lunch on a private island, with swimming and water sports brought to shore.  That one has tenders running during the event so you can come and go to the ship as you wish. That's before you get to Bora Bora.

What was the dress code for that evening?  We have a snorkel planned for the morning and will be rushing  back for this.

On 5/31/2023 at 1:18 PM, fravenstore said:

Just got back from this cruise.  For us it was day 2 in Bora Bora.  We had a great time.

Our last cruise was on PG.  When we were docked in Bora Bora there was a tender that took you to a private island for a beach day..Does Windstar do that as well?

Thanks so much.   

3 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

And if you don't bring a hair dryer you don't need a converter, only adapters (check: your phones and camera should be 110/220 and auto-convert)

My friend wants to bring her own hair dryer so we will need both things unfortunately....I Don't know what the adapter should look like either, there are a bunch of different ones.

3 minutes ago, Strenz said:

You do not need a hair dryer. Ship cabins have them. Wish I could help you with the converter. Have a wonderful time, extraordinary voyage. Happy Sailing

Thanks

Just now, Strenz said:

The motu party is fabulous. We did this trip in 2014 do not remember the night. Call WS

Great memories. 

Thanks...we are very excited to see this.

I called them and they didn't know what night it was.   I'm trying to plan excursions around it so I don't miss it.  

Can someone please give me a recommendation for a good Electric Converter and adapter for Tahiti.  I would appreciate a link so that I could purchase this on Amazon if possible.  We will need it for the phones, camera and hair dryer and also for the hotel that we will be staying at.

We are trying not to spend a lot of money on this because this will probably be the one and only time that we will use it.  Thanks in advance.

We will be on the Wind Spirit on July 10,2023.  The ship will be in Bora Bora for 2 nights there is a  Celebration Festival on the Motu.  You will spend the evening on a secluded motu accompanied only by other Windstar guests.  Is that held on the 1st or 2nd night of the cruise?