mycruisey

If a cruise was booked with a Future Cruise Deposit and the deposit was listed as non refundable, is the FCD lost?

12 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Another question is where in the theater the reserved area will be.

 

Not all passengers like to sit in the same area. Some like up front, some in the middle, some in the rear. I assume they would just have one area set aside, so not all those eligible will like where that area is.

 

Before this new price increase, Princess expected that 25% of passengers would book the Premier package, so on the larger ships, that could be more than the capacity of the Princess theater for a single show time.

We were recently on the Sky and were told by the officer in charge of Food and Beverage that 70% of the passengers are routinely taking the Packages (Plus/Premier).  I guess Princess is confident that this increase will not deter many.  I don't think the extra perks will affect much.

14 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Your ship is scheduled to berth at Mayflower Cruise Terminal.

The nearest shops of any description are a 20 minute walk from your ship, but that includes a wine specialist https://www.majestic.co.uk/stores/southampton 

Excellent range and knowledgeable staff.

It's right opposite Southampton Central train station (Western Esplanade side) so if you arrive by train, first buy from Majestic then take a taxi from the rank at the train station - taxi should cost about £8.

 

There's also an ASDA grocery store opposite the coach (bus) station & only a 6-minute walk from the train station. Also a decent selection of wines, but no top-quality stuff - and of course no knowlegdeable staff.

Whether you arrive by train or by Nat Express coach, you enter via the multi-storey carpark opposite the coach park, via the white pedestrian carpark entrance then up in the elevator. Since you'll have luggage you'll find it easier if one of you stays with the luggage by the entrance while the other goes up to the store. You can then take a taxi from the rank at the coach station, it'll cost £8 to £9.

If you arrive by private transfer its easier to use the front entrance - because the road at the front is a great deal higher than at the back you enter direct onto the shop floor - if your driver isn't a local get him to set Portland Terrace into his GPS.

 https://groceries.asda.com/dept/beer-wine-spirits/wine/1215685911554-1215345814806

 

If you arrive by car you also have a number of other options.

 

If you arrive on a ship-sponsored transfer bus it goes direct to the ship. And even if it (rarely) makes a comfort stop that'll be at a motorway service area - no acohol sales.

So you choose to

- buy at the airport (no duty-frees on arrival & limited choice)

- or buy before you travel (needs to go in checked luggage with lots of padding and crossed fingers) -- or if you have time a taxi from the ship (there'll be plenty dropping folk off). If to Majestic a taxi back to the ship from the rank at the  rail station, if to ASDA there's a rank near the shop's front door in Portland Terrace. But whether its worthwhile for a couple of bottles of wine is debateable.

 

JB 🙂

 

Thank you for this information.  It seems that as we will be taking the ship's transfer,  we  will most likely try first at the airport or just bite the bullet and buy on the ship!!

Island Princess, June 13th, 2022

IIs there any shopping, specifically for wine, near the port?

Same here.  Not working for me.

Possibly because PR is on the high alert list for covid.  My friends who just got off the Enchanted said that ports were canceled at the last minute and some only allowed passengers to disembark into the port area but not the city.  Changed day to day

13 hours ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

Which rules were changed? We are on a January 8th cruise and haven’t been alerted to any changes.

Not sure, but my travel agent called Princess yesterday and was able to cancel.  When I had called myself they refused.  The TC said they had just loosened the policy, but did not explain further.

We live in NYC and testing is a nightmare.  We were able to cancel our January 9th cruise today as Princess has just changed the rules.   We received some future cruise credits and some cash back which is OK with us.  We would need to fly and then stay in a hotel and then cruise and fly home again and at our advanced age was frightening.  Too much stress.  

Sorry, I meant to say the Regal Princess.

Can anyone tell me (or show a pic) of Cabin E420 on the Emerald Princess?

Thanks

I received the same notice from Princess for my upcoming cruise.  I went to the princess site and made a tentative future booking and got the following option:

At-Ease Waiver Program

For peace of mind, Princess Cruises® offers guests from select markets the At-Ease Waiver Program. The program offers a cancellation fee waiver as well as baggage protection in a single package, as neither may be purchased separately. This program is not trip interruption insurance and only covers cancellation fees and guest’s baggage while on the cruise, cruisetour or Cruise Plus.* A guest is not required to purchase the waiver program and is free to purchase travel insurance offered by an outside party.

Program Benefits

Cancellation fee waiver — Upon purchase of the non-refundable At-Ease Program, no cancellation fees will be assessed for a guest’s cancellation of the trip for any reason, provided that Princess Cruises is notified by telephone or in writing at least 72 hours prior to midnight on the guest’s scheduled departure date from the embarkation port.

In the case of Cruise Plus hotel packages or cruisetour, notice must be received at least 72 hours prior to midnight on the commencement of the package date or the embarkation date, whichever is earliest.

Baggage protection — If a guest’s own baggage is lost or damaged during the course of their travels with Princess (including cruise only, Cruise Plus, cruisetour and Princess transfers) they may claim reimbursement of up to $500 per person. This is in excess and additional to baggage limits detailed in the cruise contract.

Payment

Net fare (per person)At-Ease Waiver Cost (per person)

Up to $5,00010% of cruise fare

$5,000 or more8% of cruise fare

This program must be paid for with the deposit and cannot be added at a later date. The program is not available for bookings made within final payment period and is not refundable under any circumstances, once paid.

The At-Ease Waiver is available to residents of the state of New York and international markets including Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Province of Québec; it’s not available to the remainder of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

*General Terms & Conditions: Cancellation fee waiver and baggage protection are available in a single package only and cannot be purchased separately. This program is not trip interruption insurance and only covers cancellation fees and guest’s baggage while on the cruise, cruisetour or Cruise Plus. This program expires 72 hours prior to midnight on the day of commencement of the package or embarkation date, whichever is earliest. Thereafter, cancellation fees are per the normal schedule (i.e. 100%); there is no protection from cancellation fees within 72 hours of sailing date.

Baggage protection is limited to physical loss or damage to personal effects belonging to the guest only and does not include airline reimbursed losses, cash, all cameras, jewelry, securities, radios and tickets of any nature. Princess is not responsible for baggage lost or damaged while in the care of airlines or during shore excursions (whether organized or independent). All lost or damaged baggage must be reported to a Princess representative at the time of the incident and all claims must be made within 10 days.

Not exactly cost effective.  

We got the flowers, champagne and a visit to the bridge.  It was fascinating. No breakfast at Sabatini's but no matter as we are not big breakfast eaters.  There were several more folks, some with 500, 750 and 1000 days.  

14 hours ago, skynight said:

Below is one of the actual Terms and Conditions that appear at the bottom of the Princess flexible air confirmation received through our T.A.. There are actually 10 fine print statements. The first one is the one that I think applies to your situation. The advertising messages "No Change Fees:up to 45 days prior to your flight" and "Cancel flexible airfare up to 45 days prior to departure with no fees" are misleading with departure a fuzzy date and flight date not always the final deadline.

 

Actual Terms & Conditions

“No fees will be charged for changes and cancellations made more than 45 days from the outbound flight date or sail departure date (whichever is earlier)”

 

Thanks Skynight.   I cannot find this statement anywhere on my paperwork,  but I believe that it clarifies my question.  

3 minutes ago, weedpindle said:

How about departure from the airport you are flying from since it is 'ezAIR'

We do not have ezair departure on this cruise  as we are already on another cruise for which we used ezair for departure.

I have had an ongoing conversation with various princess reps regarding the rules for flexible fares with ezair. 

On the travel page in the cruise personalizer it clearly states among other things that there are:

"No Change Fees: up to 45 days prior to your flight"

However when you click on this link:  https://book.princess.com/cruisepersonalizer/ezAirDetails.page

it states that there are no change fees up to 45 days prior to departure.  This is contradictory to me.  I have a flight post cruise on February 19 which is clearly more than 45 days from now.  However they are insisting that since it is 41 days until departure on my cruise, I would have to incur change fees for this flight.  Has anyone else encountered this issue?

13 minutes ago, skynight said:

Separate recognition during the cruise where each reaches 500 days. 

We (husband and I) each have the same number of days, so does that mean we get 2 celebrations???

Thanks all for your responses.  I guess we'll find out when onboard!

We are leaving on a cruise in a few days and just printed our travel summary.  I see under Special Services a "500 cruise day celebration (value $114)". Does anyone know what this is?

1 hour ago, Coral said:

The prices have been posted.

 

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Cannot open.  Can you send another way?

No banners are showing but if you continue to make the booking the 3forfree appears. Prices appear to be the same as yesterday.

We too were disappointed to find that GeoBlue is no longer available to NY residents. We are now looking for alternatives!

Regarding using the card for a partial purchase, that is still a question I cannot fully answer. In our case we booked a fly-cruise package that was charged on our Chase Card. However, the original deposit (only $200) was charged on another card (we did not even have the Chase card at the time) more then a year earlier when we purchased a Future Cruise Credit on an earlier cruise. Chase's Claims Examiners did ask us about the deposit and we sent them an e-mail explanation and also stated that we were not seeking reimbursement for that $200 which is actually a very small part of a large loss. The issue was never again mentioned by Chase. I had a telephone conversation with the Claims Examiner and she did not even raise the issue so I think my explanation was OK. We have seen some other posts where folks mentioned that you do not need to charge the entire trip on the Chase Card...and the insurance is simply limited to the amount charged up to Chase's stated maximum. However, like you, I have never received anything in writing that that clarifies the matter. At this point we have been led to believe that the only thing holding up our claim is verification on whether our unused airline tickets are eligible for any kind of refund or credit.

Thanks for the quick reply. I did call Citi Advantage and they indicated that they would cover any costs up to the $5000 limit which were paid with the card, so I guess I could split the payments on 2 cards ($10000 on Chase and $5000 on Citi) and hope for the best. I would be interested to hear your final report as to reimbursement.

Sorry but did not notice your question until today. We do not purchase Trip Cancellation policies and have essentially self-insured that risk for decades. Currently we estimate that we are over $100,000 ahead because of the money we have saved by not buying all that insurance :).

 

We now are involved in our first major trip interruption claim (for medical evacuation). One piece of luck (for us) is that about 15 months ago we obtained a Chase Sapphire credit card that includes Trip Cancellation (for specific causes) and Trip Interruption. The coverage is at least $10,000 (apparently it can be more under some circumstances) and we have been negotiating with the insurance company for about 2 months (we will post the final results). In our case, if we recover all that we seek it will be at least $10,000. The cost of this insurance is simply the cost of the credit card (in this case its $95 a year).

 

There are several major credit cards that provide varying types of trip insurance as part of their benefits and this does seem like a good option for some travelers. Our vote is still out until we have a check in our hands :).

 

Hank

Hank,

I have been following your posts and am interested in the results of your claim with Chase. We are thinking of getting the card but are wondering if you must pay for the entire cost of the trip with Chase in order to make the claim for the entire amount lost. I cannot get answers from Chase unless I have the card so it's a catch 22. We already have a Citi Advantage card that covers $5000 so we are looking for additional coverage. We also buy Geo Blue. Thanks for your help.

Adrien

I also got the bad news from my Citi Advantage Platinum Select MC. Coverage for trip interruption/cancellation reduced from $5000 per person per trip to $5000 per trip!!

Looks like they are all reducing benefits. Was thinking about the Chase Sapphire but now they will probably do the same so back to regular travel insurance for us.