cr8tiv1

@ceilidh1 I would trust this poster's recommendations and advice. She has always provided in-depth timelines. There are so many factors working against your best laid plans, including tidal currents. Enjoy your 13 day cruise and take a later flight.

Last call depends on how full the ship is. I have managed to be one of the last off at 10 - 10:30 AM. That would be about the latest call. I have also scheduled 9:30 departures that have a last call at 8:30 since the ship was sailing at 60% capacity. But you are wise to have a leisurely morning and walk off after the crowds. Easier to find your luggage. No rush to get to the train. Maybe even have time for a quick lunch.

You are not alone with this thought. I also agree.

That’s a function way too advanced for Princess’ IT department. And yes, I was 100% agreeing with your no consistency statement.

My cabin mate needed to "sleep only" in another cabin for the night. Her medallion was programmed for both cabins.

I am sure you are aware that this is absolutely NO consistency across the fleet. It would be nice if they had a department that hired people who could write with some degree of proficiency. (That's the teacher in me talking.)

Are you kids old enough to be booked in a cabin by themselves? I don't know what the policy is, but worth checking in to. I am surprised you can't book a 3 person cabin for two. I have often been in a quad with 2 people and those "awful" side bunks.

I am not on the Crown, but they generally have morning activities. I’ve seen SPA related lectures (acupuncture, weight lose, foot stuff, etc). You would be safer to hold it in Skywalkers, the back room (aft) of the buffet, or Crooners.

It’s like Princess operates in two different universes. I am always delighted to be on a ship. The crew and staff have all been wonderful. Unfortunately, they are restricted by corporate bungling of policies and doctrine. Corporate needs to get out on Princess ships to witness first hand what their passengers want. They are so detached from their audience. Finally, they have the Medallion Class app functioning at a relatively successful rate. Dine My Way has a long way to go. Stop tweaking the Beverage Packages. It was fine at the lower rate and did not need to be enhanced so they could boost their profits. In my opinion, they have do not have enough crew to support 100% occupancy. They need to leave some things well enough alone….bring back Traditional Dining at least for one dining room to see if that really makes me and others happy.

If you have an assigned table for each night, do you still need to stand in the long reservation line and get checked in before going to your table? How would they know you checked in otherwise?

I send a redacted copy of my account report to my TA who faces it to them.

You can continue to tip by cash as you did on your other cruise line. I know, a little inconvenient if not in your stateroom. Yes, beverage package includes tips; so does room service. But I always have bills in hand…..in case I stop off at the casino….haha.

I do not see a return to Traditional Dining. They might do first seating (at 4:45…ugh) and call that TD. I am wondering if they are able to seat more or less with DMW. Yes, I can see that the crew would be happier with a return to TD. Not looking forward to my first experience with DMW in MDR on an up coming cruise. Really spoiled by CC dining.

No, there is no Concierge Lounge on the Sapphire (Grand Class ships). Only the Royal Class ships.

I believe you can only get a hotel transfer IF you booked the hotel through Princess. Then it becomes an expensive transfer.

Google voice is a great texting app. You text for free with wifi to anyone! Does not need recipient to have app. You can call “long distance”.and voice mail is is converted to text.

Correction: "wether" should have been weather (not whether). Fingers too cold for laptop keyboard. Or any other acceptable excuse.

It is really important to debunk the myth that cold (air/wether) will cause pneumonia. https://www.winchesterhospital.org/health-library/article?id=156976 I am not arguing that the cold air may have aggregated the poster’s health condition and turned the cold/flu/bronchitis etc into pneumonia. https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/pneumonia/what-causes-pneumonia

On the Grand this past September. I could iMessage/FaceTime and received messages via Google voice. Also received unwanted phone calls from Google voice account (SPAM). I could also could do WiFi calling. Airplane mode on anytime we left a port. Hope this helps.

I also had a cruise with final payment due around Christmas. My TA and I both agreed that we should pay it off near the beginning of the month (included EZ Air). I’m glad I did. It was one less headache to remember before the holidays. Glad it worked out for you. You got away cheap if OBC was your only loss.

There is something really wrong with this news report on CBS. 1. They talked to 2 groups of passengers equaling less than 12. 2. They showed a photo of the Grand Princess that never is ported in FLL. 3. Reported “read” a statement from Princess, that just doesn’t seem right (I’m not saying they were incorrect, just not sure Princess officially provided such a statement.) 4. One passenger said that she asked for policy (no need for a passport) in writing, but was denied anything….it’s in writing that some ports requiring a passport. 5. One “seasoned” passenger did not know that they had to have a passport. I see that most posters agree (after 4 pages) that a passport is required for this 10 day itinerary.

You have 2 vouchers. I travel with a vegetarian. We eat at Crown Grill for me and Sabatini’s for other. Vegetarian has other dietary issues and is very limiting in the Crown Grill. Your travel partner may be able to find enough to eat since you can order multiple dishes. You can not order chicken. Vegetarian options include a nice salad, creamed spinach, baked potato with fixings, asparagus, black and blue onion soup (outstanding but salty), mushrooms, super great new bread, and maybe a few other options.

My take (and I could be all wrong), premier packages are not selling as well as they thought. For them to “give them away” to get it jumped started. That’s a lot of money. For $20 more per day, you could maybe cruise in an inside cabin!

Finally some directions as far as reserved seating. I could not find who qualifies for teacher rate. Past educators included?

Thank you for reporting in. Not saying you didn’t, just trying to get clarification. Did you mark laundry chit with express same day service? Did you give it to your steward the night before or before 9 AM? Did you mention to Steward that you requested same day service? The steward has to place it in the correct bin. Laundry doesn’t really check to see if is same day or regular. Glad you had a good trip.