BeeeJay

On 12/8/2023 at 10:59 AM, SmooshSmash said:

Great job BeeeJay!

Thanks!  Actually made it out without losing even a dime back over 12 drunken days steps away from the casino.  Shocking.  

On 11/17/2023 at 2:00 PM, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

 

Totally agree with your last sentence.  I've heard offers come from Corporate

as to what you receive for your CBS. (voucher you get when getting off the ship)

Thats what I was told earlier this year from ship casino host, but I don't know if their info is correct?

 

I think I got robbed, and should have gotten a much better cbs for 22,000 points!

(it was 22 not 21, not that it mattered to them)

WHO to "complain" to?  We used to be able to call casino dept, til they disbanded it.

Now you get the casino Navigators🙄(call center) who don't know much, and have to ask....

I'm going to email new cvp and see if they can get thru to higher casino dept and get an answer.

 

That’s bizarre because I also got that exact same $600 balcony offer for 12,000 points.  I expected nothing I didn’t play after the second night at all.  

Second day of first Princess Cruise ever, never returned to the casino.

Thanks so much for documenting the struggles with Princess Casino comp cruises.  Being new to Princess I never would have imagined this situation and have heard others onboard with same stories unable to reinstate previously confirmed benefits.

On 11/28/2023 at 1:04 PM, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

 

Thats how many of us feel about video poker!  Inventory has gotten tiny onboard, and usually stuck in a corner on the Smoking side!? 😵  Not appreciated. cough cough 🙁

 

On 11/28/2023 at 7:47 PM, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Personally, my number 1 casino wish is to have a house edge that is a negative number.

 

Obviously, I will never get my wish.

there is at least one Video Poker bar top away from the smoking where the house doesn’t always win! 😉😁🥳

15 hours ago, MissiCruzs said:

Sunset at sea... going... going... going... gone

Beautiful pics!  It was bizarre to me how fast the sun went down!

3 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Thank you all for the responses, that's a lot of very useful information. Although we do love, love YC, we've been on many great Aurea sailings so are pitching it to be more that level than YC. Although, it's more expensive than YC when adding drinks 🙄 I think we'll have to forfeit The Santuary as it's $950pp for the whole trip 😳 A select few days for some sea days, maybe...And being a long repositioning cruise, I'd hope that the sun decks and ship generally would not be too busy. Our recent MSC Splendida repositioning only had 2500 passengers.

 

If you book days when you board in The Sanctuary, can you cancel them later without penalty?

 

Princess Plus sounds ideal, we don't need top shelf drinks but do like not having to worry about adding drink costs on. With the limit of 15 being alcoholic drinks, that'll be fine - I'd get into double figures with water and coffee but not sure if I will with cocktails, although I'm willing to give it a go 😂

3 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

 

 

People no-show for The Sanctuary while others are waiting for spots when its full and they don't get charged.  So I would translate that into you can cancel any time.  But agree with just doing some days, it can get pretty boring up there after a while.  I've been doing a mix of the adults only Terrace Pool and The Sanctuary.   I really like the Premier package.   The 4 internet devices and being able to order food and drinks anywhere is super handy.

One comment on service---it has varied in quality a lot for me on Princess.  It has mostly been far superior to MSC (even Yacht club) and even getting off and on the ship on Princess has been much easier than MSC (even with the Butler walk off).  But at times they have no showed on the drink orders and the sanctuary there have been two days they never offered tea service to me while I saw them doing the service.  They also forgot another ladies lunch order and never asked her for an order the other day even though they offered others surrounding us.  Its good but spotty.  Yacht club was the same, but you could always easily go right to that bar beside the pool.

After 5 MSC cruises and currently on a 14-night Princess, I would say the biggest difference is the demographic.  MSC gen pop is truly miserable.  It reminds me of scenes from the peasant class in the movie Titanic lol.  Not that I didn't have a fantastic time but the simple buffet crowding and manners vs Princess is night and day.  Everyone is so nice from workers to other passengers on my Princess cruise.  On MSC there was a very large amount of total dbags.   And way too many kids.

I don't think you can go wrong either way if you go in knowing what to expect.

5 hours ago, hllwdcruiser said:

We have remained loyal to Princess because the passenger demographics suits us. We started sailing on them when we were still in our late forties, early fifties, but were happy to get away for a respite from the late teens/early twenties vibe (RCCL) since we still had those ages living with us at home. 
Now that we are grandparents, we value the peace and serenity of Princess even more. We almost exclusively use the adult only pools. We have never booked the Sanctuary because we are happy enough with our balcony for privacy.
Now it appears that only the "lucky" few will be able to enjoy an adults only pool. Even if we wanted to book the Sanctuary, we probably wouldn't be fast enough to get onboard to secure a place.
We are almost at that sweet place in our ages where we can start to look at longer cruises to more exotic locales. I hope Princess knows what it is doing because this new direction doesn't appeal to us at all.

100% agree.  Lack of Guaranteed access to an adults only pool is a deal breaker.  

15 minutes ago, memoak said:

I can tell you have never worked in a bar   If they only counted doubles as one drink there bottle count would be way off and someone’s head would roll. I usually finish my evening with a double Sambucca and I can see on my app that it counted as two. They may miss a few in the casino with the roaming waiters

Just SMH.  Even worse than the Emerald thread.  And that’s a participation trophy 

💀  regret every time I post in Princess CC 

imma head out now 

to quote Captain Turo “buh byeeeee”!
 

33 minutes ago, memoak said:

The 15 drinks are for alcoholic drinks only   Coffee, waters and sodas are unlimited on the plus package. That will also cover crew appreciation and Wi-Fi for one device per person. If you go with reserve class mini suite or full suite you will have reserve dining which will mean no it little wait for a table plus usually one extra entree per evening

32 minutes ago, mommycruiser said:

It's 15 alcoholic beverages for 24 hours excluding water, coffee, sodas, etc. 

I can promise you they miss counting a few and doubles count as one cause I haven’t gone over 13 in a day much to my chagrin 

Just now, BeeeJay said:

Just came off MSC Seascape to Emerald Princess.

 

cant speak to the rooms but THE sanctuary is a nice daily bookable alternative comparable to yacht club sun deck.  $20 half day $40 full day.  You can go right away upon boarding and reserve your specific lounge chairs.  I booked a few days in and got my preference of a larger lounger all but 2 days.  And the days you are doing excursions you need not book.  
 

the sanctuary includes a tea similar to yacht club. 
 

the big advantage is the pool is adults only.  There is also much more shade available than the yacht club.  
 

the service is fantastic and will use your included drink package.  I did the premier option which is the highest drink package and includes all the internet you’ll need which is also much better than MSC.  And two specialty dining.  Steak house was fantastic.  Italian good too.  
 

the cruise itself is a MUCH older crowd and much more relaxing/boring than MSC.

 

i honestly loved both!

full disclosure this is written live from the Sanctuary after a morning in Martinique! 😁 

Just came off MSC Seascape to Emerald Princess.

cant speak to the rooms but THE sanctuary is a nice daily bookable alternative comparable to yacht club sun deck.  $20 half day $40 full day.  You can go right away upon boarding and reserve your specific lounge chairs.  I booked a few days in and got my preference of a larger lounger all but 2 days.  And the days you are doing excursions you need not book.  
 

the sanctuary includes a tea similar to yacht club. 
 

the big advantage is the pool is adults only.  There is also much more shade available than the yacht club.  
 

the service is fantastic and will use your included drink package.  I did the premier option which is the highest drink package and includes all the internet you’ll need which is also much better than MSC.  And two specialty dining.  Steak house was fantastic.  Italian good too.  
 

the cruise itself is a MUCH older crowd and much more relaxing/boring than MSC.

i honestly loved both!

5 hours ago, canadarocks said:

Do they still charge $3 for food delivery in the Sanctuary? Is it $3  per delivery or per item?

I asked the lady beside me who doesn't have a premier package and ordered food, but they forgot her order and never brought it so couldn't find out.  Sorry.  

5 hours ago, MissiCruzs said:

We went to lunch in the Lido which continues to disappoint with it's food offerings. 

 

Some Corporate peeps showed up with Carnival IDs and laptops. They got some lunch and settled into one of the tables. They had on polo shirts that read Operation Ocean Alive. Curious if we'll find out what that's about. 

 

ordered a drink and waited 45 minutes, went down to bar, they said they were out of the liquor and the girl had come up and called my name, I said i'm directly beside the stairs and I asked each time she came up about my drink and she had no idea.  Then they said I kept moving around.  I said I haven't moved since before my LAST order came.  LMFAO.  Overall great service....but not always.  I've had two app orders no show.

39 minutes ago, MissiCruzs said:

We spent the morning at the Sanctuary. It's $20pp from 8:30-12:30 or 1-5 or you can book the whole day for $40pp.  I attached the menu of complimentary food you can order and in the afternoon they do a complimentary tea. It's best to book when you board but you can check throughout the cruise if they're booked up. People do cancel. We booked the whole day and canceled the second half when we got there so that freed up 2 seats. The Pros and Cons of booking a port day are port noise... we had a little early on but it stopped. It's Sunday and then there's crew drills. One started at 9:45 and lasted an hour so constant alarms and announcements. But I had the pool to myself early on and there were only a handful of people in the Sanctuary. Overall it was a lovely morning. 

must have just missed you!  Been working my way through that menu!  Well the drink section at least 😂

On 12/1/2023 at 7:15 PM, psmarkle said:

 

Looks to be a 12' table, not bad. 5/4/3 odds are decent. To me, it shows more commitment by MSC to the American market. I know we always book through the casino dept (and then transfer to our travel agent for another 10% obc), and this development would earn even more of my loyalty as a craps enthusiast. Currently, I play 3-card poker up until I hit enough points for the 30% my next cruise, then I stop playing...usu about the 3d or 4th night in.  With this, I would enjoy myself more for the whole cruise!

played so much 3 card poker and hit nothing big but decent amount of smaller hands, everyone around me was hitting straight flushes, even one couple BOTH hit straight flush on the same hand......it was a bloodbath for me, that said I did have a nice hit at Bellagio a few days before my cruise so I guess it all evens out.  very nice dealers and pit bosses on Seascape...and I saw the craps players having a ball!

On 11/20/2023 at 12:18 AM, no1talks said:

Well, if there is only one roulette table now, the other was replaced with craps. A pair of roulette tables were at the front end of the blackjack tables.

can confirm the craps table was there from Oct 15-Nov 18, its at the opposite end of the table games section from the two roulette tables.  The roulette tables are near the cashier.

Only thing I would say is I would do Yacht club but also do the Specialty dining.  I thought it was worth the money to break up the Yacht Club restaurant meals, and I saw a lot of people from the Yacht club at those meals.

2 hours ago, MissiCruzs said:

Today we are in St. Lucia.  I was very disappointed to pull into the harbor and find Jewel OTS at the cruise village dock and we ended up in the industrial dock. Before the C word it was one of the best docks... interesting stores and bars selling $2 beers. There are new buildings going up behind it now... condos maybe? 

 

We went on a ships tour... Coastal cruise to the Pitons with a beach stop. The company appears to be new. It's called Carnival Sailing and we were on the King of the Carnival. Big boat with a great crew.  It was a great ride until the beach stop. We were surrounded by canoes... kayaks... etc... with locals hawking their wares. We could barely walk down the steps and get in the water. The whole time they were yelling to get our attention... just surrounded the ship. Really irritating. The Cat shouldn't have allowed it. It went on all the way until we got back on the boat. 

its almost unbelievable you can be in such a remote spot and still inundated by sales dudes.....they need to kill that for sure

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

yes, last week on Seascape the only place that had hash browns was the kid's part of the buffet. I don't know why. It's just weird to me. People were crowding all over it just trying to get some hash browns.

 

They were very good.

the manager told me they have a limited supply

just want to also mention apparently this random Princess cruise has an unlimited supply.

the food is so much better on Princess than MSC and the buffet is a fraction the size but there is zero crowding.  I am guessing because the MDR is actually good.  Also prob helps the hours are much longer than MSC.  Breakfast is 6am-1130am.  

55 minutes ago, MissiCruzs said:

Shower on the Emerald vs shower on the Rotterdam. 

yacht club MSC shower is pretty nice.  its tough to wash your toes in these things 

21 minutes ago, memoak said:

This is the way it always has been.  Pretty much the same as any stateside casino I have ever been to. Check mailed to you or cash. It is up to you to decide whether to continue playing or not

guess it depends where you're playing i've had checks issued to me at the time of the win from NYNY, Wynn, Bellagio and Flamingo.  I've never been told no to a live check anywhere until Princess.  But I don't have a problem with it, that is their process.  It's a non-issue.  

4 hours ago, mrell345 said:

So big wins are paid in cash not check ?  No way to get it on ship board account and pay down another cruise with it or something ?

yeah it’s kind of messy— basically unless you want a casino check mailed to your home address from Miami corporate (I’m not going home til May so that isn’t an option) you have to initially take cash from the casino and then walk that cash over to the reception desk and deposit that into your onboard ship account.  At that point you have a range or more palatable options.  The system isn’t intended or designed for anyone to win lol.
 

5 minutes ago, MissiCruzs said:

I like the glitz and bling of the new machines... just more exciting. It'd be nice to have a big win but I just play for entertainment. 

you're doing it right--big win typically comes with big loss leaving nothing in the pocket but lint and a tax form 😂  luckily this trip has that built in "rehab" of 7 port days so no more time to lose it back 😇

this 14th floor is the best, i think its 30 steps from my room door to my lounger at the terrace pool and the buffet isn't much further.   

thanks for your report and have fun in these upcoming ports! 😃

10 hours ago, trbarton said:

I’m going to in C617 on the Emerald on December 9th. What are the plugs like up where the TV use to be?  Any photos appreciated so I can plan what I need. 
 

Anything on the ship that would be helpful to know?
 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

Plug on shelf I’m assuming this was old TV location?

desk plugs closer together I had to put my phone up top since fatter brick

that’s all I’ve found