AnyMajorCruiseDude

5 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

You can buy onboard.  They sell to everyone who wants it. Packages never sell out as long as there is a customer who wants it.

This is not true.  We were denied an upgrade on a short 5 day cruise when we attempted to upgrade.   We were told too many people had the package and they could not accommodate the specialty dining.  Maybe they have made other arrangements recently, but it didn't work for us.  

5 hours ago, hpeabody said:

Somewhere in this thread (I think) we were asked to share our resolution. So, Here's mine

Inside IE is just not for me.  I accepted the upgrade to DA Deluxe Balcony for $1260.00 (I am a solo)  I worked with Jen Wright directly via email after my initial experience with chat.  Jen was excellent to work with. Below is my confirmation from Jen

 

Hi Holly - 

Done!  I have moved your room to DA and the booking is now showing a balance due of $1260.  Please pay online through Cruise Personalizer today or let me know if that's not possible.  The upgrade requires same day payment or the system will cancel, but I can put an additional few days on it as needed.

 

Thank you again for your patience and understanding.  

 

Best, 

 

Jen

 

I am also booked on the TA, so now I am looking forward to a lovely 21 days on the new Star Princess (Fingers crossed it goes as planned)  Will have to be very careful planning this trip.

 

So it is a good outcome for me

Exactly.  Any substantial discount is a bonus.  We booked after all the omg hoopla and are thrilled to receive any thing at all, knowing that it was most likely an error.   We can easily survive A cruise in an inside cabin with no problem!

Have attended numerous events throughout the years.  Would post pictures but they always get deleted.  Always fun to meet everyone.

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

Great question. I am working through the process. 
I am not exactly sure how they are doing it now but evidently we were supposed to receive a W-9 tax form (US citizens) and a form for the princes prizes to chose the #1 - #3 cruises you wish to go on. 
It’s been a learning experience but a friend of mine has guided me through the process.  We hadn’t received any paperwork with winning so not sure exactly how this is all supposed to work but we maybe should have received some paperwork from the casino before disembarking.  
We happen to be on a cruise but have a piece of priority mail coming and not sure if it is from Princess but we are not expecting any other priority mail. ??? 
Anyway, if you experience any issues, I will post all of the pertinent documents for you.  We are steps away from claiming our prize.  

Ok.  Just got a call to come fill out w9.  They then gave me a letter confirming the prize and methods to submit either onboard or via email.  All handled by casino.  Apparently you have to claim the prize while in international waters per the terms and conditions of the prizes program.  Very complex!!

On 4/14/2024 at 8:49 AM, Cruise Raider said:

I know a couple of people that have won a free cruise .. one was my DH! 

We just won the free cruise on our sailing.  Do you know how redemption works?

3 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

The cruise is not sold out, so anything is possible.  The Sapphire South Pacific cruise, another option, has sold out. Live is too busy to commit right now, and may not open up before the ship either fills or sails. Still have 3 nights booked at the Rydges in Circular Quay, so haven’t given up hope entirely.  If we don’t make it, I’ll certainly enjoy following your adventures. 

Fingers crossed!  We are flying over/staying for a bit in Sydney tomorrow.  

32 minutes ago, CruzinNoony said:

We will be going on the March 31st sailing on the Discovery.  Just wondering what, if anything, they do for the top 40 most traveled passengers.

From our short cruises lately (2-5 days) the top 3 got a comped specialty dining.  On two of them, when we were #1, we also got good champagne and Sabatini's breakfast.

40 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

 

Still trying to wrap my head around the room service charge for suites, and how the room service should be included. It is what it is though. 

What does this even mean?

3 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I organized the Meet and Greet on one of the Caribbean Princess' New England cruise (Fall 2023).  That's what they were referring to ... if ... I was going to do it again to contact group services.  I am not planning on putting together the next group services.  By the way....that is one of the reasons I got to talk to Malory and Silviya.  Malory helped me with the Meet and Greet in the Fall.  Silviya worked with me on several other cruises.

 

It is my understanding that IF you have a beverage package and call room service for Suite MDR meals..

 

You will be charge $5 if you DON'T have Plus or Premier.

 

If you have Plus or Premier, you WON'T be charged.  

 

I'm happy to relay my experiences.  But I am just the messenger.  Refer back to my original post for details.

 

 

You are correct in all regards.  We have had a concierge contact on recent cruises on Crown, Emerald and Grand.  These were in late 2023/early 2024.  We were never charged for ordering DR food by phone.  We also had suite only cocktail parties as you describe on all sailings.  We were able to use our concierge contact for many things, just like the Concierge Lounge concierge on the newer ships (reservations, tenders, disembarkation, special requests, etc).  We have 8 more bookings on the Grand and are looking forward to the extra help!

59 minutes ago, memoak said:

We will be on her for 14 days this dummer and the 17 days in 2025

10 of our 15 upcoming bookings are on the Grand.  Everyone likes different things.  

8 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

It’s one thing to ask about a policy but it’s rude to argue about it with a captain who does not set policy but must follow what might be an unpopular policy established by Princess’ management…IMHO a M&G & MTP event is not the proper time to argue about policies. The few times we’ve been invited, AnyMajorCruiseDude would see us at our lowly table. For our only lunch we had a nice chat with the Captain’s Circle hostess. 😊

 

 

Would much prefer sitting with you, Frank!

When our toilet didn't work, the responding plumber found two ducks in the pipes.

14 hours ago, suzyed said:

Do people actually complain to the Captain? Unbelievably rude!

For sure.  It is common for them to seat tables based on number of days, so we now ask to be seated at the lowest ranked table rather than where we might normally be seated.  It seems to us that the people at the lower days table complain much less and everyone has a better experience.  

2 minutes ago, triple7tahoe said:

Next time any of you get invited to one of these, keep an eye on the Captain. Most of the other officers will not leave before he does, It is always a challenge to try and keep the Captain talking and look around the room to see the others who just might be squirming to get away. 🙂

 

Often, when we have sat with the captain, he will stay longer when no one is complaining about ridiculous things.  They are quick to leave once the nonsense complaining starts, as are we.  

2 hours ago, CruisinCouple2010 said:

We prefer the luncheons. Food taste delicious and the presentation is exceptional. 

 

We do not care for the cocktail parties because when we are lucky enough to be invited we have found that many officers do not mingle at all or just stop and talk to one table. 
 

Everyone has different experiences. As others have stated just happy to be invited.
 

 

Ok!

25 minutes ago, Waynetor said:

I prefer the lunches,   Never had a problem with complainers or people boasting.

 

A one cocktail event my wife passed as she was feeling a bit off.  I sat with a single lady and a officer then sat next to her and just talked to her with once acknowledging I was sitting right across from her,  Another time we sat with another couple and when the officer came by he sat and talked the whole time with the other male passenger ignoring the other 3 people sitting together.  A couple other events no officer came up to us at all.  

We always sit by ourselves, as far away from the crowd as possible.  We seem to always attract numerous officers who stay the whole time.  

39 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

On the varying opinions on price of the new Caymus, I am guessing the new price is the $149.  It would have helped if those posting what they paid included the date.

Ours was 140 in January

7 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

I wasn’t going to go there but up when at a table, it seemed like a competition on who had more days, etc when we attended the luncheons.  I don’t believe anybody is any better than any other human being so just hate going there.  ‘Boorish’ is the perfect adjective!  I want to converse about things that actually matter and I hate complainers!  Look at me complaining about complainers.  😆 

I recognize the irony!  
At the cocktail party, we truly had heart to heart conversations about others lives and that why we loved it so much.  It was so much more intimate than the luncheons we’ve attended, albeit, there were only 2 and we really did felt so privileged to be able to be invited.  
 

Very true.  We have passed several times on the invite when we know a lot of the other invitees and are familiar with their normal lecture circuits.  That's why we try to frequent ships and itineraries that are not as appealing to the "super elites".  One advantage of the cocktail parties is that we can choose our own seating and still enjoy talking with crew representatives.

15 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

This is from their current dining list on their website which doesn’t necessarily mean it accurately reflects onboard availability & pricing.

 

 

We were charged 140 pp on our Discovery trip.  the entire thing was booked solid by the end of the first night.  

5 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Thanks…wow…closed the CG for a dinner for 12. 😳 That’s bizarre when they have two midship Wine Cellars that were used for the Silverado version.

 

When we went on Discovery, the entire venue was booked; not limited to 12.  

15 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

In addition, we have made long-term friendships with many Senior Staff members that were our table mates at the luncheon.  We have actually hosted several at our home.

 

 

For sure!  And we have visited with several in their countries, and enjoyed staying with them occasionally.

2 hours ago, CruzinNoony said:

Since the start up after Covid, we have been on quite a few cruises and all of the MTP affairs were lunches and not cocktail parties.  With 500 days, I would say that you will make the cut one of these days.  Keep cruising!!!  Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks.

 

And those lunches are fabulous!  And the bonus of meeting people such as yourselves!  

1 hour ago, coo359a2 said:

Thanks a lot.  Plus shows on the upcoming cruise in Maach but nothing for the cruises later in 2024 and 2025.  Maybe only will show for your next upcoming cruise.

Yes.  Looks like the package logo only appears for next booking.  We have 15 bookings, and only the next one shows a symbol, but the other 14 all show under the review packages button.

Nothing wrong with the Island.  And even less wrong with it if you are on a world cruise.

22 minutes ago, azddave said:

I cruised last on the Discovery 3 months ago with Plus.  I read somewhere on the ship I think that the cutoff is 6:00 AM on the day of debarkation.  At ~5:30 that morning I tried to order Bloody Mary's on the app / Ocean Now and never got a response.

Exactly.