Lou33

We are staying in Yokohama for a few days pre-cruise this December.  Does anybody have ideas for a good day trip?  We've already been to the main temples in Tokyo.  We were thinking of going to the Mt. Fuji area for a day, weather permitting, but we are a bit intimidated by the thought of taking the bullet train.  Is it easy to just hop on a train there and walk around?   Also do the main hotels have tours for sale?  We will be staying at the Royal Park hotel.  Any advice is appreciated.  

We bought CruiseFirst certificates several years ago and applied it to various cruises which were ultimately cancelled because of COVID.  We retained the CF credit, and Norwegian extended the expiration date because of COVID to 12/31/2023.  They said we had to book a cruise "and" sail by the end of this year.  We found nothing worth booking for 2023.  We could find a better deal on another cruise line without the credit.  There were a few cruises that we wanted to book in early 2024, but they took a hard line that we could not use our CF credit.  

Yesterday I got a voice message from Norwegian that we can now use our CF credit for "any" sail date.  I don't know if we still need to book by the end of the year.  I'm waiting to hear back from Norwegian, but has anybody heard that they extended the CF expiration dates that were due to expire this year?

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

You still get Covid, even with the vaccines.  Just more minor symptoms.

But you knew that didn't you ?

Some in our party had very minor symptoms, but one person was moderately sick.  My understanding is the vaccines help you both ways.  They reduce the chance of you testing positive, and if you do test positive, your symptoms will likely (but not definitely) be milder.  

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

The entire OP  is so full of holes that I am surprised people are taking it seriously! 

Seriously?!?  Where are the holes?

I just posted an account of my experience so that I might be of help others.  I was overcharged four separate times and lied to.  It was only a few dollars, but it was quite annoying to order something and not get what I asked for, and then charged a higher price.  

I don't know what it is, but on cruisecritic, on most every thread, there's always "somebody" who wants to pick a fight with the OP.  

3 hours ago, partybarbie said:

I am also just off the Ruby.  We didn't have any problems with ordering wine or overcharges.

I glad things worked out for you.  We also had a good cruise for the most part.  I'm curious, did you have the drink package, or did you order wine by the glass?  If you had the drink package, it seems that they had plenty of wine at $12 (free with drink package).  

Off topic, but did you get COVID?  Everybody in our traveling party had all vaccines, including the newest bivalent booster.  And we often wore masks in public areas.  Yet we all tested positive for COVID.  

29 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Highly doubtful. Carnival uses a wholesaler for its wine purchases. It is one of the single largest purchaser of wine in the world. They don’t make grocery store runs. 
 

https://www.wine-business-international.com/wine/power-lists/wine-waves

I was half joking.  Maybe they got some wine with their other supplies in Hawaii half way through our cruise?

3 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Just wondering if the OP went to guest relations.  The waiters and sommeliers cannot usually make this sort of adjustment.   

Have not seen any similar problems on Cruise Critic.  Seems to be strange that Decoy is often usually more expensive.

No the restaurant managers dropped the charges in two different cases.  Maybe he went to guest relations for us.  There were two additional times that we were overcharged, and we just let it go.  We were having a good dinner and we were not in the mood for confrontations.  

Yes, we were surprised that they said that the $9 Chardonnay and Cab were Decoy.  But we never got that anyway.  Later in the cruise when they did have $9 wine available, it was Canyon Road, which I think is more on par with Charles Shaw.  Maybe 1/2 way through the cruise while at port, they sent somebody to Costco to buy a 10 cases of Canyon Road?

Another thing that I noticed is that when you buy wines by the glass, they give you a really, really small pour.  My wife and I started calling these "Princess pours".   I'm used to seeing waiters pour at least 1/4 of the bottle, but Princess is pouring no more than 1/6 of the bottle.  No problem if you have the drink package, because you just order a 2nd glass.  But if you are paying out of pocket, in this case it is definitely cost effective to buy their wine by the bottle.  Then you can give yourself a normal pour instead of a "Princess pour".  

And when you buy wine buy the glass on Princess, you never see the bottle.  Who knows what they are actually pouring back in the kitchen?  I certainly didn't get what I ordered.  

We just disembarked from the Ruby Princess and we had a very strange experience in the dining room.  We did not buy the drink package, but we usually buy a glass of wine with dinner.  The wine list shows a selection of lower cost wines by varietal and price.  All were in the $9-11 range, but it doesn't show the brand.  I asked what they have for the $9 Chardonnay and the waiter said that was the Decoy wine.  So I ordered two glasses of Decoy for us.  But while enjoying our dinner, I checked our account on the medallion app, and it showed a charge of about $28.50.  I pointed this error out to the waiter.  He was very defensive and insisted everything was correct.  He said there is a 18% service charge (which I knew) and they also charge a special "ocean tax", and two $9 glasses of wine will total $28.50.  I asked to speak to the restaurant manager.  The staff were discussing this for a long time, then the manager finally came over and said they are sold out of the $9 wine, and the waiter substituted a $12 wine (which isn't even on the menu) without asking me (and apparently he just lied about the "ocean tax"). So, this was only the 2nd night and they are sold out?!?  I asked which of the many other varietals in the $9-11 range on the menu are in stock.  After much discussion, the manager notified me that "all" of them are out of stock, and $12 is lowest price they could give me.  The manager apologized and removed the charges for the wine for this night.  Then later, after reviewing my account further, I noticed that the exact same thing happened on the 1st night of the cruise with a different waiter.

So the 3rd night, we went to the Crown Grill.  I asked the assistant waiter if they have the "$9 Chardonnay" available and he said "sure we do".  I ordered two glasses and I made it very clear that if it is not available that he should tell me before making a substitution (which I shouldn't need to do).  He brought the wine, and then I immediately checked my account.  The charge was again $28.50.  So I asked to see the manager, and he said that the $9 wine was not available and I was charged $12/glass.  He removed the charges, but then he said something like:  "we'll do it this time, but next time you need to ask the waiter to make sure it is available" (which I did do).  

So every night we had a different table and different waiters in the dining room.  And each time I had to go out of my way to ask which wine is available.  Then on about the 7th night of a 15 day cruise I asked if the $9 Chardonnay was available.  She said I think so, and she soon came back with two glasses of white wine and showed me a printed receipt for $9/glass.  She said that a few of the wines were sold out, but as far as she knew, the $9 Chardonnay was always available.  We asked the manager to keep this table and waiters for the rest of the cruise.  

These overcharges amount to only a few dollars, but can you imagine if this happened at a restaurant?  Some of you may think that I should have bought the drink package and not worried because everything is free.  But know this: our in-laws were travelling with us, and they did have the drink package.  They ordered two glasses of the "free" wine, and were charged $4/glass.  Their waiter substituted a $16 wine without asking them, but the package only covers wine up to $12.  

It was a good cruise, but we didn't like the wine experience or lack of COVID mediation on board.  This may give us a reason to choose a different cruise line in the future.

2 hours ago, Therese S. said:

 

We’re debating placing a bid on the regular balcony.  Still a great deal when added to what we paid for our oceanview 

Our bidding strategy is to first book a category and cabin that we are happy with.  Then consider that when we made the original booking, if we wanted to book a higher category, what extra cost would have made that decision a "no brainer".  Then that's what we bid.  Either way, we can't lose.  

For our current cruise, the minimum bids are higher than what we would have paid at the time that we booked, so we will stay put.  On our past cruises on RCI, NCL, and Celebrity, the minimum bids were quite low, but I'm not seeing that on Princess.  

16 hours ago, Thrak said:

hit the button, was dealt a Royal Flush on the first deal, cashed out and left. Sigh... All I ever do is lose.

Good for your son.  I have a very similar story.

On a Celebrity cruise we met an older couple at our dinner table.  They never played video poker, but thought they would try just a $20 bill.  They had no idea what they were doing, but they were dealt a royal flush straight up without needing to draw for it.  But.....you guessed it.... they played only one quarter.  They won 250 quarters instead of 4000.  He said that he didn't know if he should celebrate or not.  But, hey, he cashed in for $62.50 and never looked back.  So he did better than the vast majority of the players on that cruise.  

On 8/21/2022 at 6:36 AM, njkate said:

We won't know until it's launched but if they use the same outside company I'm sure there will be a minimum bid

And if they use that outside company, there is a minimum and maximum bid.  And there is a success meter that shows if your bid is in the poor, fair, good, very good, or excellent range.  But that success meter means nothing.  Depending on the circumstances and what's available, many bids in the poor category can be accepted, and on another cruise or category, an excellent bid may not be accepted.  It's best to ignore the success meter and just bid what the upgrade is worth to you.  For us, many times it's not worth it to bid even the minimum.  

They will let you bid on multiple categories.  But if you do that, and there is an upgrade category that you really want, it's possible that you may end up with your 2nd or 3rd choice.  And you may have got your 1st choice if you placed only that one bid.  

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

If they do take CC status into account, it could make the difference if the highest bid amount was the same from multiple passengers.

I expect that Princess will use the same 3rd party company to run the bidding for them that RCI, Celebrity and NCL use.  They use algorithms to find the optimum bid combinations that provide the greatest revenue.   They will let you bid even if a category is sold out.  There will be last minute cancellations for COVID or whatever reason.  And some categories will open up because other passengers were upgraded "from" that category.  

My experience with bidding has been favorable.  Many passengers reported getting an upgrade with the minimum bid, or close to it.   Especially during COVID when there were many vacant cabins.  I also saw posts of other passengers overbidding, because they get swept into a frenzy and they don't want to "lose", and they keep increasing their bid.  In general, if your bid is quickly accepted, you bid too much and they take your money before you can change your mind.  Many of the lower bids don't get accepted until about 5 days before the cruise.  

My bidding strategy goes like this:  I first book a category and cabin that we're comfortable with.  I consider that if we had booked a higher category, what additional cost would have made that decision a "no brainer"?   And that's what we bid.  Either way we can't lose.  

23 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

There is no such thing as 'moving' a cruise.

Yes there is.  Royal Caribbean has/had a "lift and shift" program, where if you cancel or RCI cancels, they gave you the opportunity to move the cruise to one year later at the same price.  It only applied if you do the same itinerary, same category,  same month.  But they did allow some minor variations.   

Our Asia cruise for next month was cancelled by NCL.  We would have loved to "lift and shift" it to February 2023, but that cruise is priced $2,000 more and we would lose our FCC.  

4 hours ago, MacII said:

3.) Email customer relations for an exception (which I did, but the auto-reply says it could take 30 days to get a response!)

Has anybody been successful in getting an exception?

We've had several cruises cancelled and we would have welcomed the opportunity to "lift and shift" them to the following year.  Or even have the opportunity to apply our 35% FCC to a February 2023 cruise, even though the price is higher than our cancelled cruise.  

At this point, since our FCC expires in one week, and the prices for 2022 cruises are inflated so that our 35% FCC is basically worthless.  We will probably just lose our FCC, and NCL may lose a customer for life.

Has NCL published anything that shows expiration dates or extensions for previously issued FCC?

We have 35% FCC that apparently we must book by January 31, and use by December 31.  But the prices for 2022 cruises are almost double what we're used to paying.  We will probably lose our FCC and NCL may lose a customer for life.  

I notice that people with recent cancellations are getting FCC that expires May 31, 2023, instead of December 31, 2022.  Are people who received FCC over the last two years also getting the extension until May 31, 2023, or is that just for the recent cancellations?

On 1/4/2022 at 5:13 PM, jcscv said:

I am still intending to go, I just figured I'd book as a last-minute cruise once it got closer, and things will hopefully look a little better.

We also cancelled our end of February cruise the day before final payment.  But we also will not rule out the possibility that we might rebook it in another month.  This way there is nothing to lose.  There's no greater "Peace of Mind" than having your money in your pocket, not their pocket.  

4 hours ago, susanf31 said:

but those of us who paid for the cruise and would be getting a refund, the cost would be about the same.

 

Am I wrong with this logic?

I wish that were the case for us.  We just cancelled our February cruise for a refund at final payment.  There is no way that we could find a comparable cruise for the same price.  

Edit: That was for NCL cruises.  I suppose we may be able to find a different cruise line.  But we have 35% FCC extra credit from cancelled cruises, not from POM, that we want to use.

3 hours ago, Karaboudjan said:

They know how many have cancelled with the renewed POM but we don't.

Another concern for the cruise lines is the number of people cancelling for a refund at final payment.  There is a poll on another thread that shows a 75% cancellation rate.  So in about 6 weeks they may have only 450 paid passengers on a megaship.  I can't see them sailing if that is the case.

On 12/31/2021 at 12:04 PM, bigrednole said:

There are no NCL cruises when we can cruise again in 2022 at the price we are currently booked. We are kind of screwed without a full refund and that includes the cruise certificate. I would be more than happy to pay in full if I get a future cruise for what I am currently paying. The problem is all cruises on NCL are 2X. We are going over Spring Break in April. 

The Pearl and Breakaway passengers are offered FCC that expires May 31, 2023.  So there is speculation that they may extend the deadline for everybody with FCC.  

We originally wanted to use our FCC for a cruise in February 2023 but it was not eligible.  But today I checked that cruise, and they just raised the prices about 20% for that sailing.  

55 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

I think at this point they should just put a self imposed pause on operations and let this wave pass

I think the cruise lines will do everything possible to keep sailing.  But I don't think it will be possible for much longer.  At final payment, many people are cancelling, they are have a lot of expenses to quarantine passengers, and they are starting to cancel their own cruises.  Soon we may reach a point where it just won't be worth it for them to sail.  

14 minutes ago, psac said:

That makes zero sense, but I believe it. I also saw on F B people were being assigned inside cabins and ocean view cabins on RCI.
 

I think NCL has been good with giving balconies. You would think fresh air would be good to vent the cabins….?

Yes, you would think that fresh air would be good?  This was on Harmony of the Seas.  It sounds like they had a big outbreak and the normal outside cabins on deck 3 were already full, so they assigned some balcony cabins on deck 6.  Apparently there is some kind of alarm that notifies staff if you open the door.  They were speculating that they don't want COVID passengers communicating with each other on their balconies.  

1 hour ago, Rob_H said:

Interesting the FCC option offered in the letter is available for cruises up to end of May, 2023.

 

More realistic than end December 2022 offered under the peace of mind policy.

We wanted to do a cruise in February 2023 all along, but we couldn't use our FCC.  So we booked a cruise in February 2022 which we cancelled just before final payment.  But I just checked the prices for that February 2023 cruise that we "might" now be able to apply FCC, and it is now 20% higher!!😬☹️🤬

4 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

100% agree, I'm letting my 1/22 sailing ride.

 

I've heard that most people are put into balcony cabins for quarantine and refunded prorated. IMHO, sitting on my balcony for however long is better than my living room.

I don't know what they do on NCL, but on RCI there are reports that a person was assigned a balcony cabin on COVID row, but they would not allow them to open the balcony door.