BabySarge

Take care of yourselves.  We, your avid readers and followers, will be here waiting for your return and the happy news you both are once again enjoying your cruise and have returned to being 100%.

Wishing you all the best.

12 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I may ask as we will be on a 18 day PC cruise next month, how many times have you been tested once you arrived at the terminal on embarkation day after, of course, providing a negative antigen/PCR test certificate upon arrival? I’ve read on other threads folks are tested at the terminal as well as 2 days afterwards. Did this happen on your cruise?

We did a B2B full transit of the Panama Canal on the Emerald Princess (January 28 - February 27) this year and had the following tests:

Jan 27 - Tested on our own prior to embarkation to meet Princess requirements

Jan 28 - Tested by Princess at the pier prior to embarkation (no charge)

Jan 30 - Tested by Princess on board required by Panama for transiting the Canal (no charge)

Feb 11 - Tested by Princess on board prior to arrival in LA on Feb 12 because we were B2B (no charge)

Feb 13 - Tested by Princess on board required by Panama for transiting the Canal (no charge)

Hope that helps.

11 hours ago, AZjohn said:

don’t want to sound disrespectful to you but, this is exactly why we are glad we don’t have to deal with traditional dinning.

Not disrespectful at all and no worries on my part :).  I understand that not everyone likes traditional dining with its set times, tables, and tablemates for the entire cruise which is why Anytime Dining and even Dine My Way work very well for many, many cruisers.  For me personally, however, I find it excruciatingly uncomfortable to sit with strangers every night for dinner (truthfully, I find it the same way for any meal, gathering, or social situation) and introduce myself over and over and try to make small talk so the meal isn't awkwardly silent.  I do like meeting new people though which is why a set table in traditional dining with the same smaller number of people over the course of the cruise isn't so overwhelming for me. 

I'm not saying everyone should do or love/like Traditional Dining but there, I believe, is still a goodly number of us that cruise with Princess that DO still like and want Traditional Dining and simply wish that Princess would continue to recognize that and provide a more clear and concise way either within the Dine My Way app for us to select that option or within the booking process someway.

I also wish I would win Mega Millions or Powerball but that hasn't happened yet either so not holding my breath with Princess and them figuring out a way for me to select Traditional Dining, Late Seating at a table for 8 within the Dine My Way app.  Cheers.

22 minutes ago, Ombud said:

I did not see the chocolate and wine pairing on my December cruise.  Has anyone seen it recently?? 

Was not offered on the Emerald during our Jan 28 to Feb 27th cruise but with the masking rules change as of Mar 1 that may be something Princess will start to bring back.  The (boy am I going to spell this wrong) Stammtisch Table was not offered either but again may be something that starts to come back with the change in masking rules.

As to selection of wines by the glass under the beverage plan, we didn't find any we couldn't get to include some from the other bar across the Piazza, Good Spirits, that Vines didn't carry.  At least on Emerald our amazing crew, Ron and Romeo, went out of their way to find us what we wanted.

7 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Did you give appropriate feedback on the post-cruise survey?

Yes

Just finished 30 amazing days on the Emerald Princess where shorts, and not necessarily those that would fall into the category of nice ones, were frequently worn by both male and female passengers of all ages in the main dining rooms for dinner.   I personally did not feel that shorts, for either male or female, were appropriate attire in the dining rooms with linen tablecloths, napkins, waiter service, and multiple courses aka "fine dining", just as I did not feel that hats worn at the table were appropriate either. 

Princess has a dress code that they publish for the dining rooms for the evening/dinner hours and plainly stated it needs to be enforced.   If they do not wish to enforce their own dress code in all of their dining rooms, then make one dining room where the dress code would be strictly enforced, and the other dining rooms let the shorts and tank tops run rampant.

It might not hurt for people to remember that what you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick and if you dress like a slob, you will probably be treated like a slob...and yes, wearing shorts to a fine dining restaurant is dressing like a slob.

How long does one have before they need to file a claim with Princess Insurance?  Is it something that needs to be done immediately or will the request still be honored say two months after the event?

We cancelled a cruise that we had the Princess insurance on that I believe is covered under the Princess Book with Confidence cancellation policy, yet the PVP said I would have to file a claim under the insurance to recoup the cancellation fees.  They also said that all cancellations were reviewed in-house and that might take up to six to eight weeks.  I just don't want to file the claim and then have Princess turn around and also try to give me FCC for the cancellation fees.  Some of the fees from our cancelled cruises (there were four in total) have started to show up on the MC account, so I sort of want to wait a bit and see if Princess sorts this out on their own, but I also don't want to miss any sort of deadline for having to file a claim with the insurance.

Thanks for any input.

1 hour ago, PrincessLuver said:

Wow.....change seems really tough for a number of  cruisers.....I guess if some had their way Princess would be using an abacus to add up our folios at checkout.....

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!  The system wasn't broke it worked just fine.  This "change" is someone trying to glory build for themselves.  I have no problem with change.  What I have a problem with is stupid and stupid change and a non working, partially working, bug filled app is a stupid change.

"All this and more right from your phone with the app at any time"

and therein lies part of the problem for me - I don't want to carry my phone with me everywhere I go when I am on the ship.   So yes, I can see there might be some advantages to the app whilst on board, but I still prefer the advantage of actual human and person to person interaction.

Additionally, I don't want to hear other people's phone conversations or their video chat with the grandkids, dog sitter, next door neighbor, etc. while trying to relax by the pool or at Vines or the International Cafe and I feel it is inevitable that this problem will be even more invasive than it already is with people carrying their phones in order to avail themselves of the advantages of the app.   

My experience over the past three days of contacting/attempting to contact Princess is patience, patience, patience and a huge dose of extreme tolerance for annoying music on repeat that you will have to listen to over and over whilst you sit on hold for up to 2 hours or more waiting to speak to an agent.   Then, cross your fingers and toes and pray to all the gods possible they don't have to transfer you to another department for resolution or assistance because the entire process starts over again.  I was VERY ready for my extra, extra-large G & T by the time it was done and am considering having one before I start again today because things are still not resolved.  Sure glad I'm retired and don't have anything else to do with my time 😁

Need to cancel and rebook some January cruises on a really short time frame which I tried to do yesterday using the Chat feature but she wasn't able to help me now today I can't get thru either by phone or using the Chat feature.  Is anyone having any luck getting through??

Anxious to hear how things are on board as we are scheduled for 8 Jan and with the recent rise in virus numbers and all ships showing yellow on the CDC chart don't know whether to pull the plug on this cruise and just wait for the next one we have booked on the 18th or even the one after on the 28th.  

12 hours ago, MustangGT said:

FYI for anyone thinking Dine My Way reservations mean anything.  Don’t fret that you can’t get a table reserved when you want.  We boarded the Regal today and since we had selected TD when booking the cruise, I was able to reserve a private table for 2 in the same dining room for each night.

We went to the dining room tonight and had to wait in line behind parties that did not have a reserved time.  When I asked the host about waiting since we had a reservation, he explained that there is no Traditional Dining anymore.  When I spoke to a Head Waiter, he said reservations do not matter because they can’t hold tables. We just have to get in line and wait until a table is available.

This won’t ruin our cruise but I guess we don’t need to cancel our reservations since they don’t really exist.

This situation will be the straw that breaks the camels back for us and get us to cruise with another line.  DH who WILL NOT stand in line and wait at a restaurant on land let alone on a cruise.  I simply do not understand what Princess is trying to do or hoping to accomplish or even what demographic they are trying to serve/appeal to with this BS!!  

Optum sent me tests with expiration dates of 19 September 2021 when I didn't even order the kits until 30 October 2021.  I understand that the FDA/CDC (one of those alphabet agencies) granted them a 3-month extension on the expiration dates but even so, doesn't sit well with me to send something that expired before it was even ordered.  To be fair though when I called Optum and complained they did refund my money and advised me to re-order the kits closer to our cruise date which I am, just not from Optum this time.🤔

Thanks for the info, I just ordered some to have as back-up in case our appointments fall thru.

I'm done with this bleeping app!!  DH and I shall walk up to whatever lane they are calling the "customer completely frustrated and done with the app ready to throw their expensive phone thru the wall" lane in Fort Lauderdale on embarkation day and hand them all our paperwork and passports and let them sort it all out.  After which we shall board the Emerald Princess, find our cabin, drop our carryon baggage, and head to Vines for a very LARGE glass of wine.  When dinnertime rolls around, we will hopefully be mellow enough from the wine intake to roll with whatever cluster that Dine My Way turns out to be.  I have struggled with this app since the beginning but really thought (stupid me) that I had gotten the hang of it and that all was going well.  All our cruises were there, they were all linked together for our upcoming B2B2B2B, it was letting me input, it was saving, it even let me select DMW stuff and saved it.  Well, I should have known better - the first leg of our B2B2etc is gone, our previously input info is partially there, won't save anything else I put in, gives me white screen of death, and on and on.  Tried uninstall and reinstall several times, tried waiting it out, tried turning my phone off and then on again, whatever.  I have enough stress in my life without this.  Done, done, done!!!

In the past we have rented a car in Southampton upon disembarkation, toured around, then returned the car to Heathrow so while it is the reverse of what you want to do, I'm sure it can be done.  As to what company we rented from not 100% sure as it was a few years ago but I think it was Hertz but really any reputable company that meets your needs and price point should be fine.  As to route taken and places visited, I really can't recommend anything as we drove to the North of England from Southampton and visited my family that lives in England.

You may want to ask for route and touring recommendations, as well as rental company info, over on the UK Cruising Board.  More folks from the UK and that area will be able to give you specific information.

I initially submitted our request the same way I always have which is via fax and patiently waited, checking every few days to see if anything had been updated on our cruises.  After three weeks and nothing happening or updating to give us the OBC decided to go ahead and give the "new" method of submitting via e-mail a shot three days ago and when I looked this morning all four of our cruises have been updated with our shareholder OBC.   

Could anyone who has recently cruised out of Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale please advise if Princess was still providing wheelchair(s) and attendants to assist those passengers that have some difficulty walking and require assistance with boarding? 

So glad I called the Optum Store about the Abbott Binax Self Test kits I ordered and received with the expiration dates that were from September 2021 which was earlier than the October 2021 date I ordered the kits.  Customer service agent was very helpful and I am getting a full refund plus keeping the kits which DH and I will use to practice with before ordering again MUCH closer to our sail date in January 2022.

Thanks - calling is for sure on my Monday "to do" list.

So, here's another lesson learned regarding these self test kits from the Optum Store (or probably any of the Abbott Binax Self Test kits) - don't order them too early.  We are not cruising until early January 2022 but being the obsessive pre-planner that I am I went ahead and purchased the $99.99 Abbott BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Ag Card Home Test with eMed Telehealth Services - 3 Pack for Travel from the Optum Store on October 31st so we would have them and I could check that worry off my list.  

I was, and am, aware of the fact that there is a warning on the Optum Store site that" Currently available test kits may expire as early as December 23, 2021."  and that also per the site "the FDA has approved a 3-month expiration extension for all test kits".  What I wasn't expecting when I ordered my kits though on October 31st was that the expiration date of the kits would be September 9th an expiration date prior to my even ordering; I foolishly thought the expiration date would be closer to the time frame I was actually ordering the kit or even after that date.  Stupid me!!

So, that's $99.99 we are out and can't get back because these test kits cannot be returned.  I shall try again in early December and cross all my fingers and toes that the expiration date on my next set of test kits will work out better than this last series.  I'm really going to enjoy that drinks package by the time I finally get on the cruise I can tell you that much!!

If it is a "proctored"  otherwise known as a medically observed test then it is allowed but if it is not then the answer would be no.  See below which is taken from the FAQ's page at the Princess website regarding self tests.

"Vaccinated guests may use a medically observed self-test (sometimes referred to as home test) that meets the following criteria:

• The test must be a SARS-CoV-2 viral test (nucleic acid amplification test [NAAT] or antigen test) with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Please note, antigen tests are accepted for fully vaccinated guests, but not for unvaccinated guests.
• The testing procedure must include a telehealth service affiliated with the manufacturer of the test that provides real-time supervision remotely through an audio and video connection. Some FDA-authorized self-tests that include a telehealth service may require a prescription.
• The telehealth provider must confirm the person’s identity, observe the specimen collection and testing procedures, confirm the test result, and issue a report that meets the requirements of acceptable proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

Princess has partnered with Optum so that U.S.-based vaccinated guests can order an FDA-authorized at-home antigen test kit, shipped to your door in 3 business days or less. These at-home tests include a personal virtually video-supervised visit with an eMed Certified Guide through telehealth services. These guides will help you properly administer the test and verify the results, within 15 minutes. The lab result report is delivered via email and can be printed or displayed on your mobile device during check-in. Please place your order with enough time to be shipped prior to your boarding. Order your test kit online."

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!  Maybe now I can relax a little bit about this testing prior to boarding requirement....I'll still stress about it because that's just me but at least now I have answers and understand the process a lot better.