kamelia

MESSAGING option does still exist! Once onboard, when you access MedallionNet there is a tab to Free Access of Ocean Concierge. Go to Account in the upper left corner and that’s where you can see and/or add My Contacts, as well as send Messages. Still does not generate any prompt to alert your contact that there’s a message waiting, but it does add an icon to the Message tab for them if they are looking at Ocean Concierge on their device. HTH!

I had to pre-pay as well on a couple of different cruises last year and there was no issue getting reimbursed as onboard credit once we got onboard. (I think it was treated as refundable, but don’t hold me to that.) I did have a PDF copy of the confirmation emails, but that was never asked for.

Thanks for this info - I wouldn’t have seen it in the old app so am just reacting to what I saw in the new app earlier today. I still think it’s misleading. 😕

I was poking around in the new app this morning and decided to check out the options for Dining Room Wines. There is currently only one listed. It’s not one I’m familiar with, but there are several other Willamette Valley pinot noirs I have tried and liked, and as this one is “Beverage Package Included,” let’s check it out. Added to cart, next option is to choose the number of glasses, 1, 2, 3 or 4. I’ll share with DH, so 2 glasses, please. Next page? Hmmm. “Beverage Package Included” apparently has a different definition than what I was led to believe. BTW, ordering wine by the glass also indicates “Beverage Package Included” for all options and it’s not until after you have chosen one does the description state, “Included in your plus/premier beverage package, items selected which exceed the $15/$20 price are charged based on price difference.” How difficult would it be to design the app to include “Beverage Package Included” icons for only those items included in Plus Package or Premier Package respectively?

My Shipmates is currently located under My Profile in the new app. You can use locate My Travel Party, but there is not an option for messaging. There is an icon in the upper right corner to add someone using Find By Name, but I don’t have another name to use to check it out for functionality.

Thanks! You can also still access future cruises via princess.com website when you’re onboard so it seems to be just the app that has limited access.

Thanks for the response! I have a sneaking suspicion that this means all versions of the app - new, old and web - will no longer allow use onboard for anything other than your current cruise.

I have been trying to access the web version of the app but keep getting an error message that the server can’t be found. Is that just because I’m onboard or would I be getting this same error message if I were trying to use it at home? TIA!

I am not having any success trying to get clarity. At least I was reassured that "you don't need to worry if you haven't authorized Shoreside Transactions prior to boarding, you can always go to Guest Services and add it later." 🥴

Updated Senior Officers chart for Sapphire Princess as of 11 Jan 2024 I had seen DRO Mario Propato onboard, but his photo wasn’t added until earlier today. (Will ask for help in upating the spreadsheet, please.)

😝 The sad thing is that I WANT to find things to like about the app, but the harder I try, the more shortcomings I seem to reveal.

Still so much missing even once onboard. I wanted to know when shore excursions would be open to see about switching an excursion in a future port, but had no luck finding hours for shore excursions or any of the other services onboard. I asked at OceanFront to be sure it wasn’t buried somewhere I had overlooked only to be told, “it’s not there yet, but it’s coming.”

Shame on us for messing it up for them. 🤭

May have stumbled onto explanation for why future cruises were dropped from profile on new app: you can no longer access future cruises using the app once onboard, not even by logging in using booking number. Went to OceanFront to ask why I cannot use the app to book my dining reservations for my May cruise. Same Navigator, same obfuscation. “Of course you can book them, you just have to go to the web version of the app.” I couldn’t help myself, I looked him square in the eyes and asked, “so just how helpful is this app?” As @SCX22 suggested, he immediately jumped to defense mode, saying that too many people were using the app to change their dining reservations and it messed up the booking system, so that’s why it’s no longer possible to access future cruises. SMH. On a MUCH happier note, we saw a couple of Southern Right Whales off in the distance about 20 minutes ago, a wonderful reminder of why I cruise. 🤗

OceanFront Navigator onboard assures me my loyalty level is “being fixed right now,” and “of course the Shoreside Transactions is a choice” - he was not at all willing to listen to my explanation that removing my credit card authorization meant the app indicated I had not completed the check-in process, and as I’m now onboard, I could not walk him through the steps so he could see it for himself. I was looking up the booking number for my May cruise to use it to show him, but he dismissed that idea, telling me he needed a booking number for a cruise in the next two weeks to be able to test it. ??? Have to admit, that’s a new twist on creative IT responses, and I’ve certainly heard quite a few over these past couple of years. Bottom line: wait for the next update.

I’m on Sapphire. I’m wondering if the reason you may not be seeing it for Sun is due to same issues others have been posting about with all dining reservations?

New App: Journey and Dining Reservations Just fumbled onto this. Choosing Journey takes you to two tabs, My Journey and Ship Schedule. My Journey presents a brief synopsis of the ship schedule for the day, and if you scroll down to the bottom of that page and click on Show Entire Ship Schedule that does bring up the whole day’s activities, as expected. However, if you then go back to My Journey, voila, there are the dining reservations! No shore excursions and no specialty wine tasting we booked yesterday, but hopefully including those activities will be coming in a future update. Using sapphire.princess.com is no longer available as a back-door method to get to ship activities.

I’ll see if I can get any further info on this.

Wait time was not long, BUT please remember this was in Buenos Aires so other ports are likely to be completely different.

I am onboard and can share experience embarking Sapphire Princess in Buenos Aires. When we arrived at the check-in area, we were asked, “are you green or blue?” - the only other option was “Guests Requiring Assistance,” no Platinum/Elite/Suite designation. At the desk, we were asked for our room number and passports. No QR code, no app, no credit card, nothing else. Our Medallions were provided and we were directed to the port shuttles for transportation to the ship. For the person who asked about whether or not names had been removed from the door displays, there has been a change, yes. First name and first initial of surname only. Note: still not “preferred name” even though that field is still included in the new app. JourneyView does not include either DMW or SD reservations, but you can see them under Home -> Reserve Dining and then look for the calendar with a heart in it in the upper right corner. My Shipmates is included now that we’re on the ship. (I only have one DH traveling with me - his Past Trip doppelgangers apparently decided to stay home this time.) He is not likely to use the messaging feature between us so I’ll leave that for someone else to check out. I am still showing as “New to Princess” on the new app but was given my Elite Medallion at check-in, so did not have to have it switched out. Both of us were Blue in the old app, but DH is Elite in the new app even though I am not. Re Shoreside Transactions: Payment Methods on the new app brings up this message: ”You can manage payment methods only before the start of your journey. All the charges are added to your default payment method.” I will go to Guest Services in the next couple of days to make sure our accounts are linked, and also ask for any information about how Shoreside Transactions impact my onboard account. If there are any other questions, I’ll do my best to get accurate replies. 😊 Edit to add: I thought I should have mentioned that a) we were already in the Blue Lane having chosen port pick-up for the Medallions, and b) I had removed the Shoreside Transactions authorization several days before we left, so my check-in reverted to incomplete. That decision did not have any impact on check-in, but if I find it causes dominoes to fall elsewhere, I will certainly post about it here.

My invoice is settled to my credit card on file which I have authorized Princess Cruises to use for my shipboard account.

I noticed this and wondered if it was now only available when you and your travel companions are actually onboard. I will let you know what I find out tomorrow.

I do not recall having to present my credit card when checking in at a cruise terminal in recent years, so I don’t expect to be asked to authorize shoreside transactions when I check in tomorrow. Once onboard, I will go to Guest Services when they are not busy to see if they have any way of seeing that information on their computer system. I’ll post what happens tomorrow with checking in, but it may be a few days before I have any further information about what I find onboard.

I can tell you it is not greyed out for either Europe or South America itineraries.

I would expect just the opposite. Medallion shipping costs (and Specialty Dining) should be considered as onboard transactions. Effy, Diamonds International and Senor Frog shoreside transactions.