WVBill

In the several times that we have been to Princess Cay, there has never been a Bahamian official present either inside the Princess private compound or outside at the trinket tents.

Is Share still there or did they change it back to Sabatini's?

Share was closed on our cruise right before dry dock

On the ships where you have to put your cruise card in a slot to get the lights to come on, does that also control the balcony light? On Ocean Medallion ships does the balcony light go out if nobody is out there? Just curious.

Just got off of the Ruby last Saturday. We had 3 for free Specialty Dining.

There was no card in our room on arrival.

I called the Dine Line multiple times on Embarkation day (The 22nd) and never got through.

I called at 8:05 AM the next day and got through. I was told my 3 for free reservation was at Crab Shack on the 24th at 6:00 (SHARE was closed for the cruise). I also made a reservation for Crown Grill for that evening (23rd).

When we arrived at CG they could not find our reservation but sat us anyway. We had an excellent meal. The restaurant was full. I was presented with the cover charge ticket at the end which I signed.

We went to the Crab Shack on the 24th at 6:00 and they could not find our reservation but sat us anyway. We had an excellent meal. The restaurant was full. I was presented with the cover charge ticket at the end which I signed.

On the 25th we got a card in our room telling us we had reservations at Crab Shack at 6:00 that evening.

The cover charge for Crown Grill was not charged to our folio. The cover charge for Crab Shack was charged to our folio.

We observed other couples at Crown Grill and Crab Shack having the same encounter with the head waiter concerning their reservation missing. They were always seated.

In the past I would take the coffee card and get a mocha latte smatte whaever for DW and a fresh brew for myself in the AM, I'm guessing that's a possibility depending on the servers?

That's similar to what I do. A fresh brew for me and a fresh brew for my wife. Mine is free, they punch for my wife's.

SHARE will be closed for the Ruby cruise departing on September 22nd.

Got this in an e-mail from Princess.

Important to note that Princess Vacation Protection (PVP) refunds your cancellation fee not your cruise fare. So you can't just "no-show" and then file. You have to cancel.

Based on the brochure, it looks like you should

1) cancel your husband's cruise (can be done as late as 2 days before - - but have a good reason (see below about notification of cancellation "as soon as reasonably possible".

2) File a claim for the single supplement

That's the way I read it anyway.....

Following is from the PVP Platinum Brochure:

Princess Cancellation Fee Waiver refunds are also provided if

you are charged a change in occupancy/single supplement

charge as a result of your traveling companion’s cancellation

due to one of the reasons cited above.

IMPORTANT: Please advise your travel agent, Princess

Cruises and/or Princess Tours and the Program Administrator

as soon as possible in the event of cancellation. Refunds will not be provided for additional charges incurred that would

have not been charged had you notified these parties as soon

as reasonably possible.

Thanks - looks like they'll just have to get along without me that week. :-)

Does Ruby Princess have the newer faster Internet yet?

Any recent experience making Skype calls over Ruby's internet connection?

Thanks

And then there's shipboard etiquette. :cool:

For some, Etiquette is defined as "you doing nothing to annoy me".

Not to burst anyone's bubble but what you have there is a Map of your cruise not a Navigatonal Chart.

A navigational chart shows hydrographic data (water depth, underwater hazards etc.), Navigational Aids (Lights, bouys, etc.) basic land forms (points, coves, harbors) etc. A navigational chart of a cruise would show actual course lines, fixes taken etc. Navigation Charts are large scale (show great detail) so many pages would be needed to cover a cruise.

I might pay $1,200 for the actual navigational chart(s) of my cruise but they probably don't exist since navigation these days is done on electronic charts. As someone pointed out, you can buy a small scale map that covers your cruise and draw the line yourself for a lot less.

Price per 8x10 goes down as you buy more. We got six 8x10s and one 16x20 for $1,200.

Each picture was a different pose.

They take the photos on board and then the prints are actually made ashore and shipped to you several weeks after the cruise. The prints are very good. They are done on matte finish photo board (maybe about 3/16" thick". The prints are borderless.

If you leave Airplane mode off, your phone will be constantly searching for a cell tower which is one of the most battery-consuming things a cell phone does. When you are inside the ship at sea (or even on a balcony) your phone will not be able to "see" the ship's cell tower - - but it will keep searching. Expect your phone to get very warm and the battery to not last very long.

Let's see if I have this right. You're Australian. You're trying to use a US TA which ignores the rules about Australians using Australian TAs. But Princess is unethical. (???)

So many opportunities for errors in the Princess process.

You're sitting in a lounge and waiter comes up and asks if you would like a drink. You order a martini. He says "May I see your cruise card?" You show him and he either writes down your room number or "memorizes" it. He starts back to the bar to put in your order and someone else flags him down and orders a JD on the rocks. Same process. He now has two orders and two room numbers which he gives to the bartender. Bartender enters the orders and room numbers in the computer.

Possible error points:

1) Waiter writes down your room number incorrectly or mis-memorizes your room number

2) Repeat #1 for every additional order until waiter gets back to the bar

3)Waiter transposes room numbers and drink orders when he gives them to bar tender

4) Bar tender transposes room numbers and drink orders when he enters them in the computer

5) Bar tender mis-keys a room number

Now, in the case of the OP where there was a charge for a drink on disembarkation day that should have been covered by AIBP - that's a computer programming error.

I have a cruise booked for August 2019. I will be cruising in September 2018. Can I buy 2 FCDs on the September cruise and have them applied to my 2019 cruise in order to get OBC?

Yes - I did exactly that on a cruise last October for my cruise coming up this September.

Thank you, both. I’ll purchase 4, one in each name (can I do this for the kids?), and then email my TA with the numbers whilst onboard ;).

FCDs are associated with a person's Captain's Circle Account and can only be applied to a future cruise booked for that person. FCDs can only be purchased by/for a person currently on the cruise on which they are purchased.

So, if we travel as a family of four and want to book a future cruise onboard, we are best booking 4 FCC at $100 each to use on a future cruise for 2 cabins - correct? If we just book the actual cruise we want to sail onboard, then we miss out on the extra OBC and still have to pay a higher deposit? Now if I want the current promotion, can I email my TA whilst on the cruise and get her to use the FCCs against my new booking?

 

Surely it would be simpler to book the sailing onboard I want and have it transferred to my TA by Princess at source - providing I still was awarded the extra OBC? Or am I missing something?

Once you have purchased the 4 FCCs, you can either book yourself on board and then transfer to your TA, or you can e-mail your TA and have her/him book your cruise using your FCCs. Either way will work.

I can verify this. I have the boarding passes for two back to back cruises. The one for the first leg has a symbol of the front of a bus on it. The symbol is located on the right side of the center of the page. The boarding pass for the second leg does not have that symbol.

Sample of picture from my boarding pass last year:

Why $13.50? And why per person and not per stateroom? Again, we are not averse to tipping for good service anywhere in the world, but not by those amounts and not on a per head basis either!

.....but that's why we're trying to find a compromise where we continue to contribute to the pool but at a rate we can afford and still feel is fair.

OK - so what do you consider a fair tip for your waiter? How about the assistant waiter? The Buffet Stewards? Your room steward? The other housekeeping staff? What does your concept of a fair tip for all those people add up to?

Let's say all of those people who directly support you add up to a count of ten - that's just 13 cents a day each by Princess' recommendation.

But you say "Oh, I'm going to slip my room steward some more in an envelope because he gives me good service!" Does that mean you don't think the other housekeeping staff (without who's work your room steward couldn't do his/hers) deserve 13 cents a day?

We're on the Northern California Coastal on the Ruby Departing Seattle Sept 29. Port call in San Francisco Sept 25. We have booked the Sonoma Wine Country excursion

SONOMA WINE COUNTRY

SFO-300| SAN FRANCISCO |.

I've read on these boards that you can cancel for any reason if you've purchased the Princess Platinum Vacation Protection past final payment date. If not for a medical reason, you receive the cost of your cruise, minus the insurance premium in credits to be used on another sailing. Are there any further restrictions on the use of these funds??

To be clear, the "cost of the cruise" is in the form of a Cruise Credit to be used by the end of the next following year - not actual cash.

We have a few Princess future cruise certificates that we have no use for since we are as of late booking at interline rates and you cannot use fcc with those insanely low rates, I am talking under $25 per person per day including port charges/taxes/fees.

How does one get interline rates?

Nevermind - I Googled.... Employee rates, basically

I doubt if you can give a FCD to someone else. But if you "Refer-A-Friend" you each get $25 OBC which equals the $50 OBC benefit of a FCD.