bulldog on water

this is just a vent and informational blog for anyone who cares...

we have 3 cruises B2B2B booked starting 1/28/23 on the Enchanted Princess.

we booked these over a year ago when the Beverage package /tips/wifi package was $40/day.

I have all documentation and even a gift and services summary email from  reservation@princesscruises.com.

But some how this week the princess Plus art for our middle booking disappeared.

Because we booked these cruises through the Casio offers, i have to deal with their call center people.

the princess plus portion was not included in the casino offer and we paid for it, which was only $40/day at the time.

the people at the call center have no access to any previous documentation that was sent out by the reservation systems, duh!

they have to escalate this issue and tell that it should be resolved within 24 /48 hours (this is at 4:30 Friday, you know no one is going to do anything until Monday)

I have talked to 4 different people ( takes a few hours for someone to call you back when you leave your # in que) .

I have left emails to people only to get automated responses from 3 different dept.

One person said that they had charged me incorrectly and that Plus package was $60, so the dropped it off and gave me a credit. WHAT!!!

First, why did they did not tell me anything before they change my reservation 12 months after i paid for it, then they don't understand the the original price was $40 and has gone up since Jan. of 2022, because these people did not work there then. (the casino call center has been outsourced to the Philippines.)

Princess needs to update their informational structure for depts. to be able to access information about what gets sent out other departments.

PS; also have a case # open with Global Casino Services...

term "spring Break" is not the same for every state, or colleges.

every state has different vacation periods as do colleges. the answers you recieve will need to be dependent on the actual week you are talking about.

in New England and some midwest states, public schools (not college) we have vacation in mid february, not during easter .

we also have a week in april (Marathon week)

so you need to define our week and then get answers from people who cruised during that week.

hope this helps

6 months ago, the situation we are in, not only did not exist, but was not even in our minds!

If you can tell me what will happen in the next 6 months, then you are assume. 

Until then we will continue to book cruises, (2 booked for Jan 2021)and cancel prior to payment accordingly. We will not travel if we don’t feel safe, but planning to travel stimulates us instead of canceling now for an event well in future that we cannot 

predict and fretting over what we won’t be able to do!

Our glass is not half empty nor is it half full, it is just to small.

Harry and Irene

tony, we are in Marlborough, where did it rain???

10 hours ago, C-LAD said:

Anyone having current problems setting up Ocean Ready for an upcoming cruise?  "Travel Documents" section will not complete, circle will not turn green and has an orange circle with an asterisk inside.  Contacted Princess Ocean Ready yesterday and a customer service rep. indicated they were having issues with the App.  Their IT was working on it and should be corrected this AM.  Checked again this morning and issue still exists.

Had same issue.... played around and on “documents page “ hit first light blue line under passport info... took me to another page where I just hit passport arrow then another page to confirm passport info.... all green now... good luck, because calls to princess did not help!

53 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

That's is a very optimistic statement.  The more I read on CC, the more I see that something is seriously broken at Princess.  I have never seen a company that has so much difficulty having their written policies and procedures being applied consistently across the fleet and land based operations.  The result is that you don't know what you'll be told at the call center, at IC (expired coffee cards being treated differently), I could go on but I'm sure you get the point.  The differences between what TAs and PAX are being told by Princess agents regarding the addition of perks under this promotion with some things completely different from what is written in the terms and conditions is a glaring example of poor training and supervision.  My optimistic thought is that Princess will replace whoever is in charge of operations with somebody who can assure a high level of consistency.

Totally agree,  I was going to call my TA and have her add the codes to my existing booking but I have a casino discount so I’m gonna wait to see if they straighten this out before I tie up my TA’s time chasing something that may not be there.thanks to all of you !

On RCL if you are NOT Prime, or have not accrued 2500 points yet and need to get money, do not bill to your room! Use the ATM, the fees are much less than the 5% you will be charged by RCL ( unless you are taking a small amount amount, then 5% will be less!

“Ultimate” VIP casino cruise is regularly in November!

you qualify by taking one of the “regular” VIP casino cruises or if you are a high end player.

I believe that What you then have to pay for the “Ulitimate” VIP cruise will be dependent on your level of play!

Harry and Lucille is correct, the February 15, 2020  Sky Princess is a Regular VIP casino cruise that if booked (have to have invite), you then qualify for the November 2020 “Ultimate VIP cruise!

The last. 4 cruises I have been on (princess &RCL) 2018-2019, the free play chips are taken weather you win or lose and when you win you only get back what the value of the free play was ie.. a $25 free play chips win, gets yo $25 in real chips not $50 as stated above.

the red/ black/ 00 roulette bet example is wrong! Or maybe the above writer  got on a table that liked him! 

Slot credit is best (if you play slots) in that this is treated just like you normal slot bet.

if you play $5 real money slot and win $100 ( you get $100 added to your account, you don’t get your original $5 bet back)

if you play $5 free play slot and win $100 ( you get $100 added to your account, )

if you really  want the value of your free play to play at table games......

then go to roulette and play as follows:

$150 in free play chips. Plus $40 I in real money...

Play $5  on every #, thus you are guaranteed  that you will get back either $175 or $180 in real money to then take to your table games!

Presently (based on closing price $51.19 today) stock is paying 3.65% dividend!

not bad! $2.00 share. 

based on price I paid for my CCL stock,I am getting 8% yearly  dividend on my original investment!  That does not include OBC’s!

Glare was there for all seats but worse for some because of where they were.

We found that if you stood up the table was MUCH better, but impossible to hide your cards and see them without going down to seat level again.

Sailed on Regal Princes when they installed new version on Poker table!!

it is fancy but flawed!!

1) glare from machines makes vision of opponents info difficult to see!

2) machine locks up randomly, Every one has to log out if the machine has not kicked yo out,

3) watch your money totals when machine locks out!  We took pictures! Because your money doesn’t always go to the casino bank!

i think you get the point, Don’t  really need these problems on top of the 15% rake! ($8 max)

note table installed on February February 17 2019

Several years ago we had our Princess cruise out of San Juan canceled!!

we rebooked on Royal C. (Air fare booked)!

princes tried to put us a ship out Florida, but gave us $350 OBC on next cruise instead.

(reason given for cancelation was some “country” booked whole ship!)

not sure if that was true!

It was ready last February when we were on Lido deck

Thanks !! will calling TA tomorrow to make additional payment(s) on our Feb cruise

Does your spouse in the same cabin get a VIP badge for drinks also? She is not a big gambler. $20 is her limit.

Yes she gets the free drinks, and is also included in all the raffles that you have to be present at to win! Did not know till I saw my DW’s name pop up on the wheel and she is in her room sleeping!!

Just got back, casino host waives fee after earning 240 points during play. Note they don’t waive any fees you had to pay before earning 240 points.

New Years cruise on Liberty of Seas the poker table had live dealer

I have an offer of $125 casino cash. So using these promotional chips on roulette, say I bet $4 on each number for a total of 4x37 or $148 total. I use the $125 in promotional chips and $23 out of my pocket. One of the numbers are guaranteed to hit, and I'm paid 4x35 or $140 in real chips. Deduct the $23 I took out of my pocket, it's a net win of $117. So I converted my $125 in promotional chips to $117 in real money for a conversion rate of 93.6% (or $121/96.8% if your out of pocket chips win). Sound reasonable?

 

The only issues would be

(a) if they don't allow the promational chips to be be on the inside of the roulette table, or

(b) if you are required to be the full value of individual chips, say $5 minimum. In that case you would bet $5 on each of the 37 numbers for a total of $185 ($125 promotional chips and $60 out of your pocket), and the win would pay $175 (35x5) , less your $60 out of pocket for a net win of $115 or 92.0% return (or $120/96.0% if your cash chips win).

Yes they let you play your chips inside the table and yes you have to play the whole value of the free play chip($5). Going in 3 weeks and will be getting $300 in free play so wil investing $80 to insure $350 in real cash resulting in net $270 real cash to use as normal.

On Wed we were in Jamaica. Early Thursday morning I woke up with a raw throat, and was lethargic all day. On Friday my throat was a little better, but as the day went on, my sinuses started acting up. On this day Ro was out for the count. Today started off ok with my throat feeling better, but then my sinuses went to the races. After lunch I basically quarantined myself in the cabin with a full blown head cold. Oy, what a week! We went to the buffet for a quick dinner, and now I am back in the cabin for the night. Hopefully tomorrow I can hit the reset button and start over fresh. Here is my mid-cruise report. While the following is not positive, please note that I am not writing this in a negative frame of mind...I am just telling it like it is:

 

If I list all of my past cruises in order from top to bottom, even the "worst" of them was a good vacation because we had great weather. I can state without hesitation, that this week has been my worst cruise! From cold and windy days, to getting sick...we could not compete with the external influences. As for the cruise itself, this is our 4th overall week on the Regal (+ 10days on Royal) and it has not been up to par. I guess a lot of it falls on the CD..."bird" something...can't tell you his name, as I haven't actually seen him. On our previous sailings, headliners were not in Live, so we did not have the issue of no available seats. Getting to the theatre 30 min early is one thing, but getting there an hour early and needing to sit through another program is quite different. Is it really necessary to keep showing the same material on MUTS, and to even repeat it in the same week? We are not complicated when it comes to food. The Regal has a very good salad selection, and when we both start with a big plate of veg, it does not take anything special to complete the meal. With that being said, the buffet also felt uninspired and repetitive. This was not the case on our previous sailings. The final big negative is the Crown Grill. I already told the story of what happened, and today I went back to try and get refunded for her meal or maybe even get invited back for another try next week. This wasn't even a conversation. "Head waiter Ion" told me that he already spoke to his superiors, and they said the charge should remain. I went to passenger services because I wanted an official complaint on the record for this, and the person there blew me off. He said he would put my complaint in the system, but he really didn't care as the CG is out of his domain. What can I say...to treat an Elite passenger ( any passenger, but especially someone who gives you repeat business) like this over $29 and a stupid lobster tail....bad business if you ask me!

 

Ok, enough negativity! On the positive side, embarkation was great. Most of the staff are awesome. Our room Steward "Paul" is amazing. Our cabin is great. The captain is taking the outbreak very seriously. It could always be worse...

 

I know without a doubt, that the week to come will be better!!!

 

 

 

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First let me say thank you for your well written infomational posta, we will be on the Regal 2/11 through 2/25 basically same cruise as you.

As for the GC we go every cruise and sometimes run into the same as you did, other times it’s been great. No complaints from were ever acted on until we asked to speak to the hotel Director, that is wh listens, just an FYI. Sabatini’ we agre has changed for the not so good but we go anyway and now I have found I had the best steak on any cruise there, who would of thought that?? Anyway have a great cruise and remember the weather is not that great but still better then what mot of the people reading this have right now! ENJOY 😊

yes, my nephew and I both went through this on our last cruise. This is the same process they use when busses go to Foxwoods and people are given 'Free plays".

Thus the value of these tokens is really >50%.

We discussed this after our meeting with the casino manager and decided that next time if given free play the best payback would be at the roulette table.

We usually fly in early to Miami and rent a car to drive to Ft Lauderdale, we usually stay at the Westin Beach Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. We check in. Then drop off car down the street and walk the boulevard back. Car rental one way cheaper than taking car service!! Cab to port terminal is about $20. Great location, beach, restaurants, etc. great just to walk boulevard along the beach at nite.

we did this also ( 4 adults ) we got 2 carts for the whole day, we had a BLAST!! We started off by going south first and promptly got lost ( missed the 2nd turn) ended up doing the south backwards, saw all the tour buses trying to go where we went but could not (to big). returned to ship for a late lunch and then went out again to do the north route. you can park the carts right where you got them and they will be there when you return from lunch. We really did not get lost,( island is to small) but we did not take the normal touring route so we were like the amazing race, looking at maps and trying to figure out where we were and talking to people. we laughed and laughed. When we got back on board, people on the bus tours were envious of us. and the paid twice what we paid and saw less and sat on a bus. Someone was concerned about their age (we are all in our 60's). I just mentioned to my DW that someone on CC asked about the golf cart trip, she immediately perked up and yelled "TELL THEM TO DO IT"!

enough said

Is there anyway to play in casino without paying fee (other than bringing cash)?

Casino cash question...is there a fee to get cash in casino on Royal Caribbean ships?? We are on the Liberty over New Year's Eve.