CoffeHound

I've never used one of these gift cards. How does it work if you want to use it on board? Do you go to customer service and have it applied to your account before you have any charges or do you have to wait until you have charges against your account and pay for them with the gift card?

When they had this promotion last time I bought the limit of $500 gift cards and got the $25 gift card for each. I used all of them to pay off or pay down the final payment amount on future cruises that I had already booked. I just entered the information on the website when I went to the payment screen.

For the $500 ones I was not required to use it all at once or on one booking so I applied the money as needed. If I remember right, I even used part of one to pay for gratuities.

I tried to use mine up pre-cruise because I did not want to hassle with trying to get a refund at the end of a cruise.

Since I don't have anything booked right now, I don't think I'll buy any this time. I'm not sure I will be ready to use the bonus gift cards by February.

Is it cans only?? or am I thinking of the wrong cruise line? I tried looking it up but apparently I stink at both finding things on the Princess website and using the search function on here:D

I seem to remember thinking it would be nice to bring on my favorite Q Tonic but it comes in glass bottles unless you special order it on amazon so I didn't bring any for fear they would make me pour it out or leave it behind.

Thanks!

I like to prepay for the beverage package because you get your sticker on the card when they hand it to you at check-in. I really like being able to stop by the first bar I see when I board and get a drink without having to find someone to sell me the sticker.

Another thing is that in some ports they charge sales tax on anything you purchase before the ship sails, and once I got dinged for sales tax on the beverage package when I bought it when we boarded. I know that quite a few people have reported that Princess has waited to put the charge through until the next day and they did not pay sales tax, but that was not by experience, so now I prepay if I am going to get it.

We did both SHARE and the Salty Dog on our Emerald cruise in August.

 

SHARE was okay. Menu was limited and the food too rich / fatty. Not really worth $39. Despite being told when we booked that it would be busy, there were four or five tables occupied. We actually liked the decor but the chairs were uncomfortable. We decided we wouldn't go again.

 

Salty Dog was much better and so much more than the burger. Definitely worth $19 but the setting isn't great. The high tops are not gastro pub in any way and it felt like sitting in a corridor. The decor in SHARE is more gastro pub. It was generally busier than SHARE and sometimes packed. Was popular with crew. We would go again.

 

We have done Crown Grill a couple of times. Never really been that impressed. For me, who doesn't like seafood, the appetisers are limited. We wouldn't go again. Not worth $29.

 

The speciality restaurants on Celebrity are much better. Murano especially which is as good as some Michelin starred London restaurants.

 

Perhaps Princess might roll out the new French and Cantonese concepts that are to be on the Majestic Princess. We are really looking forward to trying them next April. :)

My sister and me did the salty dog on the Crown and then Share on the Ruby last month. Part of the reason we booked the two short cruises on these ships was to try the different restaurants as the Grand has become our "default" since we live right across the bay from San Francisco.

We are both vegetarians, so we are used to having a slightly different take on things since a lot of places that do omnivore cuisine really well - vegetarian and vegan not so much.

We both really enjoyed the Salty Dog but we had to sit at one of the coffee tables because we are both too short to reach the foot rests on the high chairs making it really really uncomfortable and I have some mobility challenges and I have to agree that the seating arrangements are not great for people like me. I'm not sure that I would do it again because of the combination of the seating and the price not being a great value in my opinion, but the food we had was good and the service was very good.

As to SHARE, I would not do it again. It definitely was not a good value for the money. I think it offered about the same amount of food, choice and quality as the Salty Dog for vegetarians but cost twice as much. Also, I found the selection of wine by the glass really disappointing. I think there were two whites and three reds? That is simply not enough variety to match wines with courses when you are doing multiple small bites (and they ARE small bites/tapas type things). I felt like Princess deliberately did it that way to force people to purchase bottles of wine if they wanted a decent selection.

During our two very short cruises I saw two other tables being used in the Salty Dog on the Crown, and one other table at SHARE when we sat down, and one other couple come in while we were dining. We also saw 4 or 5 other couples or groups come to the podium ask to see the menu and decide SHARE was not for them. I didn't really go check on the other 2 nights of our Ruby cruise so I am not sure if it was more full on those nights.

Honestly, I thought the food was good but maybe the implementation of both of these concepts is just a little off for the average Princess cruiser?

They are indeed taking longer. Mine took over a week a couple weeks back but appeared under personalizer as shareholder credit $100.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I agree I'm still waiting for a request to be processed that I faxed over a week ago

It will be quite extensive. You can expect it to last at least half an hour. The agent will be very familiar with your application and will likely pick one single part of it to quiz you on details. He/she is looking to make sure you know what you said and that you have told the complete truth. The day my wife and I had our interviews, 2 people were rejected because they were either ignorant of the details of what they had reported in the application or they were caught in a lie. :eek: You don't need to be intimidated, but study your application and be able to provide further details, e.g., about some trip you took or what you do or did in your work. The more open and cooperative the better.;)

 

BTW, for those struggling with interview dates, you might consider planning a trip around the interview. We found we could interview sooner at ATL than anywhere within driving distance of Lexington, and my mother-in-law is in an assisted living facility near there. So we flew into Atlanta in time to do our interview and then went to visit her.:cool:

WOW! They are apparently tough in Atlanta! My interview at SFO consisted of 3 questions and about 5 minutes, but then again, I am a very boring person who never moves and has a job that requires fingerprints on file with the State of California.

My suggestion for places to fly for an interview is Las Vegas. The wait for an appointment there is way shorter than SFO if you are in a hurry.

Also, just an FYI, in case it is important to anyone. When I went for my interview they encoded my passport with the information. The agent noticed that I only have a year left on my passport and reminded me that I have to bring my new passport in to be encoded when I get it. No appointment necessary, but I do have to make another trip out there to get it done.

Princess has decided to add dining perks to full suite passengers. Understandably necessary given what the competition has done.

 

But my guess is the cost-benefit analysis of the new perks concluded that a higher number of paying passengers than the full suite capacity are needed to cover the expense. So the bean counters' solution is to allow a certain number of mini suite guests to "buy in". But as has already been said the cost for them needs to be not more than the cover charge for eating every night in the specialty restaurants or there will be few takers.

 

And I wonder about the economics of hold both "suite breakfast" in a specialty restaurant and "club breakfast" in a section of the MDR. Would be shocked if they weren't merged into a single area.

My first thought was There goes breakfast in Sabatinis for suite guests. If the special dining option no longer includes mimosas and espresso drinks, I don't think the Suite guests will be happy, so I think it will be interesting to see how this evolves.

Since the website was re-worked a few weeks ago, the e-mail section seems to have disappeared from our cruise personalizer for the current cruise bookings that we have. I know where the e-mails were before, however, they are not there now. :confused:[/quote

 

Thanks ar1950! I thought I had looked everywhere, and now I know at least I wasn't missing something right in front of me.

 

I wonder if it is gone for good or just temporarily??

Thank you, going on first Princess Cruise and did not know that they sent emails or that it was on the Personalizer. I was just in my personalizer and cannot see where you mean. Can you be a bit more explicit?

 

Connie

now I fell better because I couldn't find it either, and at least I know I am not alone!

Where exactly should I be looking for this e-mail section????

Thanks

Actually one of the first stops for the Thruway bus is the Hyatt, so I could get off there and take a cab with all my luggage & walker. The problem I've found with the cab drivers in The City is they really don't like leaving their place in their queue for a short ride/low fare. Then the next cab in line gets a fare down to SFO!

 

I'm not about to take the street car along the Embarcadero with two rolling duffels, and a carry on, plus my rollator walker. They're too crowded just for a body without luggage.

 

As far as the pedicabs are concerned, I'd probably need two; one for me and one for my luggage

If you are coming in on the first ferry/early bus hopefully the allure of picking up a disembarking passenger at the pier will soften the blow of the short ride?

However, we did see several pedicabs along the embacadero with one person and A LOT of luggage at least six pieces in one of the ones we saw. We also saw a pedicab heaped with luggage followed by two others with 2 or three passengers in them like a pedicab caravan.

I'm pretty sure one Treven and 4 pieces of luggage will fit. Plus all of the people in the pedicabs just looked like they were having way more fun then people like us sitting in the backed up traffic on embarcadero.

Did you have any trouble handeling your luggage on/off the ferry?

Normally I take the train to Emeryville, then the Amtrak Thruway bus into The City, then there's the walk, dragging my luggage to the pier. I can get off the train at Jack London, ferry across the bay, depending on where I can get off in The City. Which one would be easiest for a Sr. citizen with luggage & walker.

Hi Treven,

getting on and off the ferry is much like the cruise ship only a way shorter gangway and a way smaller boat! They are wheelchair accessible (even the bathrooms) and will make sure you have space on the lower deck if you cannot climb stairs to use one of the upper decks. The crew is very good at offering assistance if needed.

As to the walk from the ferry to the ship, it is flat but pretty far if I am having a bad day and my foot is acting up. I usually tell my family that I can do it, but not necessarily as fast as they wish I could!

Two other options besides walking could be a challenge i.e. the street car or the pedicabs. If you can mange the step up, and don't mind paying for the experience ($20/mile), the pedicabs were moving faster than the traffic on embarcadero the last time we left out of San Francisco. We contemplated getting out of our cab and switching. With luggage, I don't think I would try the street car because they always seem to be so crowded.

If you want to take a cab, you can get off at the Ferry building, cross Embarcadero and the Hyatt Regency Hotel is right there at the foot of Market Street. They have a taxi stand so it easy to get a cab for the short ride down to the Pier.

Its been so long since I was at Pier 39 (the other stop) I cannot remember what the taxi situation is down there.

My mom, my sister and me will be on the Grand April 24th. I wish you were going a week later or we were going a week earlier!

I hope your cruise is wonderful.

On our recent new years cruise on the Grand, I saw several people (not just men) turned away from the ATD room for wearing shorts.

I guess it really depends on the Maitre'D that is in charge.

I think for Princess, V means it doesn't have dead animals in it. To have a labelling system that covers all different subsections of vegetarians, those who eat eggs but won't have milk, those who will have milk but not eggs, those who will have free range eggs but not battery, those who will eat fish but still claim to be vegetarian, vegans, fruitarians, etc etc etc - not practical.

 

Did the system of ordering the day before, not work for puddings?

I honestly think it would be possible for all cruise lines including Princess to do a better job without much trouble. Celebrity already marks items as gluten free if they are with a small symbol and then has another small symbol for vegetarian. If the chefs are following standard recipes, it shouldn't be that big of a deal to add another symbol for Vegan.

At restaurants in my area the symbols are often placed next to menu items in parenthesis if the item is not normally gluten free or vegetarian or vegan but can be made so on request.

I totally agree with your point that it is impossible to cover all contingencies, and having a severe food allergy myself know that for some people relying on the symbols is not advisable for everyone, but as a Ovo-lacto vegetarian for 20+ years with strong vegan leanings, a little more information, especially at the buffet would make things a lot easier for everyone.

Also, while I do feel that the system of pre-ordering does work, you really are at the mercy of the staff you are working with. I have experienced some super successful cruises on Celebrity food wise (my most travelled line) and some not so great. I have now had the same experience on Princess. Although I will point out things have gone better on the longer cruises than the short three day tester cruise we took (must be a vegetarian thing :)).

To the OP, know that (except for the Indian food on the buffet) I think the vegetarian food on Princess is as good as or better than on Celebrity. My only real criticism thus far is that the default cheese seems to be Swiss cheese which I do not like. Several nights on our last cruise the vegetarian entrée was made with Swiss cheese so it was vegetables, rice and tofu for me!

 

Yes, a HUGE difference to me, at least.

He eats no eggs, no dairy (which to me makes life not worth living - no ice cream and no cheese :( ) and no fish (I know that my eating fish technically makes me a borderline vegetarian).

I have always liked the term Pescatarian for this. The use of a different more descriptive term by those who eat fish sometimes means that fewer people try to feed it to me (I never ever liked it) when I say I am a vegetarian:D

So I don't know WHAT is going on with my computer, but I've clicked on the Crown Princess link 30 times and nothing came up, until you replied that there were lots of threads. I clicked again (same link) to get a screen shot of what I was seeing and now it's full of threads instead of a "nothing found" page! Sorry about that.

I guess my hint was too late:) At least it is working now...

Hi all!

 

I was disappointed that there is no information on the Cruise Critic Message Boards for the Crown Princess.

 

Thanks!! :) :) :)

Hi and welcome!

To quickly locate threads about the CROWN, look up above your original post. There is a box that says "princess Cruises" in the upper left and then lists all the ships. Click on Crown Princess and Voila

I have perused cruise critic for many years, and it was only a couple of months ago that someone pointed out that you could do this in another thread.

It works really well. Happy reading, and happy sailing to you.

Thank you, NolaTravelGirl, Cb At Sea, & Paul929207!

 

 

Unfortunately, from studying for promotional exams in my youth, I have a very bad allergy to most printed materials. After cataract surgery, the allergy became full blown and I was on super strong steroid eye drops for a year. Now, it's subsided a bit 3-4 good days b4 bad days and is controlled by Padaday eye drops and occassionally Visine (which is bad for long-term usage).

 

30+ years of midnight shifts and 8+ years retired and I still battle to sleep at night. Plus, it's freedom time b/c Mom will be asleep with Ita in the room. I do have insomnia Meds that I take, but they don't always work. ( I refuse to take Ambien or the addictive ones. Doxepin, an antidepressant, works both as an antidepressant and a med to keep you asleep vs restless cat-napping. I do use doxepin)

 

I have a few ebooks on my phone. Now with all the co-authoring, I'm not sure which new mysteries to pick. I have a Mary Higgins Clark ebook to read Mom. But, I might buy and DL the audio book, if my jam speaker fits in our carry-on after packing. Anyone know of any real good new ones that she's written (for mom)? I used to like Patterson, but he's very hit or miss these days.

I feel your pain! I have struggled with insomnia since I was a teenager.

Have you tried audio books or any of the sleep sounds mixes you can get on MP3? I love the audio books for when I just cannot go to sleep because I can stay in bed, and there is no light involved to make even harder.

I can use headphones when I am on a cruise so I don't disturb my travel companion.

I actually really love to re listen to books that I like. I find that since I already know the story, my mind can relax and drift off. I like the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gillman and the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. Both of those are more "cozy" style with not a lot of violence and gore which I prefer, but your library will have a wide selection to download for free or you can try one for free with Audible.

I will also say that I have had great success in the last couple of months using a B12 supplement in the morning. I read somewhere that on of the causes of low melatonin and sleep problems can actually be low B12. Maybe it is the placebo effect but I really have been sleeping better since I started taking the B12 spray. I also like the bachs sleep melts which are easy to travel with and seem to help.

Have a wonderful cruise!

I feel better now as I didn't want to leave anyone out!

Hi,

My family and I will be leaving on the Grand on December 30th for our second Princess Cruise (well for most of us). My sister and I did a way too short 4 day in September and we are looking forward to a more relaxed trip this time where we don't feel like we are trying to cram quite so much in to quite so little time.

Anyway, one of the things I liked about Princess was that there was a sort of "introduction card" showing us who our cabin steward was. It didn't occur to me until later that there was no assistant listed and we never did meet or were introduced to an assistant as we have been on our Celebrity cruises.

When it came time to tip at the end, I wasn't sure what to do since normally we tend to give a little to both the "head" steward and the assistant.

So was it just because it was such a short cruise or is it not the normal practice for the Steward to have a formal assistant on Princess? I would like to know from more experienced Princess cruisers what the norm is and how you handle any tip you wish to give i.e. give it all to your "head " Steward etc. I ended up giving one envelope to our assigned steward and hoping he would share as appropriate but wondered if that was the right way???

I wish Princess would make it a standard to have carpet in the passage ways that had the color associated with the starboard and port sides of the ship. The older ships used red trip for the port side and blue for the starboard side so when you get off the lift you can look to see which side is which to get to your cabin. This isn't done on the Royal class ships and it can become a little confusing when the lift area has lifts on both the forward and aft sides. Small thing but is a help.

Oh no! The red/blue thing is one of the things I thought was great about the Grand. So much easier for people like me with no sense of direction.

At the airport near my home I've had them refuse to accept luggage with cruise tags in clear holders on it because it might be confusing. I don't think they look anything like the airline routing tags, but I don't even try anymore.

If I'm worried, I tuck a copy in a covered/closed luggage tag holder with my cell phone number written on it (which is all I ever put on my luggage tags anyway.

I tuck a copy of my itinerary inside the luggage, and attach the cruise tags when we are leaving for the pier. I also use the clear plastic holders with the metal loops.

Years ago, probably more than 10, there was a hand written menu board as you you entered the lunch buffet. It did not list all the dishes but more the daily specials and luncheon themes. It made it much easier to get what you wanted instead of stumbling across it with your plate nearly full of items that were OK but less desirable.

 

I end up prowling the buffet before I even pick up a plate. This is not so much an issue with the smaller ships but on the Regal, it is a major expedition.

 

Please bring back the menu board or use Princess@Sea for the information.

 

Using Princess@Sea to post the regular menus would also be appreciated. It should not be that hard to put up a pdf of the menu.

 

George

Out of 25 Pages this is my favorite suggestion and something I did not think of because I had never been on Princess before this year.

It would be so nice to be able to see the dinner menu for that evening in the morning so we could make plans for the day and decide where we would like to eat.

My additional wishes would be

- make the casino fully non-smoking and replace all of the soft goods to get rid of the smoke smell

- keep the doors to the cigar bar closed at all times. If it is too smoky in there then Princess needs to provide better ventilation systems NOT open the door and subject everyone near there to sometimes very awful smelling (to me) cigar smoke

- Make more of an effort to contain, control and properly ventilate the smoke in all smoking areas i.e. smoke eater ashtrays. fans or other ventilation to keep the smoke from "hanging" in the air.

I am a smoker and have tried many times to quit and failed yes I am a failure.

 

I am from the UK and so therefore I am very used to smoking outside only, I do think that cruiseships could ban smoking in the inside spaces as long as they provide a small outside space to smoke or a few outside spaces.Hopefully this would satisfy the non smokers

 

An observation from my last cruise on Oasis in September was that the smoking side of the casion was horrible choking smokey and yes I am a smoker, but was packed out every night. The non smoking side was virtually empty ever night so not sure what conclusions can be drawn from this.

Personally, my conclusion is, that similar to myself, many non-smokers found the smell of smoke very objectionable on the "non-smoking" side and thus avoided the casino. This was my experience on the Grand Princess in September and was one of the things that made me really miss Celebrity's no inside smoking policy.

BTW it is not only smokers who drink and gamble- I love to do both but Princess did not get any of my money on my last cruise because it was so unpleasant in the casino for me.

I would LOVE a 100% non-smoking ship but would more than happily settle for no smoking indoors and smoking confined to outdoor spaces that are limited and hopefully avoidable by me.

 

I looked - there are no accessible cabins left on my cruise except in suites - can't do that.

 

Fingers crossed and hope for the best I guess!

Is there such thing as a waiting list for a HC cabin? I think I would still contact the cruise line and find out if there is. People sometimes have multiple cruises reserved at once and then cancel right before final payment if it turns out they can't go or find a better deal on a different cruise.

You may luck out and be able to get a HC cabin assigned if someone else cancels. Then if it turns out you will not need it, you can always call the cruise line and tell them you are willing to offer it to someone else.

I will keep your dad in my prayers and hope that he heals so quickly and so well that you have difficulty keeping up with him on your cruise!

So Jealous! 47 days until I leave on my next cruise which by my estimation is about 47 days too many!

This will only be my second cruise on Princess (the first was a way to short 4 days), and I am so excited to be leaving out of San Francisco rather than having to fly somewhere.

Have a wonderful cruise!