CineGraphic

6 hours ago, Stosh68 said:

People should be ashamed of themselves for spreading these rumors based solely on a post from that "other place that rhymes with credit" from some random person who assumed it was a stabbing because of a medivac earlier in the cruise because they "heard a rumor on the disembarkation line.

 

Haven't people learned by now that if this was true, A) it would be on a real news site, and B) somebody else would have confirmed and posted about it immediately, and not waited until disembarkation.  

I am not ashamed. I asked if anyone could verify or deny it.

The cruise lines have to report all crimes in monthly or quarterly reports.

Let's see what the next report show.

5 minutes ago, Ellipooh said:

 

Umm, I have taken a sharp serrated knife on several Princess cruises, like you would use to slice a loaf of bread or cut an apple into pieces.  I didn't smuggle anything on purpose -- are knives prohibited?

From Princess.com's list of prohibited items:

• Knives (with a blade over 6.35 cm (2 ½ inches), or 1.25 cm (½ inch) at widest point). bladed weapons, sharp pointed weapons, daggers, sabers, swords, axes, ice axes, hatchets, straight razors (shaving safety razors are allowed), razor blades not in a cartridge, box cutters, ice picks, meat cleavers, and utility knives, (unless specifically authorized for personnel who in the normal course of their duties on board the ship require to be in possession of a knife with a more substantial blade i.e. Galley Staff and Deck Ratings).
• Flick knives, gravity knives, switchblades or lock knives. Small locking pocket-knife with blade lengths less than 6.35 cm (2 ½ inches) and widths ½ inch or less are allowed.

21 minutes ago, memoak said:

There is no knife on the buffet that could cause any damage 

Could have been a fork, a broken beer bottle, or a knife that a passenger smuggled onboard. Almost anything with enough pressure can cause a puncture wound.

20 minutes ago, Teechur said:

Or banished to Carnival.

One would hope that they'd be banned from all CCL brands.

If they don't already, I think all lines should share their lists of banned passengers with each other.

2 minutes ago, Ombud said:

 

Reminiscent of PNW Ruby Princess April 23, 2022 ArriveCAN fiasco.

 

That was a woman having a meltdown, it never became physical to my knowledge.

9 minutes ago, Pan pan said:

Princess is the “big sister” of Carnival lol 

Yes, you get stabbed with fancier cutlery

13 minutes ago, Pan pan said:

I heard 2 guys got into a fight in the buffet and one guy got arrested

Wow….

Pardon me for rewriting a verse of the Love Boat theme

“Love…..won't hurt anymore.
It’s an open wound…. on the 15th floor”

All kidding aside, I hope the victim recovers, and everyone involved gets a lifetime ban from cruising.

According to a thread on another site, there was a medical evacuation two nights ago, supposedly due to a stabbing incident on board.

Can anyone confirm or deny this?

https://vvinsider.com/2024-eat-and-drink-festival-details/

They didn't keep the ship in the Chinese market very long, and other than the karaoke suites which were shut down early, they clearly waited a long time before spending the money to remove the venues meant for the Chinese market.

The nice thing is, you can go to the PJ Party and not partake, or you can opt to not go at all.

We're in our 60s, have sailed 6 times with VV, and haven't been to the PJ Party once!

The vibe is very much no-judgement, so don't worry. You do you, and you'll have a great time!

Enjoy your cruise!

On 5/16/2024 at 6:41 PM, Astro Flyer said:

On your previous thread there was some speculation that Alvin Stokes was a name used for AI replies to letters of concern or complaint

The name Alvin has both an A and an I in it.

Could Mr. Stokes be stoking a fire on cold-case files?

On our 6 sailings we've always found ourselves saying how nice it is to not stand in lines most of the time.

What few lines we did see, moved quickly though.....sounds like a bad combination of one-offs.

The only times we've seen lines at the Wake are at peak dining times, and we tend to eat later when sailing,so that may have something to do with it.

We are in our 60s,and used to be loyal to Princess.

Virgin is in it's own league, and opened our eyes as to things we didn't know annoyed us until we sailed without them. The list includes, announcements. (VV has none except on embarkation and disembarkation days) Virgin also has no art auctions, no photographers, no cruise director, no gold by the inch or rummage type sales. No MDR, and nobody trying to sell you drink packages.

What they DO have is a very friendly/happy crew due to some of the best work conditions on board including free wifi. Food cooked ala-minute in the various dining venues, instead of hotel banquet quality fodder that's been sitting in a warmer for an hour or more. They also bring on top-notch musicians and buskers from all over the world for a wide variety of entertainment.

Things like soda, individual pizzas and homemade gelato are all included in your fare.

They've won too many awards to not give them a try, and if you have any status with RCL, you can score a few extra perks. Check here: https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club

When booked with Deep Blue Extras, our laundry has always been returned the next day.

As Mega Rock Stars, our laundry was returned same day.

9 minutes ago, lisabucsfan1 said:

So much hate for the ducks. Wow. I found a hand-knitted octopus on one VV and loved it. I brought it to the casino where a collector fawned over it so much and she literally begged me for it I just had to give it to her. I don’t mind it. If I find one I may take it and keep it or I may reposition it. I don’t post pics or tag it. But that’s me. It’s so harmless. So. Much. Hate. smdh

We found this guy while walking outside on deck 7 during last fall's transatlantic.

He definitely came home with us!

15 minutes ago, SongsInMyHead said:

What kind of entertainment did you enjoy? And the food?

The entertainment in unlike anything you've probably seen on other lines.

This past week we saw a wonderful cabaret/vaudeville style show which had various acts including the likes of sword swallowers, contortionists, and roller skating acrobats.

There's also a hysterical show called, "The Miss Behave Show" in which there is no way to describe, but I've never laughed so hard and had so much fun in decades.

They also bring on a wide variety of guest musicians and buskers from around the world. Everything from rock & blues, to salsa and the like.

The food is all cooked "ala minute" and not the standard pre-cooked wedding reception fodder that is common on other lines. There are several dining venues to choose from, all at no additional charge. Youtube is very helpful in this case, and I'm sure someone will happily jump in  with a few links. The other night, my wife and I ordered a 65 day dry-aged tomahawk stake for an upcharge, and it could have easily fed a family of 5.

We have done an 8 day Caribbean on the Valiant, and have the exact same sailing booked for April of next year,and we just returned yesterday from a 5 day sailing on the Valiant to the Dominican Republic and Bimini. She's a wonderful ship, with a great crew. St. Croix had a lovely small town feel, and was a nice change from the typical Caribbean ports, and in San Juan you dock right in the middle of Old Town. We feel that everything is superior to HAL, and now I only sail with HAL when it's a free offer for a casino tournament.

42 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

The issue had nothing to do with the TA or me having Princess change my room number, which Princess already acknowledged (the price was changed before I changed our room #, that was just how I discovered the change). They made a mistake and a VP from Princess called me to apologize and resolved the issue. 

 

For what it's worth - we cruise a lot (6-8 times/year) and I've yet to ever be told the cruise lines are unwilling or unable to do something basic like change a room #. There are things I would need to go to my TA for, but as we saw here, Princess had no issue changing our stateroom number (had we been changing the category, I would have contacted our TA).

I'm glad that it's all worked out, but when there's a problem with a booking caused by the cruise line, it's always better to have your TA advocate for you. They represent a larger client base and more $$$ than any individual.

Going straight to Princess is like asking a guy who's suing you in court to fix things and make it all right, even though you have a lawyer representing you.

15 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

It looks like they really do have a cold case department!  LOL. But, they are only authorized to give a limited time $50 OBC.

Alvin probably gets paid more than that for each client he brings back from the dead.

Here's clearly not a PCL employee, but just a contractor as some hawk-eyed members noted the format of his email address doesn't match that of real PCL employees.

Thanks for sharing....I think several on here doubted that my letter was real.

Now get ready to be accused of extortion and all other sorts of nonsense from the Princess apologists, and those who insist that they must be much better passengers than we are.

38 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

I think removing them regularly is the worst of both worlds, it’s just making plastic waste.

I believe they have quite the recycling program on board, and Virgin has either already eliminated or is working on eliminating all single-use plastics.

The whole duck thing is such a waste of plastic, and I've heard that crew will get rid of them if they see them before passengers do. Someone on the cruise I disembarked from yesterday brought 700 tiny ducks for a 5 night sailing. 🤬

1 hour ago, TheMichael said:

 

$50 sounds more than fair for the inconvenience of having to be brought a second appetizer (complaining about encountering pot smokers should get you a tidy $0).

 

I don't see the problem, those are things I'd just expect to mention so they can fix them, not in hopes of extorting a significant reward.

 

Glad you're happier on Virgin (looking forward to trying it myself, have heard good things except for bed quality, which might be a dealbreaker if true). Personally though, leaving a cruise line that I was otherwise happy with for just those two things would effectively be cutting off my nose to spite my face.

 

There were lots of problems and they were all spelled out in a live thread I did back then. Feel free to dig around and give it a good read before making any more assumptions or conclusions . Extortion??? That’s quite a stretch.

These problems were mentioned, both on board and in letters to corporate. They were given the chance to fix things, and didn’t. I’m reminded of a woman standing in a long line for guest services during this cruise, and she started screaming F-bombs at the top of her lungs….that’s when I realized Princess didn’t deserve to call themselves the Love Boat anymore. 

19 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

Well that is quite interesting. After reading this I poked around a January 2025 sailing for Scarlet Lady and sure enough, absolutely no Sea Terraces can be booked on Deck 13. XL Sea Terrace, Sea Terrace or Central Sea Terrace. Cheeky Corner and Sweet Aft Suites are the only cabins available on Deck 13 to be booked at this time. Well that will be interesting to see if it's the entire deck that goes away or just the front section where the XL Sea Terraces are. 

My “guess” is more suites and a concierge lounge.😉