TW6cruiser

14 hours ago, Pevil said:

I have a Oct 2025 booking on the Star.   Dining, excursions. medallion order and spa bookings all show an error message.  So Princess probably waiting until launch date is confirmed.

I can book excursions but nothing else. I called and they claim they "escalated" as an error but I have my doubts.  

Just now, Iamcruzin said:

I don't get it. I have a trunk load of the same type bags that I got at the supermarket that I could bring if I wanted to. Plus do you really want to walk around in port advertising that you are a tourist.   

 Yes, I too have enough tote bags.   I did sometimes use them on the ship.  Just stating a lot of things that have changed.  The original poster asked what is different....I stated many things I've noticed that are different.  Some things matter to some people.  

39 minutes ago, Barter123 said:

If you go to Passenger Services they will have printed copies of the port guides.  

That was the case on our cruise last summer on the Sky.  We got them either from guest services or the excursion desk.  But, on our cruise this summer on the Emerald they DID NOT have any printed port guides.  And, for two of the Greenland ports, there were not even any on the website or on the APP.   

1 hour ago, Teechur said:

You will be pleased to learn that the blue tote bags have returned. Sadly, you will still have to gather your own fruit bowl in the buffet and provide your own chocolates.

 

It's great when people try out various cruise lines. You may find one you enjoy more, or you may not. We tried Carnival, NCL, Princess, and Royal Carribean.

Princess was the best fit for us. Happy Cruising!

We had no bags on our recent Emerald cruise. Not a deal breaker obviously….just one of many cutbacks. 

Hello, 

I know many things are subjective, but Princess has changed significantly since we started cruising with them in 2010, and in my mind not for the better.  Many cutbacks are like what you may see at hotels, etc.  

The above poster is correct in that the WIFI is much better. Also the packages for WIFI are better in that you are not limited to "minutes" but it's unlimited, either with one device or four devices.  Many things are done via the Princess app also (ie, making dining reservations, etc.). 

Things that we used to get on Princess that we don't anymore: 

-blue tote bag in stateroom

-bowl of fruit option in stateroom

-nighttime candy on pillow at turndown service

-printed port guides

-in the buffets I liked the individual cartons of cereal and milk (those are gone)

-coffee even at the international cafe is served in awful paper cups with paper lids and they only have short paper straws ( I know this is an environmental thing but I still don't like it)

On the other hand the good thing is that they don't leave as much paperwork "selling" things in your cabin (ie jewelry sales, art sales, etc.).

In my mind Princess is not at all what it once was.  We are trying out other lines. 

21 minutes ago, TW6cruiser said:

I don’t know that we know the true story.  If you look at the port schedule there is no ship in port tomorrow.  

PS they may have had maintenance or something else come up…I just don’t think we will know or be told the correct thing. 

6 minutes ago, HotRoot said:

We were told that Corner Brook told Princess they did not have dock space on Thursday so we should move arrival to Wednesday or not come at all.

I don’t know that we know the true story.  If you look at the port schedule there is no ship in port tomorrow.  

12 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

Latest update from the captain.

 

We wont't make it on time (9:00am) to Corner Brook.

 

We are on a speed run at 22 knots since Boston, but Corner Brook is still roo far away. 

 

Instead, we will arrive by 11:30 am. However, port congestion requires us to leave the pier by 04:30pm.

 

The Emerald will leave the pier for an anchor position instead. Tendering will go from 5:00pm ro 07:30pm. No Princess Shore Excursions are cancelled. All just running later.

 

For the missed port of Sydney, we will receive 50 USD goodwill OBC.

 

I think Princess handled all this very well. 👍

Of course had Princess not decided to move Cornerbrook to today from Thursday for whatever reason we may have made it ok.  We found out about that change upon boarding and no email was given….that change had nothing to do with the fuel issue.   

1 hour ago, LeeW said:

 

The ones I have booked with both OBC and credit card get OBC back immediately and credit card refund in a few days.  Last one of these was a few weeks ago.  Note that you should NEVER book and pay for more than one at a time.  Book one, check out completely, then book the next.

That's a smart idea. 

1 hour ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I have not found this to be the case (in our experience) unless you have canceled very near sail date. We have *always* gotten a CC refund within 3 or 4 days of canceling. Now, admittedly, we have not canceled anything for a while now...maybe this is something relatively new.

We are a few months out. They said it had to do with the fact that I had used some OBC for some excursions and then paid for others.  They "give you back" OBC up to the amount that you once had.  Really makes no sense at all to me. This is the first time we ever cancelled an excursion. I learned my lesson I guess. 

I just learned the hard way, that if you pre-pay an excursion via credit card, and don't book any new excursions, you WON'T get a credit card refund.  They will apply it as OBC and there is no place to see the credit online.   

This comment is not related to "movement" but the C deck balconies on the older ships like the Crown are larger than regular balconies and are usually half covered and half uncovered.  We like them for that reason.  I'd double check the ship plan to be sure. 

29 minutes ago, telecheck said:

 

I believe our offer has automatically been converted to an inside cabin? And if we take no action, it implies acceptance of their terms? But if I don't require an upgrade, do I still need to rebook? I am a bit confused now largely due to the poorly written Friday evening email.

I think you do nothing...and you stay as is.  Nothing to rebook. Check out your Personalizer.    PS the $200 OBC (that was also part of the original deal) will only be available on-board, meaning you can't use it ahead of time for an excursion, etc. but once on-board you can use it as credit.  

On 11/29/2023 at 4:31 PM, TW6cruiser said:

Thank you very much.  I feel better now about the ship list being full.   Normally we do trips with the ship, but as we are in port all day and the iceberg trips are short we won't fret about getting back.  

PS, our ship added a number of excursions so we were able to book through the cruise line.

We used Blackberry cars last year. It was very easy.  Service was great.  We got through security faster than expected. But we could track our driver online and saw he was parking. He met us in the terminal and helped with bags to the parking area.  Very efficient, we would use them again. 

3 hours ago, rocklinmom said:

What the?! I am also trying to make a credit card payment today on shore excursions and the payment screen doesn't even come up in my Personalizer. It puts the shorex's in my cart, then I click Pay Now and nothing happens. Is Princess trying to make me never cruise with them again? I don't have time for this. How is their credit card payment system having issues? 

I had this problem yesterday.  I tried paying on the app and the website and I also had the same happen.  I called and they took my payment info over the phone.  It is frustrating hat they have so many web issues. 

12 hours ago, Yehootu said:

Haven"t had to deal with this and hope Barclays will correct. What I do is redeem my points for Princess Digital gift cards. That way I can deposit once on board. I'd keep calling Barclays until you get someone that will give you  the letter Princess wants. 

How do digital gift cards work?  Do you show the email to customer service when you board and then it becomes new OBC?

On 1/18/2024 at 3:06 AM, Tranquility Base said:

I hadn't thought about that as a service.

Was that just for dinner ?

Would the guide take your request on the train / bus on the way to a lodge and then arrange a reservation on arrival ?

Did it include whether you wanted a 2 top or to share ?

 

When we went in 2015 it did.  We alternated  dining alone  or sharing.  The guide made  the reservations as requested.  We'd recommend this level tour.  Additionally,  in Denali park you get the longer (better) park tour.  We  also saw  that we had premier views from our hotel rooms. 

2 hours ago, richsea said:

 

We were on Emerald last November in a balcony room on Caribe deck & the TV was wall mounted. That old TV shelf is now empty, so it can be used for whatever.

Thanks.  We are also on Caribe deck.   

On 1/13/2024 at 9:34 PM, BlufftonCruisers said:

We are currently on the Emerald Princess sailing from L.A. through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale.  I have found the internet to be great.  I’m able to stream shows on Netflix and on YouTube TV, as well as YouTube videos. I have no trouble sending and receiving emails.

Hi, are the TV's in the cabins mounted on the wall, or up on the high shelf? We just got back from Carribean Princess and don't mind some of the older ships but the tv up on the shelf was annoying. 

Does anyone know if you can make a booking for a person tied to your reservation?  We normally get to the ship early and may want to make a booking for us and a family member traveling with us but we don't know how early she will board. 

I should have looked here on CC before calling Princess this morning. We had many of the same problems as others have.  I did finally find the new place on the new app where dining reservations show (calendar with heart in upper right corner).  The worst part was when I called to ask about our Jan. 7th cruise and dining (which I thought the reservations had disappeared) the Princess agent told me just to "check on the ship".  She had no idea that dining reservations did transfer over.  I also questioned what happened to a cruise in August, and her response was "you will have to wait until after your January cruise to access the August cruise" and I told her that absolutely made no sense.  I got transferred  to a supervisor who agreed that the new app has "problems" and that they have work orders in for updates to this app that was just released.   My advice to anyone is not to delete the old app until the new one has all the info.  

3 hours ago, beachluver9 said:

There were excursions available to see the icebergs when we were in port.  While there is no guarantee that they will be there next year,  the company that ran the ships excursions was the same one selling in town.  There was a table set up in town, not at the end of the pier.  Just follow the sidewalk into town and you should see them.  Max five minute walk.  It should be set up where the boating excursions depart.  Our ships iceberg excursions for this port were also sold out but tickets magically appeared in our stateroom at the beginning of our cruise.

Thank you very much.  I feel better now about the ship list being full.   Normally we do trips with the ship, but as we are in port all day and the iceberg trips are short we won't fret about getting back.  

On 9/29/2023 at 3:21 PM, beachluver9 said:

We returned yesterday from a 14 nt cruise which stopped at the following three Greenlandic ports:  Nuuk, Qaqortoq, and Nanortalik.  Here is a quick (lol) synopsis of our experience:

 

Nuuk:  We did the City Walk tour which was not so great due to the inexperience of our guide (only his second tour). He was very kind, but his English was quite limited to the point of not being able to understand/answer questions posed in English very well if at all.  If anyone asked a question in English he would give a canned answer in broken English which often did not even pertain to the question.  However, if I asked a question in Danish he could answer in Danish and then I would translate for the others in our group.

 

Qaqortoq:  In the morning we did a tour called "The Greenlanders" which was very nice.  Was it worth the amount paid?  Probably not.  Would we do it again?  Yes.  The lady who hosted our group was very kind and welcoming.  She spoke no English, but our assigned guide had excellent English skills and was quick to interpret.  The walk to her house was mostly uphill and quite long.  Even with a few rest stops along the way to accommodate some of the slower walkers, one couple opted to head back downhill to the ship.

 

In the afternoon we took a RIB tour to see icebergs.  On the RIB you will be seated in a single straddle type seat (such as sitting on a horse) and will be packed in pretty tight.  There are four rows of two seats, so in addition to heads in front of you (unless to get in the first row), you will not be able to see ahead.  You could take photos to the side but not on your side where someone is sitting next to you.   Our boat driver did not spin the boat, so you could only see one side.  Also keep in mind that the suits can be beastly to put on/take off and there was no place to sit while doing so.  All you could do was laugh about it.  Fortunately, they were nice and warm and even kept the people in the first row relatively warm and dry.  However, once they are on you do not have access to any of the pockets in your jacket or pants.

 

Nanortalik:  This is the best of the three ports for viewing icebergs.  Be aware that there is only one tour provider in the village and they do not differentiate which type boat you will take to view icebergs.  We paid (through RCCL shore excursion) for a RIB tour of the bergs but were put on a covered boat instead.  RIB tours cost a good deal more than a larger covered boat tour.  They offered no alternative to us and would not make any sort of refund of the price difference. They said that RCCL should not sell a RIB tour because they don't guarantee that you will ride on one.   Fortunately, RCCL credited back the difference to us.  

 

In hindsight, we would have been better off booking the covered boat tour for both Qaqortoq and Nanortalik for a number of reasons.  These aren't the giant clunker boats used on Alaska excursions.  These only hold around 10 people, although they were selling 12 seats on them.  You are sheltered from the rain (fortunately, we had sun) and you can get up and move around to take photos.  We were lucky that everyone on our boat was friendly and would share the best viewing locations.  Also, you don't have to struggle with the cold weather suit!

 

Other takeaways:  

 

The same company that provides the boat excursions also sells the same tours in port.  Surprisingly, they were exactly the same price as the cruiseline excursion.  The RCCL excursions for these rides sold out the same day that they were posted so if you want the peace of mind that comes with booking through the ship, go for it.  You won't save money booking in port.

 

Both tender ports (Qaqortoq and Nanortalik) only have space for one tender boat to dock at a time, so tendering was pretty slow.  Although the ship ran plenty of tenders, they were jammed up waiting to offload passengers at the pier.

 

Whales and most other wildlife were long gone for the season before we arrived, so if you are hoping to see whales be certain to research when/where it is best to see them before traveling to Greenland just to see them.

 

Buy your souvenirs here because shopping is very limited in Qaqortaq and especially Nanortalik.  

 

We were able to see northern lights for several nights during the cruise.  However, there is never any guarantee.  Our phone cameras saw more colors than we could see with our naked eyes and with some of the other camera equipment.

 

Hope all of this rambling helps someone out there!

Just to clarify, in Nanortalik there are iceberg excursions available to purchase on shore?  We are going on the Emerald Princess next summer. We just booked and the excursions at this port for the icebergs are already full.  I will keep watching to see if they add more times or spots open up, but it would be good to know we can just book once ashore.  We have high status with Princess so do have priority tendering. 

On 9/28/2023 at 3:53 PM, cusematt4 said:

Thanks!  The person at princess didn’t have info on a pre cruise transfer.

 

Trying to figure out if

-a night in anchorage makes sense with a  Princess transfer the morning of to Whittier

-a night in anchorage makes sense with a  non-Princess transfer the morning of to Whittier

-a non Princess transfer to Whittier the day or night prior and a one night stay in Whittier

 

Thanks!

Last year we took a cruise out of Whittier.  We flew into Anchorage two days before the cruise to be sure we did not miss the ship and to see some things around Anchorage. We booked two hotel nights through Princess at the Captain Cook hotel that included a rail transfer to the ship the day of the cruise.  Yes, we paid more for the hotel than we could have paid at other hotels, but for us it was worth having the security of the transfer.  Not only was the train trip a pretty ride (Princess does also have a bus option) but you should be aware that going from Anchorage to Whittier is not like going to other ports.  There is a one way tunnel on the way that the train and buses/autos go through and it is open and closed at various times.  Also, we were able to book a tour from the Princess folks at the hotel for one afternoon pre cruise.