magandy

Just to let you both know that after various e-mails and involving my TA, DH has been given his military obc credits for our future cruises booked for 2015.

 

Incidentally, Geordiebing, he has only done the two years National Service, and as explained above, a minimum of two years is perfectably acceptable for this benefit.

Well done, glad to hear that you have got it sorted.

Thanks for info. I have sent off forms and will just sit back and wait. It is great to get this credit and, together with shareholder and other OBC's we'll have a wonderfull cruise.

Not sure what you mean by "Princess Cruise Specialist". We are Elite and normally book direct.

We book with Princess direct. A few months ago we had a phone call from a Jessica Truman introducing herself as our PCS and that if we had any problems to give her a call.

The other week I was trying to book a cruise for next year online but it would not recognise our FCC, so I saved the cruise and was going to phone Princess in the morning.

9am the next day Jessica phoned and sorted it out, apparently she monitors our account.

I mentioned to her about our Military Benefits that had not been added to our next very soon cruises, she said that she would investigate. That afternoon she phoned me back to say that hopefully it would be applied soon, the next day it was.

I am sure that if you contact her she would help: 02380 655000 ext 2100 or email: jessicatruman@carnivalukgroup.co.uk

It appears that Princess and Cunard use the same data base. We were surprised when we booked a Cunard cruise to see that our military credits (we are both veterans) showed up immediately.

 

This is one of the big reasons that we pretty much book only Princess and Cunard these days.

 

We used to like HAL but they don't have the military benefits and their wine policy is annoying.

P&O also now do the Military Benefit.

Hi. I recently applied for military OBC.. As I had not heard anything I contacted Princess who told me it had been outsourced to a company in India and they had no control over it. Oh dear. Can you let me know what you used as evidence of service? I sent a copy of my discharge paper but am not sure if this is sufficient and no-one seems able to help at Princess..

Hi there millie-may. I found this out recently about it being outsourced to India, apparently this is where all the Military Benefits World wide is now being dealt with.

All you need to send is a copy of your discharge papers and 'Military Benefit Request Form' which you can download from the Princess site under 'Cruise Deals' and 'Military Benefit Program'

Have you got a 'Princess Cruise Specialist' allocated to you? If so contact them they may be able to help.

However, I think that we are in the hands of the Outsourcers' :(

On the positive note hopefully we will come in line with the Americans and will not have too claim every time we book a cruise :)

Should add that we did eventually get it credited to our OBC.

As aikensbest said, it is much appreciated that Princess recognises Armed Forces from around the World, "WELL DONE PRINCESS" and all the other parts of Carnival that buy into this.

Managed to get on eventually, had to reset all the information again, but ok now.. Thanks to all.

Sent from my Hudl HT7S3 using Forums mobile app

I don't know about Princess UK but can't even get Princess website here in US to load this morning.

Thanks for that, thought that it was just my pc. Will try it later.

Anyone in the UK having problems logging onto Cruise Personalizer?

Just get your passport renewed

Sent from my Hudl HT7S3 using Forums mobile app

We came across Joe on a South American cruise on the Star a couple of years ago, a true Gentleman. RIP Joe.

Does anyone know where we are docking in new york? I was waiting to book hotel room until i found out, but time is getting close to our cruise across the pond.

tom

Assuming that you are on the 8th Sept Transatlantic crossing on the Ruby Princess from Southampton, it will be at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

The Princess turn around day tours will most likely be available once on board. I see that you arrive 7:15am and depart 7pm. If you are able to walk, and are game to do it on your own, some suggestions would be taking a taxi from the pier to lower Manhattan to 9/11 ground zero. You can look around ground zero, there is a memorial now open. From there you can probably catch a hop on hop off tour bus that will take you around Manhattan. If you want to look around on your own take the subway from the World Trade Center to 42nd street and walk over to Times Square. A short way north of there between 47th and 50th is Rockefeller Center. You can then make your way back to Greenwich Village area at W. 4th street between Ave of the Americas and Broadway. At some point you will have to get back to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal which is over the Brooklyn Bridge. Don't wait for rush hour at 5pm. You can get there by subway, which stops about 4 long blocks away. But I'm not sure about the safety of walking in that area. You will have to check. Also, check with your Roll Call, there may be some that already have a tour planned. There are so many sites to see in Manhattan it's impossible to even scratch the surface. Just decide on a few. While the Statue of Liberty is nice there will be lots of people and it will probably be the only thing you would be able to do that day. You will have to have US$, and don't forget the tipping practice in the U.S. for taxis, and served meals. The normal tip for meals is 15 to 20% of the bill. Taxis maybe $5

Thanks for this info sknight, it gives us a better idea of what to plan and what to do.

I have looked at the Roll call, but it looks like most people are getting off in Brooklyn, but I will keep an eye on it. Once again thank you.

We are going on the Ruby 8th Sept Transatlantic from Southampton. We are staying on in New York to do Canada & New England. When we arrive in New York we would like to perhaps go to the Statue of Liberty, but there are no excursions showing for either leg of the trip for New York.

However, if you go into the Princess site under 'Learn about cruising - Ports & Excursions' it shows a lot of excursions but it will not allow you to book one.

Has anyone had a similar problem or can you book these excursions only on the ship?

Or has anyone got ideas how we can do it on our own?

Hello

 

Please excuse my ignorance because I know this has been a thread recently, but I can't find it nor could I understand how to do it.

 

Anyway, I am sure there was reference to "tagging" a cruise so that you could easily check whether there had been a price drop, although I may well have imagined it.

 

Is it possible to insert such a "tag" and, if so, how do you do it? It could well be a US website only, not applicable to the UK site.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have used it but it is a US site so doesn't reflect prices here in the UK. I get an email every week.

I will say that the first week I investigated the price of our cabin only to find out that the cabin that we had booked was up for sale:confused: Looked on the Princess UK site and there it was again, our cabin was up for sale:mad: Telephoned TA, she investigated only to find out that we had been upgraded:)

Well done Princess:)

:)

Princess sent me a survey today to see what I knew of and thought about the Cruise ship programme, I think it might have hit a nerve with them!

 

Basic questions, had I heard about the show, did I watch all episodes, what was the cruise line:rolleyes:, would it influence me cruising in the future and would it make me more inclined to cruise Princess and a comments box at the end.

 

Anyone else get it?

Yes we got one. Not sure that they will like my reply, but only told the truth. However we are looking forward to our Transatlantic on the Ruby in 30 days time:)

Banging doors exit doors near cabins seem to have this issue quite often....

On most ships that we have sailed its never really addressed. The cruise ends and the problem starts all over again. :rolleyes:

I have been on enough cruises to understand that it is a problem with banging doors, this one was bad.... we reported it.....the staff done something to stop it.....what happened after we left the ship is up to them and the next passengers in the cabin.

Cruise critic is a forum for people to express their experiences when questions are asked... that was our experience and I still would not book that cabin again.;)

We had R746 on the Crown last year, as said above the balcony is larger, at an angle looking down the ship. Because it is cut out of the steel bulkhead, it has a echo to it, also it would catch the wind, especially during the night when the ship picked up speed.

It is a good location for the aft pool, however, the access to the pool area has a large safety door practically outside the cabin that continues to bang shut all of the time, including during the night.

Just outside the door was the smoking area also access to the Horizon Court. We told our steward about the continual banging of the door all night, they put a towel across the handles and lock to stop it fully closing, which solved the problem, until an Engineer noticed it! Although after a discussion he agreed to leave it on and get it looked at, as it was a safety problem with the door not closing properly. The towel remained there until the end of our cruise, not sure what happened after that.

All in all we would not choose this cabin again.

There is a link below to a previous thread about R746.

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1770663

Great post, I always find them very helpful. :)

In the UK they charge 1.5% for Credit Cards but nothing for Debit Cards.

In the Cruise Personalizer go to the "Flights & Transfers" option & the 2nd choice is:

 

Provide Independent Air Information

If you have purchased airfare independently of Princess Cruises, enter your flight details so that we know when to expect you.

 

You can also download a PDF file to complete & fax to Princess in Santa Clarita at least 45 days in advance which you probably don't want to do from the UK:

 

https://book.princess.com/pdf/cp/Air_Flight_Request.pdf

Thank you for this info Astro Flyer.

I can't find it on the Princess site in the UK, as per usual we are a couple of steps behind the US ;)

However, I have downloaded the form, I have a contact in Princess in Southampton, so I will email him so he can fax it on.

Once again, thanks for help and 'Have a good July 4th' we hold no grudges:)

On the matter of putting your flight information on the Cruise Personalizer can someone tell me where I can find this?

We are travelling from the UK next January with independent flights, we are arriving 4 days before the cruise tho!

Not sure I'm going to make it to ship by 4pm Saturday due to flight cancellations. Do you think they might delay departure since others will likely have difficulty as well?

We have been delayed leaving port on a couple of occasions due to flight delays both in Southampton and Port Everglades, not sure though whether it was because there was passengers on the flights who had booked directly with Princess or whether they were travelling independently.

Like others I think you should try and get an earlier flight, hope that you make it.

I got my TA to telephone Princess as I saw that our next cruise on 8th Sept had been reduced for our stateroom category by £100, today is 75 days before we cruise.

My TA has just got back to say that Princess will not reduce as it has to be outside of 180 days before the cruise :mad:

We didnt like it at all. Total waste.

Totally agree, we were recently on the Ruby and spent an evening in the CS. We found it very disjointed, although the staff were very good.

There were no fingerbowls, too many prawns, the crab had no taste, obviously been in the freezer for a long time.

The sweet was just brought from the HC.

We asked for filter coffee and got the syrup that they serve up in the HC, in plastic mugs.

We did air our views about the CS to staff, so perhaps they will change it a bit to make it a better experience.

Next time, we would prefer to pay the extra $5 and go to either Sabatinis or Crown Grill.

Just like to add though that the food on the Ruby throughout our cruise in all restaurants was great, obviously apart from the CS.

We felt that it was the best that we have had on a Princess ship.

We have done a few B2Bs, you do the 1st one as soon as you board, but there is no need to do it on the 2nd part of your cruise unless you want to.

I will be going on my first cruise later this year, so sorry if this is a silly question to regular cruisers.

I have read quite a few threads on queries with the processing of FCC but can someone explain to me why you would buy FCC?

Do you get more for your money or do you get OBC?

 

I can't quite understand the benefits. :confused:

Thanks

Hi Ali-Manchester 63,

You buy FCC when you are on board, for us in the UK they cost £75. It acts as your deposit for a future cruise and depending on the length of the cruise, you get up to $100 as On Board Credit. The FCC is per person. They are good as long as you book a cruise within 2 years of buying the credit, but you can always get it refunded.

They are definitely worth buying, we buy at least one every cruise.

Hope this helps.