mamkmm2

I'll be interested to see on our coming Feb and Jul 2020 cruises the difference, if there is any which what we've already experience this year with MedallionNet/Class

In Oc '18 we had one of the beta testing cruises on the medallion stuff … both the internet connection and the medallions themselves.  It was a Canada/New England itinerary.  Nothing phased it but the weather but we still used the old princess@sea app.  In Oct '19 we did the same itinerary but it had gone the entire shebang with the new Medallion app as the way you connected.  Meh.  The app was glitchy and it wasn't just the weather.

In Feb '20 we are doing a South American/Cape Horn cruise.  Our current understanding is that internet connection will be medallion but unknown at this time if we will be using the medallion app or the princess@sea app.  Also don't think the ship will be fully medallion capable yet (meaning using the physical medallions).  On the other hand our Jul '20 sailing in the Baltic will be the entire shebang.  Will be interesting to see how the internet works compared to other itineraries if it is a case of satellites not working well above or below a certain latitude.

2 hours ago, jeanandjim said:

We will be doing this itinerary in October of 2020. What were the colors like this year?

thanx, Jim 😎

The US the colors really hadn't changed yet.  Once you get into Canada you could see that the colors had changed but a lof of trees were damaged by Hurricane Dorian and then by the nor'easter that we came in behind.  Yes, the colors that were there were gorgeous but most of the trees had already had most of their leaves stripped and only a few remained.  But since I'm from Florida, the colors that were there were gorgeous to me.  I'm home now and everything is jungle green.

1 hour ago, Denmal said:

We completed the british isles on the crown princess this year amd loved it.  It was 12 days from/to  Southhampton. Very port intensive. Great service.

Also did a few days in London at the Tower Hotel.   Crown is not too big.

 

The Caribbean Princess was our UK ship.  As Denmal said, it is very port intensive.  I think we had one sea day.  You are in port and off the ship so much I don't think your primary concern should be the size of the ship.  

MedallionClass ships have maps to help you find yourself if you get lost in every stair well and almost ever deck.  If you do get lost the first day or two that  should help.

If your cruise is under heightened hygiene due to current or previous cruise having higher numbers of stomach ailments you won't see anything at all.  Or so is my experience.

My recommendation is to NOT do it in October if weather is your concern.  We've now tried two years in a row ('18 and '19) and missed Bar Harbor both times.  This time we were also forced to miss St. John.  Bar Harbor wasn't unusual … it gets missed a lot regardless of what month you attempt this itinerary.  Our cruise fell during a Nor'ester and … while the water wasn't rough in our locations, the storm always seemed to be immediately ahead of us.  We were stuck an extra day in Boston … we were supposed to leave in the morning (didn't happen), supposed to leave by noon (didn't happen), and weren't for sure we were actually going to be allowed to leave until a few minutes before we actually pulled out which was sometime around 6 pm.  We were going to be late to St. John … and then the next day right before we were supposed to enter the channel it was cancelled.  Once we got to Halifax everything went smoothly.

I love the itinerary.  Just don't be surprised at surprises.  And if you are going for fall colors … don't be surprised if you are too early or too late.  It is as hard to time as seeing them in the Smokies.

1 hour ago, cjpj said:

Humm, we've t  aken suite upgrades several times over the years and I always thought you didn't get the extra credit for this from something in the upgrade offer, so I never asked.

That has been our experience as well.  But it was only once … but it was a couple of years ago so who knows whether that's always been the rule and only inconsistently applied or whether it is a new rule and they will be consistent with it from here on out.

2 hours ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

Hope it clears up on this cruise as we board on Nov 10 for a b2b.

Our experience this year has been if it is happening on one cruise, the following cruise will also experience the elevated hygiene protocols even if a high level disinfection process takes place on the ship AND in the terminal.  That happened to us this year on the Caribbean (though they were raised once we got into Canadian waters), the Golden, and the Island.

What that means is:  no self-serve in the buffet or pool-side food condiments, no salt/pepper/sweeteners on tables, no butter or rolls on the tables in the MDR but served separately, no self-serve beverages, heightened handwashing requirements with crew enforcement, you are asked to use hand sanitizer going in and out of most of the venues, and for those they don't outright tell you to they have them available.  The railings in the elevators and stairwells are often damp to wet as crews run rags doused in some kind of disinfectant on them numerous times through the day.  There are other things as well but the ones above are the ones that impacted us the most.

1 hour ago, steelers36 said:

Thank you for clarifying that it was an exceptional situation.  I am not familiar with NYC terminals, but Princess should maintain normal boarding order as much as possible IMO.  We were in Port Everglades once (T2 actually) when Island was having a deep clean and although we were all held up for a later boarding, they did have passengers grouped and certainly the initial boardings followed normal protocol. 

 

It also reads as though you did not arrive very early as you mentioned people moving onto the ship fairly quickly after you checked in and reached the seating area.  I suspect that earlier arrivers who were Elite or Suite were on board first.  At least that is what I would expect.

 

Here's another example for you.  Our Alaska cruise this year … yes they had a platinum/elite seating area but it wasn't a "lounge" but chairs in a section right next to everyone else.  And because they needed the space they told passengers to go ahead and sit wherever they could find a chair.  Platinum/Elite did not have any kind of group card/number identifying them.  So when they called the next group of platinum/elites after the area had filled up (again), they simply dumped everyone in that section regardless of captain level into the boarding line.

It happens.  It really is no big deal from my observations except to some elites with a gazillion cruises that feel like it is a big deal, that their loyalty entitles them to the above and beyond and all that.

I expect to see this happen more and more.  It is inevitable from a logistics stand point.  Cruise lines are trying to embark more and more people during the same amount of time.  They don't enforce embarkation times in the terminal.  Everyone shows up when embarkation starts and the terminal staff have to flush everyone through as quickly as possible to prevent long lines from building up.  It's just gonna happen that the soft handling of the elites is going to fall by the way side as an absolute.

2 hours ago, skynight said:

Please explain. A little confusing to me. 

Semantics aside the MedallionNet/MedallionClass app and all of its "parts" must be downloaded and set up prior to embarkation day, or before you lose your fast internet access.  You can be "ocean ready" and have the "Medallion app" downloaded but when you try and activate the "parts" of the "Medallion app" you'll find it can't do it until it downloads the part you want to use.

For example:  People were "Ocean Ready" and had the "Medallion app" downloaded and installed and even set up; however, if they tried to use "Ocean Compass" it wouldn't work until you downloaded the "Ocean Compass app" which might not have been possible because of (1) the number of people online on the ship slowing down the connection or (2) your phone requiring a faster connection on a recognized as safe service before they would download anything new.  And I also heard iPhones work better than Androids on Medallion Net/App because some of the Android and non-iPhone services require permissions that only the computer people on Princess seem to know how to approve.  We have iPhones so I don't know exactly what the problem was as we didn't experience it, I simply heard multiple people in the International Café waiting for the computer help desk to open complaining that their Androids would not work with the apps.

I had no problem setting up and using the app beyond the normal at-sea glitchiness of any of Princess' apps/internet access.  My husband who has the exact same iPhone as I do had a completely different experience with the apps and connection.  The only difference was that I was using my 250 free minutes and he was using the unlimited streaming service but both were Princess products.  I could usually clear up the problems by waiting until we were in port, getting off airplane mode, and then deleting and re-downloading whatever app/part was throwing fits.

2 hours ago, Morisnfan said:

I personally love it when the crew makes people stop & wash hands!  Some of the stuff we see people do on board baffles me.  So many women I see in the loo still not washing up after restroom visits,  I just dont get it.  Even if I just washed my hands, I dont mind doing it again or sanitizing when asked.  I have to wonder why some are so defiant with these cleanliness requests.

1 hour ago, disneyochem said:

And I love it when I see staff stop people from filling their water bottle from the dispensers.  

 

Yes, I know how to safely fill my water bottle—I have an advanced degree in laboratory science so I know viruses are transferred—and I know that there a number of others who know how to do so as well.  BUT, you may be filling your bottle up after someone who has not done it correctly.  Yuck.  Most rules regarding food and water safety are in place for a reason.

 

Use a cup to fill your bottle.  

I agree for the most part.  The problem becomes when ships institute the higher hygiene protocols but don't have enough staff to institute them properly without creating long delays.  Example is when they don't allot sufficient food staff in the buffet and you have to wait a long time to find someone that can put something on your plate.  The salad bar area is particularly problematic in that sense.

So, all for cleanliness.  But if you are going to expect people to follow the rules, make it a pleasant experience and not an onerous one which is not only stressful for passengers but for crewmembers that are not trained in food service, front line work, or are trying to man multiple busy food stations with no help.

5 hours ago, MissP22 said:

We sail mostly through the fall until the ships leave the Caribbean in the spring and have never once seen a "first run movie" on a Princess ship. 

Maybe some day I'll get pleasantly surprised. 

Also all of the recorded concerts you mentioned have been running for years now on all the Princess ships. 

Lol.  Three of the four cruises we took this year were Princess and none of them repeated concerts, movies, etc.  I'm sure it happens.  Not my experience with multiple Princess cruises each year but like I said, I'm sure it happens.  When you have that many ships doing that many cruises during the same year there are going to be duplications.   We've only ridden on the same ship once and there was over 5 years spread between the itineraries and it was a completely different geographic area and clientele.  

4 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

No diamond or suite lounge on Princess. ☹️

Several ships will close down Skywalkers to all but platinums and elites during … I think it was 2 1/2 hours when they did a pre-dinner kind of thing.  Assuming the ship has a Skywalkers.  And some of the ships do have platinum/elite/suite only areas.    They aren't very noticeable.  

2 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

Sorry but does not compute as group cards are for regular passengers.  They may have group cards for late Platinum arrivers.  When we were there last as Platinums we were upstairs but had arrived early and I know not all Platinums may fit up there and others may have to wait downstairs.  This is Terminal 2 I mean at Port Everglades.  

 

What Terminal were you in?  They still have Elite and Suites room upstairs.  Someone was doing something wrong if what you say is true.  And passenger with priority should say something on own behalf.

 

Will see it all for myself next Thursday.

 

BTW, Medallion Net is the ship's internet.  Nothing to do with check-in.

You can say the cards are for regular passengers but that's not what happened.  You went through sign in and then you went down the hall and were met by someone handing out group cards and you were told where to sit.  No biggie as they were moving people on the ship quickly.  No one really cared one way or the other from what I observed although some elites may have gotten their nose out of joint.  As I was getting on the ship (they called my group number), they added if there were any elites they could get in line as well.  But their status was checked and most of them didn't file on until our group (14) had already gotten on.  The only people that got preferential treatment were those that needed assistance getting on board and they still didn't go in until their group number was called.

As I mentioned this may have been due to various factors including the fact that the terminal was closed for disinfection and we all had to wait until they opened it.  Caught a lot of people off guard.  This was NYC (Brooklyn).  I heard from other cruisers that there were some complaints but that terminal staff "managed" them and basically they were ignored in a polite and professional way and were told that this was the way embarkation was going that day.  Period.

2 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

@mamkmm2 I realize what you say and am well aware of these situations.  I also understand why they ask for things to be done the way they do.  There are always going to be people who would not dp it correctly.

True.  I think that most people don't realize how tight the hygiene issues are becoming on board the cruise ships.  We took 4 cruises this year, three of them on Princess.  All three of them either started or ended with hygiene protocols in place.  One of them lasted the entire cruise.  All three had crew manning the wash stations and calling people back that tried to avoid washing their hands.  All three hand someone manning the beverage stations or had the beverage stations turned off so that in most cases you could not self serve - except after the hygiene protocols were lifted on our recent Caribbean Princess cruise - and at none of them were you permitted to fill bottles or carafes.  Staff would offer to fill them from a pitcher or you were directly to use a glass or cup provided by the ship.

Bucking the rules is getting harder and harder to do and it is making some people decidedly cranky.

On 10/31/2019 at 9:51 AM, steelers36 said:

What do you mean?  This can only refer to the time when boarding has already commenced. 

 

AFAIK, Elites & Suites are still grouped to board first in the waiting area.  Platinums still grouped to follow.  And then the rest of the crowd.  After boarding has commenced, passengers checking in simply board when processed.

Not what we observed on our recent Caribbean Princess cruise.  The MedallionNet stuff was a mess for some, easy peezy for others.  We had a super easy check in despite not getting our medallions until embarkation day and the app only half way working and that half very glitchy.  After check in you were handed a card with a group number on it and it didn't matter what your "color" was.  

I'm sure some of it was due to other factors, but the MedallionNet hot mess certainly played a part in it.

3 hours ago, steelers36 said:

Yes, they have those warnings, but it doesn't take a lot of dexterity to fill a bottle without the bottle touching the nozzle.  That is what they don't want happening.  Pouring from a cup can be a challenge to not over-spill.

 

1 hour ago, satxdiver said:

 

This issue of not filling the water bottle from the dispenser is way overblown.  The issue is to not let the bottle opening come in contact with the nozzle on the water spout.  Easy to do with a little practice.  Many of us do it all the time without any issues.  

Lately there is a wait staff stationed in the drinking area that tells you no when it comes to filling water bottles at the dispenser.  Two of our last three cruises we've had to deal with heightened disinfection protocols ala required by the CDC for higher than normal reports of stomach ailments.  That's when they serve you in the buffet line and you aren't allowed to touch utensils, etc. and that you won't be served unless you wash your hands under the watchful eye of a crewmember.

So, don't be too sure you will simply be able to walk up to one of the water dispensers and fill your bottle up.  On one cruise they disabled the areas accessible by passengers and brought the drinks - including water and juices - from pitchers kept behind a screen that was staff-only.

38 minutes ago, Pzazzz said:

App is very buggy...has been...still is.  I just kept trying, often weeks apart.  Finally it accepted my information.  No easy task from this end.  😂

 For our October 2019 cruise it was very, very buggy for a lot of people and for some not at all.  Any time the Medallionnet desk was open … was really just a kiosk in the same hall as photography and no always manned … there was a long line needing assistance.

I'm hoping they can get the bugs out.  Ocean Ready is pre-cruise.  MedallionClass is the app you use onboard which is really just a place for you to access the rest of the apps that are supposed to be the nifty part of the new system … Journey View which is the new activities calendar/planner, Ocean Now which is your onboard order form for like cabin room service and drink packages, Ocean Compass which is the ship map and shipmate chat and locator, Ocean Concierge which is all things money, Play Ocean (games), and Ocean Casino (adult games).

Our experience was that not only do you have to download Medallionnet, but all of the other apps as well and do it what you still have wifi capability or you will find nothing works.

38 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

You can still "stack" the free minutes as before.  If by that you mean one of you logs in and begins to burn minutes and you share that login until completed, and then start the other login (second 250 minutes if cruise is that long).  Total of 500 minutes.  In theory, that doesn't last any longer than if each of you start your own 250 minutes on Day 1 and continue to use your own login until exhausted.  You can then buy more internet as needed.  You won't get any discounts however.

 

 I meant that you walk in the door with your free credits and then buy a packaged of minutes.  Not too many ships left selling internet access by the minute.  And once you activate a "unlimited" package it voids the free minutes.

Each cruise that we have been on has had a different price for the full cruise unlimited package probably based on the number of days of the cruise and geographical location.  I have a couple of cruising friends that have seen paying the same price for unlimited access for 7 days as for a 12 day cruise.  YMMV or it could be a function of when they first started rolling this out and price point involved for them.

We have found, thus far, purchasing the unlimited streaming medallionnet is much cheaper than waiting for the 25% on the first day.  Again, YMMV.  I'm thinking there is still a lot of variation between ships, itineraries, and duration of cruise.  It is starting to look a lot more streamlined however. For instance, I know they changed the price of the internet package from the time we purchased a cruise about 9 months ago to now for a Feb 2020 cruise in South America.  

What's coming for the ships, even the older ships, is changing so fast trying to compare what was, with what is, to what may be by the time of embarkation is likely a waste of time since one, we know once a change is made it is unlikely to change back and two, if you book far enough in advance some of the onboard stuff can change multiple times and all you can do is check your cruise personalizer hoping to keep up.  LOL

1 minute ago, grouchomarx said:

We are going on a 7 night cruise.  We will each have two devices that we would want internet on. We also get 150 minutes each for being Platinum.  So if you're saying there will be discounts on board, I guess I'll just wait till we get on board and figure out which plan to get.  Thanks for the info!

 We are platinums and get the free minutes also.  As of now, and in our experience, when you book a medallionnet unlimited plan it replaces your free minutes, it is not in addition to.  For instance, last cruise my husband and I both have 250 minutes.  However, he needed the unlimited plan due to business and family responsibilities.  Once activated (purchased pre-cruise because it was much cheaper) it replaced his 250 minutes.  I still had my 250 minutes.  We tested to see if I could use his 250 minutes once mine were gone and nope … they weren't there, only the unlimited plan.

In the past you could stack your free minutes and then buy more minutes as you needed them.  Ships that have been converted to medallionnet internet no longer allow this.

2 minutes ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

 

Something that was not mentioned in the earlier post is that once you have registered for the Veterans' OBC, it is linked to your Captains' Circle number (the loyalty program) and you will automatically get it on every future cruse (so, if you use a TA, make sure they link your CC no. to any cruise they set up for you.  Oh, I'm also attaching the Veterans' OBC form to this message to make it easy to register.

 

Tom

Veterans Benefit Form.pdf 124.5 kB · 0 downloads

Tom I want to say thank you also.  I printed this off for my father.  We took my parents on their first cruise just a couple of months ago to Alaska.  They loved it but their health is uncertain so I need to find another itinerary that will be kind to them and I'll be sure and get this for them.  Thanks again.

15 minutes ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

I had only cruised RCCL prior to cruising with Princess.  I really did not love cruising until I started cruising with Princess.  Now, this is really subjective though.  I do not like noisy, crowded, activity filled places.  I can do that for a time, but I NEED to have places that I can get away from the noise and people.  Princess has that...at least for me.  Having said that, RCCL is geared toward the younger, adventure seeking.  Princess is not.  I think Princess offers an elevated experience.  

Princess is about the itinerary.  That's where the "adventure" comes in.  They seem to be just as eager to get people off the ship and into port as they are to get them back on the ship.  I have found that most Princess cruise line's itinerary are more port intensive with fewer sea days than other lines.  But you can still find plenty with all the sea days you can handle as well they are more about getting from point A to point B than a thing in and of themselves.

I am in agreement with Coffeeluvr05.  Princess does provide more "quiet spaces" than the other lines that I've experienced.  We've traveled on Oasis of the Seas and you would think a ship of that size would have plenty of quiet space.  We didn't find that to be true.  There were some interesting spaces … Central Park was divine … but with more people on the ship the public spaces were naturally more crowded and some people seem to think that everyone around them and two blocks of cabins over want to hear their conversation.

For others, quiet is relative.  I've seem people that can sit and read on their kindle while karaoke is going on in the bar right beside them.  LOL

I did note that "chair hogs" are fewer on Princess but it may be the itineraries we were on as the ship board experience was secondary to the ports.  And by and large there are fewer "over imbibers" and fewer people in the smoking sections than on other lines.  But again, that just may be a function of our own personal experience.

Being from Florida we've gone on two cruises in the Caribbean and one would have sufficed.  LOL  When I go on vacation I want to experience something different than what I see when I go out my front door.  LOL  So if that is your thing you'll be better off listening to other people's experience as the Caribbean is a different sort of animal for every cruise line.

26 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

They're far from being the current first run movies.

May depend on what ship/itinerary you are on and what time of year as it falls in new movie releases.  I've yet to be on a Princess cruise where there isn't at least on first-run film on the MUTS.  

For the OP, there are more than just movies on the MUTS.  They play pre-recorded concerts too … Santana, Michael Buble, Shania Twain, and more than I can remember.  They played Cirq de Soleil (I know I spelled that wrong) on our last cruise.  If your cruise is going to be in cool weather they may not put as much into the MUTS but it will still be playing something.  Warmer weather they'll highlight it.

49 minutes ago, TNTLAMB said:

The. Credit card dispute wouldn't work as the original  ruise was delivered per the cruise contract.  What's at dispute was a gift from the cruise line. The posters who were on the cruise just started seeing the credits showing up on their Captains Circle account  this week. Some reporting $500.00+ credits.  All makes sense as it takes several weeks to process this info for several thousand passengers and for a gift not in the normal form.

 

The OP on the other hand went to the mattresses. She was warned by several experienced passengers she was going about it the wrong way. Informed by several experienced attorneys on the board (I know those posters) she had little to stand on. She persisted - threats of legal action,  boycotting the cruise line, taking it to the internet etc. Went through 4 levels of management (there aren't that many in that department though she may have been moved around that many times) etc etc. Well she got her special treatment reported here as win.

 

Just as predicted, Princess did a careful calculation and gave each PAX in her cabin $37.50 everybody else who waited for the thing to chug through the departments associated kept calm etc etc. Got 5 times that. Sounds like another honey vs vinegar situation. I see a lot of the here.

Now listen, you weren't  there on the phone and you weren't in my shoes.  As far as the "experience passenger" qualification, I have it.  I also happen to have 30 years owning our own very successful business.  I didn't exit the gate snarling and snapping like a deranged badger.  I can guarantee some of the Princess people we talked with were much ruder than that, like how dare we question what they decreed whether it was in the letter or not.  The fact that they removed the stipulation of the arbitrary date that had not been in the letter to begin with shows that they accepted there had been a failure on their part somewhere along the line.  

And the discount was not a "gift".  A "gift" does not come with strings.  It would have been a "gift" had the discounted the then current cruise.  That was not what occurred.  The discount was a way to calm the people on the ship down because two ports were missed and there was some very poor communication going on.  As far as I know no one asked for the discount, they made what I consider a sound business decision to keep current passengers from moving to other cruise lines, to keep it out of the news (there were some passengers willing to go there), to give good public face for all of the first time cruisers on the ship, etc. 

What they did wrong was to make an offer in writing then refusing to honor the offer as written.  Yes, we spoke with several contract lawyers - we know them through the nature of our business - and they said the letter was legally enforceable as written and that any arbitrary changes by Princess could have been grounds for a civil case.  Would it have been worth it?  It didn't get that far because Princess acknowledged they were wrong and removed the arbitrary stipulation from their system that was not in the letter as written.  For us it did not amount to much money.  It wasn't the money at issue.  On the other hand for others you are talking in excess of $1000 which would make a difference for them.

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Only one of the people in the cabin that purchased it needs to be in each photo. Any other people in the photo can be any other passengers on the ship, whether they are traveling with you or not.

Agree on the "one passenger" clarification but on our last two cruises we were told that the other cabin had to be our shipmates and that our cabins had to be connected.  Not literally, but that that were connected.  I forget the exact term they used.  A cabin that has nothing but minors in it is the exception.  But if you are talking adults - children, parents, other family members, traveling together girlfriends, etc - those are the people that qualify.  They were taking cabin numbers of all adults in the picture.  Your experience may be different from mine.  It's not really onerous and to me seems a reasonable restriction and one easy to follow.

The photo package only covers the people in the cabin that it is assigned to.  Sometimes they will allow shipmates in another cabin be in the pictures and have it covered by the inclusive package … we did this with my parents and on another cruise with our kids that stayed in a separate cabin … but the people in the cabin that bought the package have to be in the photo.  For example group shots are included.  But shots of people that are not in your cabin and you aren't in the photo with them, those photos are not included in the package.  Hopefully I explained myself well enough.  LOL