mamkmm2

We got to Platinum fast because we took several 10 to 14 day cruises.  It surprised us how fast we got to that level as we weren't trying.  As for the perks?  Meh.  The embarkation process is now so fast in most ports that it doesn't matter what level you are and the "Elite waiting areas" are just more chairs grouped together … it isn't like Skyclub or some exclusive club scene.  And you don't have to be Platinum or Elite to be seated in those areas, just traveling with someone who is.  They also tend to put travelers that need extra assistance getting on board in that area.

Other perks?  I've yet to really experience anything exceptional with them especially if you continue to travel inside-cabin.  I'd focus on itinerary and cost and not worry about Circle Level.  It only seems to mean anything to those who want it or need it to mean something.

5 minutes ago, voljeep said:

post the letter here ... black out personal info

There is no personal info because it was given to every guest on board.  Hopefully I inserted it into this post correctly.   Note that is says "or any existing booking not yet paid in full."  

1 minute ago, dodger1964 said:

must have been a bad October...we also cruised with them (for the first time) on a NE/Canada cruise in October and we missed 1 port because of high winds.

Most likely port for that to happen was Bar Harbor.  We've missed the port two years running now.  I think they need to pick another port for that leg of the journey. 

13 minutes ago, AskOceanMedallion said:

Hi @jennybenny. Yes - once on board, the guest services desk can assist you in linking cabins as long as the requestor is the parent/guardian of a guest under 18, or the adult in the secondary cabin is present and provides approval when making the request.

 

Also - just a point of clarification, with the MedallionClass app you can access JourneyView prior to your voyage as well as see your dining information and see/bookmark onboard activities before you leave home.  

 

Enjoy your MedallionClass vacation.

That feature did not work pre-cruise for most of us on the recent Caribbean Princess cruise.  The system had a lot of missing info and other glitches.  The lines for the MedallionNet desk … which is more like a kiosk only occasionally manned near the photo gallery … always had long lines during the entire cruise.  Kinda crazy.  

I'm not against the new system as it has lots of potential.  But expectations should be lowered.  It isn't that pot of gold everyone was hoping for.  And if you don't book far enough in advance you aren't going to get your medallion until you show up for embarkation.  And if there is something wrong with your data for MedallionNet system, contrary to what several people were told here on CC, it cannot be fixed until embarkation.

We just got off of the Caribbean Princess.  $9.99/day is pre-cruise cost.  Once the cruise starts it is $14.99/day.  How fast/slow/consistent is the same for the rest of the fleet.  It depends what region you are sailing in and how many people are using it at any given time, as well as where you are located on the ship.

MedallionNet system still has some glitches.  It doesn't perform completely as advertised for some of their add ons like chat and locate your shipmates.  Some times it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes you'll get a notification, most times you don't.  And sometimes the locate your shipmate isn't accurate.  Especially if they have their MedallionNet turned off or are signed out.

YMMV

1 minute ago, capriccio said:

I don't quite understand this paragraph, especially the sentences I highlighted:

 

"The letter clearly states that it is for any new or existing cruise so long as it has not been paid in full.  We are on the phone with Princess and they are refusing to honor it on existing cruises that have not been paid in full.  They are saying they back dated it in their system. What did they back date?  It clearly states one thing in the letter but in their "system" it says something else." What does it say in their system?

 

Do you have a travel agent that can go to bat for you?

 

 

Travel agent tried.  They got no where.

The letter clearly states ANY existing cruise not yet paid in full.  We booked a cruise nine months ago that is due to be paid in full by Nov 1.  Princess said that they back dated the agreement so that it only counts on cruises booked after Oct 1 2019.  That's not "any existing cruise not paid in full" that is basically any new cruise since our cruise dates were Oct 14 - 24, 2019.

Just now, bcnvcanada said:

Ask to speak to a supervisor, if a problem, scan and send the letter to

them.  They are good in honouring letters, but sometimes have to be

seen.  

 Our travel agent did that … they were told no.  We've done that and gone through multiple levels of supervisors … we were told no at each level.  My husband said a lawyer would be the next person to contact them because what it says in black and white in the letter is different from what is in their system.  That only got a … "we'll look into it."  Like I said, they honor their voucher or we'll refuse to have anything to do with Princess from here on out.  Weather isn't in their control.  Deceitful business practices are.

In October 2019 we took a New England/Canada cruise on the Caribbean Princess.  We missed two ports due to weather and because the pilot didn't think we could navigate the channel to St. John.  I wasn't happy but you can't control the weather.  What they could have controlled was the lousy communication and only letting passengers know 15 minutes or so before it was supposed to take place.  Okay, sometimes you just have to suck it up but to Princess' credit, without it being asked for, they gave passengers a letter for 20% of the cruises value off of new or existing booked cruises that weren't paid in full.  But there's a problem ...

The letter clearly states that it is for any new or existing cruise so long as it has not been paid in full.  We are on the phone with Princess and they are refusing to honor it on existing cruises that have not been paid in full.  They are saying they back dated it in their system.  It clearly states one thing in the letter but in their "system" it says something else.

This may well be the last cruise we take with Princess if they do not rectify this.  I understand they can't control the weather.  They can control underhanded tactics like they are using.

On every other cruise I have ever taken with other cruise lines it was easy to determine which ports required a tender and which did not.  However, my first time on NCL and I can't seem to find that information at all.  Is there a trick to finding that info?  Thanks.

Only working hit or miss.  When I go to my cruise and try and work on excursions a lot of information is missing.

On ‎3‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 11:47 PM, CruiseCriticMamaBear said:

I don't know if this is where I should be posting this, but since many of you have traveled the world over I would greatly appreciate your insight and recommendations. Our children are 11, 8, 6 and we have always dreamed of giving them a good glimpse of the world before the oldest graduates from High School. Here is what we have planned, please give any suggestions you have.

 

2018 Disney Caribbean Cruise

2019 Disney Alaska Cruise

2020 Disney Mediterranean Cruise

2021 Disney Northern Europe Cruise

2022 African Safari

2022 Australia and New Zealand Oceania Cruise

2023 Japan, China, Singapore Crystal Cruise

2023 South America (30 day) Oceania Cruise

2024 Europe land and river cruise (60 days)

2025 Full World Oceania or Crystal world cruise (depending on the itinerary at the time)

 

Is there a part of the world that you love that is not covered here? Would you do these destinations in this order?

I've put four through home school into college and we are on #last and he is 15.  I have a couple of suggestions:

If you truly want to introduce them to cruising, do it now while they are younger and you can get them involved with the kids' programs on ship.  We didn't take our kids on our cruises except for the youngest who did one at 12 and just returned from one at 15.  He was nearly the only kid his age on the first and was the only teenager on the ship for the second.  He wasn't exactly miserable but it could have been much better experience for him if there had at least been a few people his age on board.  

Be prepared for them to want/need to be able to stay connected … wifi on ship or on shore.  Some of that can be mitigated if you have a good phone plan.  Verizon (our carrier) has an international plan that is just $10/day/phone to access your normal at home plan … but they severely choke the data speed after about 5 GBs so apps may be useless.  So when budgeting you really need to keep this in mind.  Once they are older and more social you aren't going to get a good result if you ask them to go cold turkey on a longer cruise.

We've used a computer-based curriculum (not online) for years so if you do the longer cruises but are concerned about still completing those basic core curriculum subjects and/or benchmarks for a school district portfolio you could still do a minimum of school work that way for the longer cruises if they happen to fall during the traditional school year.

If you are looking to use the cruises in your portfolio there are a ton of ways to accomplish this and I'm sure you've thought of more than a few already.  Lots of opportunities for mini unit studies and/or electives and/or culminating activities for a full curriculum using the shore excursion and ship board activities.  

I know I am pretty late on this thread but I'd be interested in hearing your experience with the cruises you've already taken.

Little late in the game, and we've only gone on a few cruises, but what I do is pack a "digital photo frame."  I copy any pictures I want to a memory stick or memory card (depends on the frame) and then run the frame the way it would at our house.  It cuts down on clutter.  I can have lots of pictures, all depending on the memory device size, and they run constantly … or at least when I have it on when we are in the room … like a slide show.  

On a world cruise I imagine you could have two such frames.  One could be used to run photos you bring from home and the other could be used to make a slide show of your favorite cruise photos as you add them during the trip.

Or if you can only bring one photo frame, you can certainly bring multiple storage cards/sticks to run on it.

Princess has this has an excursion on their Feb 2019 trip.  Booked it as it was just $30 US and that is still cheaper than taking a taxi to the places listed.  Lighthouse and salt marsh are two of the stops.  Doesn't look like a HOHO but a booked tram that takes you there, you have your free time, then you get back on and go to the next stop and do the same thing.

Gonna be there the same time and haven't noticed that Princess is offering whale watching so feeling kinda iffy about it.  I have read in several locations that a good land spot to watch for whales is from the light house area.  I suspect, like any other whale tour, that it is hit or miss.

Never been to a GREEN sand beach ... but know there is one in Hawaii.

Have any of you been to the GREEN Sand beach there?

Green is in the eye of the beholder and how clear the weather is. LOL.

The sand is actually green because of the olivine crystals. At least that is the case in the Hawaiian islands. If a storm kicks up a lot of regular sand onto the beach it is less green. The olivine crystals are heavier than your average grain of sand so they stay as the regular sand gets washed back out to the sea.

The one of the Big island is small and difficult to get to. When we were there there was also a lot of vog from the volcanic activity. It wasn’t as nice as you see in the post cards ... at least in our experience.

They are neat to see.

 

Not so nice to walk on. They get HOT.

Very much this. But I have to say, when Hubby and I were in Hawaii over the summer that it was definitely an exciting experience. But if you think white sand beaches get hot, you will literally have roasted feet on black sand. There is no walking on the black sand in places without at least flip flops on. I’m from Florida and i thought i knew the challenges of walking on all types of sand ... uh no. Black sand beaches are a category all to themselves. But it is fun to see the fish and sea turtles on such beaches as well.

I have a really fantastic pic that I took of a school of yellow tangs in super clear water right off a black sand beach. Wow.

Be aware that the free Acadia NP shuttle ends on Columbus Day. After that you'll have to take a tour (like Oli's Trolley https://olistrolley.com/ or Acadia Tours https://www.acadiatours.com/. Or rent a car (though that's tricky, apparently, since I've read there are no rental places in Bar Harbor) Or rent a bike. Or do some sort of private taxi tour or something.

Thank you. Important information indeed. I wound up choosing the Acadia tours as it is less expensive than my ship excursion options.

On Oct 14th our ship will be in Newport. It is a tender port. Our primary activity is we want to walk the 3.5 mile Cliff Walk behind all of the gilded age mansions. However, there does not appear to be an easy way to get from the pier area to either end of the Cliff Walk.

Does anyone know the relatively easiest means of getting to Baily’s Beach which is the furtherest end of the Cliff Walk?

There is an excursion from our ship but based on the allotted amount time they can’t do very much of the walk.

Thank you.

The "T" (aka MBTA public transportation) has a great website with a trip planner https://www.mbta.com/ I live in the Boston area and I use it all of the time. There will be taxis at the Black Falcon terminal to get you to Bunker Hill or elsewhere in the city. Walk from Black Falcon to South Station isn't overly interesting. In the Ft. Point Channel district which is just before you cross the bridge to South Station you will find a wonderful bakery called Flour and my favorite seafood place The Barking Crab. Once in Boston it's an easy city to walk or to take the T. Enjoy your visit!

Okay that’s two for a taxi to Bunker Hill. And I will check the “T” for various routes. And thank you for the recommendations for the bakery and seafood place. My husband loves clam chowder. LOL

What date are you doing this? What are your priorities for sightseeing in Boston? You have to balance your time between walking and meeting your sightseeing objectives. I would go to the Constitution/Bunker Hill area first by taxi or Uber. Then take the MBTA water taxi to Long Wharf. Walk into the North End to pick up the Freedom Trail to come back to Faneuil Hall and on to the Boston Common. If there's time, take the Red Line to Harvard and then the Red Line/Silver Line SL2 back to Black Falcon.

 

IMO the walk from Black Falcon to the Boston Common is boring as is the walk out to the Constitution.

We arrive in Boston on Oct 15th at 11 am. That’s a Monday. Ugh. So taxi to Bunker Hill. Hopefullly there will be some available at the pier. We don’t plan on going in the museums. We were in Boston about 20 years ago but I would like to stop in Quincy Market for a quick look see. It would be nice to then go out to Harvard which i understand is about 20-25 minutes on the Red Line.

Husband I really like to walk. How far is it from the cruise terminal to Boston Commons? I played with mapquest a bit and it looks like a 45 minute walk one-way but have no idea what the actual walking conditions are.

And above I saw a water taxi mentioned. Might be a better use of our time to taxi out to Bunker Hill area and then walk back in from there. We arrive in port at 11 am and depart at 8 pm. I’m thinking that the trolly or HOHO might not be the best option due to timing.

Another thing is if we walk back instead of out and back there might be time to take the Red line out to Harvard for a look see. Those of you from the area or who have visited the area, what do you think? Thank you.

Here are the Cruise Compasses and other interesting information from the Oasis of the Seas sailing on February 25th, 2018. It was an Eastern Caribbean sailing to St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee. I know the Adventure Ocean Daily Planners are a frequent request, so hopefully they will be useful for others.

 

Pre-Boarding Information given out in the terminal while waiting to board.

 

Cruise Compasses and Daily Planners from all 7 days.

 

Departure Information including luggage valet form.

 

Adventure Ocean Daily Planners from all 7 days.

 

The links above will take you to Dropbox. If you're not a Dropbox member, just click No thanks, continue to view to dismiss the popup and view the PDF content. You can also download the PDFs using the link in the top right corner. Please let me know if you have any difficulties and I'll do my best to help.

 

Main Dining Room menus are posted here and here. Also happy to answer any other questions you might have about this sailing.

YOU are a beautiful person. This is exactly what I needed to help understand the Oasis as well as RCI since, while I've cruised before, it has never been on this line. Thank you very VERY much.

Thank goodness for CC because I gotta say, the RC website really isn't all that useful to try and figure out how things work in a more specific manner. I'm not a new cruiser but first time on RC and quite frankly the website is batty. Lots of "pretty" but too little "constructive". Maybe it is because we are trying out the Oasis class ship.

I think a lot of people forget the shear volume of people that are being fed at each meal. Most ships are serving 3000+ people out of the same kitchen. No gourmet or high end restaurant serves 9000+ meals per day, and don't forget the roughly 1,000+ crew members eat as well which is another 3,000 meals. One less than stellar experience out of so many decent ones is a pretty doggone good ratio.

$100s and $50s were accepted, and the max you can withdraw per transaction is $500.

 

 

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Thank you. Exactly what I wanted to hear. Had no desire to haul around a bunch of 20s.