wallyj

4 minutes ago, Teechur said:

We reboarded after a port stop in Boston at the end of June, carrying liquor, beer, wine, and soda in bottles. All of it passed through the scanner with no comment and no corkage fees.

You just never know... I wouldn't do this if it was the original port though.

Yes, security setup at embarkation and at a port stop are not the same. I was embarking Emerald on 8/31.

6 hours ago, 555 said:

Although Princess does specify limits I have yet to see anything actually enforced.  Unless you're bringing a whole case of soda or water I wouldn't pay it to much concern.

Security doesn't even say anything about plastic bottles.

Tried to board Emerald Princess on 8/31/24 in Boston with 1 unopened about 10 oz. bottle of water. At security/x-Ray, it was confiscated, told NO bottles allowed.

3 hours ago, philv said:

Oh no! That was one of my favorite amenities on the Grand class ships. 😞 

 

I hope the showers are still there. I often used after workout in fitness center.

Yes, the changing room still has showers. It seems Princess will be removing the steam and saunas on the Grand class ships, first was the Emerald a couple years ago at dry dock, last year they did it to the Ruby at dry dock. Sapphire is scheduled for dry dock next September, so we will see if the trend continues. 
 

Explanation has been for ADA compliance and installing accessible treatment rooms for the Spa.

On 9/12/2024 at 3:06 PM, kasowell2 said:

CAUTION do not purchase a card for greater than the balance no matter what the difference might be. Even one penny and they will reject the whole amount.

Last month I paid off remaining balance of just over $91. I booked with a travel agency. Celebrity had no problem using a $100 gift card to pay balance. Yes, I do not get the difference, but since it only cost me $90, I feel I still saved some $.

3 hours ago, AZ Stan (FKA Stan in Chicago) said:

Thank you so much, and my apologies for the double post.

When purchasing for only one 24 hour period, the daily rate is higher than the entire voyage daily rate, but if you only need a few days, then yes, it would work out less $ to purchase only the few days you need. 

I know YouTubers have posted about having a wedding aboard Princess. I also believe Princess has a relationship with Say yes to the Dress personality Randy?

Venues will vary depending upon ship. At the bottom of the Princess.com webpage you should see a link Plan a group or celebration which should then provide link to weddings

16 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

I am not a new cruiser by any means, but I did just book my first Princess cruise for March 2025.  I purchased the Princess Premier, which includes unlimited specialty dining.  I made 4 reservations for my husband and I yesterday and my credit card was charged for all four for a total of $360.  I guess a call to customer service is going to be made in the morning.

There are posts from passengers who have successfully made SD reservations with the ‘new’ premier package and not been charged. Since it has not officially rolled out on all ships yet, and your cruise is not till next year, I suggest you cancel your current SD reservations and try again in a few weeks. I would not want to deal with a lot of unnecessary OBC. 
 

Which ship? I know the SUN has especially had issues with dining reservations.

I was on the previous cruise and believe there were about 900 elites and 1000 platinums which is why the PES event was held in Club Fusion instead of normally in SkyWalkers on this ship. We also had 4 Captain circle parties 5 and 7 pm over 2 evenings. On the patter, daily there was a reminder that Elite Laundry can take up to 4 days, and what the last day for elite laundry would be. The signs/monitors in Club Fusion displayed ‘Welcome to Elite’ instead of Platinum, Elite, Suites’ 

I remember reading another thread where it was noted the naming change of the event?

I believe some other Grand class ships have provided a separate ‘suites’ event since they do not have concierge lounge like on Royal class ships. I asked one of the Guest Services officers that was attending the ‘happy hour’ if the Emerald was going to implement a ‘suites only happy hour’ and she did not know.

18 minutes ago, tobyt said:

I find it interesting that a wait staff in the buffet would be moved to specialty…..it seems quite a leap to jump from cleaning up a table to handling the needs of the diner in a specialty restaurant. 
 

 

You will find many waitstaff from the MDR also work shifts in the Buffett since the MDR is usually closed on port days for lunch. Likely,  MDR waitstaff will be trained first to move over to SD and ‘Buffett stewards’ would then be trained to work MDR as Asst or Jr. waiters. 
 

A brief conversation with some of the Managers suggested, they might have to expand hours of the SD and or offer more lunch opportunities.

The roll call for this sailing has been on the quiet side. Thank you for doing a live.

Currently on Emerald, lead Future cruise consultant said they have NOT received any communication to stop having MTG lunch. One is planned for the next voyage starting tomorrow. 
 

You would think if it was corporate, why hasn’t a communication been sent ‘fleetwide’ ?

On 8/22/2024 at 10:06 AM, Jadn13 said:

The price is currently $16 and it’s increasing  to $17, 

Is this correct? 
 

Per category, Inside/Oceanview’s are currently $16/day going to $17, likewise each higher category is increasing by $1/day.

36 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Ah, got it.   That should have been an indication where prices for the rest of the fleet were headed.

 

Now I wonder how the app will differentiate between the old Premier and the New Premier.  It shows two SD eligible under current premier.  Maybe they will rename the new premier to something else.

Pretty sure they will make some sort of differentiation like they did for the Plus50 before the casual dining, desserts and fitness classes were added and Plus was increased to $60/day. They said if you already purchased the old premier at $80, you are not required to upgrade, so they will have to know if you are not entitled to unlimited drinks, WiFi devices and SD.

12 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

As of now on the Majetsic, you can only get pizza and such at Alfredo’s and a charcuterie board with crudities from vines.  In March of next year, the I’ll be converting Vines into an O’Malleys and that I’ll give you another casual dining venue.

I thought they still offer Ocean Terrace/Sushi at ‘The Catch’ location on Sea Days for Lunch as Casual Dining?

1 hour ago, doklea said:

Anyone heard that prices are increasing on gratuities at end of August? Haven’t been able to confirm if true. Wanted to pay gratuities with gift cards but customer service doesn’t seem to know how to handle multiple cards. Trying to confirm or will wait till onboard on September 7 and go to guest services.

Call again to get another agent. I have not had issues using multiple Princess gift cards over the phone. I recently upgraded/added Premier package to my sailing that was paid in full. Used multiple gift cards and some had leftover balances from not being used fully on previous transactions and agent had no issues.

My understanding is rate is going up effective 8/31, so if you want to pre pay to save $1/day per person, you need to do BEFORE 8/31.

31 minutes ago, Freckles1983 said:

Was considering adding a person to my solo booking and was wondering how complicated that is?

 

im concerned about calling the call centre and them doing more damage than good to my reservation.  I suppose I don’t have much of a choice.  
 

Just curious if anyone else has done this and what their experience was like.  TIA. 

There might be issues if you are not US or Canada. Also the fare you booked might matter, are you just concerned about adding as opposed to expecting the only additional fees are the port fees and taxes. If you booked at a reduced solo fare, the double occupancy fare will need to be calculated.

In rare instances, if you booked a particular cabin, that section of the ship might have reached its lifeboat occupancy limit so even though your cabin can accommodate 2 or more passengers, you will not be able to add passenger2.

My sister was able to add her son, 2 days before sailing date. She called 1 800 Princess.  YMMV.

2 hours ago, ngrund said:

Thanks, this will be my first Princess cruise.

 

I forgot that they would likely have printers at the internet cafe, and what would they possibly charge, $0.25 a page?

 

I don't expect to have to do this, but would only do it if our balance is a few hundred more than we project, otherwise I will just let it go to the credit card.

Princess does not charge for printing at the Internet cafe. They had a charge a very long time ago. You DO need an internet plan to login to your email to print the AARP eCards.

1 hour ago, ngrund said:

When onboard does Princess have kiosks to add gift cards to your account like Carnival does, or would I need to go to gust services?

Yes, and provide paper copy of gift card for them to keep.

47 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

We’re two weeks into August. Has anyone seen the results of double cruises/days yet?

There was another thread where person posted after 7 day cruise early August, their points were SUBTRACTED by 7 days! Said they reported and supposed to be corrected.

Currently on Emerald and future cruise said they did not think it possible for points too be subtracted, and said the posting is automatic! I will see when I disembark on 8/28 and join another ship on 8/31. I did not receive email confirming I will get double points, but added Premier to my booking 2 weeks before sailing.

6 hours ago, HotRoot said:

Currently on Emerald.  We do have a top sheet and a duvet.  Since wallyj says they do not have one, I just double checked and we do have a top sheet.  We did not ask for it but expect to have a top sheet.

@HotRoot, trying to clarify as maybe we do not use the same terms.

I asked my room steward what is the standard bedding setup for a cabin. He said there should be on top of the mattress, a mattress PAD, then a flat sheet over that, which I believe most people would call a bottom sheet or what is usually the ‘fitted’ sheet with elastic. Then a quilted comforter is inside a ‘duvet’. It is easy to think there is a TOP sheet as the Duvet has a very large opening and you can mistake the bottom of the duvet as a separate TOP flat sheet.

Are you saying you have the bottom sheet which you sleep on top of, then a separate flat sheet and on top of that,  a duvet which has the comforter inside? This would then be 5 layers, bottom flat sheet, top sheet, bottom layer of duvet, comforter, top layer of duvet?

Steward said standard setup is 4 layers, bottom sheet, bottom layer of duvet, comforter, top layer of duvet. 

1 minute ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I don't remember getting any messageson the door panel at all on Enchanted in June. We won $25 OBC total among the 4 of us with Premier package (2 cabins) on a week long cruise. I found out when I was checking my husband's folio as I did every day.

Currently on Emerald, do not get the messages consistently, but only sporadically now, whereas before, would almost always get 1 of 3messages, Better luck next time, or try again later or Congrats you won a specific Prize.  Now mostly no messages and door panel returns to home/welcome state.

The APP will show any Prizes won, but your TV will also show the date and time the Prize was won.

@Mara4166, interesting that @HotRoothas a top sheet and I do not and we are on the same ship at the same time. I will ask my steward if the default is no sheet or it is just inconsistent ?

IIRC, most of my sailings in Princess there was NO top sheet.

@mhlcanada, this was experience for my Emerald Princess 8/11-28 sailing. A few days before sailing, APP had boarding pass. You need to scroll left to see it. In the boarding pass, it will list your ‘check in’ window. Mine showed 12-3. In the APP, when I opened JouneyView for Day1, it said arrival time 1pm.

I decided to go to the Boston port early, my first time. Arrived about 9:30. There was a pretty long line already. They opened the terminal at 10:15 to start the check in process. We were held in a holding area till the ship was cleared for boarding just after 11.

For my Enchanted sailings last May and June at FLL, I had read they open Terminal2 around 10am, so I knew to arrive before then.

YMMV.

@mhlcanada, when Princess first introduced Medallion Net internet, they did offer a discount IF you purchased pre-cruise but No longer, it has been quite a while regarding this change.
 

@EllieinNJ, currently the rate is the same buying pre-cruise or on board for all levels, meaning it is $24.99/day for the entire voyage rate and if you are entitled to a discount you will receive pre cruise if the APP has your tier correct, else get the difference as on board credit. On board your rate will be reduced by your platinum or elite discount.

@Mara4166, currently on the Emerald, NO top sheet, just duvet.