wallyj

Yes, you will be able to sign up on board and there is an ‘entry’ fee. The event should be listed in the patter/event listing and you can ask the casino host if one will be scheduled for your sailing. The casino usually has a list of the various ‘events’ they will be hosting such as poker tournaments and such. Some sailings will have ‘private’ tournaments for people invited by the casino. There will most likely be ‘qualifying’ rounds which determine the high scorers who will ultimately play in the final round where that top score will be awarded the ‘prize’, which in the past was $500.

So far, only on the Majestic Princess. You do get a noodle bar instead which is worth a try and included in your fare. A venue not on any other Royal class ship.

Where the pool/lido pizza place on other Royal class ships, on the Majestic it has a Noodle bar, so no lido/included pizza. You may find pizza in the buffet but very limited variety which is supposedly made at Alfredo’s, but i do not know for certain.

Crab Shack is NOT a casual dining venue. I believe the fare is about $30/person. I am sure you could use 1 of your SD credits with Premier, but your are not getting as good value as Crown Grill is $39. The Sapphire introduced Ocean Terrace to serve the set Sushi menu on Sea days, so wonder if they will do the same on sister ships? Currently with only Vines and Gastropub as Casual dining on Ruby, no casual dining available for lunch, unless they introduce Ocean Terrace like they have done on Sapphire.

Did u book direct or thru a TA? Some TA’s do not participate in the upgrade program so you would not be eligible, most notably that big box store. There are also reports, the opening date of when they start accepting bids is not fixed, so it could be closer to sailing date, when the bidding system will open for your particular sailing.

I think we need to clarify as OP says they did early payment for their EZAir , which sounds like ‘early’ ticketing which I thought means their ticket becomes ‘restricted’ and subject to cancellation fees? @love to cruz, please clarify.

I think many passengers confuse ‘check in’ time with boarding time. Vancouver/Canada Place is notorious for long lines as they funnel all cruise passengers no matter which ship into a security line before you are separated into your individual cruise line waiting areas, sometimes you are mixed in one large area of chairs. Depending on the number of ships in port that day, it can be quite hectic with long lines. If you have luggage to drop off you usually do that first on the lower parking level. Then you need to go to the upper level to check in by cruise line. I boarded the Crown and Sapphire last summer from Canada Place. You will normally check in to receive your Medallion or finalize documents check in up stairs by cruise line in the upper conference rooms. Then you head downstairs for security screening, then US customs if your next port is a US port, then waiting area to be called to board. I believe I arrived at Canada Place around 10:30 am and as Elite, was invited to board the ship around 11:30. YMMV.

If you are asking if one passenger has Plus but the other wants Premier is this possible? The answer is both passengers have to have the SAME package.

Unfortunately, Princess has NOT updated the deck plans for the Emerald and Ruby as they still display Steam and Saunas in the changing rooms, but I can assure you, they were removed. I was on the Emerald last July and August, and saw the remodeled space. A passenger who was on the Ruby after the recent dry dock reported the same, steam and saunas were removed. I believe the spaces were converted to accessible treatment rooms for the Spa.

Not on Ruby or Emerald anymore. They were removed during their last dry docks. Showers still available, but no more steam or sauna.

They were removed with last dry dock of the Emerald and Ruby recently. Sapphire, Caribbean and Crown still have, but assume will be removed eventually like Princess has done with Emerald and Ruby. I think Diamond which is normally based in Japan, still has complimentary steam and sauna in changing rooms. Royal class ships do NOT have complimentary steam and saunas, their locker room by fitness center have toilets, lockers and showers only.

Also be aware to use the Ocean Now or whatever function they may be calling it when you cruise, unless you have the Plus or Premier package, there will be about a $15 one time activation fee to use Ocean Now to order food or anything else, upon your first order which you acknowledge this one time ‘activation’ charge. Without having a package will also incur a $5 service fee each time, if you use your stateroom phone to call room service. To avoid this, use Ocean Now and have delivery location as your stateroom, if you have already activated Ocean Now.

It can depending upon the port. I believe most ports should have 3 lines/lanes, green, if you already have Medallion, blue, if picking up Medallion and Grey, special assistance, wheelchairs, etc., so with your mobility issue, I suggest you use grey lane. Are you saying living in the UK means you will most like be using Southampton? Check the Southampton port section on cruise critic for more specific info regarding that ports info.

Did you know with Plus it is suppose to entitle you to free mailing? I assume you did not or did not push back when they said you needed to pay? I would call and see if they can process refund for you, but some may think not worth my time for $10?

Shipping of medallions is at no charge if you have Plus or Premier package. This is a change as when Medallions first introduced, it was free to be mailed. Also currently mailing only available to Canada and US. If you have standard cruise fare, and want mailed, you need to pay if you are in Canada or US. If you do have Plus or Premier, call and they should be able to complete your order. One of my bookings I upgraded to premier, but had already ordered medallion for port pick up. After upgrading, called and agent cancelled original order and then changed it to be mailed to my home.

Another older thread said you could email like before to hello@stockperks.com. Find thread ‘Shareholder Benefit Success’. Also newer thread ‘Stockperks’

Princess rotates where they assign the waiters, so do not be surprised if Haro is now not assigned to the section taking care of table 164. Better to ask if a table is available in Haro’s assigned section.

Yes, unfortunately APP glitches again, especially with booking your 2 included SD with Premier pkg. A few weeks ago, I booked my SD reservations for upcoming 4 day on Discovery in February and 7 day on Ruby in April, no problem and no charge using the ‘old’ APP. Recent reports are both new and old APP are not recognizing Premier and wanting to charge for SD and not zero out charge like before.

Hi @Cruise Raider,Wally saying hello and enjoying your practically ‘live from Discovery’. Hope we run into each other on a ship again. Would you give a little more details regarding the current ‘on board’ future cruise specials. I know the previous 50% off promo ending at the end of October. I was on the Discovery for the Myth Busters theme cruise and was given a 1 page list of on board booking specials with a 20-30% discount. Your January 6 and 13th Discovery sailings were on the list at 30% off but the ship was pretty full already and the interiors were at a starting fare of over $700, so I took a pass at booking the 6th or 13th. Most of the others offered were within a couple of months. I heard more sailings have been added and some are late 2024 into 2025, also an August Canada NE sailing? I will be on the 4 day Feb 15th, 2024 sailing, so will be able to check then too, but can you give me an ideal of which sailings are currently offered? I heard Future cruise does not want to give passengers a paper copy of the list. When I was on the late November Discovery sailing, the future cruise lead consultant said, it was difficult even getting some sailings on an extra discount list, since most sailings are booking well. Princess does not need to discount as we can see the discount has been dropped to 20 or 30% but anything is better than nothing. I did notice when I priced a cruise that had the 30% discount, the plus package would also be discounted 30%, so nice that feature is still combining.

@Drew B 58, Majestic has also just started serving as of Oct 2023, Casual dining menu sushi at the Catch on Sea Days, Majestic does have an Ocean Terrace, but is only a bar space, not like Ocean Terrace on the Discovery.

Princess has Plus and Premier packages which include WiFi and Crew Appreciation besides the Alcohol drink package, which you can buy on Day1 or Day2 of most sailings and currently for sailings using USD, Plus is $60/day and Premier is $80/day. If 2 or more in a cabin, both passengers must purchase. Princess also sells a stand alone alcohol drink package where the other passengers in cabin do not have to purchase. Prices are $64.99/day for Plus and $84.99/day for Premier and 18% service charge. Prices where the on board currency is not the USD will vary. Princess also sells a non alcohol and soda only packages, see website for more details, but assume you were asking about alcohol included packages.

The Medallion itself is the quarter sized disc that replaces the traditional cruise card on most other ships. You use the Ocean Now function in the Medallion APP to order food or services, products to your location. The APP can be on your phone or other personal device like a tablet. The Medallion will serve as your ‘location’ device so servers can find you wherever you are on the ship.

Not an ‘elite’ perk, but the Princess blue tote bags also are gone. When I asked, steward replied so many were left in cabins, so it was considered wasteful. They were made from recycled plastic and will disintegrate if exposed to sunlight over a period of time.

Yes you get 2 casual dines with Plus, no matter the length of the cruise. A lot of complaints from passengers on longer voyages. Early on, when first introduced last year, management supposedly replied ‘we’re looking into it’ as seems unfair to only get 2 for longer sailings.

I was on the Sapphire this past December and Princess was modifying the panel for Princess Prizes, I believe to remove being able to ‘Tap’ to opt in which I think many passengers did not understand and would be charged the ‘entry’ fee. Princess changed how you sign in/up for Princess Prizes game if you do not have the ‘Premier’ pkg. You now have to go to Guest Services so they can verify you understand you are being charged to play. The old Panel display would either say Better Luck Next Time or Game Closed if you were enrolled in Princess Prizes. The new display message is in a smaller font that either says Better Luck Next Time, and if you are tapping medallion multiple times or entering room sooner than the time out , it says something like Try again later. My issue is when the casino is closed, you used to get message, Game Closed, now you get no message at all! So you do not know if the game is really ‘active’. There is also a new P icon that will show up in the upper right corner of the display panel indicating you are enrolled in Princess Prizes. When you win a prize, it will flash on the display, but easy to miss if you are not paying attention. You can go into the APP and under packages, there is a button next to the one to check the number of alcohol drinks you have ordered thus far. The button is Prizes and if you have won anything, it would show when you click on this box. I believe someone in another thread posted there is also a link to this box/prizes on your stateroom TV.