wallyj

Hours of operation will vary for the Bars that serve alcohol while in port, but when they are open, alcohol is available to be ordered and consumed. There are some ports that require Princess to collect a ‘tax’ while in port, but not for Oz or NZ.

Hi @chamima, i am being a little picky in terminology. See post #274 and I believe that is the the menu that they are serving at Vines for sushi on the Sapphire or very similar. What you were served is NOT called sashimi as that is usually just a raw protein without rice, what you called sashimi, is called ‘nigiri’ which is usually a protein or item on top of a rice ball. FYI, on the my Discovery sailing last month, I was able to customize my nigiri selection, one time I requested all shrimp, another time, as I do not care for salmon, 3 shrimp and 2 tuna nigiri.

Yes. I know of at least one ‘other’ cruise line, your WiFi plan is attached to the first device you use and cannot switch. Princess allows you to use ‘one’ active device at a time, so you can switch between different phones, tablets, laptops, etc. Some passengers find they will ‘share’ their plan with others if conditions work for them.

Believe you are limited to purchasing Plus or Premier on Day1 or 2 of your sailing. My friends just did on recent 32 day sailing of Sapphire. They waited because if they purchased pre cruise, it would have added 8%(believe now 9%) because of the increase in Princess insurance which would have been a few hundred dollars. When you buy on board, you are not charged for increased insurance, just the package fare times number of days.

Yes, APP should recognize your level and charge the appropriate discounted rate. If not, internet manager will adjust and correct your folio.

Hi @cruzccl, this should answer your question. If you go into dine my way on APP, go to make daily reservations, click add reservation, and you should have option to click for MDR, Specialty, and Experience.

Yes, even if not going ashore, you are required to obtain visa.

Hi @Rick&Jeannie, please see my post #68, I am pretty sure your $19.24 credit on your folio is NOT the refund from missing Azores.

Hi @Auntiejo, the APP is not clear, ‘do not click’ explore dining options. Click make/view daily reservations in Dine My Way. Once you click, add reservation, you should be able to see 3 options, Main Dining, Specialty, and also Experiential, if an available on your ship. I am on Discovery 11/25 and get the Experiential option when I check the APP. It is also showing for my 2/15/24 booking on Discovery which is 90 days away, so I am guessing you are clicking ‘explore dining options’ instead of make/view daily reservations.

@vegnorf, my experience being on the Emerald this last July and August, the Juice Bar is on the Port side of the Calypso bar, which is the Bar in the area before you enter the Buffett if you are heading front to back of the ship. I believe hours are slightly shorter on port days but about 7am - 1pm. No more selecting ‘arrival’ times. For my upcoming cruise on Discovery on 11/25, the APP now shows the QR code with my cabin number when I open the APP, so for this sailing, about 9 days before sailing, your APP will show the digital pass.

Hi @Pepes Pal, I have personally met Debbie and Rafael and thought it was an opportunity to clarify ‘suite breakfast’ benefit as I have seen many posts on cruise critic where people have misunderstood the benefits of mini suites. I would assume they can ignore any queries they feel might be none of your business.

The coffee pkg/card program was discontinued many many months ago. You must not have been on Princess for quite awhile. Many elites have shared disappointment they no longer can trade out their mini bars for the coffee pkg.

@Upper Bob, from reading your posts, I get the impression you only upgraded your stateroom category and NOT the Plus package. You should be able to figure this out from the ‘costs’ you paid. Unless you are saying when you upgraded to the higher category it was also upgrading the plus 50 to the plus 60 fare, but this would be reflected in your travel summary of which package you booked. I am assuming since you have been talking to Princess, you did not use a travel agent. When you upgraded your cabin, I assume you know what you paid for the upgrade and were you looking at just the stateroom prices opposed to your new stateroom category with the ‘plus’ fare added which would have been at the new higher $60/day?

Pre boarding cost will add to cost of Princess insurance. Friends on 32 day cruise waited to purchase Premier pkg on board as the increase insurance cost would have been a few hundred dollars and the sailing was soon so did not have to worry about possible increase in package price.

Having the Plus or Premier package ‘waives’ the $10 fee for delivery of the Medallion to available addresses. If you do not ‘order’ your Medallion in the APP, the default is it will be waiting for you to pick up at the port. There is also a cut off time to order your Medallion for home delivery, wait too long and you will have to pick up at port. When you order Medallion, you will be offered to purchase upgraded designs or accessories, you can order default medallion with no charges for port pick up with or without plus or premier package.

Yes, it is recommended you ‘tour’ the area before purchasing a pass. The offerings/amenities vary greatly if you are on a ‘Grand’ class ship which will have Thermal Suite opposed to ‘Royal’ class ships that have the ‘Enclave’. You should be able to see differences on YouTube or Google.

When u purchase internet on a daily basis, the per day(24 hrs) rate is a little higher than if you purchase for the entire cruise. Non discounted rates are, meaning you do not get the Captains Circle discount , $15/day for full cruise, on a per day basis $20/day for 1 device active at a time.

Yes, pass is for the entire cruise, NOT per day and you are welcome to visit as many times as you wish during operating hours. Some ships also include salt scrub amenity with each visit.

Correct, Reserve Class passengers are not ‘allowed’ non reserve class guest to join them in Reserve dining, you of course can join them in regular MDR, but obviously give up the whole point of being in a Reserve Mini Suite.

Hi Debbie and Rafael, nice to see you are having a great time on the Enchanted, I will get to experience this ship for the first time next May and June. Since you have spoiled us with pics from Suite Breakfast, I assume you have received ‘special’ invite to partake so as not to confused readers who may not know, your Reserve Class Mini Suite does not entitle you to this benefit. I know you missed out being able to celebrate ‘750’ days milestone on previous sailing which would have extended ‘suite’ breakfast on that sailing, as you know, Princess has discontinued the milestone recognition. As I explained in a past thread, last year when Princess knew they were discontinuing the milestone recognition, on some ships depending on when you booked, they protected this ‘celebration’ and granted on a subsequent sailing, so hoping maybe this is the case for you or you have an ‘inside’ connection. Enjoy! And looking forward to seeing you both on another Princess ship.

I understand the disappointment of missing a port. I am fortunate to have been able to cruise often on Princess. Occasionally upon boarding and checking my folio, there will be a credit for Port Fees/Taxes. It has been explained to me the cruiselines when finalize itineraries, do their best to estimate expected port fees and taxes and sometimes by sailing date, changes have occurred which result in a ‘refund’. My last Discovery Princess sailing last month there was a ‘refund’ of taxes/fees when I checked my folio upon boarding, it was about $11. So this is something that happens occasionally. Fortunately in all my years of cruising I have never had an unexpected ‘increase’ with additional fees and taxes added upon boarding, but believe the cruise lines have that clause in the contract to add if they feel necessary, think ‘fuel surcharge’ was a possibility years ago and may come up again. I am 99.99% confident the initial port tax fees refund on some passengers folio is because Princess is returning ‘overpaid’ from their initial charge and NOT because they knew you would be missing the Azores. For those passengers not seeing the ‘refund’ on their folios, there are other factors to consider as to the country they booked their cruise and the terms and conditions associated with their bookings as many fees and taxes are bundled into their fares. @trinitygirlsince you booked in Australia, that might explain why you are not getting the refund of taxes/fees others have reported, but I would check with guest services, even as you have noted it is a nominal amount. I have see over time on the Princess site, the amount of taxes and fees change for a particular sailing, so it makes sense if the fees went down before sailing officially on the website, early bookers whose fare had the higher amount in their booking, would receive refund on board as Princess does not ‘reprice’ bookings when the taxes and fees are changed on the website.

@TN-Mountains, check your Journey view in the APP closer to your sailing. I am on the 11/25-29 sailing with same itinerary and Rock Opera production show is scheduled for the Sea Day after San Diego. Did you schedule your 2 Specialty dinners already. With such a short cruise, I think reservations will be pretty full.

Actually it has been reported there is a cap on the number of packages sold and Princess will not allow upgrade on board if the ship has reached that limit. I think this is more likely to happen on shorter cruises where the ship knows it would not be able to accommodate the SD reservations. Also with the OP sailing not till Feb 2025, you have the risk of the rate going up by boarding day. There is a recent thread where poster said they were not allowed to upgrade on board, even waiving SD perk. Ask if you can have fare upgraded now to lock in the package fare and pay at final payment.

Yes, the packages now include CAN soda but the description on the Princess website for the packages still state ‘fountain’ soda. @Raburgardtthere is a difference in the price if you order ‘fountain’ soda opposed to can. Not sure of exact difference but believe fountain is about $1 less than if you order can?

On your class of ship(Grand Class), full suite guest get ‘access’/entry to this Spa area which includes heated stone beds and some steam/saunas and maybe a rainfall shower. There are no ‘services’ such as massages, facials, etc. Think of it as a relaxation space that is co-ed. Most patrons will be dressed in swim wear.