wallyj

@bonox55, I think you are being a little unfair. When was the last time you sailed with Princess? I think the Crown grill was $29 (USD) a long while ago , then was increased to $39 and used to have the gratuity included in that prince, but believe as of Dec 1, 2023, 18% is now added so the total cost is now about $46 USD if you are paying out of pocket. Assume since you are quoting Aussie dollars where prices have gratuity included assume $A63 is comparable with current exchange rates of $USD46. If you compare steakhouse specialty dining on other cruiselines, specifically, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, Princess Crown Grill at $39 USD is quite competitive and considerably lower.

No, when you request a ‘shared’ table, they will try to fill the table before any food service has started. If no other passengers show up, you may still end up at a larger table just by yourselves.

Hi @Cruise Raider, was on the Sapphire last summer for 14 days roundtrip YVR and for 18 days last December for the LA to Santiago run and going back for the March 18 Santiago to LA sailing. The crew are great as the ship has won the Princess Cup again for the second time in a row. The ship does have an International Cafe, Vines and Alfredo’s. The Alfredo’s has a limited menu as it does not offer the full menu on Royal class ships, but does has the full pizza offerings. On sea days, they will offer Ocean Terrace, but it is a set menu with no customization as I believe they use a galley from one of the deck5 dining rooms. No other options of sushi were available except the set menu roll. I could not even get all shrimp nigiri, had to get the shrimp, tuna and salmon as the kitchen only makes the set menu. Sterling steakhouse is offered in a area off the buffet, but the menu is pretty much the Crown grill menu on other Princess ships. No SaltyDog Gastropub, so Casual dining is Vines, Ocean Terrace set menu and the limited Alfredo’s. No The Catch, but I did enjoy the Sterling Steakhouse food overlooking the location/ambiance. I do not care for the current Sabatini’s menu. Since you are contemplating a 4 day cruise, I think it will be a good ‘test’ cruise to see if you would do a longer sailing on the Sapphire.

Yes, just wanted to add info some may not have been aware. One department may not know what the other hand is doing. An enquiry to the F&B MGR would answer why the 2nd minibar setup, mistake or otherwise.

I think I saw there is a YouTuber on board who said this cruise is actually split into 2 segments as the first was a 5 day media invite and he was checking if he could stay on for the next 5 days, so the ships feels your 10 day sailing is actually 2 five day segments B2B.

Hi @Dale99, I was on the Sapphire Dec 1-18, 2023 and the steam and saunas are still available in the changing rooms by the fitness center. The steam room in the men’s changing room would be out of order for many days in a row. Princess has removed these facilities on sister ships Emerald with its last dry dock and the last dry dock of the Ruby last year, so it seems like a trend Princess has been implementing. I believe the Sapphire had a recent dry dock and since the steam and saunas were not removed then, I will assume the next opportunity will be the next dry dock. The men’s dry sauna was working, I do not know about the women’s facilities.

Hi @mncbabu_yahoo, I sailed on the Sapphire last Dec, 2023 and will be back for the March 18, Santiago to LA sailing. I had the premier package. Your casual dining options on Sapphire are Alfredo’s, it is a smaller version, so the menu is not as extensive as Royal Class ships with an Alfredo’s/Gigi’s. The Sapphire does have all of the Pizza selections. Your other option will be a modified Ocean Terrace, they will only have the ‘set’ menu and no substitutions, as I believe the sushi is made in the Deck5 galley, opposed to being made to order on most Royal class ships. Ocean Terrace will only be available on sea days and at lunch on the Sapphire. @startedwithamouse, in December, there was no ‘pop up’ SaltyDogGastroPub on the Sapphire. I will be back on Sapphire March 18, so will report back.

Hi @cusematt4, you are a little confused, with Princess FCD’s you receive the OBC on the cruise you actually book using your FCD. You do NOT receive OBC on your CURRENT sailing when you purchase FCD’s. The value of the OBC you will receive when you book your next cruise with the FCD, depends on the cabin category you book and the length of the sailing. You may be confusing Princess with NCL, as NCL advertises getting OBC on your Current cruise if you purchase Cruise Next deposits, but in reality you get the Cruise next deposits at a reduced cost. On NCL if you buy two $250 Cruise Next deposits, you will only be charged a total of $250, so each of your $250 deposits actually only cost you $125 each, you do not get $125 OBC to use on the current cruise.

FYI, I was on the Sapphire for the Dec 1-18 LA to Santiago sailing and had a good cruise. I believe there is a current live from @Ken the cruiser, Jan 20-Feb 19. Although the Sapphire is an older ship she is well maintained and one of the 2 ships that were built in Japan, her sister the Diamond is the other. Princess started a competition a couple quarters ago among their fleet named the Princess Cup. The winner is based on the total metrics from the Cruise survey passengers receive at the end of the voyage, so it is entirely based on passenger feedback. The Sapphire has won this ‘prize’ when the competition started 2 quarters ago and again for the 2nd time in a row, so based on passenger feedback, the Sapphire has received the top spot among the fleet, so this should tell you something about the ship and it’s crew. It is an actual trophy and the ship proudly displays it currently between Crooners and the Wheelhouse.

There have been reports passengers have been able to add Princess gift card $ as OBC, BEFORE sailing. I think most Princess call center agents will not be able to help. I would try calling once, then not waste time again if they were not able to do and then try on board when lines are not long at GS. Also, it is a Princess Gift card, AARP is just the vendor selling the gift cards at a discount. A caveat is sometimes the on board system to process the gift card is not working and you will have to come back later during the cruise and hope it comes back up before the cruise ends. My sister ran into this issue on our Sapphire cruise last December. She had guest services notate her record that said if they were still not able to process her gift cards before she disembarked, Princess will allow her to use them against her paid folio and then issue credit back to her credit card.

Future cruises no longer has a ‘list’. Was just told today discount are for sailings in the next 60 days and not all sailings qualify. You just ask if there is a discount for a sailing you might be interested in and they will check. I happen to ask about the 32 day Sapphire roundtrip LA for April 5, 2024. The princess.com fare is showing as almost $1900 for the lowest fare, double occupancy. The on board booking fare is currently pricing at just over $1300 , so an almost $600 savings or about 30%. Was told they no longer produce a list as the sailings are selling out very quickly and pricing is very dynamic, so you need to ask about the particular sailings you might want.

For the on board booking promo with a discounted cruise, one of the ‘rules’ are you are not able to apply a FCD. When it is a big discount like the previous 50% off , you still have a good savings. All other benefits apply, like shareholders if you qualify and if your travel agent offers any extra amenities.

Yes, you will only pay the remaining balance due for cruise and gift card will have $30 balance which you can take to Guest Services on board and they can add to your folio. Please note, Guest Services usually request a paper copy of the gift card for their records, so have a printout.

Currently on the Discovery Princess. Future cruise currently says most sailings within the next 3 months are discounted anywhere from 20-70%. You need to ask which particular sailing you want pricing and they will tell you how much discount is available. With these on board bookings, you can not use a FCD and since sailing is within 3 months, you are in final payment period so it must be paid in full. You can use Princess gift cards to pay if you have or can purchase before you book. The previous on board discounts promo was also discounting the packages, now the Future cruise agent will remove any package from the pricing so only the cruisefare will be discounted.

Yes, a passenger currently on board a Princess ship is eligible to purchase FCD’s for any other person who has a Captain’s Circle account. You need to keep in mind the acquisition date of the FCD must be before the ‘booking’ date of any cruise you plan on sailing. The FCD will be charged to the person on board, so you want to only do this for individuals you know/trust will repay you, unless you are gifting it. Also if that person does not use within a year, it will be credited back to the person charged, not the person it was bought for.

I have a ‘friend’ who has used a ‘router’ but you need to remember, all users will need to be in proximity of the ‘router’ while using the WiFi. So all can be using WiFi at the same time, but you will also need to be at the same place, same time. It is not like you connect other users and they can then roam around the ship and use WiFi when and where they want. Using a router works if your ‘group’ wants and can meet at the same place and time to use the WiFi, which is not really ideal for many groups and depending on who wants to do what on their devices.

@rideev, your comment on this thread regarding not buying Gift cards for cruises out of Australia is misleading as your experience has to do with Carnival gift cards and not Princess gift cards and we are on the Princess board, so your comment is more appropriate on the Carnival board. I am pretty sure I read a thread where a passenger used Princess gift card on Australia cruise by presenting to Guest services and the ship converted the $USD gift card to $AUD on board. I guess this is where you ‘assumed’ Princess and Carnival followed the same rules?

@Thunderbird19, I suggest you also take a tour of the changing rooms on the Caribbean Princess as I believe this ship still has complimentary saunas and steam room, showers and lockers in the changing rooms for the fitness center. You can then decide if you want to pay to get a thermal spa pass to use the heated loungers and the other amenities.

@beshears, my understanding from reading threads regarding using Plus or Premier while sailing from Galveston say the ship has given a $25 OBC to help offset costs you may incur for not being able to use your drinks packages while in Texas waters. Certain Alcohol drinks ARE available but will come with a cost no matter if you have a package, until you are in international waters and your drink packages are ‘active’. I thought the Texas restrictions were for alcohol drinks only, but may pertain to ANY beverages? It usually only takes a few hours from Galveston port departure to reach international waters, so you can use the $25 OBC to indulge in the limited selections. Royal class ships do not have a traditional outside promenade that you can walk outside around the entire ship. Using Deck7 to go from the front of the ship to the back, you will be using inside pathways. Please refer to the deck plans available on Princess.com under onboard our ships.

As the author of post has not replied, I will add you may or may not get a bad exchange rate since the Australia based sailings use $AUD as shipboard currency, so your $USD AARP cards submitted to Guest Services on board will be converted to $AUD. I recollect a previous thread discussing this and the passenger said they got a decent exchange rate, but YMMV.

My last experience on the Discovery was last year with Premier on a 7 day sailing, I only ate at the MDR for dinner on the second Formal night to get the lobster entree. Otherwise, I dined at the Gastropub, Ocean Terrace and Gigi’s/Alfredo’s. A few times, my dinner was I would go to Ocean Terrace for Sushi then stop over to Gastropub for the Burger or Shortrib entree and fries. Then stop by and have Gelato and/or the big slice of Specialty cake next door. See you On board.

@lakegirl16, Princess prizes is a game sponsored by the Casino, so it is only active while the Casino is open. If you have the Premier package, you are automatically enrolled. If you do not have the Premier package you can ‘opt in’ to play by visiting Guest Services and will be charged $10/day. I believe the website has details of the current ‘prizes’ and odds of winning. You are supposed to get a prize ‘entry’ every time you unlock your cabin door while the Casino is open and the game is ‘active’. There is a timeout so you cannot continuously unlock your cabin door and thus will need to wait a period of time before unlocking door will result in an entry. When the game is active and you unlock you door, the door panel should display you won a prize, the message ‘better luck next time’ or ‘try again later’ if you have timed out. You can verify you have been enrolled in Princess prizes as there should be a P icon in the upper right of your door panel screen.

There is a time out, so you cannot just stand at your door and continuously open and close for entries. My experience on the Sapphire last December was after about 2-3 consecutive door unlockings, you will get a message of ‘try again later’ meaning you have been timed out and need to wait before the ‘game’ will register another entry. Not certain of the wait time but believe it is at least 10 minutes. When the game is active, meaning the casino is open, if you do not win a prize, you should get the message ‘better luck next time’.

Depends on when everyone shows up and which port. Last December at San Pedro to board the Sapphire, there was a delay in starting check in. Lines got very long and I heard some passengers say they had over 1 hour waits to pick up medallion. So YMMV.

I believe @Wishing on a starmeant ‘up charge’ not uncharge. I believe Ocean Terrace is also available on the Enchanted which has a set sushi menu you can use one of your casual dining credits here.