wallyj

Hi @john watson, in the past before ‘medallion’, you could get a ‘pass key’ cruise card from guest services, now you just ask them to allow your medallion to ‘access’ another cabin, it will not have charging privileges. Of course you need the occupants of the cabin to be there to confirm permission or parents, etc. This would have saved having to always stick together.

I believe Fortuna Luck and the other costumed character ‘Pirate Queen’? Who hosts Queen Sea Poker? Are casino staff. The casino on Princess is run by a 3rd party, not Princess.

The taxes have gone up as I see for my January 2023 Meraviglia sailing I booked 2 months ago, the taxes were only $200, now doing a mock booking for the same sailing, the taxes are almost $300! Could also be there is a difference in cabin type as I booked interior studio and that category is sold out, but normally the taxes are the same for the lower categories?

Hi @Tom-n-Cheryl, MSC specialty restaurants have a ‘dining experience’ menu, I believe on the Meraviglia for Butchers Cut it is $47? So when you buy a multi day dining package the per restaurant price works out less. All of the restaurants have an ala carte menu where you pay per item or you decide you will do the experience set price menu. My Meraviglia sailing is offering the 3 night for $71, which includes service charges/tips as an example. If you wait to book dining package on board, price is higher and you add gratuity on top of the on board price. Are you looking at multi restaurant or just one?

Hi @Tom-n-Cheryl, I believe MSC like Royal Caribbean does NOT allow you to make specific specialty dining reservation if you have a multi day ‘package’. You have to wait till you board. Are you familiar with MSC dining package? For each restaurant , You are offered a ‘dining experience’ menu which is limited. If you want an item from the regular menu you will receive 50% off the listed price of that menu item, this is obviously in addition to the cost of the package you have purchased. There are also usually restrictions on how many times you can use at the steakhouse ‘Butcher’s Cut’, and I believe you need to use at least one meal on Day1 or 2 or your cruise. Check out YouTube as there are a few videos that address the topic of Specialty Dining on MSC and you should be able to find the ‘ dining experience’ menus so you can see if what is offered would be satisfactory for you. For my upcoming 11 day on Meraviglia this month, the 3 night package states only one time for Butcher’s cut.

I believe the OP is saying, specialty dining packages are not displaying when they go into their booking and option to upgrade ‘easy plus’ to premium would usually show under beverage packages but they are saying, no results/ options are displayed, when they click on the link.

@xcell, What? My understanding of the OP, is they were pricing a cruise and have NOT booked. Now when they check that sailing, the fare is higher. Fares do change but usually mostly upwards. All about supply and demand. OP does not state which sailing and how far out, so a future ‘sale’ is possible , but my answer would be , they missed the boat. Also regarding changes, I believe with MSC, you need to book Fantastica ‘experience’ or higher which allows one change. Most cruise lines allow fare adjustments if the fare has gone ‘down’ before final payment, OP has not booked yet?

Princess contract says they have the right to change your cabin at their discretion without recourse from you. Have read recent stories of cabins being changed even though passengers have opted for ‘do not upgrade’. So keep an eye on your cabin assignment.

I just tried logging in and had no problem checking my booking. Website, msccruisesusa.com

How many days is each segment? Princess allows you to use any OBC to be used to pay for the daily gratuities so this can add up especially since the minimum gratuity is going up to $16/day per person for sailings Feb 20, 2023 and later. Assume you are not a shareholder as you state you have no credits for the second leg, have you considered acquiring shares? I see you are in the UK, is the stock CUK?

Hi @azbirdmom, I just checked the FAQ’s for America departures and it still says FCC’s will be given for missed days if quarantined. What made you think Princess has stopped giving FCC for USA departures if you are quarantined?

We are not transferring a FCD. I was on board the Discovery Princess October 2022 and purchased a FCD for my sister’s friend, who she just referred. When she did the referral and he accepted, Princess then assigns him a captains circle number. Princess allows you to purchase FCD’s for people not on board, they just need to have a captains circle number. The person on board is charged for the FCD, so either you get pre payment or trust you will re reimbursed.

Hi @sunviking90, please see my post #5. Since the 14 day sailing is made up of 2 seven day sailings, it will count as 2 cruise credits. Princess calls this a ‘logical’ sailing? You will be able to verify this by looking at you cruise history and after booking the 14 day, it will show you will earn 2 credits. Princess updated their computer system many years ago to account for these types of cruises, before they would manually add a cruise credit with zero days to post the additional cruise credit. Do the math to check if the 14 day or B2B is better considering OBC’s from shareholders, promo’s, etc. You will earn same # of cruise credits either way.

Hello @Purple Gallinule, for most US ports, Customs require you to disembark and clear customs, Whittier is one of the exceptions. When I have done B2B Vancouver to Whittier and the 14 day roundtrip Vancouver to Whittier and back, I was not required to disembark to clear customs. The savings from the 14 day vs B2B is the taxes are usually a little less for the 14 day and the stock benefit is $250 compared to $100 x 2 for B2B. As the 14 day sailing is 2 seven day sailings, you will receive the same number of cruise credits either way you book, If you book the 14 day, you would receive 2 cruise credits. If you booked during the $100 excursion credit per person, going to the 14 day, you lose out, since you only get $100 each for the 14 day sailing, but should receive $100 each passenger for each 7 day sailing.

I assume you have typo and meant ‘tipping/gratuities’. The answer is ‘yes’. Unless policy has changed, on my last sailing on Meraviglia, my OBC from MSC promo , was used as they posted the daily gratuities and when I played slots in the Casino, the amount charged also reduced my promo OBC.

Yes, Princess will assign a new Capt circle number to any booked passenger if a Captain circle number is not provided at time of booking. This creates multiple ‘accounts’ but can easily be corrected by the Loyalty manager or Princess when u are back home. Also if you ever ‘refer’ a new to Princess person, they are assigned a Captain circle number. The number will still be valid, even though your daughter did not sail. One of the many issues the Loyalty manager has to correct on the first day is Passengers going to the desk asking ‘why do I have a blue card and now blue Medallion’ signifying it is your first cruise with Princess. Either they or their TA did not provide a Captain circle number at booking so Princess assumes you are a ‘newbie’. My niece just referred her friend as they are sailing next February and she asked me to buy him a FCD so he could get the OBC. When my sister tried to get it applied, the Princess agent said ‘how can he have a FCD if he is new to Princess?’ My sister then explained how, so even Princess employees are not aware of this feature.

Hi @LACruiser88, enjoy being on the Discovery, surprised you did not know Princess has allowed you to purchase FCD’s for people NOT on board. Have allowed this for many years, not new. Holland America used to also allow, but my understanding is they do not now.

The answer is ‘YES’, Princess allows a person on a sailing to purchase FCD’s for passengers NOT on board. Of course you need the person’s Captain Circle number and as backup have birthdate or address for extra verification. A couple months ago, my sister emailed me the CC numbers for her husband and a digit was off, fortunately I had other info for the future cruise agent to verify when they did name search. I was able to purchase FCD’s for 8 people not on board. The FCD’s will be charged to YOU, so you will need to be reimbursed by your ‘friends’, so I would only do this for people you trust will repay or you do not mind ‘gifting’.

Hi @elmsliebev, FYI, MSC dining packages work a little different than some of the other cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and NCL. You will be limited to a ‘dining experience’ menu with limited selections, the full regular menu is available but you will pay 50% of the regular price if you want an item on the regular menu not included on the experience ‘menu’. There are many YouTube videos you can review for more info.

MSC WiFi is usually only 2 devices per cabin, it should state how many devices in your confirmation. Once you assign a device to a WiFi package, you can not switch devices like you can on Royal and Princess where you can log off one device and then log in on another for the same 1 device plan, like switching between a phone and a tablet.

I has a similar issue when I saw the website was showing a lower fare and I was before final payment. For my situation, it turned out the ‘new’ fare was applicable for ‘new’ bookings only, so the only way to get the lower fare is cancel the existing booking and rebook. The website was not clear that the new promo lower fare was new bookings only, but this might be your situation too?

Ship time changes are up to the discretion of the Captain. I am currently in the Navigator and the 11/28 seven day Mexico sailing we did time change 1 hour forward before Cabo and another 1 hour forward before PV, then 1 hour back on the last 2 sea days. In the current 12/09 sailing, same time changes will occur. Captain James will be leaving for break after this cruise, so it will be up to the next Captain if he will follow. I have been on cruises with a stop in PV and ship time was not moved forward to match ‘local’ time.

Hi @GCS2000, wondering if you bought non refundable air with a U.S. carrier, as many have implemented ‘credit’ options if you cannot fly on your original ticket, so your non refundable ticket may be able to be converted to a credit for you to use ? I thought usually the Charters need to lock in date about year before sailing, but the charters also have to see how well the potential sailing is selling before they commit and sign the ‘contract’.

There are a few exceptions I just learned regarding the policy of granting tier progression while ON your cruise. I just completed the Transpacific sailing of the Majestic, LA to SYD, Sept 24, 2022 sailing. I met a couple who was waiting to talk to the Loyalty and Events Manager who mentioned to me they were told they would be granted ‘Elite’ benefits this cruise as they would hit 151 days on day 2 of this sailing. I shared my understating was you normally have to wait till your ‘days’ are posted to your account when you complete the current sailing. Surprisingly, the Loyalty Manager confirmed, yes they would receive the promotion to ‘elite’ this cruise. The exception is Princess will grant the promotion on your current sailing, if you will reach your next tier within the first few days of a ‘long’ sailing. I do not know the parameters of ‘first few days’ and what Princess determines as a ‘long’ sailing. My sailing was 25 days.

I believe it means unless you cancel, Royal will still consider your RoyalUp bid till the evening of embarkation, as there is the possibility of cancellations and no shows. I have reads posts where passengers were informed the evening of embarkation their RoyalUp was accepted and now they needed to change cabins. If you are willing to accept this situation, do nothing, else cancel your RoyalUp.