wallyj

10 minutes ago, vino100 said:

Are there pop ups on the Emerald for plus?

I do not believe there are additional pop up dining venues for ‘Plus’ on Emerald since it already has, Planks, Steamers, Vines, and SaltyDogGastroPub venues as casual dining options. I believe Planks and Steamers alternate nights they are offered.
 

Emerald may do pop up Crab Shack, but Crab Shack is a Specialty Dining venue with a cover charge of $39 plus gratuity.

56 minutes ago, MattnTricia said:

 

More interested in the tenders as my spouse doesn't typically drink.  Thanks for the info

Your spouse will be able to accompany you to get priory tender service. Normally, Elite passengers are designated to go to a specific location where they will then be escorted or told to proceed to tender boarding area, when a tender is ready.

Your spouse is not ‘granted’ elite status, but can accompany you for priority tender service.

6 hours ago, Thor17 said:

When you get onboard, can you add Plus for only one person in the cabin (as my spouse is a non-drinker)?  Thanks.

 

Thor17

You are allowed to add/buy the ‘standalone’ beverage package, meaning it is the beverage package only NOT the bundle with crew appreciation, and WiFi and the other amenities, for yourself, but it is expensive.

Requires math to see if you will drink enough to justify cost considering other person in cabin will not have to purchase.

Yes, both passengers are required to buy Plus or Premier BUNDLE/PKG if in same cabin and no mix as if one wants plus and another wants premier, has to be SAME package.

@MattnTricia, No matching loyalty level ON Princess for spouses. 
 

I believe Royal Caribbean DOES do this.

39 minutes ago, trbarton said:

I book all of my cruises by myself as I can pick what type of stateroom that I want & the location. Once I have my booking number I contact my agent with my booking number & have them transfer it over. I’ve never had to fill out any papers or send anything to my agent other that emailing them with my booking number. 
 

Tom😀

When was the last time you did this? Previously, TA’s could takeover a booking with just the booking number. Your TA could be submitting the form to Princess and eSigning for you?

What you are paying 14.99 is an ‘activation’ fee for Ocean Now delivery services thru the APP. There ARE some items that are complimentary.

You do not order a casual dining meal thru the APP, but you can order a Pizza for $8.50.

This can easily be corrected on board. Most causes for this issue are his Captain circle number was mistyped or not provided when booked. Go to Future cruise/Loyalty as they are one in the same now on Princess.

I see @rebeccacis a faster typer than me.

13 minutes ago, paradiselivin1 said:

My favorite ship! Hope you can manage in this heat and also hope they give you more than a single day. Enjoy!

Coral was only in NY last Saturday, it was scheduled for 0630 till 1600(4pm). 

14 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Love your trip report!  Great photos!!!

That show looks like quite a visual production and set!  Have not seen that one.

What other shows are onboard???

Depends on the itinerary, current Enchanted productions shows are, Spotlight Bar, 5 Skies, and Rock Opera. Last month, I did B2B. First 7 day, all 3 Production shows performed, next 7 day, only 2 (no 5 Skies).

@bob&france, I am pretty sure Crab Shack is NOT a casual dining option as on all my past sailings with this pop up the cost was $39 plus 18% gratuity. SaltyDogGastroPub and Alfredo’s pop up ARE casual dining venues on THIS ship.

Other Princess ships may have Alfredo’s and SaltyDogGastroPub as standalone venues. I believe Ruby and Emerald have SaltyDogGastroPub in section of Wheelhouse, but is only open for dinner service.

@lahore, it might matter when you did this, this year or last year?

You need to review as your country rules may differ from US bookings. Celebrity recently made a change from 2023. If you booked onboard in 2023, the deposits were refundable, but you could then apply them to a non refundable deposit fare booking. What were the deposit terms for your 3 bookings? Usually you would pay a lot higher cruise fare to have refundable deposits, so I will guess you booked cruise fares that were priced at non refundable deposit rate? If so, moving or cancelling will result in loss of your $100 deposit each passenger. Assume you are still before final payment date?

For US passengers, buying on board deposits Jan 1, 2024 and later are now non refundable and are to be applied to non refundable deposit cruise fares. I think  they may also have the stipulation you must use within 6 months or lose them, so a lot more restrictive. 

Sounds like you did not buy book later deposits, but selected your B3B sailings while on board? Your booking confirmations should show if you booked a non refundable deposit cruise fare?

YMMV, since I am not sure what countries booking rules you fall under. 

5 hours ago, auburn77 said:

Carnival gives you the attained loyalty class starting the first day of a cruise if the total days of that cruise puts you in the next class.

Princess?

Princess has been known to grant the next level on your current sailing if you would reach the next tier in the first couple of days AND you are on a ‘long’ sailing.

I was on the Majestic Princess doing Sydney to LA. I along with another couple were waiting to see the Loyalty Manager. The couple told me they were told on their last cruise to see the Loyalty Manager as they were going to reach Elite days on Day2 of the current cruise. I shared my understanding is your days don’t get credited till AFTER you completed the sailing. 
 

When it was my turn to talk to the Loyalty manager, she confirmed on a case by case basis, Princess will grant the higher tier IF you are reaching it in the first few days AND you are on a ‘long’ sailing. The keywords are ‘first few days’ and ‘long’, which are not set in stone, so I believe this gives the Manager some wiggle room.

Believe the Sapphire uses the deck 6 AFT International Dining Room. Access via the rear elevators or walk on deck 7 to the AFT and then down 1 flight of stairs. The reason you cannot reach via deck 5 or 6 is they have Dining Rooms and Galleys in the way.

Yes, Alfredo’s will be a pop up in Sabatini’s on some Sea Days. It will be listed in the Daily Events. There is a passenger current doing a ‘live from the Island Princess’ (this is not the title of the thread) . The thread title is Live from the Land of Princess. Provides pictures of some of the Event listings.

@jewel 14, assume you are on the Sept 21 sailing? When you go to flight quotes, the earliest EZAir will let you book a return flight is 2:15, so you are cutting it a little close. 
 

It is doable, but you will be stressed as you should do earliest disembark as possible, suggest earliest walk off, I would take Skytrain to avoid possible traffic delays.

Hopefully ship arrives/docks as schedule AND no delays with ship getting clearance to commence disembarkation. Ship arrival time and commencement of disembarkation is not the same, my experience it has been up to an hour or later after scheduled arrival time.

Flying back to the US? You will also need to allow time to clear customs/immigration at YVR airport. 

@PATRLR, sounds like a very recent change since as of last month, messages of Better Luck Next Time and Try Again Later were being displayed.

I was also concerned when sometimes I was getting no messages,  and shared my concern that how do I know I am getting Prizes  ‘credit’ or ‘entry’ when I activate door panel by touching medallion or initial approach to cabin to unlock. Does not give a high level of transparency or confidence game is operating as should be.

I will be on Emerald next month, so will look to see if this ‘change’ of displaying messages is still in effect.

@PATRLR, so you are saying NO messages are displayed now when the game is ‘active’?

Only when the Casino is open is when you should be receiving messaging regarding Princess Prizes. I do not understand why they discontinued showing message ‘Game Closed Try Again Later’.

Please check when the Casino is open and touching your Medallion on the door panel to unlock, do you get message, Better Luck Next Time, or Try Again Later.

These were being displayed while I was on Enchanted last month, disembarked on June 29. As I noted previously, was told ‘sometimes’ for safety/security no message will display.

2 minutes ago, Mara4166 said:

What happens if you never turn on your TV and avoid the app and most technology while on the cruise?  The only time we turned on the TV on our last cruise was for the safety video when we boarded.  Will someone come and tell you?  We tend not to go to a most of the events so would also miss the presentation unless we were explicitly told we should be there?

On a cruise last year, a flower arrangement was delivered to my cabin. I did not order one. I went to guest services and they did not have an answer. It was probably a Princess prize and not sure the APP was updated to show this?

OBC should instantly post to your folio if you have won. Other Prizes will be delivered to your stateroom or you will be contacted to arrange pick up.

@Cruise Raider, I know this past June, the passenger who won the cruise said the door panel DID display a Congrats message and the APP also showed the Prize as did their TV. Passenger tried to get phone in cabin to take picture of door panel message, but it was gone in a flash.

I have not attended a Captain Circle party where Prizes were announced, also only during the initial roll out have I seen the presentation of Prizes with the suitcase.

@PATRLR, I think your chat is misleading and requires further inquiry.

When I see in your chat the response ‘the Princess prizes is no longer displayed on the door panel’. I think the agent is letting you know about what I described as the door panel display change that occurred December 2023, see post #40. Where you no longer can enroll in Prizes by touching/tapping the door panel and Princess Princess was displayed in a large stylized font.

She also does not say ‘the only way to see if you have won’  is thru the APP. So I believe the door panel will still display Congrats if you have won a prize.
 

Sometimes the Congrats message is displayed so quickly, it is easily missed. She should have also mentioned your TV will also show if you have won a prize.

I think only offered if it will also be a ‘sea day’? Thought you also needed to request at least night before, morning of might be to short of notice.

26 minutes ago, renebfl said:

Does Princess allowed you too disembark early? The issue is Paris is the night before we disembark in Southampton. Could we disembark in Paris?

Assume you are interested in disembarking in Le Havre? You would have to request and get approval Prior. There have been instances where the ship ‘misses’ the port because of weather or other issues, so have a plan B.

6 hours ago, Ombud said:

Really? Just 400 ..... it's been a lot LOT higher on all of my cruises

The range varies widely, as posted, some Alaska itineraries, the cutoff can be below 200. My fiends just off a world cruise segment, the cutoff was in the high 800’s with Elite laundry taking 7 days to be returned. I remember another post where on a recent Transatlantic, the cutoff was over 1000 days.

@MattnTricia, hope your plans work out and the cruises sail. Your strategy only has to make ‘sense’ to you. I know some may feel chasing ‘elite’ is not worth it.

Some have previously expressed displeasure at passengers who were able to attain ‘Elite’ tier by doing many short cruises as a solo when many of these short cruises were available on the West coast.

Many years ago, a friend of my brother felt Princess MIGHT possibly modify the loyalty program to only count ‘days’ and not AND OR, since most other cruise lines have gone to days/points only. He was able to attain ‘Elite’ with Princess with only 19 days, doing short sailings as a solo.

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

To know if you are registered or not into Princess prizes, you should see a little P in the upper corner of your door screen.  To check to see if you’ve won something, you can check that in your app.  If they wish to surprise you with a big prize, just know it may not be listed in your app for the surprise factor when they announce it during one of their gatherings.  

You can also check if you have won a ‘Prize’ on your stateroom TV. I know the person who won the cruise DID have that prize listed in their APP and it also was on the TV under Prizes, so not sure they do the ‘surprise’. Initially when the game was first introduced there was a presentation in the Piazza with a ‘suitcase’ and ‘envelopes’ and back then I think the ‘winners’ were still anonymous, as some passengers names would be announced but they were not present. I believe only the Free cruise winner is now presented if they are willing to participate in the ceremony.
 

@PATRLR, Not sure if this is a very recent change regarding your door panel not showing whether you won a prize. Just off the Enchanted on June 29 and at that time, if you won a prize your door panel would flash for a few seconds Congratulations, you have Won xxx prize.

I believe it was December 2023, the door Panel display was modified. When the game was first introduced, if you were not enrolled in ‘Prizes’ you could enroll by taping the screen. The door display no longer has ‘Princess Prizes’ in large stylized text’ tap here to enroll. They introduced the new little P with a small star like symbol to be displayed on the door panel in the upper right corner to verify you are enrolled in ‘Prizes’.
 

I think many passengers did not realized they would be charged the daily ‘fee’ of $10 or $20 to be enrolled in the ‘game’. What was good about the display/game back then, you would ALWAYS get one of 3 messages, ‘Better Luck Next Time’, ‘Congrats you Won XXX Prize’, or ‘Game Closed Try Again Later’.

Now, if you do not have the Premier Pkg and want to enroll in ‘Prizes’ you have to go to Guest Services and enroll after they explain the charges and how the game works. 

The display panel no longer has the ‘Game Closed Try Again Later’ message, sometimes you will not get ‘any’ message! I was told if too many doors are unlocked at the same time, priority is given to ‘re lock’ so no message. I have expressed I feel this is misleading as you do not have any confirmation you got credit for an ‘entry’ to the game. When you have reached your Maximum entries for the time period, you should get message ‘Try Again Later’ instead of ‘Better Luck Next Time’ or no message!
 

The current ‘list’ and odds of winning said Prize is available at Princess.com. The current Top prize is the free 7 day cruise for 2 in a balcony, value about $3,000, with odds of 1 in 100,000. I was told a free cruise is ‘won’ on every 7 day or longer sailing. I believe a photo op and presentation of the ‘big check’ is scheduled for the last day in the Piazza. I asked the Entertainment Director if most ‘free cruise’ winners opt to do this presentation and he said ‘yes’.