emerald princess

[LindyTheK]

I seem to be a real doubting thomas. I am sure Princess will not allow children to be alone in cabins without an adult. Perhaps they were booked with an adult with the plane of then having the children alone. Sounds fishy though especially when she has not returned after trashing princess.

Seems to happen a lot with first time posters

 

This one does sound a bit fishy especially if an adult should be with the child at all times, but if not, it is like a casino..you book a Guarantee, you roll the dice and sometimes it comes up craps.....

 

Lindy

[-Lew-]

 

I have seen people get numbers up by doing the "I agree" answer without adding anything or repeating something someone else has already said. I skip past those.

Lindy,

 

Don't get me going on that one...

 

By the way, I agree :rolleyes:

 

Lew

 

PS I notice you have very few posts. Should we even be talking to you?

[robgvic]

I must admit that I have done an "I agree" once or twice but only because I am interested in the topic and want to be notified when there are new posts. As far as I know there is no other way to be notified

[zacc]

My daughter and family have been cruising several times with different cruiselines and this time we decided to go with them on The Emerald Princess. We booked 5 months ago when we were told that it was not possible to select cabins and now discover that their allocated cabins for us are two cabins at either end of the same deck and my husband and myself 4 decks below. My daughter immediately phoned them and pointed out that their young sons had been placed 75 cabins from their own and that one of them is autistic and must be supervised. Apparently they have no organised booking system, do not look at any family travelling together and totally and flatly refuse to do anything to help unless we pay for an upgrade. This sounds like a ploy to get more money, surely they have some responsibility to ensure that minors are placed near their parents? According to them the answer is NO and they are totally inflexible and refuse to do anything to help. BEWARE if you have children, don't expect common sense, they don't care if your children are too young or unable to care for themselves. Fortunately the next cruise already booked is not with them and this is the first and last time that we will be using any of the Princess line.

 

My comments have nothing to do with the fact that this is the OP's first post. I have read and reread this post and there are just too many things that don't add up. First of all booking as a family would have been much easier and probably mistake free if they had used a TA. Second the comment about Princess not caring if children are too young or unable to care for themselves. Just how much supervision were the parents going to be able to give with the kids being in a different room? If the cruise line should have some responsibility shouldn't the parents have even more? Third I am sure that all of us have booked a cruise more than five months out and have always been able to select a cabin assignment at the time of booking. And last several years ago I mistakenly booked a oceanview cabin rather than a balcony(Stupidly I was looking at the floor plans of a different ship). I didn't realize it until we got an "upgrade" and discovered the new cabin had two portholes. My wife is claustrophobic so this was a real problem. I immediately called Princess, explained the problem, and they reassigned a new cabin while I was on the phone with them. The real happy ending to that story is when we checked in we were upgraded to a balcony. Bottom line....just to many holes for me to see this thread as legitimate regardless of the number of posts.

[LindyTheK]

Lindy,

 

Don't get me going on that one...

 

By the way, I agree :rolleyes:

 

Lew

 

PS I notice you have very few posts. Should we even be talking to you?

 

 

NO! LOL

 

(in this thread I have more posts than I have in the past 9 YEARS in CC...I am trying to catch up to my brother in this topic alone and he has over 500 hhehe)

 

Lindy

[ell52]

I must admit that I have done an "I agree" once or twice but only because I am interested in the topic and want to be notified when there are new posts. As far as I know there is no other way to be notified

You can "subscribe to thread" without posting. At top right of each thread there is a "Thread Tools" drop-down menu where you can subscribe to the thread. I often use it to follow roll-calls that I'm interested in. :)

[cherylandtk]

A CC member’s number of posts and join date should never be a criteria for answering a concern or problem. Lew

Well, I would have answered almost identically if she had had 10,000+ posts, but I would have added something along the lines of "you have been around the boards a long time and must have seen/known/read about GTY bookings before now". I agree that being new does not warrant suspicion of the post in and of itself, but how long someone has been a member IS relevant to what level of knowledge they should have from the boards, and was worth noting in this case because the OP was simply ranting about an expectation that was incorrect. She also (incorrectly) assumes that other cruiselines will be different. I never questioned the post content simply because she was new.

 

 

FWIW, I also give new posters much more slack when telling them the board rules or directing them to the Roll Call sections. So noting someone's length of time and activity can be important.

[LindyTheK]

FWIW, I also give new posters much more slack when telling them the board rules or directing them to the Roll Call sections. So noting someone's length of time and activity can be important.

 

Yes Cheryl...the length of time can be important to me. If a new person to CC posts and asks a question, no matter how innocent, i take it seriously. However, if a new person, such as this one, comes on CC and immediately trashes Princess, to me it deserves more scrutiny.

We have all seen that happen too often.

 

Lindy

[pablo222]

Princess will allow minor children alone in a cabin next to or across from their parents.

 

I don't think this is quite correct. As I understand it,

princess will not allow you to book a cabin with two

minor children in it.

 

You have to have at least one adult on the booking.

 

Once on board, princess will allow you to switch up

however you'd like, and not do bed-checks.

[gill556]

Thank you all for your imput and I realise that this was my first post but have been browsing the forum ever since our cruise was booked which is how I knew where to post. The reason the boys have a room of their own is that they are aged 14 and 17 and I really don't think they would relish sleeping with their mom. It is the 14 year old who is autistic and for the majority of the time he is no problem at all, most people wouldn't even realise he had any problems but there is always the odd occasion when he needs help in which case as long as one of us is close the 17 year old would either fetch us or ring us. The point is that both under American law are classed as minors yet Princess booked them and their parents in to cabins as far apart as is possible at either end of the deck and with us (their grandparents) 4 decks down, we couldn't have been further from each other if they tried. My daughter phoned yesterday and again today, spoke to a supervisor and they refused to offer any help. However the cruise was booked through the bank where my son in law works and when the agent phoned Princess we were immediately given 3 cabins next door to each other. I am a Spanish resident but am at present in UK, you must have gone to a lot of trouble to sort that out, is it really relevant? I have not criticised the cruise in any way as I have yet to go on it, my complaint was purely about seperating minors from their parents by such a long distance and not being willing to even offer any solution. It is all sorted now and I hope that my expectations of an enjoyable holiday will be fulfilled, I am not usually the sort of person to vent my anger but I do admit I was angry when I posted due to the total lack of customer relations, maybe the fact that my daughter said that she would be writing on here made a difference, who knows?

[sunluva7]

It sounds like the individual who booked your cruise screwed up. I thought Princess would not book children under 18 in their own cabin unless the two cabins were either adjacent or across from each other.:confused: At least that's been the situation for me. Maybe it works differently for guaranty bookings? Which is one reason I have never booked a guaranty.

[mdmomof7]

I seem to be a real doubting thomas. I am sure Princess will not allow children to be alone in cabins without an adult. Perhaps they were booked with an adult with the plane of then having the children alone. Sounds fishy though especially when she has not returned after trashing princess.

Seems to happen a lot with first time posters

 

They will and have allowed it.

[ell52]

Thank you all for your imput and I realise that this was my first post but have been browsing the forum ever since our cruise was booked which is how I knew where to post. The reason the boys have a room of their own is that they are aged 14 and 17 and I really don't think they would relish sleeping with their mom. It is the 14 year old who is autistic and for the majority of the time he is no problem at all, most people wouldn't even realise he had any problems but there is always the odd occasion when he needs help in which case as long as one of us is close the 17 year old would either fetch us or ring us. The point is that both under American law are classed as minors yet Princess booked them and their parents in to cabins as far apart as is possible at either end of the deck and with us (their grandparents) 4 decks down, we couldn't have been further from each other if they tried. My daughter phoned yesterday and again today, spoke to a supervisor and they refused to offer any help. However the cruise was booked through the bank where my son in law works and when the agent phoned Princess we were immediately given 3 cabins next door to each other. I am a Spanish resident but am at present in UK, you must have gone to a lot of trouble to sort that out, is it really relevant? I have not criticised the cruise in any way as I have yet to go on it, my complaint was purely about seperating minors from their parents by such a long distance and not being willing to even offer any solution. It is all sorted now and I hope that my expectations of an enjoyable holiday will be fulfilled, I am not usually the sort of person to vent my anger but I do admit I was angry when I posted due to the total lack of customer relations, maybe the fact that my daughter said that she would be writing on here made a difference, who knows?

 

I'm glad you came back and let us know that things have worked out.

 

I think maybe there was miscommunication between your daughter and the Princess rep she spoke to. You say the cruise was booked through the bank where your son-in-law works which most likely means they used a TA - ie. your family did not book directly with Princess, the TA for the bank did. Princess reps will NOT discuss or change bookings that have been made through a TA. That is their policy and they are very strict about it. In other words, your daughter should have contacted the booking TA for the bank to request changes. At least you'll know for next time.? :)

[Corinne Marie]

you will have a fantastic time on the Emerald. We just came back from a back to back cruise, eastern/western caribbean and this was the best cruise i have ever been on. I have been on numerous cruises and have elite status with princess. The food was fantastic, our cabin steward and waiters were the best. Edwin and Ivan in alternative dining, Michealangalo dining were fantastic. We started out with traditional dining, but that ended after the first night after such a horrible table and bad waiters. Found out that the best waiters are in the alternative dining rooms. Will not do traditional anymore. Can not say enough great things about the emerald and all the staff on her. They were great! I would be happy to answer any questions for anyone.

[genevieve7000]

Common sense tells me that if you have young sons and one of them is autistic and must be supervised then a parent should be staying in a cabin with them and location should not be an issue.

 

If the passengers book a GTY this is the chance they take on location. If you want to be together then you pony up a little bit more to make things more convienent.

never mind, glad it worked out.

[turquoisesea]

I'm glad you came back and let us know that things have worked out.

 

I think maybe there was miscommunication between your daughter and the Princess rep she spoke to. You say the cruise was booked through the bank where your son-in-law works which most likely means they used a TA - ie. your family did not book directly with Princess, the TA for the bank did. Princess reps will NOT discuss or change bookings that have been made through a TA. That is their policy and they are very strict about it. In other words, your daughter should have contacted the booking TA for the bank to request changes. At least you'll know for next time.? :)

 

This is one situation that confirms the need to use a knowledgeable TA when booking a first cruise, and to speak to them directly. There are so many variables that a traveler may not be aware of....such as gty cabins and the need to book specific cabins when traveling with children. Yes, we all are responsible for doing our own research, but there is a lot involved in booking cruises. No, I am not a TA, but have had friends who have jumped into taking a cruise with both feet and had the exact sme thing happen - the never knew the rate they were quoted was for a gty cabin! They thought that is the way it worked - no cabin assignement until close to the sail date. :eek:

I am glad that Princess was able to help out the OP. Have a great cruise!

[Nana G]

Glad all worked well for you. Enjoy your cruise. The Emerald is a fantastic ship and Princess does it's best to insure your cruise will be memorable.

[gill556]

Would you recommend malaria tablets for a Carribean cruise? I was just wondering after looking at some of the trips advertised.

[Nana G]

Have sailed the Carribean many times and never had them. Nor have I heard onboard of any need. I suppose if it makes you feel more confident to enjoy your cruise, then yes.

[gill556]

Thank You, probably won't bother then, didn't want to get there and find out we should have taken them.

[caribill]

The reason the boys have a room of their own is that they are aged 14 and 17 and I really don't think they would relish sleeping with their mom.

 

Thanks for coming back and letting us know it was resolved.

 

Princess will allow two children in a room as long as at least one of them is at least 16 years old (and adults with them are also booked on the ship).