Princess Cruise "Secrets" 2019

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

3 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

I'm sure this is answered elsewhere, but here it is: CCL Shareholder Benefits.

 

It really adds if one is booked on a 13+ day Princess cruise if you are retired/active military (like me!😎) . Carnival does do somethings right in spite of all the negatives you hear. I just wish their military benefit extended to cruise lines other than Princess.

Princess military appreciation offerings. 6 day $50.00, 7-13 day $100.00, 14 or longer $250.00 plus if you own the Carnival stock. Nice@!

[JF - retired RRT]

4 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

I'm sure this is answered elsewhere, but here it is: CCL Shareholder Benefits.

 

It really adds if one is booked on a 13+ day Princess cruise if you are retired/active military (like me!😎) . Carnival does do somethings right in spite of all the negatives you hear. I just wish their military benefit extended to cruise lines other than Princess.

It does. Cunard is one and AFAIK there are one or 2 others.

[PMGS247]

My "secret" below pertains to grand class....I'm sailing on the Island in December - is there a similar trick on the Island?

 

Not a huge secret but it does seem many haven't figured it out.....Grand class Ships you can access the walkway over top of the bridge by going all the way forward on deck 15 past the staterooms and through the unmarked doors located at the end of the hall where the hall turns 90 degrees.

 

Seems an entirely underutilized area.  Every time I went up there for a sail-away or port arrival on our last cruise there were only a handful of us on the bridge and countless people crammed into the front edge of the small space at the front of deck 16 trying to get the front-of-ship view and clearly had no idea they could just pop down a level and have nearly a 360 degree view.  They do close it at night and when conditions dictate but it was open most times I tried to go up there.

[PaperSniper4]

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

It does. Cunard is one and AFAIK there are one or 2 others.

 

Ah ha! Good to know. Thanks for pointing that out to me. Odd that CCL doesn't provide a military benefit, but other lines under their ownership do. I know Carnival occasionally has a military benefit on the rare cruise or two, but Princess' is consistent and for all cruises AFAIK. When we did our 15 days Hawaii cruises, that $500 OBC (CCL stock ownership and retired USN) sure help! Almost made up for some of the more unpleasant military experiences....almost.

[billystanley]

1 hour ago, PMGS247 said:

My "secret" below pertains to grand class....I'm sailing on the Island in December - is there a similar trick on the Island?

 

Not a huge secret but it does seem many haven't figured it out.....Grand class Ships you can access the walkway over top of the bridge by going all the way forward on deck 15 past the staterooms and through the unmarked doors located at the end of the hall where the hall turns 90 degrees.

 

Seems an entirely underutilized area.  Every time I went up there for a sail-away or port arrival on our last cruise there were only a handful of us on the bridge and countless people crammed into the front edge of the small space at the front of deck 16 trying to get the front-of-ship view and clearly had no idea they could just pop down a level and have nearly a 360 degree view.  They do close it at night and when conditions dictate but it was open most times I tried to go up there.

 

Is the Caribbean Princess a grand class ship?

[Thrak]

10 minutes ago, billystanley said:

 

Is the Caribbean Princess a grand class ship?

 

Sort of. The Grand Class "evolved" to include the Rivera Deck which is an extra passenger deck. The thing you are interested in - the above-bridge decking - is indeed there on Caribbean Princess. It's on Lido Deck. Don't be confused by the previous poster specifically stating "Deck 15" as, on ships without Riviera Deck it is actually Deck 14. On CB (which you inquired about) Lido Deck actually is Deck 15. On many other ships it is Deck 14.  Just look at the deck plans.

 

Edited July 9, 2019 by Thrak

[PMGS247]

18 minutes ago, billystanley said:

 

Is the Caribbean Princess a grand class ship?

See Thrak's explanation clarifying Deck 14/15 on different Grand class ships, but my description is perfect for (was based on) the Caribbean Princess.

 

Interesting the 14/15...I"ve been on Crown and Emerald as well but that was so long ago I didn't recall the 14/15 difference.

[austenfiend]

On 5/29/2019 at 9:04 AM, Pierlesscruisers said:

Why worry about patterns on carpets or colors which may be different on different ships? As you step off of the elevator just look to one side or the other on the wall beside the doorway into the hall where there is a ship's silhouette that clearly shows you which way is forward and which way is aft.  Easy to see from the middle of the elevator area too! That is the same on every one of the Princess ships. At least it is on every ship I've been on so far.

 

Tom

Good tip!  That's what we usually end up doing, it becomes a standing joke, we ALWAYS head the wrong way!  But we're on vacation, so no big deal.

[Pierlesscruisers]

11 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

I'm sure this is answered elsewhere, but here it is: CCL Shareholder Benefits.

 

It really adds if one is booked on a 13+ day Princess cruise if you are retired/active military (like me!😎) . Carnival does do somethings right in spite of all the negatives you hear. I just wish their military benefit extended to cruise lines other than Princess.

 

The reason, I suspect, that Princess began offering it was because the immediate past president of the line was a Infantryman in the Army and a VN vet. Thus it's not really a Carnival program at all, just a very nice Princess one.

 

7 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

It does. Cunard is one and AFAIK there are one or 2 others.

 

P&O is the only other cruise line that offers the Veterans' OBC. I checked a number of lines a couple of years ago and P&O showed then as offering the OBC for active and retired.  I just checked the P&O website and couldn't find any info on it so I don't know if it's still offered or not. Some lines occasionally offer reduced prices on cruises for active duty military (perhaps also retired and/or veterans) but the only one that I remember seeing that did that is Holland-America.

 

Tom

[Chelly]

Question about Caribe balconies on Royal.

 

When cruising on Crown, Emerald and Ruby I always book a Caribe Deck balcony because they are about 12 inches deeper than regular balconies on other decks.   Is this also true on Royal?    Are Caribe Deck balconies deeper?

 

Thanks.

C

[neverbeenhere]

Nope

[PaperSniper4]

12 hours ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

 

The reason, I suspect, that Princess began offering it was because the immediate past president of the line was a Infantryman in the Army and a VN vet. Thus it's not really a Carnival program at all, just a very nice Princess one.

 

 

P&O is the only other cruise line that offers the Veterans' OBC. I checked a number of lines a couple of years ago and P&O showed then as offering the OBC for active and retired.  I just checked the P&O website and couldn't find any info on it so I don't know if it's still offered or not. Some lines occasionally offer reduced prices on cruises for active duty military (perhaps also retired and/or veterans) but the only one that I remember seeing that did that is Holland-America.

 

Tom

Thanks for the additional info, Tom.

[JessRa]

On 5/27/2019 at 8:33 AM, barbpretz said:

Refer-A-Friend is still my favorite Princess cruise tip (and I'm not seeing it posted here).  Details can be found on the main Princess page at the bottom in small print under "Cruise Deals".  If you've never cruised Princess before, look into this before you book your cruise to get $25 on-board credit for yourself and whoever refers you.  If you have cruised Princess before but have friends or family members who are cruising Princess for the first time, consider looking into referring them before they book.  Every little bit helps!

This is a great tip! As the first time cruiser, I didn't see a way for me to instigate it, but I sent the link https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/referralRewards.page to my referee. Thanks!

[skurvish]

17 hours ago, JessRa said:

This is a great tip! As the first time cruiser, I didn't see a way for me to instigate it, but I sent the link https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/referralRewards.page to my referee. Thanks!

You must process the referall on the Princess website. On the Princess home page scroll down to the very bottom. Under More Information click on the Refer-A-Friend link. On the page that opens fill in the appropriate information and click Send. This is the only way (AFAIK) the friend gets the proper email with the proper link to activate the referral.

[Jeter02]

On 7/9/2019 at 10:01 PM, Chelly said:

Question about Caribe balconies on Royal.

 

When cruising on Crown, Emerald and Ruby I always book a Caribe Deck balcony because they are about 12 inches deeper than regular balconies on other decks.   Is this also true on Royal?    Are Caribe Deck balconies deeper?

 

Thanks.

C

Sadly no. 

[Jeter02]

On 7/9/2019 at 2:19 PM, Thrak said:

 

Sort of. The Grand Class "evolved" to include the Rivera Deck which is an extra passenger deck. The thing you are interested in - the above-bridge decking - is indeed there on Caribbean Princess. It's on Lido Deck. Don't be confused by the previous poster specifically stating "Deck 15" as, on ships without Riviera Deck it is actually Deck 14. On CB (which you inquired about) Lido Deck actually is Deck 15. On many other ships it is Deck 14.  Just look at the deck plans.

 

I always just say, even though Caribbean is somewhat part of the grand class, I just go with it's in a class of it's own. Unique to its own.

[dahuffy]

On ‎1‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 7:59 PM, gottagocit said:

Own 100 shares of carnival stock and receive onboard credit for each voyage. And now it appears the program no longer requires your voyage to be within 90 days to have the obc added to your cruise personalizer.

 

We faxed in forms for 4 voyages a few weeks and all received the credit within a couple hours even with voyages from 4 weeks to nearly two years in the future. 

I know it varies, but how much is a share?

[neverbeenhere]

CCL or CUK. Between 47 and 45 a share. 

[dahuffy]

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 9:13 AM, MixerDave said:

 

I live in Florida - they asked me if I wanted the "V" on my license and I said OK.  They charged me $1.00 and no stores recognize it!

I'm in Oklahoma. Ours have an American flag and the word "veteran" in the upper, left corner. I make sure to point it out.

[PaperSniper4]

8 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

CCL or CUK. Between 47 and 45 a share. 

Unless you bought it much higher like I did about two year ago!😢

[CruiseVA]

Actually, the highest Shareholder OBC is 14+ cruise days, not 13.

[yukongold]

On ‎1‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 8:24 PM, neverbeenhere said:

As has been stated before, veterans are eligible for OBC on Princess Cruises. Sadly, my time playing Battleship@ as a child doesn’t count as military service. 

 

 

LOL

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, yukongold said:

  On ‎1‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 10:24 PM, neverbeenhere said:

As has been stated before, veterans are eligible for OBC on Princess Cruises. Sadly, my time playing Battleship@ as a child doesn’t count as military service.  

I commanded vast armies all over the world ...RISK

[Lucky TGO]

2 hours ago, yukongold said:

 

 

LOL

As has been stated before, veterans are eligible for OBC on Princess Cruises. Sadly, my time playing Battleship@ as a child doesn’t count as military service. 

 

It  counts  on my  Rowboat 😁

 

[neverbeenhere]

BATTLE STATIONS!

 

MAN THE GUNS!

 

ABOVE ALL

SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO PROTECT THE BOOZE!!!