Princess Cruise "Secrets" 2019

[Moose07]

On 9/14/2019 at 2:46 PM, jwattle said:

There are always these neat boards on the wall at either side of the elevator lobby; they tell you the cabin numbers to be found in either direction: BRILLIANT!😂

🤣Just when I needed a good laugh, thank you!

[jimlouisesophie]

7 hours ago, leftisport said:

Off the topic, I know. But a fellow Nanaimoite?? We live in north Nanaimo, near Lost Lake Road. Hope we meet up some time.

Likewise, Jim

[RRFan]

6 hours ago, Ombud said:

Extra OBC added to your onboard account.

21-31 cruises = 25

31-41 cruises = 50 .... don't know after that 

One small correction on this—you have to have completed the 31st cruise to get the $50 level, so it’s actually 32-41. The $25 level is the only one that starts with a “1”.   This is a great benefit!  
For those thinking you’ll never get there, look for cruises you can do back to back. We hardly ever do a 7- day. Flying is the hassle so we do multiple back to backs. Also watch for short repositioning cruises you can do before or after a 7-day cruise. For instance, take the last 7-day Alaska cruise out of Vancouver and stay on for the ship’s 3 or 4 day repositioning to LA (or wherever). That gets you 2 cruises. Same thing in the spring—take the short repositioning cruise from LA to VC then do some AK cruises!  
 

And yes, you have to watch the Jones Act. You can’t get on in one US port and get off in another US port. But we’ve done the repo’s combined with AK many times. You also can do this if you can change ships with no Jones Act problems. 

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, RRFan said:

One small correction on this—you have to have completed the 31st cruise to get the $50 level, so it’s actually 32-41. The $25 level is the only one that starts with a “1”.   This is a great benefit!  
For those thinking you’ll never get there, look for cruises you can do back to back. We hardly ever do a 7- day. Flying is the hassle so we do multiple back to backs. Also watch for short repositioning cruises you can do before or after a 7-day cruise. For instance, take the last 7-day Alaska cruise out of Vancouver and stay on for the ship’s 3 or 4 day repositioning to LA (or wherever). That gets you 2 cruises. Same thing in the spring—take the short repositioning cruise from LA to VC then do some AK cruises!  
 

And yes, you have to watch the Jones Act. You can’t get on in one US port and get off in another US port. But we’ve done the repo’s combined with AK many times. You also can do this if you can change ships with no Jones Act problems. 

 

One small correction on this - The Jones Act only applies to cargo. The PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886) is the one that applies to people. Sorry, couldn't help myself. 😁

[RRFan]

24 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

One small correction on this - The Jones Act only applies to cargo. The PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886) is the one that applies to people. Sorry, couldn't help myself. 😁

'That's true, and thanks Thrak.   I really butchered that post anyway.  I need to correct it.  We did change ships in VC after repo from LA.  We got off the Coral and got on the Island (last summer early season).  We have also spent the night and got on a different ship too.  And you can get on in CA and off in FL (or vice versa) by going through the Panama Canal (far port).  My point was in order to move up the PCL loyalty levels, look for short cruises and combine back to backs.  The loyalty levels for the OBC we were talking about are still based on number of cruises.   

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, RRFan said:

One small correction on this—you have to have completed the 31st cruise to get the $50 level, so it’s actually 32-41. The $25 level is the only one that starts with a “1”.   This is a great benefit!  

Yep.  I guess you're correct. It wouldn't make much sense to have 31 for both levels. 

At least they're going by cruise credits and not days. 

[c-boy]

10 hours ago, Ombud said:

On my medallion cruise I was able to opt out of all paper. No ads, flyers, useless printouts. Got the patter on my phone!

Outstanding ! 

[Thrak]

On 9/27/2019 at 11:51 PM, Ombud said:

On my medallion cruise I was able to opt out of all paper. No ads, flyers, useless printouts. Got the patter on my phone!

 

A question and a warning:

Did you get the full Patter on your phone? We relied on the Patter on our phones on a non-Medallion cruise and spent 10 minutes in Vista Lounge along with a half dozen other folks waiting for Trivia. We finally left and discovered it was going on in Explorer's. When I told the staff the info was wrong they pointed to the paper Patter and showed me it said Explorer's. I showed them the Patter entry on the phone and they said, "Oh. We never look at that." I went back to Vista where people were still waiting and told them what was going on. They weren't real pleased.

[Ombud]

On the CB the OM patter was the same as the printed version. I'll find out in 2 weeks if the Royal OM patter is the same as the printed one. Will be opting out again

[nanwel]

On 1/29/2019 at 12:49 AM, Almighty188 said:

 

Interesting, I only took a cruise once and that was Carnival in 2012, do you know if they require the scanning part because I don't remember scanning the card key.  

 

I have a question of B2B (Back-to-Back Cruises) like those close looped one on the Grand Princess from San Francisco, do they have to disembark the ship, go through customs/immigration or what you call it and then have to board the ship again or do they actually just stay on the ship without getting off?

It's actually better taking the passport because if you had any problems in a foreign country, your driver id will not get you the aid from the US Department of State through the Embassy/Consulate when needed while the passport will.  In my case, I will lose both if I was going to lose it as they are all part of the same wallet including the credit cards.  The Xerox copy is only for you to report it lost or stolen but when it comes to flying, the original is needed as the passports actually has a RFID chip in it.  So whatever documents you use, there will always be some risk to it which is why you should always be on alert and also carry it in a secure place where it cannot just fall out easily.  If you carry your drivers license only, you are also supposed to carry a certified copy of your birth certificate as well.  A passport will prove your U.S. citizenship while your Driver License won't. 

I lock my passport in the safe the day I board, unless they tell you you must take it ashore. had to do that in Cuba.

Otherwise, I always take a photo copy of it with me on day trips. If there is a problem on shore or at the port boarding. They have all your info. I know I must have it to fly across boarder, but have never needed it ashore (except Cuba)

Have been on over 30 cruises and never a problem.

 

 

 

 

[Ofmyheart]

You need to have it in Russia too.

[RRFan]

7 minutes ago, nanwel said:

I have a question of B2B (Back-to-Back Cruises) like those close looped one on the Grand Princess from San Francisco, do they have to disembark the ship, go through customs/immigration or what you call it and then have to board the ship again or do they actually just stay on the ship without getting off?

It totally depends on the port, the CBP personnel, and the number of transits (people staying on for the next cruise).  All of my experiences are on Princess, so I can't speak to how it works on other cruise lines.   We rarely do only one cruise at a time, unless it is 14 days or longer.  I'd guess we have done 30+ B2B's on PCL.  

The short answer is that YES you do have to go through customs in some way between the first and second cruise.  In Ft Lauderdale there can be hundreds of transit passengers and we sometimes met in the dining room and ship security came around and scanned us off the first cruise, CBP people looked at our passports and asked questions, then security scanned us back on for the second cruise.  If you are in the same cabin, you might have the same key card (haven't done it yet with OM), or you might have a new card.  If you change rooms, you have a new card.  In LA and SF we would meet and all get off together after the disembarking passengers usually led by a ship officer.  They'd take us off, go through customs and usually just get back on (unless they had us wait together and were first back on).  Vancouver is different every time we do it (5 times in '19) but you have to get off and go through customs, find your way back around to the embarkation area to show your "In Transit" card and usually have to wait for awhile before they are ready for passengers to board and then transits board first.  So there's not one size fits all answer, but this gives you an idea.  You don't have to pack up or do anything with your things unless you change cabins and then you just put everything not hanging up in suitcases and they move it for you. 

[gottagocit]

On 10/3/2019 at 10:42 PM, Thrak said:

 

A question and a warning:

Did you get the full Patter on your phone? We relied on the Patter on our phones on a non-Medallion cruise and spent 10 minutes in Vista Lounge along with a half dozen other folks waiting for Trivia. We finally left and discovered it was going on in Explorer's. When I told the staff the info was wrong they pointed to the paper Patter and showed me it said Explorer's. I showed them the Patter entry on the phone and they said, "Oh. We never look at that." I went back to Vista where people were still waiting and told them what was going on. They weren't real pleased.

 

We have found numerous instances over our last few crushes where the electronic version of the patter wasn’t different than the printed version. In every instance the paper one was correct.

The most common issue seems to be events not showing on the digital version that are in fact occurring somewhere onboard. 

[MissP22]

6 minutes ago, gottagocit said:

 

We have found numerous instances over our last few crushes where the electronic version of the patter wasn’t different than the printed version. In every instance the paper one was correct.

The most common issue seems to be events not showing on the digital version that are in fact occurring somewhere onboard. 

Besides that I can highlight the things I want to do during the day & chack them at a quick glance. 

You can schedule events on the electronic version but it's not that convenient to see on the run. 

[Thrak]

We did have a week or maybe a week and a half with a repeating error in the printed Patter (as well as the digital version). The event was actually held at the listed time and place but, instead of listing Secrets for a Flatter Stomach the listing was Secrets for a Fatter Stomach. (The underline is mine.) Most passengers commented that there was no "secret" to that. Just cruising in general did it for them.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

We did have a week or maybe a week and a half with a repeating error in the printed Patter (as well as the digital version). The event was actually held at the listed time and place but, instead of listing Secrets for a Flatter Stomach the listing was Secrets for a Fatter Stomach. (The underline is mine.) Most passengers commented that there was no "secret" to that. Just cruising in general did it for them.

Secrets to a fatter stomach. Take a cruise!

[julie3fan]

2 hours ago, twodaywonder said:

Secrets to a fatter stomach. Take a cruise!

 

FYI, that's not a secret.  More like a guarantee! 🤣

[richstowe]

Does Princess offer any incentive for booking the first cruise night in one of their specialty restaurants ?

[Coffeeluvr05]

1 hour ago, richstowe said:

Does Princess offer any incentive for booking the first cruise night in one of their specialty restaurants ?

Not that I know of, but some bookings include a coupon book that might include a 2 for 1. Suite guests get specialty dining on embarkation day. 

[TheRabbit]

4 hours ago, richstowe said:

Does Princess offer any incentive for booking the first cruise night in one of their specialty restaurants ?

I have seen this on rare occasions.

As we do fixed dining, we always go to the MDR the first night to meet our waiter and table mates, so I don't follow this close.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

The coupon book usually offers the steak house bogo. The book is not always offered.

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, richstowe said:

Does Princess offer any incentive for booking the first cruise night in one of their specialty restaurants ?

Only if you have been given a Cruise Night Coupon Book by your TA (there is a BOGO in it), or if you are booked in a Suite, it is free.

 

Edited October 21, 2019 by steelers36

[Steelers36]

The internet secret (Medallion Net) is that is is best to book the Pre-Cruise package price in the Personalizer if you have no Captains Circle status and best to book the package On-Board (Day 1) if you have Platinum/Elite status.  In some cases, it is barely better as the On-Board price is higher than Pre-Cruise and after the 25% discount, the net price isn't always a lot lower than the Pre-Cruise that anyone can book.

 

[roomba920]

On 1/22/2019 at 7:13 PM, gottagocit said:

No, it must be used while onboard. 

I thought only promotional sales OBC was non-refundable, but other OBC is refundable.....such as military OBC, or OBC earned through Visa card points.

[caribill]

8 hours ago, roomba920 said:

I thought only promotional sales OBC was non-refundable, but other OBC is refundable.....such as military OBC, or OBC earned through Visa card points.

 

Visa points OBC is not refundable.