Princess Plus Amenities program - a few questions

[cruise101]

Good afternoon. We have sailed with Princess before. However our last cruise with them was 4+ years ago, so am uncertain on the rules for some of the newer aspects of Princess's offerings (in particular the Princess Plus Amenities program). Therefore, any guidance to the following questions is much appreciated.

 

1. The Wifi package (part of the Princess Plus Amenities): The confirmation says one device per person. Does that limit you to just one device or is it one device at a time, per person (in other words can you access wifi on more than one device - say an iPhone and an iPad - so long as both are not used at the same time). Princess's wording is somewhat unclear on this.

 

2.  The included drinks package: The package is limited to drinks with an individual value of up to $13 per drink. If you order something more expensive (say a glass of wine that is $15), do you pay just the difference (i.e. $2 + the associated gratuities) or is the full price ($15) of the higher priced drink charged to your on-board account. I know that Celebrity only charges the difference between the cost of the drink and your permissible maximum value per drink.

 

3.  The Medallion app:  I am a first time user of the app and had some challenges using it, which I appear to have subsequently resolved. My main question here is, for a couple travelling together, is it ok to check-in for your cruise from just one device for both travellers, or is each traveller required to check in separately using their own devices.

 

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[Sail away MK]

9 minutes ago, cruise101 said:

Good afternoon. We have sailed with Princess before. However our last cruise with them was 4+ years ago, so am uncertain on the rules for some of the newer aspects of Princess's offerings (in particular the Princess Plus Amenities program). Therefore, any guidance to the following questions is much appreciated.

 

1. The Wifi package (part of the Princess Plus Amenities): The confirmation says one device per person. Does that limit you to just one device or is it one device at a time, per person (in other words can you access wifi on more than one device - say an iPhone and an iPad - so long as both are not used at the same time). Princess's wording is somewhat unclear on this.

 

2.  The included drinks package: The package is limited to drinks with an individual value of up to $13 per drink. If you order something more expensive (say a glass of wine that is $15), do you pay just the difference (i.e. $2 + the associated gratuities) or is the full price ($15) of the higher priced drink charged to your on-board account. I know that Celebrity only charges the difference between the cost of the drink and your permissible maximum value per drink.

 

3.  The Medallion app:  I am a first time user of the app and had some challenges using it, which I appear to have subsequently resolved. My main question here is, for a couple travelling together, is it ok to check-in for your cruise from just one device for both travellers, or is each traveller required to check in separately using their own devices.

 

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Welcome back to Princess! Great questions.

1. The wifi is for one device at a time.

2. You pay the difference for drinks.  That $3 glass of wine will be awesome.  Go to Vines for the best selection.

3. You can check in  for everyone in your cabin on one device if you like.  All my husband did was upload the app until about 3 days before the cruise when he started playing with it to get a feel for where things were. 

4. Unasked question.  What happens if I can't do something on the app?  Don't panic.  Anything you did not get to can be done at embarkation.  The app is not fully functional until you are onboard anyway.

HAVE FUN!

[Astro Flyer]

1. It’s one device at a time.

 

2. You only pay the difference between the limit & a more expensive drink…not sure about gratuity but would guess yes it’s added.

 

3. On a recent cruise I checked in my wife & me on my app.

[mjmalino]

1) You can have one devise per person, at a time, so you can switch between multiple devises all you want.

 

2) If you choose a drink over $13 you pay the difference plus the gratuities on the difference.

 

3) I did most, if not all, of the check-in with my phone for both my husband and myself.  I can't remember if I was able to do it all from my account, or if I logged myself out and logged in as him to complete it,

[cruise101]

Many many thanks SailAwayMK, AstroFlyer and MJMALINO for your very prompt and helpful responses. Much appreciated.

[eagletwo]

We are on the Enchanted Princess. Princess Plus device is one at a time. I have my cell phone, iPad and laptop and use all three. You have to sign out of a device before signing in on another one. Wi-Fi has been great. 
 

I think the drink package is limited to any drink up to $12.00. You pay the difference plus the extra 18% gratuity. 
 

We originally did all our check ins on the app for me and the wife. Added a second cruise and the app went stupid. Still made it on the Regal last week and Enchanted yesterday. Just make sure you have the medallions, your vaccine cards, negative COVID-19 test and Passport or birth certificate. Medallions can be picked up at the port. 
 

As a side note, our Medallions did not work at the port. We showed our Passports and they checked us in. Once on board, we went to guest services, deck 5 forward. Seems a number of people had the same issue. There were two members from the Ocean desk ready to help. They took our medallions and returned 5 minutes later saying the batteries were dead. All fixed. Working great!

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, eagletwo said:

As a side note, our Medallions did not work at the port. We showed our Passports and they checked us in. Once on board, we went to guest services, deck 5 forward. Seems a number of people had the same issue. There were two members from the Ocean desk ready to help. They took our medallions and returned 5 minutes later saying the batteries were dead. All fixed. Working great!

 

Sigh... Guess I'll try this again and see if it works. My feeling is that Princess likely ordered a bazillion or so Medallions prior to the shutdown. All of those Medallions have been sitting in a warehouse (or somewhere on the ships) and it's no wonder some of them have dead or dying batteries.

 

Note: I wonder if this will vanish like the first post. The first one had a lot more in it but I don't feel like trying to recreate the dang thing.

[geoherb]

When I was on the Majestic in August, I did not have to sign out of one device before connecting another. So if I left my laptop signed on to the WiFi, I could still sign in on my phone without having to go back to my cabin to log off. It would sign off the laptop automatically.

[leck57]

9 minutes ago, geoherb said:

When I was on the Majestic in August, I did not have to sign out of one device before connecting another. So if I left my laptop signed on to the WiFi, I could still sign in on my phone without having to go back to my cabin to log off. It would sign off the laptop automatically.

 

Similar to us for the last cruise we were on, the only difference was that I thought (I might be mistaken) that I got a prompt to sign off the previously connected device if I hadn't logged out.

[Mike07]

12 hours ago, Sail away MK said:

Welcome back to Princess! Great questions.

...

4. Unasked question.  What happens if I can't do something on the app?  Don't panic.  Anything you did not get to can be done at embarkation.  The app is not fully functional until you are onboard anyway.

HAVE FUN!

 

 

 

4. Unsolicited response.  Honestly, I think people on CC make a bigger deal out of the app than it actually is onboard.  Yes, the app is a hunk of junk, but no, it does not really take away from the experience.  The only thing I can think of that the app helps with is if you want to order food/drinks and have princess deliver it to you wherever you are on the ship.

 

I simply used the app to connect to the internet, browse dining menus, see the itinerary for the day... and truth be told, I think everything is faster/better using the ocean online web portal (through your regular web browser) than it is to pull up the clunky app.  I have a flagship phone from a year ago, and while every other app loads quickly nicely, the MedallionApp was slow and clunky... I preferred the web browser version.

 

If you're nervous about not being a smartphone or tablet owner, I would not be.  You will have the same Princess experience you've been accustomed to.  Sure, you may have to pickup the phone to call for drinks/food on the balcony, but it's faster to talk to somebody than let that app load... IMHO.