yags

I guess I am the dissenting opinion so far. Although it is inconvenient to have to prepay on the spot it does keep others from taking a spot they may or may not use. If the situation changes you can always get your money back up until 72 hours from the excursion. The bright side is by paying ahead of time when the cruise becomes reality you have paid with funds you will not miss today.

I assume it is your SO that the card is a gift for, right? If so not a problem at all. You are correct there is NO name associated to the card. It is possible you may have a "gift card" in your cabin upon arrival that you have to use to redeem the actual punch card and if that has your name it may not be a bad idea to be there for the exchange.

Not my SO but my sister who is traveling with me. Thanks for the tip can never hurt to be there to make sure things go as I hoped. Thanks.

I bought a coffee card as a Christmas stocking stuffer for our Alaskan cruise on the Grand in June. It was placed under my name on the On Board Reservations section of our cruise information. These cards can be used by anyone can't they? If I remember correctly it is just a punch card with the cruise number on it and no names. I can call and change the name but would rather not if it does not matter. Thanks and Merry Christmas to all who frequent Cruise Critic.

The first time I answered this post it was 246 days. Now we are down to 183 days. Can't get better then that.

I have short hair and the drier is fine. Long hair might be a different story.

CFS w/gravy the ultimate comfort food. I usually do not miss food that isn't there but would certainly order this dish if it were.

Is there no one at all with whom you would vacation?

That is kind of an unfair assumption. It is not a matter of Having friends that want to travel with you it is a matter of friends who have the time, ability, and circumstances that enable them to travel with you. I have the time and financial ability to travel but since my divorce I would not automatically have a travel partner. Now that being said I am lucky enough to have a sister whose husband hates to travel and this has proven to be a god send for both of us. Besides my sister is more fun then my Ex-partner. Back to the subject at hand. One would think that the Marketing geniuses at Princess would set up travel incentives specifically for the single traveler. The OP is correct that a lot of money gets left on the table because a single traveler is treated like a poor relative.

I did not find the balcony to be that confining. Although we are going on the Grand in June of 2018 and arranged for a premium balcony on Caribe deck as we are traveling with family that has an inside room which means out balcony is going to be ground Zero. The premium balconies on Caribe deck are much larger.

We have been on may 12 cruises over the years and even the worst of them was AWESOME. Always something to remember and laugh about. Seeing the wonders of the world and people in it. I cannot wait to go on the next adventure. It is hard to believe but there is so much more to cruising then whether your lobster is 9 or 12 ounces.

Who is the current casino host on the Grand?

Not being a huge gambler and only been on Princess once so far but going on the Grand in June of 2018, What is a Casino Host and how is that important to me? Thanks for bringing up to speed.

On our last cruise, we made a reservation for the Crab Shack in the morning of the day it was to be offered. Went to the area at dinner time and they said........."no Crab Shack we did it last nite!!"

This time, I want to be sure to find the darn thing.

We are on both the Crown and the Regal in January. Any ideas of which nite might be right???

TIA

Thanks for the heads up. I did not do the Crab Shack on the Crown last March and regretted it. We will be on the Grand soon and I want to do it then. This will be a 10 day cruise to Alaska will they do the Crab shack only once or do you think they might do it twice?

one of our favorite places on the Crown - we try to book an interior room on Riviera deck, aft, on the Crown and use the Terrace pool and outrigger bar as our 'balcony' via the door that leads right out:cool:

Smart! That is why I love cruise critic. everyone is so much smarter then me:D

On the Grand and Crown I believe it is the Terrace pool. All the way aft is for adults only and I like it because it has a great view of the water while cruising.

We were on the Ruby 11/18-11/25 and anytime dining had a miserable line that had over an hour wait for a table. My suggestion is to go to the dining room when you board and ask the Maitre’d if you can reserve a table for X at 7:00 each evening. You may not get your preference of time, but you may get a table without standing in line. We did and got a table at 5:30 each night and I was so grateful we didn’t have to stand in that long line we saw each night when leaving the dining room.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Why did you just do an early or late seating? you would have gotten your table right away (every night) and you would not have perverted the system for those who truly want to eat anytime.

I can understand why they did that. Too many flaky people out there reserving early and never going. We are doing the Grand to Alaska in June and have prepaid all our excursions. If you decide not to go cancel before 72 hours and you are completely refunded and if you do go the trip has already been paid for with money you forgot about.

Never had to wait more than about 10 minutes. Mostly straight in.

We use ATD and like to eat about 6-6:30 PM. Very low wait time and even faster if you want to share. As a general rule I am not a proponent of a venue named Anytime taking reservations. The whole point is you go at your convenience and eat as the dining room allows. Perfect compromise. But that is just me.

Believe me it is not loss for those hearty sailors down under. I am beginning to believe that the Refer-a-Friend "Program" is more trouble than it is worth. I am still trying to get it after two months. By cancelling it Princess saved you a lot of aggrivation. To be fair I will let you all know when and If it comes through.

I spoke too soon. Just after posting this yesterday my OBC for the Refer-A-Friend promotion were posted to my accounts. While I still feel it was a lot of trouble I will not feel that way in June when I am spending that OBC on the Grand heading to Alaska. Thanks Princess!

My first cruise ship experience was in 1980 on NCL's Southward. that was the era of small ships. Fun ship great start to a long cruising career.

After unsucessful searches everywhere on Princess Australian website for the refer-a-friend link I finally emailed Princess Cruises to ask what had happened to the link.

 

This is the response I received:

I have received your enquiry regarding the Refer a Friend.

I do apologise but unfortunately this program has ceased in Australia.

If there is anything else we can assist with please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Kind Regards,

 

Did that friend book a cruise yet?? If not, that might be what is holding it up. If they did book, did they request the cruise referral be linked to you? It might seem automatic but that isn't always the case. A friend of mine had to call back on her reservation to make sure their cruise was linked to the referral ... then it was fixed.

 

Sorry to hear the OP doesn't have it on the Aussie site. :(

Several thins seemed to be going on. They never emailed the referred cruisers per their form that had my member number on it. then they immediately disqualified them because my brother was in the system (although he never sailed with them) because they think he might have ordered a brochure from them over 10 years ago. I requested the help of a supervisor and the emails were sent out and returned to princess so we shall see if it will actually work. Thanks for the interest.

I just go to the bottom where all the sites are listed. Refer-a-friend is in the first column on the left. Hope you will have better luck then me I have been trying to get my refer-a-friend credits for the last 6 weeks. It is always something Princess didn't do. Good luck.

Thanks for the review. We are going to Alaska on the Grand in June of 2018. We also booked the same dog sled excursion already. I am very excited to hear your positive comments. Glad you had a nice time. We are certainly looking for to going out under the Golden Gate Bridge to an exciting Alaska Adventure.

We always are in the first 25 to board. We like to get to our room drop things off then start our vacation.

Priority check in or do you arrive at 5 AM?:D

I try to go early to have lunch in the MDR ...

We board, unpack our carry on luggage quickly and head to the dining room if at all possible. We usually just order a bottle of wine to accompany our meal ... it's the best of both worlds and my favorite way to begin a cruise.

We have never done lunch in the MDR on departure day. I think we will try it on our Alaskan trip in June.

Understand........it still gets my adrenaline flowing a little too, but would just rather avoid the lines. Once on the ship with luggage stowed I'm ready for a sailaway party!

See you there!:cool: