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Just returned from the Crown which has the OM.  Our experience:

as Canadians we had to pick up our Medallian at check in.  No problem, no line for us, they checked that the photos we submitted were acceptable, gave us our Medallions and we were on our way, maybe five minutes total.

Did not buy any accessories but many did buy the wristband, we just put it in our pocket since we dislike lanyards.

Door entry was mixed, sometimes the door was opened 10 feet away, other times it required a tap directly to screen.

We dont like to be burdened with a phone on board and after many attempts at using the various ocean apps with varying degrees of success, we just didnt bother with it anymore and used the OM as a cruise card.

Did notice many frustrated passengers at the OM help centre.

I think it is still a WIP, maybe things will improve in future. 

We experienced very rough weather throughout a Princess Transatlantic that started Sept 22 in Southampton.  First the tail end of a hurricane prevented docking at Portland, England and then we missed Ponte Delgarda since our Captain significantly altered course south to avoid Hurricane Lorenzo.  

I have to say I am very thankful he made those decisions for our safety and I dont recall hearing a single complaint by passengers.  

However I probably  will never take an autumn transatlantic again.

I have also seen some use their iphones or tablets to research answers.  One can only hope the internet on board is too slow to be useful!

On Medallion ships, will there still be priority lines for Platinum or Elite cruisers on boarding?

Just refared our 29 day Asia cruise. Kept our cabin and our refundable status, our cabin price went down slightly, lost about $100 OBC pp. but with free gratuities we are saving about $900.  So glad I checked.

We usually request a table for six.  Larger tables make conversations difficult and the tables for two which are separated by six inches are just awkward as explained by a previous poster.  

Thanks so much for this info.  I have requested a flexible head with holder for our 16 day cruise, hope it is there when we board, it will make all the difference!

We recently sailed on Celebrity Eclipse...beautiful ship( some venues a bit sterile) but for us Princess excels  in almost all areas.  Celebrity prices on board are outrageous, e.g. specialty coffee twice the price as Princess.  Our dining experience on Eclipse was poor, unremarkable food and  very slow service in the MDR.  Buffet however was good if you could  get at it; extremely busy.

Princess is our preferred line for so many reasons:

Love, love the IC, MUTS

Lots to do in the evenings

Relaxed, comfortable venues

Friendly efficient service

Free internet once you get to Platinum

OBC for shareholders that you can stack with other OBC

On our next cruise we become Elite so looking forward to the new perks.

We sailed on MSC Opera a few years ago to Norway, have to say never again.

Quite a few issues for us.

-kids sailed free and there were lots of them with many completely unsupervised and behaving badly.

-food not to our liking, geared perhaps to European tastes

-entertainment was passable but not excellent

-extremely expensive excursions and no offerings for reasonable port shuttles

-smoking is prevalent and that alone makes MSC a never again

if you are sailing MSC in the Caribbean,  things may be different however...may be geared more to NAmerican tastes.

I have bought an RFID wallet for our upcoming cruise.   Most of the perks Medallion  offers are not of interest to me and I consider some of them to be intrusive. To each his own, but I think Princess is being a bit invasive.  Pleased to hear from this board that they have at least given you the option to turn some features off.

Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.  This PVP also seems a bit aggressive which is off putting.  Think I will stay with my current self help system.  Has been satisfactory in the past.

We have been assigned a Princess PVP.  Several emails to us have indicated that the PVP can get us some extra perks (not specified) that are not available if you just call in to Princess or book online.  Any experience with this?  I have my doubts and bring this up because I have always received excellent immediate service without the PVP and prefer to do it this way (faster) or book directly online.

We have sailed on most lines and have just reached Elite on Princess and I do have to say that Princess remains our favourite. ( really love the IC).  We are generally motivated by price, itinerary and value for dollar and Princess does usually deliver.  We have noticed an increase in cruise prices lately though so we are on alert.

Our last cruise was on Celebrity and we were very disappointed...while the price of the cruise was a deal, once on board everything was overpriced...eg 6$ for a specialty coffee, a charge for oj, specialty dinners starting at 50$pp,  15$ for a mixed drink and on and on.

Small adjustments that many lines have made such as no animal towels, no chocolates on pillow, do not bother us and as long as the food in the main dining room and the entertainment are good we are generally happy.  

Viking has been mentioned but we feel their all inclusive model wouldn't suit us since we do not drink and prefer to make our own air and shore arrangements.

PS.  also enjoy HAL

Any idea if Princess would provide a chair for those passengers who request one? e.g. for a bad back

We sail on the Crown out of Southampton in September.  

Would dearly love to see a kettle in the cabin.  Then I could have my Starbucks instant in my pajamas and wait for DH to wake up.  No, Room Service is not the answer... never sure when I will wake up and then have to wait for delivery. Also room service always wakes DH  then a crabby guy to deal with.  I know, self indulgent!!

Also a thermos overnight with hot water becomes lukewarm in the AM.

Princess, are you listening?

I spoke to a Princess rep yesterday about this.  We will not be using the Medallion apps so were concerned about our free (Platinum or Elite) minutes.

She said we will still get our free minutes and do not need to use them via the Medallion apps.

I had a large amount of OBC for my upcoming Sept. Cruise.  I purchased shore excursions on line and the excursions were paid by those OBC till I ran out, then I had to pay the balance on my credit card.

i ❤️ Princess!

Thanks Tina, that is a relief.  All we want is occasional contact with our kids so the free minutes works well for us.

Do I understand correctly that if I am Elite, we no longer get free minutes on a Medallion cruise and only receive a discount on internet packages?

We will be receiving our Medallion at the port and will not be using our phones or ipads or the apps.

if we do not want our names  or images to appear upon entry to cabin is this something we would request at check in?

Returned to Celebrity(Eclipse) after a ten year absence....what happened to the food!  The dining room food could only be described as poor.  Poor selection, overcooked vegetables, watery soup and on and on.  We noticed that as the cruise went on, fewer people were in the dining room and more in the buffet.  I wonder if Celebrity is doing what Norwegian started long ago....poor dining room food to encourage you to shell out for the specialty venues.

I was also surprised at some of the on board charges... 6$ for a specialty coffee or tea, a charge for orange juice (really?)

did enjoy the excellent entertainment and beauty of the ship but the poor food and constant pushing to specialty resteraunts is off putting and I doubt we will return.

We are Elite on Princess and 3 Star on HAL so lots of experience on both.

Our true love is Princess.  Some of the things that we love are not available on HAL and include the amazing IC in the Atrium.  Love having an early morning coffee and pastry there (does get too crowded later in the day).  Free internet after a number of sailings is wonderful and is not offered by HAL at any level.  Shows are better on Princess and there are more activities in general.

We do enjoy HAL's America Test Kitchen and they have wonderful, informative lectures on the ports.  For that reason I prefer HAL  for longer itineraries that visit more exotic ports.

I personally much prefer the food on Princess in the MDR but HAL has a better buffet set up and better choice.

 We will sail most lines (not Carnival) if the itinerary and price appeal but sailing Princess is like coming home.

There is much to enjoy on either line.  Have fun!

Thank you whogo, what a pleasure to read your comments.

 We did this same cruise three years ago and you have brought back wonderful memories.  Agree with you about the beauty of New Zealand.

Also booked the Enchanted for the June 18 sailing. Very excited!

We always take snacks back to the room.  I love to have fruit available at all times and have a few items handy to snack on, especially in the evening before bed.  We make sure to keep things tidy for the steward and keep any dishes in the cabin.

there are many reasons people may want to have snacks handy including health reasons or feeding constantly hungry children.

an interesting aside... A few years ago Norwegian cruise lines tried to ban bringing food back to the cabin (happened at the same time they instituted a significant charge for room service!). There was such an outcry on cruise critic they reversed their policy!  don't you just love cruise critic!!!!

I completely agree with Skynight re the coffee package.  I don't think Princess has thought this through adequately and it will likely result in fewer package purchases. (I know I will no longer be purchasing one...time to bring along my Starbucks instant coffee tubes!)