sirclean

We had issues getting the medalians delivered. They sent an email with a useless tracking number and when I called (because we had not received them OR use the tracking number) the helper told us that they were mailed to the port and we could pick it up there. We were at the port early and had to wait for security, but once through security, we went right to the front of the Elite line and had the medalians within 5 minutes I think (no lines for us, anyway). No promises that will continue in the future if they dont mail them as they currently plan!

Please see the thread that is titled, in part "Internet: Unlimited but Unusable" My experiences getting online to check mail are not unique. However, I am glad that you are having more internet success! Next time I am on board, I will have to see if I can use my phone more than my computer to deal with emails, though I usually rely on my computer to deal with email over my relatively tiny phone screen.

To play devils advocate (and since it's not my money!) Consider a one way cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage, THEN star the cruise tour with the land 'first' (middle now) and then you will cruise back, making flying into or out of Alaska a non issue.... and if you go Inside for the first cruise up, it may be no more expensive, and less tiring than flying in or out of Alaska!.... And IF you needed, you could even consider flying to Seattle and crossing the border by car or other means, reducing the issues of international flights!

NO, it will cost $330 for a boat/shipload of aggravation! I just got off the Discovery (Saturday after Thanksgiving) and it was not even possible to download your Gmail account in a reasonable amount of time. When it Takes 190 Times longer to do what you Were once doing quickly, and for free, this is not an improvement! The bottom line is that the ONLY thing that is 'Unlimited" about Princess' current internet package is the amount of time it takes to Accomplish anything online!!

OOOHH! Then I will make sure that I dont throw it away as it may be collectable! Thanks for letting me know!

I didnt prebook, but I did get a haircut on the ship, and my discount was taken off at the time I got the bill.

Even e-mail could be essentially useless! Please find the thread "Internet: Unlimited but Unusable". We are just off the Discovery (sailed Thanksgiving week) and it took 4 to 5 minutes to even open Gmail and if you tried to remove more than 5 'black friday ads' at a time, it stalled again! I suggest that you find the thread I mentioned for a fleet wide discussion about the failure to provide usable internet service.

Just off the Discovery on Saturday (after Thanksgiving). Mine was white with black design, and Bride's was white with Gold color princess (as she is gold). However, we were NOT shipped our medalians to the house, they were 'delivered to the LA cruise terminal' we were told. SO it could be that they made ours at the port, and that is why they were white. However, I just ordered one for an April cruise and it looked like it would be black background with white drawing. Only time will tell. So it COULD be that they have a bunch of 'all purpose white ones in the terminal, but most of the medalians i saw were white and I could not tell the difference between blue drawings and black drawings.

The Medalian is a small disk with an RFID device. The medalian replaced the cruise card. So the ship knows where you are, and as you get near your room, it unlocks your door. It allows the serves to see your picture, so IF you order a drink, they know roughly where you are , and what you look like (and if you have the package or if your account gets billed). The AP allows you to do a lot of things on the cell phone (like order the medalians!). On the ap, you can make reservations for your 'dine your way' so that you can pick a restaurant and time. It shows the ship map, can locate your travel mates, show you the day's agenda, and those sorts of things.

We were on Discovery over Thanksgiving week. It was above capacity with all the kids out for the week. Very busy, long lines, but people seemed happy. We did have a norovirus outbreak. Are they having issues this week? (I was disappointed in the lack of required sanitation. My last cruise was pre Covid, and then you could not enter any dining room without either washing your hands or using the gel. In the buffet, they would not hand you a plate until after you did another round of gel. But on this past week's trip, until the virus struck about Wednesday, none of these precautions were taken. Even after it hit, they did not enforce hand washing, but they only allowed the crew to handle the spoons and such). Has it improved this week?

tonit964! I dont want to derail this post, but I suspect that the answer you provided is going to bring it to an end... I was on the Discovery last week, and it would not have been possible to log on to Cruise Critic! Can you comment on the internet speed this week? (last week it was Unusable!) How crowded it is this week? (Last week with Thanksgiving, it was above capacity with all of the kids!) Finally, IF you have a chance, go by the Bellini Bar and Say "howdy" to Jouquim and Mikee... and if you have a drink package ask for a Toasted Almond and mention that they did such a great job on it last week, that we are sending them customers This Week! Thanks, and Enjoy your cruise!!

Thank you very much! This link looks very correct! I was on the Discovery last week and that seems to be my menu choices!

.you could ask a crew member about wifi hotspots in port, or they used to put them in the port info Yes!! The Crew Know ALL, in EVERY PORT!! Ask one of the bartenders (when it is slow) or go to the buffet area and ask one of the workers their advice! They know the best hotspots, closest pharmacy, Walmart, and grocery store! (My travel buddy is very talkative and friendly, and he can find out all of the best places in any port, and will sometimes arrange to go WITH The crew when they get off the ship and travel to there 'spot'.... On last week's trip, the Bartender made a run to Walmart for a load of chips (pringles) and pork rinds! So if they help you out, maybe bring them back something they can not get on the ship!)

We just got off of the Discovery for the Thanksgiving week. The shows were wonderful, but the ship was full, and we found that IF you wanted a good seat that you would want to plan to arrive at 7. By 7:15 it is already pretty full, and by 7:25 it was too late to find seats, even on the wings

We were on the Discovery over the week of Thanksgiving. The ship was above capacity with many children. It prompted me to ask a similar question in the post partly named "Internet: Unlimited but Unusable" I hope that thread is helpful. The Reader's Digest answer is that the internet was an experience in frustration and unless you have the ability to connect to the internet (and use your phone as a hotspot) in Mexican ports, you will not be able to connect with work. Even my gmail would take 4 to 5 minutes to load, but that was no promise that you could then open one of the emails! If I tried to delete more than 5 ads (Black Friday sale reminders!) at once, it would bog down again. Bottom line is that IF work is important, then find another way to access the internet (like update your phone's capability to work and connect to the internet in Mexico or where ever else you may be heading)

I think that the Princess Plus $50 a day plan has to be booked and paid for before boarding. However, as others have noted, IF You have a ton of OBC, then P+ is overkill. You can get what you need with the credit. Tips are based on cabin size, but are about $13 a day, per person. Internet is (in my experience over Thanksgiving) unusable, so dont waste the money! Drinks depend on what you want to do. You can make tea for free, order cans of drinks (or bring some on board with you). Alcohol, unless you are going to drink 4 or 5 drinks a day, each, may be better to just use the OBC to pay for. Remember, most OBC expires at the end of the trip, so you can not take it home

Just off the Discovery for a Thanksgiving Week trip. (Probably the same itinerary!) Time will change 2 times on the way to Puerto Villarto, and then change back on the way back to Cabo, and then again on Friday night returning to LA. The internet was UNUSABLE . It took 4 to 5 minutes just to load my gmail account, and IF I tried to delete more than 5 ads from email, it bogged again. Only once did I have barely usable speed. The rest was an excercise in frustration and futility. IF your daughter has a phone package to access data in Mexico, then you will be in some shape to do some things in ports. Otherwise, NO Work will be done on the ship, even checking emails!

hmmm... on the one hand I m glad to know that my terrible experience might not be fleetwide, though nothing in here really fills me with confidence that I can try to get away without being willing to completely cut off from work. On the other hand, it does not seem that there is a cure for this that is likely to be useful to me in the next 2 cruises! (At least in June, I will be in Alaska and able to connect in the US ports to check in.)

Just off the Discovery for a Thanksgiving week cruise. ON the BIG screen on deck 16 was 'Merican Football, as I recall. (I watched it in the room). I also watched some of the FIFA action in the room. (go to TV and Movies/ Live TV/ NFL Football was the first choice but on the bottom row was the FIFA tournament games and commentary. I dont remember seeing anything about the games on the Big Screen, though the Captain did mention the US/ Britain game at the Elite/Platinum Reception)

Just off the Discovery from a Thanksgiving Week Cruise. Skagway was the only MDR open for lunch on any day, as far as I recall.

Just off the Discovery, didnt see it listed, but Im not sure that I remember ever hearing of that one anyway.

I had not considered that. I was thinking about it more on the lines that I dont have to wait for someone to take the order, go to the drink spout, wait for their turn there, get my drink and all the others, come all the way back and then deliver them. If they have it ready, then it saves a lot of time and adds to the enjoyment. On the other hand, Sprite is not subject to a substantial upcharge/package cost .... If I changed my mind, then the waste is minimal, and I am sure that Day 4 would not have anything waiting for me! (and Sprite goes with either fish or beef!!!)

Just back from Discovery Princess (on a Thanksgiving Cruise). Discovery is one of the LARGE Ships. I preferred to travel on those like the Star, which were all sold/transferred. So this is my first experience with this size ship, and it was at or above capacity given all of the extra passengers (kids) on the trip. I can not say that I noticed lower quality food. I have been on 22 Princess cruises before this one, so I have tasted most every meal, and I didnt notice much difference. (I really like Onion soup, but it is now on the 'every day' list, not once a week, so I can tell you that the onion soup is no where what it was, but given that it is every day now, it probably is very, very different... like prepackaged in a bag, and kept warm until needed, and not prepared fresh for the one day). Otherwise, the food was as good as I remembered. The internet was worse, (see the Internet: Unlimited but Unusable thread). But that is not a cutback, just a flaw with the company. I will say that service was stretched to its limits, but I didnt feel that was because they cut back on staff, but more that the ship was stressed to its capacity limits (and beyond). IF this is your first Princess Cruise, come with an open mind! Dont let anyone else poison your opinion! Princess target clientele is different from Holland America. They have different types of events and you may (or may not)! prefer the 'vibe' of the line. (Also, IF you continue with Princess, you will notice that Alaska on Princess is different from Mexico or Hawaii on Princess). The bottom line is that it is going to be a new experience for you! Enjoy it, and dont look for bad things that may not be bad to you!!

Just back from LA... IF you want to walk off, you can. Should you? I dont know. My luggage is usually heavier (or rather bulkier) than I would want to comfortably want to lug around. When you register, you provide the with your travel plans. IF you are getting a ride to the airport from them (some ports it is required - You wont find a faster/cheaper route back from Whittier/Anchorage- some it is a waste (Ft. Lauderdale, where a cab is cheaper and faster), others a convenience (Vancouver has a nearby train to the airport, but you have to lug your bags a block or 2 uphill (both ways!) and then deal with them on a train). Anyway, they will get you off the boat in time to catch your plane. You are given colored/numbered tags for your bags. You put your bags out the final night by 10. The next day you get breakfast and make your way to the lounge they send you to (like the Princess Theater, or one of the large bars). You wait for your group to be called and they take you to the exit. They stagger this so that there is not a huge back up at Customs, and so that the bags can be offloaded and grouped better. In the end it is your call, but it is not a terrible experience to wait to get off the ship. That said.... One of the benefits of Platinum status (after your 5th cruise) is that you can use the Platinum/Elite departure lounge. They provide coffee and not great danish and you wait in nicer seats. (and anyone in a group with even 1 platinum member can go with them to the lounge!) You are on vacation, dont rush ending it just to get off the ship! Let them carry the bags as far as they can so you dont have to!

950 pm (eastern time zone). "We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please try again." Not Black Friday, but probably early for Cyber Monday! However, I was getting similar messages several weeks ago too! I guess that it is too much to expect a cruise line to be competent with respect to internet issues! It is enough that they can move and keep us well fed and entertained!