Obsi

Thanks everyone!

If you were to wrap the medallion in foil/turn off the tracking or "accidentally" leave it somewhere else for a specific sneaky casino trip...... if your partner did try and locate you on the ship and couldn't find you, would he report you missing?  or at least question you about it later?   It could raise some uncomfortable questions if you were caught specifically trying to avoid tracking.

Personally if I was going to do that, I'd make a point of blocking the tracking during the whole cruise, so that my behaviour wouldn't be any different while doing my sneaky casino visits.

... just a thought...

Marketing the same thing to multiple demographics increases your chance of attracting a wider range of people.  So it could be a decision to try and reach everyone, rather than not knowing which demographic to advertise to.

Thanks for that - I thought that was how the coffee card worked but I wasn't sure.

So if you're in a bar or on deck you could ask for an iced tea and they would bring one to you for free?

The only place to get a free cup of tea (just a normal teabag tea) would be to make it yourself in the buffet or have it with a meal in the dining rooms?

If you purchased a coffee card, would you be able to get a teabag tea free instead of a brewed coffee do you think?

I don't suppose you could order a cup of teabag tea for free in room service?

(Just trying to work out what options my group will have, as I know some will complain about having to walk all the way to the buffet just for a cup of tea... we're big on cups of tea here lol)

I'm preparing some info for a group cruise I'm running (on Golden), and I want to let my group know which drinks are included in their fare - but I'm not actually sure because it's a bit confusing  (I always just get the unlimited soda package and that's all I drink :D)

I know that the drinks in Horizon court are included in your fare....  But is Horizon court the only place to get free drinks?   The Princess website just says 'Iced Tea, Lemonade, Water, Tea varieties, Non- Specialty Coffee'  is included, but that isn't very clear what that means or where those can be obtained (other than HC)...   

Eg if I went to International Cafe and asked for a cup of earl grey tea - would that be free or not?   I assume Chai would be considered like a specialty coffee so extra?    And would the only place to get a free coffee be in Horizon court or are there other kinds of coffee (what is 'non-specialty'?) that are free?

Can you order things like a cup of tea from a bar?  I have seen servers at the pool-side bars taking cups of coffee to people, so I assume they ordered from the bar, but I wasn't sure if they were paid or free, or if you're able to order there or not.

Also, can someone explain the coffee package -  it's not on the (Australian) site to be able to buy in advance, and I've heard it's changed - so I don't know how it works now (or how much it is)

Unless the extra fee is clearly stated, then charging an additional fee for something without disclosing what it is for is illegal.

That's one of the things airlines got into trouble for, when they weren't properly disclosing what their extra fees were.

Hmm.....  that's dodgy.  Offering 2 prices for the same thing, I'd be inclined to pass that on to the consumer protection agency in your state.

On 2/14/2019 at 8:29 AM, maxmia said:

Has anyone else had a Princess rep. tell them that the sale price on the web is for online bookings only?    I have booked at lease 4 of the last cruises by phone, and never had a problem before.    Yesterday I was quoted an increased fare of $700   to book on phone, or if I wanted the sale price with the 3x3 offer book on the website.     It's something new to me!    

As far as I know, the prices I've paid (and at least some others who have booked into my group cruise) at a TA have been the same as what was shown on the Princess website at the time they booked.

I would be questioning why the increased price, I'd also call a different Princess rep and a TA at random and question pricing to see what they say.

3 hours ago, majortom10 said:

That is a benefit of booking in the US that we do not have in UK. Any availability and price is only guaranteed at the time and it is not possible to "hold" a cabin. If you contact your TA the next day to book prices can change usually upwards. Even if you phone Princess direct in Southampton they will not "hold" cabins.

In Australia I was told we couldn't "hold" a cabin either, but what we can do is place a booking and then we have 3 days to make the deposit payment before that booking gets cancelled (if you've not paid).  So in effect you can hold a cabin for up to 3 days, by booking it... but it's considered a booking, not a "hold".

I've only been on the Golden Princess, and looked a photos/video of other ships.  Personally I like the "older" style decor that Golden has, and in some ways I'm a little disappointed that the Majestic will take over the Golden's voyages, as I feel some of it looks too modern and too flashy.  Looking at P&O, Celebrity, carnival and other ships I don't like the modern decor they have, nothing inspires me to choose to cruise with them.  I certainly would never go on a ship that has waterslides and the like.

Although the Horizon court on the Golden looks straight out of the 1980s, so that could do with a facelift  :P  The look of the buffet on Majestic looks nice.

To me, part of the appeal of going on a cruise is to have a different experience than what I'd get at a modern hotel or shopping centre...I want to live that opulent luxury lifestyle for a little while - So that old fashioned charm is really appealing to me.

Hubby and I are planning a New Zealand cruise for our 20th anniversary and I'd dearly love to do the Cunard (Queen Elizabeth) one for that old fashioned ambiance - but for essentially the same cruise (Cunard is 1 day longer)  it's $970 pp more expensive than princess 😞  (which is strange, as other Australian cruises are similarly priced between the 2)  Which we can't justify just for the look of the ship. 

If colouring books are your thing, you could bring one of those.  I normally can't justify the time to do them, though I am jealous of people who do lovely ones, so I bought one to take on a cruise - though I ended up not having any spare time to even get it out lol!  (I've only done 7 day cruises so far)

If you're cruising with friends/family who might like to play some card games or things like cards against humanity, you could bring those - you'll find quiet places around the ship you'd be able to play those I'm sure.

Yes I'd like to pre-plan as much as possible to make it easier.

The other thing Jan told me in the email was to do with the easel/noticeboards people have mentioned.  She said:

"Please be advised that we do not have noticeboards, the group will have to schedule/arrange for a Hospitality Desk and provide us with exact date and exact times they will need it.  The desk must be manned at all times or it will be taken down.  The group leader or someone from the group will be seated at The Hospitality Desk as an information station for their group.  There is a daily charge for this desk.  If they wish to have this arranged please let us know the dates and times and who will be charged for it. "

The TA#1 had told me that before and that the cost was $25 per day for that.  So in Australia they don't seem to allow any free option.  Which is a shame (surely the issue of communication in groups comes up all the time) But that's ok - we'll use our cabin doors instead.

The problem with a calling tree is that if someone forgets to call their 5 people, then that creates a branch that doesn't get notified - it also relies on everyone checking their cabin phone to see if they have any messages.  I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I've found that when dealing with groups of people, you have to expect that sometimes you'll have some people who are less reliable than you'd like.  I don't want that spoiling anyone's trip.

If we can have the situation where 2-3 people have a small notepad on their doors, and it's the responsibility of people located in those areas to check that door for messages - then it's only 3 people who have to do their job keeping people updated, and if people don't check and miss out on info, then that's their fault.  So less likely (I hope) for there to be a break in the chain.

If only their princess@sea messenger had a group mode - (a bit like whatsapp or a group message on fb).  Where a group booking could be assigned a group ID code, and everyone in the group could put that code in and get access to the group chat.  Rather than it being just a one-on-one thing requiring everyone to have shared their ID with everyone else to be able to receive messages.  Still some of my ladies won't be up to using that, but it would at least mean anyone who is could use that and we'd only have to fill in those who aren't connected to that.

Got another email from Jan.  Seems she isn't the one I'd be talking to regardless of if I had a booking through a TA or not - she says I need to contact the Australian group bookings.  From her reply, I'm not sure if they would deal with me direct even if I was to move my TA#1 bookings to Princess (she wasn't sure that was even possible).  I think that if I still have a booking with a TA (eg all my TA#2 bookings) and they know that all my bookings are part of the same group, they would then want me to pass everything through that TA instead of talking to me direct.   But I'll try contacting the Australian office and see what they say.

8 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

I’m exhausted reading this thread and I’m a planner/organizer.

i would suggest telling everyone to meet each morning first thing (whatever time you determine fits your schedule best) in a lounge not used at that time of day if they wish updates. 

The first one to complain about lack of communication would be next years organizer..:)

That could work.  I'd need to consider breakfast as well though, and I imagine it's only unused before about 9am (Looking at the patters from the previous cruise I did, they had Tai Chi in the Vista lounge at 8am, but nothing elsewhere until 9am)

So if I say we'll meet up at a Explorers lounge at 8am for the day's messages, and then at 8:15(ish) we go off for breakfast wherever people want it.  Anyone choosing not to meet up then misses out on any planning, which is their loss -  although we'd still have the little notepads on doors people can check later in the day if they want to sleep in.  The ladies can bring their daily schedules and arrange who is going to do what activities that day.

-- I'm the next organiser as well - Unless I decide after this not to do it again :P  (nah, I'll have sorted out the logistics by then and won't use TA#1 - so next cruise will be much easier!!!)  Though it'll be 2022 as we'll do them every 2 years.  I don't think I'd have the energy to do them yearly, especially since I'm just a volunteer and really only doing it so I can justify the cruise to hubby 😄 

6 hours ago, Potstech said:

By the way what is the formal dress attire for the Philippines? And is it appropriate for wear on formal nights on a Princess ship?

Formal attire in Australia is wearing you best shorts and thongs (flipflops, not the underwear, although perhaps your best ones of those too [in case you get lucky due to your handsome footwear])  😄 

I could see if I can get TA#2 to put the birthday request onto her booking (I can't add it to mine, or it will think it's my birthday) - but if I want to get an extra cake for our afternoon tea then I can't get that added to her account.  I'd rather it be somewhat of a surprise to her to have the cake as well.  I'm not sure if she will login to the website to fill out her details or if she'll do that through the TA or get someone else to do it (Some of the ladies don't have internet and/or aren't internet savvy)

I just figured 90 is an awesome birthday to celebrate, especially since she'll be on the cruise (and therefore away from her family).  If it was a 67th birthday or something I probably wouldn't go to too much extra effort, but 90 calls for a pretty big celebration I think!

I'll try calling the 1800 number  (I'm in Australia so I don't want to call anything international).  But who should I talk to?  just whoever answers the phone, or should I ask for a particular department?

We can have a section of the room if needs be - but the last group cruise we did they set us up an afternoon tea (trays of sandwiches and cakes) on one of the sea days - we were alone in one of the dining rooms.... I assumed they did that for us because we were a group of Red Hat ladies.   I can't imagine the previous organiser paid for it, because there were only enough of us for her to get 1 free berth.  So unless she was nice and paid it out of that?  I think it's more likely she wrangled it for free.

13 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

It is also a well documented fact that the Royal Class ships suffer ongoing problems from soot on aft balconies. Knowing that information in advance could be very helpful when selecting a cabin in order to seek compensation particularly when by their own admission they are a serial complainer.

Documented where though?  I was considering an aft balcony for an upcoming cruise, and I just happened to stumble upon this post and another on the Princess board talking about the soot issue.  I'd read through these forums prior to my last 2 cruises and hadn't seen any mention of it - so unless the cruise line has some warning about it, or you happen to see people talking about it, it would be very easy to not know it was an issue, book a cabin and be disappointed.

Much as I'd love to transfer the bookings over, I think that would be confusing for the ladies, and they would lose their OBC - So it's not really fair on them, when they aren't really impacted by staying with the TA, only I am  (well, other than those tho got stuffed around, but that's already happened, so nothing can change that annoyance)

13 hours ago, Ombud said:

#2: I know the maitre d can help with a section of MDR for tea, would that work? He holds a session on embarkation day which is when I would ask (apologizing for TA)

 

#3: Ask Cruise Director-- I've never been turned down as long as its within reason. And he'd love to add it to the patter if its an open mtg. Find him Day 1 or email before hand. (I'm on Golden Nov 24- Dec 9)

#3a: Skywalker Lounge is not used during the morning. Could that be a 1/2 hr drop in spot?

If I can get a definite yes and preferably a time for the 2 meetups I want to do - before we get onboard - then I can include that in our printed itinerary everyone will get (I will have little goody bags for everyone) and the email I'll send out before we go.  So then I don't have to try and communicate that while we're on the ship.   

If I can't confirm out meetups until I speak to someone on the ship then I have the hassle of trying to pass that message on to 100 ladies who will have all gone their separate ways on the ship.  Basically I'd have to call each stateroom to leave them a message or try and get people to pass on messages.  At least it would be on our second day, so we'd have some time to get the message out.  But it would be SOOOOOOO much easier if I can just get the OK before we go and include it in the itinerary.

13 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I don't think all of the 100 people would expect a piece of the birthday cake. It would be more for the pleasure of joining the 'birthday girl' in her celebration. 

No, it won't matter if we don't all get some.  It's really just so we can sing happy birthday 😄   I know it's been said that she'll get a cake with her dinner, but I feel the dinner will be a bit crowded and we'd have more fun if it was just us.... also what if she decides to eat at a specialty restaurant that night as a treat.....that's why I'd rather we have a little afternoon tea party for her that is just us.

2 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

If so another reason to never use a Travel Agent and book direct with the line.  P & O (Sister Brand)  has started to take the fees that would be paid to TA and are giving part of them back to guests booking direct. 

If they had offered OBC to my ladies I would have gone direct, but I wanted to get the best deal for them, so that meant a TA.   When we went on the same cruise as a family last year I booked direct.

I like the unlimited soda package, for the mocktails. I only know Australian prices, but for memory a mocktail to buy is $5?  So basically drink 2 mocktails a day and you've paid for the package.

My favourite is the Nojito, but if you don't like mint I can see how you'd not like it.  Second favourite is the key west cooler.  You could easily ask for it without mint, or with less.  I find them all a bit sweet, so I ask the bar staff to make them half strength and add more soda water - which I find is perfect for me.  The other thing I do with the nojito is get them to refill the glass with soda water after I've finished, and I get a mild lemon/lime/mint drink which I find quite refreshing.  (and then I don't feel like I'm wasting so much of the fruit/mint with a new one)

I didn't realise you could order any alcoholic drink without the alcohol though - Maybe next time I'll have to get more creative!

Got an email from Jan, and as predicted they won't discuss anything with me, it has to go through the travel agent 😞 .... The only one they seem to have record of for me (she greeted me with my surname which I'd not used, so clearly looked me up in the system) is the badTA#1 who I'd rather have teeth pulled than deal with.....  and Jan helpfully contacted the Australian office to tell them to contact my agent, to contact me to discuss my booking.... which would have been great, but I had said in my email that I'm not using that agent any more and have my newer bookings through a different agency.

So now I'm going to have to have the "I've left you for someone else and tried to circumvent you by going to Princess direct" conversation with TA#1, and try and get TA#2 to contact Princess to organise things instead.  (who is of course now away until the end of the month) Ugh.

Honestly, wrangling 100 people is one thing, dealing with TA#1 has been the absolute worst part of this whole thing.  Would be so much easier if I could just contact Princess directly 😞   

All I need to do is ask:
Can I have a space (eg the skywalkers lounge) for a 2 hour meetup during the day on seaday #1
Can I have a private afternoon tea in one of the dining rooms on sea day #2, and get a birthday cake
(and optionally, is there any noticeboard situation they can offer us)

I want to ask Princess about the afternoon tea before we get onboard because I'd like to know if we can have a cake and balloons or something since it's such a special occasion (even if I have to pay extra, but hoping they will do it free).  Since her birthday is on that last sea day we have, so it's perfect timing!

Also if it's arranged beforehand I can add it to the printed itinerary so everyone knows it's on.  If I only arrange it while onboard then I have to get that message out to all 100 people somehow.

I'm not planning any onboard activities other than dinner and hopefully (if I can get in touch with Princess to organise it), a birthday party afternoon tea for our 90 year old, and another get together I'd like to have - on each of our sea days.  If I can do those, they will be added to the itinerary everyone will be notified of before we go.  

The idea is to enjoy the cruise, and our club famously has no rules :P  So I don't think the ladies really want their days planned out with scheduled events.  Also with 100 people, we can't all meet at the pool or something like that - we'd not all fit 😄  And we'd also take up too much space and prevent other passengers being there.  (Although we might scare off all the splashy kids, so that would be a bonus! :D)  We can't arrange beforehand to all go to the theater as we don't know what day/time anything will be on until we get onboard.  So as much as possible the time spent on the ship will be up to each person to decide what they want to do.    

I do expect though that smaller groups of us will want to do activities together - so those casual plans are what I'm wanting to be able to facilitate. 

We may not ever actually need to contact each other - but as event organiser people will expect me to have some plans in place, and since the greatest complaint the last cruise had was lack of communication I did promise I would have that sorted out for this cruise.  So I want to make sure I do.

We have 4 port days (2 sea days), and I have people from our club who live in/near those ports organsing activities for those port days.  But those too will be an optional thing, since we won't find venues that can accommodate all 100 of us + however many from the local groups as well, and some may want to stay on the ship (or do their own shore tours).   But I'm not organising those port days, I've delegated that to the locals who know the area (and so I don't have to do it 😉 )  So I think that will be plenty of scheduled activities enough to leave the cruise itself schedule free (mostly)

Sadly we missed the formal night on our Adelaide cruise last year (daughter was feeling a bit sea sick and felt better sitting out on the deck so we spent half the cruise sitting outside), so I don't know what people were wearing then, but I didn't see many people in suits or very formal dresses that night.  On the 2016 cruise I did (Golden Princess to Tasmania)  the passengers in suit/evening dresses were in the minority, with the majority of people wearing the same sort of clothing you'd see in any normal land based restaurant (here in Australia).... eg smart casual...  Most men were just in shirt and tie, some not even a tie.   

So more dressy than the usual daily tshirt, but most were not in full formal attire.
(Which was a shame, I was hoping for opera gloves and lots of bling :P )

Since our group is an International one (Red Hat Society), the last cruise we did we had a meetup advertised in the patter.  Mostly as a way to get us all together, but also in case there were others onboard who wanted to meet with us  (sometimes we find other members who just happened to be at the same place).  We had 2 ladies who had seen us around and were interested in joining came to chat to us, so that was nice.  I'll try and see if we can do that again.

But the main communication we'd be needing is things like if some of us decide to go to the nightclub one night, or to a certain show and would like to let others in the group know to join them - things like that.  Something that could be easy to arrange if we all met up for breakfast/dinner,  but if we decide it during the day or don't catch up for breakfast then it might be tricky to spread the word around other than just telling whoever you meet during the day and hoping it gets around.

We do have a few clusters of cabins around the ship, so I think the idea to assign someone (trustworthy) to be a message point in each of those areas - and they can hang a small noticeboard on their cabin door - might do the trick.  For those chapters who have several members coming, they can sort out amongst themselves who can keep the others in the loop.

Some of us will probably use the onboard messaging app - but realistically trying to get 100 people (some of whom aren't net savvy) to find their ID numbers to then give out to everyone in the group, would be a nightmare.  If there was a way to set up groups beforehand it would be handy, but the way it's designed isn't really practical for a large group like us.   Also not all of us have smartphones or will be wanting to carry them around all day.   But if we can try and hook some people up (especially those in charge of their sections), then that can help spread messages around as well.

Yes - we're all already booked in for the 5pm traditional dining.

(all but the 16 people who booked through their own TA so aren't on my bookings)

Princess likely doesn't yet know that it's all the one group, because the bookings are split over my 2 TA... but both are booked in.   But I was going to do that linking thing that was suggested.