startedwithamouse

The last move over offer we received was last summer. We had a low price on both our cabins, and suspect those are the guests they target first, as they pay the least amount for them to move over. I believe it was just a few days before embarkation.

17 hours ago, Bemidji Ty said:

Just got our cabin assignment today.  We leave next Wednesday.  Since we'd booked a guaranteed cabin (it was all that was available in the mini-suite category), we had to abide by the guidelines.  We've been assigned a window suite (#311).  And that's just fine.  Thanks for all your comments.  I appreciate it.

 

Cheers

With full suite privileges! Nice!

Maybe in your stateroom?  

We watched some NBA playoff basketball on one of the sports channels, they had NHL playoffs too, but not all games. 

On 5/28/2024 at 6:12 PM, SCX22 said:

Not sure about the Enchanted...

 

But on the Majestic, Take 5 is/was a VIP Casino and Lounge.  The VIP Casino and Lounge was for the Chinese market when the ship launched.  Been on her several times post restart and it seems to go back and forth.  There's a section the side nearest Princess Theater that's walled off with card tables.  Last year the card tables were covered up with stretch wrap.  This year the tables were operational (with casino dealers for at part of the time that the casino was open) with the rest of the space open for passengers as a lounge and in the evening had a singing piano player.  A little like a casino and Crooners combined.

Pretty sure that area on Majestic is sports lounge - we watched playoff games in there on multiple TVs.

5 hours ago, Ellipooh said:

He’s a celebrity?
Huh! Never heard of him

Mr. Worldwide!

4 minutes ago, CenTexan said:

On Island now. This morning we received in our room the standard "Disembarkation Questionnaire" about transfers to airport. It says "New York, Manhatten, Pier 88 - June 4. 2024". Our transfer tickets do not show pier, only transfer to LGA.

 

Manhattan is pretty definite then. 

Bridge department will know @suzyed.

32 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Correct. 

 

I'm happy with about 80 per cent of the ways they do it. And the rest I believe they significantly take advantage of us passengers. 

 

Internet charges - I don't like the way they exploit the fact that so many passengers need internet daily (my wife and I do to keep in touch with our businesses in the UK daily) and charge fees that just dont exist exorbitant fees anywhere other than on cruise lines

 

These crew appreciation fees - total con trick. Simple as that. 

 

I won't mention a couple of other things as I don't want to divert the debate

But cruising is a luxury, not a necessity.  If you feel Princess is taking advantage of you or exploiting your need of internet, or conning you, there are many ways to spend your vacation funds. 

Have you seen the resort fees at hotels lately? Cruising remains the least expensive all inclusive vacation, and this is why tens of thousands of guests are currently sailing at this very moment. 

22 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I think we are giving far too much credit for how pooling and allocation of the money we give as "staff appreciation" is being used 

 

What's happening is Princess are quite simply bringing in a HUGE amount of extra  income without any costs at the end of each cruise which they use to pay wages and incentive staff

 

It's just the ultimate way of taking more money from passengers on a cruise

 

And they will keep taking it until the are no longer able to

 

Let's not overcomplicate what's happening here

 

They make more money here than they do charging the exorbitant fees for internet that cruise ships continue to charge that no longer happens on land

 

They take their opportunities to max out our spend with them

 

And this particular method is just the least transparent and at the same time the most profitable

 

Huge money involved every cruise

 

Fair play to them for getting away with it and taking advantage of the goodwill of so many passengers for so many years

 

You do realize Princess is in the business of making money?

Our two cents - save your money for excursions. 

1 hour ago, CRUISEWITHH said:

My friends were not allowed to board without a passport on cruise out of Los Angeles going to California Coast and stopping in Ensenada.  They had all other types of I.D, but did not have their passports. 

They spent many hours at the port talking to everyone but were told that Immigration would not allow them to board.

As everyone here has said, much easier to just get a passport.

If they are residents of California and presented their driver's licenses, they would be denied as immigration requires and enhanced ID, not a regular CDL or REAL ID, which California is currently in the process of changing over to. 

2 hours ago, atlcatlover said:

Has anyone ever had to request medical records from Princess?

 

It's a long story, but last summer my Dad had to be medically disembarked from his ship in Italy.  I am trying to file a claim with the travel insurance to get reimbursed for the medical expenses he incurred on the ship, but they require original medical records.  I filled out the required form and submitted it in February of this year, and followed up again in April but still have not received any response. There is a phone number on the form but it perpetually rings busy.  I contacted general customer service but since medical is a different department they were unable to help me.

 

The autoreply email suggested the request would take 30-60 days to complete but obviously we are well beyond that.  It is infuriating that they provide an inoperable phone number on the required form.

 

Any tips or insights to get this request fulfilled?

It's a $28 charge onboard and states in the letter provided onboard with medical center receipt they advise you to get the records before disembarking. If he had AON (Princess insurance), they should be able to access the records directly from Princess. 

4 minutes ago, CRUISEWITHH said:

My friends were not allowed to board without a passport on cruise out of Los Angeles going to California Coast and stopping in Ensenada.  They had all other types of I.D, but did not have their passports. 

They spent many hours at the port talking to everyone but were told that Immigration would not allow them to board.

As everyone here has said, much easier to just get a passport.

Did they have a certified copy of birth certificates and driver's licenses? Apparently they didn't bother to read what was required. 

47 minutes ago, sharon_pei said:

Anyone can share how powerful (fast drying) are the hair dryers on princess ships (more specifically Sapphire)? we usually shower right before sleep and would need fast drying hair dryers. the cheap ones in average hotel rooms usually don't work. I would love to pack my own but the suitcases are overflowing with winter gears, so I would like to see if this is somewhere to save some space. Thanks!

Bring your own, Sapphire dryers are really weak. 

Mid aft. Easy access to buffet, wakeview bar, aft restaurant and lounge. 

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Princess has yet to replace the really good Room Service Chocolate cake with butter icing.  The MDR doesn't even offer a good plain old chocolate cake.  

 

How hard could it be to bake a chocolate cake with butter frosting?

 

 

The premium dessert chocolate cake is really delicious. I would avoid the black forest and red velvet ones. 

Yes! They really celebrate and dress up. Crew and guests. Very, very creative!  

We were on Majestic last Halloween

Production cast dancers did Thriller (Michael Jackson video dance).

Cruise staff led by Kristoff performed as the Addams Family!  

Huge dance party afterwards in the piazza!

It rolls over to the next voyage.

There's not, but we dressed up.

We had two guests who had a casino comped cruise, showed up in t shirts and jeans, and were seated. They left after the first couple courses.  

We get Plus, so it's a non-issue for us. 

1 minute ago, abouna said:

Sorry if I was confusing. We will be in Athens the two days before. We want to check out of our place in Athens and leave our luggage at the port, preferably with porters from the ship, maybe by 9:00am on the day we embark and then head to Aegina for the day before returning and boarding. 

Yes, then you can do this.

We've done this before (but not in Greece), dropped off our luggage, then explored the city for the morning/afternoon.

Just don't miss the ship!

Did anyone get a photo of the heaps of old mattresses we left behind in Papeete?

1 minute ago, Tinknock50 said:

I'd love to do that when I board the Discovery June 15th!  Much more relaxing than the lido on embarkation day. How long is it open that day?

11:30am - 1:00pm when we've been on Discovery this year. 

1 hour ago, abouna said:

We will be embarking on the Sun Princess from. Athens in July and were wondering how early we can drop our luggage? We wanted to take the ferry to Aegina for the day before embarking, but need to ditch our luggage in Piraeus first. I found some third party storage places, but would rather put them in Princess' hands and not have to make an extra stop when we return if possible. 

The only way your luggage would be in Princess' hands is when it goes on the ship. 

You say you were taking the ferry the day prior to embarking on your Princess voyage. Where are you planning on spending the night? Try for early check-in?

You'll need to file a claim with AON. 

2 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

We sail from Southampton on the Sky Princess later in the year, sailing time is 4 p.m. and we are overnight in a hotel so I am going to book a taxi for 11 a.m. in the hope we arrive by 11.30 for embarkation as we are Elite status which gives us a luncheon onboard.

Anyone gets lunch in the MDR, not just elite.