tipofthehook

Our experience was so bad in the main dining room it’s the only Princess ship I’d never sail on again. Untrained waitstaff, false pricing on the left side menu and a snarky Maitre’d. There are so many other great Princess ships with excellent staff to choose from. 

Caught a billing issue after having an after dinner liquor charged double the menu price. Snotty restaurant manager would make BIG deal about correcting the left side menu error EVERY NIGHT, in pen, while our 8 top table waited. Bad manners.

Could not sleep the first night out because the bed was so uncomfortable. In the morning I discovered 2 cafeteria trays under crazy thin mattress. Bad housekeeping. 

My travelling companion often had to remind the waiter/junior waiter for sour cream etc. for baked potato. Could we please have ketchup? Any chance there is horseradish? Sure bring them at the end of the meal we love training new staff. Bad training.

Then the toilet wouldn’t work….

A most unpleasant ship. A comedy of errors that just wasn’t funny by the end of the journey.

22 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Would you cite “greatly disappointed “?  What didn’t the staff and crew do?  When/where?  
 

Glad you will not let one voyage stop you from cruising with Princess.  I’m sure everyone has had a non stellar experience on one ship.  I know I did on NCL.  

Just now, tipofthehook said:

22 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Would you cite “greatly disappointed “?  What didn’t the staff and crew do?  When/where?  
 

Glad you will not let one voyage stop you from cruising with Princess.  I’m sure everyone has had a non stellar experience on one ship.  I know I did on NCL.  

22 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Would you cite “greatly disappointed “?  What didn’t the staff and crew do?  When/where?  
 

Glad you will not let one voyage stop you from cruising with Princess.  I’m sure everyone has had a non stellar experience on one ship.  I know I did on NCL.  

I too can confirm the staff and crew of the Emerald have greatly disappointed us in the past. It is the only Princess vessel we refuse to sail on again. Not ‘never again Princess’ only ‘never again the Emerald’. 

Exactly. No spoiled overblown meltdown on CC forthcoming 

6 hours ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

A terrible philosophy, actually. Why would you not expect anything but an overall enjoyable cruise? That just makes no sense to me. Letting comments on CC determine your pre-cruise mindset is foolish. So, you will get on the ship expecting the worst. You are already leaning that way, perhaps your expectations will be met. Perhaps they should be. Either way, you will not be disappointed.

I am so grateful for all the insight into the potential of the Celebrity MDR food offerings. I’ve read every post and appreciate every viewpoint. We have not cruised X since 2010 but have booked a fantastic 7 day Pacific Coastal coming up in October that we are extremely excited about. Five port days!! The itinerary has scooped us away from Princess and we will be sailing with no Elite benefits or shareholder credit but we still don’t care. If we expect the worst but hope for the best, it is a good philosophy. 

My Aunt was a solo cruiser. She often went on the ship’s wine and tequila tasting excursion tours. Said she felt safe enough to get pretty tipsy and that someone would pour her back on to the ship.

Your BIL will have a fantastic voyage. Yes, check-in will require extra time, patience, a security photo and a medallion will be waiting (to be exchanged for a cruise card if he desires) but he will not be made to feel uncomfortable by any comments or actions from staff or fellow passengers if he chooses not to use the app. No one will argue with him to his face and he will be respected onboard - we are his cruising family. People only say non-complimentary statements about him, behind his back, here. 

On 3/1/2023 at 6:11 PM, Thrak said:

 

OBC from CCL Stock – One Per Cabin

 

Sailings of 6 days or fewer $50

 

Sailings of 7 - 13 days $100

 

Sailings of 14 days or more $250

 

Thank you, Thrak for the correction! Yes, all voyages qualify. Sorry about that erroneous information in my post. 

As a person new to this shareholder benefit, taking a look at the actual form is helpful in that you’ll note that the benefit is tiered to length of cruise and only applicable to sailings of 6 days or more.

On 2/13/2023 at 11:42 AM, cdrmer said:

Purchased a shore excursion for an upcoming cruise and was charged the full amount. Thought elite passengers received a 10% discount. Any changes recently eliminating the discount?

I also paid full price prior to the cruise but once onboard the credit was showing on my shipboard account already

I’m Canadian therefore the medallion has to be provided to me at the port. However, on my iPad Medallion app (in the Ocean Ready Travel Checklist), I was able to successfully change my  next voyage status from blue lane to green by ‘ordering’ my medallion for pick up. I’m not too tech savvy, but it looks like something good happened when I fiddled around.

Hey, what’s wrong with notice at 9:20 pm on a party barge like Princess? That’s so early! Princess passengers are reputed to be hard core party animals, rocking the ship and staying up late. Heck, I’m sure the majority of passengers wouldn’t even be headed to their staterooms for hours at that time.😉

We visited Monterey only once out of all our Coastal cruising. Nice architecture and scenery but not a port that had a lot options for us. I’m glad we had that one visit though. I’m not mad that this port is no longer on the itinerary.

We became hard core fans after our first window suite on the Caribbean Princess in 2019 on a Canada / New England voyage. The large windows offer such a wonderful view of the coastline. It’s like sitting in a deck chair without the cold! We just cruised Alaska in September in a window suite on the Grand. Same thing, the view of the coastline and glaciers from our comfy and warm stateroom was phenomenal. Fiesta deck is the same deck as your dining and very close to the theatre. In the morning, for an early coffee, just a few paces to the stairs down to the International Cafe it’s very quick. 

13 hours ago, donswife said:

We had a full suite in Oct 2021 for 4 nights and in Nov 2022 for 5 nights, and both included specialty dining the first night and the mini-bar set up (Grand and Discovery).

10 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Whatever the full suites with a balcony get in benefits you will also get in a window suite.

The specialty dining is a nice perk so I’m cautiously optimistic now, donswife.

Because of the Elite status we will get mini bar setup anyway. As we are on the beverage package this sailing, I’m more focused on the food than the drinks 🤣

1 minute ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

As always with Princess....It depends.

 

I have been in a full suite for less than 6 days and have received specialty dinners....SOMETIMES.  There is no consistency to this policy.  

Fingers crossed 🤞 

When I read the fine print, we are in a window suite which is supposed to have all the same suite benefits. However, No free specialty dinner and no mini bar set up for voyages of less than 6 days.  Unfortunately, ours in May is for 5 days. Oh well, it’s a fantastic stateroom for a May sailing. Not sure if this 6 day rule applies to all suites or not.

On 1/14/2023 at 3:05 PM, arizonaperson said:

This is what I get

It’s frustrating, for sure.

A while back, for some unknown reason, I received this same message when I was looking at booking suite staterooms. Then it would kick me out of the booking I was looking at making me have to start again from the beginning. However, when it happened the second attempt, I used the refresh arrow in the browser bar, the stateroom selections came back but I could only look at veranda or lower.  

For sure, Rick! 
I must say that I received the most excellent care onboard the Grand Princess.

Yikes, I’ve been onboard when a group such as this burst into song in the MDR without authorization. The passengers didn’t know if it was a Princess sponsored group or not so they tried to be accommodating at first. But it turned into a *”%@ show with wait staff being blocked from serving the tables, passengers upset and angry that the dinning room was not quiet as expected. Passenger Services was inundated with complaints.

Oh boy, the next evening, no more singing and LOTS of white coats stopping by the tables to reassure the guests the remaining nights will be normal. 
I’m sure that Princess has tweaked the rules since then and the Patter will keep you fully updated. 

I’m not sure if this is a double post but I hope the information may help anyone who was not aware that, post voyage, you can request a copy of your medical records and billing from Princess through its parent company Carnival.

I phoned Princess who emailed me an Authorization Form and provided the email address to send it to. I’ve just sent it in and I’m cautiously optimistic that the reply with the information comes quickly. LOL

You have to fill out and sign the Authorization Form and then you email it to: 

mrecordsrequests@carnival.com Health Services Department 24305 Town Center Drive Santa Clarita, CA 91355
Tel: +1-661-753-2680
Email: MRecordsRequests@carnival.com
AUTHORIZATION FOR USE AND/OR DISCLOSURE OF PATIENT HEALTH INFORMATION
I, ___________________________________________, authorize Princess Cruises to send a copy of requested health information to the following address (please complete email OR mailing address):
Release Patient Health Information To:
Email Address: _________________________________________________________________________ Name/Company: ________________________________________________________________________ Street Address: _________________________________________________________________________ City, State, Postal Code, Country: __________________________________________________________
Guest Information:
Guest Name (last, first, middle):_________________________________________ Date of Birth (MM/DD/YYYY): ____________ Booking Number: ______________ Ship Name: ______________Stateroom Number:__________
Cruise Start Date (MMM/DD/YYYY): _______________
DURATION: This authorization shall become effective immediately and shall remain in effect for one year from the date of signature unless a different date is specified here.
REVOCATION: This authorization is also subject to written revocation by the patient at any time. The written revocation will be effective upon receipt, except to the extent that the disclosing party or others have acted in reliance upon this authorization.
REDISCLOSURE: I understand that the recipient may not lawfully further use or disclose the health information unless another authorization is obtained from me or unless such use or disclosure is specifically required or permitted by law.
REQUESTED RECORDS:
Medical Record: Copies of medical records or clinical information, such as lab tests and x-ray reports
Medical Invoice: Copies of medical account statements
Confinement Letter: Letters confirming time in isolation/quarantine
                 Authorization Signature
Signature: ___________________________________________________________________ Relationship to patient if not the patient: __________________________________________ Date (MMM/DD/YYYY): ______________ Phone Number: ____________________