triple7tahoe

2 hours ago, SKCruiser007 said:

On my last cruise, early this month on Sky Princess, there was one (maybe two) service dogs onboard.

On a couple of cruises in the past year, we have seen a man on a Seegway, with a white, poodle looking dog in the basket. 🙂

8 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Thanks…was her USD to AUD debit card conversion rate good?
 

My chargecard uses the best daily conversion rate however having never used our debit card I do not know how that conversion rate works. If it’s the same conversion rate then will decide whether our best option is a fee-free debit card or paying a 1.1% chargecard fee.

 

As I recall, purchasing discounted gift cards such as from AARP is another option…does anyone know how Princess determines the USD to AUD conversion rate? When they had currency machines onboard the rates were poor for the conversion & were bad like when purchasing currency at airports.

 

She had the same rate as my credit card-Neither was all that good 😞 We have used the AARP cards as well with close rates. IMHO-I don't think Princess goes out of their way to make these transactions in our favor.

55 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Thanks again for your help to know what to expect on our Australian cruise as Americans.

 

My credit card did get charged the 1.1% but my DW used a debit card and it was not charged.

We were on a series of cruises out of Australia, arriving home on November 20, 2023 after being gone for two months. A couple of things to add. 1. We had quite a bit of OBC and most of it was converted at one to one $US to $AUD so we lost out on the conversion but knew that happened. One thing that surprised us was the $200 pp deposit we paid for the casino cruises was exchanged at the rate for exchange on the ship and we were given over $300 Aud. Pleasant surprise but I was prepared to fight for the exchange as "contract" said $200US. 2. We did not pay daily gratuities even though we had paid our fare in US$. We waited until we got onboard and bought cheaper drink (Plus?)  package. It was the equivalent of $47US but wait--Clearly does not include tips and gratuities. Not sure how that works but I am happy 🙂

6 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

 

The bartenders in Take Five and Vines are absolutely exceptional so those are two bars that I would suggest spending some time at.

Most of the time VINES is our go to bar. My DW is a wino--Mind you, not an alcoholic. as  they go to meetings 🙂 . On a few of our last cruises, Vines has been replaced with ???. We will be in Vines.

We will be aboard the SKY in about 10 days-Since we are cruising, mainly to be aboard the ship, I would appreciate knowing which of the bars (OK, we do drink) had most of the indifferent bar tenders? Thanks.

4 hours ago, avonlady6390 said:

I'll be on in two weeks one of my favorites is a dirty banana which is a frozen drink.

See you onboard!!

3 hours ago, benzimer said:

Are you both military?  It's my understanding that if you both get the MOBC then you can't get the SOBC.  We are both get MOBC.  

No, only one military. There is so much confusion about this at the moment. I used to just enter the stock paperwork and both ended up in my name-Since we both used the same onboard account it didn't really matter. Now, it seems, one person cannot have both credits. Pretty easy fix but I have to remember to apply for CCL in DW name 🙂

Just to be contrary---Within the last week I finally solved the StockPerks app and entered my CCL OBC request (December 6, 2023) and within 24 hours I received an email from StockPerks telling me that Princess had denied my request as I already had OBC (military). That email requested I contact the princess email address for help. I emailed Princess and in the meantime, I entered my DW for CCL OBC. Within 24 hours the credit was in her account. Does not sound like one hand knows what the other is doing- Can they be combined or not??? 3 closest cruises are in Personilzer-Next five are still 5 months or more out. 🙂

Just now, snoozecrooze said:

Captain as of the preceding voyage was Vincenzo Lubrano.

Thanks-It is my old age catching up me 🙂 Captain Fortezzee used to always be on the Caribbean Princess but has moved to the Sky- We will see  him later this year-Maybe ?

Just now, Italy52 said:

Whenever we request Military OBC and Stock, I put my name for the Stock and my husband for military and have never had a problem with getting credit.

Just now, Italy52 said:

Whenever we request Military OBC and Stock, I put my name for the Stock and my husband for military and have never had a problem with getting credit.

That is what I have started doing as well-It is just that there was a comment on here somewhere that they had gone back to allowing both-Not to mention the old person problems with computers (My grand kids were not here to help :-_) )

I was having major problems also. I could not download the Stockperks App on my desk top so changed to IPad. I was able to set up the program and download what I thought I needed only to find out they wanted access to my stock holdings. I contacted the holding company and got instructions. Then I submitted request for upcoming cruises. Next came an email saying I could not have the OBC because I already had military OBC and they could not combine. (I have been told that is no longer an issue??). With the denial they gave me the old email  and I submitted that way. Two days later, I tried by submitting request through Stockperks using my wife's account. Within 24 hours the OBC was on cruise personalizer-I think I will use that method next time 🙂

10 minutes ago, sunsetme said:

I used it and its a pain, yes it does seem sketchy

We will be joining in less than three weeks. Could you please, tell us who the Captain is? We think it is Marco Fortezze but my DW made friends with another Captain's wife (Olga) who claims she was going to be aboard while we were. I wonder if there will be a change of command at the end of the year? Thanks

11 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

As I know this is a discussion on board and  as I have said, people push their plates to other doors. 
 

well I guess this person decided that the perfect spot was in front of an emergency exit! 

My wife has been known to push those plates up against the cabin door 🙂

We will boarding in a couple of weeks. Is the Captain Marco Fortezze-One of our favorites or Heike ?? Another favorite and we will be happy to be aboard-Olga, Heike's wife is a friend of DW and claims she will be aboard in January. Thanks

3 hours ago, SCX22 said:

There's a law in Australia that states that companies are allowed to recoup the credit card transaction fees from the customers.  The the 1.1% surcharge that Princess adds for Visa and Mastercard.  If I'm not mistaken the AMEX surcharge is 2.5%.  Cash or debit cards don't incur the surcharge.

 

Read about it here:

https://www.accc.gov.au/business/pricing/card-surcharges

My bill was AMEX on our Australian cruise and my charge 1.1%. MY wife had a Visa debit card and did not incur a surcharge.

We recently sailed Trans Pacific on the Royal and pre purchased the lower priced package. We were to stay on the ship for a couple more cruises and then transfer to the Majestic for two more. We waited until we arrived in Australian waters to buy packages. For the first (Australian) cruise of ten days, for some reason the pad the folks used said our price was $150AUD pp. I thought it was a mistake but jumped on it and waited for someone to catch the mistake. That didn't happen so we enjoyed the package for $10AUD pp for 10 days. After that, we added the package for $65AUD per person per day and realized that made the price around $47 US. It appears that the package doesn't include gratuities when in Australian waters. Not sure what happened but makes the package less expensive if you wait!

15 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

That is a generic PCL number and not someone specific.  It was likely broadcast as the source rather than the actual number.

It may be but we have been invited 5 times and each call came from that number. It is getting to the point when I see it on "Caller ID", I answer with "Yes". So far, I have not received any calls from that number that was anything else 🙂   Let the anticipation and Happy Dance begin. I actually got one while on my way to the airport for the 1st of 3 B2B2B cruises and started to say that I had already been invited, only to be told it was for the 2nd cruise-They tried calling for the 3rd cruise while I was still on the earlier cruise and since I do not use my phone while aboard, I did get the call. Since they do not notify  you in any other way, I did not know about the third invite until I got home. I still have the voice mail with instructions to call back 🙂

I am about to attempt to try something on our upcoming cruise (Saturday 23 Sept). We bought the $50 package when we first booked and know that we will not get the added benefits of the $60 package. Since the first leg of the cruise is a 2 day, booked alone, cruise prior to the 27 day B2B, I am going to try to upgrade to the  premier $80 package. I figure that the additional $60 pp will more than pay for itself with specialty restaurants which are part of the package-Wish me luck 🙂

5 hours ago, jwattle said:

I'll wear that under my dress 😛

Or not 😄

 

TMI 🙂

If you think you deserve an invitation and don't hear 7-10 days prior, try this number-661-753-2050. That is the number that has called us. Shows as a Santa Clarita number. Excitement starts when you see it on your incoming call number 🙂

We missed out on coupon book offering on a couple of cruises  last year and when I saw that our booking for a couple of upcoming cruises (Saturday Sept 23 is first) I started trying to find out what  I needed to know. I do know that if they are not downloaded prior to boarding, they are gone. I went on Princess Chat and asked. After about 30 minute chat it was determined that the "chat" person didn't have a clue. The chat ended with, "I am sure that it can be taken care of aboard the ship, if you don't get them by them". I now see that our daughters, who will be going with us, also received the books and have not received the email. I will bring the chat print out and time will tell. For the record, I don't think there is much in the books now. There used to be much better offers IMHO

On 9/11/2023 at 9:38 PM, Steelers36 said:

I am not looking to play for comps or anything else.  I just have some curiosity as to how it works. 

 

I understand what you are saying, that a typical session might result in a loss of 10% of funds.  It could be more or it could be less, if playing fickle machines.  I understand what you are getting at.  But one walks away with $600 after playing for X hours and has lost $400.  Wondering what is gained back through points or future cruise benefits.  I was thinking it doesn't matter whether a guest loses the $400 in half an hour or over 6 nights in the casino.  But perhaps it does.

It has been my experience that while playing the slots, you earn one point for each $3 you put through the machine. It might be slightly different but close. 🙂

When we first started cruising (1964), P&O was our best choice (Princess had not started). We did many cruises on the "old" P&O ships and loved them. We continued to cruise P&O but tried Princess when it became available. At the time I was amazed by the different offers on P&O for those in the UK as opposed to us Yanks. (Some things never change 🙂 ). For us that "last straw" was having a World Cruise on the Aurora, cancelled because of ship failure. Our daughters had taken vacation time to join us and Princess was kind enough to let us book a last minute cruise on the Sapphire Princess from Sydney. We took one more cruise with P&O and are now exclusively Princess. We have often wondered if we should give P&O another try; I think you folks have answered that 🙂