yogamom

24 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

@yogamom:

 

Captain's Club Welcome Event (Casual) occurred on Sat Dec 23 (Day 2, Sea Day) at 12:30 pm in the Sky Lounge on Deck 14

 

Thank you so much!  This helps in planning.

2 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

The Captain's Welcome occurred on Day 2 (Sea Day #1 of 3) at 7pm and 9pm.  Here is the Celebrity Today issue: link

 

 

Thank you.  I am under the impression that there is a 'Captain's Club' welcome reception which doesn't get posted in the 'dailies'.  The one on stage prior to the show is the general one.  Do you remember when the 'Captain's Club' welcome reception was?  There is usually and 'invite' to attend.  

19 hours ago, yogamom said:

...

mahdnc and miaminice do you remember when the Capitain's welcome party was?  Trying to set the meet and greet for the first sea day and if the event coincides with the welcome party, nobody would come to the meet and greet.

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

 

Your organizer should ask Xuan to confirm who is doing the tour.  Either way, I sincerely hope you enjoy your tours as well as your cruise!  Let me know if you have any other questions.

That's a good point.  David, You provide so much detail and information.  Do you have a website where your tips, and traveloges are listed?  These cruisecritic reports sometimes disappear?  Where do people find you for future and past cruise tip journals?

...

3 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Hi and thank you.  We booked Xuan for our stops at Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, and Hue/Danang.  However Xuan personally conducted the tour only at HCMC.  He subcontracted the other two ports because we did not make his required group minimum size.  He was pretty clear about the requirement because he lives in HCMC and in order to justify his travel and lodging expenses he needed a minimum of 8 people.  There was no minimum for HCMC because he lived there and ironically we had 8 for that tour.  He gave me quite a bit of time to see if we could accumulate 8 for the other two tours but we only amassed 6. 

 

Yes, it seemed to take a while for us to get our sandwich, but the problem was that our guide (hired by Xuan) wasn't real clear about what was going on (or I didn't listen well which is not uncommon either according to a well placed source that happens to be married to me).  Our guide went in to get the sandwiches for us but we mistakenly stood in the long line anyway.  When she came out of the restaurant with the sandwiches we just exited the line.  In the end, I don't think the wait was that long, but it did feel that way for a while.

 

Yes, all three tours were managed well from a facilities standpoint.  There were ample opportunities for it and it was communicated to us at the beginning of the tour so we knew what to expect.  I think our young tour guides recognize that us older people look at time and distance from a restroom as a crucial form of risk management (because we do).

Thank you so much for the quick response.  Hopefully we get Xuan on the 3rd day since we have 9.  Luckily I'm not the organizer.  I look forward to following your future adventures.

On 12/30/2023 at 8:45 PM, mahdnc said:

For lunch we stopped at a very popular Banh Mi street restaurant.  We figured it was popular because of the line.

 

Parked across the street was this "blast from the past":

Loving your day to day cruise report.  We will be doing this itinerary in November and have booked with Xuan.  Did you get Xuan for this port day?  We have 9 in total for our tour.  Also did it take long to get your sandwich since the que was so long?  And on a personal note, were there opportunities to visit 'facilities'?

On 10/7/2023 at 1:37 PM, rmalbers said:

That's good to know.  One thing I didn't like is that I really had no idea if my regional plan was installed correctly and going to work, until I got to the 'region'.  I should not have been worried because it worked (except for the SMS stuff I ran into) but anyway, now I know.  Hopefully, this thread helps some others understand it better also. 

Did you use the airalo esim while on the cruiseship?  Curious since the cruiseline / satellite would not be able to charge airalo (I don't believe) so just wondering if it would work?  We are sailing Alaska inside passage soon and very curious about turning on only the airalo esim (global/US Plans) and picing up signal when so close to land.  Definitely do not plan to turn on our homebased carrier as I don't want to incur those terrible cruise/satellite charges.  

On 8/24/2023 at 12:14 PM, scotlady said:

Hi.

Wondering if anyone has any recent feedback on cabin 9179 on Solstice-class ( or the cabins right near by).

The cabin compilation shows one review that says there is a crew door nearby that makes it noisy, but doesn't go into any details about what times of day the noise is.  We don't mind noise during the day or evening, but would prefer not to be right next to early morning crew chatting and banging doors.

Hi Scotlady,

How was your experience on Celebrity S class in VI 9179?  I'm curious as we've just booked this cabin.

Hi Scotlady,

How was your experience on Celebrity S class in VI 9179?  I'm curious as we've just booked this cabin.

Thanks

On 11/21/2023 at 2:25 PM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I'm also on the ship.  Everything has been great except luggage delivery.  Still didn't have my luggage by 3:15.  Described it to my excellent cabin attendant and he went off and found it shortly thereafter.  That was odd as we were the first people on the ship.

What time was your scheduled arrival time on the app?  Were you able to get on earlier?

On 3/9/2023 at 2:48 PM, corncat said:

March 5, 2023

 

Princess Cays

 

First thing on the agenda for today was Knitters and Knatters in the Crown Grill lounge. Met a couple nice new friends and showed the different projects we were all working on. It was very nice, and we got to hear some stories from some long time cruisers. 

I crochet so it's really cool that they have knitters and knatters!  Do they supply the crochet or knitting needles and yarn or do you bring your own project to work on?

10 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Yep, this is all driven by profit, which is fine to me in normal scenarios, but they are punishing their most loyal customers, which is generally a bad idea. I will bring soda and water onboard, and just get ice, and drink the buffet coffee.

I didn't know you were allowed to bring soda and water onboard?  

Do you put it in your luggage?

2 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

Internet is $15/day for one device & $40/day for 4 device plan. If you have Elite or Platinum status then you get a 50% discount so then it’s $7.50/day for one device & $20/day for 4 device plan.

 

Thanks for the information.  Just curious if you have to buy the plan everyday or can you just choose to purchase on sea days?  Thanks again

On 3/4/2023 at 10:12 PM, DUCHESSRN said:

On our second week on Discovery , mini bar situation is disappointing . Also no deserts on room service .

Only Elite perk left seems to be getting on Tender and internet discount .

Royal at Christmas we were treated like royalty … this is a very different experience .

I'm Platinum level and there's a 50% off for internet packages.

Do you remember the costs of the internet packages?  Thanks in advance.

On 3/4/2023 at 7:24 PM, highflyingrealtor said:

Yep. Charged to each of our accounts, then removed charges the next day.

How much is the coffee packages?  Is this the one for a certain number of espresso based drinks or specialty teas?  Please advise.  Thanks

On 2/27/2023 at 11:33 AM, PacnGoNow said:

Read through the Princess forum threads here on CC.  There are a lot of threads about coffee and beverage packages.

Seems only the Discovery is still selling the New Grounds Coffee package on this weeks sailing and therefore switching out the minibar for it.

 

Others, Sky, Regal are not.  Still waiting on other ship’s responses from guests.

 

Very important to us also.

1 hour ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I'm still mad about this.

 

Looks like the non alcoholic drink package that includes coffee is $40/day per person.  For a 7 day cruise that is $560 for 2 people.  Am I the only one who thinks that is insane? 

I still don't know how they arrived at this.  A cup of coffee or two is way cheaper than the alcohol that you exchange it for.  I know that princess gets them dirt cheap, but still, the alcohol bottles and beer still probably them cost $.50-$1 each, and that is more than the cost of the coffee. What a decent perk to remove from their most loyal customers.  

 

My 25th cruise with Princess might be my last.  These onboard prices are ridiculously high, and now the only real elite benefit left is laundry, and that seems to have it's own trouble, as the last 2 times we have used it, they lost an article of my wife's clothing. 

Curious about the Princess coffee cards.  Back in the day, as long as you still have one hole punch left on your card, you can get free coffee.  What's the new changes to the coffee cards.  Could you please advise on costs?

I don't drink alcohol.  I do enjoy one good cup of coffee a day.  In the past I've bought the coffee cards and hang around the Internaional cafe in the atrium.

Thanks in advance

On 3/3/2023 at 8:49 PM, travelin.sisters said:

I finally have my laptop plugged in & connected to the internet so hopefully my photos will download & I can start posting yesterday's stuff (last cruise they never would because the internet was so bad, but seems better this cruise)...in the mean time here is a snack to keep you from passing out from hunger (it is delicious)

 

Could you please tell me the costs of the internet packages onboard?  I understand they have removed 'minutes' from the 'perks' and now offer 50% discount on the internet packages.

Would appreciate if you could advise or post a picture of the internet packages available.

Thanking you in advance.

Curious about the cost of the internet packages onboard?  I noticed they changed the 'perks' so you no longer get complimentary 'minutes'.   

I would greatly appreciate if you could tell me what the costs of the internet packages are?  Or even take a snap shot and post a picture?

Thanking you in advance.

On 3/6/2023 at 9:01 PM, corncat said:

Hello! I've never done one of these before, so please be patient with me as I figure this out. I have enjoyed getting ready for this cruise by reading other lives over the last few months, so I thought it would be fun to make my own! And hopefully help out some people along the way, while being a great way to keep track of my memories. 

 

I am currently on board the Sky Princess. I meant to start this live on day 1, but my time has gotten away from me and I am only just starting it now! Wifi has been excellent, so I will try to update at least once per day from now on. Tomorrow I will make a couple posts recapping the last two days for you. 

 

Please let me know any questions you have! I hope you enjoy this journey with me! 

 

-JJ

Thanks for sharing your experience 'live'.  So much fun.

I do have a question regarding the internet packages on your ship.  Could you please advise or even take a photo and post?  Thanking you in advance.

the costs depend upon the length of the cruise.

 

I did see on ours we had the option to buy it for a day or for the cruise. It was much more economical in our case (but we had a lot of sea days) to buy the entire cruise package ;)

Thanks for the information!

Westerdam has the unlimited packages - 3 levels: social (FB, etc. But no email), medium (good for internet email and the social but no streaming) and highest for streaming (no difference in speed IMO between the medium and high).

Thanks for the information. Curious about costs - would you know how much each package is and more importantly can you just use the unlimited for just the days that you want? We've got a travel package with my provider for when we're in port but there are alot of sea days that I have to use HAL's internet.

Does anybody know what the wifi packages are on the Westerdam? We're sailing on a transpacific and need to stay connected to family on the sea days.

Does anyone know which dining room is located mid ship? We have traditional dining at 5:30 and I hope the location is mid ship?