remydiva

2 minutes ago, UDChE89 said:

Uniworld does have their own insurance.  I booked outside insurance as it was much cheaper.

 

Didnt book my air through them so can’t help there.

Thanks for reply. 

Planning our umpteenth cruise and 2nd on Uniworld but I've forgotten how I arranged air travel first time.

No where on their site does it give info about them arranging air travel.

For those of you who have done so recently, can you share if it was easy, good prices, too many stopovers, etc.

Also, travel cancellation insurance...does Uniworld have their own product?

TIA

15 minutes ago, avalong said:

May I ask what company you used for your land tours, especially the privately chauffered ones?

Sure! 
for Ireland we used “Ireland Chauffeur Travel “ ( not sure if we can post web links here) … together we planned itinerary and style , they booked all accommodation and we had same driver/guide for the full 10 days in a private Mercedes Sprinter van.

https://www.irelandchauffeurtravel.com/

for Italy we used Dragonfly Tours. They too helped us plan itinerary based on our interests, time and budget. They booked all accommodation but we used fast trains to get from city to city. They arranged for driver to pick us up at train station and provided us with guides each day,

https://www.dragonflytours.net/

10 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

You had a table for 2? What MDR? What time?

 

I noticed that a couple who sat with us in a group first nite sat at same table for two every nite after .

Concerto dining room Regal Princess

They likely had table at 530-545 as were already seated when we showed up at 6 pm to be paraded around the dining room to end up seated near kitchen most nites.

wonder if tipping in cash helps great tables become more readily available?

45 minutes ago, Rainbow3fe said:

     Wow. You definitely have lots of cruising experience. 

     We can only say that if you are looking for a laid back adventure, try Oceania. Great lecturers, talented String Quartet, intimate Piano Bar, no children's activities, no formal nights,  no photographers, no art auctions and no charge for great restaurants. 

Felice 

Sounds perfect! The never ending art auctions .. ugh! Good riddance!

Agree with others this is an interesting thread!

here’s my two cents —/

just home from our 20 th Princess cruise of 4 th TA ( different ports each time) and feel we need a change.

As others said, not only has product changed over the years, but so have we as we age.

Too many people, too many lines, not enough enrichment opportunities, too many ‘health/ wellness ‘ promos (7-8 every day from acupuncture to teeth whitening) to push sales etc. The demographics in both age and ‘style’ has changed and eroded imho.

Princess Elite perks all but disappeared so staying for loyalty alone not the deciding factor.
Itinerary, shipboard experience, food and demographics of fellow passengers now more important.

We also have 2 RCCL, 3 Viking river cruises, 2 Uniworld river cruises and 4 land tours — two with private chauffeurs which were amazing.

So like others here, it’s time for a change and I will look into Oceania as a possible option.

I have Orkney Islands on my bucket list and see they have a cruise that includes that so it might be a good test run.

4 hours ago, nunuc2000 said:

We've done the same thing 4 times now,  using EZair and the Celebrity cruise equivalent, and had part of our flight segments through WestJet - there is a workaround, but it involves calling WestJet directly.

 

Because it's a Delta flight operated by WestJet, there's a weird glitch in their systems that don't allow the Delta locator numbers to work on the WestJet site, so you need to speak directly with a human at WestJet who can then assist you. It's a bit of a convoluted conversation each time, as the WJ agent will have to search for your confirmations in a round-about way, (Your Delta locator won't cut it), and I think it's the booking number that Princess uses if I recall. But anyway, there is a way to do it... just explain to the WJ agent that you just wanna book your seats, and that Princess and Delta told you that you need to go through WJ directly... they'll figure it out eventually for you 🙂 

 

  There will be a charge for your seats, but at least you'll be able to secure the seats you want without having to wait to be assigned to a couple of middle seats in random spots on the plane. 

 

 

When I got air flight info confirmation , both the Delta and the West Jet booking numbers showed.

this info was also included in email confirmation 

I think it might also have to do with if you booked ‘flexible’ vs ‘non flexible ’ since you can change the flexible ones right up to being ticketed at no charge. 

34 minutes ago, wowzz said:

You need to remember that @jsn55has an agenda !

Really? Guess I don’t know enough of who does or does not have an ‘agenda’. Thought it was just a comment.
 

I just thought this was a safe place to post questions and get info. 

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

But nothing like our experience on Sky last month.

Seating arrangements well handled,  and the buffet was well stocked. 

But, as you are never going to cruise with Princess again,  you will just have to keep on rehashing your one and only experience for ever.  

2 minutes ago, remydiva said:

 

I can assure you that after 20+ princess cruises nothing is ever my ‘one and only experience’. I don’t ask for, nor expect,  perfection when travelling. 

Not sure where you got the notion that jsn55 or I would never cruise Princess again. We were just replying to original thread topic of our Dine My Way experiences after restart. 

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

But nothing like our experience on Sky last month.

Seating arrangements well handled,  and the buffet was well stocked. 

But, as you are never going to cruise with Princess again,  you will just have to keep on rehashing your one and only experience for ever. 

Off Regal which has the closer motion light sensors.

Hint! Make sure you close door tight on tall ‘dresser’ in closet as one nite during rougher seas with swells, the door kept opening and closing which triggered the motion light!

yes after third time I did get up to secure door!😆

In spite of what info you find online both from cdc, princess and airlines, as Canadians we flew into US FLL 2 weeks ago and were NOT required to show proof of vaccination. I had printed and digital QR codes ready to show when asked. We never were asked.

When I checked in for our flights online 24 hrs ahead of flight I did have to click ‘I accept/ I understand’ after reading a long health protocol that I believe listed the need/benefits of vaccination. 

to be honest it was late at nite and I didn’t save the long doc as I assumed it was giving heads up that I would need to provide proof before entry to US.

maybe it was a glitch at border entry or maybe it’s the honor system now?

37 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Of course the entire class of repeat cruisers they need is not all Elite or even Platinum. Princess is now running the oldest average age on the main stream lines (Hal, Celebrity, Princess, Royal, Carnival, NCL).  HAL and Celebrity have been successful in lowering their demographics, while Princess has gotten older. 30 to 35% elite and platinum might be a good mix 50 to 70% is a bit much

Short answer.. yes. 
long answer.. yes.

After 20+ Princess cruises and 200 days, we found the ONLY Elite ‘perks’ left that we used was mini bar set up and 10% off ship store purchases including the snacks in Celebration’store’.

I did NOT buy Plus package as hubby non drinker but bought wifi pack ‘till end of cruise’ on last three days for 50% off for $22.50  to be able to check in flights 

and print boarding passes.

Free laundry had a 3 day turnaround due to high number of elites on board TA and we only use carryon so don’t have 6 days of clothes! I wash in sink every few days.

bottom line rather than reward our loyality, it’s giving me the incentive to look elsewhere at other cruise lines for future cruising. 

1 hour ago, larrybritt said:

We booked our flights with EZair for Alaska Cruise and we have one stop going and returning. We are flying from Myrtle Beach to Vancouver and back from there.

We are flying out 7/1 and it's with United and we were able to get our seats assigned. Then the return flight on 7/15 is with Delta(Actually WestJet) for the first part to Atlanta and we are unable to get seats assigned. The error message says "Were Sorry. Seat selection for this flight is not currently available. Once the flight is booked, you can check back at a later time or call the airline directly to select seats" . I tried to call airline and got nowhere with Automated system, then called Princess and they said that the Airline has not released the seats available for them as of yet. Has anyone had this happen? They say to keep checking back and should be soon. I feel we will have seats, but sure would be nice to get them assigned.

Can’t get seats until flights are ‘ticketed’ I was told or about 30 days out.

however we also were on a code share with delta/ WJ out of Vancouver and therefore you get TWO booking numbers.

When I couldn’t book fromDelta site, I was able to book seats from WJ site using WJ booking number ( all letters no numbers like Delta's booking #)

Just off 14 day TA on Regal. Seems Dine My Day is very glitchy; some due to app and some due to staff.

When I tried to book specialty dining at Crown the ONLY nite with openings was day 1 embarkation day. The place was near empty.

After a few less than satisfactory nites in main DR I tried to book in Crown near end of cruise… wide open for reservations! Again we went went to find the place near empty; yet they tried to seat us in last booth right by the kitchen.

I refused. We were moved to one of the MANY empty tables.
We must have marks on our back as more often than not in main DR we were paraded thru the room ( were they waiting for a cash tip for better table?) to be sat at a table near the noisy busy kitchen. 
We asked to share .. had booked to share.. thinking we’d get a variety of table locations. Nope.

ps they had a line for NO Reservations further complicating the process.

the first week we were never asked to tap our medallion to confirm we even had a reservation or at what time.

12 hours ago, wintrev said:

I can understand your frustration too. We sailed on the Grand in January and were not only Elite but had a suite as well. The port person in charge of the Suite/Elite line said because our boarding passes were green we were not entitled to enter that queue. We argued the point politely with her and gave up in the end and had to snake our way through general boarding. I tried to show documentation by she would have none of it.

 

As Aussies are not permitted to order a Medallion and have it shipped I had nothing other than the paperwork to prove my status, that is why the paper boarding passes were good. Another thing that we feel miffed about is that there are NO Elite Lounges in Australia no matter what port you sail from and we can't count the number of times we have had to fight to get priority boarding! Honestly I think Melbourne is the worst port in dealing with this.

Canadians can’t order medallions either so I feel your pain. All I have is my booking confirmation with the word ELITE in teeny tiny font size 8 that I have highlighted.

Bring back paper boarding pass as an option !

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

In theory, you can do it self-serve.  Just connect and look at the offers.  Hopefully, single day is there.

4 minutes ago, eclue said:

WE will all get there sooner or later and spend the same amount of time on the ship. We are elite but who cares if we board first....just putting that out there. Safe travels to all!

 

Oh I hear ya .. just nice to not have to walk all the way left to go wayyyyyyy to back of line esp in FLL if don’t have to.

so few elite perks left this was one very small one 🙂

Ooh good idea! 

23 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I wouldn't bother pre-ordering MedallionNet any longer.  Here's why:

 

1. There is no longer any benefit to this as the pricing is now the same on board as pre-cruise (used to be more if you waited).

2. If you order on board, it is charged to your on-board account and any OBC you have pays for it.

3. There have been multiple reports on this forum that guests are finding the 4-device charge on board is $30, instead of the reported $40 (or presumably it is $40 in the Princess App???).  No guarantee this will last and could be a mistake, but you could get just one 4-device package instead of two single-device packages for same dollar cost and have more flexibility.

4. No worries about the App bug that doesn't recognize correct CC Member Level.

 

To sum up, there is nothing to lose by waiting and perhaps benefits to you to wait until day 1 on the ship.

 

Do you need to sign up at Internet cafe ie when it’s staffed? This is our first cruise without free Elite wifi so I plan only to buy a day here or there.

1 hour ago, UpcountryTravelers said:

We have sailed from Ft. Lauderdale since Covid.  No, there is no Elite check in line, and no lounge (that we saw).

 

Previous poster sailed out of FLL last month so maybe you sailed earlier? 

22 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Yes, you tell them that you are elite, always print your travel summary. 
It should show your elite level on the upper right side. Good to have this with you anyway.  Shows details on your cruise, booking no, pre purchased items, etc. 

 

You will be asked outside if you’re an Elite. You’ll go through the Elite line from the outside to inside the terminal, 

pick up your medallion and be directed upstairs to the Elite lounge waiting area.  Boarding starts with Suites/Elites first.

 

Last month out of Ft Lauderdale, Terminal 2, went very smoothly.

 

 

Thank you this is exactly what I needed to hear. Yes I always print up everything! But I’ll go and highlight the teeny tiny ELITE!

1 minute ago, sirclean said:

I have not traveled FLL since COVID, but with my other trips, there was a lounge. 

Yes I recall that as we are flying in, using their transfer so seem to arrive early needing to wait.

maybe the so called staggered boarding times that no one abides with will help:)

First cruise post CoVid. Do they still have Elite check in line and pre boarding lounges? We leave from FLL.

We need to pick up medallion at check in so won’t have any ‘ID’ to show our ‘loyality’ level like in paper boarding pass days.

On 3/30/2023 at 2:11 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Patter is now "Princess Event Listing"...(yawn)

sounds yawn like for sure