JerrySueW

11 hours ago, Tyskie said:

Definitely the Coral (we chose that ship in 2018 - had already been on her for the Panama Canal)

Great viewing areas - easy to navigate - IC 

We chose to do the Sanctuary for Glacier National Park Day - hands down was the best decision for us. 

Caribe deck has the larger 1/2 covered balconies.

Enjoy!

I second this. Glacier Bay in the Sanctuary on the Coral is my favorite day of cruising ever. And we lucked into it while checking out the ship after embarking. The steward convinced us to book the whole day and it was well worth the cost. Great location for photographers.

Maybe you are opted out of emails. Just go into the personalizer and you can access the upgrade site.

Do it!!! I had a knee replacement this year on February 7 and did a transatlantic cruise in April. My surgeon was very supportive and said that a trip is great motivation to make the most of your therapy. I had a very easy recovery and therapy period and was walking well unassisted after just a couple of weeks. I walked miles and miles on the cruise and did more flights of stairs than I have in many years. Just be careful on the deck. I hit a wet spot and went down within an hour of boarding the ship! Fortunately, no harm done and it did help me to remember to be cautious after that. 

I'm 67 and in good health as well. I'm so glad I had this surgery -- and that I took the cruise. I did another in October - crossing the Pacific this time to Hawaii.

Best wishes for your surgery. Have a wonderful time on the cruise!

Sue

We did a transatlantic in April and there were a lot of special activities planned for sea days.

There was a scavenger hunt and an "Olympics" that had new events every sea day.

There were lectures by a fellow whose career was as a broadcaster for the Dallas Cowboys and one of the pianist/singers did special lectures on musical topics. There were plenty of talks by the destination specialist on board as well.

One of my favorite things was a Q&A with some of the entertainers, followed by a back-stage tour.

The CD and staff did a great job of keeping us busy and entertained. We really enjoyed the cruise.

This is just my theory - no evidence for it. I've had the same experience in the past but recently reached Platinum level and was able to book several months earlier than usual and got the same time each night for the whole cruise. I suspect there are a certain number of these reservations that are allowed by the system and when those have been claimed, only individual nights can be booked. I've heard folks say that if you ask at the dining room on the first night, they can reserve the whole cruise for you, possibly same table even.

On the Regal in April there was a Q&A with some of the entertainers in the theater, followed by a tour of the backstage area. It was very interesting and there was no charge. They allowed everyone who came to the session to take the tour. 

Saw a news report yesterday that stated Hawaii is asking tourists not to cancel. They need the business. And they mentioned that the Lahaina side of the island is only restricted through October at this point.

Agreed, but this cruise has an overnight in Buenes Aires to start, so a built in safety net.

We'll use the OBC to cover gratuities and wifi with plenty left over. Also, the RT from Buenes Aires should make airfare much more affordable for the Antarctica cruise and it takes away the necessity of flying in a day early and having to pay for a hotel. 

34 minutes ago, bjkTX said:

I'm on the way out the dorr so I don't have time to do a search - hoping someone will have the answer when I get back home later today.

 

Yesterday I gave my TA a list of eleven $500 Princess gift cards to pay off an upcoming cruise.  She responded that 10 had processed but one came back saying it had a zero balance.  I had checked the balances on all of them before I sent them to her.  When I check that card it also says zero.  I called the Princess Gift Card place from the website and she checked and said it had a zero balance as of yesterday - that it had been used yesterday (along with the other 10).  My TA says it's empty so they can't do anything.  I submitted an inquiry to the same Gift Card office to see what they could tell me but got a reply this morning that they can only check the balance - not where it went.

 

I know in reading this thread over time others have had issues.  If you did - how did you get it resolved???  Thanks.

 

Brian

I had this issue a couple of months ago. Call AARP Rewards and ask them to investigate. If you have specific times that you checked the balance on the card that will be helpful. It took a couple of weeks in my case and I never did find out what the issue was. Someone in Princess accounting was able to tell me that the card had been redeemed several hours before I purchased it (but couldn't tell which account it was applied to), so you might want to start there.

As mentioned, they are listed under mini suites but you will not be able to select and book one. You or your TA will need to contact Princess directly. Another post explained that too many people have booked these and did not understand what they were getting, leading to many cancellations and hard feelings. 

49 minutes ago, Brett209 said:

Anyone know if gift cards can be used to pay for casino slot play? Thanks!

Just go to guest services when you get onboard and ask them to add the gift card to your account. Then you can use it for anything, including casino charges.

I just booked an OV cabin for Antartica at standard fare and got 650 OBC per person. We'll also get 250 shareholder credit. More than enough to cover crew appreciation, wifi and any drinks we might want. The new itinerary should result in better air fares as well since it is RT from Buenes Aires.

You can get them by signing up for an AARP Rewards account. You don't have to be a member of AARP. When you log in to the rewards site, look for the Redeem drop down menu and you'll find the cards. You are limited to 5 per month. They come as ecards in your email. Be careful to check the balance on the cards right away and keep all the records. I recently bought 5 cards and one had a $0 balance. AARP was able to resolve the issue with Princess but it took several weeks.

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Did you check the one with a 0 balance this way?  If so, did it say 0 balance instead of verified?

TIA

When you went to add the ecards, did you add them to your booking online yourself, or have a TA/CVP enter them?

Yes, I did after a couple of attempts at applying the card to my balance. It shows the face value initially, then when I clicked on "Verify balance" it went to $0.

I added these cards to my booking myself. If you use a TA to book your cruise you cannot make payments directly.

2 hours ago, BURNSMN said:

I was one who this happened to also and it took me over a month to get it resolved. Princess was at fault and they told me the problem happens on occasion when you try to redeem more than one card at a time against an existing reservation. Basically, they said that the computer can’t keep up with multiple card entries and accidentally zeros one out. They recommended putting one card in then signing out of your reservation, then signing back in and entering the next card until you use all your cards.

Interesting because it happened to me on the first card that I tried. I did the other four immediately after and tried again on the first one a couple of times before checking the balance. 

You can verify the balance on the card right on the egift card link itself. Much easier than having to type in the numbers on the PCL page. 

I don't know if my issue precipitated the cards being pulled, but it certainly seems to me that there is a theft involved somewhere (and I read of a similar issue encountered by another CC member), so perhaps they are investigating.

I purchased 5 gift cards on May 30 and immediately went to apply the cards to my cruise balance. Four cards worked just fine, the last did not and subsequently showed a $0 balance. I spent the next four hours on the phone with AARP, Princess Customer Service and the 3rd party Gift Card Support. My second call to the Gift Card support people resulted in the discovery that the card had been redeemed by PCL almost 7 hours before I purchased it.

I then called Princess CS for the 3rd time and finally got a somewhat helpful person in Guest Services who could see every transaction on my account, including the numbers of the Gift Cards that were applied, but she said that she could not search the entire system to see if the $0 card had been redeemed on another account. No offer was made to pursue this at a higher level, so I called AARP again and was told that they would investigate the issue and that because the card was redeemed before I purchased it, I should expect to receive a replacement gift card in 3-5 business days. I hope to hear something on Monday. AARP was genuinely concerned and helpful. Princess not so much. 

We just did a TA in B736 on the Regal. We enjoy aft facing cabins for the view. The balcony on this cabin was very good size and partially covered. You will have soot occasionally but the steward wipes down the furniture and mops the deck daily. The amount will depend on wind direction so no predicting how it will be.

There is a fair amount of vibration at the back of the ship. We only find it annoying during early docking. When the side thrusters kick in there is no sleeping! 

Other advantages are proximity to the laundromat, direct access via elevator to the Allegro Dining Room and the larger cabin for the premium balconies.

If you want the cash, go to the casino, add the OBC to your gaming account, take a spin or two on a slot machine and then cash out. I actually make a few extra $$ on our last cruise!

Loved the Regal on the recent TA in April. The ship never felt crowded. The crew was fantastic - best cruise director staff we have encountered. All of them very personable and fun.

We did a TA in April on the Regal. Plenty of activities - in fact, had to pick and choose because there were many that overlapped. Our favorites were the Regal Olympics and Progressive Trivia. Other choices: Ballroom Dance lessons,  Line Dancing, Pop Choir, Voice of the Ocean, Scavenger Hunt, and Enrichment talks as well as the usual trivia, karaoke, game shows, etc. There also seemed to be more musical offerings than on other cruises during the evening hours. We had a terrific cruise staff who made everything fun. Thoroughly enjoyed the crossing!

The Sanctuary in Glacier Bay was my favorite day of cruising ever - but it was on the Coral where the Sanctuary is all the way aft and completely open. We had a perfect, clear day and were pampered all day long. The views were amazing. I would do it again in a heartbeat on this ship or any other with a similar Sanctuary location. 

39 minutes ago, nnzz said:

Just purchased my Princess gift cards for February and my limit still says 5

Same here. The limit of 25 applies to some other cruise lines, though (for AARP Members only).

I had this same problem a couple of weeks ago on the Island Princess. We lost the satellite for the final 4-5 days of the cruise and I could not open Libby or my weather app. I was not able to resolve the problem on board but once we got off the ship, it worked fine on cellular service. No idea why those two apps would not open when everything else I use routinely continued to work just fine.