Cruisemeister2002

Just been informed Princess have delayed the roll out of the three dining options until the 1st July due to problems.

Been on App several times and it seems Speciality dining is available to book but when going to MDR's it is saying not available to book. Seems odd as the 17th was supposed to have been the date when availability and which restaurants were available for the three different types of dining would be available. Added to this around six weeks ago we were informed that two of our ports of call were being removed due to access to the ports and that two other ports were being added namely Brest and Cherbourg in France. There were excursions available for the original ports, one of which we booked an excursion. Since the removal and introduction of the new ports on Princess website the new ports haven't added any excursions to either of them.

Can't say I have seen any comparisons. Our next cruise will be the first we have ever taken out a package, the Plus one. We will then decide during the cruise if it is worth paying the extra.One thing it does do is do away with me having to calculate what I spend. Yes I will still have money to spend along with OBC, but we recently had an email stating due to a couple of ports being deleted from our cruise that Princess were giving us an extra $100 OBC, so with the $300 we already have and a bit more to come from being Elite tier and the 10% we will get for excursions already booked we will have maybe around $450 OBC. Given that a large proportion of past cruises are taken up by the drinks bill and staff gratuities a few visits maybe to the Specialist restaurants and duty free, perfume and probable a handbag for the wife my bill shouldn't be anything to worry about.

My Mother and Father were in the Iron and Steel business. Mother used to iron and father used to steal. Not really, just a joke.

I would have thought that the process of which dining room on which ship would already be sorted. Really it shouldn't be a problem as obviously those that prefer set time dining will book whichever of the two times suit them best. Those that want to walk in, don't need to do anything. The only issues that may arise is if a shop has three dining rooms, one allocated for each type of dining and you then have say only a few wanting set times, buy a large amount wanting anytime you may have one dining room empty and another one that cannot cope. A way around this would be for Princess to firstly ask for those wishing to have a set dining time. That way they would then only have to worry about the other two dining options. If for instance the walk in was full they could always push customers to the anytime dining room.

Although it has been pointed out that P&O UK passenger levels are supposedly far greater than Australia I for one know from experience that they have been dumbed down. Gone are many of the nice things that used to be part and parcel Of a P&O cruise. If it hasn't gone it's charged for and I wouldn't be surprised given we also have Princess, Carnival and Cunard all sailing from the UK if P&O didn't suffer the same fate as Au P&O.

Truthfully am a bit unsure as to how much my OBC will be as it started at $300, I then booked some excursions which I thought had paid for part of my excursion and the rest I paid by debit card. Then our itinerary was changed so one of the excursions would no longer be available. Also reading how the system works being in the Elite tier for the number of cruises taken excursions get a 10% discount, but this apparently is added to the OBC once boarding the ship. Added to this due to Princess changing two ports I received an email stating their apologies for the missing of two ports, although they have been substituted by two ports in France, they have given us $100 OBC extra. So in conclusion I haven't a clue what OBC I have. At a guess it may be $450

I would have thought reservations would be able to be made from midnight. Whether we will be privileged to the information as to which restaurant is providing which service before the 17th I don't know. But it seems like an awful lot of information will have to be provided for each ship and for booking to take place as I would imagine everyone will be trying to find out all on the 17th.

I don't think it's if you have problems on a cruise. It's more like how many and how long they take. What information you receive and if the problem causes several days inconvenience what you receive in compensation. I for one would rather be relaxing, having a drink, a read, watching some football or listening to an interesting talk and dependent on weather relaxing on a sunbed rather than being on the telephone or at the reception desk having to complain about this or that. I will if necessary complain as after all you are paying for a holiday. No the Captain can't be held responsible if you miss a port due to bad weather. But there's no excuse for poor food, poor service, taking too long to sort problems out. As for refits on ships I feel that in a majority of cases they don't address the real issues that a particular ship has, it's more cosmetic like carpets and furnishings.

Judging by the comments with regards to the MDR's many prefer Casual or Speciality dining. It would be interesting to know exactly what percentage of a passengers fare is for MDR dining as many comment on it being a waste of time paying for a Plus or Premium package as most will never consume 15 drinks per day, eat two Premium desserts, go to the gym or whatever and yet they will spend a lot of dollars on Casual and Speciality dining as they don't like either the food or service in the MDR's. In fact I have been on cruises where some passengers dine in the Speciality restaurants the entire cruise as they have said they are not partial to the food served in the MDR.

And the bar stewards are Asti Spumante and Peroni Nastro Azzurro.

It was quite funny a few years ago on a cruise where we had a table of eight. Two of the couples seemed intent on trying to outdo one another by going to a certain Speciality restaurant call caf'e Bordeaux. We got on fine with them all and the remaining couple a nice Scottish lady and gent also saw the funny side of it. On finishing the cruise we always say goodbye to the passengers we meet, but one couple decided they wouldn't bother. No skin of my nose as we say in the UK.

Last year in March/April on a 35 night cruise which took in the US and Caribbean we were informed of an cabin upgrade from inside to sea view, very nice you might say. Well it was except they forgot to tell anyone else on the ship. It was the day before sailing picked up an email informing me of the change, so had to remove all labels off luggage and print new. After a less than satisfactory travel to Southampton we were confronted with massive queues of passengers and luggage piled high as Ventura (P&O) had arrived five hours late. After boarding her we made our way to our new cabin. P&O ships use a card system to access your cabin. This is also used for charging to your credit card and any OBC you might have. Cards in different peoples names. Used them to access cabin and once inside expecting a Celebration Package I had paid £400 for. Which consists of dressing gown and slippers, bottle of champagne, flowers, two presentation champagne flutes, cards to access two Speciality restaurants, cards to present to Spa for a massage or facial, also to be able to book a formal photo and frame. Nothing in the cabin. Took me 17 days to get sorted, no photographer onboard until half way though cruise and even then no frames. We missed Bermuda so 10 sea days before the first port ( Freeport Bahamas). US immigration at New Orleans took hours. Some despite a supposed two day stay didn't get through until 16.30 in the afternoon. We had a trip to a shopping Mall in Miami and we had a disabled passenger in a wheelchair. The lift on the coach didn't work, so they were left behind. We were supposed to get a map and vouchers for the Mall, but didn't and between the tour guide and the coach driver neither seemed to know when we were to return to the ship. We got back started the long trek through the airbridge to where we could board the ship. No we couldn't board as another ship had caused a bow wave and the airbridge wasn't connected to the ship correctly. After waiting in temperatures of over 90 degrees for 15-20 minutes were told to go back to the terminal and access the ship at quay level. A queue of around fifty started to board, around 20 got on and they decided they didn't want people on the quay so back to the terminal and another 15 minutes before up the airbridge to the ship. Onboard we had norovirus, Covid and a leak which flooded most of one deck. That's without 3 medical emergencies and rescue a yacht with two young girls and a man of 40 years of age who was trafficking them.

I can book Speciality Dining, but MDR dining won't be available to book before the 17th June. I presume that those wishing to dine at different times will be able to then use the App and for those like myself who wishes to dine every evening at 8.15 I will be able to access that option. Which presumably we will know which of the three MDR's we are allocated.

I would have thought sense wise it would have been more sensible to say dining preferences will be available on so and so ship on and between such and such dates Therefore if you are on a Princess ship sailing 14th September, which is when the roll out starts you have from the 17th of June for one month overlapping those ships sailing the following day 15th September and again one month to book and so forth otherwise I foresee the 17th arriving and everyone trying to book their dining arrangements for cruises after the 14th September at the same time.

You ain't kidding. Last year a cruise to the US,Caribbean and Mexico had our first port of call as Bermuda. Four day's, yes four day's before we docked the captain said we wouldn't be calling in because of the weather. He must have had a fantastic crystal ball. Not that I'm sceptical or anything like that, but could it have been that the ship docked 5 hours late in Southampton and then sailed five and a half hours late. The cruise was a nightmare as our next port of call was Freeport Bahamas, so ten day's at sea before our first port, then the return journey was from Cape Canaveral, six days to Ponta del Garda (Azures) then another three days to Southampton. As for Rockland I don't know whether it's a recent thing that certain size ships aren't allowed in and whilst not making excuses for Princess these itinerary's are made sometime two years in advance.

We have a cruise booked for later in the year. Around a month ago we were informed that two ports of call namely St. John's Newfoundland and Rockland Maine would no longer be included and instead, due to Princess not being able to secure other ports in Canada and the US were being replaced by Brest and Cherbourg France. We had booked an excursion in Rockland which we have been told will show as a credit on our OBC. My question really relates to Brest and Cherbourg as due to the fact that these were instated in place of St. John's and Rockland a month ago I would have thought excursions for the two new ports would have been available. But they are not.

Can anyone tell me if it's either or ? We will have the Plus Package which allows two Premium desserts per day so I presume you could have two gelato's, two pieces of cake or one of each. Is that correct ? any more then there will be a charge, but looking at them I'm pretty sure I couldn't manage more than two per day and probably not two consecutive day's.

We have a cruise booked for September aboard Sky Princess. I understand that within the next week the "New" dining arrangements will be available whereby you can choose between fixed dining, early or later, anytime dining via the app or walk in. We will be opting for the fixed second sitting (around 8.15 I believe) and am hoping for a table of six. Being pretty bad at remembering names although I have in the past dined at a table of eight, I tend to go no bigger than six. But have done a table of four when we bumped into some friends on a past cruise. Having recently accessed the app I noted an option for my table position which I opted for a window table. So am hoping a table of six will be made available as like others have commented I do like meeting new people and have made friends who we have kept in touch with since.

I think Carnival group will do whatever it deems fit as far as P&O UK. It's only my opinion, but I do believe the P&O name is tarnished by downgrading the quality and service of what it once was. I know you have to cater for the younger generation, but it's the older generation that keeps the passenger uptake higher in months when kids are at school and parents are at work. P&O have to cater for both traditional and modern type cruising. As I have booked a Princess cruise for later in the year and therefore read more of the comments with regards to Princess it does appear that our American cousins to put it politely, prefer a more casual style of dining and although it seems to be creeping into UK cruising there are still those that like the formal nights and shall we say more glamorous style of cruising.

Normally say's on the ships itinerary which are tender ports. Occasionally it states "a tender may be required" this will be because there are several ships in port. Otherwise it's because the port facilities are not adequate for size of ship.

We are on Sky Princess later in the year. Two of the ports of call st.John's Newfoundland and Rockland Maine have been omitted due to access and size of ship. No alternatives could be found therefore they have added Brest and Cherbourg France and have given us an extra $100 OBC, which is fair. I haven't been to Rockland, but there's not much at St. John's and quite often due to weather you don't get in anyway. I think of three previous cruises that took in St.John's we got in once.

Don't know if the system is the same in the US as the UK but the slider represents how much you want to bid and if you move the slider from zero to any amount and then hit bid you will be bidding on that grade of cabin. I presume they then ask if successful what you want the extra fare charged to if you win.

No, it appears the system in the UK is different. My link for bidding was via email which took me to the sliders. I presume you can check cabin availability in the States. I do it via going through the booking process as if I am a new customer, it's a bit time consuming as I have to keep going back to different grade cabins. But it allows me to see availability of all grades. Whether the offers for upgrades vary per person I don't know as we booked for our cruise some time ago and the price has increased for our cabin by some £1300. Maybe that's why the jump to a higher grade is so great, I don't know. Like I say, I was expecting ,maybe £200 per person extra for an upgrade from an inside to a balcony cabin or even a sea view. But the difference was £700 per person sea view and £1300 per person for a balcony.