PescadoAmarillo

25 minutes ago, dog said:

Let us know the private company.  My transfer ship to Victoria coach station is $86 CAD pp., so I booked that again.  I stayed at Rubens at the Palace 3x. Great 2x, not great last time. Easy walk to coach station and that great fish & chip shop nearby.

Haven’t settled on one yet, but did note the availability in our timeframe. I’ll post again. 

32 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

When departing from London (Southampton) we have *always* taken the Princess transfer from Victoria Coach Station.  We have a couple of places within walking distance (even with luggage) that we stay at very near the Coach Station so it is very convenient for us.  Yes, you can potentially get a better price but there's something to be said for the convenience of handing your luggage over at the Coach Station and it magically appearing at your cabin door on the ship!

We’ve done this, also, and stayed right off Buckingham Palace Rd. within walking distance of Victoria Coach Station (it’s also a great location for sightseeing in London). However, I think next time I’m going to hire a private transfer directly from the hotel to Southampton. It’s not that much more expensive and Victoria Coach Station gets very crowded on turnaround days. 

Thank you @SailorJack.  Priceless recap, as always. 

There was a hot chocolate station on the Majestic Lido Deck on glacier viewing days. The hot chocolate was free and I would get one and then go to a nearby bar and ask the bartender for his recommendations. Those liquors already noted here were great in hot chocolate. I also like an orange liqueur in hot chocolate, it tastes like Sabra and is delish. 

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

On your previous thread there was some speculation that Alvin Stokes was a name used for AI replies to letters of concern or complaint…maybe that’s true because they all appear to be the same replies & OBC offers. Could that non-standard PCL email go to AI instead of a contractor working on the cold case files.

 

I’m not knowledgeable about how AI works but sending such emails might be an easy task for AI.

 

There is a guy by the same name on Facebook whose two stated work experiences have been senior level customer support positions. And he lives in a part of the country that makes sense for a Carnival employee. 🤔

2 hours ago, ChutChut said:

I didn't even want any money. I just wanted the elevator fixed. I do have a cruise later this year. We'll see if it's applied to my account....

I suspect most people who offer complaints or criticism don’t want any money. It’s sad that some here approach every one of these situations with the same approach, “Another person trying to make money off Princess” when the reality is quite the opposite. 

3 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

There is a long history of why shows are timed the way they are.  I can't give you a precise/accurate explanation, so won't.  I did have the pleasure of sitting next to a cast member's mother on a recent cruise and had this discussion.  

 

Princess settled in on 45 minutes for the benefit of scheduling, cast members, other events going on outside the theater, and a sundry of other reasons.  

 

I don't know what your background is or if you are a passenger on other cruise lines.  

It was crazy when the shows were shortened to 20 minutes (see @Coral’s post below). We waited for the show for twice as long as we enjoyed the show. The stated reason was to give guests (though I think we were still called passengers back then) more opportunities to see more entertainment. In reality, it’s because Princess insists on building ships with inadequate main theater space. 
 

16 minutes ago, Coral said:

I actually remember the history. I believe it was May 2012 because when it changed (if memory serves me correct - I remember I was doing a B2B2B with my Mom). The shows used to be longer. There had been a lot of complaints on the larger ships (Crown, Ruby, Emerald) because people couldn't get into see the shows as they didn't increase the size of the Theatre when they built these ships. The Royal Princess was going to debut in the next year and they were concerned about the size of the theater on that ship as well. So they came out with the brilliant idea of doing 3 shows per night at 45 minutes. So on one sailing we had longer shows and the next sailing, it was shorter (and seemed confusing after seeing the longer shows and then seeing the shorter shows). 

 

Then, they dropped the 3rd SHOWING of the production shows. So they are back to 2 shows.

 

I remember sitting next to the CD at the most traveled lunch and he said "It would be best if they just built larger theaters". 

You’re very right (and so was the CD). We were still on the ship from our winter at sea, when it all changed from one cruise to the next, so I think it was in February or March of 2012. 

1 hour ago, Auntiejo said:

Yes I already knew about the location of Sterling - wasn't crazy about it, but better than nothing as most people said the food was every bit as good Sterling or Crown Grill on other ships that have a dedicated restaurant. Churrascaria is a whole other thing! LOL

We actually enjoyed it more than a steakhouse on a lower level of the ship and ate there while we were cruising in SE Asia (and Alaska would be similar). Huge windows and scenery passing by. It was very nice. 

32 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We have booked the two seats through EZ Air but booked the middle seat on our own.  
it ended up being a hassle because when using EZ Air, they’ve changed our flights so often and this time was no different.  And when they change the plane out, the seats may not be next to one another.  
It works so well to buy that middle seat, especially when it is not pricey but things can go wrong.  

Those are good points.  Thank you.  I feel somewhat comfortable trying to book this through EZ Air because it’s a direct flight that has been in existence for at least ten years.  I hope that makes it less likely to be changed. 
 

I tried to use live chat last night and again today, but it’s going nowhere. I will call, but not this morning. I need to charge my AirPods before I do the Princess hold. 

We are looking at EZ Air flights to London on British Air. Considering the amazing low fare through EZ Air for an economy seat, I would rather book three seats for the two of us and it would be much cheaper than two Premium Economy seats and in a different universe than Business Class. It’s just a 9 hour flight (we can survive in economy), but a guaranteed open middle seat for water bottles, pillows, devices, etc would sure be nice. Has anyone managed to do this using EZ Air?  The airline price for these seats is almost twice as expensive.

1 hour ago, memoak said:

Why are there mostly posts here from people who obviously don’t cruise and just created profiles. I would love here from someone on the cruise who has had an account for more than a few days. 

I’m not sure why that would make a difference. I can easily recall situations when cruisers had thousands of posts and hundreds of days at sea and ran into issues, and people here doubted everything that was said. 

2 hours ago, terrybc said:

Looks like this propulsion issue is not going to get fixed anytime soon? I'm looking at the Pacific Pilotage Authority Pilot Schedule for her & she will be arriving 1 day late into Vancouver on the return sailings resulting in the next 2 departures out of Vancouver being delayed by 1 day. 

That seems odd. Generally, if this happens, they shorten each individual cruise to keep the turnaround days the same.

40 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Look again tonight.  We are on your same timezone here in Arizona and folks were seeing them around 8:00 although the best views weren't until later.  If it's clear you should be able to see them.

 

ETA:  Just heard that tonight the earlier the better as the chances decrease later tonight.  So as soon as it's dark check out the sky.

Great info, thanks!  We were clouded over last night but should be clearer tonight. I’ll try early to see them. 

28 minutes ago, voljeep said:

exactly - and if you remember the past before ...

I don’t. Why don’t you tell us what you’re not telling us?

9 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Tonight when we went down to Vines for our pre-dinner vino, we found this sign.

 

There has definitely been a shift in "energy" onboard now.

 

 

Those shifts in energy are always so interesting to witness. No two cruises are alike, even on the same ship.
 

I’m still following with much interest.  I hadn’t yet mentioned that I caught a wild hair (or is it hare?) just prior to your arrival in Auckland and nearly flew down to join the ship. I think Auckland was on a Friday, and I would have had to leave on Wednesday and actually applied for (and got) the NZETA overnight Monday, and made sure I had enough meds, and DH brought up my suitcase from the basement (I would have gone alone as we had already bought our annuals which needed to be tended to until planted) and I waited until Tuesday to pull the plug and book…and then I was up all Monday night worried about my suitcase not making it and trying to figure out how to pack for that long in a carry on since I’d have gone directly from the airport to the ship and…well, I obviously didn’t join you. But I’ve added a glass of wine to most of my days, and read your Live From and nearly felt like I had. And look at the money I saved (and SWA points.  I just cancelled the flight I booked home from Seattle on Sunday). 
 

And that NZETA?  It’s good for a year. Must get down there. Can’t let that $13.50 go to waste!

3 hours ago, memoak said:

You really need to define staff. As far as I know all stewards, waiters, cooks, bartenders, laundry workers etc are all employees of Princess. Spa, Future cruises and casino employees are all contracted by the venue

Stewards, waiters, cooks, bartenders, etc. are crew, not staff. Entertainment team (and others) are staff.  And then there are officers. I don’t claim to know the details but have learned that there is a big difference onboard regarding the privileges and responsibilities of the various members of the ship’s company. They are acutely aware of those differences. 

23 minutes ago, memoak said:

There is a Starbucks outlet inside my local Safeway. Does that mean the grocery store is responsible for the Starbucks franchise ?

I’m not sure that logic stands. Starbucks in Safeway is selling their own products, not Signature Select ice cream. Princess is allowing (leasing?) space on their ships for O.N.E. to sell Princess cruises.  Hard to get into agency law without seeing a contract (though we certainly have contractual experts on this forum!), but a strong argument can be made that O.N.E. are acting as agents for Princess.  

@PastryPal, while I feel very badly that your parents got caught up in this, I appreciate you posting here to educate us all. Your parents are very fortunate to have you in their corner on this. I have long felt that there is a special place in hell for companies that take advantage of older people, though most of us don’t want to imagine we’d ever fall for a scam (or, I should say, become involved in a non-personally advantageous business relationship).

For those people who think they don’t need WiFi on a cruise, having it could have stopped this in its tracks. I receive a notification the second something is charged to my credit card, even while on a ship, and the only time my card was hacked, I was notified about it while at a football game and had it all taken care of before end of the quarter. 

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

No, you were not imagining that!  We all read the same thing but I believe that pricing strategy quickly died.

Gosh, I couldn’t have seen that coming. 
 

😆

I’m confused by this entire thing. Didn’t Princess make an announcement last year that their roll out pricing was going to be their best pricing, period, and that prices would only go up after that? Did I imagine that?  Because we still see periodic promotions and certainly last minute sales just prior to sailing. 

On 4/24/2024 at 6:51 PM, Arizona Wildcat said:

Customer service in general is somewhere between poor and terrible.  No excuses for Princess, but wondering why you would bother dealing with Princess on the phone as there are lots of great TAs out there that will handle the garbage for you. 

I can’t help but wonder how many great TAs there will be left selling Princess if they’re spending all their time getting avoidable issues resolved for their clients. I mean, once they start pushing minimum wage because of the pre- and post-cruise effort they’re putting in, there are plenty of other occupations to consider. 
 

The answer is not “let a TA handle it”. The answer is fix the darn problems. 

19 hours ago, c-boy said:

I would be temped to jump over and swim to shore here to but, there's probably sharks 

Just those friendly black tip reef sharks. 
 

@LACruiser88, were you anchored in Cooks or Opunohu Bay to get to that lovely beach?

Yes, they always have at least one. Subsequent get togethers are usually spearheaded by the veterans themselves, particularly when the group just “clicks”. Photo:  102 year old WW2 veteran on a cruise last fall. 

55 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

It was, but no 2nd mini-bar setup.  There were 900 passengers that were only on from Sydney to Auckland.  We picked up 400 new passengers in Auckland.

Pre-COVID, that would have meant a re-stock. 

3 hours ago, truffles68 said:

I was just wondering if anyone got a second item mini bar setup in Auckland?

 

We are doing the 30 days cruise from Sydney to Vancouver.I received the 1st mini bar in Sydney. I get only 1 cruise credit plus a second credit for single room occupancy .

 

In the past (2020, 2022, 2023). I had received two mini bars from Vancouver to Sydney ( 29 & 31 days ) in a DOUBLE occupancy cabin. Each person in the cabin got 2 cruise credits 

 

I wonder if things are different on the Sydney to Vancouver cruise vs Vancouver to Sydney cruise.

 

Thx 

Was the cruise available from Sydney to Auckland only?  In my experience, that has made a difference in the past. If it was, then a second minibar setup has been provided. If not, then no.