PescadoAmarillo

I can give you my opinion based on doing exactly what you’ll be doing in 2019-2020. If you can, without wasting OBC, I would close out your first cruise (the transpacific cruise in USD). If you have a balance due at that time, it will be charged to your credit card in USD. Start the AUD portion of your cruises fresh. I am not a fan of gift cards though I know many who swear by them, but I can almost promise you that you’ll get a rotten rate of exchange on the ship. Once you’re in Sydney, go to any of the many ATMs around Circular Quay and the Overseas Passenger Terminal and use an ATM card or debit card (we don’t use those either) to get local currency. From that point, we give extra tips on the ship in whichever currency we have the most of or are trying to use up. It makes no difference to the crew. We also got NZD for excursions there in the same way. So, by the end of the season, we were tipping crew in USD, AUD and NZD. In Asia we were juggling at least six currencies for tips.

Hmmmm… did you find that unasked question in a mayonnaise jar on Funk and Wagnall’s porch after noon today??

I will try. My husband booked my reservation for it. I have no idea how he did it, but I’ll try to find out.

Are some of the cruises in USD and others in AUD? Because B2B cruises with OBC that move from one currency to another are tricky. Really tricky. And the Princess translation, though ultimately correct, is not easy to follow, neither for me (an accountant) or our traveling companion (a math teacher). Save copies of everything and don’t leave this ship either owing or being owed money.

Is this what you are referring to? We did sign up for this. There us no cost but a Princess transfer in required.

Thank you very much. I prefer the Sapphire for Alaska. Check out the aft viewing decks pic I put on my blog. Then there are the forward decks on Deck 8 and 15, over the Bridge, and the covered Peomwnade Deck.

Currently on the Sapphire Princess at Lamplugh Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park. This speed is just enough to stream a Prime Video

Having the package basically gives us back the unlimited internet we had years ago, but at a cost. But some might call that a degradation of benefits. 😉 The reality is that it doesn’t really matter how slow the WiFi is, provided it works at all, if it is unlimited. The always on feature allows scam calls to find me in Glacier Bay, which I’m not sure is a benefit.

I think you have an incorrect perception of internet pre-MedallionNet. I’m not saying it was without weakness but I was able to publish nine years of a blog with that free “useless” internet. I found it very useful and the price was right too.

Yes, but…TIPWTA.* *Pronounced Tip-wit-a at our house. Because it’s used with some frequency.

The $14.99 OceanNow access charge was reversed overnight. We have $60 Princess Plus

I had it again for lunch today!! I’m glad you like it!

I recall Platinum and Elite Lounges well before 2019. As in, at least 10 years before. Did I miss your mention of the elimination of Elite toiletries? Because I keenly miss those four QTips for two people on a month long cruise.

I would only do the Panama Canal cruise for the first time on a ship small enough to fit through the old locks. On Princess, that means the Island or Coral.

A charge has appeared on my account. According to Guests Services, it will be reversed later today.

On the Sapphire Princess right now. Just placed my first Ocean Niw order of the cruise. I have Princess Plus. It never mentioned that the $14.99 would be waived but it was.

B2B on the Sapphire. On today’s turnaround day, we received this letter in our cabin.

I wouldn’t be too upset about it. Ours were shipped to us and both of them needed to be replaced within 24 hours after we boarded the ship because the batteries were dying and they wouldn’t open our cabin door. The Guest Services associate looked and saw that they had been shipped exactly two weeks prior to the start of our cruise. She then said there was no way they would have lasted the full two weeks of our cruise.

I’ll let you know next cruise what happens in vVnes and Alfredo’s. Lucky you, going on the South Pacific cruise! We waited one day too long to book it, and any cabins we wanted were gone. G kept asking if I was sure I wanted to cruise that long, but to get anck to Dravuni Island without a long flight, I would.

There is a Baked Alaska martini and the Alaskan beers, but I haven’t run across any other special drinks. If I encounter any, I’ll make sure you’re aware.

Definitely a Princess excursion. $259pp plus the cost of an Alaska fishing license. And do make sure the salmon are running before you pay that kind of money. King salmon have a different season than Coho, and you have to have a special King Salmon license no keep it, but that season ends at the end of July.

Yes, it was the cocktail party. I’ll try to get the cut off. It was on a night we had the fresh salmon, and I didn’t eat any food there at all. I *think* I might have ordered one drink, but with the drink package, that’s not a big deal. I did greatly enjoy the conversation because we knew the Safety Officer from prior cruises.

Exactly this. I am fairly burned out on alcohol after 3 full days. But it’s 9am and I’ve already ordered 4 Perriers from Room service, and drank two cappuccinos and two fresh squeezed juices from the juice bar. That’s about $32 or so of beverages if I had ordered them a la carte. The Plus package is well worth it even without a single alcoholic beverage. But the best part is the change in mentality about drinks. When I’m pre-paid, I don’t feel impelled to finish anything. I just want a taste of things; I’m not looking to get wasted.

Thank you! And thank you again.🙂 I just published a post that I will amend when I find different menus around the ship. http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2023/07/current-sapphire-princess-drink-menus.html I know I said I wasn’t going to get involved with this impending dining change thing but we were just in Alfredo’s having lunch and the Assistant DRO came to talk with us and it was easy enough to just ask her about it. On the Sapphire Princess, the two affected dining venues are Alfredo’s and Vines. They will no longer offer free food in either venue but instead a three course prix fixe menu for $14.99 pp (starter, entree, dessert). Again, what we have already done for the two port days this cruise, just stop in and have pizza and a beer, will not be available. The options will be, with Princess Premium: unlimited visits for free each cruise; for Princess Plus: two visits for free each cruise, regardless of cruise length, and unlimited further visits for $14.99pp; for Princess Standard, unlimited $14.99 visits per person. What hasn’t been worked out yet is how guests doing B2B cruises that fall over August 2 (ie us) will be handled, based on whether they have Princess Standard, Princess Plus or Princess Premium. She us going to get back with us when that gets figured out. And that’s all I will say say about that. Because any program that offers two of anything per cruise regardless of whether the cruise is 3 days or 33 days is just silly.

I just had a convo with Associate HGM Eunice on the Terrace Deck. To the best of my recollection, here are the answers to your questions for the Dec 1 cruise to Antarctica. Captain: Paola Ravera HGM: Miguel (yay!)) DRO: she *thinks* Mario will be back but not for the LA to Santiago portion Bus and Brand: Yolandi Exec chef: not Remo but she’s not sure who it will be.