lhsail

5 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

In case anyone needs a bit of comic relief on this complicated subject:

I usually pack a Colgate toothpaste that comes in a little "flask" and can stand on its end, rather than a squishy tube that might leak.  Yesterday, beside those in the store, I saw a smaller container, a tube with a big cap, able to stand on its end. In spite of its childish trim, I bought it for my cruise. At home, with my glasses on, I discovered it is fruit-flavored.  After a lifetime of mint, can I handle it?

I mistakenly packed some kids Crest I must have gotten from our dentist for a trip last week. I couldn’t wait to be done with it. 

25 minutes ago, cruiserdf said:

You are correct ... we have a 23 day this November and adding $2700 - $3700 is not worth it to us.  I put that into the business class flight for us.  I am to old to sit in a small seat for 10 hours, but I do not need that many drinks to enjoy my cruise.

For us it’s not the number of drinks, it’s the quality. We enjoy nice wines and the specialty dining. When the packages first rolled out there were some very good wines on the Plus package. That was not the case on the Enchanted in February. 

6 minutes ago, cruiserdf said:

If you go to the "Princess Cruises Social" YouTube channel announcement for these changes, your question is covered.  If I understood the answer given, since it was booked as one cruise (one booking number) the benefits will not reset.  It will be handled as a single cruise.  But then again, August 2024 is a long time away and a lot can change before then.

Thank you. Bummer!  And you are so right, it’s liable to be totally different by then. Hard to justify upgrading to Premium for 23 days. 

We have a cruise in late August next year on the Sun Princess. We booked it as one continuous cruise, but it’s available to book as three separate cruises. We have the Plus Package. Will our benefits such as casual dining, etc. reset?

56 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Most of the time I have seen higher or similar pricing with restricted.  I would never book restricted with EZ-Air.  Takes away all the advantages of EZ-Air - namely can re-fare or even switch carriers for better 

26 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Most of the time I have seen higher or similar pricing with restricted.  I would never book restricted with EZ-Air.  Takes away all the advantages of EZ-Air - namely can re-fare or even switch carriers for better deal.

I would generally agree, but that’s not the case this time. We have some credit on SW and will probably just use that. 

20 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

My best guess.  You are paying EZ Air.  They pay Southwest.  You probably won’t get your money/travel credit returned being that it is a restricted price and monies are due upon booking.  

Called today and was told it was simply a restricted fare, no changes or refunds. Have to decide if the savings are worth it. 

Was surprised to see EZ Air fares for SW listed as restricted. Anyone know how that works since SW offers credit back as long as you cancel?  Some pretty good prices compared to direct booking. 

7 hours ago, wallyj said:

When you go into you cruise Personalizer, does it give you the option to upgrade to premier and the price?

 

I just booked an on board 50% off promo fare while I was on the a Sapphire and have Plus. When I go to my Personalizer it says to contact Us or TA to inquire about upgrade to Premier instead of wording saying fare is $80 day and click button for pricing.

 

For another booking I had, I could upgrade on the Personalizer from Plus to Premier, click the button to get the price and then click to enter my credit card info to be charged, I did upgrade, and immediately I saw the updated amenities in my travel summary.

Somehow I had missed this. Thank you for your kind instruction. I see where I can upgrade it myself. 

9 hours ago, Sweetrosie said:

I asked my ta that... her answer was no.  Saying that, our cruise is more now for standard than we paid for plus.

I tried to upgrade from Plus to Premier yesterday and my TA said he would need to re-fare. I’d go from $200 OBC to $50 OBC. Don’t understand why they can’t just charge me the difference. 

14 minutes ago, Coral said:

I think February.

Interesting. So, we can purchase on board with OBC and if we purchase the Princess Protection we don’t the 8% on the package cost?

Is this something new?  I thought Princess packages had to be purchased pre-cruise. 

We have regrouped and are ready to fly to Paris on Tuesday to take the rest of our trip. I don’t know if we would have gone through making changes again, but it would have been nice if those of us impacted by the cancellations would have had a 24 hour window to book the Coronation cruise. Realize Cunard wanted as big a customer base as possible as soon as possible. 

5 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

 

Some PAX have booked on the Royal April 30 to Rome.  Poor substitute of course but if you want to get to Europe I guess it works.

We have to be in Paris by the 8th to join a pre-river cruise tour. The Celebrity Reflection sailed on the 23rd ending in Barcelona on the 8th. Unfortunately, this all fell apart too late. We have secured airfare to Paris for next Tuesday and will spend a few days in the Loire Valley. Not a bad alternative. 

18 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

This is what I was thinking.  My TA on the QM next year is part of a larger "trip" and if the cruise is cancelled I would think that would be considered a delay or disruption.  I was going to reach out to the insurance agent who sold me my policy to see what would be covered, but I'm sure he's bombarded today....   

I’ll guess I’ll find out. Our crossing next week was part of a bigger trip. We will recover enough in refunds to cover flights now to Paris and a few nights hotel, but I am out some bus and Eurostar tickets I cannot cancel for refund. The train tickets were unusually expensive due to the coronation and a holiday on the 8th. I’m not hopeful, but going to try. 
 

BTW, we are in your town frequently as our son and his wife live there. 

34 minutes ago, californiagirl said:

My husband and I are seasoned travelers.  We have cruised on several cruise lines.  We are elite with Princess.  I say this to illustrate that we have been on many cruises.  I’m merely a bystander today but I am appalled with Cunard’s behavior with regard to their passengers over these cancelled cruises.  I understand clearly what they are legally required to do, but what they SHOULD have done is an entirely different story.  I feel bad for every passenger impacted by Cunard’s treatment of them.  
 

On every cruise we have ever sailed we have encountered people who are physically impaired for one reason or another.  Many of these people are frequent cruisers.  Inevitably the most frequent cruisers with physical limitations told us that they boarded cruises near their home (no flights), took a taxi or town car to the ship (limited ground transportation) and rarely got off the ship in port (decreasing the risk of unforeseen obstacles leading to injury).  A fair amount of these people cruised b2b or moved from one ship to another at the same port so as to experience different itineraries.  For the most savvy traveler, today would be challenging.  For the person who’s only form of travel is cruising the requirement to find a last minute flight, book an overnight stay etc. could seem insurmountable.  Cunard should assist EVERY passenger with booking flights and hotel or at least offer to do so. Not just the few who had the good fortune to be onboard before the cruise was cancelled. It would have cost Cunard relatively little to assign employees the task of contacting the passengers and helping them find alternative transportation.  Regarding who should pay for it is a different topic…I can see both sides to that question.  
 

Additionally to imply that an older single person using a walker or not should not cruise is incredibly insensitive.  Would I do it?  No, but I’m not going to judge someone else whose choice is different.
 

I know this was about 27 years ago, but we were on a Holland America Panama Canal cruise. As we left Grand Cayman, our last stop, there was an explosion in the engine room. We were delayed getting into Fort Lauderdale by several hours   I realize they had a day at sea to take care of things, but they rebooked everyone’s air arrangements. 

4 minutes ago, Germancruiser said:

I am terribly sorry to read that the crossing is canceled. Not Cunard´s fault- but still I can imagine how dissapointed you all are. I was booked on both canceled voyages but had to jump ship, due to a family crisis- illness. All the best for you all.

Thank you for checking in. 

April 30th officially canceled. Emails have been sent. 

2 hours ago, esrs said:

Oh dear. We've got a massive trip planned starting on the QM2 30 April in NY,  with weeks in the UK, a trip on the QV, and then back on QM2.  We can't fly over so the entire thing will have to be canceled if they cancel M311. 

We are doing the same. Headed to Paris for four nights after the crossing, three of which are part of a AmaWaterways package.  Then an AmaWaterways Rhone cruise that begins May 11. This is devastating. We can fly, which was our original plan, but it will cost us a small fortune now for flights. 

22 minutes ago, TheOldBear said:

We discovered in october that the new internet plan has multiple problems when trying to apply world club  credits.

Even though we both had world club credits - we could not apply Mrs Bear's credit to our network purchase for the 'entire voyage , one device at a time' option.

Perhaps things will be updated by October 2024, but we will look for a purchase pattern that will allow us to use both WC credits before purchasing for the rest of the trip. Since we are not heavy / constant network users the earlier by the minute plan seemed to be a better value - but that is no longer an option.

Currently, my husband doesn’t get any internet credit. If we sail Cunard again it might be an issue. Hopefully they’ll work things out. 

6 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

To help clarify how Cunard's wifi pricing works, the wifi package prices do not go up once on board. What is offered on board is an additional option to purchase wifi in individual 24-segments rather than for all the remaining days of the voyage.

 

Whether you purchase in advance or on board, the Essential plan is $18 per day and the Premium plan is $24 per day if you purchase those plans for all the remaining days of the voyage.

 

The higher rates of $24 for the Essential plan and $36 for the Premium plan are if you decide once on board to only purchase those plans for individual blocks of 24 hours at a time (basically a pay-as-you-go option).

Appreciate the clarification. We definitely need the whole week. We have some family members that are more senior than we are and need to be accessible. 

7 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

This is what the website says -

 

 

"Gold members receive $45 per person.

Platinum members receive $80 per person.

Diamond members receive $135 per person.

 

The above amounts are in US dollars, which is the currency used on board all our ships.

 

Visit our Cunard World Club page to find out more about these and other benefits.

 

Please note, My Cunard cannot accept internet bookings using internet credits, so Cunard World Club members with credits will have to wait until they are on board before booking an internet plan. The same prices quoted on My Cunard will be valid on the ship."

Thank you. Went back in and for some reason on my iPad the fine print is overridden by other information on the same page, which is probably why I missed it. Now I can see where that is stated. 

Looking at internet offerings for our upcoming QM2 cruise. I get $45 credit, but it says I have to book the package onboard to get the credit. However, the cost of the packages goes up once onboard, from $18 to $24 per day for the Essentials package and from $24 to $36 per day for the Premium package. Seems the credit is useless if I can’t purchase in advance. Am I missing something?

2 minutes ago, Kristal Blade said:

I’ve made a few enquiries and it seems we all have 2 free laundry loads, it’s only 1 if it’s a 7 day cruise.

We had a fabulous day at Keukenhof gardens and I’m now sitting in the sunshine on the balcony.

Thank you. Anything is welcome. My husband claims I’m an artist at stuffing the laundry bag. 
 

Beautiful flowers. 

3 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

I’m on board now! Our ship is lovely. AmaStella has great decor, which we have added to with our Easter embellishments. 
live had a shower using my spa quality toiletries (Pure Herbs) so I now smell amazing. I love the soap embedded with petals. Haven’t worn my plush terry yet, it is more of a waffle with a cotton lining. Not opened the slippers yet either.

Nice surprise - we get 2 free bags of laundry!

 

Tonight I have on my blingy sandals, silky trousers and a nice top. Hubby is wearing a linen shirt, no tie or jacket.

Off for a pre prandial libation.

Cheers

Do you get two free bags of laundry because you are a repeat passenger, or does everyone get this?