wrongwaywatson

Loyalty Pins?  I don't recall getting a Platinum one, but that was several years ago.  We were elite on our last April 1 cruise, but we didn't get a pin, LOL   We did get the pretty black medallions, which are now magnets on our fridge.

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Indeed, but you were not on the cruises I have been on.

I just finished reading the thread.  I thought there was only one page, LOL   I guess the 7:30 and 9:30 are for US based sailings.  We usually go in around 5:15 and are out about 6:45, table for 4 or 6, people that we cruise with.   Waiting for other people to finish was one of the reasons we didn't like sitting at a table with others.   We almost always go to the 7:30 show and either a game, movie or music after that.

On 5/5/2023 at 5:21 PM, wowzz said:

Never been on a Princess ship with a 7:30 show. They are normally later than that.

They have been at 7:30 and 9:30 on our past 3 cruises.

17 hours ago, wowzz said:

But you have already paid for your bed. It is entirely your perrogative to then use it or not.

 

I agree.  I was responding to someone who said that people who reserved it and didn't go wouldn't be charged.

12 hours ago, kayelbee said:

I assume it was refundable OBC?

Yes, it was.   But, I already had OBC and they took the $80 out of that.  After we spoke with them, they just reversed the charges.

32 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

BITD, when Sanctuary first came on the scene, that is what I used to say - we are booking inside and spend extra for full-voyage Sanctuary (it cost half of what it costs now back then) in the Caribbean.

I think it's a smart thing to do!

I don't think that your cabin type (suite, inside, whatever) should have anything to do with getting a sanctuary reservation.  Nor do I think loyalty level should.   I have heard of people reserving an inside or OV with the thought that they would spend the day in the sanctuary, justifying the cost by saving on the fare.  

I'm not sure why I'm posting in this thread, as I've never used the sanctuary.  I don't mind laying near the pools or the sun deck.

I only remember Platinum getting 250 free minutes.

I think you should be charged if you no show.

When we went to Guest Services, my BIL had his credit card charges on his phone.  They then credited me back what they had charged me.  It was in OBC, though.  

Gosh, I always just pack 2 small (palm sized) flashlights and put one on each nightstand.  Then, when I would get up I used the flashlight.  It worked great.  Plus, if there was a power outage or some other problem, they are handy to have!

On 4/26/2023 at 7:03 AM, sns1 said:

Background - This was my husband and my 30th cruise.

 

Arrival - Princess had e-mailed us that our arrival time was now at 12:30 p.m. because of the cleaning from noro.  We arrived at the time and checked in.  Our room wasn't ready until 2:30 p.m.  We went to have lunch but needed to bring our luggage with us.  We do carry on luggage.

 

Room - We were in vista suite - C750.  We originally booked a mini suite on the dolphin deck but put in the lowest bid for a vista suite and were notified a couple of weeks before the cruise that it was accepted.  We felt it was worth it.

 

We met our room steward right away and he told us that he was responsible for ALL the suites in the aft area.  This was not just the Caribe deck but all aft suites.  He did have a helper but we rarely saw them.  We would leave a note and things were taken care of but we could tell that he had a lot on his plate.   The room was tidied up twice a day.

 

We miss having a little pad of paper and pen.  Why was that done away with?????

 

International Cafe - we like this area but not sure why the coffee area is not larger.  There needs to be a line for just plain coffee.  I felt bad for people who stood in line for food and then had to stand in line for coffee.  This area can get quite busy at times. 

 

Premium Desserts - Princess needs to do away with this.  We tried it but would never order again.  It took forever to get the sundae and it was NOTHING special.  The ice cream is just plain vanilla ice cream......not premium ice cream.  The chocolate tasted like chocolate sauce....not hot fudge.  We threw away the lollipop.  I don't understand the small bottles of liquor.  We asked for Kahlua in the sundae and they poured it into a container for us.  The girl asked for our room number because there was a charge and we said that we already paid but the girl insisted on getting our cabin number.  We refused and then they just threw out the Kahlua.  People that had placed their orders were hanging around the counter.  It was very crowded.  We never went back.  Not worth the calories, hassle or cost.

 

We went to Sabitini's for dinner one night.  We had an outstanding meal.  I've always wanted to try Ossobuco.  It was to die for.  So tender and flavorful.  We normally go to Crown Grill but decided to skip it this cruise. 

 

We had club class for dining.  The staff is outstanding.  We had cruised in February and there were quite a few that were still there.  That was nice.  We could always find something that we liked on the menu.  We would go to the buffet or order food to be delivered for lunch.  Breakfast was at Sabitini's. 

 

There were people that were sick with noro on the cruise.  We did not get sick.  We wash our hands, use the liquid and try to stay away from crowds.  We did go to the Princess Theater one evening to see the comedian.  I love to lay in the sun and usually find a lounger on the sun deck, right outside of the Sanctuary.  There was only one day that it was semi busy up there. My husband likes to read up in Skywalkers or on our deck.  I do think the crew tried their best to keep people from getting sick.  I did witness many passengers not washing their hands, they touched the food and did not listen to what the crew asked them to do.  I also saw a child go to the hand washing station and her mother told her that she was ok and didn't need to wash.  The little girl said "but mom, I need to wash my hands".  The mother actually pulled the girl from the sink.   Maybe they weren't going to the buffet.......

 

We had quite a bit of OBC, so we used it in the casino.  We would have gambled more but the smell of smoke was bad.  Princess use to have 2 non smoking nights during a seven day cruise but every night was smoking night.  We were going to go to bingo during the week but they only had it on the last day.  By then we had used up our OBC.

 

Getting off the ship was a breeze.  We were one of the first off and we take our own luggage.  Getting to the parking garage was a little challenge but we were good once we found the elevators. 

 

Our only complaints were the coffee line at the International Cafe and the Premium Desserts.

As a person who gets in the IC Cafe Line and only orders 1 cup of regular coffee, no specialty coffees, no foo foo coffees, just coffee....it would be REALLY nice to have a line for those of us to get just coffee.  It literally takes 10 seconds to pour our coffee.

7 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

You do realize that the 18% gratuity isn't really part of the Princess Plus option.  It's a true 18% if you're paying a la carte.  It's totally arbitrary as to how much of the 40/50/60/80 is possibly allocated for the drink you got delivered.  And of course you could be a low end consumer and have 5 drinks per day or a very heavy drinker and have a total of 20 drinks or more per day, combining alcoholic and non-alcoholic options.  Nobody really knows how much of the daily charge you paid for the Plus package actually gets allocated to the server on a per drink basis.

 

We like to belly up to a bar to order our drinks so that I can see them being made to ensure that the proper alcohol is being utilized and not substituted with something else.   And since 90% of our consumption is at Good Spirits, we take care of the servers there at the end of the cruise.

That's not how the tips are charged/disbursed.  You  are paying $16/day.  The server at the bar is paid ____ amount daily from the tip pool (total autotip collected divided by the staff number), regardless of how many drinks they poured that day.  If you tip at the bar, but have removed auto tip, those tips will also go into the pool.  They are required to report them, and they will be let go if they are caught not turning them in.   If you tip extra and have left your auto tip on, then they can keep the extra tip.

On our April 1-8 cruise my BIL made a reservation for 4 for us (our bookings are linked) and he paid for the reservations on his credit card.  We paid him and and we thought all was well.  We went to the Crown Grill and the next morning a charge showed up for 2 CG on our Folio.  I asked my BIL if they were charged and he checked and they were not.  He and I then went to Guest Services where he showed them where he had prepaid for 4.  It took about 20 minutes, but we got it removed while we stood there!

It's no different than if you paid by a credit card.  The commission is paid to the agent after you sail

I always pack a large assortment of meds.  I haven't needed them yet, but a relative in a different cabin did!

On our first Princess cruise back in 2006, they were selling shots of Bailey's in the little shot glasses.  I still have some of them! LOL  They did it on the next one in 2007, but then we didn't see it again until this past cruise in April 2023.

50 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Which show?  The original has been off for that long, but there was a revival in the late 1990s, and a reality version that aired last year.  The last version was at least partially filmed on a real Princess ship and occasionally used real Princess staff (including the Captain).

They are talking about the original TV show from the 70s.  Thank goodness that travesty fake reality show that they tried last year didn't take off at all!   I loved the old 70s show!

10 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

On our last cruise which was a TA last fall a guy wore shorts every night in Club Class and the Restaurant Manager doted over him every night because he said he was a travel blogger.  

 

We see it all the time so it is not a hard and fast rule and it seems like people are more likely to be admitted than rejected by MDR staff by many posts here on CC.  

 

Princess has relaxed what people can wear and this is simply true by what we have witnessed.  Have you ever seen a woman turned away from wearing shorts in the dining room.  I bet not.

Nope, I have not.   I also don't doubt what others are saying about people wearing shorts.  I've seen it.  All I was saying is, be prepared if they do enforce the dress code.  It happens.

That's great to hear!

3 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

Agree.  Your family will be fine.  It just is not happening that people are being turned away in mass from MDR's for casual style.

 

If you watch, the MDR staff is having a hard enough time getting people seated and trying not to be yelled at without worrying about what passengers are wearing.  It may have been that way in the past but in our experience allows a lot of exceptions in the MDR's now.  The sky is just not falling in the MDR's over Princess "SUGGESTED" dress styles.  

That isn't true.  I've seen men turned away because they were wearing shorts.  It happens.  As a matter of fact, one man in our own party of 7 showed up for dinner one night in shorts and he was turned away.  He had to go back to the room to change.   He didn't throw a fit, he didn't complain, he just went and changed.

The OP asked if it was okay.  People are telling her that there is a possibility that they could be turned away.  That is all.

I also agree that I'm more concerned with how they behave in the Dining Room.  On our last cruise, which had LOTS of kids, there was some very well behaved kids (pre-teen to teenaged boys) sitting at a table with no parents.  The parents appeared to be sitting at the table next to them.  They behaved wonderfully!

It might be a good time to teach them to follow the rules.  Buy them a pair of pants.

3 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

'Coughing and sneezing by infected people can spread the virus through the air. Eating contaminated food or coming into contact with a contaminated water source can also spread norovirus infection.'

Coughing and sneezing are not symptoms of noro.  That person would be spreading their cold germs.

We are flying to Chicago and really 11:18pm were our only options.