cruiserdf

21 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Best stock 'dividend' out there! Bought at 6.50 in 10/2022, have received 1100 so far, getting 250 in 11 days, and another 250 this fall. All tax free!! Of course, the incentive to continue with CC lines has worked for them but it also works for me 🤑

 

Someone said they shortened the timelines for applying for it. Used to be whenever but now it's must cruise within 3 months???

 

 

Best stock 'dividend'??? The stock does not currently pay a dividend.  It previously (several years ago) paid $ .25 per share.

17 hours ago, tiggerrr said:

I was unable to work on my work laptop due to VPN on two cruises on Discovery Princess this past year and a half.  One cruise was before starlink and one after. Also, didn’t work on Diamond this past January but it did work on Grand last September.  When I went to see if the staff could help, they were clear each time I tried that VPNs are not supported and they would not try to help. So, it may work for you but if it’s critical that you be connected, you may be running a risk.  Thankfully, we have a Citrix connection at work too, so my wife’s laptop worked for me to stay connected. 

This has been been my exact experience also.  On our last November (Enchanted) and August (Caribbean cruises.  Princess staff said the VPN would not work with the Medallion.net.  VPN support said it might work, but only with a close county access which defeated the purpose for me. 

On 12/31/2023 at 6:07 AM, JF - retired RRT said:

The laundry staff takes your stuff out of the paper bag and puts tags on each item (it's fun finding the tags later...like 2 years later), then transfers everything to a net bag for washing. They don't care (and how would they know for sure) which items belong to which person in the cabin.

Be aware that some have had clothes returned with shrinkage, holes, etc. Never happened to us, but it could. I wouldn't put anything that's brand new or expensive in the laundry bag, just in case. Some have had success getting reimbursement for ruined items.

Also, to verify what's being sent, I take pix of all the items laid out on the bed. That way if something is missing, I can report it and hopefully get it back. Same as above, never lost anything, but it has happened to others.

We have had ruined items, missing items and wrong items.  Everything always has been resolved satisfactorily.  I don't missed the laundry room days, but then again some folks enjoy their time there.

2 hours ago, wallyj said:

Unlimited. Subject to changes in program as rumor has it changes to be announced within the month? Also subject to turnaround processing. My last 18 day sailing, last day to submit laundry was morning of 3 days before end of cruise.

And where did this latest rumor come from?  That has been a rumor for almost as long as we have had free laundry..... many years.  We have had laundry turnaround times anywhere from next day to 5 days.

2 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I have found that the outlet behind the bed has always been a "European style" 220 volt 2 prong style (at least for the 8 or 9 ships I've been on.)  Here is what I use:

 

 

If you are needing to plug in 2 CPAPS, I use a "power splitter" such as this:

 

Thank you for the detailed posting.  I wasn't sure if the lamp would plug back into the end of this adapter.  I don't think that power splitter will plug into the top of this adapter since it is 3 prong /w ground.  But we generally carry regular 2 prong extension cords for hotels etc.  So that should plug into the top and give me the two US outlets for the CPAPs.  I am not good at remembering the different cabin configurations and generally have had good luck with what we have.  A few times it hasn't worked great.  Leaving in November for 26 days on the Enchanted and will be in a DB cabin.  I think the desk is on the opposite side like the mini-suites, so this setup will work much better.  Again, thanks for the helpful information.

On 3/15/2022 at 7:12 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Every Princess ship I have been on (admittedly, not all...) have had 220 volt outlets behind the bed.  I pull the bed out and use an adapter to use with my CPAP.  On the Sky just about 3 weeks ago (mini-suite) I was surprised to find the outlet had nothing plugged into it.  In the past the lamp had always been plugged in there.  They are apparently hardwired now.  So...I did not need to use a dual outlet style adapter to keep the lamp plugged in.  I had a "dedicated" outlet.

Which dual outlet style adapter do you use for your CPAPs.  Both my wife and I use CPAPs and I have been lucky to have an open outlet behind the bed or run a light extension cord to the desk next to the bed. Recently did run into the one outlet behind the bed used for the lamp and the desk was on the wrong side of the cabin.  So I am looking for a dual outlet style adapter to plug the lamp back into and then an extension cord for both CPAPs behind the bed.  I would be interested in what adapter style you are using.  Thanks .....

43 minutes ago, Yowman said:

 

 

WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption, so no VPN needed:

 

https://faq.whatsapp.com/820124435853543

 

Most phone apps - browsers (using https), messaging, banking, etc. - use encryption so no need for a VPN there.

 

The issue with commercial VPNs is that all your traffic goes through them giving the bad guys a single vector of attack.  The question is: do you trust the VPN providers and their infrastructure more than the built-in encryption of the apps you use?  I've not used a commercial VPN in years - never had an issue.

 

I have set up a VPN on my home server so that I can connect through it.  I use this for accessing internet resources in my home country that I can't access outside of it - they see my IP address as my home IP address wherever I am in the world.  Some of these internet resources can determine if a commercial VPN is in use and can block you anyway, for example Prime Video, Netflix, and other streaming services.

 

My only use for a commercial VPN would be for nefarious reasons such as torrenting, and even then some of the commercial VPNs that claim they don't log traffic have been caught actually logging traffic.

 

Another opinion on why most people don't need to pay for a commercial VPN:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgxnwk/you-probably-dont-need-a-vpn

 

From the above link:

Security researcher Kenn White added that "for the vast majority of consumers, commercial VPN services add very little value and frankly most incur more security risk for the user."

 

One risk is some VPN providers use self-signed root CAs, which allow the creator to read encrypted traffic coming from a computer. White said this is done in the pursuit of malware prevention, but that "is just a different way of saying 'intercepting your (otherwise) encrypted web and mail traffic.'"

Some VPNs may collect more information than users anticipate, and in some cases expose that data too.

 

 

YMMV

YMMV - I understand what your are saying about the potential security risks of using a commercial VPN.  Although I really don't want to invest time and effort to create a personal VPN.  I don't see any other options to use email and some financial accounts outside my home country without the use of a VPN.  I probably won't use it at home, just for travel and keep my fingers crossed it works well on the ships.  With the pre-Starlink Princess internet, I seemed to have been lucky with my access out of the United States.  This last trip, no such luck.

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

@cruiserdf, i have read that guests have had general success using a VPN on the ship for Internet purposes.  However, you should turn off the VPN when using the Princess App on board (ship Intranet is all that is needed).  Most seem to report that Princess App functions do not work well, or at all, if a VPN is in play.

Steelers 36, I have read similar information.  I don't use the Princess App except for checking the account balances and if the printers are working, then that isn't even an issue.  Just need the internet access.  Have you had any experience with Whatsapp and a VPN?

1 hour ago, BabySarge said:

Just want to say if there is some way to check that the VPN will work for you before you get it maybe do that, because while I did a ton of research and thought I had all my bases covered and did buy Nord VPN because it looked like the best; it did not work for me with MY bank.  It could just have been my inexperience with using a VPN and the possibility I did not install it correctly on my computer or my bank, but even after contacting Nord for technical assistance and them advising that everything was right, I was still unable to access my bank account when I was connected to the internet through/using routing through Nord.  This was all whilst I was in the US, with a US bank, and choosing US Nord VPN routing.   Nord never could explain to me why my bank would not allow me to access the site and since I could not login at all and I was still here in the US in my living room trying to look at my bank account and not able to do it with the VPN turned on what the heck was going to happen when I was on a cruise ship or overseas?

Thanks for these suggestions.  I do plan to use their 30 day trial period to use Nord VPN from home to access the accounts / sites I need.  I don't fully understand exactly how the VPN works, but thought it was pretty much just controlling where the IP address shows from i.e. allowing access from the US while in Europe.  I appreciate the security, but the older I get my patience wears thin with the hoops I have to jump through.

We were recently on the Caribbean Princess on a RT cruise from New York to Greenland.  As we sailed into Canadian waters I was locked out of my Yahoo and gmail email accounts.  I was able to recover the account via Yahoo chat without cellphone service required for verification in the Canadian waters.  Once we reached Greenland I was locked out of all email accounts and financial accounts and no way to recover since I had no cellphone service for verification.  The internet service with Starlink remained solid throughout the entire cruise and was the best Princess internet in 47 cruises.  In Greenland everything (facebook, google etc.) appeared to be coming out of the UK.  I suspect I was locked out of everything since I normally sign in from the US. I use a laptop and not a cellphone for internet access and I sign out of every account access every time.

So I was considering getting Nord VPN for our next cruise to the Mediterranean and transAtlantic.  My thinking is I would be able to make it look like I am in the US using Nord VPN.  Has anyone used Nord VPN with the Medallion Internet on a laptop with Starlink on the Princess ships?  If so, how difficult was it and what was your experience?

4 hours ago, overlake7 said:

We just got off the Emerald Princess and had purchased a coffee package 9 months ago. We went to the Captain’s Club representative and after a few phone calls she informed us the 15 coffee or tea package would be honored. Be sure to bring a receipt of your precruise purchase to show! 

Thank you ..... This is encouraging.  But as we all know this can vary by ship.  Since the Captain's Circle Rep, change to the Events and Loyalty Manager, I found many are less helpful.  Why we always have a copy of the Travel Summary which shows the purchase, did you still receive the card / receipt in your cabin?  Did the Folks at the coffee bar know how to handle the charges?

2 minutes ago, lhsail said:

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. 

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.

26 minutes ago, lhsail said:

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?

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.

In the last month there was an excellent Wall Street Journal article regarding the post-COVID tipping culture.  Essentially the article pointed out that during the pandemic, many folks were more generous in their tipping practices.  As a result, many companies and employers count on this continued "generous" tipping practice to supplement "their" employee's" wages so their company costs do not "have" to increase.  They want to convince us our new tipping practices are keeping "our" prices down.  Unfortunately, I see my purchasing power continue to decrease, regardless of my tipping practices and it pretty much bleeds into my cruising costs similarly.  I think it has something more to do with making up for COVID pandemic losses, again similarly to the cruise industry

3 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Don't think so.  If on Standard each purchase would simply be applied to your account in individual transactions.  I could be wrong...I'm sure someone will chime in one way or the other.

Fortunately / unfortunately we have a coffee card for our 8/12 Greenland cruise (Caribbean) and for our November 11/12 trans-Atlantic (Enchanted).  I was going to cancel them, as I highly suspect they won't be honored.  But, I decided to leave them in place and show passenger services my travel summary to see what they do.  Best case they honor the card.  Most likely they credit the amount back as OBC.  Worst case they do nothing and then I have to fight corporate.  We will see .......

17 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Insurance through Princess is a group policy and age isn't a factor. As we celebrate anniversaries of our birth, cruise line insurance becomes more and more attractive.

Unfortunately the cruise line coverage hasn't been our coverage of choice for many different reasons.  Even with the negative age impact, Allianz continues to be our travel insurance of choice. 

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

On the Caribbean Princess.  No more room service door hangers for breakfast and/or suite/elite canapés. 
 

 

 

On our April Discovery Princess cruise, they ended the elite canapés door hanger.  It moved to "one size fits ALL".  All elites got the same canapés, no selection and the same selection (poor) every formal night.  Delivery time was determined by room service.  The breakfast door hanger was still available at that time.

I find it interesting that on the Princess Cruises Social YouTube channel announcement that Carmin Roia, VP Sales really was pointing out that having the travel agents encourage the passengers pre-purchase the Plus or Premier packages would increase their 12% or 15% commissions.  That certainly is true.  Just as it will drive an increase in the passengers travel insurance costs, as the travel insurance is based on the total trip costs.  For a 7 day cruise that increase may not be significant, but once you get into the 16 - 25 day cruises with the older ages, those travel insurance costs will add up with the added Plus and Premier package costs.  So essentially you now are just insuring your wifi, drink and gratuities cost as an adder.  I am not sure that is a good value.  This is another "continuing example" how John Padgett is targeting new cruisers and doesn't really care what the Princess loyal cruiser thinks any longer.  I am hoping more cruise lines follow suit to MSC and do a type of loyalty matching.  Eventually even the "free laundry" won't be worth it.  I sure wish we had the likes of Alan Buckelew and Jan Swartz at the helm of Princess cruises.  They knew the balance to drive loyalty, revenue and growth.

On 7/28/2023 at 8:25 AM, Steelers36 said:

I checked off Standard without really thinking much about it.  I don't see us changing.  It comes down to drinks for the most part.  

 

We get Elite mini-bar which gives us 10 beers and 10 Perrier (after swapping).  We get the starter water package for ~$7 (last price I knew).  I BYOW and accept that I can be charged $20/bottle after the first two.

 

CA is $16/pp for us.  Medallion Net is $15 total (we get 50% off).  $47 per day in "fixed costs" versus $120 for Plus, leaves $73/day to spend on beverages and such.

 

I have never used the Ocean Now feature other than back when you got first drink free.  Long gone.  Also, in the rare occasion I might order a bar drink, my drink isn't on their menu and they don't (or didn't) have a custom order option to type in your own drink.  So, useless to me.  I just go to the bar and get what I want.  

 

We have never ordered room service that I can recall. 

 

I will accept that PCL is now going to charge us a nominal fee to eat at Alfredo's/Gigi's - not dissimilar to O'Malley's, Salty Dog.  We typically go to Alfredo's on a Sea Day for lunch and share a pizza and perhaps one other item.  So, we won't be spending $30 for two full meals anyway. 

 

That means Standard wins the day still for us.  If PCL removes that, well then we have to reconsider.

 

 

Has anyone confirmed if a call to room service to change out the mini bar or have room service deliver the pre-cruise "pre-ordered" items (soda package, water, liquor etc.) will incur the $5 room service charge?

3 hours ago, ldtr said:

On a 7 day cruise you lose $100.  On a 7 day cruise based upon last quarters numbers the cruise line loses a potential $541.66 by not having a second person in that cabin.  They might save 107.80 in food cost.  However the crew gives up $112 in gratuity amount, even though they clean the same number of bathrooms, change the same towels, make the same beds. etc.

 

Why does the crew give $112 in gratuity amount?  Has it changed where solo travelers do not have to pay 2x gratuities when traveling alone in a cabin?

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

 

Sorry, I should have been more clear.... I meant the missing passenger when one sails solo would just as likely have been paying zero in onboard spending.  I was thinking lot of solo are widowed experienced cruisers, who's lost partner didn't spend much either.  Seasoned cruisers don't spend on pictures, rarely buy ship excursions, don't shop in the stores and almost never buy artwork.  What little they spend on is usually covered by some form of OBC.

 

To put it bluntly and a bit morbidly, whichever one of hubby or me goes first, the survivor traveling solo will be spending the same on their cabin and onboard expenses as we now do when traveling as a couple, but costing the cruise line less than if it were accommodating two people.  Given the number of Platinum and Elites on most sailings, I imagine that we are not atypical in our stingy spending.

 

The people you speak of, with the average $77+ per day onboard spending, are younger, newer to cruising and would not likely be traveling solo, or be the lost passenger.

 

 

After 46 Princess cruises I don't remember a cruise where we did not have one or several "ship" excursions.  Yes we have repeated excursions sometimes on accident and sometimes on purpose.

On our April cruise we actually bought our balcony dinner pictures.

Additionally I would submit the older cruiser has many more cruise days per year than the younger families.  Say a family of 5 on a 14 day cruise equates to 70 passenger days.  An older couple with only four 14 day cruises per year would have 112 passenger days per year.  It seems the older we get, our cruise day goals have been increasing each year.  I don't think we are unique. 

6 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

On Veterans Day 2010 the military benefit began when Vietnam Army combat veteran Alan Buckelew was the Princess president.

 

A Soldier Returns on a Cruise to Vietnam, as a Tourist

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/cruise-blog/50-essential-experiences/a-soldier-returns-on-a-cruise-to-vietnam-as-a-tourist.html

 

Astro Flyer, you are 100% correct .... EXCELLENT memory.  Alan Buckelew knew how to make a veteran feel appreciated!  While I think Alan retired sometime ago, I think he is still leading as the Chairman of the Board for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

21 minutes ago, whitecap said:

Maybe send your TA a copy of the memo shown in post #271.   

Whitecap, I have done that.  Generally these restrictions are controlled at the cabin level.  I will wait to sell my last 100 shares until after full implementation of the change to see what actually happens.  The $250 is not going to make or break most cruisers.  The "value" message around the change is the hard part for me.

10 hours ago, damiross said:

I am eligible for the military OBC and the shareholder OBC.  I sold all but 100 shares of CCL today.  I would have sold all of my shares, but I am optimistic that CCL will see the errors of their way and allow a person to have both types of OBC at the same time.

 

It doesn't bother me if both are non-refundable. 

My travel agent confirmed yesterday 6/22 that "Princess will only allow one benefit (MOBC or SOBC per booking, not per passenger."  So, unless you can figure out a way to have two separate bookings for the same cabin, I think it will be either military OBC or shareholder OBC.  I had previously sold to 100 shares, but now no need to hold those 100 shares either.  For me, it is not really about the dollars, but about the message sent to the veterans.  How large a dollar impact is that really for Princess compared to being able to advertise that as a differentiator for your cruise line?  I believe it was the CEO prior to Jan Swartz that was very pro-veteran.  New execs new rules.  John  Padgett not so much ...... Hoping for better leadership in the future.

7 hours ago, oldracer said:

We've been looking at other cruise lines event though we are just two cruises short of elite level, due to the itineraries and costs compared to Princess. Since we are both military and have the 100 shares for the OBC, dropping one or the other may be the final push to go to another cruise line. We have two booked now; Asia in Feb 2024 and NE/Canada in Aug 2023 and have both credited for each of the credits.

I think I am with oldracer on this one.  This may be the final push to go check other cruise lines.  After 47 Princess cruises and 6 booked for '23 and '24, this could be a $1,300 take away if my wife can't get the shareholder OBC with my military OBC.  The biggest slap to me is that now essentially anyone can get the same value as a military OBC, if it is limited to one military or shareholder OBC per cabin.