milolii

13 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We are currently onboard the Ruby.  Thank goodness the passenger that encountering the medical emergency was evacuated safely.  It’s nobody’s business what the medical emergency was and shameful anybody would film it.  
Let’s  give some people some privacy and be thankful it wasn’t one of your loved ones.  If you believe, just say a prayer that the passenger is ok.  

I agree about privacy. I authorized payment(if one was required) for members with these types of emergency “care away from home” while I was employed at the Bay Area’s largest HMO.  The video posted was of the chopper, neither a rescuer or a patient was filmed or photographed.  My post stated, “pics of a  Medical  evaluation chopper”. 

 My first concern when I read the OP’s comment was something had happened to the Ruby, given the issues at the port in San Francisco a few months ago.  Thank goodness the patient was safely evacuated and receiving the care they need. 

Someone on another social media site posted pics and a brief video of a Medical evacuation chopper. 

Aloha @dockman Mahalo for the update.  We owned a home on Hawaii, Kona side, Milolii, but sold a few years ago.  
 

@Thrak, we know folks from Paradise as well. 
 

Both situations tragic. 

Some cruising from Southampton this summer reported being informed by staff(at the terminal) that arrival times were eliminated at the Mayflower terminal.  We met these folks onboard our cruise which was the second leg of a b2b for them. We embarked in Copenhagen.  No arrival times here either. 

Thanks for your thread.  I am following.  We are cruising in the Sky,  8 days Norwegian Fjords in May, 2024. 

Onboard the Island now. While waiting to talk to a Future Cruise Consultant, I heard him tell the two passengers he was helping before me, that the SA cruises would come out Thursday, July 27th.  He didn’t mention anything about Elites.  

Besides the Sky suite I don’t know of any Princess Ships with actual doors.
 

 NCL has several types of suites with actual doors.  

Two recent cruises:  

Royal Princess: I couldn’t  book until onboard, so saw concierge after boarding.  She called the dine line and handed phone to me. I got the reservation, but a different time than what I wanted. I didn’t ask for a different night as it was a short cruise. 
 

Island Princess:  I could book, no charge. Checked a few weeks later; poof, it was gone. I tried  to rebook, system wanted to charge my cc.  Called and was told I had to use credit card to book.  I called the dine line once onboard, got the time I wanted.  No concierge. 

These last two cruises, the restaurants were not busy most evenings. I don’t know if it was the increase prices, or the particular cruises. 
 

I think the concierges were at the desk from about 1200.  

, 
 

You didn’t mention the airline, time of departure, or the city?  You mentioned friendly skies, is it United?  
 

6 minutes ago, ricka47 said:

6 minutes ago, ricka47 said:

We also paid $10 for shipping, but the medallion will arrive after we have left for London. I called, and they just said to pick up another one at the pier.

 

Just for fun, since it's been 20 years since we've been on Princess, I ordered custom medallions. I guess the ones that we'll get at the pier will be generic?

Ha!  They got their medallions yesterday.  They leave Friday, cruise is  7.12.  Good luck.  I don’t know  about the ones at the port.  I don’t think we ordered anything special.  We ordered to pick up at the port.  

@cr8tiv1 thanks for the thread.  I would also be interested in any information about a concierge  on non Royal class ships. 
 

@memoak and @HaveDogWillTravel thanks for your reports. 

We are on the Island in a few weeks and wondering about a concierge as well.  We will miss the lounge for sure. 
 

According to the terms and conditions of the beverage package, any drinks requested above the limit are subject to the discretion of shipboard management and crew.  So yes, it could happen.  

https://www.princess.com/html/global/personalizer/ssv/beverages/disclaimer/

16 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

So this is strange. As I shared last weekend, our Medallions showed as shipped, but we had not received an email yet. Well, I just now received the email, and it’s bizarre. 2 weeks after our credit card was charged, and almost a week after they showed as shipped, a label was created with FedEx in Singapore, and it says they’re awaiting receipt of the item to ship! It’ll be a miracle if this thing arrives before we fly to Europe. Princess seriously should not be charging shipping when it ships from another country only 9 days from the cruise!!

Someone on our roll call got a similar message today.  Tracking  shows shipping from Singapore and waiting for pick up.   Even on a plane it would take some time to get to the east coast.  Cruise in 11 days, departing from Europe. Will see. 

Thanks for this Wayne, we meet you in Copenhagen. 

40 minutes ago, basktchic said:

We made all ports and most early arrival!

Ok that’s wonderful!  Thanks!  That is definitely the big plus for us.  The folks on the Island Princess are very upset with the missed ports.  They also noted the Star made some of the same ports.  
 

We’ve sailed in two of these cabins.  Once on the Caribe deck and the second on Dolphin.  The Dolphin deck balconies are very large. I mean it is gigantic, but it seems to me the interior was smaller.  Given a choice, I would go with Caribe as the balcony was great and the room seemed bigger.  
 

However, the cabins on Riviera are near the suite lounge, a real perk, since Princess, unlike other lines, doesn’t have coffee machines in the cabins.  We've also sailed in a penthouse suite across from the lounge; easy to get coffee (and other things) anytime.  The concierge has a desk in the lounge, very helpful.   
 

The aft suites are wonderful. It’s what best fits your needs. Enjoy.

@kokopelli-az thanks!  

Princess policy:  Hi, I am bringing this thread  up again as we have a member of our party that uses one for pain and leg pain relief. Wondering  about current policy.
What is the status:  is Princess allowing  the heating pads for medical purposes?

Should they contact guest services as noted above? 
obtain a  physician note?
automatic shutoff?

pack in the original box? 
pack any extension cord (no surge protector) in the original box? 
If not allowed, how do they “declare”  a hearing pad when boarding? 

Last question is due to spending a week traveling before boarding the ship. 
Thanks for the alternative suggestions.

ty 
 

Thanks for your review.  We are looking at a similar cruise for 2024.  So we are kinda following some of this years cruises. Did you visit all the planned ports?   Were any of the ports cancelled?  Princess(also looking at them) had several ports cancelled, some before; and some during the cruise. 

Just remember that US credit cards don’t offer the same chip and pin technology.  If you have a pin for your credit card it is mostly likely to obtain a cash advance from an ATM. 
 

The places you may have issues are unmanned kiosks, and places like the ones  @hallasm mentions.  Examples include: train stations and the public pay toilets.  
 

Haven’t  tried Apple Pay but will next month. 

5 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Ours for the last 3 cruises (at least) have been delivered to our mailbox.  Pretty sure FedEx (or anybody else) cannot use a person's mailbox for delivery.  Only USPS.

It can be confusing for the receiver.  I’m not sure about FedEx, but UPS does work with USPS though a program known as UPS Mail innovations. UPS picks up, processes and ships an item to your local post office; who then completes the final delivery to your home/mailbox.  I receive packages this way all the time.  It was very confusing the first time this happened to me, especially UPS vs USPS.  
Some Amazon deliveries happen this way. 
 

https://www.ups.com/us/en/supplychain/solutions/mail-innovations.page

Maybe ask your question on the Australia/ New Zealand Cruisers forum as well.  Very helpful folks there.  Many seem to cruise with Princess, so may know specifically about transportation in Brisbane. 
 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/48-australia-amp-new-zealand/

3 hours ago, travelers07 said:

Yes- full suite. There is no suite lounge except for Royal Class ships. I miss getting to know people in smaller groups. 

Ok thanks.  First time one the Island for us.   Agree the suite lounges are very nice. 
Do you go to the elite lounge for drinks?  More interested in the non alcoholic stuff.  Coffee, soft drinks.

How does the priority tender boarding work? 
No concierge: is there another person to handle requests? 

TIA 
 

6 hours ago, travelers07 said:

Thanks. Good so far but it may be a little crowded as the days get cooler and rainy. The entrance to lunch yesterday- a sea day- seemed pretty crowded outside the restaurant. Lots of people were on the last cruise too, which was a TA. Everyone seems pretty happy about everything. 

Hi are u in a  suite?  You wrote on another thread that you miss the suite lounge. If so, I have a few questions. We Get on in July.  

 TIA 
 

So here is the FAQs about the GCs.  About halfway down the page the document states the GC will be converted to the currency used onboard at the exchange rate posted at the Passenger Service Desk.  Agree the rate will not be good, and will not be the “actual” rate.  

https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-gifts-celebrations/overview/gift-cards/faqs/#:~:text=A%3A Princess Cruises Gift Cards will be redeemable onboard Princess,at the Passenger Services Desk.