spunks

I almost forgot the best part. On those Baltic cruises where almost every country uses separate currency, it is handy as can be.

you are welcome. If you don't use the ATM you are stuck wondering how many Euros to take? We have used ATM on Las Ramblas, De Gaul airport, The Azores , Malaga, Kinsale....you name it. It always works. If the exchange rate is 1 Euro is $1.08, I get $100.00 and my cost is $108.00. The good news right now is that you get Euros for $1.01....almost one for one. That was yesterday, it might be better today. Doug

OK...I post this every once in a while and apparently it needs to be posted more. The ATM suggestion is absolutely the best of the best places to get Euros. The absolute best way to take advantage of ATM's anywhere in the world is by opening a Charles Schwab account. They reimburse ANY ATM fees. Not only that but because you are getting your own money from the ATM they do not care what currency you ask for. There is no exchange rate. To make it better, you get the up to the time of exchange rate. This makes it the safest way to travel. You never have to get a large amount because you can get as many different withdrawals as you wish. That said, do not use the Schwab card at resturants or hotels, use your credit card for that. Doug

sadly, we had over 120 days worth of cruises booked that would have been double points, and one by one they got canceled. we did get in on some of the double point cruises in 2021.

simply says no cruise boarding in Europe will be required by EDC to pre test for Covid 19 as a requirement for boarding. It has nothing to do with Holland or NCL.

good news on the horizon....Europe is no longer requiring negative tests to board any cruise ship leaving any port in Europe(except for one damned port in Greece). That will allow early travel to Europe. The word is that this might put pressure on the CDC to lift requirements to lift negativ test results for cruises boarding in the US. Currently, only the US, Canada, and that strange port in Greece are the only places in the world requiring the tests. Hopefully the whole thing goes away by Sept 1st.

thank you to all who responded. I appreciate the information. Doug

thanks GTO-Girl. That is what we always got, but all of a sudden it does not show up on the benefits list. Doug

We havnt been on RCCL since October, but we will be on in Aug. Do Diamond Plus still get 2 days internet or laundry? I find no mention of it in the benefits list. Thanks for your help Doug

We were on Emerald for the crossing and following British isles cruise I say thank your lucky stars! We will never set foot again on Emerald. It was far and away the worst conditioned and run ship we have ever been on in 50 princess cruises. The life boats they use as tenders kept breaking down. Ship was filthy. I suspect it was taken out of service.

we do get specialty dinner offers from the Host....but thats it.

We have felt the same way, but somehow Princess has gotten many people screwed up. Somewhere out there is somebody getting our comps that is getting mini suite and 1000 free play. We know this because my wife was trying to get an explanation on why the folks that sit next to us that bet 5 bucks get huge offers and we get none. The Casino guy says what do you mean?,,,,you are getting a free mini suite and 1000 free play on the next cruise. She said...uh....no, we got nothing. The guy says ...it shows right here that you are. When Annie said, no....we got nothing, he says...oh!....uh....let mecheck this out....we never heard from him again.....or any one else with Princess. Any way, that is why we are switching to RCCL. They treat us well.

Princess doesnt use cruise credits, but they may count each solo cruise as 2 cruises......which means absolutely nothing after you have 15 cruises. We have 50 Princess cruises and we used to get 100 bucks OBC for that.....however, they have watered down the benifits so that we no longer get that. We also used to get free internet, but no more.They can keep all those chocolat covered green strawberrys and crappy champaign....I just want someone,anyone to tell me what level I am and what does it mean to be there. RCCL clearly spells it out, Princess will not answer the question......and we are in the casino 4 to 10 hours everyday...

The phones worked fine. The issue was that unless you knew the number to dial you were out of luck. I had 3 friends on the cruise, but I did not know their cabin numbers so I could not call them. Guest services would not answer so I could not get any number from them. All I could do is call my cabin and leave a message for my wife. She could not stay in the cabin because she was continuing to stand in line at Guest Services or at the internet center. The internet did not function so I could not use that. The Medallion App was non functional, so on and so on....

honestly, that was not the bad part. We were scheduled the TA and the next cruise out of Southampton. When I got my test result of ...still positive after 5 days, I was told that we would be put off in quarantine in Southampton. I called my wife and said she needed to find a hotel and make new flighjts reservations. Within an hour I was called by the DR and told his Technician was wrong and we would be allowed to stay on. Great right?.....well, now frantic to contact wife before everything gets cancelled. The Medallion did not work. How was I supposed to contact her?....I called Guest service....on hold for an hour! Finally I got a call from her and everything but my nerves was ok....Then she gets a letter from Guest Service saying we are being put off....She calls me and tells me this. She stands in line at Guest Service for 30 minutes and I am on hold for yet another 30 minutes. When I finally got through I was so angry that I was allowed to speak to the Hotel Director Tommy....the only one on the ship that was helpful. He gave me his direct line.....When that mess got straight we were ok.....well not so much. On Turn around Day the front desk calls me and says I am on the get off the ship list....am I packed.? Much screaming later this is straight. Relaxing vacation right?....wow! Doug

I was quarantened on the Emerald for 7 days. I can vouch for the "not being able to get hold of anybody" part. The room they put me in ( balcony on Aloha) had a phone, but the top buttons only went to guest services, room service, or the medical center. I could dial out, but that was only good for calling my own room to leave a message for my wife......It was the only number I knew. Hold times to guest Services averaged 30 minutes, and sometimes were as long as an hour! The medical center never answered their phone. All the while on hold I was assured that my call was very important. My food was always delivered in styrofoam with wooden utensils. I will say that Chris from room service was an Angel and would call and check up on me if she had not heard from me.

I was quarantined for 7days on the Emerald. I was moved to a balcony cabin on Aloha deck. I was put on a diet of pancakes and tortillas. That's all they could slide under the door.....sorry...actually I could order anything they had, including bar service.

I suppose I mean during this year...Thanks for helping me make the question clearer.

just curious.... since Italy no longer requires testing for boarding cruise ships, will RCCL ever drop their requirement for pre boarding tests?.....asking for a friend...

Read the April 16 TA crossing thread for Emerald and the May 1 thread.I was on those cruises. After the April 16 cruise, 7 bus loads of Quarantined were taken to the Ibis and Raddison hotels for quarantine...After the May1 cruise over 150 were taken to the Raddison.It was near impossible to get information from the Guest Services from quarantine as the hold times (for your call that was very important to them took 15 min up to one time over an hour.

It will not make any difference...they will test you.

I am not just a disgruntled passenger spouting off....well I am damned disgruntled, but Princess has been our line of choice for over 22 years. It was not a good cruise for us. We were not allowed to relax and enjoy for even one day. We boarded on the 16 of April and on the 25 I tested positive and went to quarantine for 7 days. I was told we would be put off the ship in Southampton....then 1 hour later told we could stay on the ship....then one day later told we would be put off....then 2 hours later told we would stay on....then on turn around morning I was told to get off...then 30 min later told to stay on. The constant push pull on the emotional level was taking its toll. Before this happened I had never taken a " bad" cruise...and we have been on 90 cruises.

learned their lesson?...They know less now than 3 weeks ago. We were getting off the Emerald to fly back to the States on May 9. Most got a written negative test result delivered to the cabin the night before debarkation. I say most as about 100 did not and had to storm the castle walls the next morning. Then an amazing thing happened....our neighbors (wife in isolation for Covid....he not testing as they would be staying in London under quaranteen) called and said he just got delivered a negative test for himself AND wife. Interesting as neither had taken a test. He called and was told that there was a "glitch"....EVERYONE flying to the States had recieved a negative test result, no matter if they had covid or not! We took our negative results and ran the hell off that ship. 48 Princess cruises and 6th cruise on the Emerald....and we will never ever set foot on the ship again. I am certain if the Coast Guard inspected that ship it would be pulled from service.....non working life boats...no leadership..I will never trust it.

I ordered 2double Glen Deverons neat...they came in 2glasses...complete with a bill for 36 bucks which was never charged to me. I could have ordered more.

I was quarantined on Aloha deck, starboard side with a balcony. I had no problem using my alcohol package. A friend in iso without the package had no problem ordering drinks. They will not issue any refund because they said we could order all we wanted. Aloha deck balconies were used for isolation.