kevinyork

2 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Just watched today's webinar. They clarified what already seemed obvious to me. Room service charges are only for phone orders and, if you have the "new" versions of Plus or Premier - paid $60 or $80 - there are no charges for phone orders. If you either have the $60 Plus or the $80 Premier there is no charge for Ocean Now delivery. If you don't have those and pay the one time $14.99 fee you can order to your room via the app with no additional charge.

 

Thanks for that. They do like to make it complicated don’t they?

46 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I don't think it is "or".

 

I think it is if you use OceanNow then the first time you will be charged $14.99.

 

And

 

If you use room service by telephone then you will be charged $5 per use.

 

The way I understand it is that if you use OceanNow to get stuff delivered to your room then it is an OceanNow order so you will be charged the $14.99 for the first use of OceanNow but not charged a room service fee.

 

Is that what others believe it to be?

 

In other words... you can still use your OceanNow to order to your room... is that right?

yes, what I wanted to say but you put it perfectly

1 hour ago, suzyed said:

No idea. But we are with you....we made final payment in June for the package that was included at the time....which included unlimited Alfredo's and Vines sushi/tapas.  Wish I had a copy of that.  Who would imagine they would change that after final payment?
All we have now is a screen shot from our Princess app showing the current Plus 60 package but it is not as comprehensive as our booked and paid for Plus 60 package. 
One thing I am not understanding in your post...."New room service delivery" has not changed...there was never a $14.99 fee for that with Plus.  Maybe I am misunderstanding you?

I understand there is now a $14.99 one off activation fee for using the OceanNow service or a $5 per order charge for tv/telephone room service orders. Both free on the new Plus and Premium packages m

We booked our cruise June 22 for this Oct 23’, 12 night ex Southampton.  We booked it a couple of weeks after returning from our second Princess cruise as we were pleased with the cruise and the inclusions. 
 

We paid our final balance 10 days before the changes to the packages started being discussed (although still no official notification). Main thing for us is a chargeable Alfredo’s and the Ocean Now activation fee.  Both are not huge amounts however it’s the principal.  We emailed the CEO in the U.K. and a customer service supervisor responded in a fairly dismissive way and even spun the changes as positives. They should have grandfathered these in. We booked understanding what our cruise included and indeed paid the final balance on the same basis. 
 

Our booking in our online account shows we have purchased the Plus package and lists all of the current inclusions, see attached. How do you think we will stand if we present this onboard as “proof” of what we expected to receive?

I think it’s a very poorly made program. The made irritant is the constant repetition.  Looking ahead to what’s coming up this expose, after the break, next episode then looking back at what’s happened last episode, before the break etc and those on the sofa questions about “what did you enjoy most about the past 30 seconds of your cruise”?
 

We were on Sky Oct 21 round the British Isles. We had the Plus package and the WiFi was amazing.  Could do anything that we could do at home.

Then back on her again in June 22 from U.K. to Norway and it was appalling. Pretty much unusable for anything even when close to the U.K.  We complained and they refunded us the price the internet package would have cost.  The internet manager did let slip they had changed suppliers a few months before and that’s when things turned bad.  

On 2/24/2023 at 6:23 PM, Ombud said:

I'm vegetarian not vegan so, yes, I eat dairy and cheese. I'm not a pescatarian so I don't eat fish

> starters: vegetable terrine (looks like ratatouille) & ginger-carrot-coconut soup

> main dish: onion vegetable tart & goat cheese souffle 

The terrine mentions jelly which could contain gelatine, possibly why they is no v symbol next to it.

I’m sure you know but almost all the cheese on Princess contains animal rennet, they tend not to use vegetarian friendly cheeses.

10 hours ago, Aladdin22 said:

Was on P&O Iona last month. Used Triangle parking and used the drive through with no problems. Nothing about only for CPS users 

You could do it but their advice notes for testing at Southampton specifically mentioned drive through testing was for CPS users. 

4 hours ago, Denmal said:

But if you are Vaxed and boosted....you have 3 days

Thanks that’s ok.  I hadn’t scanned to the second line. 

3 minutes ago, Aladdin22 said:

Not true. We sailed with P&O last month, didn’t use CPS but used the drive through.  

But P&O specifically said CPS users should use the drive through testing whereas Princess said all car driver. I’m just quoting what others have been told. 

9 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

See the second box which I quoted re Boosters

Thanks.  I can’t see that on their site.  I must be missing something.

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/frequently-asked-questions/uk-southampton-cruises/

ah. Got it now, thanks

2 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

From Princess, if you have the booster you have 3 days for antigen.

 

 

Up to Date	Received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including any booster dose(s) when eligible at least 7 days before embarkation	Antigen	Within 3 days
		PCR	Within 3 days

Sailing from U.K. shown as 2 days Antigen

Looking for a bit of help.  Had done all the required steps in my app which also showed my partner.  Went to check on his phone how things were looking and a couple of steps needed completing.  However I’ve go stuck on the adding payment method.  In my app it wouldn’t let me select or tick anything to allow his charges on the card I had lodged. So I entered ky card details into his payment section and it rejected it saying this card was already on file.  So then deleted the card from my medallion, ticked the box to allow him to use the same card and still getting the same issue re the card already being on the account, when it isn’t.  I’ve waited 24 hours and tried again to no avail. So nearly neither of us have a payment method on our accounts but it says the card has already been lodged.  Any ideas folks?

1 minute ago, Alcairns said:

We used CPS on our last cruise in October and used the drive through facility. It is not just for CPS. A few days before the cruise we received an email from Princess re the testing process recommending the drive through. They were not aware how we were arriving. 
 

Yes that’s what I thought. I wonder why P&O limited drive through to CPS users only but Princess said it was for any drivers?

I found this site offering people a supervised online test for £19.25. They mail it to you and you book an online consultation to do the supervised test.  They email the result within 30 mins.  Only of use if your U.K. based or if the hotel you are staying at pre cruise will accept the delivery of the test kit.

On a slight aside, I do feel a bit miffed that we are now expected to pay for the test when it was free until now for eX U.K. cruises.  It wasn’t a criteria when we booked the cruise so is in effect a small price increase on the cost of the cruise.  It is the cruise line making this a requirement since all testing for travel in the U.K. was dropped a few days ago.  

11 hours ago, Denmal said:

This example was on the Princess site

an example, for a fully vaccinated guest sailing on Sunday, the 2-day antigen test may be taken on Friday or Saturday, and as late as Sunday, if you are guaranteed to receive your results in time for check-in.

 

so I would.say you can test on Thursday for a Sunday sailing...if you have 3 days

 

I don’t read it that way. The antigen test has to be taken within 2 days of embarkation.  A PCR can be up to 3 days. So unless they go for a PCR test then Thursday will be outside of the 2 day window.  

19 hours ago, majortom10 said:

not everyone arriving in Southampton in a car did not use drive through it was only available for those parking with CPS. Anyone else using other companies to park had to be tested at the terminal as a foot passenger not the drive through test area.

We were sailing on Sky in October and used the drive through. I think P&O said specifically it was for those parking with CPS but Princess were not specifying that. 

21 minutes ago, awinte2 said:

Not sure what type of booking you have but I have a casino booking and we are scheduled to sail Feb 28th .  I emailed Princess Casino yesterday and they responded that   I have to cancel 30 days prior to sailing to receive my deposit back in full.  This is in accordance with the book with confidence.

I’m guessing you are not in the U.K. where deposits are non refundable?

7 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I was about to ask how you managed to book with Non-Ref deposit and then took a second look.  You are in the UK.  Rules are different there for Princess.  Suggest you read the UK rules for the Cruise with Confidence and your Passage Contract.  If it doesn't look good, contact Princess and try out a shaggy dog story and see if they won't give you the deposit - or some of it - as FCC to be used by some expiry date.

 

Hi, sorry I don’t know what you mean “take a second look”. Rules are different in the U.K. and deposits are normally non refundable. The link I posted for the cruise with confidence covers U.K. bookings which is where I got my understanding, right or wrongly, from.  

Hoping for some advice and views on whether I have got this right.

We are booked on Sky for 30th April 2022.  We’ve paid a non refundable deposit of course.  It’s looking very likely we are not going to be able to go on that sailing.  
 

I’ve looked at Princess’ site and their book with confidence info-

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cancellation-final-payment-policy/

My understanding is if we cancel now we lose the deposit.  
 

If however we pay the balance at 90 days we could then cancel between 90 and 57 days and the normal cancellation charge of 25% of the cruise fare would be given back as a future cruise credit with the remainder of the balance refunded to us.

If this understanding is correct we would then use the FCC and book another cruise later in the year.

Do people think I’ve got my head round this correctly and this is the way we can avoid losing our deposit?

Thanks in advance.

6 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

This could help, it's a vegan blog but they did make arrangements ahead of time.

https://vegancruiser.co.uk/cruise/cruise-vegan-princess-cruises-crown-princess/

Thanks.  I did see this before our cruise. Alas, it’s about a vegan diet. My OH is vegetarian not vegan.  In the U.K. a dish on a menu marked as vegetarian must be vegetarian with no meat derivatives such as animal rennet in cheese. Onboard however they put cheese in almost every dish marked as vegetarian and the cheeses almost always were made with animal rennet, so not actually vegetarian.  It became such torture that my OH had to just say I’ll have this without the cheese. It left dishes bland and lacking in protein. The guys on board have no idea that cheese can contain meat derivatives.  

42 minutes ago, atobols said:

I'm a vegetarian with omnivore children.  In the past, I've always ordered the vegetarian option on the MDR menu.  Most of the time, it's not great.  I know some cruise lines allow people to pre-order vegetarian Indian meals.  Does anyone know if Princess does that?

I’d be interested in the answers too.  My OH is vegetarian and on Sky two weeks ago it was clear almost all of the vegetarian meals on any menu that contained cheese had cheese made with animal rennet which limited things a lot.  It became too troublesome to have to ask ‘is this cheese in the vegetarian option actually vegetarian” only to be told it’s just cheese.  
 

We’ve sailed on P&O U.K. many times (also part of Carnival) and they have always ensured a veggie dish with cheese had proper veggie cheese plus offered veggie Indian dishes as a lot of the crew were Indian.

11 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

I just don't understand the people who are drinking 10-15 cocktails a day.  I know there are many ladies (and men) who seem to do this.  That's like a few thousand calories just on the alcohol drinks before we even consider food.  

It’s a vacation!  No calorie counting is allowed. 

2 hours ago, skynight said:

Normally the additional fare has been $40/day/pp. This includes the $14.50 to $16.50/day/pp gratuity that you would pay anyway. Net additional charge is around $25/pp/day. Assuming you would use some sort of wi-fi that charge could range if purchased separately from $5/pp/day to $10/pp/day. Therefore the additional charge for beverages is around $20/pp/day.

Two alcoholic beverages a day you break even and you also receive the benefit of unlimited specialty coffee drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages. If you drink at all it would be difficult not to break even.

On board you order whatever beverage you enjoy. Any beverage menu priced $12 and under is covered. This is about 90 to 95% of all beverages sold. If a drink is menu priced higher than $12 you will be charged the difference plus 18% of the difference. Beverages must be ordered one at a time.

There are no special lines, locations, times, selections for the beverage package. Order any where on the ship. Anything on the menus anytime of day is included within the generous terms and conditions. There is no additional per drink gratuity added. Alcoholic beverages are limited to 15/pp/day, 6am to 6am. 

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

 

A pretty perfect description.  We had it on our 10 day round U.K. Sky cruise a couple of weeks back.  It’s an excellent deal at £30 pp.  We use wifi a lot which was excellent.  Never got to 15 drinks per day but still a massive saving for us. 

I was on Sky recently.  Saw a Facebook group post saying food in x dining room had been poor so moved to x dining room and it was way better.  It confused me given the food is all prepared in the same kitchens to the same recipes and the same ingredients.