SargassoPirate

1 hour ago, Lady Arwen said:

I’m one of the lucky ones, too.  A big issue for me is trying to understand the Princess call reps who are Filipino.  No disrespect intended, but I just can’t communicate properly with them.  My CVP is a Floridian with many cruises under her belt.  I literally do nothing but choose the cruise and give her my credit card number.  Wish I could share her name with you.

At least they are probably not wearing a mask when they are working from home.  Put them on a ship with a mask and try to communicate effectively.

30 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

If there were two restaurants at home, both were of equal quality, and one offered a free meal and the second one charged $80 per couple plus gratitude, which one would you choose? 

Is there a timeshare or investment plan presentation involved?

4 hours ago, Linsifer said:

I’m wondering if we could take the Princess transfer from Heathrow the day we fly in to our hotel in Southampton close to the terminal and then take a taxi or Uber or maybe even hotel shuttle to the terminal the next morning.  And after debarking, take the transfer to a hotel near Heathrow to spend a night or two before finding our way to Heathrow when we’re ready to fly home. 

We/I always fly in a few days ahead of the cruise and depending on how far the cruise port is from the airport - such as Southampton from Heathrow - we will simply get ourselves back to the airport to link up with the cruise line transfer. Same when disembarking.  

5 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

Happy you got this taken care of, very sad Princess made you waste six hours plus of your time. That seems to be the new norm with many cruise lines, make it so hard to correct many will just give up. This thread is one of the reasons we would never have a Travel Agent involved in any cruise booking. Errors, mistakes, and lying does happen and when it is time to fix issues having a third party between the guests and Princess Cruises is just going to cause problems. 

This thread is EXACTLY why you want to have a good travel agent involved.  Re-read my post about my method of booking with Princess - or any cruise line for that matter - and pay special attention to this statement:

"I transfer the booking to my warehouse club travel department and if any needs arise, such as a price drop, I'll call my TA and they can arm wrestle with Princess."

I don't waste six hours with so-called "customer service" reps.  If my TA can't resolve it right away, they get it fixed and call me back when everything is resolved.

29 minutes ago, krufrank said:

On the phone with Casino Department (so they say) and they said that the Princess fellow who made the booking and offer made a mistake.  I said, why is that my problem - I paid exactly what was quoted but did not get what was offered?  They said they could do nothing about it.  But if they rebooked me without the credits and premium package it would $600 LESS than what I paid. So basically the guy overcharged me.  I said, just rebook me with that price and credit me that $600 as onboard credit. They said, not can't do that.  We have to cancel your booking and re-book it with a $400 charge. Can you believe this crap!

 

No supervisor is willing to call me back.

 

I finally got the name of the original booking agent and got them to connect me him directly.  Currently on the phone with him.

Sounds like situation FUBAR.

9 minutes ago, tserface said:

It is expensive, even considering it's an upscale experience.  You already paid for food in the MDR and they don't discount for that.  That said, Princess still has the best specialty dining prices I've seen.  On Celebrity and RCL you'll pay $60 for the steakhouses and still upcharges if you want something more special.  So, $39 each is still a pretty good deal comparatively.  Also, Princess Crown Grill restaurants are really good.

We could easily pay $39 each for that kind of experience on land.

That $39 upcharge will pay for an evening wee dram or three during my finger foods in the P&E lounge.  Hmmm?

20 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

I would love to know what the crew really thinks.  What did you expect the crew members to say when you offered the chair to them.

 

DON

Yeah, I'd like to know what they really think as well, but they do seem appreciative.  

6 hours ago, Guinness1000 said:

What a great idea! I'm going to do the same.  🙂

 

I also think of the money we will not be spending at home. I figure by not being home and not buying food, not driving cars, not using any utilities, and so on, we would be saving about $4k/month so on a four-month cruise that would be $16k not spent at home but on the cruise instead.

 

 

I like the way you think.  I rationalize the cost by driving 20 and 25 year old vehicles that still look brand new and run like a top.  I tell myself that by not buying a new car or truck every four or five years, I have more than paid for my world cruise.

28 minutes ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I really hope they get all of this sickness under control soon! We are boarding in July, and normally it’s a good time

of year for travel in terms of sickness. I do remember, though, on one of our Med cruises pre-pandemic, a big group of Australians had upper respiratory infections going on, and we’d dodge coughs on the tour buses and in the buffet. I wonder if since it’s winter in Australia, that’s how the flu is onboard in the Med right now.

 

Keep hoping because "all of this sickness" will never be under control as long as people don't get vaccinated for the seasonal flu and covid AND don't practice good personal hygiene.

Just treat it as if the whole world and everybody in it is contaminated and take measures to protect yourself.

8 minutes ago, bassmk said:

Again, that's not been my experience on the last 3 cruises I've been on. The specialty places were sold out most nights. The cruise I was on last week, I had trouble getting a spot before 8pm (at all five options!) on a couple of nights.

Different cruises, different demographics perhaps?  I avoid holiday and spring break cruising.

On 6/4/2023 at 12:07 PM, memoak said:

Sailing today on the Discovery. My doctor says I should be full of antibodies so all should be good. Last time only had a fever for 1day much better than the first one 

All the more reason to avoid reporting to sick bay.  Why risk quarantine for a mild or even no symptoms?

1 hour ago, Shippy said:

THE POINT I WAS TRYING TO MAKE WAS....

  It did not seem that anyone was going...just mostly people that were comped.

I know about how high food prices are where we live but,

I do not think that most cruisers will pay that much .

Like I said, not even a half dozen tables.

Before, it would have been very hard to even get a reservation !

So let's see.  Food at the MDR and the HC is included in your cruise fare.  A reservation for specialty dining is an upcharge.  So the salmon they offered at $10.00 was an upcharge upcharge.

On recent cruises I have walked by the specialty restaurants and they looked like ghost towns and the staff looked like the Maytag repairman.

I booked a 2025 cruise last week.  I put it on a courtesy hold since She Who Must Be Obeyed is going on this one and she had not yet risen for the day.  I received a confirmation email from Princess within minutes.

On the day that the deposit payment was due, I logged into my Princess.com account and made the payment.

Easy breezy.

In a few days, I transfer the booking to my warehouse club travel department and if any needs arise, such as a price drop, I'll call my TA and they can arm wrestle with Princess.

BTW, I'm a bit hard of hearing and couple that with a foreigner using a headset while working from home and I'll stick with doing it myself online.

On 6/2/2023 at 9:36 AM, Essex_uk said:

What - nobodys mentioned the kitchen sink!!!!🤣

Well, when I cruise on a line without guest laundromats, I pack a lightweight collapsible plastic bucket for in-cabin laundry needs.

It's better than trying to use the sink or the cabin trash can.

Is that close to the kitchen sink?

1 minute ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'm not surprised.

What excuse did they give for dragging those things out of storage?  I haven't seen them on any of the Princess cruises I've sailed on (all since 2021).

I think they are stored with the barrel chairs. 😁

1 hour ago, Bgwest said:

Absolutely agree. Nevertheless, that’s clearly subversive thinking around these parts.  

You got that right.  But then as a child of the sixties, and with an old school education where we were taught to think, I tend to question authorities, "experts", and science.  

I'm the guy who prefers natural or homeopathic  remedies over prescription medications pushed by big pharma and physicians.  But I'm also the guy who will take every vaccine recommended for travel and other exposures after reading up on the possible side effects of each to weigh those against the protection afforded.

56 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

People love to worry over what they don't understand. Your physician is correct.

 

Yeah, we've just been through three years of that.  And people like me who asked what the science was behind some of the mandates were marginalized.  

You gotta put the pencil to it.  For me, the math doesn't work, so I go ala carte.  

It may be called a conspiracy theory, but it could be that with the cruise lines trying to maximize their revenue from the ups and extras and not the cruise fare, allowing single travelers to book a cabin as a solo cuts their potential revenue to cabin by 50 percent.

All the more reason to turn my bookings over to a TA and let them arm wrestle with Princess.

Princess is exercising the basic law of the marketplace - charge what the traffic will bear.

As long as people will pay higher prices, there is no incentive for them to lower the price.  

We, as the "traffic" or consumers can decide when and where to spend our money on what is important to us.  

I am happy that cruise lines have moved to the approach to lower the fare and then make their money on the ups and extras because I don't use the extras and the folks that do are helping to subsidize my cruising.

On 6/2/2023 at 9:23 AM, BVILady said:

wow - that is $ 36670.00 for 2 persons in the cabin (fare and taxes) without anything, my costs were single-occupancy including everything. I can see the demand for World Cruises is really driving up the prices. LOL Luxury Inside Suite - my inside cabin is just perfect for me alone. And for a World Cruise believe me all the closet space is filled.

At that price, one could buy a new car or go on a world cruise.  I'll skip the new car and opt for the WC.

Just depends what's important to you.  

I check the basic cruise price with Princess and my warehouse club travel department.  I book whichever is cheaper.  More often than not it seems to be the cruise line is cheaper.  When everything is set, I transfer it to the warehouse club,  garner their benefits,  and charge the cruise to the warehouse club credit card and get another three percent cash back at the end of the year.

It's a seamless process. Download the transfer form from the warehouse club, scan it, email it to Princess, and then when I can see that the TA has taken over the booking, I confirm everything with the TA and get the booking info from them via email 

On a particularly expensive cruise, the warehouse is giving me a gift card voucher for $3500 once the cruise is completed and then I'm getting the three percent cash back next January 

2 hours ago, MissP22 said:

We live in Florida also so I know what you're talking about. We never see more than one at a time and only occasionally as they accidently get into the house.

We certainly don't have them breading indoors.

A friend in South Carolina claims those aren't roaches, they're Carolina water bugs  

On 6/3/2023 at 2:09 AM, Nicole&Pete said:

I’m considering masking up in all public areas on the ship to be on the safe side. No guarantee but it might help.

 

Its good advice about the theatre but I am worried that might not be an option with the ship so full!

I've had success with the tips I posted and I made it through the pandemic without wearing a mask unless someone in authority required it and then it was often just a cowboy bandana.  Five cruises since the restart, numerous flights, some buses, taxis, etc.  

Not so much as a sniffle.

Same approach for flu season and the rest of the year. I take steps to protect myself with vaccinations and hygiene and do not depend on others to do "the right thing" because few people do 

By all means, wear a mask  to protect yourself if you feel the need.

Safe cruising.

11 minutes ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Can anyone give me any pointers to try and avoid viruses on a ship?

Having worked in public health and safety before I retired, I can offer what's worked for me for years and during the restart.

Take all of your vaccinations.

Wash your hands frequently and then use sanitizer before after you are seated, you've pulled your chair in, and handed the menu back and before you touch any food.  Resanitize if during the meal you touch any common use items such as a salt shaker.

If you find yourself sitting anywhere near somebody coughing, get up and move - no matter how much you wanted to see that show or how good those seats are. 

Essentially, treat the world and those around as contaminated and break the chain of transmission between the world - them and yourself.