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13 minutes ago, LawDog61 said:

Perhaps you can answer this question.  I am on the April 17 7 day coastal.  After our pre-cruise Covid test, should we expect any additional routine testing. During the 7 day or is that because you are doing B2Bs? Thanks

We have done two different majestic cruises since the restart.  Both were 7 day cruises.  We only tested precruise.  I think you would only be retested if you showed symptoms, got sick, or were in close quarters with someone who tested positive, like sharing a shore excursion with someone who tests positive after.  People on B2bs are tested prior to the start of the second cruise.

Hi there.  That sounds like a full ship as the majestic only holds a little over 3500.  We are on this cruise and I looked at the open cabins today.  There are a ton of mini suites open and some insides.  Are you on the ship now and they told you it is 3200?  Sure hoping that it’s not that full, but will make the best of it.

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

I booked a "free" offer through the casino area last week.  The rep repeatedly told me that if I wanted to do ANYTHING with EZAir, do not deal with the main number, do not deal with EZAir directly, everything had to be done through them.  And I understood because I had one of these offers cancel a year ago due to lack of payment after I booked EZAir on my own.  Their systems took the fact that the casino hadn't paid their share yet as non-payment.  They got it all back thankfully but the protection on the cruise goes away if changes are made to the reservation or EZAir is added by anyone else other than the casino department.  Oh and they also told me to make sure that the rep identifies themselves as being a casino reservations rep as your call can get rerouted to the regular reservations line after a certain amount of time.  So if you do get the EZAir department to ticket your air, the next call should be to the casino reservation area to make sure your reservation is protected.  It's a mess all around and the fact that the EZAir process is now breaking is disconcerting to say the least.

Great tips. I already had the air reservation, just needed early ticketing so I can arrange some loyalty upgrades with the airline.    I did call the casino dept earlier and they called ez air to arrange the ticketing.   They told me it would be done in 24 hours.  Several days later, it is showing an eticket in the reservation, but no info in it.  The airline is still showing it as not ticketed.   So when I called today, was surprised when the casino person just automatically transferred me to ez air.   I hung up after reaching 4 hours on hold.  I will call back in a week or so cause I just don’t have the spirit to deal with them right now.

Totally agree -- I finally got someone to pick up in the casino department.  My request is about a lack of ticketing of my air flight. On monday, they told me it was taken care of.  Today, the casino rep just said - let me transfer you to ezair.  Yep -- now going on third hour on hold.  CRAZY.  Not worth the free room -- but then I am thinking the regular call lines are just as bad. 

So just got this email response to a request for early ticketing.  When you call the casino number, they ask you to send an email instead.  When you send the email, they send this response.  I am so sad about the customer service levels at Carnival corporation.  

At this time our Travel Services team is only handling requests for passengers traveling within the next 7 days.

If you prefer you can call 1-800-774-6237 between 6:0aam-7:00pm PST to request XXXXXXXX by waiting in the call queue. The current hold times are currently over 6 hours or more to speak with a representative, I would recommend trying sometime after the 17^th of April.

-Princess Casino Team

27 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

We have been tested 3 times at the terminal in Southampton in the last few months at Southampton twice on Cunard and once with Princess when free and was very efficiently done with no excessive waiting for result. Personally just dont think it is worth all the trouble just to save about £10 per test. 

Thanks so much for the insight.  @Lady Arwenthanks for the info on boots as well.   

4 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Looking at their website even if you have the  PCR test day before  and doesnt guarantee you will receive test result by the time you might have to check in is £49-£69. If you want same day result it is £79-£99 so dont think it is worth considering as far dearer than Princess. LFT test with result in 4 hrs is £39 so again not worth the mither when for not much dearer have it done at port by Princess.

Thanks for the insight, was  not sure about the cost for testing at the pier.  For us, just want to get it done so don’t have to wait around on embarkation day, so we will probably do the rapid test for 39 on Sunday.   

1 minute ago, Lady Arwen said:

Thank you so much, that’s very helpful!  We’re staying at Moxy Hotel for two nights prior and it’s just minutes from the mall.  Will look into this for sure!

It is even open on sundays from 11 am onwards.  Our cruise leaves on a Tuesday, but we arrive four days ahead and are staying at the premier inn, so plan to test on the Sunday so we have a day to deal with things if the test is not good.  

18 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

I think we’ll just go with the testing at the Southampton pier before embarking and cross our fingers we test negative.  Hoping that this protocol will be dropped by our cruise in September.

If you are coming into Southampton a night or so before, there is a rapid testing place in the west quay shopping center across from the premier inn west quay.  It is called the regenerative clinic and the cost appears about the same or less.  It says results for travel within 4 hours for the documentation, so it would not really work if coming in the day of the cruise.   You can book your appointment time in advance on their website.  Just google the name of the clinic, plus west quay Southampton.  

4 hours ago, dhanakorn said:

“Beautiful Bubbles” wine flight. Although the amount of wine in each glass is less than the normal pour, if you combine all three glasses you’d get more wine than a single order. 

Can you tell us when this was taken?  We could not get flights this fall due to covid.  Hoping this is a current photo post covid restart.  Ty.

So when I was on the majestic in October, they told me no wine flights due to covid.  Has that changed? Hopefully, yes.  Seriously do not understand how covid would impact selling a wine flight…..

Okay so I think mystery solved.  In the morning, I checked my booking to see if my stock owner credit was yet applied.  Nope,  then after I got the email, the stock owner credit is now showing.   Who would think they would be applying credit on a Sunday!  I think this action must have generated the email.  Perhaps they protected my account so it did not cancel or something when they applied the credit and it auto generated the email.   I am calling next week to request early ticking for my flights, which means the casino dept will need to pay the flights now instead of when final payment is due.  I will ask when I call about this.  

So, we have a comp’d cruise in September.  Everything on my end is paid, air paid, and excursions.  Out of the blue today I get a Princess email saying we are confirming your cruise with my receipt attached.  So, checked the receipt, checked Princess.com, checked travel summary and nothing appears amiss.  Itinerary is the same.  Cabin is the same.  Final payment on this cruise is not due for some time.   However, since it’s comp’d cruise, I am a bit nervous.  The receipt said that xxxx dollars were due on Jan 20.  I know that is what the casino needs to pay and I made the original booking on January 20 and paid my part.  Should I be calling the casino dept on Monday, or is this just another blip from Princess IT?  

1 hour ago, gypwoo said:

I’m taking my first Princess cruise next month. We are thinking of getting a 7 day pass for the Enclave. I was wondering if 18% gratuity is added to the cost. It isn’t clear when on the website. Thanks. 

When you purchase in advance of the cruise you pay at that time.  I typically get the enclave and have never had gratuity added.  It is a bit cheaper if you buy in advance as opposed to on the ship.  

You are so right -- my point was that booking thru princess I have not had to pay the seat charge if I go to BA site.  When I book direct, I do.  The OP indicated he booked thru princess but is still getting charged for seats.  As such, I was guessing that the reason for the difference may have been due to the fare I paid.  Princess does book different fare classes - you just have to dig to find them.   

8 hours ago, GulfShoresCruiser said:

Thanks for the info. 

 

Air is thru Princess.

 

I can go to the seat selection at BA but all the seats require paying tribute!  They even want $41 for one of those center aisle, center seats.  LOL.  And (as of two days ago) there were only 17 folks who have been willing to pay tribute. We fly in 21 days. We are in steerage class. 

 

We are planning to just roll the dice and since we are flying home the same day as disembarkation, we may attempt to check in and get the free seats on the morning of departure.

 

I assume all seats will be going to Miami and I'm hoping British Airways will allow me to sit next to her majesty.  The one way fare thru the cruise line was fantastic.  $400.  So worth the hassle but paying for a fare and then paying for a seat is an interesting model.  IMO.  

 

We are ready for Southwest to fly to Europe so we can forget this nonsense. 

 

 

Sounds like your fare class was the lowest option {basic economy} given that great fare you paid.  In that case, that is probably why you need to pay for the seats.  In my case, it was not the basic economy rate, so I got to select seats at no charge or perhaps I should say it was built into the cruise line fare I booked.  

Thank you both.  So mssocalcruiser,  you were able to have it ticketed early when you called the casino dept?  I looked online today under the early ticket request and it bounced me to a pay now screen, which I gingerly backed out of.  Do not want to mess with it myself.  Now hopefully when I call the casino number I don’t get the woman with the Australian accent cause she has goofed up my booking twice.  First by not clicking the Princess plus flag, even though I paid for it, and second when I repriced my flights where she put it on the wrong day. Two call backs to fix.  Even with the long holds, I would call back if I get her!  

We have a free British isles cruise coming up.  We have paid in full for cruise and Princess air.  I would like to get early ticketing of the flights in order to get certain seats.  Has anyone tried to request this through the casino office before? What was the response?   I know they have my money, but have not paid the air yet as final payment is not yet due. So I want them to pay the air to Princess so our flights are fully ticketed.  Thank you. 

If you want to play tables with it, they give you special chips.  When you win, the chip is replaced with real ones.  For slots, the amount is added to your medallion and you have to play all of it thru.  To get either, you need to go to the cage and request it.  Bring your travel summary showing the amount.  I have had several experiences where they tell me I am not on the list.  You then have to wait a day for them to contact headquarters to validate your documentation is correct.  

I know that if your air is booked through Princess or celebrity air you can select seats without the surcharge.  Just did it. Although thru the Princess site, it has the seat map blocked, you can just get  the BA booking number from your confirmation and go to their site, go to manage my booking and you can select seats for free.   If not booked through the cruise  line, you have to pay to select seats for sure.  

Thank you for this great information.  Do you have recommendations for lunch in walking distance from St. Peter  port?  We plan to just walk around as we will still be a bit jet-lagged.  We are visiting in early September.  

Just wanted to let everyone know that ezair must have negotiated something new with British airways.  We reserved our ba flight to and from London for sept.  Final air fare has not yet been paid.  Was not able to book seats on the Princess site, HOWEVER, went to ba site and entered the confirmation number showing on manage my flights, and surprisingly was able to select any seat at no cost!  Saved us about $400 in seat cost!  

my husband smokes cigars.  On recent cruises where the cigar bar was non-smoking due to COVID, you are allowed to smoke cigars in the outdoor smoking areas.  

You can also cancel through the live chat.  Although you have to keep refreshing to get thru, it’s typically faster than calling.  Have cancelled several cruises that way.

Also keep in mind if traveling via plane, there are specifics for taking cremains.  If I remember correctly,  it was death certificate and cremation certificate.  Most airlines require they be transported in carry on baggage.  Alert tsa as you go through security.  Cremains can be xrayed but not opened by tsa. So the biodegradable container is a must.  If it can’t be seen thru the X-ray, like in a metal urn, they are not likely to let you thru. They were very respectful when we went through.  The princess service was very easy to arrange with no charge.  No reason to not alert them and use their service.