AlmadenCruisers

16 hours ago, weberman said:

Sadly, we are done with Carnival/Princess and probably cruising in general which we loved before this FIASCO. Fortunately AMEX got us our deposit back. However we are having the same refund issue with Delta Airlines. They need to redeposit to my account 160.000 Skymiles which I used to purchase the airfare to CPH. They are not even answering their phones. Just a message, unable to take your call, GOOD BYE!  If perchance they do answer, the message is your wait time on hold will be in excess of nine hours. While I am not out actual money, but the equivalent of a lot money. So, I guess it is goodbye Skymiles as well.

 

It seems the whole travel industry is totally screwed up. Princess is still taking deposits on future cruises on credit cards AMEX told me. So, they do have some cash flow!

 

I know Princess is not responsible for the COVID pandemic, but they sure as heck are responsible for the TERRIBLE customer service refund issue.

Completely agree that we are done with Princess.  However, Delta was very easy to deal with.  I cancelled our flight the same day I cancelled the cruise using their online form.  I received confirmation a day later informing me that the matter would be looked into.  A week later I called Delta and was told that since I booked a non-refundable flight, I would be given credit for future air travel, which I completely understood.  About a month after cancelling I received an email from Delta that my entire airfare would be refunded and it showed up on my cc a few days later.  Delta solidified my belief in them.  I finally filed a dispute with my cc last week for the cruise fare after giving Princess 75 days.  I cancelled within the 100% refund time period for Princess and before my cruise was cancelled.  

I cancelled our June 3rd Alaska cruise/tour on March 23rd, 10 days before the 100% refund period ended, and was told at that time by my TA that it would take 30 days for the refund.  Of course, that never happened and then it moved to 60 days, again, nothing.  Against my TA's advice, I filed a dispute with my CC company at day 73 and had the 'provisional' credit a day later. I have lost all confidence in Princess since mine should have been a simple cancellation with full refund.  Instead I got thrown in with everyone else once the cruise was cancelled a month after my cancellation.  I didn't want to wait for Princess to say they've run out of money and file bankruptcy.  Hope it doesn't happen but wasn't willing to take that chance.  I'm not done with cruising, just done with Princess.

We had made final payment on Feb. 28th for our June 3, 2020 Alaska/Cruise tour aboard Coral Princess.  A week later Princess changed the final payment date to April 3, with notice that you could cancel with full refund by the that date.  We cancelled on March 23rd and were told by our TA that refund would be within 30 days, which then became 60 days and we are still waiting.  I've tried calling Princess and since I used a TA they won't tell me anything.  I have continued to contact my TA and am told my refund is in process.  I have advised her that I will file a dispute with my cc company on June 11th, the day after the cruise moved into the tour portion.  She said that may delay the refund even further, but at this point I am so frustrated with Princess I plan to follow through with it.  Princess is doing great harm to this customers loyalty!

Thoughts and prayers for everyone involved.  We were on the January 25th sailing of this cruise and our muster station was in the main dining room.  We were fortunate enough to have relatively calm seas but did miss one port due to high winds and we are even more grateful now that the captain made that decision.  I remember seeing the Captain around the ship and while he seemed young to me, he's clearly very capable.  Kuddos to all for the quick action.

We purchased Business Class air from Viking for our January cruise to see the Northern Lights (hopefully). I am disappointed in the fact that I was told Viking only guarantees business class "over the water" when working with Air Plus. We are flying from Sacramento to Bergen, Norway and our first leg will be to Atlanta. I am told we could only be booked in economy seats for that leg, which is a 4+ hour flight for us. The remaining two flights, Atlanta to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Bergen will be business as will our two return flights from London. Hard to believe we pay the price for business and have to endure economy seats for the second longest leg of our trip. Most disappointing!! Currently, the fares for booking on my own are slightly higher than Viking Air but at least I would have business/first class the entire trip. Still have to decide which way to go.

DragonofTheSeas, Thank you very much for the photos. We will be joining another CC couple on a tour that I believe is with GreenGate that sounds similar to the tour you did. Your comments and photos convince me more than ever that we've made a good choice. Thanks again for sharing.

I'd also like to thank you for your review and pictures. We are heading to the Faroe Islands and Iceland on Ocean Princess in July and appreciate all the tips regarding shopping, currency and credit cards.

Have you done your renewal yet. I am thinking of requesting one for our 40th on Celebrity Equinox Sept 2014 but not sure about the atmosphere as we will not have any family or friends with us. Any comments would be helpful.

While no one we knew beforehand was there, we had the Captain, who performed the ceremony, the photographers, videographer, music person, our customer service rep and the head of customer service and they all helped make us feel very special. It was truly surprising how emotional we both were and I think beings it was just the two of us (meaning no family to entertain) we were fully able to concentrate on each other. After so many years, we felt it was a great way to remember why we are married. Hope you decide to go ahead with it and have the same wonderful experience we did.

We are planning a cruise on Royal Princess for Nov. 2014 to celebrate our 35th. & I would love to do the vow renewal so I have a question.

Do you pay for it in advance? And I did see that you said you couldn't request a certain date, is that correct? I would like to do it on the 10th. as that is our wedding date.

Thanks for any help. :)

As I recall, yes, you pay in advance. We booked our cruise only 2 months before sail date and I think we booked the vow renewal shortly thereafter. You do not get a choice of dates and only find out your date once you board. Ceremonies seem to be scheduled for sea days / formal nights. You are assigned a customer relations person who is your contact. We had an excellent experience and I'd be happy to answer any other questons you may have.

Really enjoying seeing the photos of others as they renewed their vows. Here are a couple of the photos from our ceremony on the Grand Princess in January 2012 for our 41st. The ship's captain performed the ceremony and we went with the standard vows during the actual ceremony. Afterwards, out on the balcony, we privately recited our own vows to each other. We were also given a nicely printed version of the Captain's vows.

I have found my people! :D I use packing spreadsheets for EVERY trip, business and pleasure.

 

For my non-cruise trips, I have my spreadsheet broken down by day and then day clothes and evening clothes for dressing down. The columns are: bottoms (slacks, dockers, capris, jeans,shorts), top #1 (blouse, shortsleeve, tank), top #2 (cardigans or blazer), Socks, Shoes and then the final column is jewelry. The row is the day. If I have two outfits (work for day and dress down for evening) then I use two rows for the day.

 

For cruises, the spreadsheet is more complex! For this spreadsheet, the columns are days and I note whether it's a sea day or docked/excursion. The rows are Morning, Afternoon and Evening. In each cell Day 1/Morning, Day 1/Afternoon, etc, I put in my clothes for that time. If it's a docked day, the morning and afternoon are merged and usually the same thing. I include all the clothes, shoes and jewelry in the cell. They are color coded too - blue are sea days and some shade of pale orange are docked days. That's the first page! :eek: The second page in the spreadsheet is a list per type - Tops as one column, Bottoms, Shoes, Jewelry, etc. I copy over from page 1 to page 2 and use page 2 as a packing list. Once I have page 2, I start washing clothes and putting them when clean in a guest room - folded on the bed or hanging in the closet. Oh, and at the bottom of the first sheet are the things I take on EVERY trip. Undies, bras, nightie, brush, comb, makeup, etc. This is especially good for phone cords, folding hamper and all the the little things that are a pain to forget at home.

 

I have shared my spreadsheet with many of my fellow cruisers, some appreciate my er...attention to detail...while others think I'm nuts (but a well packed and organized nut). Overpacking is not an issue and I always feel relaxed that I haven't forgotten anything.

 

If anyone wants a copy, I'm happy to share!

 

Pam

Pam, Your spreadsheets sound very much like mine and they have served me well for several cruises. While packing for our very first cruise, with no spreadsheet, I became a raging maniac and decided that would never happen again, plus I clearly overpacked. My spreadsheets have saved my sanity and as you say, keeps me from overpacking or forgetting items. Glad to know I'm not the only "organized nut" out there.

we are doing a vow renewal on Carnival Splendor in December. the package is $450 and i'm happy with what it includes. Its not a wedding..its a vow renewal. A simple event for just us and the kids to celebrate us.

 

I have ordered a dress and cant wait for it to arrive! the shows the dress in pink...i've ordered it in "champagne".

 

we've been married for 10 years, but have gone through a lot the past 3 years. We really just want something special for us. We couldnt care less about anyone who is around or the decor of the ship.

 

Cant wait!

Your dress is beautiful and I should image that in champagne it will be perfect.

My husband and I renewed our vows on the Grand Princess in Janaury 2012 and while it was just the two of us, it was perfect. As I recall, the Princess basic package was only $250 and was a bargain for what we got - beautiful bouquet, boutonniere, use of wedding chapel decorated with several large floral arrangements, music of our choice (Elvis' - Wonder of You and Turtles - Happy Together), 8x10 photo with frame, champagne with flutes to keep and chocolates. Our ceremony was performed by the Captain and attended by several others of the ships staff. Of course, we did spend more as we purchased the video and several other photos, all of which were really good. Our ceremony was during what was our traditional dinner time, so arrangements were made for us in the main dining room for a later hour. We were met by the maitre'd and shown to a private table for 2 and had a waiter assigned to just us. We had the scheduled dinner and then were give a delicious small cake to share, including our own little cake cutting ceremony. We did not have a choice of dates but our renewal was on the first formal night which for us was the day before our 41st anniversary. It was fun walking around the ship afterwards as we received many compliments and congratulations. My dress was a short, royal blue lace with black liner, fitted bodice and full skirt which I accessorized with a sequined belt - not exactly wedding style but then again it was a renewal and my husband helped me pick it out.

My advice to anyone who has ever considered renewing their vows is go for it. We found it to be an extremely emotional and meaningful event and a great reminder of what brought us together.