Astro Flyer

2 hours ago, WisCruiser2 said:

Hated that closet sensor light on our last cruise! We've always found there is enough light coming under the stateroom door from the hallway to find the bathroom, and we bring a nightlight for inside the bathroom.

Our most recent cruises have been on Discovery which did not have that closet motion sensor light.
 

Princess should have figured out that light was undesirable on the earlier Royal-class ships. We’ve also sailed on Royal, Regal, Majestic & Sky but never had that light. We use the low illumination LED lights LACruiser88 showed…one on the desk & one in the bathroom in addition to the light you mentioned that comes from under the front door.

As I recall, on Royal-class ships turning on the closet area light turns on the light over the bed which IIRC where different switches on earlier classes of ships.

This was the Starlink speed at sea sailing north from Puerto Vallarta to LA in April 2024.

This year I needed to call Princess twice with issues & got agents located in Jamaica & both were very easy to understand. Both of them took care of my issues within a reasonable amount of time & with no hard sell to book other things. Maybe Princess is addressing the issue with difficult to understand insufficiently trained inexperienced reps in the Philippines…both Jamaican reps were great.

Years ago I talked to an American 20 year Princess rep who confided in me that when changes get made to their system it even took her a month to fully grasp the changes because the Princess system was not easy to navigate. Thus it’s not surprising to me that offshore inexperienced reps struggle at their jobs but it appears that was a cost savings decision made by Princess.

I am very happy with the service my longtime knowledgable TA provides but understand that she has other clients to help. Thus I try to find solutions myself & only contact her when I cannot find a solution & need her assistance. She’ll contact the Princess section for TAs (seen her emails with them) & if not resolved she’ll contact her Princess DSM to seek a resolution.

As has been mentioned, frustrated first time Princess cruisers might go to other cruise lines after dealing with too many pre-cruise issues. Princess appears to be attracting new customers however will they return again or not due to those problems. Princess touts record bookings even with the cost cutting offshore service issues so they might not be willing to improve things. I think that would be a foolish decision & it’s no way to generate repeat passengers. For the past 35 years Princess has been my primary source for cruises but my pre-cruise issues have me trying other lines now. For now the Princess onboard experience & exceptional crew keeps me returning to get our best cruise experience for the price we’re paying.

12 minutes ago, lorri111 said:

Ie would you expect it to be available at midnight California time on June 16/17 or not till start of business hours?

Based on their other app missed dates, I would be surprised if they’ll be available on 6/17. The date they stated for all of the reservations being deleted was missed by several weeks.

On 5/16 the time a 2026 total solar eclipse cruise was available was at midnight PT. In the past opening times have been between 0600 & 0900 PT so there’s no way to predict a time…and possibly even the day if history is any indication.

57 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

A 4-day, Saphire or 5-day Discovery California Coastal. Pricing gives the edge to Saphire ~ $900. I have heard people say that they really like Saphire. Is Discovery significantly different from Majestic or Royal, we have sailed on several Royal class ships, if it is different then, 'Ship Experience' might be a tie breaker

Both are two of my favorite ships & would happily sail both of them again.
 

I’d prefer Discovery which I’ve sailed 3x including recently for the eclipse cruise. The layout is basically the same as earlier Royal-class ships but I like how Discovery has evolved since Royal was first launched. One of the main differences is how Princess Live has changed from an uncomfortable enclosed TV studio to an open comfortable lounge similar to Explorers Lounge on other classes of ships. Discovery has the very popular The Catch by Rudi which for me was the best Princess specialty restaurant experience. Sapphire does have the wide outside Promenade deck however for me I’d book Discovery.
 

Each of us has our own desires & price point to decide which is best for each of us.

3 hours ago, iismike724 said:

I paid in full my Princess cruise. I can see my wife and myself on the APP. It lets me schedule trips in each port, but will not allow me to reserve a dining time. Three separate calls to Princess for help gets me nowhere. I have been told to reserve once aboard. But getting good times might be hard then. Last time I book on Princess. 

Sadly too many Princess reps are inexperienced & are poorly trained now that Princess has decided to cut costs by hiring offshore call center reps.

Starting with voyages departing September 14, 2024, Princess will designate separate dining rooms aboard every ship in the fleet* to three table service options: 

• Traditional dining offering an early and a late seating every evening 
• Reservable dining times 
• Open seating to support walk-ins anytime 

To support these changes and the transition to the new system, main dining reservations that you may have already made will be cancelled. 

This change does not affect anyone booked in specialty dining restaurants or suite or reserve collection accommodations, who enjoy a dedicated dining room on Princess ships, where no reservations are required. 

Starting June 17, you will be able to use the app ahead of your voyage to opt for traditional seating in a dedicated dining room with the same waiter, same table and same time each night, or flexible dining, allowing you to enjoy dinner at any available time and table size of your choosing in either the Reservable or Open Seating dining rooms.

* Reservable and Walk-in Anytime Dining will be combined into a single Main Dining Room location aboard Coral Princess and Island Princess.

Searched for the effects of this new CA law (CLRA) and found this statement from CCL about their response to this new law. Royal Caribbean has also stated that RCL & X will also use this procedure throughout the USA to have a unified nationwide pricing policy.

"Our total advertised price will now include all government-mandated taxes, fees, and port expenses that we previously itemized separately for consumer awareness," a spokesperson for Carnival Corp. confirmed to T+L. “While this is a California state law, we are making this change nationwide to ensure our advertised pricing is consistent no matter where guests shop for our cruises.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/these-cruise-lines-will-be-more-transparent-about-pricing-soon-here-s-why/ar-BB1mwu4V?ocid=BingNewsSerp
 

On 5/16/2024 at 3:21 AM, Cruise Raider said:

I seem to recall Princess did try that pricing method in the past but if I’m remembering this correctly, other cruise lines didn’t follow suit and so the found it made Princess look more expensive.  It was quickly discontinued.  Now, if it’s a new law, then every line would have to follow the same display of pricing, just as they do with airline tickets.  Maybe this time it would work.  
I know one of my cruises, the taxes and fees are $500 each and Panama Canal cruises are over $700 pp.  The actual cruise fare is a bargain .. it’s all the extras that really add up.  

I also recall that situation & why PCL reverted to showing the cruise fare again like other cruise lines. I’ve seen taxes & fees as much as half the amount of the lower priced cruise fares.

Wonder if the CA consumer’s law will apply to CA residents only or if it’s based on HQ location? We probably won’t know until 7/1 whether taxes & fees will be included in the price shown or if the current cruise fare with t&f listed meets the requirements of this new law.

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

They just did an update.  It does sometimes not work for a couple of days before sailing.  But, it comes back up the day before your cruise.  So, check it again tmrw.

 

If you didn’t do the update, you can try that first.  Open the App in your App search and see if you have an update button.

 

Or, you can delete and reinstall the App, you won’t lose anything.

 

 

That was a quick update (2 days) & now it automatically signs me in again. 🙂

1 hour ago, billco said:

According to my CVP, Princess has changed from giving Elites the day before to giving Captain Circle members the week before opening the announced date to the general public.

Another Elite benefit bites the dust!
 

You & I were fortunate to be on Discovery’s better & more affordable TSE. Glad that we got a chance to briefly chat in the hallway.

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

Alvin probably gets paid more than that for each client he brings back from the dead.

Here's clearly not a PCL employee, but just a contractor as some hawk-eyed members noted the format of his email address doesn't match that of real PCL employees.

On your previous thread there was some speculation that Alvin Stokes was a name used for AI replies to letters of concern or complaint…maybe that’s true because they all appear to be the same replies & OBC offers. Could that non-standard PCL email go to AI instead of a contractor working on the cold case files.

I’m not knowledgeable about how AI works but sending such emails might be an easy task for AI.

Oh joy!!! 🙄

The update kicked me out of the app even after waiting more than 5 minutes to see if it’d restore my automatic sign in. I tried it twice before attempting to sign in using my user ID & password…got this error message. Tried using one of my booking numbers with my DOB…success & can see both booked cruises. Closed & restarted the app which opened however it now opens my furthest out cruise & have to manually switch to my next cruise.

Guess I shouldn’t be surprised…fix bugs that didn’t affect me & adds new bugs. 🙄

7 hours ago, capriccio said:

We did the Round Australia (Sydney to Sydney) cruise last year.  There was no immigration when disembarking.  Just grab your luggage and file out of the terminal.  I hope you have as great a time as we all (3 couples) did!

Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂

We’ll have a great time on this bucket list itinerary that got canceled during the pandemic in 2020.

What is the Go Lounge…never heard of it.

These are from Royal Princess but it should be the same for Regal Princess.

In their press release this was stated:

Reservable and Walk-in Anytime Dining will be combined into a single Main Dining Room location aboard Coral Princess and Island Princess.

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/princess-cruises-rolls-out-fleetwide-dining-revolution
 

7 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

Don't be deceived by the map in post #28. It looks like the cruise ship terminal is right next to the airport. You can actually see parked planes close by. Unfortunately, to get to the terminal building from the BICT, you would have to drive across the runways. The road route goes around three sides of a square, and is about 12 kms. When I took the shuttle bus organised by the cruise line, it dropped us off a five minute walk from the terminal building.  I'd allow 30 minutes from the port to airport check in.

www.google.com.au/maps/dir/Brisbane+International+Cruise+Terminal+-+BICT,+1+Cruise+Terminal+Dr,+Pinkenba+QLD+4008/Brisbane+Airport+(BNE),+Airport+Dr,+Brisbane+Airport+QLD

 

If you have lots of luggage, make sure you buy some extra luggage allowance in advance. Buying it at check in is very expensive.  Also check the size/weight restrictions, which are stricter in Australia.

Good to know…guess BNE is not like in Gibraltar where a road crosses the runway midfield & they close the road’s gates for takeoffs & landings. 🥹

38 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Many of the around Australia cruises visit a port in Indonesia, but it looks like this one is totally domestic. Great news - no departure or arrival cards to complete, and if customs are present it should only be a walkthrough.

 

For the majority of passengers, Brisbane is just a port day. Many will be eating breakfast as you disembark, so much less hectic in the terminal. A bit of Monday morning meh and it is in the middle of school holidays, but nothing to predict a peak travel day at the airport. It all points in your favour, as long as it remains one of the good days.

That’s encouraging information!

I am now much better informed about what to expect & have all of the Australians & New Zealanders to thank. 😊

The circumnavigation of Australia cruise is at the top of our bucket list which was canceled during the pandemic. In 2009 from Sydney to LA we only visited the Sydney area but did see many places in NZ…we’re eager to visit Australia! Fourteen months down, only 10 months to go.

4 minutes ago, arxcards said:

The earliest disembark slot we have had is 7am, and express walk-off was at 6:45 for that cruise, however like Pacific Encounter this morning, that was a full turnaround.

 

Partial turnarounds run a bit later, of which we had one late last year on Majestic Princess. We were one of 400ish disembarking, and first disembark slot at 7:45am with express walk-off starting at 7:30am. Your Brisbane to Brisbane is likely a similar arrangement, with the majority of passengers doing the Sydney to Sydney lap. Given only up to 500 passengers disembarking, is also why you may not see the disembarkation tour to the airport. It might be a bit frustrating, as you can watch the planes banking and landing on your starboard side as you are approaching the port, yet they are so many hours away.

Thanks…very helpful information.

From Brisbane the cruise fare was nearly 1/3 less than from Sydney although there were fewer cabins available from Brisbane. I hadn’t considered the effects of having multiple embarkation/disembarkation ports which is a new experience for me.

5 minutes ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

We commenced walk off at 7am, there was the usual customs queue.

 

Obviously domestic disembarkations are so much quicker.

 

I would dare say though at the airport getting through Australian Customs and security to board your New Zealand flight could take time too if it's  a peak period.

 

(Side note: Some people  forget Australia  and New Zealand are 2 entirely different countries.)

 

So I guess just keep in mind that weather events and other unplanned things do happen and travel insurance can take time to recoup costs. So just be sure to have a plan B if it should happen. (Including funds if you have to pay for new flights until you can file a Travel Insurance claim.)

 

Cheers!

 

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences & insights.

Maybe with my cruise being exclusively within Australia roundtrip Brisbane it won’t be necessary to go through customs & immigration.

My apologies for asking so many questions on the discussion you created to share your experiences.

37 minutes ago, arxcards said:

On a good day, you can be off the ship by 7am. Most days are good days, but not all. Princess will say PM flights, so I will go with them - just in case it is one of those bad days (weather, customs, broken gangway etc).

 

PS: I will take a look at our more recent Brisbane disemarkation schedules when I get back from the salt mines.

 

PSS: Pacific Encounter was docked in Brisbane this morning before 5:30am (no idea what time disembark started though).

Thanks…appreciate sharing your experiences.

3 minutes ago, Jean C said:

buy your allowable wine bottle per person  for boarding at the Woolworths supermarket, along the road from your hotel, your wallet will thank you 🥂

We’ll make that 850 m walk to Woolworths to lighten our bodies & not our wallets. 🍷

In 2009 we stocked up at a large Wellington market which as I recall was near Te Papa.

14 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

But can you not buy the flights on one ticket?  If it's all on one ticket, the airline has to be responsible for getting you onto the second flight, so transfer times can be shorter.

Your other option at the end would be to fly Brisbane to Sydney, and then to Auckland. This will give you a much greater choice of flights.

Thanks…I neglected to consider making it a multi-city ticket. 
 

Flights will be available soon & will check LAX/BNE (3/13/25) and BNE/AKL (4/14/25) to learn if it’s possible to have 2 flights on the same ticket a month apart.

As Jean C wrote, planning is fun for our cruises that we booked 2 years in advance. 🙂