Astro Flyer

Casual dining options are listed on page 2 & 3 of this Princess document listing all dining options & which ships offer them. https://www.princess.com/content/dam/princess/corporate/pdfs/restaurants-dining-venues-on-board.pdf.coredownload.inline.pdf

In ‘77/‘78 they had “Party Cruises…A Weekend At Sea”…2-3 days Pacific & Sun Princess roundtrip LA to Ensenada. The cheapest rate was $188 (2-days) and based on the info I’ve found ($1 in 1977 is equal to $5 in 2024) that would be $944 in 2024…no wonder I couldn’t afford to cruise back then. In 1992 sailed Pacific Princess (Love Boat) on a 5-day repositioning cruise from Ensenada to Honolulu. 1977 Princess Brochure.pdf

I was wondering the same thing…send the increase notification to TAs to disburse to their clients without any official announcement to passengers. Like you, I took the bait & only time will tell if this was Princess’ way to get passengers to pay much sooner than normal. Their newsletter to TAs showed prices would increase today but based on posts that has not happened on today’s 1/22/24 start date. Or it is just another glitch in their system…one that could benefit those who didn’t purchase prior to the implementation date.

Old or new app? I just purchased it for another cruise on the old app. It shows up as a pending charge on my c/c and is shown under the Travel Summary’s Special Services.

Agree…Time is running out soon ⏳⏰⏲️ This is what I see on my “Travel Summary” under “Special Services” for a 10-day cruise with the 50% discount. MedallionNet 1-device Discount 1 $75.00

This is what I see to purchase MedallionNet on the old app. 1st screenshot: what I see on my cruise’s homepage 2nd: option to purchase 1 or 4 device Next is to pay & used my c/c listed on my account 3rd: shows my purchase & how to sign-in on the ship

I’m also using the original app for our April cruise however Princess’ current statement is that beginning on 2/1/24 only the new app will be usable. They need to fix this shoreside snafu before eliminating the old app. If not, even with our Medallions in hand we’ll be stuck in the longer Blue check-in line. Gone are the priority check-in lines to be replaced by those who have Medallions shipped ($10 for standard fares) and are willing to provide a shoreside chargecard to be stored by Radiqal in India…not me.

Many are reporting this requirement to get in the Green lane because without the shoreside setup only 6 of 7 requirements are completed. I will not provide my info & c/c to Radiqal based in India for shoreside purchases & Princess needs to rescind this requirement & to make it optional like in the original app. Lots of information on this sticky thread:

As I recall previously at the Elite level (and maybe Platinum?) dining reservations could be made immediately but for others it wasn’t until final payment.

Here’s the statement about the 2/1/24 date although based on posts the remainder of the statement is not true for everyone. “If you choose to, you can continue to use the existing MedallionClass® app on your upcoming cruise (until February 1, 2024). When you're ready to switch to the new app, the transition will be seamless and all your activity and info (including OceanReady® status, travel documents, and dining reservations) will be waiting for you in the new Princess® Cruises App. https://www.princess.com/en-us/plan/oceanready

Me too!🤞 Their webpage states the old app will be available until 2/1 however even the new app’s implementation date was delayed by over 3 weeks. Hopefully all of the issues will be corrected before our cruise however since even the old one still had issues for some people doubt if they’ll correct most of them before dropping the old app. I try to be optimistic however based on their track record I am skeptical that all of the issues will be corrected soon…it’s like déjà vu!

Lucky you 🙂…I have tried it numerous times on the original app including now & it always fails despite showing availability. I even deleted my MDR reservation & still get this attached message. We’re paid in full, have Medallions ordered prior to requiring shipping fee for standard fares and are currently in the Green lane. I will not install the new app since they have mandated giving c/c info for the shoreside purchases scheme unlike in the original app where it was not mandatory. I will not use the new app unless Princess rescinds the requirement to give my c/c & personal info to Radiqal which is awful. I appreciate your generous offer to give up one of your reservations however like others we cannot make a Catch reservation on the app, on the online version nor by contacting Princess. All failed for booking Catch which Princess said must be caused by a glitch in their system…fix it Princess! 🙄

I have the same issues with not being able to book The Catch by Rudi on the 4/3 cruise by trying every way possible. It’s very frustrating not being able to book this popular restaurant & having to hope for availability when boarding.

In the original app it was optional to participate in the app shoreside shopping program which I declined & was still in the Green lane.

Thanks…$147.50 per person including 18% tip.

Here’s a quote from the Princess website: “If you choose to, you can continue to use the existing MedallionClass® app on your upcoming cruise (until February 1, 2024).” https://www.princess.com/en-us/plan/oceanready

Lucky you 🙂…I’ve been trying for weeks on the original app but no luck for me. 😟 I also attempted to use the online version accessed through the Cruise Personalizer but when adding my booking number it said that was already used…duh…by me. The amount of time wasted attempting to navigate through the wonky app & MC system is frustrating & sometimes it’s even impossible to complete a task.

I couldn’t book it on the original app either nor was my TA able to book it when she called them. As others have experienced their call center reps don’t have a clue why. It’s possible to make CG & Sabatini’s reservations but not for any day/time for Catch for our April cruise. 🙄

When the Royal began cruising in 2013 they had a Super Tuscan wine tasting with small Italian tastes with each wine ($60) at lunch. On other Royal-class ships that was available & also a ST dinner for slightly more. I have not seen either of them being offered post pandemic but others might have had it available.

The previous app was still a work in progress after many years & now the new app is already having issues. 🙄 Unless there are reports that the new app is an improvement, I won’t install the new app until it’s required. I have an April cruise & don’t want to risk messing up all of my things already in my booking.

Thanks again…agree, they’ll benefit themselves. I checked our c/c T&Cs & it gives us a 3% rebate on travel purchases so that might be our best option if discounted AARP gift cards are unavailable.

Thanks…was her USD to AUD debit card conversion rate good? My chargecard uses the best daily conversion rate however having never used our debit card I do not know how that conversion rate works. If it’s the same conversion rate then will decide whether our best option is a fee-free debit card or paying a 1.1% chargecard fee. As I recall, purchasing discounted gift cards such as from AARP is another option…does anyone know how Princess determines the USD to AUD conversion rate? When they had currency machines onboard the rates were poor for the conversion & were bad like when purchasing currency at airports.

I completely agree with your opinion…after about 5 years of too many unfulfilled MC promises & inconsistent service that’s too often failed to provide as advertised we’re considering other cruise lines. Princess continues to hype their experiences yet too often fails to provide it which drives away clients & word of mouth keeps others away. No cruise is perfect but repeatedly failing to provide as advertised is no way to create client loyalty. In the past year we’ve sailed for the first time on Celebrity (more alike than different) and Oceania (great service & dining). When considering all of the things we use that O provides in their cruise fare, we are leaning towards getting an interior/oceanview cabin where we spend little time there. Even fewer more enjoyable days on O are becoming preferable to more days on an inconsistent Princess cruise. And to enjoy the great food & service on O instead…on a cruise line that provides as advertised. The recruiting issues you mentioned makes sense to me & based on O’s superior service they must treat staff better to retain them. In Spring we’ll have our first PCL cruise in 2 years & will hopefully have a better experience than expressed in this thread. We’ve primarily cruised on PCL for the past 35 years & understand that at today’s lower fares things will not be as exceptional as in the past. However we’re growing impatient waiting for Princess to provide the cruise experience they continue to promise which is very disappointing.

Thanks again for your help to know what to expect on our Australian cruise as Americans.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience to have a definitive answer. I’ve read the ship charges a 1%-2% fee when paying the onboard spending account’s balance with a chargecard…do you know if that is true? When outside the US we charge in the local currency & our financial institution uses the best daily conversion rate with no fees charged.