rodndonna

1 hour ago, Alphen said:

Indeed, it used to be July to July the next year.

I wonder if this is part of the change to StockPerks. Perhaps they have asked to have it aligned with the end of year going forward.

Just now, memoak said:

Princess does not have tickets. You have a room account and a casino account they are separate. If a machine is not played for more than a few minutes it will put the money onto the casino account. When we were both quarantined and unable to cash out we contacted our CVP who worked with customer services and we got a check mailed to us but it took about a month

Oops  - correct - HAL works the same, and as long as you pull your player card (even if you forget to "cash out") it goes back to your player account.  

13 minutes ago, Fortunate 2 travel said:

If you didn’t cash out wouldn’t that mean credits were sitting on the machine?  Wouldn’t the next person to play same machine use them?  Just a question, I really don’t know the answer.

I think the OP cased out to a ticket, which would return the machine back to $0 but then never went to the cashier to get cash for the ticket.

40 minutes ago, My_Cruising said:

My latest theory is that this is a HAL website bug that is confined to Volendam and Zaandam, and across all cabin types on these two ships.  I haven't seen this issue on any of the other HAL ships.  Can you confirm if you see this as well?  I have sent an e-mail to HAL Guest Relations and requested that they alert their IT department.

I just tried a couple of others .. I can see Cabins on Zandaam for April 2025 Pacific Coast on external website, so maybe sailing specific?

Edit: I tried the same cruise on HAL"s site and when I enter the phase to try to select a room - it burps (booking flow error)

24 minutes ago, Entropyman said:

I have had this problem for weeks now.  Notified my PCC, he said he would pass it on to their IT folks but so far it has not happened.  Switching browsers and devices has not solved the problem.  Some are not having this issue, but I have no idea why.  Frustrating!!

We are on the Volendam this fall and see the same thing (nothing but GTY's for cabins). I checked on a large internet based website and see the same thing - I can select any category, but always still only as a GTY (no room selection).

Not sure about Princess, but on HAL people have said that eventually you will have a cheque issued to you if you left a balance and it is above a certain amount (pretty low from what I recall). 

I seem to be OK. Just checked on one cruise, but get detailed Canadian prices.

Edit: I just tried another cruise (different destination) and got the error.

9 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

Choose a stateroom with staterooms above and below.  Don’t choose a connecting stateroom.  Stay far away from music and gambling venues and the showroom.  Yes, you can hear people talking in the hallway as they pass by.  I travel with a portable white sound machine which helps me sleep onboard.  

I second the vote for using a sound machine or equivalent.

We use a sound machine at home, and wen travelling use a sound App on our tablet. That way where ever we are (home or away) , we have a consistent background sleep noise which blocks most outside noises.

Just bumping this up.....any insight?

We are looking to do just 1 round on our cruise, but visiting all 3 of these ports...

Well - I was way off base with what I had always assumed this "yum yum" person to be ....

I had always assumed it was a person who would wheel a dessert cart through the MDR stopping at tables ready to order/choose a dessert.

4 minutes ago, bobomonkeyrage said:

As someone who only started cruises post pandemic, can someone fill me in on what the fabled yum yum human does?

Like you we have only sailed HAL post pandemic - but for all the complaints about removal of the YumYum man here - my expectations are high!

4 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

The yoga is very basic, good for beginners. Pure Barre you need to have a good established core. 

 

There's Zumba and Tai Chi at Sea too, you can make it low impact with your movements.

I had to look up Pure Barre - my core is no longer as "established" as it was in my Pilates days, but always trying to find ways to get it back in time for golf season.

Thank you all for your replies - will be bringing workout wear - no excuse with a couple of free classes and self-serve laundry to boot!

We will be on our first Princess cruise in April with Princess "Plus" so 2 free fitness classes. 

I generally wouldn't pay for fitness classes (You-Tube is wonderfull) but am wondering what kind of classes they have - and are they generally geared to younger fit folks (like spin classes) or do they have a good variety for varying ages and abilities?

Would they have lower impact aerobics, stretching classes or yoga levels appropriate for more mature folks where I wouldn't feel out of place? 

52 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

I don't think all that show stuff is necessary.

Pretty sure all that is necessary are cabins and a place to eat...

Other stuff is just nice to have, and having variety in all the extra stuff is generally good thing.

I'll be the odd one out and say I kinda like it.

Watched it on NCL cruise (didn't buy a card to play as it was optional) and it was fun enough although certainly not the highlight of the cruise.  I  always liked that game for the math and statistical decision making part, so can be fun to watch and pass out your advice along with the rest of the audience .

I never understand the complaints against Casino offers.

The Casino is open to everyone equally. If you believe the folks bragging about wat they are receiveing, then go to the Casino, play, and join them in on that "free" train, and/or find out that maybe they are exaggerating a bit on what it costs them overall for that "free" cruise.

2 hours ago, PMGS247 said:

 

 

 

Why would someone get a casual meal vs the included meal at the MDR? I can tell you why I do it.  A few things I don't love about the MDR - big crowded space, can be hectic, often seated with or uncomfortably close to other random cruisers.  Food is mass produced almost like someone is loading up plates from a massive buffet in the back that you can't see.  You can just tell it's made on a huge assembly line cranking out thousands of plates per hour. All this considered it's still pretty good, I really am impressed at the quality they're able to generate on such a scale, but in a vacuum compared to traditional restaurants, it's rarely great.  By contrast casual restaurants tend to feel like traditional restaurants vs a big banquet hall/wedding meal. Safe to say generally quieter but that can depend on the vibe of the exact restaurant and how busy they are that exact evening, so there's probably exceptions to that rule here & there.  You put in your order and they cook your food specifically for you because you ordered it, as opposed to grabbing the next plate in the assembly line when you order it.  Menus are unique to the restaurant so you can decide whether it's appealing before you choose to eat there.  I don't really hate the MDR but the question was asked why someone would choose that over included food at the MDR/buffet so yeah that's one guy's reasoning.

For us, they appear to be chump change cost to have some variety in our dining atmosphere while on a cruise. We are about to our first cruise with Princess (10 days) and we avoid buffet if we can, so 10 nights dining in the MDR type setting  for dinner is not for us.

6 hours ago, mevs904 said:

I submitted an email to SBPCL@PRINCESSCRUISES.COM last month and received a similar letter to the one kamelia received.  I responded to the letter expressing my displeasure at being forced to share my financial information with a third party app. 

You don't have to link your brokerage account information if you don't want. We just uploaded the same redacted brokerage pdf document that we were otherwise emailing using the old process  before Stockperks.

26 minutes ago, crusingabuela41 said:

does anyone know if there is a fee to play the game press your luck on board. I did find out we need reservations but I don't know what or if it cost. 

ty

On the Viva last month, they asked when you reserve if you want to apply to be a contestant. We didn't apply, but I don't believe there were any fees or costs to apply to play. 

32 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

They might not make this easy to find and access...  but many of us will be on a mission!!!

I'm with you on making it a mission!

Next month is our first Princess cruise and it is on a "solar eclipse" cruise - so yes - the "solar eclipse" thingy will be a main highlight - but I am  putting  smoothies and juices pretty darn close behind that in things I am looking forward to on that cruise. 😎

8 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Wake View Bar, deck 16 on Discovery.

Thanks!!

9 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

The juice is fresh and can be a blend of different fruits.  I prefer a smoothie.    You’ve never had a smoothie?  I’ve had one every morning for years.  A blend of fruits and berries and veggies and ice and fresh mint or honey and many different combinations.  I love a green smoothie with honey. Mango is lovely, too.   I buy frozen fruit to make my own. It all goes into a high power blender and you get this milkshake like drink that’s delicious.  Where I live you can buy one at the fitness centre and they cost about $10.00 each.  Very expensive, so Princess is offering a good deal to include them.

 

Of course, if you don’t like this type of thing then it’s no value to you.  For many of us, it’s terrific.  

Thanks Lady -

Big Juices and Smoothies fan here as well!

Where physically on the ships are they? It will be our first Princess cruise and it will be the Discovery.

3 hours ago, vnyislesv said:

This is why I fly 3-4 days early and fly home 1-2 days after.  I used to live 10 min away from the port in Fort Lauderdale and 40 minutes away from Miami but now that I moved, I won’t put myself in your situation!  Especially with a vacation pending?????  Cmon!  Not sure what you do for work but you gotta figure it out next time!!

As a person who  generally flies  in day of, the difference for us is although we really enjoy my cruises, we don't put anywhere near the  same level of importance on them that you appear to. If we miss one (has not happened yet for cruise holidays), yeah it would suck, but would not be a life altering event or even rank anywhere in the difficult moments of  our lives.

29 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

OceanNow is a service that uses your mobile phone and your medallion. You order food and/or drink on the app and the medallion automatically tells the crew where you are so it is then delivered to your location.

 

It is a great service... when it works... but it often means long wait times. Personally it has always worked well for us but I have heard of many where their orders were just not delivered or delivered after a 30-60 min wait.

 

It incurs a $14.99 one-off charge when you first use it then there is no other charge to use the service after that no matter how many more times you use it.

 

Some of the food/drink ordered through OceanNow is included and some carries an additional charge.

Thanks Snax,

A follow-up question -

It sounds like a service  folks would generally tip for (kinda like Room Service outside your room) -is that correct?

Also - is it possible to apply a tip through the OceanNow app or would it have to be cash?

8 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

CCL's annual report for 2023 was published yesterday.

 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/static-files/fcbec4e1-3a75-4c6e-a3ad-721a95250782

 

There is no clear mention of the shareholder OBC perk that has existed for many years.

 

Compare this year's report with page 3 (5 in the pdf) of last year's report.

 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/static-files/ef80ac8c-e40e-42ad-ba8e-62a02fb13d6d

 

I'd like to think the perk will not be done away with because I don't think it costs much in the context of CCLs overall finances and I suspect that removing it would send worrying signals to the market, investors, shareholders and passengers about the company's post-Covid financial stability and recovery.  But, it does seem strange that it is not mentioned at all this year.  Any views as to why else that might be if they do not intend to discontinue it?

I doubt it for as you say, it is peanuts to them overall financially, but also they have just migrated to StockPerks...and I wouldn't think they would  go through the effort of changing for just one year before ending.

Edit: Also-the submission info on the previous report is now out of date with StockPerks so it had to removed as it was.