Bookworm1971

6 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

We were also on this cruise.  I think the biggest part of the delay was the non-US people who DIDN'T report to the immigration check in a timely manner.  They were still calling for 2 of them at 9:00 (when debarkation was supposed to being at 8:45).  

 

That, and the medical emergency.  When we got off the ship (at 10:00, not 9:00 as scheduled) the ambulance was taking off with lights & siren.

 

 

They were already 45 minutes to an hour behind schedule with the Non US before they even started calling for the missing ones who hadn't shown up.  We were supposed to be in one of the last groups to report (Deck 8). Our scheduled time was 8:00 - 8:15 and the line was snaking through the shops and down past the Ocean Bar when we arrived shortly after 8.   We didn't get into the room until 9 with a dozen people still behind us.  The whole thing seemed more chaotic than usual.

We did a cruise from LA with a stop in Victoria before ending in Vancouver. The ship collected our declaration forms a couple of days before we arrived in Victoria. There were different baskets set up in a dining room for under exemption, over exemption, Canadian citizen, etc. if I recall correctly. There were some announcements asking people to report to guest services early the morning we arrived in Victoria, but whether that was for immigration purposes who knows. I was surprised there was no face to face with an agent as there were in US ports on previous cruises. We'd been on one cruise where the line snaked around the ship waiting to see a US agent in Hilo on a Vancouver to Hawaii round trip.

We fully expected to see agents in Vancouver, if only for a cursory check of the passports, as we walked off but there were none. We collected our luggage and went straight out to a cab.

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Long Beach as well

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I called my PVP yesterday to inquire about having Explore 4 added to my booking and it appears that the price of the cabin was increased coincident with the introduction of this offer. We'd have to have our cabin repriced ($800 increase) in order to be eligible. Since we don't drink much it isn't worth it to us.

Ours went up $2150.00 pp. I had checked online then called to confirm. The rep I was talking to actually checked my booking herself because she was surprised at the huge jump. I guess we got a good rate for booking early (in May for a March 2019 cruise) so while disappointed that we couldn't take advantage of Explore 4 we're happy with the fare we booked.

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The Princess agent was able to add it to my existing book, so I kept the same confirmation number.

Did you call in to add it to your existing bookings this evening? I called but the agent told me he couldn't do anything until tomorrow although he put me on hold to check if it was possible to add to my b2b in July 2018. He said he couldn't get through to whatever department he was trying to call but said he was told it should be possible and I should call tomorrow.

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I was looking at a cruise this morning and wanted to get all the numbers for this cruise.

The cruise is not until March 2019. It is a 28 day cruise going to Tahiti. The total including taxes and ins. is $7366.00

The initial deposit is $4218.00

Balance due $3148.00

 

this seems a bit much. The deposit is more than half the total amount due in 2 years!!

Have I gotten too use to having FCD's :confused:

Am I wrong?

I don't have the paperwork handy for the exact amount but we also paid a large deposit on this cruise a couple of weeks ago. We were surprised as we're used to smaller deposits but figured it had something to do with the length.

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I haven't seen this question posted so I am hoping there are other Canadians who may benefit from my question.

 

I am a Canadian who is interested in purchasing 100 shares of Carnival Corp. so I too can receive the on board credit while cruising primarily on Princess and HAL ships.

 

My question is in regards to the value of this investment for Canadians.

 

Since the shares are classed as foreign equity stocks, the dividends paid would be subject to foreign tax withholding of @ 25%. Combine this with the extra income tax information required to be submitted to Revenue Canada, I would like to hear from other Canadians who own shares and how they feel about the withholding tax. Is this a worth while investment overall and what would the rate of return be on the investment?

 

Greatly appreciate any information provided.

I have some Canadian experience that might be helpful. I just set up some direct investing accounts with TD that are within my RRSP account. One of those is a US $ account that I'll be purchasing my Carnival stock in. Any dividends will go into that account as "cash" (which I can transfer to other investments within the RRSP) and because it is staying within the RRSP it is my understanding that there are no tax implications. That's probably a very general explanation but my husband is the guru on these things and he would not advise me to do this if we had to pay more taxes on it. We also have our fees waived because the household investment total is above a certain amount.

Might be worth checking with your bank?

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They don't show up on the personalizer. I printed our confirmation email and brought it with in case there was a problem. We bought a substantial amount of OBC and Casino credit and it was all accounted for without a problem.

My timing was perfect when I got up this morning as she was sailing past then under the Lion's Gate Bridge. All lit up and lovely in the dark. We'll be boarding her in a few hours. Can't wait!

...and this is why we have noro outbreaks (among other reasons).

I can see not refilling a bottle with a narrow mouth that might come into contact with a spout, depending on how the water, lemonade, iced tea, etc. is dispensed, for hygiene reasons. What I don't understand is the objection to a wide mouthed cup or mug that never goes near a spout. We take plastic cups with lids and straws. Filling that is no different than my grabbing a cup or glass that anyone could have touched from the pile next to the machines and using that.

The "smart casual" came from Priness' FAQ's section, I too lifted an eyebrow at the dinner jacket and agree that trousers and open neck shirt is fine on "non-formal" nights.

With conflicting FAQs on their own website it's a wonder anyone dresses appropriately. :)

Not sure where the "smart casual" description for men came from in the FAQ quoted above but the Princess website lists smart casual as:

Skirts/dresses, slacks, and sweaters for ladies

Pants and open-neck shirts for men

My husband is bringing dress pants and nice Hawaiian shirts for non-formal nights in the MDR. As formal nights are not our thing we will be dining where the formal dress is not required, i.e the buffet or the specialty restaurants.

I called the 855-500-7690 number listed on the Princess website. Is your booking US or CDN? As mentioned in other posts that makes a difference in how they'll bill you.

We decided to pre-pay our excursions and gratuities online a few weeks ago before our dollar dropped any lower. The CC statement came yesterday and to our suprise the gratuities were billed at par through Princess Vancouver. As noted by another poster above, the excursions were billed in US $. Bonus for us as we were expecting to pay the full credit card exchange rate on both. (We hadn't thought about just gifting ourselves OBC when we decided to pre-pay these items.)

Last week, because of what I'd read on this thread, we decided to call and buy some OBC. I clarified with the rep that I wanted it billed in Cdn $ and asked her exactly what I'd be billed in Cdn. dollars. I was told that it would be billed at par because "that's the way they do it". We haven't rec'd that CC statement to confirm this but given that the gratuities payment was billed at par I have no reason to doubt what the rep told me on the phone. We shall see when the statement arrives.

So, it would appear that you can be billed in Cdn $ at par or at the $1.10 rate other posters have noted receiving. How they figure out who to bill how is beyond me. I can only think it has something to do with how our booking and what fare was used.

Thanks for the pictures. We're in the same mini in March and can't wait for that extended balcony. :)

I recently went through the same thing but it took a couple of days. My issue was that my original cabin was available for booking on the website. I called right away when I got the email and was told it would take a day or so to get it switched back... different department naturally... and the agent didn't seem concerned when I told her my original cabin was showing available on the website.

When my personalizer still had the "upgrade" listed a day later I called again. Interestingly enough when I told the 2nd agent that my original preferred cabin was available for booking on the website and was concerned it could be booked before I got it back she quickly put me on hold to talk to another department. When she came back she offered me my original cabin at a cheaper fare than I booked plus we got OBC because of the promotion that was going on at the time.

Hertz, Budget, and Avis have downtown Miami locations that are relatively close to the Port Of Miami. A cab back to the Port Of Miami is very inexpensive. I have read numerous posts on Cruise Critic that states the downtown Hertz location is a disaster because the process returning a rental vehicle to that facility involves getting on a very long line inside of the building and for some unknown reason that is the only rental car facility in the State Of Florida that employees don't use handheld computer scanners when a vehicle is returned. Normally I rent from either Alamo, National, Dollar, or Thifty and return the vehicle at the Rental Car Center which is located directly across from Miami International Airport. I then use their free shuttle service to the Port Of Miami.

We used Hertz, picking up at FLL and returning at the location near POM. Dropping it off was quick. So quick that we were barely out of the car with our stuff before one of the guys working in the lot was in it and speeding off to another part of the garage. We waited in a line with the people renting cars for maybe 15-20 minutes before the clerk working the "Hertz Gold" desk called anyone who was returning over. We were back at the pier on their shuttle within 45 - 60 minutes.

Picking up in FLL was a bit of an ordeal. There were a number of clerks standing around doing nothing but they insisted we use the automated kiosk and talk to someone over video conferencing. Then we went out to our assigned vehicle and it wouldn't start. Back in to get a new vehicle and this one was FILTHY with alot of minor damage. At this point I just took pictures of the car and we left because I couldn't be bothered to go back in yet again to get a clean car. Gone are the days where the rental car employees did the walk around and had you sign off on any mark the vehicle had before you left the lot. At least with Hertz in FLL.

OP here again. I called Princess back and the very helpful agent wound up putting us back into our original cabin under a current promotion which includes OBC and saved us $200. Yay.

At the beginning of the call I told the agent that I had spoken to someone yesterday to decline the upgrade but hadn't heard anything. She confirmed the request had been sent. I told her I was concerned that as our original cabin was showing available for booking on the website it might get booked before we were switched back. When I mentioned that she put me on hold and spoke to another department. That's when she came back with rebooking under the current promotion solution.

And yes, I made sure to mention adding no upgrade to our booking. :)

All in all I'm happy with how it was handled. The agent today far exceeded my expectations.

It has a kind of bait-and-switch flavor to it, IMO. The cabin I booked is an aft balcony, not always east to get. They wanted to move me to Caribe balcony midship, which is technically an upgrade. While all of this was going on, I kept checking my aft balcony and it was available for sale. The "new" one was listed as sold. I wonder how many times they sold that aft balcony before someone complained? They sent me the email about the upgrade late on Friday so I could do nothing about it. I emailed them three times after that, and I talked to a Princess representative about it on the phone on Saturday. Her response was "closed, sorry, but I'll leave a note." Monday I called and this representative put me on hold forever before returning to tell me (in a flat monotone) "They said they would do it today or tomorrow." When it didn't happen, I called again on Tuesday. This representative asked me "When did they fill out the form?" I told her I had no idea what form she was talking about. So she put me on hold, and then came back to say the original cabin had been restored. Then she gave me the lecture about how I should ask for no upgrade, etc. She says she marked this one no upgrade. So is it now Princess practice to offer attractive cabins and then do a technical upgrade so they can sell the attractive cabin multiple times? I am so disgusted with them right now. BTW, I haven't made the final payment yet.

The lecture about marking it no upgrade would irritate me to no end. We picked out the cabin we wanted in September 2013 for a March 2015 cruise. If I had let them chose the cabin when I made the original booking then fine, upgrade away and I wouldn't have a problem with it but we did a lot of research into what we wanted and booked accordingly.

I still haven't heard if they've moved us back to our original cabin. The "upgrade" is still showing on the cruise personalizer and our original cabin is showing available when you do a new booking. I'm debating calling again this afternoon since the agent told me I should see the change today.

We're booked on the Grand in March 2015 and I just noticed this morning on our cruise personalizer that we'd been "upgraded" from our Emerald ME to a Dolphin MA. (Yes, I know, I should have called after we originally booked to mark it no upgrade but took my chances.)

Anyway, I called to get it switched back before I'd even received the upgrade email. The agent I spoke to sent an email to whatever department it is who can possibly switch it back while I was on the phone with her. I was told that they have an internal hold on our original room for 48 hours however it's showing as available for booking when you go do a mock new booking.

What I'm wondering now is a) if there's an internal hold why is it showing available for booking on the website? and b) are most people successful in getting their original rooms back if they've called within the 48 hours they give you to refuse the upgrade? In our case I called before I'd even received the upgrade email.

Once they switch it back I will be calling to ensure that there is "no upgrade" marked on our booking. We specifically picked the ME on Emerald because of the covered balcony and the location.

So far not impressed with Princess bookings as this our 2nd attempt at booking a cruise with them. The first one they cancelled then a week later announced the same cruise with a minor itinerary change and a higher price. We were unable to get the cabin we had originally booked months before when we went to rebook on the new itinerary.

As usual SauerKraut is correct. It should also be noted that during lunch, Moderno served a similar purpose as overflow from the Buffet. As I recall, they had salad and soup on the Moderno's salad bar, perhaps some prepared sandwiches? I also seem to recall them offering some hot choices - pizza perhaps? I may be getting that confused with what was served there in it's previous life. Used to always have a couple of tasty calzone choices there.

This is correct. It was a very nice change from the chaos of the buffet. In addition to the pizza they also have a pasta station. 2 or 3 different types of pasta and a couple of sauce choices I think. Never saw any calzones though unfortunately. :) The only downside is having to trek over to the buffet or out to the Great Outdoors if you wanted something other than iced tea, water or coffee/tea to drink.

We also enjoyed the Great Outdoors seating area. Again, less chaotic than inside the buffet area.

On most, if not all, sea days, there is lunch available in Ginza, the sushi restaurant. It will be listed in the daily newsletter if it's open. In addition to the sushi they also have noodles, fried rice and pot stickers, etc. Very reasonable charge per menu item and large portions on the rice and noodle dishes.

For us it was Cagney's (East Meets West) and La Cucina (Il Adagio).

We tried all but Le Bistro on our recent Sun cruise. They were all good, in fact we went for sushi at Ginza 4 times but Cagneys and La Cucina were our favourites.

Like springssparrow, we just did a Panama Canal cruise, Miami to Vancouver. We were given key cards in Miami with the Vancouver disembarkation date on them so didn't have to do anything when we arrived in LA as far as our keys and stateroom went. We booked as one trip so had the same cabin the whole 21 days which simplified things as well.

As mentioned, we did not have to get off the ship in LA. We were given In Transit stickers and told to report to the theatre with our customs declaration cards and passports when the last and final call for all guests was made. It was nice because unlike earlier in the morning there was absolutely no lineup. We went in, handed our forms to the agent and as we were in transit he sent us on our way after looking at our passports briefly.

It was a breeze compared to some stories I'd read here.

The only time I was annoyed by photographers on our Carnival Spirit cruise was in the dining room. The photographer and a staff member dressed up as a pirate were making the rounds. The pirate didn't even ask, just threw her arm around your neck with her sword in hand and the photographer snapped away.

We never saw the pictures. They probably weren't fit to print because we both looked annoyed and shocked from the sudden fake pirate sword at our throats in the middle of dinner.

We're off on our first NCL cruise next month so we'll see how they handle things.

For the flight to YVR she's going to need a passport which has to match the name on the flight reservation.

Can she change the name on the flight reservation with less $$ and/or hassle then getting a new passport?