moobear67

It's been awhile since anyone posted on this thread, but does anyone happen to know if there is a "secret" door on 8 fwd where the cabins end, that goes through the unmarked area on the deck (next to cabin E101), then there is another door on the right, out to the promenade on deck 8? Apparently other Princess ships are known to have this "secret door", wondering if Sapphire does too? 

5 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

It is on all the Princess ships now.  You automatically get the Prizes option when you purchase the Premier Package but you can purchase it daily if you do not.  I believe it’s around $20 per day .. something like that.  
 

So, the prizes are based on when you enter your cabin and you can see your prize on the digital door display.  It may state that you’ve been entered into the final drawing or ‘better luck next time’ or display the prize you’ve won that day, such as onboard credit added to your folio.  
It only works while the casino is open so it works more like buying a lottery ticket… it is gambling.  
 

I’ve won $25 on each cruise on which I’ve had the premium package but a friend won $275.  
The final drawing is on the final day in the piazza and they give away another few $100 prizes and a grand prize of $5000.  
 

 

Thank you! Very helpful.

Is this on all of the ships now? And how exactly does this work? I read the "rules" on the Princess website, and I'm still a bit confused. Thanks!

On 3/20/2022 at 5:27 PM, 80sGal said:

The daubers are included with the larger Bingo sets.  The basic package, they are not.  On the Sunrise in December, when I told the staff member that I didn't need the included dauber, he gave me an extra pull tab card instead.  

Back from my cruise on the Legend. They gave out an extra bingo card for the last game if you already had a dauber. Glad I brought mine!

Thanks! I'll add them to my suitcase!

Does Carnival still use bingo daubers for their bingo games, or do they have the folding tabs on their paper bingo cards? Wondering if I should bother packing the daubers or not. Thanks!

Does anyone know if you are allowed to bring your own "clamshell" (actually one of those small pop up tents for the beach that are shaped like the clamshell,  but it's not as heavy or thick as the ones on HMC.)

10 hours ago, mtnlvr53 said:

Interesting that we were having this discussion on another topic. I talked to a Princess rep who said they would rebook everything. However, their press release said that they would only rebook you if you have a "paid in full" booking. 

Your question about future cruise credit is an interesting one, but I think, according to the e-mail I got you will get your deposit plus $25 (minimum match). It would be nice if they gave you your deposit plus $225 but I don't think that is happening. $225 is what you could expect.

I would say that the cruise spots are really filling up. I looked at several dates and all of the "land side" cabins (depending on if you were going north or south) were booked in the mini suite class (which is what we had on our original cruise). I thought I might have noticed a slight increase in price from when I first started looking and 24 hrs later when I actually booked. Soooooo...if you want to go you may want to make a decision soon. 

Good Luck

Janet

We did end up rebooking for 2022 (same cabin, same ship, same itinerary), so now we are waiting for Princess to transfer our deposit from one cruise to another and then add on whatever FCC we earned. Fingers crossed for $225!

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

To be more precise, it would result in two FCCs. A refundable FCC of $200 and a non-refundable FCC of $25.

 

But --- If I interpret what was posted, the $200 deposit is really two $100 FCDs, one for each person.

 

If that is correct, there will be two FCCs for each person booked, one refundable FCC for $100 and one non-refundable FCC of $25. So the total for two people would be $250.

 

Also, there have been posts that if you do apply that to a future cruise, you (or your TA if using one) can contact Princess to point out these derived from FCDs and Princess will apply the appropriate OBC that would come from an FCD.

 

Hmmm. Interesting. Well, we did end up rebooking the cruise for 2022, and are waiting for the "powers that be" to transfer our deposit and add on whatever FCC we get onto that booking. We shall see...

I agree that if you want a lot of activities AND good shows, NCL is best, with Royal second best IF you go on a bigger, newer ship (smaller, older ships lack a lot of activities) but I also agree that NCL is pricing themselves out of the market. I have one more NCL cruise planned because we have unused cruise credit from a past cancelled cruise, but after that, I'm not sure I would cruise them again at their current prices. 

I've been on Princess, Carnival, Disney, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian. Since I have not been on Princess since 1993, I can't say much about how it compares to the others more recently. (I do remember the food being fantastic on Princess back in '93, and having a wonderful time in general).  So, I'll comment ofnthe other 4 cruise lines. The best food of the other 4 has been on Carnival. I've had great food on all 4 lines, but Carnival has been more consistently good with their food. Even high priced Disney did not have as good consistency with their food...very hit or miss from meal to meal. (I must say, however, that their specialty dining is superb!!!). I would say the same for Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. Hit or miss for each meal or even from cruise to cruise.  Entertainment-wise, I would say that Disney and Royal Caribbean are tops. Of course, the Disney ship has all Disney shows, so you won't get the variety of entertainment that you get on Royal Caribbean. I do like Carnival's Comedy Club, so if you like comedy, you get more comedy shows on Carnival than on other lines. If you want a casino, Disney does not have casinos. As for activities, Carnival and Norwegian tend to have more of a quantity and variety of (free/included) things to do. I have been sadly disappointed in the number of daily activities on my Royal Caribbean cruises, including ones that were cancelled without any sort of announcement. As for nightlife/activities past 10-11 pm, Carnival and Norwegian are good for that.  Crew service was outstanding on ALL of the ships. I have been on 14 cruises (with 2 more in the pipeline), and have always had wonderful service, from the room stewards, to the wait staff, etc. As for facilities, it really depends on which ship you are on. Smaller, older ships tend not have as many "bells and whistles" as the bigger, newer ships, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I have been on older, smaller ships up to a larger, newer ship. I don't think that having a new, big ship with more "bling" is necessarily a better experience. The smaller ships are certainly easier to navigate, and you don't have to "fight for" (or reserve ahead of time) seats at shows, etc. Anyway, I love cruising in general, so I just enjoy myself and make the best of what each cruise I am on has to offer!

On 2/24/2021 at 6:29 PM, franktown said:

You get the $200 plus 10%.   You would actually get $225 credit because if you look at the Princess statement the minimum is $25.  You do not get the 200 dollar deposit plus the FCC and bonus.

That's what I thought, then my Princess rep said no, just $25. Then, she said it is $225, then a customer service high up person said no it's $25, then I read $225. I'm still confused! I'm hoping it's $225, since we will lose OBC from the offer we had booked under (that OBC apparently won't transfer), and the price for the 2022 cruise is higher for the exact same cruise on the same ship in the same cabin. I need the extra $225, and still won't break even! 

Alaska cruise for 2021 just got cancelled. Can't get in touch with my rep at Princess (I'm sure she is very busy rebooking people), and when I tried to call  Princess to ask, they said I HAD to wait to talk to my rep . Can anyone explain what the Future Cruise Credit offer means? We only paid our $200 deposit. Does that mean we can get a $200 future cruise credit that will be on top of moving our current $200 deposit to an Alaska cruise for next year? Or does it mean if we move the $200 deposit to next year, we get $20 (10%) future cruise credit? I'm so confused! Thanks!

Thank you Ferd Berfle for the photo!

11 hours ago, Ferd Berfle said:

 

 

View from outside, see https://sites.google.com/site/cabinviewbyrenmar/crown-princess/cabins-101--119

for views from inside - all the Grands have these OV cabins.

 

 

 

Thanks!

7 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

These are great cabins.

The obstruction is the solid steel railing outside.

It's not really a secret door, just go forward on either side of deck 8 and exit out onto the upper Promenade deck.

 

If there are only 2 of you booking one of these cabins.........

Use caution as E101-115 are quad cabins and the 2 extra berths fold up against the wall (sticking out) making it very awkward to move about the cabin in either the folded or unfolded position.

118-121 are doubles with no extra berths so grab one of these if possible.

 

I like these 4 as they look out over the deck aft of the stairs coming up from deck 7 so little or no passengers walking there. Most just come up the stairs and keep walking around the bow area to the other side.

 

The windows are mirrored tinted so during the day you cannot see in but at night the reverse is true so if you have a light on inside the cabin one can see in.

 

The stairs coming up from deck 7 are closed off from Sunset to Sunrise and its pitch black up there at night (no lighting) so really nobody is up there although you can still exit the doors on deck 8 forward to go outside.

We like it to stargaze sometimes.

Thanks!!! This is great info!

Can anyone tell me about the obstructed view cabins on the Star (or it's sister ships) that overlook the promenade? I'm wondering about the view from E109 or E110. I realize that the promenade deck is in front of the window, but is the view over the rail unencumbered when you look out of the window from inside the cabin? Does anyone have photos? Also, I hear that there is a secret door that leads out onto the promenade from the hallway by those cabins. Is that true? Thanks!!!

5 minutes ago, moobear67 said:

Does anyone know how much the Best2DG is per person per day? I know the Best3DG is $40 per day. Thanks!

Oops...nevermind, I see the list posted earlier. Thanks!

Does anyone know how much the Best2DG is per person per day? I know the Best3DG is $40 per day. Thanks!

Thanks for your replies everyone!

I'm interested in visiting the San Gervasio Mayan ruins and having a knowledgable tour guide while there. We do not want to do a ship excursion. Has anyone done this on their own? Do you recommend taking a taxi and paying a guide while there (I believe you can do that...not sure), or are there private tour companies that will take you there and give you a tour, and then take you other places, like the beach? (I've been to Buccano's Beach Club...would love to do that again). Thanks!

Sailing on the Sun next year with a large group of girlfriends. We will be on deck 4 forward with porthole and interior rooms. We will have a few rooms with 3 people, hoping to use the sofa bed, NOT the pullmans (we are too old to climb up there! 😄). I have been in a porthole cabin on deck 4 with my husband, so I know what the room is like size wise, but I can't envision how the sofabed fully pulled out fits in the room. Does anyone have any photos of this configuration on the Sun (or Sky, or other NCL ship that may have the same type room), or can anyone describe how this works? We would like the other 2 beds to be separated as well, or is this not possible with the  3 bed configuration? Thanks!

On 7/16/2019 at 11:41 AM, SoBaycruiser said:

If there are many ships in port, it’s the smallest ships that usually have to tender.  That is because the time it would take to tender 4000 guests vs 700 is significant... or at least that is how it’s been explained to us.  We like small ships, but in crowded ports, it is one negative.

Thanks. That's a good point!

On 7/16/2019 at 1:34 AM, Melinda Brasher said:

I agree that tendering may be something that happens on your cruise, but even Sitka and Icy Strait now have deep-water docks, so it's not something you'll run into a lot--mostly if there are too many ships in port one day.    

 

In my Alaska cruises, I think Princess was the best at warning you about good wildlife viewing spots and even occasionally announcing things like "whales sighted starboard."  Of course, this depends on your particular captain and crew.  

 

Princess has lots of activities for all ages. 

 

Princess and Holland America have more sailings and thus more flexibility (and often better prices and last-minute deals).  As someone else states, they're your best bet for seeing Glacier Bay.   The Holland America cruises I went on had nice educational lectures about the destination, geology, wildlife, native culture, history, etc.

 

 

Thanks! Yes, we did have a lot of announcements about wildlife sightings when we were on Princess 26 years ago!

On 7/14/2019 at 11:23 PM, Coral said:

There is no guarantee that next year it won't.

 

There were weeks when Coral Princess did tender in Ketchikan and other weeks it did not. So just because you didn't tender doesn't mean in the future it won't either. 

Thank you. Since my honeymoon cruise to Alaska was 26 years ago, before the current "cruising boom" when less ships were sailing in Alaska, there may have been a time that Princess had the luxury of being the only line that didn't tender. Clearly that's not true anymore. But that's good to know, in case some of my group members insist on doing Princess for that very reason, I can set them straight. 😉