coconut cruiser

Cancel the medallions!  They are not new, it has been a few years and they still don't work as advertised.

I used to keep cruise card on a lanyard but the increased weight of the medallion made a lanyard uncomfortable on our Regal cruise so my husband offered to carry it in his pocket since we are usually together or I just left it in the cabin.  Later I realized that would show that I went in a lot of men's rooms if they were tracking where I went. Giggle.

Thank you so much for all of the information.  I may consider the wheelchair option.  It is so helpful to have the CC community.

We are flying in 3 days early.  I am not so worried about missing the ship but on the Princess website right now the alternatives all show tight connections of less than an hour.  We are senior citizens and cannot run through  the airport to make a connection.  I always leave at least an hour in between flights.   I would just cancell EZ air now and book a flight but any other flight would cost twice as much.

Thank you for answering so promptly and offering to help.  Very considerate of you.

We choose EZ air for our Feb cruise on Regal.  Due to where we live there are no non stop flights available and the only airline choice was AA.  Because of ongoing problems with their planes, they keep canceling flights.  They just extended concellations through Jan.  We are really concerned that our flight will be cancelled after final payment.  What happens if the airline cancells after final payment?  Will we get our money for the flight back?  Anybody have this experience?

We had so many problems setting up the Ocean Ready for our cruise this year, my husband wants to cancel the next cruise and do a land based trip instead.  I have to admit it is so much easier to arrange hotel than cruise.

We were on the Regal last week.  When we docked at Cozumel the medallion readers were not working properly and so no one could disembark for about an hour.  There were lines of passengers waiting to get off that stretched all the way through the ship.  Princess was very generous and gave every passenger a  letter of apology and a $25 OBC the next day.

We just came back from a B2B from Ft Lauderdale.  We decided to treat the day in Ft Lauderdale as a "port day".  We were allowed to get off any time other passengers were deporting.  We used the "in transit" pass Princess gave us and easily and quickly exited showing our passports, medallion and that pass.  We caught a taxi at the ship and went down to the nearby beach area for $10.  We watched the surf and nearby boats while drinking coffee, called home, checked email, went shopping among the stores.  Then we caught one of the trolleys back to 17th Street for $1 each.  Got off trolley across from Walgreens and walked back to ship.  Was very easy to get back on ship with our pass.  Avoided any lines. It was a fun way to spend the time.  Would do it again.

Pickles is right.  We called for a month and they just told us that tech would call.  They didn't at first then finally called and gave us a new password.  We made them stay on the line while we tried it.  It didn't work.  They tried and it didn't work.  They finally got it to work, but setting it up taking photos of passport and ourselves was tedious.  Not as easy as I expected.  Then at the end it said we had to print a copy but we couldn't figure it out.  Said we can't get on the ship without the copy.  We just got the medalions but now not sure they will let us on the ship. Our whole family is very tech savvy but this is a real challenge.  I am going to wait a few years to cruise with Princess again so they can improve this.

Thank you for taking the time to share.  Appreciate it.

We sail on the Regal out of Port Everglades in 2 weeks.  Could those who get off ships there this weekend comment on their experience at the pier and Fort Lauderdale airport.  Should we expect delays due to the shutdown?

Thanks for answering.  Will keep trying. 

3 minutes ago, WisCruiser2 said:

I was able to set ours up today without a problem. Are you using an iPhone or Android? Mine is android (Samsung).

We also have Android.  What brand , model and operating system and what network was used?  Thanks.  Trying to track down the problem

On 12/27/2018 at 2:48 PM, patski107 said:

I have tried to set-up the OceanReady for my upcoming trip on Caribbean Princess and I keep getting an error message Compass is Currently Unavailable.  We have "all hands on tech" working to get back online. It's been that way for almost three weeks. They better hire better techs.

Pat

I keep getting the same error message for our Feb Regal cruise.  Glad it isn't just me.  Twice I called the # for Ocean Ready support.  Some support.  They just said they would send a message to the tech support people and they would call me, never called.  Hope the medallion works when we get on the ship.  Not encouraged.

Thank you for answering my WiFi question.  You have been wonderful.  Have a safe trip home.

We are doing a back to back on the Regal in February and really appreciate all the details you included especially, time ashore.  On turn around day in Ft Lauderdale did you find any places (reataurants, etc.) that offered free wifi?

We had the same problem and we signed up for the Princess excursion that included Los Olas and then a boat trip around millionaires homes.  They put your luggage in the storage area under the bus and it stays there while you are on the boat.  Then they deliver you and your luggage to the airport.  When you consider the cost of transportation to the airport, it isn't much more and we had a great day.  

What about those passengers in the middle of a back to back?  Do they have to get off the ship and wait on the dock while they clean the ship?  Anyone experienced this?

I think some who are new to Princess read these posts and think the only way to get coffee at the IC is to purchase a coffee card. You CAN purchase coffee or tea there and just pay each time. Don't need a card. Now that the card is only good on that voyage not such a good deal.

Once you are cleared, what did you DO on the ship, if you didn't get off? Not much going on that first day, everyone unpacking.

Just getting to the ship is not the only problem you will face. A few years ago we had flights booked through Princess for the day of the cruise. Due to mechanical issues for the plane, we missed our connection in Chicago. We argued with the airline, and the airline finally agreed to pay for a hotel in Chicago overnight and they flew us to St. Thomas the next day to meet our ship. Our TA was in contact with Princess and arranged for a taxi from the airport to the ship. We got there late afternoon.

The problem is that a port stop is not set up to process arriving passengers. Difficulty getting past security at the dock, because we did not have a cruise card. No one to help us with getting our luggage on the ship, we had to drag luggage to customer service to have picture taKen and get cruise card. The cruise cards didn't work properly the whole cruise which meant repeated trips to get another card. Other issues because we were not there the first day. Then the last night of the cruise we had to meet with US authorities for a long and unpleasant interview because we had not gotten on board at the expected port. (And this was before 9/11.) We kept saying, oh well, at least we are cruising, but it was such an unpleasant experience that we didn't cruise again for several years. It is expensive to get there a day early which is why we often do land based vacations now. Less complicated.

If you book as two shorter, do you have to get off the ship and board with the other passengers?

I know I will get flamed for this, but all the comments about the ship being able to withstand the storm remind me of the claims made about the Titanic before she sailed. LOL

They may give you change in local currency so it is best to take small bills if paying in cash so you don't end up with "cash" you can't spend anywhere else . If needed, you can exchange US cash for smaller bills ($1, $5, $10) at the customer services desk on the ship. You will need cash if you plan to grab a cab in port.

The ship enters Gatum Lake and only passengers who have booked an excursion with Princess are allowed off the ship. No private excursions allowed. I don't remember seeing any fishing boats in the lake.