Parrottdizes

On 8/10/2023 at 10:12 PM, LACruiser88 said:

We use a Travel Agent, who deals with Princess.  We never have to call them.

We use a TA also. However I can tell you that the TA's are having problems with Princess's call center too. Long wait times, lots of background noise, trying to get them to make a correction, Ect. I just talked to our TA yesterday and he said of all of the cruise lines that they deal with, he is on hold the longest with Princess. 

My TA called Princess and Princess said that it was a technical glitz and they would fix it. So far they haven't, but it has been only a few hours.  

4 hours ago, MacMadame said:

There are no aft balconies on the Coral Princess.

 

Because of that, I am also interested in the answer to this question.

I have sailed on the Coral Princess 3 times (Caribe deck) and there are public aft balconies. They are for everyone's use......so enjoy.

1 hour ago, shirazcruiser said:

On my last cruise in May, every time I changed my EZ-Air when I had a price reduction, the pre cruise transfers would change from Victoria Station (London)/ship to airport/ship.  I would call my TA and they would call Princess each time to correct it.  They advised that it happens with changes to EZ-Air...go figure.  

Thank you for sharing your experience. However, we haven't made any changes to our flights. But come to think of it, both of our flight times were changed by the airlines by a couple of minutes.

Airlines are notorious for changing flight times and even switching planes, but that hasn't caused any changes in our transfers in the past. As you say......"go figure"

12 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Have you ever tried EZ-Air?  Or TA is booking for you??  

Yes, we have used EZ-Air and have had pretty good luck with them. (Hope I don't jinx myself)

What I do is check out what flights are scheduled and pick out the ones that work best for us......and also the pricing. My TA tells EZ-Air what fights we want (instead of EZ-Air picking for us) and gets their price (so we can compare what EZ is charging as to what booking direct would be). 

With EZ-Air we have booked one airline going out and a different airline coming home. Another time (through EZ-Air), we booked our pre-cruise flight to Ft. Lauderdale......but after the cruise we were meeting up with family at Disney World........so we booked our homeward bound out of Orlando. If you know what you want to do just tell EZ-Air and they have always worked with us. (So far)

P.S. Our TA knows what seats we like and selects those seats for us too, so that is usually all set before we leave the agency.

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I wouldn't be waiting weeks to see a TA in person.  I'd be emailing to make sure all is in place.  Like hotel not gone all of a sudden.  Perhaps this isn't the case here, but have read too many laments on here from folks who weren't paying attention or didn't follow up and lost out on something.

The pre-cruise package is still listed in my trip summery and my hotel is still there. The destination of where the transfers are going was changed. It is the transfers that are the problem.....and yes I will have my TA look in this. 

The reason I am waiting a bit is that the flights that I want for a (different) (2024) cruise should be coming out next week. So as soon as the fights are out I will be seeing him and he can take care of everything.

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

Forward this to your TA.  They are making money off your reservation.

 

You shouldn't be worrying on doing the legwork.

I have a good TA and YES, he will take care of it. 

8 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I disagree, I would not call or chat, as they have no clue.

I’d contact my TA and let them sort it out.  TA books the transfers, so they should be able to help.

 

I will be seeing my TA in a few weeks and will bring the matter up to him. We booked through this TA and we know that it is he that will have to sort this out. 

I am just clueless as to why Princess would change something that didn't need to be changed.

We have a pre cruise package and for months everything was correct in the trip summery. In the summery it started:

Transfers: Airport to hotel

(name of) Hotel

Transfers: Hotel to ship

I recently looked my trip summery and that has changed to:

Transfers: Airport to ship

(name of) Hotel

Transfers: Airport to ship

WTH, I don't need to go to the ship the day before the cruise and I don't need to go back to the airport on the day of the cruise. Why would they change something that was correct to something that is not correct and without our permission. Will be seeing my TA in a few weeks on another matter, so we can call Princess at that time. What I fear is, is that the customer services people won't know what we are talking about and will make things worse. 

Anyone else have this happen to you?

P.S. I do have a printout of the (old) correct trip summery.

2 hours ago, Sarnia 432 said:

@Parrottdizes which ship and date are you sailing.  We are booked on the Island sailing June 4th 2024 and our itinerary still shows Yorktown……..

We are going on the Emerald. 

The Emerald holds 3080 passengers and the Island holds 2200 passengers. It could be that only ships under a certain size are going to be allowed to use Yorktown as a port stop. 

Update: While I haven't gotten any notice from Princess, my TA sent me a e-mail today that he got with the update. Reason Princess gives for cancelling Yorktown is do to "local government restrictions". Usually Princess sends me a e-mail notice so don't know what happened to it. 

Upside is, they are adding more time in Charleston. 

2 hours ago, skynight said:

I think Yorktown would be very stressed to handle a large cruise ship and the volume of passengers tendered to their small dock area. Norfolk will provide tour access to Yorktown in addition to Jamestown and Virginia Beach. Norfolk is a major shipping port where the ship will most likely dock rather than tender. 

We have cruised to Norfork before and know what excursions are offered from there. The excursion the spouse wants to do can be done from either Norfork or Yorktown. While missing out on a new port, we are not missing out on what we want to do. 

2 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

https://peninsulachronicle.com/2023/06/28/opposition-swells-to-big-cruise-ships-in-yorktown-harbor/

Thanks for the article; I am not surprised that some of the townsfolk were against cruise ships going there. 

However, I think Princess could have sent out notice (at least to the people that are booked). 

Has anyone else noticed that Yorktown has been removed from the "Canada New England" itinerary. After all of the publicity about it being a new port for Princess......silence.

I wouldn't have known if I hadn't gotten a refare. My new confirmation arrived on 7-17 and it still showed Yorktown. On 7-18, I went into my Princess personlizer to check to see if I still had all of my OBC and to make sure nothing was missing.........and at that time I saw Norfork in the itinerary instead of Yorktown. Usually when there is a itinerary change Princess sends out a notice; no notice and I checked the junk folder too. 

Wondering what kind of problems came up that caused the change, hmmmmmm docking area not satisfactory or the towns folk threating to pull a Bar Harbour or Key West. I am sure they have their reasons, just would have been nice if they had sent out a notification.  

Do you regularly clear your cache on your phone? If you haven't done that; your phone maybe pulling up a old page.    

Kawaiahao Church and graveyard is cattycorner from the Palace and is worth checking out.

It is a easy walk from the cruise port. We did an excursion in the morning; went on the ship to freshen up and get a bit to eat. Then in the afternoon we went back out and walked to the Palace, checked that out and the statue and the church......had plenty of time to do everything.

Usually you don't get charged for drinks ordered while still at Port Everglades. However I have been charged at least once (ordered a drink during embarkation lunch).........a quick stop at GS and the charge was removed.

3 hours ago, Crow9 said:

I heard that, before the pandemic, they will give you a free t-shirt if you collect all the recipe cards from the drinks.  Are they doing that again?

No.......

The mini bar set up is a perk given to those that have sailed enough to achieve "elite" status. If you're not "elite", a mini bar set up will not be in your cabin. The drink package doesn't include a mini bar set up. 

1 hour ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and ideas. I may just email for the Shareholder Credit again as I can barely stand the thought of attempting to endure another session with the new contracted help that answers the phones now. Or I might try my TA.

This has happened to me anytime I have refared my cruise; so what happened to you is not uncommon. Just resend your Shareholder Credit in again, that is what I do and they have always reapplied my Shareholder OBC. While reapplying may be a PITA, it is a lot easier, quicker and less frustrating then trying to talk to someone that doesn't understand what you are talking about. 

One cause is expiration date of the card. If the expiration date happens to be the same month as the cruise is will be denied even though the card is still good for the dates of the cruise.

Another problem source is the expiration date on your CC. This happened to me once; the cruise was in December but ended before Christmas. Though our CC was good till the end of the December, the app wouldn't accept it. Solved the problem by waiting for my new CC to come in (with the new expiration date) and entered the new expiration date in the app and all was good. 

2 hours ago, WAussieSFO said:

@ParrottdizesMaile teamed up with Kahanu Coleman (Da hula Sistah's) on the Ruby last year. Tui is now back with Maile and they are currently on the Island Princess World cruise.

Thanks for the update......glad to hear that they are back with Princess.

2 hours ago, bronzey214 said:

BUT - I saw both Brian and Rowena and Elua are on different cruises. Does this mean there won't be any one running these programs on our ship?

Tui, I think had a bad hand injury about a year ago so he and Maile might still be out as Hawaiian Ambassadors (hopefully they will be back soon. As a replacement for Tui and Maile, another couple have been stepping in as Hawaiian Ambassadors and they are Aolani and Alika (they are cousins). 

So I think it is a good chance that you will have a Hawaiian Ambassador(s) on your cruise.

3 minutes ago, mmsoko said:

What deck leads to the observation deck above bridge?

On the Caribbean Princess, I think it is deck 15. Hopefully someone who remembers better will answer.

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Sorry, but that image could not have been taken from deck 8 bow, as that location is below that mast.  You were probably on the observation area above the bridge.  I will try to post a pic of the bow…

 

You are correct, the image is from the observation deck above the bridge. Thanks for the correction.

This image is from deck 8.