Nhsaltshaker

Enjoyed the day pass, nice beach, beautiful water. But singles beware. I went for a 3 minute swim and when I came back, my watch was missing from my backpack.

My fault? Absolutely.

Although I used a security cable to tie my backpack to the beach chair and I used padlocks to close most zippered compartments, I was stupid enough to place my 13 year old, $80 watch in an unlocked compartment. I was also numb enough to wear it while in taxi and checking in for day pass. The watch was the only thing I was wearing that made me look 'rich'. I wish I was.

By the time I noticed my watch was missing, I had to get back to the ship. Filing a complaint or calling authorities was not an option unless I wanted to miss the ship.

This happened in 2016.

My next port of call was St. Martin, where I purchased a mostly identical watch for almost three times the cost.

Buyer beware and be smarter than I was. :o

I agree, you can save big bucks when flying internationally. But, flying within the US, it appears I can go cheaper with the airlines. Although, I always fly in the day before the cruise.

Granted, I buy 3rd party trip insurance where I can insure my flights. If I remember correctly, buying Princess insurance gets you to the ship at the next port if you have a flight mishap. This can be a real burden if your ship takes four sea days before getting to the next port. Depending on the length of your cruise, this could be a huge difference between enjoying your vacation on the ship, or, most of it in a hotel waiting for a flight out.

I'm hoping someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Sorry for the the confusion I have the Premier pkg. Thinking of the name of the pkg on one of my other cruises

Their website states fountain soda, not canned. Like you, I'm bummed. You can carry on yourself or pre-order online. I think it is $11.50 per 6 pack. Ouch.

Yup, just found it. Click on the Beverage Packages and Cellars from this link... https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-gifts-celebrations/gifts-and-services/

Princess is buying the satellite service from the same company that supplies Voom

to Royal Caribbean. (SES Networks)

 

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/carnival-corp-touts-new-wi-fi-with-partner-that-owns-rcl-s-voom-provider.html

That's great news. I couldn't believe how fast Voom was. Better than at home.

No, I have not. We booked August 2016 and I really don’t remember if this was designated as a Medallion cruise (if that matters). I did not book through Princess. Does this matter? Or should I speak to my TA?

 

Thank you for your help here. Haven’t cruised in a few years, health issues. Any ways, sure looking forward to this one.

Contact your TA, that's why you have one. :) Let him/her do the work.

Thank you all for reminding me to print all online purchases and bringing it with me on the cruise.

Hi Peg! Hope you're doing well. They were providing complementary wrist bands (the rubber type) that the Medallion snaps into but those malfunctioned so they are providing lanyards. And they have a variety of other holders that you can get, for extra cost of course!

Julie! Doing great and hope you are, too. I had those same wrist bands on a RC cruise a couple of years ago. Came off my wrist and lost it on Day 2. Many complaints by others of those 'snaps'.

Easy to get new one, they gave me one with a buckle-type closure (think old watch bands)...worked much better. Passenger Services asked if *this* was my last purchase then closed the account and issued new one. Five minutes, tops. Hope Princess goes that route.

Have a great cruise! Doing a Caribbean 10 day on Caribbean Princess this spring. :)

For the December 10th cruise, the Ocean Concierge that I spoke to most recently said that there were being shipped on December 4th via two day shipping so we should have them on December 6th. We are in the USA, I don't know if the timing is different to Canada.

 

You should be able to get a properly engraved Medallion at the port if the mailed one doesn't arrive prior to your departure.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

It says it's for the 'preview' cruise...where they are still working out the bugs. Here's hoping it stays at those prices.

Now this thread is becoming fascinating. So I leave to get specialty coffees for both DW and myself...and take both OMs.....and when I return to the cabin DW is sitting in a dark cabin (no OMs in the cabin = no lights)?

 

As to SmartPhones, when I am on a ship (which is about 100 days a year) I prefer to turn off my phone and lock it in the cabin safe. The last thing DW and I want to do is carry a phone around on a cruise ship (DW does not even carry a purse....just her Kindle). I don;t even like to carry a phone in ports (we have T-mobile so our phones work just about everywhere in the world for no extra fee). There are still some of us who vacation to get away from it all :). Besides, how long before the cruise lines constantly push ads to everyone's phones. I can see the first text, get your bargain BINGO card for only $50 per card....with a $10million jackpot!

 

Hank

Breathe, Hank, Breathe. :) You can opt out. https://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/ocean_medallion.jsp If you prefer to stand in lines to board, order drinks, food, excursions, etc...No one will stop you! You don't need a phone to cruise. You can still cruise the way you want, and I can cruise the way I want. Everyone's happy. :cool:

Thanks so much for all the input. I found a couple of links on Princess's website that might help a few people who are viewing through their computers.

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships-and-experience/ocean-medallion-class/Ocean-Medallion-Infographic.pdf

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ocean-medallion/?utm_source=princess.com/ocean&utm_medium=mixed&utm_campaign=ocean&cid=mkt_mixed_mixed_princess.com/ocean_ocean

I'm on the Caribbean Princess in April and am hoping to learn through all your contributions.

Have a great trip John and Claire! Thanks for giving us a live report!

Same thing with my son's EZ Air Delta flight last week. No other notification other than the red banner.

Same here.

My issue was not the price so much as the inability to do anything. We had a chance this morning to change our horrible flights to/from LHR from LAX to non-stops, and save some money too, but kept getting an error. Someone from the cruise planning department called us. He offered us plane fares that were $600 more than we already paid. We said okay, what can you do to compensate us? Comp gratuities? Onboard credit? Sorry, I CAN'T do that. Yes, he used the "C" word, so we used the "N" word: NEVER. As in we will probably never sail with Princess again.

Good luck to you. If you purchased the flexible fare, you might be able to find something better before the cut off date?

What a terrible mistake on their part. I hope it gets straightened out.

Whenever I cruise, I carry all paper 'promises' and save all confirmation emails in a folder I create for each trip. If I lose the paper copy, I resend the email to the purser's desk. It's saves a lot of time, money, and aggravation.

Please let us know what happens.

Mid October current prices for same flight: EZAir flexible airfare ($394); KLM ($2,378).

 

That's the flexible EZAir price which if you read my other post (#15) dropped to as low as $241.

 

Friends have had the same experiences & not only with coach airfares but premium cabin seats. I cannot find lower international flights to & from the US that's even close to EZAir flexible airfare. Normal tickets do not allow free changes in airfare or flights which the EZAir flexible reservations allow. And nearly every flexible airfare I've found was cheaper than the restricted airfares.

 

With domestic US flights for my cruises, EZAir airfares are similar to other booking sources.

I agree. My trip... Boston to Seattle to Fairbanks and then home, Vancouver to Seattle to Boston, is $650 pp. I chose the flexible EZAir and adjusted/re-booked three times later to get that price. The times were perfect and no red-eyes. I chose connection times under three hours each way (could have chosen less, but didn't want to chance it). No one I could find could beat the price for the times I wanted.

Forgive me but I want to be sure--for the bus there/train back, I should sit on the RIGHT for the bus portion? I wasn't worried about the bus portion since I figured we be getting out for stops but I might as well sit on the best side if I can.

Still confused, I'm also bus up/train back. I guess we're in the same boat...so to speak. :)

We are a family of 5 heading to Alaska in July. There will be 2 adults and 3 kids. I am trying to figure out how much clothing we will need. Between the cruisetour and flying into vancouver the day before we will be gone pretty much 2 weeks. We have to pay for luggage so hoping to get away with only 2 checked bags and possibly 2 carry on bags. We will have laundry on our boat. Should I pack enough for a week and then do laundry sometime. Any suggestions would be apprecoated.

Princess has laundry at every lodge.

Specifically, I'm doing a 7 day Southbound from Whittier, Alaska to Vancouver. I was wondering how to plan Specialty Dining around the possibility of getting accepted to the Chef's Table.

Realizing I could probably switch dining once on board, does anyone know when they 'usually' have the Chef's Table?

Thanks.

Do you have a favorite slot machine on the Star Princess?

I know I'm am going to get bashed repeatedly for this, but here goes...

IF, and it's a big IF, United States shuts down the federal government, will this affect Denali National Park, Glacier Bay National Park, Kenai National Park, etc.???

I'm concerned about my cruise tour next month and am awaiting my lashings while you all get out your whips. :)

Am I able to buy/obtain bottled juice on board?

If it matters, I'll be going on the Star.

I've been using fingerless gloves for 30 years. They work great, especially if you plan on using your camera outside quite a bit..

While I agree there is no excuse, I have made it a habit to take all paper copies (and save confirmation emails) with me to whatever venue/dinner I paid for...no matter which cruise line I am on.

Vacation should not spent fighting for things you have reserved and paid for. I find it worth the extra effort to take care of things right then and there by keeping my paper reservation in my pocket.

No matter which cruise I am on, I have always had my 'problem' taken care of within a matter of seconds. Done.

Have you tried this? http://www.princess.com/find/search.do?resType=T