wallyj

Also be aware to use the Ocean Now or whatever function they may be calling it when you cruise, unless you have the Plus or Premier package, there will be about a $15 one time activation fee to use Ocean Now to order food or anything else, upon your first order which you acknowledge this one time ‘activation’ charge. Without having a package will also incur a $5 service fee each time, if you use your stateroom phone to call room service. To avoid this, use Ocean Now and have delivery location as your stateroom, if you have already activated Ocean Now.

It can depending upon the port. I believe most ports should have 3 lines/lanes, green, if you already have Medallion, blue, if picking up Medallion and Grey, special assistance, wheelchairs, etc., so with your mobility issue, I suggest you use grey lane. Are you saying living in the UK means you will most like be using Southampton? Check the Southampton port section on cruise critic for more specific info regarding that ports info.

Did you know with Plus it is suppose to entitle you to free mailing? I assume you did not or did not push back when they said you needed to pay? I would call and see if they can process refund for you, but some may think not worth my time for $10?

Shipping of medallions is at no charge if you have Plus or Premier package. This is a change as when Medallions first introduced, it was free to be mailed. Also currently mailing only available to Canada and US. If you have standard cruise fare, and want mailed, you need to pay if you are in Canada or US. If you do have Plus or Premier, call and they should be able to complete your order. One of my bookings I upgraded to premier, but had already ordered medallion for port pick up. After upgrading, called and agent cancelled original order and then changed it to be mailed to my home.

Another older thread said you could email like before to hello@stockperks.com. Find thread ‘Shareholder Benefit Success’. Also newer thread ‘Stockperks’

Princess rotates where they assign the waiters, so do not be surprised if Haro is now not assigned to the section taking care of table 164. Better to ask if a table is available in Haro’s assigned section.

Yes, unfortunately APP glitches again, especially with booking your 2 included SD with Premier pkg. A few weeks ago, I booked my SD reservations for upcoming 4 day on Discovery in February and 7 day on Ruby in April, no problem and no charge using the ‘old’ APP. Recent reports are both new and old APP are not recognizing Premier and wanting to charge for SD and not zero out charge like before.

Hi @Cruise Raider,Wally saying hello and enjoying your practically ‘live from Discovery’. Hope we run into each other on a ship again. Would you give a little more details regarding the current ‘on board’ future cruise specials. I know the previous 50% off promo ending at the end of October. I was on the Discovery for the Myth Busters theme cruise and was given a 1 page list of on board booking specials with a 20-30% discount. Your January 6 and 13th Discovery sailings were on the list at 30% off but the ship was pretty full already and the interiors were at a starting fare of over $700, so I took a pass at booking the 6th or 13th. Most of the others offered were within a couple of months. I heard more sailings have been added and some are late 2024 into 2025, also an August Canada NE sailing? I will be on the 4 day Feb 15th, 2024 sailing, so will be able to check then too, but can you give me an ideal of which sailings are currently offered? I heard Future cruise does not want to give passengers a paper copy of the list. When I was on the late November Discovery sailing, the future cruise lead consultant said, it was difficult even getting some sailings on an extra discount list, since most sailings are booking well. Princess does not need to discount as we can see the discount has been dropped to 20 or 30% but anything is better than nothing. I did notice when I priced a cruise that had the 30% discount, the plus package would also be discounted 30%, so nice that feature is still combining.

@Drew B 58, Majestic has also just started serving as of Oct 2023, Casual dining menu sushi at the Catch on Sea Days, Majestic does have an Ocean Terrace, but is only a bar space, not like Ocean Terrace on the Discovery.

Princess has Plus and Premier packages which include WiFi and Crew Appreciation besides the Alcohol drink package, which you can buy on Day1 or Day2 of most sailings and currently for sailings using USD, Plus is $60/day and Premier is $80/day. If 2 or more in a cabin, both passengers must purchase. Princess also sells a stand alone alcohol drink package where the other passengers in cabin do not have to purchase. Prices are $64.99/day for Plus and $84.99/day for Premier and 18% service charge. Prices where the on board currency is not the USD will vary. Princess also sells a non alcohol and soda only packages, see website for more details, but assume you were asking about alcohol included packages.

The Medallion itself is the quarter sized disc that replaces the traditional cruise card on most other ships. You use the Ocean Now function in the Medallion APP to order food or services, products to your location. The APP can be on your phone or other personal device like a tablet. The Medallion will serve as your ‘location’ device so servers can find you wherever you are on the ship.

Not an ‘elite’ perk, but the Princess blue tote bags also are gone. When I asked, steward replied so many were left in cabins, so it was considered wasteful. They were made from recycled plastic and will disintegrate if exposed to sunlight over a period of time.

Yes you get 2 casual dines with Plus, no matter the length of the cruise. A lot of complaints from passengers on longer voyages. Early on, when first introduced last year, management supposedly replied ‘we’re looking into it’ as seems unfair to only get 2 for longer sailings.

I was on the Sapphire this past December and Princess was modifying the panel for Princess Prizes, I believe to remove being able to ‘Tap’ to opt in which I think many passengers did not understand and would be charged the ‘entry’ fee. Princess changed how you sign in/up for Princess Prizes game if you do not have the ‘Premier’ pkg. You now have to go to Guest Services so they can verify you understand you are being charged to play. The old Panel display would either say Better Luck Next Time or Game Closed if you were enrolled in Princess Prizes. The new display message is in a smaller font that either says Better Luck Next Time, and if you are tapping medallion multiple times or entering room sooner than the time out , it says something like Try again later. My issue is when the casino is closed, you used to get message, Game Closed, now you get no message at all! So you do not know if the game is really ‘active’. There is also a new P icon that will show up in the upper right corner of the display panel indicating you are enrolled in Princess Prizes. When you win a prize, it will flash on the display, but easy to miss if you are not paying attention. You can go into the APP and under packages, there is a button next to the one to check the number of alcohol drinks you have ordered thus far. The button is Prizes and if you have won anything, it would show when you click on this box. I believe someone in another thread posted there is also a link to this box/prizes on your stateroom TV.

Almost certain, Medallions can now be mailed to Canada. Believe it was months ago?

@Thrak, I assume you are not familiar with the Chain restaurant ‘ Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles’. The chicken usually served is fried chicken. Very well known in Southern California. Soul food restaurant chain established in 1975.

@Cruise Raider is currently posting from the Discovery Princess and reported Crab Shack being held today during lunch hours in GastroPub and is priced as Specialty Dining, not considered Casual dining. Casual dining fixed price meals are $14.99. Crab Shack is at least double.

Yes.

The current rate for Premier is $80/day. If you did not book Premier at this rate and want to upgrade so you get all the ‘new’/enhanced amenities such as unlimited casual dining, your upgrade rate will be the difference between your booked Premier rate and $80. Princess is saying you booked Premier @$70/day, if you think no, we booked at $75/day then you need your TA, or if you booked direct, correct the discrepancy. Your confirmation/invoice should confirm your pricing.

Princess in the past year or so, has made booking a specific cabin for deluxe balconies for only 2 passengers on a guaranteed basis. Because these cabins have a sofa and can accommodate 3, some have reported the work around is make your booking as if you are booking for 3, and suddenly many cabins will appear that you can select to book. If you have TA or vacation planner from Princess, they should be able to do this for you and ,no you do not need to book 3 people. Just initially search like you were booking for 3 , then tell your TA which cabin you would like to select and they should be able to book it for only 2. Report back if this works for your situation.

If you are booked with a TA, Princess cannot do any financial type of transactions or even discuss with you, so your TA has to co ordinate upgrade and pricing, since they now ‘own’ the booking. Can your TA see the same pricing as you? If so, then they should be able to negotiate your upgrade request. @Steelers36, beat me again in replying.

I believe it was a staffing issue on why the SD restaurants were not taking any more reservations. When I boarded, I went straight to future cruise/loyalty to check if I made the cutoff to be invited to SD as policy for sailings 4 days or less, as the top10 and guest get such letter. Was confirmed I would receive letter entitling me to SD, which is why I then tried to make a SD reservation. Both SD told me no reservations available with knowledge why I was asking kinda last minute. Day2 in the Buffett, a chef came around asking about my dining experience and I shared my frustration regarding not being able to get a SD reservation. He made a call to the SD manager and said I now have a reservation. I was planning on going to loyalty desk to ask for advice on how to proceed, but this chef took care of it for me. When I initially asked about reservations, even times after 7:30, I was told not available.

Unfortunately there is a current glitch with the APP. I have the Premier package for a 4 day on Discovery in Feb 2024 and a 7 day on Ruby in April. A few weeks ago, the APP allowed me to make my 2 SD reservations and recognized I had dining credits so there was no charge. I made these on the ‘Old’ APP, but saw a YouTuber report recently the old and new APP is not recognizing Premier pkg dining credits. As far as you trying to upgrade, something does not sound right, did you get an explanation why Princess was quoting more than double than what you were seeing in the website. Why did your TA need to call Princess, as upgrading your booking should be doable with their booking software.

Your Steward may not have delivered it yet, if the line at Guest services is not a zoo, they should be able to supply you a copy.

Are you referring to the Princess Patter/Event Listing? On the Embarkation/Day1 Patter/Events listing your cruise itinerary is usually shown. Cruisers on other ships have been posting the ‘Patters’ on current live from, so are you saying Discovery is not supplying/printing the paper Patters?