some questions

[Knickearth]

We are booked on a cruise on the Grand. We are elite and bringing newbies with us. Will they be allowed to board with us?

 

Also, we did a referral with Princess for them. So they (as well as us) each get $25. shipboard credit. We have both paid in full - when can we expect the $25.00 to show up as a credit.

 

Thanks ahead of time:):)

[kywildcatfanone]

We are booked on a cruise on the Grand. We are elite and bringing newbies with us. Will they be allowed to board with us?

 

Also, we did a referral with Princess for them. So they (as well as us) each get $25. shipboard credit. We have both paid in full - when can we expect the $25.00 to show up as a credit.

 

Thanks ahead of time:):)

 

Yes, they can board with you. Yes, you should get the credit as well.

[yags]

We are booked on a cruise on the Grand. We are elite and bringing newbies with us. Will they be allowed to board with us?

 

Also, we did a referral with Princess for them. So they (as well as us) each get $25. shipboard credit. We have both paid in full - when can we expect the $25.00 to show up as a credit.

 

Thanks ahead of time:):)

Once the referral is verified it should show up immediately. Although it took a phone call from me to get referral credits for our trip on the Grand to Alaska in June.

[partybarbie]

Unless the newbies are in the same cabin as you, they won't be allowed to board with you. My suggestion would be to go ahead and board, then have them call your cabin after they have boarded. It shouldn't take too long for them to catch up with you.

 

The last time I referred someone, we each received $25.00 off the price of cruise. Check your invoice, but Princess can change things, so you might have to call your booking agent.

[moki'smommy]

I also had to call to get the referral credit to show up on our upcoming cruise, and yes, the cruiser I referred is on the same sailing as we are. I waited a couple weeks after booking. When I called, it showed up within minutes. We booked in January and are cruising in April. It showed up as OBC, not a discount off the cruise price.

 

Unless your friends are in your cabin or suite, they will not be able to board with you. People in your cabin can board together, regardless of status.

[suekel]

Before i was elite i traveled with friends that were. They let us board together.

[paul929207]

With the growing number of Elites on some ships/itinerary, they are being stricter about letting non-Elites board with Elites.

[Thrak]

Before i was elite i traveled with friends that were. They let us board together.

 

They may allow it or they may not. The "rule" is that it isn't allowed but Princess isn't at all consistent with their rules. There may well be some who are angered by the practice as they feel they have earned early boarding by dint of loyalty and they may well feel allowing non-elite to board early is a slap in the face. I'm not worried about it but others will feel differently.

[Astro Flyer]

Checking a future cruise, my non-refundable Referral Rewards are displayed in 2 locations:

 

 

• Cruise Personalizer; Payments & Credits; Credits
  
• My Princess; My Profile; Circle Savings Account; Onboard Credits
  

My Princess shows: credit ID #, description (who’s referred), when the referral was earned, when it expires, status (applied to booking #) & amount.

 

Cruise Personalizer shows when it’s added to my booking & probably also in the booking of my referral.

[XBGuy]

You could also sit with your friends for the 15 minutes, or so, and board with them. I'm guessing that for a California Coastal Cruise your departure will be from either San Francisco or San Pedro. The check-in/boarding procedure at either of these two is, typically, quite efficient. Now that I've said that, I;m recalling that I took a similar cruise out of San Pedro a few years ago. There were four cruise ships in port, that day--two Princess, one NCL and a Royal Caribbean. That was incredibly unusual. As a result, the check-in/boarding was quite lengthy--hours. I don't think Elite status would have helped, that day.

[Thrak]

You could also sit with your friends for the 15 minutes, or so, and board with them. I'm guessing that for a California Coastal Cruise your departure will be from either San Francisco or San Pedro. The check-in/boarding procedure at either of these two is, typically, quite efficient. Now that I've said that, I;m recalling that I took a similar cruise out of San Pedro a few years ago. There were four cruise ships in port, that day--two Princess, one NCL and a Royal Caribbean. That was incredibly unusual. As a result, the check-in/boarding was quite lengthy--hours. I don't think Elite status would have helped, that day.

 

We may well have been on that coastal cruise. Absolute worst embarkation experience we have ever had by a huge margin. We still had a fantastic cruise though. :)

[TwoCruisers]

You could also sit with your friends for the 15 minutes, or so, and board with them. I'm guessing that for a California Coastal Cruise your departure will be from either San Francisco or San Pedro. The check-in/boarding procedure at either of these two is, typically, quite efficient. Now that I've said that, I;m recalling that I took a similar cruise out of San Pedro a few years ago. There were four cruise ships in port, that day--two Princess, one NCL and a Royal Caribbean. That was incredibly unusual. As a result, the check-in/boarding was quite lengthy--hours. I don't think Elite status would have helped, that day.

Exactly, that is what we planned to do on our upcoming cruise a week from now. I’m not going to rush onto the ship and leave my friends behind. We will sit and wait with them.

[moki'smommy]

We may well have been on that coastal cruise. Absolute worst embarkation experience we have ever had by a huge margin. We still had a fantastic cruise though. :)

Anyone who has cruised much has one or more of those "horrible, terrible" embarkation or disembarkation stories. They happen. But we also have lots of memories of great cruises and smooth embarkations.

 

My fav is one where when we were finally able to board about 9pm and went directly to dinner, our all time favorite server said that for that night, he was giving us a table alone but on the following nights we'd have to be at the assigned (group) table...and later commented that the crew had been hearing about the guest situation and were thinking that if they could just get us on the ship, everything would be OK. It seems they had been trying to think of things they could do to make the remainder of the evening better for the guests.

[Pam in CA]

Before i was elite i traveled with friends that were. They let us board together.

Depends on the port and cruise. When it’s not unusual for over 1,000 or more Elite on a cruise (or over 1,500 Platinum and Elite), all with Priority boarding, there’s literally no room for passengers to sit much less add others who don’t have Priority boarding.

 

As said, the best way to board with your friends is to join them in general boarding.

[TravelingEA]

If you want to board with them, since they have not earned the right to early boarding, you can wait and board with them.

[XBGuy]

We may well have been on that coastal cruise. Absolute worst embarkation experience we have ever had by a huge margin. We still had a fantastic cruise though. :)

 

I'm with you. (y) The worst cruise I ever had was wonderful. :D