Booked our first Princess Cruise - have many questions

[Daniel A]

2 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

@Thrak and my story were from pre medallion time.

I assumed that to be the case, my response was to clarify this for the OP so they know it shouldn't be a frequent occurrence on Princess.

[Thrak]

4 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Isn't there a 'do not disturb' option on the Medallion screen outside the cabin door?

 

Important note: Be sure to turn off the Do Not Disturb setting when you go out for the morning/day.  We failed to do so and our cabin wasn't refreshed. D'Oh! Lesson learned.

[Lizabu]

22 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Important note: Be sure to turn off the Do Not Disturb setting when you go out for the morning/day.  We failed to do so and our cabin wasn't refreshed. D'Oh! Lesson learned.

There’s a service room button you can select on that screen too

[Daniel A]

51 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Important note: Be sure to turn off the Do Not Disturb setting when you go out for the morning/day.  We failed to do so and our cabin wasn't refreshed. D'Oh! Lesson learned.

Maybe you did turn it off, but they were afraid to find you on the can!!  🙈  🚽 🤴

[Muffinz]

11 hours ago, villauk said:

 

Food is subjective so I can only give you our personal opinion after sailing both lines (Solstice included). X provides slightly better food than Princess. However, we do like the variety of options on Princess e.g. afternoon tea, International Cafe, the pizza restaurant, pub lunch etc all included in the price. So it balances itself out.
 

We found the entertainment more to our liking on Princess as X started to reduce its offerings, instead relying on pax to provide more of their own. The cabins feel slightly bigger on X, unless you book a mini-suite or deluxe balcony on Princess, as you get a couch as standard with any balcony. We’re just about to sail on one of Princess’s newer ships, so we’re all prepared for the narrow balconies. We’ve not sailed on a Celebrity Edge class ship as the IV do not sit well with my liking to a ‘proper’ balcony. So, as I stated previously, you’ll find that X and Princess are more similar than different and if, like us, it’s all about the itinerary, you’ll have a super time.

thanks for the reply..... we were actually looking at photos from our cruise last night and although we had a balcony, we hardly used it.... we mainly used the stateroom / cabin for sleeping / showering / getting dressed / changed for dinner...etc... when we were on the ship we were always exploring the different parts of the ship or going to another bar for a drink!

 

do princess offer a quick 'ship tour' on embarkation day?

we did one on Solstice and that was very beneficial, because up until then I'd only seen the ship on videos uploaded to YouTube.

[Muffinz]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

Important note: Be sure to turn off the Do Not Disturb setting when you go out for the morning/day.  We failed to do so and our cabin wasn't refreshed. D'Oh! Lesson learned.

thanks - looks like I'm going to google some more info on this 'medallion' this weekend 😃

[Muffinz]

We will be getting our medical docs (covid vaccination records) sent to our e-mail as a PDF - I assume we can upload these to the app? or should we bring the hard copies with us when we check in?

 

My wife spoke to someone at Princess the other day (they phoned her) and said if we do all our check in online and have our covid vaccination docs uploaded as don't have to queue / wait in line to check in to board the ship - we can go through some sort if 'express' lane? 

 

Looking closer at the Princess health / covid requirements, we will still need to produce a negative covid test.

If we did a PCR test via our doctor here in NZ 1-2 days before the cruise and the doctor texts us the result, would that be sufficient? or would it need to be something in writing?

The other option is for us to do a RAT test on the morning of the cruise, but I think it needs to be a supervised RAT test? - not sure how we will manage that being in a hotel in Sydney....

I don't fancy queueing in line at the terminal waiting to get a RAT test.

 

but the cruise is still 7 months out, so the covid testing requirements could all change in that time..... my wife said I'm worrying too much about it! LOL

[villauk]

1 hour ago, Muffinz said:

thanks for the reply..... we were actually looking at photos from our cruise last night and although we had a balcony, we hardly used it.... we mainly used the stateroom / cabin for sleeping / showering / getting dressed / changed for dinner...etc... when we were on the ship we were always exploring the different parts of the ship or going to another bar for a drink!

 

do princess offer a quick 'ship tour' on embarkation day?

we did one on Solstice and that was very beneficial, because up until then I'd only seen the ship on videos uploaded to YouTube.

 

Unsure about the embarkation ship tour, but no doubt someone will post and confirm for you if Princess offer this service. 

 

We’re unable to upload our vaccination details on to the medallion app so are taking hard copies with us to the port. Unsure if your format in Australia will work either as I think it’s more geared towards the US format, but I’d still take hard copies for embarkation either way. I wouldn’t worry about the testing this far out  - so much could change during those 7 months. I’m still holding out in case things change and we’re sailing later this month.

[Billish]

2 hours ago, Muffinz said:

do princess offer a quick 'ship tour' on embarkation day?

No. 

We just systematically walk through the public areas. Not difficult,  especially as there are interactive screens throughout the ship, showing where you are.

[Billish]

2 hours ago, Muffinz said:

thanks - looks like I'm going to google some more info on this 'medallion' this weekend 😃

Nothing to do with the Medallion.

You have a screen outside the door. Just press the "Do not disturb " button, or "Service my Cabin" button. 

You are over-thinking your holiday.

[Muffinz]

15 minutes ago, Billish said:

Nothing to do with the Medallion.

You have a screen outside the door. Just press the "Do not disturb " button, or "Service my Cabin" button. 

You are over-thinking your holiday.

thanks - I just meant the Medallion app in general and the medallion you wear on your wrist or on a lanyard / chain... there's info on the Princess cruises site on how they work / operate 🙂

[redtop101]

4 hours ago, Muffinz said:

do princess offer a quick 'ship tour' on embarkation day?

They used to do one years ago where you were whisked through several of the ships public areas, but I haven’t seen one done in 10 years or so. 

[Daniel A]

5 hours ago, Muffinz said:

thanks - looks like I'm going to google some more info on this 'medallion' this weekend 😃

This video may be of help:

 

[Muffinz]

1 minute ago, Daniel A said:

This video may be of help:

 

thanks for that - I'll watch it later at home

[Muffinz]

6 hours ago, Daniel A said:

This video may be of help:

 

After watching that I want to go to the cruise tomorrow... LOL.... shame we have to wait until February 24 next year

[CruizinSusan70]

4 hours ago, Muffinz said:

After watching that I want to go to the cruise tomorrow... LOL.... shame we have to wait until February 24 next year

Doing a YouTube search is a great way to learn all about the ship as well.  There should be a plethora of choices to choose from depending upon which ship you're sailing on.

[Muffinz]

11 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Doing a YouTube search is a great way to learn all about the ship as well.  There should be a plethora of choices to choose from depending upon which ship you're sailing on.

Yes I googled Majestic Princess on YouTube and many clips came up.... have watched 1 that was about 9 minutes long and the medallion app one

will have to get the wife to watch some with me