A smart phone, is needed on your cruise

[voljeep]

4 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

     Disagree entirely. I will never carry a phone with me on a ship. I disengage from every day stress and relax on a cruise. I have sailed 4 times since the Pandemic ended with Princess and never needed a phone at all. You can order room service via the phone in your cabin or on the TV or place the breakfast card menu on your door the night before. 

why does having a phone cause stress? - it's (can be) a camera, clock, stereo, or whatever you choose for it to be or not be - that on/off switch is amazing

[Rick&Jeannie]

8 minutes ago, voljeep said:

why does having a phone cause stress? - it's (can be) a camera, clock, stereo, or whatever you choose for it to be or not be - that on/off switch is amazing

Yeah, I don't get it how so many people moan and groan about "not taking their phone with them".  I depend heavily on my phone now that I have a VERY good video/still pic capable phone.  I make a "travel video" for us and whatever travelling companions may be accompanying us and I shoot 4K video.  Can't do that with a flip-phone!

[melodyina]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

why does having a phone cause stress? - it's (can be) a camera, clock, stereo, or whatever you choose for it to be or not be - that on/off switch is amazing

For us- we dont want the tv or have to retreat to our room to order a drink off the tv or phone.  I really enjoy the app to bring the drink to me, where i am or the snacks 🙂.  For this cruise, it wasnt in our room. 

[MissP22]

Besides using it for photo's we always use it to order items when sitting at the buffet or IC that aren't offered. It takes a while to arrive but if you order once seated they'll bring it right to your table. 

Also it works great to contact your spouse on or off the ship via voice or text. 

[JGmf]

3 hours ago, voljeep said:

why does having a phone cause stress? - it's (can be) a camera, clock, stereo, or whatever you choose for it to be or not be - that on/off switch is amazing

 

Not stress.

 

As mentioned, I don't use the phone on the ship. I personally don't like carrying it around, nor do I need any of its features (camera, clock, apps, etc.) while enjoying myself on the ship.

 

At home, it's tethered to me for work, 24/7.

 

I am concerned, however, that someday Princess (or other cruise lines) will place a greater reliance on using a smartphone as the primary and only tool to access meals, drinks, reservations, etc.while on the ship  That will be a sad day (for me at least). 

[Thrak]

On our last two cruises paper menus for bars and such were scarce. There were QR Codes on the table tops to scan for the menu. I think if you asked for one they would provide a printed menu.

[Mike07]

On 7/6/2023 at 2:57 PM, melodyina said:

Hello, we are currently sailing on the Caribbean Princess and this is my, and my husbands experience with smartphones.  They are needed to enjoy the full experience.

 

 

Eh, as somebody in the top 1% of tech savvy on any given Princess cruise (computer engineer), I can 100% assure you that you don't need a smart phone to enjoy a Princess Medallion cruise. The app is hot garbage and continues to be hot garbage.

 

The one benefit of the app that I can see is if you're chilling somewhere, and you really want to order a drink or food without getting up. However, I don't carry cash, and the Princess wait staff are all too kind that I would like to give them a dollar or two, but again, I don't carry cash. So, I order drinks in the line at the bar or from the person circulating.

[Sprocket]

On 7/6/2023 at 2:14 PM, Thrak said:

I use my phone for the Patter and I also have books on it. We never take our laptops when cruising (although we do take them on our long camping trips). We each take a phone and a tablet. On long flights I can watch movies I've loaded onto my phone and tablet and I also make sure both devices have a number of (the same) books loaded. When we head to the theater 20 or 30 minutes before a show so we can get a decent seat I take a drink and my phone so I can sit and read while waiting. It's much easier to carry around that the tablet which I generally leave in the cabin. (If I want to watch something "short" I do have all 156 episodes of the original Twilight Zone on both devices. 😉)

 

Wow I'm old enough to remember a lot of the original episodes.