Never again, CROWN PRINCESS

[nini]

13 minutes ago, Triger said:

No change this month.  On our last 2 cruises we had to wait with everyone else to get our medallion.  FYI!  At this time only USA residents can receive their medallion in advance.  The issue is, as stated above - only 2 lines, no line for Elite to collect their medallion ....... In addition if you arrive for your assigned time once processed you get on. 

Actually, Canadians can now get it mailed.

[wallyj]

12 minutes ago, Triger said:

No change this month.  On our last 2 cruises we had to wait with everyone else to get our medallion.  FYI!  At this time only USA residents can receive their medallion in advance.  The issue is, as stated above - only 2 lines, no line for Elite to collect their medallion ....... In addition if you arrive for your assigned time once processed you get on. 

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

[Happy2cruise]

 

4 hours ago, Ombud said:

OTOH I prefer the new modified laundry perk: they still do mine BUT I can also do it myself on their free tokens. Only takes an hour total while I enjoy breakfast on my balcony (cold wash, cooler dry, no damage from rollers moving it along)

 

On the Emerald in November and was told the only Elite perk was sending the laundry not free tokens. After much discussion of other ships giving free tokens rep relented and gave us some .

[Ombud]

1 minute ago, Happy2cruise said:

On the Emerald in November and was told the only Elite perk was sending the laundry not free tokens. After much discussion of other ships giving free tokens rep relented and gave us some .

Odd. I got them on the Emerald 5/27-6/1-6/17 but then the Captain retired 6/17/23. Glad to hear that they relented on your voyage

[DHP1]

11 minutes ago, wallyj said:

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

That is correct however, is does take a little longer in receiving it.  

[Ombud]

28 minutes ago, Triger said:

No change this month.  On our last 2 cruises we had to wait with everyone else to get our medallion.  FYI!  At this time only USA residents can receive their medallion in advance.  The issue is, as stated above - only 2 lines, no line for Elite to collect their medallion ....... In addition if you arrive for your assigned time once processed you get on. 

Sorry. Thought you were in Canada 🇨🇦 so able to have it mailed to you. Agree that it is unfair for Europeans, Aussies, and Kiwis to have the with medallion / without medallion check in system

[DHP1]

7 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Sorry. Thought you were in Canada 🇨🇦 so able to have it mailed to you. Agree that it is unfair for Europeans, Aussies, and Kiwis to have the with medallion / without medallion check in system

The problem is all those other Countries outside USA and Canada are automatically in the blue lane which is unfair.  Going to be a long line. I apologize I'm off topic.

Edited January 7 by DHP1

[Cruisintimer]

1 hour ago, nini said:

 

Only because of Cruise Critic do we avoid the Island Princess. I am grateful for all of you!

 

BTW- We loved the Crown when we were on her for an Alaska itinerary. Skywalker's was our 6 people hangout.

Ty for your endorsement of the Crown, we board in a couple weeks and initially this post had me wondering about it's condition. 

[2MellowCruisers]

6 hours ago, Cruisintimer said:

Can you post later and let us know how your experience is?  We are boarding very soon for a back to back cruise on the Crown.  Happy sailing!

So far pretty good. Asked someone in the parking garage how their trip was and they said they had a great time. There was plenty of rocking and rolling but nothing knocked them off their feet. We had about a half hour wait to drop luggage and then maybe 15 minute wait for security.  After security they split the line into blue and green. Blue looked to be pretty long but for green we walked right up to an agent.   I’ll try to update later but not the greatest at typing on my phone. 😁

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, EDVM96 said:

Just not true.

 

  

Yes it will. On my last 3 cruises there was a lane.

 

On the Princess web site

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/cc/captains-circle-loyalty-benefits.pdf

 

Platinum Benefits  3rd item in the list

 

Priority Boarding

 

 

Which port - No separate blue lane in LA, Southampton, or Vancouver during the last few months

Edited January 7 by TRLD

[EDVM96]

1 minute ago, TRLD said:

On the Princess web site

And yet, there are extra lines for Platinum and Elite.

[TRLD]

Just now, EDVM96 said:

And yet, there are extra lines for Platinum and Elite.

Which port?  There was not one on my last three cruises out of LA, Southampton or Vancouver.

[EDVM96]

2 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Which port?  There was not one on my last three cruises out of LA, Southampton or Vancouver.

Oct 26 - Nov 06 2022 - Regal Princess - Grand Mediterranean - Rome (Civitavecchia) to Barcelona
Apr 29 - May 10 2023 - Sapphire Princess - Alaska Inside Passage with Glacier Bay - Vancouver r/t
Aug 24 - Sep 05 2023 - Regal Princess - British Isles - Southampton r/t

[Rick&Jeannie]

Everybody's getting a bit carried away in making blanket statements about what happens at ports...without specifying what port they're talking about. 

[TRLD]

17 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

Oct 26 - Nov 06 2022 - Regal Princess - Grand Mediterranean - Rome (Civitavecchia) to Barcelona
Apr 29 - May 10 2023 - Sapphire Princess - Alaska Inside Passage with Glacier Bay - Vancouver r/t
Aug 24 - Sep 05 2023 - Regal Princess - British Isles - Southampton r/t

 

For my 3 the dates were Southampton on the Island October 4, 2023. Vancouver was Majestic to/from Whittier July 8,  LA  Discovery Princess Nov 18, 2023.

 

In all 3 cases there was one blue line and one green line.  Earlier this year before  they completed the change there was an priority line that either blue or green could use. That has vanished from those ports during recent cruises.

 

Certainly possible some ports might do something differently. If you go back to 2019 the language used to say priority checkin, not sure when it changed. Sometime before they made the decision to start charging for medallion shipping. But at current that is the language and even though they might have separate lines at some portsthey do not need to do so.

 

Our experiences differ even at some of the same ports.

Edited January 8 by TRLD

[EDVM96]

Just now, TRLD said:

Our experiences differ even at some of the same ports.

Don't get me wrong, I believe what you say. Absolutely. 
It may be different, even in the same port, depending on the terminal.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Odd. I got them on the Emerald 5/27-6/1-6/17 but then the Captain retired 6/17/23. Glad to hear that they relented on your voyage

I would never expect free do it yourself tokens for laundry. Some ships don’t even have token machines all free but I would never expect free tokens or try to argue with guest services

[TRLD]

2 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

Don't get me wrong, I believe what you say. Absolutely. 
It may be different, even in the same port, depending on the terminal.

They have been in transition since they made medallion shipping a package benefit. But kind of a mixed bag to actual implementation. Will be interesting to see if they are more consistent in 2024. Will be going through San Pedro in 4 weeks.

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, Happy2cruise said:

 

On the Emerald in November and was told the only Elite perk was sending the laundry not free tokens. After much discussion of other ships giving free tokens rep relented and gave us some .

 

My wife was told on Grand that there were no free tokens for Elite.

[memoak]

3 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

My wife was told on Grand that there were no free tokens for Elite.

We do know that is not a perk listed on elite benefits 

[nini]

3 hours ago, Cruisintimer said:

Ty for your endorsement of the Crown, we board in a couple weeks and initially this post had me wondering about it's condition. 

I think we were on the Crown in 2015. We loved it as we had been on the Golden 3 times and loved it as well - sister ships. We are staunch Skywalker fans (the original shopping cart handle style) as it is a fabulous place to gather for a fabulous view, quiet reading and playing games. It was great on glacier day as we could warm up in there and then easily go outside.

However, I am sure it is growing in age.

Edited January 8 by nini

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

We do know that is not a perk listed on elite benefits 

 

Yep. She asked, was told no, and that was it. I think we only did our own laundry maybe 4 times in 63 days. Not a big deal.

[Therese S.]

7 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

The Island is a "special case" for me. We only sailed on Island once and the cruise just before that one we were on Coral. Nope, nope, nope. Island Princess was a massive disappointment for us. We kept "running out of ship" when heading aft. The removal of the Universe Lounge and it's replacement with cabins really turned us off. If possible, I will never sail Island Princess again. Sadly, whenever my wife starts making noises about Iceland it seems that Island is usually the ship that pops up with itineraries that work for us. Bah!

I also dislike the Island P for the same reasons you mention.  Was on her once before they added all the cabins and once after.   We were upgraded to an oceanview on the fiesta deck aft section (the added cabins) area and  really not happy with it.  The cabin shook so much the full length mirror came off the wall.  I also said never again on the Island, but just booked her for the 54 day RT LA to Hawaii, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand.  I read elsewhere that the Island is going in for refurbishment in 2024.  Sure hope they add an international cafe.  

[leck57]

4 hours ago, memoak said:

I would never expect free do it yourself tokens for laundry. Some ships don’t even have token machines all free but I would never expect free tokens or try to argue with guest services

 

Agree. I find it unbelievable that people spend thousands on a cruise and then worry about 3 bucks for a wash load if they have to pay for it. 

[dockman]

4 hours ago, nini said:

I think we were on the Crown in 2015. We loved it as we had been on the Golden 3 times and loved it as well - sister ships. We are staunch Skywalker fans (the original shopping cart handle style) as it is a fabulous place to gather for a fabulous view, quiet reading and playing games. It was great on glacier day as we could warm up in there and then easily go outside.

However, I am sure it is growing in age.

I don't think golden is a sister ship to crown...emerald and ruby yes...golden sister would probably be the grand.  I like crown just fine as i did the emerald and the grand.