CaliforniaDon

It may not apply in your case, but a couple of months ago, when setting up an address for my medallion to ship to my sister-in-law, (which I had done once before) I said somthing like Davis c/o Smith -- The entry failed, but did not say it was becasue of an illegal character "/" it just booted me out of the entry. You might want to be sure that there is nothing "exotic" in your ship-to info.

Thanks for sharing. For our upcoming Ruby trip (the end of Feb) - how is the "casual dining meals" working out? Gastro Pub, Vines, any other venues on the Ruby? What are the hours that these meals are available, and how crowded do they get?

Hi - We actually WON a free 7 day cruise! On our Hawaii trip last summer, we paid the $10 per day (total fee for both of us) to play prizes. Then, "try again later" every time until we got to Hawaii, and the whole time there the casino and the game were closed. Our odds were not good for those $10 days! While at sea on the return trip, I opened the door at least every 20 minutes (I had hear that was the waiting period between tries) and swiped the medallion. I noticed that I got the "sorry" message sooner than 20 minutes, so the Cruise Critic chatter that the wait was 5 minutes may be correct now. So after dozens and dozens of tries, I hit the free cruise prize. Later that morning, when coming out of the theater bathroom, a ship's officer approached me in the hall and asked if I was Donald. FREAKED me OUT! I figured that I had done something. He congratulated me on the prize - apparently I was ratted out by the medallion. I got a tax form to fill out and turn in along with a form to complete and instruction sheet. I got to select from several 7 day trips. I got my second choice. (Princess has a separate cruise prize department) The cruise cost $1445 out of pocket for the Plus package, taxes and fees and vacation protection which were not included. As I recall, I could have paid for an upgrade to a mini suite also if I wanted. Life changing? no, but kind of fun. I have the premier package on the next trip, so I probably will be seen peeking out my cabin door at all hours in my skivvies to endlessly swipe the medallion. Since Princess said they award one free cruise per trip, the more you swipe, the better your chances - or you could just enjoy the current trip. FYI I had to separately request my military OBC, and wife got the Shareholder OBC, so that worked out well.

21 readings taken last June in Hawaii trip. Here is the fastest: and the slowest reading: Rolling up a note in a sealed bottle and throwing it overboard is another option.

Of all the pre trip items, we found the security picture surprisingly easy to do. We each took one several years ago with our phone, and have not given it any thought since, nor do we recall having to even slow down when boarding the last several cruises. It went great. So I went and looked at our pictures (had to use each of our phones - security, after all) We looked a bit younger, and better, but clearly it was us. I suggest trying to do it before hand, it will save time when at the terminal, and you are sure to end up with a better looking picture. Bon Voyage!

As a side note -- last year, on our back-to-back, the books were seamless EXCEPT FOR THE CASINO. We had a balance, but on leg 2, it was $0. After a few "words" at the casino cahier cage, he pulled out a huge, multi-page printout, checked us off and gave us our balance. This likely happened a lot, and hopefully they fixed it so that the casino bookkeeping matched the front desk policies. To be safe, clear out your "winnings" at the end of leg 1.

Agree - whatever you like best, and change it whenever you want. I use a Casino (Las Vegas) coily strap, hooked onto my belt and stashed in my pants pocked - DW ( Dear Wife) uses a Dollar Store sparkly lanyard. Both work fine for each of us! Have fun with the "problem".

This is one of the old plastic frames, with our modification on the back side of the medallion. This cut way down on the constant "what's your room number?" questions and was much liked (and praised) by the staff. The taped edges were so the frame would not pop open - and, the amount of extra drinks that showed up on our Plus plan seemed about the same before and after using the printed number.

Hah! Excellent timing. We returned from Hawaii on June 17th. We had about $125 in refundable credits and the check arrived today (July 10th) - a bit over 3 weeks later. The check arrives in a plain envelope and looks very much like junk mail. It is from some name that has nothing to do with Princess, so be careful! Good luck.

I would have "guessed" that the FCD was actually refundable. I got that idea from the very generous perks mentioned when on board. So, this is the first reply from Google, which they got from Princess: So which of these two conflicting terms will prevail? At the very least, you are right in checking further. Good luck.

In addition to all of the good info above (it seems to agree with our experience), on our last East West Caribbean (early March), no decent mini-suites on the bump out were available for a 14 day cruise, but the same cabin WAS available for both of two 7's. We ended up making our own mess when we accidentally paid in full for one leg, and then could not switch it over to a travel agent (even though we un-paid a day later). That meant that we missed out on double "special meal" agent and other minor perks. Lastly, the casino, unlike the regular bookkeeping, took away our small bank after 7 days. The casino does NOT carry over to week 2. They gave us back our money (from a rather long list of confiscated funds), but it was a nuisance. We also spent a lot of unnecessary worry about getting bounced to a different cabin for one of the two legs. That didn't happen but would have been a buzz kill.

The last couple of cruises I was asked this multiple times daily (mostly regarding the drink package). Surprise 1: I had my medallion and that info was on there, yet the staff asked ME, and often wrote the info on a scrap of paper. The second surprise was how annoying that became. We passengers are paying for the technology (medallions are not really free) yet it appeared easier for staff to have US tell them. One time, when I told the waiter that my "room number" was on the medallion, he said that he could use that if I didn't mind waiting "for ever". Slow internet? poor hand held devices (or not all staff has them)? too clumsy a procedure for staff? Whatever the reason, we should never have to give them our "room" number. It is, however, nice when some bartender conversations went "Could I have a Heineken please?" then: either "Donald?" "Thank you Donald, enjoy"

I just got through trying to order the free medallions and, on the last screen, they asked for a payment method. The $0 medallions had a $10 shipping fee tacked on. The last I had heard was if you had the Plus or Premium package, you got the medallions shipped free. Is this a glitch that will get corrected? Does that fee show up if I choose to pick up the medallions at the ship?

When the cabin steward drops in for his embarkation day "meet & greet" just ask for the water. 100% of the time it has been there by bedtime!

We returned from the 10/29 Discovery trip. About 95 to 98% of the people did not have masks on. There were more people holding wet, snotty kleenexes and sniffling than were wearing masks. We used mask whenever out and about, except for eating, and tested ourselves the day after and then 3 days back - all negative and we feel better than after most trips. Knock on wood. Maybe the drink package provided protection?