dockman

one of the great things about being elite is free laundry..i just did 21 days on crown and carried only a small carry on bag....frankly i don't really care if people get tired of me wearing same outfits over and over and i suspect most don't even notice me....i don't do formal so it is not that hard if u use the laundry service...sure makes travel a lot easier with no big bags to worry about...with a little forethought i can easily pack for 3 weeks with various layers suited to changing alaska weather...

Does anyone know how do they calculate points when u are playing blackjack at a 3/2 table and/or how many hours of play at what bet level would likely result in some kind of casino offers?

I found the navigator app to be pretty horrible...somedays it worked ok to find travel mates etc...other days with me doing absolutely nothing different not at all...overall i would give it a D....one would think after 5? years that they would get the bugs out but it appears one would be wrong.

Mine worked semi ok in Juneau Ketchikan Sitka and Skagway....on shore and sometimes a little out on deck while in or very near port. Other places no.

The experienced cruisers ultimately down the road will likely have no choice or if they want to book with a human they will pay a fee like many airlines now charge for human service...or maybe the cruise lines will initially offer a small discount or perk for booking direct as they save the agent cost. And of course every year there are fewer and fewer older non tech cruisers and more and more tech savvy cruisers. Not same of course but just look at the growth of the self serve checkouts at places like costco/walmart etc...when they first opened them few seemed to use them as they preferred the human check out...now human checkouts are on a steady decline as more people have moved to self serve and down the road human checkouts will likely be few and far between.

The crown in regular rooms has good sized flat screen TV's mounted above the cabinet that holds the refrigerators...not sure of size but they are not small screen and are as big as they could fit in that space..plenty big enough and good viewing angles etc ...

I think AI will eventually take over most all of the reservations process eliminating most travel agents commissions as well as cruise line res agents. With HD videos of every inch of every ship available at the click of a mouse and a virtual AI agent that can answer any and all questions as well or better than a human and provide virtual guided tours of the ships , recommendations as to best choices for rooms/dining/shore excursions etc it will eventually replace a lot of the humans that now provide this type of info....bean counters keep looking for places to cut expenses and agent commissions as well as cost of res agents is a huge expense. Of course it will require a big investment by the cruise lines but done right it will change the way people book cruises. And of course the cruise lines have email address of just about everyone who has ever cruised and can do massive promotions with the click of a mouse mailing.

So if you disable the closet light but you need light in the closet area then what....far as i could find there is no on/off switch for that light and it can be pretty dark in the closet area with no light there...if anybody found such a switch i would love to know where it is located.

I like them but agree it would be nice to be able to turn the light at closet ON and OFF if one so chooses other than being only controlled by motion detector.

Crown princess last week had to run tenders in juneau....elites went to a dining room and got called in less than ten minutes and were escorted to board a tender that appeared to be all elites....easy peasy

and NOT doing it is also not that big a deal...as with so many things it starts small and then as more and more $$ involved it gets out of hand....did anyone on a cruise ever suggest gee i wish i could get a picture taken with a puppy?

But are some big corporations trying to make a few extra bucks by taking and selling pics of them?

Seems to be an ill advised attempt by someone in Princess photo dept to make more $$ with overpriced photos. How many people would like their infant kids or grandkids to be used for such a purpose. I am going to guess that overall most would see it as child abuse if it involves an hour or more of being ogled and petted and photographed. While it may not result in long term damage is it really a good idea to use puppies as props just so somebody can have a picture?

so about another $200 a day for 32 square feet? I would much prefer to donate the $200 a day to a favorite charity and "tough it out" in a still very nice room.

i just missed her as boarded on may 23....our speaker i thought was about as exciting as watching paint dry and his graphics looked like a 12 year old did them...though i suspect a 12 y.o. might have done better.

yes....she was wonderful and can sure tell a story...what an interesting and real person....way better presentation than the university professors who i found boring speakers with horrible graphics and overall poor presentations

Just off 21 days crown alaska on june 13.....it is a good ship and i saw nothing major re age as everything i used worked fine except they seem to have problems with the ice machines in buffet area but do provide big plastic containers full of ice and not a huge deal...saw several guys working on the machines but only a few actually worked... crew is/was great and i thought service was overall excellent.. .entertainment on princess like most other lines leaves a lot to be desired....but there is plenty enough to satisfy most..my biggest disappointment was the quality or lack of by the onboard lecture bunch...their presentations were bland pretty boring and the graphics/pics they used were just awful....surely they can do better ....my guess is a talent agency provides these university type lecturers but do a lousy job in vetting them.. ..the best by far was by linda riggins (one presentation only) who won the ididerade race and did a great presentation but of course that is for alaska cruises only.. yes showers are sorta small but unless u are a very large person they are fine.... and i actually prefer the older ships that still have a library and a wrap around promenade deck to the newer floating shopping centers. overall i give crown good marks

As if the elite perks have not already been diminished enough just giving them to any and all makes them even less attractive. While it obviously doesn't bother some there are a lot of elites who were /are somewhat proud of finally achieving ELITE and don't think it is fair or proper to let non elite people move to the front of the line. So what's next? Priority boarding, priority tenders, free laundry, bar setup? Heck lets just make everybody ELITE and forget about the actual requirements to BE ELITE.

And next will be can i bring friends along for priority check in priority tender service etc etc....the problem is as with so many things give and inch and take a mile....and it puts the princess staff in the position of having to try and sort it out as to how many "friends" etc....elite perks should be for elite customers or at least spell out the rules as to whether you may bring cabin mates or exactly who how many friends are we talking about?

just off crown 21 days alaska on may 23-june 13 and they had msnbc, cnbc, fox, bbc, nat geo and few sports stations...

actually several princess ships like grand, golden, emerald, crown still have a semi decent little library..it is mostly stocked with paperbacks that guests have left behind along with maybe two dozen princess provided books...also puzzles etc....i just got off 21 days on the crown and went there everyday and it seemed to be pretty heavily used for jigsaw puzzles etc....the entire room is maybe 500 or so square feet but it does work and is a nice amenity....sad that the big new ships can't figure out to at least dedicate 500 sf to a similar library....no it doesn't bring revenues but it also doesn't cost them diddly to provide this amenity that many people still use frequently

I wish all passengers would take a hint from you and be sure to set an alarm to come back and empty the machine when done.....there seem to always be a few "special people" who leave their clothes in a washer or dryer for 15-30 mins or more after they are done ....other people are waiting to use the machines but these special people don't care and often get nasty if people empty the machine and pile their clothes up so they can use the machines...."special people" apparently don't have watches or phones or can't be bothered with inconveniencing others.

free laundry and bar set up would be nice....thanks

So if i complete the 15th cruise on the first leg of a back to back do I get elite perks...free laundry and minibar set up on leg 2? Is it automatic or do i have to ask at desk?

yes but i just don't get it with all the space on a cruise ship that they can't at least set aside a few hundred square feet for some book shelves.... even if they are too cheap to provide hard back books then at least have a paperback library with a few hundred books....i have left/donated a lot of books over the years as have many many other cruisers...of course the wonderful days of having a library with nice lighting and seating would be even nicer but i realize the bean counters would much prefer to have yet more shop space selling a variety of t shirts, cups, refrigerator magnets and such valuable merchandise...though have to say it certainly seems they have just plenty of space already for all that "stuff".