Whirlybird

I think need to factor in the very strong possibility of a vaccine being developed for the virus.  I have worked for many years at a large research university, the efforts being made by scientists that specialize in vaccine development is like nothing I have ever seen.  I feel very confident that an effective vaccine will come onto the market in the next year.  That should allay fears of folks like myself that have been big consumers of cruises for the last 20 years.  I sorely miss being on a cruise this spring so can't wait for this virus phenomenon to pass into history and the cruise industry get back to normal.

We usually take a spring cruise on princess each year.  In the last few days, princess has offered attractive price drops on several cruises that we would like to sail, including the baltic.  We are not that worried about getting the virus, but have not booked because we are worried about getting stranded on a ship where c virus has been detected.  So waiting to see if the temperature rise later this spring slows the virus down, as of today, too risky.

I highly recommend this cruise. San Francisco is a fabulous walkable city, you’ll love it. We took this cruise about 3 years ago on the Grand. It’s an older vessel but in good condition and had one of the best crew I’ve encountered on a Princess cruise.

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I’m certainly sympathetic with the OP’s disappointment, it is justified. I’ve been on about 35 Princess cruises and service levels have declined. My advice in a situation like this is to persist with the effort to communicate directly with the hotel manager. On only one cruise was this necessary, our cabin had cold water only. I told my steward and went to pax service twice a day, but after 2 days still no hot water. At that point, went to pax service desk and said I would not leave until I spoke to hotel manager. Waited about 10 minutes, he met with me. Hot water was restored within an hour. Hotel manager later came to my cabin and apologized, gave us a nice bottle of wine and a credit on the bill for our inconvenience. Overall, I only spent a total of about 45 minutes complaining, but once I got the hotel manager, things resolved quickly.

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Just booked air using this promo, two travelers ATL to FLL on Nov 11 return Nov 25. Nonstop flights on Delta saved total of $500. With free gratuities this was a great deal.

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We were on Royal last April in a standard balcony, then this past month in a mini-suite. The only upgrade we could determine was the quality of the towels was better in the mini-suite. The soap and shampoo was same in both cabins. Although you are supposed to receive champagne on embarkation day in your mini-suite cabin, none was offered to us.

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We were on Royal last month and had dinner in Crown Grill on the last formal night of the cruise. We decided to go with smart casual, had no problem getting seated at our reservation time. But we were the only table in the restaurant that was not in formal attire.

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Wow, sorry you had such a dissatisfying cruise. On the anytime dining, I agree wait times can be longer than expected. What I do is review the patter in the evening for next days shows that I want to see, then next morning, the dining reservation line opens at 8am, so I call early and reserve a table for two so DW and I can have dinner in the MDR but still have time for the shows we want to see. Never a wait to be seated with a reservation in anytime dining room.

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Hi, we were also on this cruise, our 35th with Princess. We have been on several Christmas cruises, but agree the entertainment was sub par. We did enjoy Perry in crooners, but he was the highlight. Agree also service for anytime dining was much better in Symphony dining room compared to Concerto. Disagree on room service, we ordered every day and although had to let the phone ring a while, they always answered and delivered timely. I agree passenger services passes the buck, but that is standard Princess, always been awful.

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I always enjoy the massages on Princess, but inevitably the pleasure ends and the selling begins. They do employ a fairly inflexible sales pitch. What I have found that works to disarm the sales pitch is to say that I was just on a cruise last month where I purchased the products being sold and just don’t need them at this time, works every time.

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Recently back from Thanksgiving cruise on the Crown Princess. On embarkation day, I noticed that one of the drinking glasses on our bar setup had a big crack, see picture. I meant to tell the cabin steward, but forgot. Turns out, even though we used both of our drinking glasses every day of the cruise, the cracked glass was never replaced. I always assumed that used bar glasses in the stateroom were sent down to the dishwasher and replaced with clean ones, but the cracked glass tells me otherwise.

DW said you keep same glasses for entire cruise. Does anyone know if that is correct?

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I agree that the coffee in Buffet area is awful. In my opinion, coffee served in MDR is drinkable. I now carry sufficient number of Cafe Via instant coffee packets to get me through the cruise. In the morning, I usually order hot tea from room service, use the hot water for my instant coffee and just save tea bags for later.

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I’ll be on the Crown starting 11/18 for the Thanksgiving holiday cruise. I’ve been on 3 Princess cruises out of more than 30 where there was serious outbreak of Noro. Never got sick, but I did get it after visiting my mother in the nursing home once. I’ve never been that horribly sick, it was awful. I take a drug called Donnatal for IBS. I tried it when I had Noro and it really helped to minimize the stomach cramps. Whenever I cruise I always bring the Donnatal in case I get Noro.

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We always bring plenty of earplugs on cruises to drown out unwanted noises when we are trying to sleep. They work great. The brand we use is Macs available at Target.

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Thanks for all replies. I use the card only to purchase specialty coffee drinks, not the brewed coffee in IC. For regular brewed coffee, I bring along Starbucks Cafe Via and just add to hot water in the HC. The Cafe Via tastes better than the HC coffee to me.

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I purchased a coffee card on the Royal Princess last April. I'm cruising on the Crown Princess in November, will they accept the remaining prepaid drinks that are left over?

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I've sailed on 34 Princess cruises over the last 17 years, primarily on grand class ships, been on the Crown several times. If you are booking a mini-suite on Princess, you will be happier, in my opinion, with the Royal. I took my first cruise on Royal last April, that class is the most beautiful and upscale in the fleet. The open atrium at ship center is much grander than on the Crown, the shops and restaurants nicer, and there are more activities. You won't be disappointed. On our cruise last spring, they offered a 5 course Tuscan dinner in one of the specialty restaurants with wine pairings that was just delightful, we were told it is only offered on the Royal.

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I've purchased the Princess insurance many times and have filed claims for medical treatment. When you are on a cruise and receive treatment, you will be responsible for payment. After, you contact the insurer, which in the US is Aon, then file a claim and attach medical invoices that you received. If you have health insurance in addition to the Princess travel insurance, Aon will not process the claim until your health insurer has done so. I have Blue Cross and it took some time to get an EOB from them due to it being an international claim since I was treated outside the US. Aon provided very good service and paid 100% of the cost once I provided all the doc, but it took a while.

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I highly recommend snorkeling the Molokini crater in Maui, have snorkeled all over the Caribbean but this on is best I've experienced.

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Thanks for your responses. I made it clear to the captain's circle rep that I was expecting to be charged for the same day service. She called someone and they chatted, then she hung up and told me no, that the same day service is not an option for elite laundry.

Oh well, next time I will elevate my concerns to the hotel manager.

Recently returned from a 14 day cruise on CB. I had some laundry that I needed same day service so turned in to my cabin steward before 9am and marked priority box. He called my room from the laundry to tell me there would be a charge for same day service, which I approved over the phone.

That evening, we left our cabin around 6pm for dinner, no laundry yet. When we came back around 9pm, our steward informed me that Elite cannot get same day laundry service. I was unaware of this and followed up with the captain circle rep the next day, she confirmed.

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We took the garden tour in May on a Sunday while in port on the Grand Princess sailing back from Alaska to San Francisco.

Even though Sunday traffic was light, we did not have enough time to be dropped off in town, they took us directly back to the port.

We just came back from a cruise on Grand Princess May31. We really enjoyed the small tea venue in the library, Tea Leaves. I believe the up charge was about $3 but we felt it was well worth the cost. The attendant will help you choose tea leaves to try. Very unusual flavors and nicely presented. They also have some pastries/cakes to go along for free. I believe it is only available on sea days. I highly recommend.

We flew in on the embarkation day. Caught our flight from Atlanta at 8:15am on Saturday. Landed at SFO about 10:30am. We had purchased the Princess airport transfers. Easily found the Princess rep at baggage claim. We waited about 15 minutes after collecting our luggage before boarding the bus, a nice newer one, comfortable. Traffic was reasonable, the Embarcadero was very slow near Pier 27. We got to the Pier about 11:45am. New terminal is really nice. Took about 10 minutes to check in, then we were on board by noon. Very smooth. Luggage did not arrive at our room until about 3:30pm.

We booked an inside (usual choice for Alaska). Room C212. The cabin was small but in good shape. Had newer mattresses. Cabin steward was named Rockson, he greeted us and very polite. Kept the cabin clean the entire cruise. Delivered Princess robes to our cabin the first night, we did not have to request them.

I had read some reviews indicating the ship needed repairs. But it was in great shape in my opinion. I will say that on the exterior upper decks, the astro turf needs to be replaced, but it did not detract from our cruise experience. Also, in some public areas the upholstery was worn out, but again, did not affect our experience. I did see some buckets in the hall on deck 15 catching leaks from the ceiling on a few rainy days. Just walked around them, no trouble.

We felt the crew service levels were better that usual, very friendly crew on the Grand. We particularly liked Rohan and Zen in the Elite lounge and Lester in Crooners. The food and service in the Main Dining Room was very good. We did not eat in the specialty dining venues.

Entertainment was good, particularly liked the singer Derrick in Crooners, he packed them in every night. Also had some good comedians. Production shows were usual Princess standard.

The weather in Alaska was super, sunny every day except Ketchikan. We did not do excursions since we have taken the inside passage cruise several times before.

Overall a great cruise.

Hi

 

Would not worry about the cabin, but more what is at the side of it, have

 

had ones with room stewards cupboard at the side, every morning crash bang etc

 

as they got ready for theirs days work.

 

 

yours Shogun

To workaround this, my spouse and I always bring earplugs. We buy a brand called Macs, available at Target or most pharmacies.

Happy holidays