yamanid

7 hours ago, Kmkub said:

Hi everyone. I kindly request that this not devolve into a formal night fight, thread. Please. I have an honest question.

 

My husband was recently diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. We've been trying to get a proper diagnosis for a long time; basically since COVID started.

 

He hasn't worn proper shoes (tennis shoes, dress shoes, boots) in over a year. He's only wearing flip flops, because his feet are huge.

 

We don't normally participate in formal nights; we just do the buffet and keep the nice clothes at home. The lost year has us excited to put on our fancy clothes, at least once, on our January cruise.

 

The issue is shoes. Will his flip flops suffice?  

 

We've rented a scooter from Special Needs Group for the cruise, so he'll be scooting around in a suit & tie, wearing flip flops.

 

We are SO excited to be back on Princess. 🙂

 

 

 

 

Of course it will be fine.  Nothing to do with others ( and no one will be looking. Have a Great time

5 hours ago, MudderBear said:

Princess does cruisetours to both the Baltic and Greek Isles.  I've only been on one cruise....hubby none.  Our first is Alaska next year (after Covid cancellations)....and would like to book something for 2023 while prices are still "low" (yea, right...LOL).  Anyway, can't choose between the Baltic and/or Greek Isles.  Both look tempting.

 

Also, how much does having a large balcony really matter with either one of those two cruises.  I have a large balcony for Alaska (want to really get a great impact of the Glaciers)....and not sure I want to upgrade for the European cruise as it will cost plenty even just going....

 

Thanks for your thoughts.  

You really have to do BOTH of these Cruise  -  so choose one this time and the other next time LOL

You will have a fantastic time on both, different cruises but AMAZING.  Done both of these a few times

39 minutes ago, jimbo1683 said:

I mean no offence with this post...I am ready to book our Scandinavia cruise, however I have realised it is scheduled for the May half term. We are a male couple travelling for special birthdays and are looking to relax, enjoy our first cruise with plenty of good food and drink and take in the beauty of northern Europe. The suite I am planning to book looks to be in a quiet position of the ship and is amongst cabins which only sleep 2 so I'm not worried about that. I know about the adults only areas and see that Sky Princess is well catered for with children's facilities. I'm aware of other adults only cruises, but it's Princess that goes to the destinations we want to visit.

 

I just have a slight concern about how many children might be onboard due to the half term and whether we will be easily able to find quiet space in restaurants and common areas. We ordinarily wouldn't choose to travel during school holidays but of course cruise schedules are what they are.

 

Do you have any advice or can you offer any reassurance?

W have been on many cruises over the last 27 years and also on many school holiday cruises. Every xmas are away for a month cruising (apart from last year LOL) - so Xmas/New Year being 1 of the busiest family cruises you will get, there can be 300-400 children onboard and the only time you see them is when Santa arrives.  I would definitely NOT be concerned about kids onboard and and on the Scandinavian cruise I would not imagine that there would be lots of children  -  half term or not.  Please go and have  a FAB time.  You have nothing to be concerned about

On 9/5/2021 at 5:58 PM, favouriteplaces said:

No dancing at the moment, I just got off Regal this morning although this was a UK Seacation short cruise

Did you have a good Cruise and experience onboard Regal

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

The link I posted yesterday tells you what the drive through procedure is, after which you drive down to the terminal,  drop off your luggage, and then check in your car with Parking4cruises. 

Thats what were thinking would happen  -  thank you for all your help

16 hours ago, Alcairns said:

Sounds obvious but I Suggest you look at the Parking4cruises website. The FAQS section should address your concerns. Apparently they will send you an email 48 hours before your cruise to update you on parking instructions. 

We know what parking4cruises procedure is  -  have used them many times before.

It is the Covid testing part before we get the car to short stay carpark we are talking about. Thanks

7 hours ago, wenus said:

Hi guys

I am a bit confused with the whole saga of covid testing in Southampton, and was wondering if you could please help me.

 

1: we will arrive by car, do we need to drop our luggage before queuing for covid test by car, or after? If so, where do we drop it?

2: how far it is from short stay car park where we will be dropping the car for parking 4cruises to the terminal?

3: im on green lane on the medallion app, with all ticks ticked in green - does it mean that i am fully checked in?
 

TIA x 

We are also using Parking4Cruises, although still not sure where we get our Covid tests done.

We have used parking4cruises before and the short stay carpark where we meet them is directly opposite the entrance to Ocean Terminal.

So whether when we drive into the Port there will be someone to direct us to have tests done, drop off luggage and drive across to the Short Stay (or hubby will)  -  finally go into Terminal and await results??????     I still am not sure.  Will post update if I get answers.

5 hours ago, wowzz said:

Go to drive in centre first, then drop luggage off. Multistorey is a hundred yards or so away from terminal.

With all green ticks you are set to go, but the staff at the terminal will still need to see passports etc.

Are you talking about the short stay car park at Ocean Terminal. Thanks

23 hours ago, wowzz said:

Can I suggest that we wait and see what the protocol is, when/if the cruise actually takes place. 

We are off, perhaps,  to Spain, France, Italy and Gib in October with Princess. Who knows if the cruise will go ahead.

I can't influence anything, so I will wait and see. And, P&O are in the same position. 

Posting on here will not help - accept that things are out  of the control of P&O,  and wait.

 

 

 

Why are you thinking that this Princess cruise will not be going ahead?

On 8/21/2021 at 2:25 PM, Roberto256 said:

 

I hate to create any animosity betweek England and Australia...

 

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/accommodation/some-hotel-guests-boil-their-underwear-in-the-kettles-to-clean-them/news-story/a8359c7eb56f042a9dae269d6732580d

 

For the poster who suggested bottled water over tap water ... maybe the water wasn't the problem?!?

 

UTTERLY DISGUSTING   -   ...................   AND UNBELIEVABLE !!!!!!

On 8/11/2021 at 11:22 PM, wowzz said:

Yes they do. PG tea bags supplied - bring your own if you prefer something different.

Or get other Tea bags from the buffet

On 8/23/2021 at 4:32 PM, busymumofthree said:

Hello all - I'm sure the answer is 'yes' as I've not seen anything to suggest otherwise, but what do you think the chances are that the rules will change and that Princess will let us off the ship under our own steam anytime soon?

 

We're on the Regal on 23rd September stopping at Liverpool, Belfast and Glasgow.  The rules have changed considerably since the cruises were announced so I wonder if the company will make any changes? 

 

I'm sure the most important consideration for the ship is controlling our potential contacts with others onshore and the need to keep us all, if not in a bubble, then within an acceptable envelope of contact risk.  But it would be nice if a bit of flexibility were possible....

 

We are on Regal Princess from 30 September and had an email last week telling us that we are able to go off the ship independently and do not have to do Princess shore excursions.

8 hours ago, nini said:

It has been offered for a VERY long time, even though it may be called something different. I do not see it going away anytime soon. Platinum and Elite NO LONGER get free WiFi. With the Princes Plus, if you would like a drink that costs more than the $12.00 amount, then typically you would just pay the difference; JUST LIKE YOU WOULD ON THE $60.00 PACKAGE!

I read somewhere that with the Plus fare Package, if you purchase a drink more than $12 you don't just pay the difference, you have to pay full price + 18%  ??   I read it recently and cannot for the life of me remember where

Sailing Regal Princess 30 September and had our notification re going ashore independently this morning too

13 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

The part that it only applied to CPS was originally stated in the Q & A on Princess but was changed to the above later. 
I’ll admit it is ambiguous as you could say that you are are arriving by foot. 

 

Thanks again,  as I said to Wowzz,  I think there is a training need with Princess.  We will probably just follow what you guys are telling us   Cheers much appreciated

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

But that was pre-covid. Now you drive to the test centre, get tested, and then drive to the terminal to drop your car off.

Appreciate your help  -  Princess only told us this last week, so she knew we were not talking pre-covid cruise.  Think they need to train staff more on up to date rules. Thank you

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

I believe you are incorrect. All passengers arriving in their own car are expected to use the drive through facility,  and then you proceed to the terminal to await your results. This is to avoid congestion at the terminal testing centre, as so many people use CPS or Parking4cruises.    

We were told by Princess only people parking with CPS had to go to the Mayflower Terminal  -  our Meet & Greet Parking always ask us to drop the car off at the Short Stay carpark at Ocean Terminal

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

I believe you are incorrect. All passengers arriving in their own car are expected to use the drive through facility,  and then you proceed to the terminal to await your results. This is to avoid congestion at the terminal testing centre, as so many people use CPS or Parking4cruises.    

Thank You for this and also to Gettingwarmer.

We were given this information from Princess last week.  They told us to drive to Ocean Terminal as normal, offload the luggage and me (husband then drives the 2 mins to the short stay, leaves the car) then comes over to the terminal and we then go to have our Tests.

Sometimes  I wonder why I waste the time holding on the phone for them  -  to be given the wrong info!!!!

18 hours ago, MBandJSinUK said:

We used the drive through facility last Tuesday for our 4 day Regal seacation and the testing opened at 11:00 sharp, we arrived about 10:45 and had to wait at the overflow car park until there was space in the queue at the test site. You can easily find the test site from Gate 10 or Gate 20 (it's in the same car park where you collect your car from at Mayflower if you've done that before)

 

We joined the main queue at 11:00 (They use separate lanes for different cruise companies) and the queue moved slowly.

Stage 1 - They check passports/covid test status whilst queuing.

Stage 2 - They check your booking and mobile numbers, send a welcome text message 

Stage 3 - You drive forward to the swab the inside of the nose bit 

Stage 4 - You drive to the terminal and drop off the car, then drop off your bags then go in for confirming details from your app check-in 

Stage 5 - Sit and wait for the 2nd text

Stage 6 - If you're in the green lane, you then do the full check-in (really just to collect medallions) 

Stage 7 - Wait for boarding

Stage 8 - Security screening then boarding

 

In our experience, the whole thing was rather quick and efficient, certainly nothing like the way it's been portrayed by others. From the welcome text at the drive in site to the result text was 23 minutes. We waited until they allowed boarding at 12:00 exactly. There was no priority queuing/boarding for Plat/Elite/Suite.

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to post these details.   We are parking Meet & Greet independently and are assuming that we will go straight to Ocean Terminal as normal and then follow your steps from Step 4 onwards, as I believe that our testing has to be done at Ocean T  -  Princess instructions not very clear though

12 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

Yes and dress code was observed.

Glad to hear it😀

On 7/31/2021 at 9:37 PM, Sillyjilly said:

I think I read they were switching they Crown to the Emerald?

yes this is the case

On 7/26/2021 at 10:28 AM, Shazhf said:

Hi first time cruising with Princess. We are doing a 6 night uk seacation. Do they tell you in advance how many formal nights there will be?  Apart from that is it smart casual dress?

It tells you on your Cruise Personaliser  -  if you go online to your booking, you will find it there

1 minute ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Except when your drinks are included in the Ultimate Drinks Package...

 

This has to be pointed out because until you understand how it works it is easy to think that the 18% is added to your bill when buying drinks within the package and it isn't added unless you get drinks not included (such as drinks over $12 or drinks beyond your 15 daily limit).

 Maybe if we have a drink now we will get our heads around this easier    LOL!!!!!!

27 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Clearly - I was just pointing that out, responses did not seem to be taking that into account. I do agree that the 18% is included in Plus. I thought perhaps they were just separating general Gratuities from Bar Service Gratuities and then noted the United Kingdom statement.

Price listed is in USD and excludes service charge. An 18% service charge will be applied to all itineraries excluding Australia. Purchase price may vary due to currency exchange rates. Beverage package charges are calculated based on the total number of days of your cruise. 

31 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Clearly - I was just pointing that out, responses did not seem to be taking that into account. I do agree that the 18% is included in Plus. I thought perhaps they were just separating general Gratuities from Bar Service Gratuities and then noted the United Kingdom statement.

Price listed is in USD and excludes service charge. An 18% service charge will be applied to all itineraries excluding Australia. Purchase price may vary due to currency exchange rates. Beverage package charges are calculated based on the total number of days of your cruise. 

2 minutes ago, yamanid said:

 

 

every time you buy a drink there is 18% tax added on

So even although you have purchased the drinks package you then have the 18% to add on to your drinks    -   Gratuities included in the package are your cabin steward tips