Digisailor

(On ship) VPN caused ships time to advance… after I had my Virtual Private Network switched on and off a few times I noticed that “ships time” as displayed by the new app was 20 minutes *fast* and it was incrementing as time passed … still fast. … I restarted the app and it synced up correctly, showing the same time as my phone. If using a VPN be aware… I haven’t played with it to further characterize this problem, but I thought it worth noting.

Thanks... if we were actually skipping Roatan, that would make sense... but we're still going to Roatan... just a different port, and a different day. The ship will go to Coxen Hole instead of Mahogany Bay... both are in Roatan... just different locations. Yes... I submitted payment... because I got an email that said I had cleared the waitlist... and to confirm a waitlist, you have to answer within a short time (24/48 hours?). I should be able to get it refunded if they can't do it that day from that location. I'll put some screenshots here in case you (or anyone else) can think of anything else... or in case anyone booked on that cruise has anything similar to share. When logged in, and looking at the boooking, the excursions page in "cruise personalizer" (both apps show pretty much the same thing)... shows this: If I click the blue "View Excursions" link (to the right of "Roatan (Coxen Hole), Honduras" - from that page, or on the links for this excursion, I see the following: (so something is broken)

Our Caribbean cruise (starts next week - 14 days) on the Sky Princess had an itinerary and date change - now going to Coxen Hole instead of Mahogany Bay on the 19th of February. I was waitlisted for an excursion from Roatan/ Mahogany Bay. but about the time the schedule was changed, I got an email that said I had cleared the waitlist, and could submit payment to secure a reservation, which I did, and it was accepted. Now if I go to the page (both apps or web) that shows all the ports and excursions, it shows me confirmed for the excursion... but if I click on the link to show either all the excursions for that day, or on this particular one, I get a page that says "Oops! The page you are looking for was not found". It's been that way for at least a couple of weeks now. I sent two notes via "site feedback" a couple of times to the web team, but no response. I haven't called on this (calling Princess is painful, as everyone knows), so we'll probably just wait and see what happens... but I thought I would note this to encourage anyone else in a similar situation to maybe check their status... or if you have experience to share... you can answer on this thread. I posted this on one of the roll calls for our cruise, but I'm also posting this here because... apparently they did the same thing last year on Christmas Day... so it may become "a thing".

On my iphone... the old (IOS - don't know about android) app still opens and shows my upcoming bookings. Just tried it a few minutes ago... if that helps.

I'm pretty sure they are planning to "fix" this... eventually. If you click on your profile icon... (bottom right) it displays a page wit your photo, loyalty status, and under that it says "My Voyages" (with an "s") but for me anyway, it only shows the current voyage... I believe this was how you accessed multiple voyages in the old app... Because it's "plural", I suspect it's either a bug, or planned to be put on that page eventually.

It's nice to know that's available as a workaround... I suspect the new app has a "bug" that it only shows the upcoming cruise... since the header on the "profile" page says "My Voyages" (plural) but it only shows one. In the old app, you could click on your profile and it would show everything you had booked and you can select which one you want to work with. I didn't end up doing it this way... I just called Princess to get the internet package added... they answered right away and took care of it for me on the phone. You can confirm the presence of the package and the pricing by going to the website under "cruise personalizer" - select the cruise - click on the "Extras" tab and scroll to the bottom.

I was able - with the *new* app... to get internet for our February 24 cruise... with the Platinum discount... for myself, but not for my wife. My wife can't seem to get into the new app... her access has to any app has been messed up for some time... if she logged into the booking it offered it to her without the discount... and if she tried to order it even at the full price, it said there was a credit card problem. So I called Princess (they answered fairly quickly yesterday afternoon) and got hers with the discount as well. The new app, though, doesn't see any cruises other than the upcoming one... no visibility to the ones coming later in 25... the old app sees it, but will only give me the "full price" without the discount, and doesn't let me do it for my wife either.

Be careful and be sure to check... At least on my iPhone... the hotspot only becomes active on wifi if the iPhone is on cellular data, not wifi... so if you are using a device for a hotspot make sure it will act as a hotspot with wifi... it may not. I'm not sure if the people with PCs and MACs acting as hotspots are getting their internet from WIFI or from ethernet (is that even available on ships?) or cellular... but your "internet plan" from Princess is for wifi... If you are using land-based cellular (or the ship-based cellular - if it even has data) you may find some rather exhorbidant charges on your cel phone bill or data plan. Regarding iPhones... see https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204023 specifically: "If other devices have joined your Personal Hotspot using Wi-Fi, you can use only cellular data to connect to the internet from the host device. " You might be able to connect other devices to an iPhone on the ship wifi over Bluetooth... haven't tried that. The same link above has this text: "Personal Hotspot supports Bluetooth connections with Mac and other third-party devices. To connect another iOS device, use Bluetooth.". I hope this helps and doesn't just confuse folks... but it's not quite as straightforward as one would wish...

Update: My wife installed the "new app"... and couldn't find her login... so we're waiting to get that reset I guess... we tried logging her into the new app through the booking number - and it offered *Her* the old price... but without the elite discount. Go figure!

The "new" app offers me the elite discount... (and still the old price - cruising in February...) but it looks like I can only order it for myself, not for my wife. If anyone figures out how to order for the rest of your party, please let me know. I guess I can get my wife to install the new app and see what happens... but that will probably end up wasting a bunch of time.

I had a MDR maitre 'd' tell me once - the night *before* a formal night... when I came to the MDR in shorts... that I should wear long pants to the MDR the next night because if would be a "formal night"... but there were folks even in shorts the next night. That was 4-5 years back, so they may not even do that any more. I rented tux's for my first couple of cruises... we got them delivered to the stateroom by the website business that works (worked? not sure if it still exists - use google to check) with Princess... and we got some fun pictures... but I don't any more... just stuff we can wash in the self-service laundry. One funny thing... on the first cruise (Alaska) I had a rental tux delivered to the cabin, but I didn't receive a tie... so we called passenger services, and our cabin steward brought me a "cabin steward tie", and tied it for me... we took video of him "Fixing me up"... all of us laughing... which was kind of fun.

Last cruise my wife got free tokens once after reporting the token machine was non functional. The crew member who brought the tokens asked her how many she would like... One time I found a non-functional token machine and was able to "fix" it by changing the language from English to Chinese or something like that... then back to English... magic... it started working.

Thanks for all the additional info! I probably didn't say that quite right...when the guy turned west and south... he wasn't in Vancouver yet... Looking back at the map today, it was probably still in Surrey... so it was still at least "sort of" a freeway... but the driver was definitely lost, out of his depth, and starting to panic a bit... and I think we all were annoyed but feeling a bit sorry for the guy too... the whole thing was difficult... but also had its amusing aspects. If I ever do this (Alaska out of Vancouver) again, I'll probably ask on this board what people recommend based on whatever has been happening recently... because so much has changed, and continues to change. To reach either Vancouver or Seattle airport from where we live involves at least two flights already, (And there's a large probability these days that something goes wrong with at least one of two connecting flights)... so I build my "extra day" in getting to the transfer in Seattle which seemed prudent. If I had it to do over again, I would probably fly to Vancouver... if I could find flights that work. (We flew home from Vancouver via SFO and it was really easy and pleasant). But flights into regional airports around Southern Oregon are few and far between, so we have to choose among slim pickings! As regards "things going wrong"... I think we are seeing a lot more of this now, probably partially because there are fewer people working, so finding a rapid resolution when something *does* go wrong, is more difficult than it might have been, say, 5 years back... the system has a lot less "padding" to fall back on than it did previously. I'm guessing it already cost Princess a pretty penny to have to hire vans to replace the "missing" bus. I also wanted people to be aware of the situation at the Seattle Airport with the "Cruise Bus Terminal" not being labeled... when you went down the "orange" elevators. If you go towards the sign that reads "Cruise Busses Hopefully it may save someone some time and grief to know that. To recap... the "cruise bus lobby" where you have to go (from the orange elevators, which Princess mentions in their instructions) to sign in for the bus, is *not* through this door. It is through the door below (It's even less obvious when the motion sensor hasn't opened the door). I think the door you want is to the *south*. I It seems like that, at least, would be easy to fix with some signs. We weren't the only ones confused by this. We never went to the "Cruise Busses" area - the vans just came to the curb outside. Hopefully this will help somebody.

We had a really *bad* experience around on June 13, 2023 with a Princess "bus" transfer from Seattle to Vancouver. First of all... it was hard to find them in Seattle. We had stayed overnight at a hotel to meet the transfer in the morning. We took the Orange elevators as instructed... got there at the time they were supposed to be open (8AM)... At one end of the orange elevators there was a big sign saying "Cruise Buses" and "Charter Buses"... and no signage at all at the other end... (although that was the way it turned out we were *supposed* to go). So we walked quite a ways to where they load the busses and the guys down there said we were supposed to be at the cruise bus *lounge* to sign in... which was the other direction. So we went back... passed the elevators (with all the luggage still)... and went through the doors at the other end into a rather stark but adequate "lounge"... and there was a small sign on the desk that indicated it was Princess... which you really couldn't see from the elevators. We asked them about the signage, and they said something like "we tried to put some up, but the airport took it down". So we "signed in", and sat down... and waited to be called for the bus. (So if you're already signed up for this... go the direction *away* from the "Cruise Buses" sign and you'll be at the right place... unless they change something...) Sometime after 10AM, they told us "the bus was a no show"... "we're trying to get some vans". Around 10:30 3 vans showed up. So apparently Princess found "another vendor" on short notice. About 15 of us got into the first van... and it wasn't too bad... but after about 15-20 minutes going up I5, the bus pulled off to an office... apparently for the bus company, and they said they had to change drivers. Maybe the first one didn't have a passport... not sure of the reason... So back on the freeway, another 15-20 minutes... pulls off again... "we need to get gas"... so we had a "rest stop"... which wasn't too bad either. Then back on I5 headed north. We get to the border, and the driver doesn't go through the commercial bus area... but lines up with the cars instead. Told the customs agent "the bus broke"... and fortunately the agent was understanding... just glanced at everyone's passport and waved us through. Another 10 minutes or so... the driver gets off the highway (99 in Vancouver I think...) and first heads west... then south... on surface city streets... obviously lost. Apparently his GPS or whatever didn't have Canadian cel service... Passengers getting concerned and the driver was apparently clueless whaat to do next. So... a passenger got WAZE going on a tablet *with* Canadian cel service, and we used that to get to the port. Finally got there around 3:30. I don't know what happened to the other 2 vans... presumably they got there... probably before us. We had done this same transfer over 10 years ago, and it was a lot simpler... Fortunately we flew home from Vancouver so the transfer was much better going back. If I were doing it again, I would find another way. We ran into some people who used the train and they seemed pleased with it... so I was curious to read this thread, but I thought I would reply to it in case any of this helps someone else.

follow up…. the room steward was new to the ship but he asked about it. Room stewards supervisor told him it was an emergency light. In our cabin I don’t think it is well positioned for an emergency… and the switch needs to be in the position that makes the LED green for it to light when power is interrupted - it was red when we boarded. I pulled it out to experiment. It occupies a recessed round pronged European style plug. Some pictures follow. The crew should probably be trained to check for the slide switch position… it is totally unlabeled.

The cabin steward and guest services didn’t seem to know… it has a slide switch and a two color (red and green) LED… and a plastic (lucite?) rod in the center. It’s completely encased in plastic except for the slide switch. If I slide the switch the LES changes color. it occurred to me it might be a motion detector… but you wouldn’t hide something like that way over in a corner behind the phone. ditto for an emergency light. I’m leaving it on green for now… but it is curious. Google picture search was not helpful on this either.

On the Caribbean Princess in February... my wife called and reported the token dispenser was out of order... someone came to look at it and just handed my wife a pile of tokens. ("How many do you want?"). One thing is that many people don't seem to understand about the dryers... that if you open (at least some of) the driers... they don't start up again unless you push the "start" button again. (and you have to press it to get it to start in the first place. (I don't know how many times I've opened driers that had the orange "operating" light lit up, but were obviously not operating... and had wet laundry in them. I used to leave a note, but more recently I just start them... figuring someone probably wanted them dry. Once I came upon a non-operating token dispenser... but if you changed the language from English to something else and then back... that it started working. (Kind of a software way to give it a shake or a rap on the side). My wife said she showed that to someone else and they were amazed that it worked... don't know why... but it may help someone...

I am currently (Monday 6 Feb 2023) on the Caribbean Princess… scheduled to arrive FLL on Friday. I was told tonight that it was *too late* to do EZCheck. Unlike previous sailings, they did not provide any notification in the stateroom about the service. Not happy. Bottom line… sign up ASAP if you expect to use this service… it really is wonderful.

Heads up… Be careful… I am currently (February 2023) on the Caribbean Princess… 4 days until disembarkation in Ft Lauderdale… and was expecting to use EZ Check service. I asked at Guest Services this evening, and was told it was *too late* to ask for this service. The signups are “already finished”. There was no notification in the stateroom about it, and no deadline given… very disappointing. Bottom line… if you want this service, (and it is wonderful and convenient - I’ve used it twice)… ask about it and book as soon as possible… or you may get caught without it. A year ago, we did a Caribbean cruise on the Sky princess… and we got notification 3-4 days ahead of disembarkation and were able to sign up very easily… so the exact process may differ with the ship or with the passenger load… they may have limited capacity that was already reached on our sailing. As I recall, and I may be remembering it wrong, it was required that you also purchase the princess transfer to the airport. A year ago we were able to sign up for both from forms left in our stateroom… on the Sky Princess.

I just went through and deleted and re-booked several shore excursions to get them using the credits that I have available. It seems to have probably worked. In each case I got the green "Credit applied" indication at the end of the rebooking. I'm assuming that the ones I cancelled will result in refunds to the original payment method... eventually. I started with the last shore excursion at the end of the cruise figuring if I messed things up enough I would have time to unscramble it later... and worked forward... until we had used up most of the credits. Two things I noticed to watch out for... (1) before cancelling and rebooking... check the "spots available" and the time - since some excursions have multiple time slots - make sure the shore excursion isn't sold out... it might result in someone from the waiting list being moved up and you lose it entirely. (2) Check the price... I found one that had gone up... so I didn't rebook that one... but was able to use up most of the credits using other ones. There didn't seem to be any way to verify that some of the rebooked excursions were now using the credits... they still showed as "available" after I went through all that. If I had it to do over again, I would probably take screen shots of the payment pages showing that the credits were applied... if you try this, it might be a good idea. The page on my excursions page looked just the same after I cancelled and rebooked... as did the Travel Summary. I suppose they may issue an amended one later showing the credits being used... but nothing yet... but it's only been a few hours so far.

I submitted (and got) a shareholder credit in the last couple of weeks (early November 2022), for a January 2023 cruise. But when I looked at my latest Booking Confirmation, showing the credit, they had also upped my fare (not my wife's in the same cabin) for the cruise... by over $300... and also an increase for the Vacation Protection. I called Princess and they have fixed the problem, but the agent couldn't imagine how that could have happened... especially with one of us, but not the other... but I suspect it had something to do with applying my shareholder credit due to the timing. Also... it took quite a while on the phone for them to fix... after being on hold for like 30 minutes, I got a helpful agent, who had to call "guest services"... and after about 15 minutes she suggested I ring off and she would send me an updated cruise confirmation... because she was looking at another 30 minutes to reach someone who could authorize it. That was actually pretty thoughtful. I think she used language like "there is a booking code that dropped off that I'm not authorized to fix"... so it seems we were waiting for a higher level of support to be able to address it. Bottom line... if you recently got a shareholder credit, check all the numbers on your booking confirmation. Mine may have been a one-off, but it also might have been one agent doing something wrong multiple times.

Another twist on the "Final Statement" We were on the Regal June 4- June 25. Our charges got a little complicated because the cruise was 3 weeks, with lots of shore excursions, my wife had to cancel one Shorex because she got sick... they cancelled one and we had to rebook a different one... and the one in Istanbul - shall we say - didn't go well... we never got to the "grand Bazaar" - and they refunded about $21 to everyone on it. I didn't know that refund was coming. So figuring out the amounts without a statement of some sort was not going to happen. But given all that... I got my "Stateroom Account" emailed to me on July 10... and it shows both my wife's and my charges (with one "spousal" account zeroed out to the other like others have reported)... and all the items seemed to make sense... *but* it only showed charges through June 18. So even though we received it two weeks after the end of the cruise, it appears that all the charges after June 18 got left off somehow. I was suspicious that it might be "incomplete". Following this, I got a substantially higher charge from the ship on my credit card than was indicated in the statement in the email I received. So I asked the credit card company to adjust the charge to the billed amount (which they did)... and at the same time, I requested Princess through their "contact us" page submission form... to send me an updated bill. If Princess had sent me a complete statement in the first place it would have avoided any problem... but I figured another one would be forthcoming when they figured it out, and I would pay it then. So about a month later, after hearing *nothing* from Princess, I got a rebill on my credit card for the disputed amount. I sent Princess another request that day through the "contact us" page asking for a more complete bill. I got another automated acknowledgement of my email... but never anything else. The credit card company (Chase) said I needed to fax them a letter and associated supporting documents, and show my concerns. So I sent them copies of the bill I received, and copies of the emails I had sent to Princess through their "contact us" page - and their acknowledgements (automatic email I assume) letter that they had received them. The automatic acknowledgement emails they send show what I sent them... (So they can't come back later and say they weren't informed... they "got the letter", but maybe "never opened and read" it). After I had taken all this stuff to a local Chase branch to fax it to their disputes center, I got another email from Chase with additional information... and this was the interesting part. They sent *the bank* copies of a much more complicated (and complete) folio all around than I had ever gotten or seen before. It included everything up through the end of the cruise, 25 June, but it was in 3 pieces... one for each week... and also it showed (this part was cool!) which shore excursions went with which charges (like BCN200A for Barcelona 200A). The emailed version I got from Princess only showed "Shore Excursion" and an amount... like from previous cruises. Oddly, there were also a lot of what I can only call "goofy" charges that seemed to have had reversals made on them. (Some of these were quite large - like $1400 or so for beverages... which got reversed - I don't remember ever seeing these). This report they sent to the bank was clearly a series of screen shots. These reports had a heading "Pax Charges of Past Sailings ('98-present)". Bottom line after spending quite a bit of time analyzing it... is that I believe that everything added up correctly and was accounted for as far as I could tell... so I think I'm actually square with them for now... *but* nobody from Princess ever contacted me... this went through the bank. So I'm curious if anyone else has received emailed statements that were missing entire weeks of a voyage... Or has had the "bank" get into the mix and send you a statement when the cruise line didn't. I suspect nobody is monitoring those form submissions through the "contact us" page. FOr the record, I used "Support Request"... did a pulldown under "What can we help you with?" of "Post Cruise Questions/Comments", and the "Topic" of "Onboard Folio Statement". The acknowledgement emails included the text: "We have received your inquiry and sincerely appreciate another opportunity to deliver the highest quality service to you. Below is a copy of the information you have sent to us. Due to the large volume of messages we are receiving, it may take us longer than usual to respond. We are working hard to make sure every request is handled accurately and efficiently." I'm passing this along in case this sort of thing happens to anyone else, they might have a clue how to handle it.

The medallion app has not been showing any availability in the Crown Grill… but I was able to make a reservation by calling. Also last night the main dIning room menus were not on the app… at all. they were there last week. The main dining room was pretty quiet last night - I think the buffet was pretty busy though.

For what it’s worth today 12 June internet is a little better today… was able to stream video for a few minutes… which hasn’t worked at all up to now.

There was a dance troupe rehearsing a jazz dance number on the Lido deck just a few minutes ago… kind of fun to watch.