HaveDogWillTravel

1 hour ago, IpswichChris said:

Yup, that's exactly what happened...my TA called Windstar and we got the all-in packages, didn't have to cancel and re-book.  We hadn't made final payment yet and more than 180 days from sailing, so it worked😀

That’s great!

Oh and no folio for me either. I last disembarked a princess ship Jan 4th of this year and the folio was in an email before I got to my hotel after the cruise.  I had a balance due at the end of this cruise and it has been correctly billed to my card (I always take a screen shot of my folio last night of the cruise).  

@Cruise RaiderI am sorry you are having to chase down that spectacular prize.  We have enough videos and photos to remind corporate of it though lol. They made a huge production about giving that prize!  

@beg3yrs We saw you at the Marriage show!  You two were adorable!  I will not tell your secrets. 😇We didn’t stay for the second half so I don’t know if you won or not.  

@Cruise Raider my dear friend, thank you for doing this review.  As always a beautiful job.  

I agree with everyone’s comments regarding Captain Tony.  He even graciously signed the Stanley Bear I gave the 11 year old in our group who was on her very first cruise and saw her very first eclipse.  We also had an 80 year old in our group on his first cruise & first eclipse! 

Renee was simply as charming and lovely as @Hulagirlsaid.  It was lovely to meet @Hulagirl @dreams_of_travel @SharB  @Fun4sure @rheathslc and @Thrak  I do wish I had been able to meet others as well.  

The concierge lounge on Discovery was quite nice.  They had wonderful food and the adult beverages in the evening were great quality.  They even threw @Hulagirl a birthday party with the Mariachi band and a big buffet set up in the adjoining chapel!  LOL.  Yes it really was just a coincidence that the Mexican themed party in the lounge coincided with your birthday….nice all the same.  🙂 

Woz gave a great talk.  As the theater was packed we were really happy to find his talk on the TV later.  Ivan said he was a very low maintenance passenger and did not want any special treatment.  After hearing his talk it became clear that it really never was about money for him.  It was always about the excitement of what technology could do and become.  He was very transparent about his abilities and the stories he told about how he used them were amusing.  As we disembarked Ivan told us that Woz had hacked into their satellite system. The gist of it was  something about a game he wanted to watch and whatever he was using to watch it was not working so he just hacked into the satellite to watch it.  That fit right in with the mischievous techy boy attitude (which btw is a compliment) I witnessed during his talk.  He is just like all of Adam’s friends in the tech industry (he’s been in that industry for 24 years now).  Just a down to earth guy who sees himself as very talented nerd.  

There was definitely  a palpable excitement among everyone, crew and passengers alike, leading up to the eclipse.  And the shared feelings about the experience afterwards were simply amazing. The only other experience that comes close to this would be the Inaugural sailing on the Majestic following the Pause back on July 25th 2021.  @Cruise Raider was with me on that one as well.  

On 4/15/2024 at 4:55 PM, IpswichChris said:

That is such great info!  I thought that travel insurance was completely inflexible. I’ll call Allianz & if insurance is transferrable to a new booking, I’ll see what cabins are available if I cancel & rebook👍

 

Whenever I need a refare like this, my Windstar consultant sends it off to corporate and then I get sent a new set of documents.  Same booking number. So there is no need to cancel and rebook. 

On 4/6/2024 at 12:11 PM, JimmyVWine said:

But they would still wear a lapel pin.  It is as much a part of their "uniform" as stripes are to a ship's officer.

In 2023 I tried to work with the sommeliers on Sapphire and Emerald. I knew far more about wines and the proper glassware for different ones than they did. The most frustrating discussions were when they blathered on stating absolute nonsense yet insisted they were correct. 
After two sailings I just gave up.  They did not have real sommelier training and did not wear pins. 
 

While I do enjoy a real sommelier’s input it’s pretty low on my wish list for Princess. My wish is just stock and sell a variety of good wines…….in particular dry whites & roses.  They typically have only one good white and one good rose by the glass. I hate drinking the same wine for 14-30 plus days. I’m really tired of bringing my own too. 

3 hours ago, esad9556 said:

Yes it was just luck.🤣

But your TA beat us out by a minute.

We met the family in the other sky suite (wonderful people too!) and I think they beat you out by a minute. One of the first things they asked me was how did I beat them to the sky suite?  Mine was the first to be booked followed a second or two later by their booking. And the rest is history.  I won’t lie, in the beginning that expense was pretty difficult to justify but in the end I wouldn’t have done it any other way. We had 14 friends and 5 new friends ( @Thrakand his other half among them) to share that incredible space with.  We made memories that will be treasured for a lifetime. Absolutely priceless. 
 

I have an excellent Princess CVP not a TA.  

17 hours ago, fedexretiree said:

THANKS for this info!  This is what we are going to do!

@ReadyToCruise2 gave the most complete & correct answer.  They are absolutely spot on. 
Book the standard fare and then add any extras once onboard with OBC. 

The only thing that you might want to buy before boarding is the cases of water if you are not getting a package and want bottled water. It’s $7 for 12 before boarding and then $2.50 a half liter bottle onboard if you don’t have a package. 

And yes a good Princess CVP can remove a Plus or Premier package if that’s the fare you booked and revert it to a standard fare. If you’ve already made final payment the refund will be $60 or $80 per day depending on the package back to the credit card used to book the cruise otherwise you’ll just get an updated travel summary with a the same booking number. Go to your CC meet & greet and ask for recommendations for a good Princess CVP. 

Will they sell out?  I would say no after my recent experience on the Discovery March 31 of this year.  Our little 3 day Easter weekend sailing out of San Pedro was oversold with 4200 passengers (3600 is considered a full ship). My friends boarded and were able to purchase the premier package (drinks, specialty dining, grats, WiFi, blah, blah blah…..) without issue.  If ever they were going to limit the number of packages (especially premier with that specialty dining benefit) it would have been on this 3 day, oversold ship.  

The disembarkation perk was one of my favorite perks of all. 
We did not put our bags outside the night before. Instead Ivan came and picked them up at 6:30 am on disembarkation day. We had a nice relaxing breakfast in Sabatini’s then waited in the Sky Suite until Ivan came to escort us down around 8:15. 
 

We had a dedicated elevator, a special immigration clerk with no line, a dedicated porter with all our luggage already loaded and he walked us behind the scenes where no other passengers could be to the street. It was seriously such a no stress way to end the cruise.  

On 4/13/2024 at 9:23 AM, Suite Susie said:

Wow that look incredible. With our Sky Suite rapidly approaching in 2 weeks, this makes me very excited, but tinged with anxiety as there is now some doubt that we will be able to travel. You have made some incredible memories that you will treasure for ever. 

Yes we did!  I do hope you are able to take your sky suite sailing. 
Our farewell tea had to be held inside due to weather. I was a little concerned about space for 15 people but it worked out great!  
 

We all shared what we loved best about the cruise (besides the eclipse of course!). 
 

We couldn’t believe it when one of our group won the free 7 day balcony cabin sailing on discovery from having the premier package!

I just requested a refare on a little 7 day Rome to Barcelona Wind Spirit sailing for this fall. I will lose $100 pp OBC but gain the All In package, grats, WiFi and drinks, at no additional charge. IOW my cruise fare is the same but now I have the All In.  The sale lasts thru June and seems to apply to many (if not all?) 2024 sailings. 

We usually send our laundry daily. we take pictures of what we send as well. Smaller batches are easier to track if something goes missing. Which btw has never happened to us. We’ve used the laundry service many hundreds of times without issue. I do not send anything I would be truly sad to find ruined or lost though. 
 

There is no limit to how much or how often you send.  Of course we have never sent anything but our own clothing.  I’m not sure what happens if someone tries to send friends/family members’ clothes. Not that you would. But it’s the only instance I can think of where a limit might be imposed. 

18 hours ago, MacMadame said:

How did you know which side to book on or was it just luck you could see it from your balcony? (Asking for 2026 planning.)

Just luck. We were on the port side and the captain had the ship positioned for starboard viewing. If you look on the deck plans for Discovery you’ll see those Sky Suites on Deck 18 have 270 degree balconies.  The sun was so high in the sky we were able to see totality from the forward and aft sections of our balcony. We were so fortunate because the port side section was entirely in shade providing great relief from the heat. 
I don’t think there’s any way to really know with any certainty how the captain will position the ship until you are either onboard or really close to sailing.  We just picked the cabin we wanted and figured we’d work out the rest. 

32 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Love it!!!  Hey, what's more important on a cruise ship?  A celestial event, or food!!!!  😁

 

Do you have a link to the 2026 Cunard cruise? Can't find anything on their website.

There’s a link in this thread to all the Cunard 2026 eclipse sailings 

Captain Tony also delayed moving our clocks ahead. That’s why our eclipse was at 11:02 ships time instead of noon. 
He did not want the eclipse to conflict with lunch service. And he gave the crew the time on upper decks to also experience this amazing event. 
I LOVE Captain Tony! 

We received this great letter on nice cardstock when we embarked explaining where we’d be and how to best view the eclipse. And then we were given this lovely certificate afterwards. Princess delivered solar glasses to all cabins the day before. 

On Discovery, we are all having way too good a time to focus on a live from. But I did think about it!  
 

The Captain and crew made the eclipse the focus of our life on board with enrichment lectures, themed trivia, games, star gazing nightly and special events like the planetarium set up in the theater.  Our ship was so stable during the eclipse that our telescopes gave outstanding views. We set them all up on our balcony, not on the public spaces. 
 

Two nights ago we also had amazing clear skies and had excellent star gazing with our own telescopes. Service, food and entertainment has been outstanding.  
 

I would definitely choose Princess for another eclipse cruise.  I would be shocked if Princess did not continue to offer these. 

I’ll post some pictures if they will load. 
 

Ivan continues to exceed all our expectations. This is amazing as we had very high expectations to begin with.
 

 Our UBD for 12 was executed perfectly.  We had 4 crew to serve. It was a bit windy but quite manageable. I was so impressed that Ivan had the beautiful Bellini champagne glasses sent up. Unfortunately the wind took out 3 of them so we decided to have them removed. He had Riedel red and whit wine glasses sent and those did fine. 
 

Ivan gifted us 2 bottles of a nice cab and 2 bottles of nice Chardonnay.  The Chardonnay was the favorite of one of our guests and he went to a half dozen bars before he found 2 of the few remaining bottles on board. We traded the 6 half bottles of canyon road wine that I don’t care for with 2 bottles of a nice Sauvignon blanc. I brought 3 bottles of champagne on board so the quality of the wines now matched the quality of the food. 
 
Getting all 12 meals from deck 5 (or 6 ? I forget which he said) to deck 18 hot was certainly a logistical challenge that the crew absolutely nailed. We were blown away by how perfectly cooked and hot each course was. I will post some pictures. Unfortunately the salad did not get a picture but it was stunning. Greens, caramelized pears, creamy mild goat cheese, walnuts with a delicious specially crafted dressing. We also had small tapas to start that were amazing. 

@safarigalWe were wondering why the Emerald had the aft facing the sun. Our captain said your class of ship was best kept stable in that position.  I’m glad to hear everyone had a great view. 
I too am wondering about ease of viewing with an 8:30 of so totality. Sunset will be around 9:41 so the sun should be reasonably high but not as good at yesterday!

Here off the coast in Mazatlan we had scattered clouds but none blocking the sun. The captain kept the ship steady and our telescopes worked great!  The 360 sunset effect was really spectacular at sea. Four minutes went by so incredibly fast. 
Comparing this to 2017 when we were on land and on a farm I did miss the silencing and then reawakening of the birds, roosters, cows and so on. But I loved not having to deal with traffic or crowds after the eclipse. This was so relaxing and comfortable.    I will definitely want to book cruises for my future eclipse viewing.  

4 hours ago, Happydude100 said:

Hi. Watching a total eclipse is on my bucket list. Never been on a cruise before. Thinking the La Coruna cruise that takes in the eclipse. Do  people think this cruise plus the chance to see the eclipse is worth it? 

We will be monitoring all offerings by all lines for the best experience. I do plan on posting if a more dedicated eclipse experience sailing becomes available.  Right now Cunard seems to be treating the eclipse as an afterthought on this sailing. 

 I am on the Discovery Princess right now sailing into Mazatlan. We will be sailing on center line tomorrow for the total eclipse. I saw the 2017 eclipse in Madras Oregon and am excited to experience one at sea. 
 

Eclipses are hard to explain. Once you’ve seen it you’ll get why people get so thrilled by them. 
 

I’ll post and try to explain the experience at sea as best as I can after tomorrow.  

39 minutes ago, Ehg said:

It’s the WiFi that I was particularly interested in as I’m sure last time we had included WiFi for 4 devices but our TA had said it wasn’t included. 
 

We won’t have the drinks package because with all the included alcohol I don’t think we will need it but would have been a bit peeved to have to buy WiFi. 

WiFi is not included. We are elite and bought the 4 device plane at 50% off. Adam uses 2 and I  use 2. 
‘Agreed there is no need for a drinks package as there is ample beer, wine and cocktails provided.  

Our SEM, Ivan and his army of colleagues have continued to wow us at every turn. 

1. He arranged for the florist to meet with me at my convenience to design bouquets for delivery to 5 cabins of my travel friends.

2. He arranged a tour of the bridge for us and 5 of my friends. When he found out that my best friend, who he has basically been extending all our perks to, didn’t make my list (we have 14 really close friends on board and it was hard to choose) he personally extended the invitation to her. 
3. He fixed an error I made on the time of a cabana booking in the sanctuary, even though the sanctuary is completely sold out for the whole cruise. 
4. He personally brought up an entire bag of hot cocoa mix (and mugs) for the 11 yo traveling with us when he found out this was her heart’s desire. 
5. He is getting us 5 tickets to the special planetarium that is being set up on the ship as a special event. This has limited tickets available and we will not have to stand in line and hope to be lucky. 
 

It boggles the mind at how he manages to get all of this done for us. He is simply amazing. 

On 3/29/2024 at 5:57 AM, 20165 said:

Does anyone have recommendations or history tipping the concierge on a per request bases and how much per request?  We are sailing next month on Enchanted and will most likely use them quite a bit given we are having a hard time getting dinner reservation, the spa times we want,  and we are going to ask them if they can get us a cabana which i know is a tall order but if they are successful, how much would you tip for that kind of request?

I read online that the recommendation for a regular concierge at a hotel is $5-20 depending on complexity of the request so would that apply here?

And before we go down a rabbit hole, i know some people dont use or tip the concierge, we are going to and would like to try per request this time vs. the end of the cruise tip like we usually do.

thanks

 

The concierge expects to make your specialty dining reservations, be your go to instead of you having to go to guest services and stand in line, arranging a tea for you and your cabin mates to be delivered and other small asks.  If these are the only requests I make then I do not tip extra.

These are the requests I’ve made that I feel go above and beyond

1. Arranging for MDR chicken korma lunch (with all the toppings) to be sent up for us and 6 friends.  Timed perfectly to be waiting in the cabin fresh and hot when we all returned from a lecture we didn’t want to miss as it ran during lunch time. 
2. Arranging an afternoon tea for 10 people with customized requests for sandwiches, cookies & pastries

3. Arranging for MDR dinners for us and several guests to be sent up to our suite. 

For these I tip at the end (always with an handwritten thank you) and it averages out to about $20 per request. Just depends on how many times I ask for extras like this. 
 

I just posted an extensive list of things that our suite experience manager, Ivan, has arranged for us on the Sky Princess Sky Suite thread (we are on Discovery but that thread has evolved into all things Sky Suite). When you read that list you might understand why his tip will easily far exceed $100.  

We had our second afternoon tea today. We were having so much fun I completely zoned out on taking pictures!  It was even better than the first one which we thought was fabulous.  The whole team pulled out all the stops and made a beautiful presentation.  
 

Our cocktail party on the sky deck is on the 6th. I’ll be sure to take pictures of it.  
 

49 minutes ago, Ehg said:

This is very helpful. I think you missed my question about included laundry. It was definitely included last time but I noticed it was not on the list of benefits for SS although it was for other suites, which I thought must be a mistake….?

Ivan confirmed free laundry is included. The sky suite has all the perks of full suites