lstone19

4 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Why would they change ship time for a port you were not stopping at?

I wondered that and asked! They wanted the ship on local time to avoid any confusion with the local port officials and canal pilots.

I asked this of one of the bridge officers (watch-standers) who work a 4 on / 8 off schedule. This was on Coral Princess which had just come from Alaska. I had incorrectly assumed that in Alaska the watch-standers stayed on Alaska time as Vancouver was the only port different from the other ports but he said they changed with the rest of the ship every cruise. The change for them is done by adding or removing 20 minutes to a watch making one 11 hour period where it's 3:40 on / 7:20 off or a 13 hour period where it's 4:20 on / 8:40 off.

I've never had a Princess ship not switch to local port time, even if it meant lots of changes. On a Pacific partial Panama Canal cruise last fall, after leaving Los Angeles, it was ahead two hours for two Mexican ports, then back an hour for a Guatemalan port, then ahead an hour for Panama (even though we didn't dock or tender there), then back an hour for Costa Rica and Nicaragua, then ahead an hour for another Mexican port, then back two hours for the return to Los Angeles.

30 minutes ago, npcl said:

They were using the ship tonnage (cargo carrying capacity) for the estimate in  the Costa Concordia article when they came up with the $400 figure.

Interesting way of doing it. Thanks for the clarification.

12 minutes ago, npcl said:

An article for the Costa Concordia  estimated $400 per ton in 2013. So your 100k  ton ship would be worth about 40 million as scrap at that price.  Iron ore commodity price is about 25% lower than in 2013 so the scrape price might also be lower.

A ship's tonnage is not its weight. It's a measure of it's cargo-carrying capacity. From Wikipedia: Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume or cargo volume of a ship. Tonnage should not be confused with displacement, which refers to the actual weight of the vessel. Tonnage is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping.

I have never seen displacement stats published for any Princess ship but some further checking suggests that the weight of the typical cruise ship is 50% or less of its gross tonnage. So a cruise ship published as 100,000 gross tonnage probably weights 50,000 tons or less with the metal content of that being even less.

6 hours ago, aimee0715 said:

I really hope Grand Princess is not on the chopping block. It was the first ship we sailed on and I love it so much!  Also, I hope it's not Pacific Princess.  We have not been on Pacific Princess but we have been on Azamara Journey which is the same "R" class ship.  We loved the size of the ship and the places you can go with a smaller ship.  I have been looking at Pacific Princess itineraries for 2021.  

I'd assume if they reduce the fleet, the biggest opportunity will be in the Grand-class ships. Grand as the oldest would make it a target. From reading some of the other notes, some people think it will just be the oldest ships but I'm hoping Princess has more sense than that and knows that long-term, there are markets that will require smaller ships even though they might be older. They need to keep something Panamax or smaller to go through the old Panama Canal locks - I personally would put Coral Princess at the top of the list of smaller ships to retain.

I can't see Sun Princess and Sea Princess being retained unless there's something about the Australian market that makes it worth doing so. If I had to pick four Grand-class ships to drop, it would be Grand, Caribbean, Diamond, and Sapphire (plus Star Princess whose exit is already planned). Grand and Caribbean because they're the oldest and Diamond and Sapphire because they're the only ships in the Grand or bigger part of the fleet not built at Fincantieri which means they probably have less in common with the rest of the fleet.

2 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Dont recall but an analyst   when I did a search of ccl. He said there will be a bloodbath Monday with regard to the stock. He could be wrong and Do not know how reliable. Lets see what happens tomorrow. 

Makes no sense at all. The market is always pricing in all known information. If bad news was expected Monday, it would already by priced in. CCL is expected to report earnings for the latest quarter soon (not sure of the date). Earnings will be bad but if better than expected, price will probably rise as the bad new is already priced in. If worse than expected, than it should go down more.

9 minutes ago, gmjc2 said:

It seems to me that the company you buy into should have a record of the number of shares a person owns! If they send out a meeting letter they must have some record, but yet Times Prince had a burden of proof!!

 

They don't. As I posted much earlier in the topic, when you hold the stock in your brokerage account (known as holding it in "street name" (street meaning Wall Street)), the brokerage is shown on the company's books as the owner. When a dividend is paid, the company sends it to the brokerage who then has the responsibility to send it on to the beneficial owner (that's you). Likewise when there's an annual report, notice of annual meeting, etc. to be distributed, the company sends them to the owner of record (the brokerage) and they then send them on to you. Most of that stuff is electronic these days but if you look at any emails you get about them, they come from the brokerage or the company the brokerage has hired to handle it - they do not come from the company itself. Bottom line is most companies do not know who most of their stockholders are.

3 minutes ago, gmjc2 said:

Anyone with cruise line shares----do you have a certificate and or any other documentation from them?

I called Carnival and was told that I just need the print out of the statement from my trading website! It seems so not "official" to me. 

Guess I am too picky!!

 

Since you, gmjc2, are in the U.S, when you hold the shares in a brokerage account ("street name" in Wall St. jargon), on the records of the company (e.g. Carnival), the brokerage is the owner. You are the beneficial owner by virtue of the brokerage holding the shares in your account for you (the only way to be the legal owner on the company's books is to have a certificate issued and these days, almost nobody does that as most brokerages charge to have a certificate issued). So in the end, it a copy of your brokerage statement that is the proof that you are the beneficial owner of the shares.

21 hours ago, Thrak said:

I just want to know how you can get Premium Economy for only $24 per person more than regular Economy. Every time I check stuff like that the price goes up by a very large amount. I just checked our flights and Economy is at approximately $1,200 per person. Premium Economy jumped it to $2,800 per person. This is how it always works whenever I have checked flights.

You are confusing two different products with different names. Economy Plus is coach seats with a few inches of additional leg room but otherwise the same seat. Premium Economy is an enhanced product with a better seat and better service that is only available on select planes that up until the COVID-19 crisis were only flown on select intercontinental routes. In many respects, Premium Economy is what Business Class was when the forward cabin was called First Class. But now that just about every airline has renamed the forward cabin Business Class, a new name was needed for the middle cabin product.

14 minutes ago, pb_uk said:

Captain is Dariusz Balana from Gdansk, Poland.

Thanks. I've sailed on Coral Princess under both Captain Balana and Captain McBain and both are good men.

Is Todd McBain currently captain on Coral Princess?

4 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

You just might have something there.

Following up myself, or, it just might be a service stop (fuel an/or supplies). A likely course from the eastern tip of Brazil to Ft. Lauderdale includes passing just north of Barbuda. Doing so via Barbados adds less than 50 miles to approximately 2,400 miles from the eastern tip of Brazil to Barbuda. 

MarineTraffic.com is showing Coral's destination as Bridgetown, Barbados on Mar 30 (Coral's bridge cam just says "At Sea"). Has anything been said onboard about Bridgetown? I wonder if they're working on a plan to take the European passengers off there. I can remember many years ago Princess had an Eastern Caribbean itinerary that embarked North American passengers in Ft. Lauderdale but European passengers in Bridgetown and Barbados is part of the British Commonwealth so it may be an easier port to use for repatriating the UK citizens (and possibly other Europeans) on the ship.

4 hours ago, Wichard said:

This morning there we new cruise cards valid for 3/20 thru 4/11 slipped under the cabin door.  In light of these events I am hopeful that the decision will be made to sail to Fort Lauderdale. 

 

My guess is they just picked a date far in the future, it being easier to issue new cards to cover that period than try to program the onboard systems (and in particular the cabin door locks) to honor expired cards (the old cards would probably not work to open cabin doors after their listed end date). I doubt there’s anything firm about 4/11 but doing so keeps things working for passengers.

12 minutes ago, BarbinMich said:

 

So the ED is superior to the CD?  I thought it was the other way around or that they were equals with the ED in charge of the entertainment on stage and the CD responsible for daily activities like trivia, etc.  

ED is definitely superior. ED is uniformed and wears 3-1/2 stripes (I believe) while the CD, although not in an officer's uniform is only a 3 stripe position (I may be incorrect about the number of stripes the ED wears but CD is definitely half a stripe less than the ED). ED is responsible for all entertainment department activities while the CD is second in command of entertainment and is generally the public face of the entertainment department. But they work closely together with the ED doing much of the behind the scenes work while the CD is out in public. But when needed, either will do what is needed just as the old Deputy Cruise Director position stepped up to fill the CD's shoes when needed.

6 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Thinking about it, but  concerns going in September and last sailing of the year? Will things in the towns be closed, crew on the ship be in bad mood. Weather crappy. etc. People who have cruise this late in the season, how was it?

I’m always surprised by people who think the crew will be in a “bad mood” as if they’re all going home as soon as the season (Alaska in this case) is over. The ship will be going elsewhere and most of the crew will still be with it. Crew members join and leave the ship at practically every port and while there will be some who will be going home after that cruise, there will be others who just joined the ship. Constant turnover of the crew keeps experience level high so you’re never on a cruise where the entire crew is new to the ship (maiden voyages obviously excepted).

5 minutes ago, travkesa said:

So if you were to go from Fairbanks you'd have the chance to see Denali and the national park there and just see more of Alaska in general. ...

 

Basically the difference is you'll see more of Alaska if you start in Fairbanks vs Anchorage. You'll end up going through Anchorage and possibly multiple times between the bus/train, or the airport if there isn't a direct flight to Fairbanks. To connect to the ship in Whittier you must go through Anchorage eventually.

No. Princess has cruise tours that start (SB) or end (NB) in both Fairbanks and Anchorage but no matter which you start or end in, they go to Denali. You can go Anchorage - Denali - ship or Fairbanks - Denali - ship with other stops also available depending on the length of tour. But the key part is you do not need start or end in Fairbanks to include Denali in the tour. Also going through Anchorage airport or through Anchorage on the train does not provide any opportunity to see Anchorage beyond what you see out the window. If you want to explore Anchorage, pick a tour that start or ends there. If you want to explore Fairbanks, pick a tour that starts or ends there.

14 hours ago, disneyochem said:

Your comment just highlights the need for people to do their homework and read the boards!  You can always cancel or change the included Denali tour with Princess.  Our tour included the TWT.  We canceled with Princess (was credited) and booked the Kantishna tour with a private vendor.

 

Would not have known about other tours if folks hadn’t pointed out the limitations on Princess tours.

I hope you realize that neither Princess nor anyone else other than the Park Service's concessionaire operate tours inside Denali Park. Whether you book the Kantishna Experience tour via Princess, some other outside vendor, or directly with the Park Service's concessionaire, you end on the same one or two buses that run that tour each day. The only difference would be any transportation the tour vendor provides between your lodging and tour bus terminal near the park Visitor's Center. When we did a cruisetour in 2018, we upgraded from the TWT to the Kantishna tour with Princess. I'm curious what benefit you feel you obtained by cancelling completely with Princess and booking the Kantishna tour with another vendor.

I’m assuming you’re on the Transatlantic cruise starting in Ft. Lauderdale as that is the only cruise on Sky Princess that would allow disembarkation in St. Petersburg without having embarked in St. Petersburg (other than the beginning and end of season TA cruises, the Baltic cruises on Sky Princess are all sold only as closed loop cruises). The TA is also sold as ending in Copenhagen (both with and without a full Baltic itinerary) and in Warnemunde or Rostock (for Berlin). Would switching to the Warnemunde / Rostock version of the cruise be option? Same cruise except it ends three days earlier than your scheduled end in St. Petersburg.

2 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Then again, how mobile/adventurous are you?  Are you willing to change ports?  For instance, in the Med, you could take a cruise that ends in Barcelona.  The same day catch a cruiseferry  to Civitavecchia (Rome) that would leave in the evening and take about 20 hours.  Spend the night in Civitavecchia and sail from there the next day on a different cruise.

 

From my experience, the overnight cruiseferries are like a small cruise ship. A few years back, we did so in the Baltic ending the land part of our trip in Oslo, taking the cruiseferry to Copenhagen, and boarding a Princess ship there. Only difference from a regular cruise was meals were not included and no luggage handling (most people just have overnight bags, particularly if their car is down on one of the vehicle decks - we had no issue with wheeling our large cruise suitcases on and off - just waited a few minutes for disembarkation crowds to thin out).

23 minutes ago, gottagocit said:

Look into some of the 14 day voyages princess offered in the Med. Often the first 7 days are say Rome to Athens with second 7 being the reverse. However it’s common for the ports to be different on each leg. 

Actually (as we have this booked for 2021), the main ship in the Med does a rotation of three 7-night one-ways: Rome to Athens, Athens to Barcelona, and Barcelona to Rome. From each port, you can book 7, 14, or 21 nights. There is only one port that is duplicated (at least in 2021 as the itineraries currently exist) and that is Naples (on both Rome to Athens and Athens to Barcelona).

15 minutes ago, s433542 said:

I just talk with them again, still non refundable, and could not be used on a future cruise. 😂

I'm not familiar with the company you mentioned above (and if it's a travel agency, you're not supposed to mention them by name on CruiseCritic) but assuming they are, when you put down your deposit, how was it paid and if it was by credit or debit card, was the charge in the travel agency's name or Princess Cruises. If the travel agency's name, I suspect they're holding back that part as a cancellation penalty even though Princess has refunded it to them. If so, first, never do business with them again (I consider such behavior unethical) and second, consider a chargeback, if able, with your credit card issuer. And ask them why they are not refunding it since the cruise was involuntarily cancelled by Princess and was not cancelled by you. If the charge was by Princess and the credit back to you was also from Princess (as shown on your card statement), then you need to push on them more as to what is going on. 100% refund means 100% refund.

23 minutes ago, s433542 said:

I had a cruise reservation for the Diamond Princess on Feb 20 (M006D) which was canceled by Princess Cruises with full refund.

 

The reservation was booked on CruiseDirect and the payment have a non-refundable deposit.

Last week, I received my "full refund" from Princess Cruises and the non-refundable deposit is not included.

I contact the CruiseDirect support, they said that it's impossible to get it back since it is non refundable.

As Princess cancelled the cruise, everything, including anything that was previously non-refundable, is now refundable. You need to get back to them and remind them that Princess cancelled the cruise, not you.

You can get chips at the table charged to your stateroom account. There is no surcharge on Princess and the chips can then be cashed out for cash at the cashier.

1 hour ago, oldfashioncruiser said:

I have never heard of them before.   How do you get them?

They were part of the Anniversary Sale and Cyber Sale between 3 For Free (or 3 Included as I prefer to say) and Best. Sale. Ever.