SiliconCruiser

We were on the Ruby back in July and also had the Pub Lunch on one of the sea days in Da Vinci, which was the regular dining room for lunch. Odd part about the whole thing was that there was no lunch menu listed that day either on the TV or in the Medallion app. We only stumbled upon it, when we went to check to see if Da Vinci was open for lunch that day. They did have the Pub Lunch menu posted on the wall.

Isn't that the same procedure at any U.S. port for b2b's?

I was going to say the same thing. Smoked cigarettes, cigars, and pipes for close to 50 years before I quit. But these days, cigarettes do stink (though in sympathy, I seldom object to it unless it is in a non-smoking area.)

We usually request the latest disembarkation so that we can go to the MDR for a leisurely breakfast before leaving. In the case of Port Everglades, we were on a b2b. The folks that were b2b were escorted as a group off the ship through a cursory CBP check, and then back onto the ship. We didn't go back on, as we were meeting someone in Ft. Lauderdale. Before we left, they gave us instructions for expedited boarding, by-passing the embarkation passengers.

The last time that I used the app was in December 2019, before the world got locked down. Once I removed and replaced the app with the more recent one, I was able to order WiFi on the new app that tI downloaded. I selected the 4 device package, and was charged $100 for a 10 day cruise. Pretty much straight forward, nothing like what Princess had on their website where it indicated that I would be charged $20 per day and receive $10 per day in OBC. https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ocean-medallion/medallionnet/ Sounds like they might be charging to full price now and Platinum/Elite folks might get a 50% OBC?

I tried that with one of their "advisors"; they said they couldn't put in the order but I should be able to in the Medallion app. I couldn't. At no point, did they suggest installing the current version. Retirement can make you oblivious, even if you spent 35 years in the industry. But it did occur to me that I might try deleting the one that I had on my phone and tablet (they were all pre-pandemic,) and installing whatever they had at the Android store. Sure enough that made the purchase possible. Apparently their software does not check to see if you have a current version. With regard to the purchase, Princess indicated that Platinum/Elite status passengers would receive a 50% OBC. Never happened for me, they just charged me 50% of the price.

I don't trust anything from Princess. Seems that if you don't like their answer just check again until you get the answer you want. But when you get to the port, some Cruise Metro employee will authoritatively tell you something else (bear in mind that they are usually seniors working a part-time on-call job with minimal information, so that have to make it up on their own.)

It's not.

Seems that there are former long term employees (20+ years) that also blame the decline of the Princess brand on Jan Swartz.

Oh! I didn't know about that. When I used it last month it went pretty smooth. Thanks for the update.

Yeah, I know. But if he is Elite, the prices should be one half of that.

I hope that is the full price not taking into account your Elite status discount?

I used the online chat to find out if I had to test before the first cruise portion of our three bookings or if I had to find a place to test before our last segment that would end in Vancouver. While I tend to take any communication from Princess with a grain of salt for veracity, the person that I contacted said that we would receive a complimentary test on board the ship either towards the end of the second segment or at the beginning of the segment going to Vancouver. Of course, there is the potential that all this could change before next April.

But to put things in perspective, we paid $100 for 10 days on the 4 device package ... which is a little over $30 more than we pay per month for a 1gbs fiber connection at home. I measured the speed of the internet connection on the ship and it was about 3 mbs.

You would log each device in if you get the 4 device package. If you have more than 4 devices, then you would need to log of one and then log in with the new device. In terms of pricing, it is $10/day for a single device, or $20/day for 4 devices (with a 50% discount if you are Platinum or Elite) if you purchase it pre-cruise, for the entire length of the cruise. e.g. for a 10 day cruise, you would pay $200 for the 4 device package (or 50% of that depending on status.) The 4 device package worked well for me and my wife; as we could have our phones and our tablets logged in simultaneously. Also, if your phone has wi-fi calling capability you can use it while in airplane mode. I had initially planned on using my Google Voice number, but I got a phone call on my regular number (while in airplane mode) something to do with extended warranty on my car🤣

Most of the larger hotels will have airport pickups either exclusive to the hotel or a shared shuttle that makes stops at various hotels. The type of hotel would be determined by your allocated budget. If it is a hotel that does not have a shuttle, you can always use a cab or ride-share service. As for transportation to the pier, a frugal friend of mine figured out that it was more convenient and cheaper to use Uber than to go back to the airport to catch the more expensive Princess transfer to the port.

We did a San Francisco-Alaska closed loop in the middle of July and our passports expired in the first week of August. This may be another case of Princess contradicting themselves where they will require a passport to board, yet they also list a number of closed loop cruises as not requiring a passport at https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/cruise-destinations/cruise-tips-advice-and-information/cruises-that-dont-require-a-passport.html . I think I missed the part about your stepfather being a naturalized citizen. But his valid passport will be fine.

Thank you! I didn't see that portion. I guess we may have to cancel the last leg, since it is the last leg of a b2b2b that ends in Vancouver, or find someplace to do an antigen test in Seattle.

I'm beginning to think that you will be a great resource to the Princess Legal department..

The first embarkation point would be San Francisco the disembarkation point would be Vancouver, and then the embarkation for the final leg would be from Vancouver to Seattle. I thank you for your offerings, but I suspect that Princess' expertise or lack thereof is the final determining factor.

I think a lot of the conflicting information may arise from the Canadian government indicating that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to undergo pre-entry testing, but someone from Princess has chosen to interpret that differently. That same misinterpretation from Princess employees cost me hundreds of dollars for a China visa for a Shanghai port call, when Shanghai clearly stated that they had a 96 hour free transit policy where visas were not required. Talking to Princess was like talking to a wall where they could only parrot what they were given. Calls to the Chinese consulate were even less informative when they said "you need to call Shangai". I must have been a total idiot to think that Shanghai was part of China. The reality of it all was that the Chinese were on the ship from Hong Kong gorging themselves in the buffet, and when we got to Shanghai, we found that the entire port was unmanned (yup, including the 96 hour free-transit lane.) But the contractors that had control of the port had the port shut down to most who were attempting to pick up people from the port and had not paid their bribes. So when you hear of that $7M estate that was purchased by a Chinese national for $12M site unseen, you can probably guess where the money came from (this information was relayed to me by a Taiwanese contractor working in Shanghai.) Simply stated as "bribe money".

Electronic, no dealer.

That is not the way that Princess interpreted it according to their "legal" dept. I had to dig a lot to find something that might even be appropriate, but their justification was that sailing from San Francisco to Victoria/Vancouver, and then sailing from Vancouver to Seattle on a separate booking, albeit on the same ship did not satisfy the PVSA requirements. I actually found something that might be applicable, perhaps that is also where the legal-beagle arrived at their conclusion as well. But if the only cruise that I was booked on was YVR-SEA, then it would have been okay. Go figure.

I think your reference to an over-zealous employee in an earlier post might explain much of the information that is on the Princess web site; that's the person they probably ran it up the pole to. There are some people that may be misled by incorrect information just because of it. I had Princess cancel a cruise that I had booked from Vancouver to Seattle (repo) b2b2b2b. They said that it would be in violation of the PVSA because of the other legs that I had booked, but couldn't give me any more information. Then they said it came from their legal department, but when I asked to speak to the individual in their legal department I was told that they would not speak to me. I finally did pull out the PVSA (DHS site) and it took a little digging, but I found an example that might have been applicable (San Diego-Ensenada.)

Actually Canada offers an exemption from testing to fully vaccinated passengers. "Pre-entry tests are not required for fully vaccinated travellers entering Canada by land, air or water. You must still use ArriveCAN within 72 hours before your arrival to Canada." from https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/covid-vaccinated-travellers-entering-canada#pre-entry While we had to be tested for an Alaskan cruise last month, there was no additional testing 2-3 days before we docked at Prince Rupert. No one there to there to check the ArriveCan (the Canadian officials would have already received that information when the app was completed.) And all passport information would have been transmitted from the ship.