Renmar

Staring out the window in Covid prison.

Couldn't resist ,sorry

Theo

I sent a request to Princess in the beginning of July regarding bringing my "folding" bicycle on board. So far I did not get a reply either yah or nah so I decide to not press my luck and left the bike at home.

Now we are on the Royal Princess and just out of curiosity I asked at the service desk what they think of bringing a bicycle (folding or otherwise)on board. Their answer, after checking by phone probably with HO; 

"As long as you are not planning to ride it on the ship you are good to go, NO objection".

Next time I will bring it.

Theo

6 hours ago, sloopsailor said:

 

Hmm, I hope that was a one off. If they change it to only one dining room, I'll change them all back with the app. It took me less than five minutes using the app to set them up in the first place. We aren't dining at the same time every evening anyway. 

 

That was not our experience. We are currently on the Royal and having a very hard time to reserve our dining times. We tried several different routes like trying to change it in the app, talking to the dine-line people and also talking to the head waiters in the dining rooms. We finally managed to nail down some times in the Allegro dining room and alternating with the Concerto dining room.

We like the old system of anytime dining better but it is what it is.

Theo

On 8/4/2022 at 8:23 AM, dreaminofcruisin said:

I've been looking for more specific cabins lately and have noticed Princess is very inconsistent on their numbering of cabins. I have even seen that on the port side vs the starboard side it isn't always consistent.

Don't overthink it.

Just find a cabin you like and book it by the identified number.

☺️

There are no cabins on Princess ship that end with 00, so 200-300-400 etcetera are not to be found. Neither is the # 13 used. The wonkiness between the starboard and port ## has a lot the do with the numbering of the inside cabins. When I still had my website of obstructed view cabins I noticed that. I always thought that the starboard numbering was a spitting image of the Portside and follows the same sequence as the Port side but that does not always true, it has a lot of times to do with the location of inside cabins.

Theo

4 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

They keep moving us to a mid-ship cabin. Most of the other cabins around the one we booked are taken but a few are still showing as available. It's an aft, inside cabin on Riviera Deck. 

Definitely NOT a quarantine cabin, AFAIK they only use balcony cabins for quarantine so people can get fresh air.

Theo

To answer the OP's question;

On Princess ships, Yes.

Theo

2 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

You need to check different cruise lines. Not all the same.

We are talking Princess on this board. Different cruise line, different board. For instance some Disney cruise ships use even # on either Port & Starboard, the odd # are reserved for inside cabins.

Theo

A picture is a thousand words

5 hours ago, wallyj said:

Depending on how ‘good’ friends you are with this couple, you could book one of them with one of you, since it appears they are getting the ‘better’ fare, then switch on board to your respective mates.

 

Seems to be more than just ‘past passenger’ rate, as you would be entitled.

We did this a few times and it works very well. We are Elite and our friends are not (yet). Princess doesn't care who sleeps with who😉.

Theo

11 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

That's not even counting the other berth with another ship in town.

 

For us, we will be there the same day as the Radiance. In theory between two ships, it could be upwards of 5K+ people in town - depending on how full both sailings will be.

 

 

Especially with our sailing being a late change, many people will have no tours planned given the last minute change to a port they haven't researched.

 

The line for the free gondola ride at ISP could rival Disneyland like wait time.

We will be in ISP on August 10 aboard the Royal (just changed from Skagway) and according to the port schedule there are 2 more behemoths in port, the Norwegian Bliss & the Quantum of the seas. Even of all 3 of them sail at 60% capacity there will be still about 8000 passengers in this small town. I whish that they had changed to Haines. So far there are no ships planned for Haines on August 10.

Theo

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

Theo! You've become a rare presence here on CC. Only a month now before your big trip. We will miss you on our December Panama Canal cruise but we certainly can't blame you for doing your other trip instead. It sounds fantastic. It was great to visit with you after our May cruise. Take care of each other and have a wonderful time.

Thanks Michael, we'll chat soon.

Theo

And here you can find the whole story.

https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/01/the-origin-of-port-and-starboard/

Theo

I tried the chat function but it could not answer my question so I phoned Princess to find out. After about 30 minutes they answered but the very helpful & friendly lady did not have the answer either so she said she would connect me with their solution department but there could be a "bit" of waiting time. After 5 hours (yes, I am a patience person) of listening to their awful music and about 300 messages that said that they were helping other clients. I got disconnected by them.  Needless to say I am not impressed.

I will try again first thing in the morning, maybe better luck.

Theo

On 7/23/2022 at 10:28 AM, donaldsc said:

This is an old post but I will respond anyway. 

 

1) People want to ride their bikes on land off the ship.

2) Princess does not allow folding bikes to be brought on board.

3) There are lines that do allow folding bikes on board.

4) The bikers still cruise on Princess.

 

What am I missing here?

 

DON

Can you please point out to me where it says no "folding" bicycles. I am only asking because they might have changed their policy for "folding" bicycles. I also tried to get a hold of somebody at Princess who can give me an answer but so far I am unable to get connected with their solution department.

Theo

I know,  18 months later but I give it a shot.

Any new development on this topic. I also want to bring my folding bike on board to use it in the ports.

Theo

9 hours ago, John Bull said:

No wonder you know so much about the area, I looked up your location 😁.

Theo

9 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

JB 🙂

 

 

 

 

51 minutes ago, John Bull said:

Hi, Theo,

 

Yes, there'll be a line of taxis at the cruise terminal.

But these are metered taxis, fine for a hop of a few miles but expensive for the 20 miles to Portsmouth.

Because the destination is outside Southampton city limits you can barter a price if the driver agrees - or the driver can decline that journey, leaving you to lobby the line.

So far better & cheaper to pre-book a fixed-price private transfer, for example ....

https://westquaycars.com/

https://aquacars.co.uk/

http://www.southamptontaxis.net/

https://gunwharf-executive-travel.co.uk/

 

Or by train to Portsmouth Harbour.

Or by National Express bus to  Portsmouth International Port and then Portsmouth Harbour.

 

Is this for a cross-Channel ferry to France or the Channel Islands?

They all depart from Portsmouth International Port.

if you're looking for a hotel it means you'll be spending some time in Portsmouth - the only hotel at the International Port is a Premier Inn, and there are very  very few local facilities. So  unless perhaps you're booked on a ferry at daft o'clock in the morning, you'd do better to book a hotel close to amenities  - shops, restaurants, pubs, attractions, etc.

 

Two areas to consider ............

 

Near The Hard / Portsmouth Harbour, a 5-minute taxi ride from the International Port.

The Isle of Wight ferries sail from Portsmouth Harbour.

Portsmouth Harbour is handy for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard - a day's-worth of attractions, including Nelson's HMS Victory (still a commissioned warship), the ironclad Warrior and Henry V111's Mary Rose, and a variety of displays in the dockyard buildings.

And the Gunwharf Quays shopping / entertainment complex with its iconic Spinnaker Tower.

I'd recommend Holiday Inn Express in Gunwharf Quays, or for something a bit different the Royal Maritime Club - originally for sailors, now a very good quirky 3-star hotel with maritime connections and usually a sprinkling of Royal Navy clientele.

 

Or Southsea seafront, a ten-minute taxi ride from the International Port or a five-minute bus ride from Portsmouth Harbour.

Portsmouth & Southsea are conjoined cities- only locals know where the boundary is.

But whereas Portsmouth is a Navy city, Southsea is a vacation resort city.

Pebbled beach, waterfront promenade with views to the Isle of Wight, D-Day museum, Henry V111's diminutive Southsea Castle, ice-creams and candy-floss and kiss-me-quick hats.

Best-known hotel is The Queen's Hotel, but there's a very wide selection.

 

https://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/

 

https://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/

 

https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/exhiportsmouth

 

https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/royal-maritime-club

 

JB 🙂

 

 

 

 

Thanks @John Bullfor the information.  Yes, the idea is to take the ferry to Caen the day after arrival in Southampton. We will be staying in a hotel in Portsmouth (probably Travelodge) for 1 night because we need to take the early ferry (our son picks us up in Caen).

I will try to book with one of the taxi companies as you suggested.

Again, thanks a lot.

Theo

We will be on our first Cunard cruise August 28 aboard the QM2 for the 7 day crossing New York to Southampton. Our plan is to take a taxi from the cruise port to the Portsmouth ferry terminal (or at least to a hotel close by the terminal). Should we arrange for a taxi before arrival or are there enough taxis at the port in Southampton?

Anybody on these boards have done that? Any help is much appreciated.

Theo

E428 has a slightly larger balcony than most cabins. The obstruction is when you standing at the railing and look down you see the promenade deck. Also, looking forward and aft you will see the lifeboats. There are pictures on a well known cruise deck plan website. 

Theo

Two weeks later and still trying; 

Result from the help desk of Princess. Tried all the options available at the "contact us" button. Note the bottom of the form, this shows every time.

10 minutes ago, bren51 said:

We have never received whiskey in mini bar setup and we have been on 30 cruises with Princess.  Is this something new?  

Luck of the draw I guess. We had mini bar with and without.

Theo

10 hours ago, brisalta said:

Try clearing the browser cache.

Did that. Also restarted laptop-tablet & phone.

Still same result

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Maybe the people who developed the app have been assigned to work on the computer interface software.

I hope not.

Theo

After trying all of the suggestions mentioned here I think I have to give up.

The website shows I am logged in but the only thing that is happening is that little Processing gismo in the middle keeps spinning forever and if I try to click on any other place it sends me back to square one.

Maybe they don't want me anymore 🤥.

Theo

I tried that too but still the same result. Thanks for the reply.

Theo

For the last week or so I can't log in to the Princess website. Get this message every time.

Anybody else have the same problem?

Theo