rebeccac

I know I need to get a new phone and I'm hoping that is the only issue here. It's an S8 and it is running Android 9, but can no longer be updated any further. I don't have an NCL cruise until 2025, so I guess that will be my goal for next year to get a new(er) phone.

I don't have any problems logging into the website. It's the app that is giving me problems.

And if you want to book the Sanctuary, that is the first place you must go upon embarkation. You cannot book until you are onboard and it does book up fast. Send the fastest person to go immediately there ASAP.

I have sailed both (Princess 5 times/MSC once but about to be twice). Mini suites don't come with a lot of extras other than a larger room and usually a tub/shower combo. The reserve collection comes with priority embarkation/debarkation, a one time wine set up, evening canapes upon request and a special section of the dining room with added menu items. I think the M + a number is the reserve collection and the M + letter are the regular mini suites. Only differences in the various types are cabin location. All dining on Princess is anytime. You can make reservations in the app or just show up whenever you want. How busy it is will depend on when you go, although if you have the reserve collection there is rarely much of a wait. At a later hour you should have no problems just showing up and requesting a table for two. Personally, I have no problems travelling on any of the Princess fleet, new or old. I think they do a good job of keeping up their ships, but that is a personal preference. The Sanctuary has a cost. $20 for half day, $40 for full day and $30 per day if you book for the whole voyage. I would say on a longer repositioning cruise, the ages of your fellow passengers will skew older with very few if any children. That tends to make most of the ship fairly peaceful.

I don't know if anyone has any bright ideas, but I am unable to login to the app (on an older Samsung phone). I have no problems logging into the website, but when I use the same info on the app, it tells me that there is an "incorrect username or password".

Interestingly, on our Thanksgiving cruise, they did not use the facial recognition system even though it was there. Not sure why. We also had a delay supposedly due to CBP.

While I agree that the Princess app isn't the best (and I have a VERY old Samsung phone), it is far from the worst app. If you want to see some bad apps, try MSC or Virgin. Yikes!!!

However, the Spice H2O on most ships only has hot tubs and a "water feature" and no actual pools. Plus, there is often very little shade if that matters to you.

You can buy the casual dining without the package, I think it is $14.99 if you do the pre-fixe meal or you can go a la carte. And as for the rest, from Princess website: Are third and fourth guests required to purchase the same package (Princess Plus or Princess Premier)? Third and fourth guests are not required to purchase or defaulted to the selected package of first and second guests in a stateroom. Should 3rd and 4th guests want to opt in to purchase a package, you will need to contact Princess or your Travel Advisor to have it applied to the booking. Can items in Princess Plus or Princess Premier be shared across guests in the stateroom, even if 3rd and 4th guests don’t have these packages? For the Princess Premier package the following items can be shared across all guests: Wi-Fi for 4 devices per guest, the digital photo portion of the Photo Package and reserved theater seating. Free shipping for Medallion® devices and accessories can also be shared across all guests in the stateroom when shipped at once to the same address. Casual Dining or Specialty Dining meals cannot be shared with the 3rd and 4th guests in the stateroom.

MSC does do a lot of slightly odd things. Our friends ordered a sausage pizza to their cabin and got a pizza with sliced hot dogs on it. I do agree, however, fried pickles should be dill, but maybe that is just the way they do it.

We have found that the cocktails vary greatly depending on the bartenders who happen to be on the ship and to some degree what is in stock at the bars. We have had drinks that taste like rubbing alcohol and others that are supremely tasty. In general, we find the pool bars to usually be the worst and so far the best ever was the Good Spirits at Sea.

We did this back in February and I think we linked up with the other cabin on the app. If I recall correctly, we needed their booking number. I am a bit fuzzy on exactly what I did, but it is possible and I know it happened on the app.

VV does a lot of things differently than the "official" policy. 🙃

All dining reservations are made on the app (or your TA can do it for you as well). Rockstars can make reservations 60 prior to sailing as opposed to 45 days for everyone else. You can also get your Rockstar agent to help you with your dining reservations once you are onboard, but I recommend making reservations at the 60 day mark and then using your agent if you need to change anything around once onboard.

Actually, with VV (unlike most other cruise lines), you can generally transfer at any time prior to being paid in full.

At the bottom of the app, hit the messenger button, then hit contacts. That should be where you see anyone linked to your reservation.

Personally, I would use Lyft or Uber. Usually a bit cheaper than the taxis.

Yes, when either of you go to book dining reservations the other people in the cabin will show up as options to join you no matter who is the lead sailor. And one little tip, keep checking starting around 11p eastern as sometimes things open up early. If you have issues making the reservations once they open, just close the app and start again. Sometimes that will work. Be patient, the app is very squirrely.

I don't know of many people who bother with the daily conversion from bed to couch, but maybe I just haven't run into them.

If it makes you feel any better, almost nobody bothers to have the bed converted to a couch during the day. However, I absolutely agree with you that the "mattresses" need to change.

I know everyone likes something different in a mattress, but the ones in the regular cabins are way too hard and lumpy for my taste.

We had a Rockstar suite on our first cruise due to the 200% FCC from the pandemic. Our second cruise was in a regular cabin. The differences in the mattresses are very stark. They definitely need to do something for the regular cabins, because it is just terrible the way it is.

From what I understand, VV does not stock mattress toppers. I have heard the stewards will put some extra comforters on top of the mattress, but frankly that's not the same thing. I do agree that the mattresses in the regular staterooms are plain awful. I slept in my hammock several nights on my last cruise. DH was not quite as uncomfortable and I was, but that isn't saying much. However, I can also say that the mattresses in the Rockstar cabins are extremely comfortable. For me that would be the biggest reason to upgrade (if it was in the budget). And I find the pillows on ALL cruise lines (and most hotels) awful. I am not sure who likes the pillows that squash down to nothing, but it sure isn't me.

The contract said one 12 pack per person. That being said, it would not surprise me if many ports don't really check.

From the Princess passage contract: Guests are also prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages on board that are packaged in bottles. A small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, juice, milk) packaged in cans or cartons may be brought on board on embarkation day, only if carried on in Guests’ hand luggage (not in checked luggage). A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less per person. Guests will be asked to discard open beverages in plastic containers prior to boarding.