remydiva

10 hours ago, damiross said:

After 6 cruises, many airplane flights, hotel stays, etc., I have remained healthy.  I do admit one time I got on a plane with a stuffed head.  Not recommended!  I swear the pilot took his sweet time going from cruise to landing just to maker my ears hurt more.

 

On a serious note, I find this posting to be quite condescending.  I thought of a quote from Planet of the Apes when I read this post.  It was the first words spoken to the apes by a human:  "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" 

Your last paragraph re finding my comments condescending is interesting.

I in no way am being critical or disparaging of the room steward. I like our stewards. But as I mentioned before one sure conduit of Norwalk at least or an GI infection ( read ‘poop) is staff/ supplies moving from cabin to cabin,

I also liked my medical lab coworkers yet was required to wipe down with industrial grade disinfectant any surface anyone had touched. It’s just being precautionary not condescending. 

7 hours ago, Nicole&Pete said:

If your referring to wiping after the cabin attendant that does make sense on the basis they have cleaned multiple rooms before going to yours and using the same cloths etc. Last year I saw them wearing gloves and masks to clean cabins, that’s probably gone away now. 
 

Maybe I need to take a large pack of Lysol (called Dettol in the UK) with me, I was just going to take a 30 pack!!!

The 30 pack would do for a 14 day cruise; it did for me. The cabin steward usually only came in 2x a day ; morning to do beds and clean then after dinner to freshen up.

7 hours ago, Nicole&Pete said:

So you wipe after the cabin attendant has been in? That’s a lot of wiping. Maybe I need to up my game!

Yes AFTER they’ve been in. My reasoning is I know where MY hands have been and that I’ve washed/ used sanitizer. Did they? Or did they cough into their hand? 

AND they use the same cloths to wipe and clean every cabin so if any bacteria like coliform, or viruses present in Cabin A, there’s a good chance they may be transferred to Cabin B.

I guess 40+ yrs working in medical labs where we wiped everything down every day makes me extra cautious. 

10 hours ago, KatRangoon said:

So, something I haven't brought before but I'm bringing this time is a cheap bed sheet to tuck around the loveseat in the room. The last time we cruised was in a family suite and the group before us must have had out of control kids because there was jelly or syrup or something all over that couch. Our steward tried to clean it as soon as we brought it to his attention, but we still found sticky spots as we would sit the rest of the trip. We also joked about what other things are probably embedded in those couches and were so grossed out we're going to see if we can use a sheet as a protective cover this time. 

ok I just  went ‘ewww’ and May never get a delux balcony or mini suite again!

On 6/1/2023 at 9:50 AM, Nicole&Pete said:

Maybe I’m not quite as thorough as that! Makes me think though that I should be wiping more areas. Maybe even walls?

I use Lysol wipes and wipe light switches, door knobs in/ out, sliding door handles , TV remote, phone received and buttons, fridge had he, ice bucket top, sink taps and faucet .. anything that the steward may have wiped or touched using a cloth no doubt used in previous cabins.

I do this every time we return to cabin when I can see steward has been in.

After 20 cruises, several with code red Norwalk cases, we have remained healthy ( also do other precautions like don’t use elevator, use arms not hands on hand rails etc) 

4 hours ago, KatRangoon said:

For us, what killed it was that we would BOTH have to have it, and it would be Every Day. If it could just be me, it might be worth it, but my hubby only drinks water and the occasional soda. The other issues is we still have to pay on the days we are off the boat all day at the ports. 

 

If they had a day pass you could purchase on sea days, or some sort of 20 drink pack tied to the medallion, I'd get those in a heartbeat. As it is, they're losing money on us by not offering a lower tier option.

Good point re getting off ship days. Also my hubby non drinker yet he’d have to pay too. I’m a cheap date /light weight so it just didn’t make sense for us. 

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

You do order the water ahead of time via your personizer (located under beverage packages).  It is a 12 bottle case of Crystal Geyser .. 16 Oz bottles  
They are delivered to you in your stateroom.  
You won’t get the same price once you are onboard.  
 

thanks that's good to know 😉

The two shore excursions I wanted on our recent TA happened to be on the cheaper end of the scale. Both were sold out and no waitlists (I phoned) 3 months in advance.

I think perhaps that a lot of independent tour operators might have gone out of business during the two year lapse of no cruises. In the past, whenever something was sold out, they always added another bus on to accommodate, sometimes only the day before notice, but I've never not gotten what I wanted.

now that you mention it...YES. We were on April 16-30 TA and I always wore a sweater. Not drafty but yes cool.

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

As time goes by even the most dedicated passengers who prefer formal clothing come to realize it's so much easier not to pack the extra clothing just for those events, especially when a large majority doesn't bother. 

It would seem so.

We only travel with carry on whether it’s a 7 day, 15.day + or month land tour.

Obviously we are not tuxedo and tiara people but one can get creative and still feel well dressed. 

12 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

To clarify, the per diem rate for MedallionNet is $15/day for single device as you were charged.  The other rate is a single day rate, which seems to be charged on a 1-off basis and not in the case of several days in a row such as the final three of the voyage.  (I would distinguish between the "per diem" rate and the "single day" rate when discussing MedallionNet fees).

Good catch and better description!

On 5/8/2023 at 3:00 PM, RedIguana said:

I hope they somehow remember to restock. Will be on Crown on the May 23rd sailing.

Vines no longer offer flights and tapas now from 6-8 pm.

Agree that most seats taken up by people playing cards or on their phones or listening to music in piazza. 

On 5/3/2023 at 8:26 PM, DallasGuy75219 said:

Ughhhh.... They're back to listing Plus wines by just varietal and not vineyard.

Yes but I asked for vineyard name from somellier and got it.  

8 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

here ya go. 
 

You have a different captain than we did on the TA immediately before.
We had Captain Aldo ‘forget last name’. 

rest of crew looks the same. 

Our recent 14 day cruise had two

formal Nites and two ‘Dressed to Impress’ nites.

The second Dressed to Impress nite was subtitled ‘White and Gold’ theme.

I had clothing options to partake but noticed as others have, the number of passengers who dress up at all for formal or ‘dressed to impress’ is waning. 

19 minutes ago, ldtr said:

it is probably a call to try and get you to buy a FCC/hotel voucher combination package. These are coming courtesy of ONE (Open Network Exchange). The same company that is now staffing the future cruise sales department on board ship.

 

If the call sounds like a timeshare sales call it might be because the owners of ONE, started and sold a company that allowed people to trade their time share weeks for cruises.

Wow I had no idea.. so much behind the scenes!

I guess I’ll never know for sure as I’m not phoning back. 

6 minutes ago, that said:

Princess Promotions

it is sales

not from your usual Cruise Vacation Planner.

Previously discussed on boards

but search is difficult ( at least

my search)

Thanks I did search prior to posting and couldn’t find anything.

needless to say I am NOT phoning back. 

I just got a phone call message from the promo dept wanting to “fill me in on all the new exciting additional perks to the Platinum and Elite loyalty program.

AND they’d really like to talk to me about our recent cruise”

( I’ve gotten 4 emails in the one week we’ve been home asking me to fill out the post cruise survey) 

Sounds  like a sales gimmick as it was not from my personal cruise planner.

Anyone else get this phone call? 

1 hour ago, oregonn8v said:

Thanks for this. I have heard that WiFi is spotty on the ships. I have been cruising since before WiFi was ever publicly available and I never missed it. The one thing I will likely miss at sea is being able to text my kids but I don't care about posting to social media or steaming a video and I'm certainly not conducting stock trades so I could probably do without the WiFi.

 

In that case, the Princess Plus package is not worth the cost.

Same with me. After 6 sea days on TA when wifi likeky would have been spotty at best, we just found wifi at bars and cafes at the ports.

I did buy ‘till end of cruise’ wifi package which , as discussed on another thread, seems to be cheaper than the per diem rate. I got the last  3 days for $22.50 ( elite rate 50% off the $45 rate ) to check in airlines and print boarding passes.

18 minutes ago, ldtr said:

12 bottles for 7.05

Thank you.
 

We just took a couple of empty bottles with us and refilled ( I brought a small funnel too) from glasses of water at buffet or pool. 
This would have been a good option as well. 

58 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We find the Plus package to be a great value for us but then again, we imbibe, especially with meals.  We also drink a specialty coffee every so often .. you can even order drinks to your room and it’s included.  
Without even looking at the new items such as the juice bar, exercise classes or special desserts, this is a good breakdown 

 

Total package price:  $60 a day pp 

Gratuities:  approx $17 a day pp 

WiFi:  $15 a day pp if not elite 

That leaves you with $28 a day pp for beverages 

Specialty coffee or tea:  $2 - $4.50 plus gratuity 

Bottle of water, juice or soda: $2.50 plus gratuity 

Mocktail:  approx $6 - $8 plus gratuity 

 

Without the package: 

You can always purchase a case of water ahead of time for $7 (in your personalizer)

you can drink the free coffee and tea 

if you don’t use WiFi, you can always eliminate that cost 

you can pick up your medallions at the pier for no cost 

there are plenty of sweets for free in the IC, at the buffet, through room service and in the MDR, etc

there are free Zumba classes every day in the piazza

 

 

Basically, if you want non-alcoholic drinks from bars and drink specialty coffees and teas, and you use WiFi, you’re probably breaking even with the plus package.  If you drink alcohol, the package is a no brainer! 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can order water ahead? Is a case 6 bottles or the costco sized 24? Is it delivered to your room?

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Is that still a "thing" ?

I know they have special drinks only at P&E HH as a lady we sat with ordered some blue martini thing that was only available during that time. But don’t know if it was a special price.

The whole P&E is run differently now.
 

No card in your room telling what appies are available or special drinks on west dates. Just a letter ( which our steward never left for us; I had to check at CC loyality desk several days into cruise to see if they even had it anymore) that said where and when it was plus the Grapevine tasting, 

8 hours ago, nini said:

Just know that if you remove the daily automatic gratuities from your bill, that your cabin steward is not permitted to keep what you have tipped them.

I do realize that and explained it further in a later post.

To clarify , we pay the daily crew appreciation AND tip extra to those who go above and beyond,

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Interesting number there.  Indicates the regular price was $45 total, or $15/day.  That is quite odd to me because prior to the last MedallionNet price increase, single day charge was $20.  It looks like they gave you the multi-day rate of $15.  Perhaps they only charge the $20 if a single day is booked, or non-consecutive days.

I agree …I thought it was odd number given my 50% discount.

I checked on Weds nite and clicked ‘till end of cruise’ ( cruise ended Sunday morning) and it was $30.

I checked next morning Thurs and it was $22.50 and lasted till we got off ship Sunday.

I think you’re right that a multi day rate seems lower than per diem.

28 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Not judging your statement.  Just asking for clarification.  DId you keep your automatic crew appreciation on the books plus tipped separately? Or did you remove automatic crew appreciation and just tipped your room steward?  What about wait staff?

 

 

Kept automatic crew appreciation AND tipped steward extra.

I never remove some or all of the crew appreciation as I know that automatic daily added tip is how all staff ,including those behind the scenes,  gets  tips.