Userclown

On 8/21/2023 at 3:50 PM, capriccio said:

It depends on where you are traveling.  Check out the State Department's website (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/card.html) for details. Cruise lines can set their own requirements, as long as they equal or exceed those set by the State Department and the countries being visited. 

I have checked out the State Department’s website. We are good according to them but Princess website, no doubt older than dirt, claims a book is required. Hence my question. 

Everything I have read indicates that a passport card is sufficient for travel so long as we do not fly internationally. Princess seems to be demanding a passport book. Any opinions?

On 8/9/2023 at 9:48 PM, Steelers36 said:

I have posted several times that I believe - for the most part - that Princess has been keeping one DR out of DMW.  IDK why as they never explain what they are doing.  It could be to help the ships manage walk-ups better.  It could be to help the DR Mgmt set guests up with same table/waiters who want that (because DMW cannot do it).  I am not certain if the third DR comes available for booking once you are on board, or if it is kept for what I suggested.  I am not sure if the same for all ships, but the one the keep out could typically be the same one they setup the Reserve Dining in, while the remainder of the room is for regular dining.  I have seen this behavior myself back in 2022, but I have no inside info as to the rhyme or reason for it.

 

ETA:  Forgot to mention, but you are not alone and many members have posted here about seeing the same thing in DMW.

I know this is the wrong place to ask you a question but I’m gonna do it anyway! What is considered casual dining? The new charge doesn’t apply to the main dining room does it?

On 9/15/2022 at 12:09 PM, Steelers36 said:

When are those so-and-so's in Santa Clarita going to wake up and fix their incorrect Greece requirements?

You have always been so cool and calm! This post made me laugh, thanks

49 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

IDK - hope someone else does.  My guess would be just in the few days prior.  I am not even sure if the menus are available for full voyage or just a day at a time.

Wish there was a way to praise Steelers 36 website wide. Hopefully Steelers36 will be able to repost. I have been reading Cruisecritic for a while now. Mostly just folks asking questions and trying to help one another fix issues. Then, I started noticing Steelers36 posts. Almost always right, informative, helpful, positive, and encouraging. Kudos to you Steelers36. Thank you so much for your input. Keep it up with the excellent and useful information! ❤️

8 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

That seems to be the pattern.  Even our aged commander in chief is exhibiting minor symptoms.  Stop the testing madness and just treat those who present with symptoms.

Like any other illness

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

I repeat I do not want to stir up a vaccination debate. My point is PCL was confronted with two decisions 1. Increase the number of unvaccinated passengers. 2. Stop the pre-cruise testing.

As is maintained, testing 3 days before sailing with airline, hotel exposure in between is a doubtful process to ensure safety. It has also been demonstrated that unvaccinated people are more susceptible to catching Covid.

 

Not surprised PCL said they would not stop testing, being cautious, so why not extend that caution to % vaccinated. Please don't read too much into this. I am simply saying that they had two decisions to make, and I would have expected them to wait-and-see on both. 

Thanks for sharing! I appreciate your input. I am vaccinated, I wash my hands and keep them away from my face. I protect myself the best I can. Vaccines keep me from extreme illness, not from getting it. No matter if I fly, cruise, or go to the store, I am exposed so I will take care of me.

11 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Interesting that Princess seems to have immediately increased the number of unvaccinated passengers in response to CDC change in guidelines but have not responded yet vis-a-vis testing. I do not wish to comment on whether one should be vaccinated or not, but it seems clearer that 2 Day, 3 Day testing has less obvious safety than vaccination. 

Less safety for whom?

29 minutes ago, SomewhereGirl said:

I think I'd go somewhere like CVS to get an official test while still testing positive, and hope the CVS test says positive.  I believe they can then issue the letter of recovery later.

This makes no sense! Wait a few days, do at home test again, get your negative and live your life! You don’t have to tattletale on yourself. You just have to test negative before boarding! This is just another example for how stupid all this testing is!

11 minutes ago, takemeaway2008 said:

 

You can if you have a positive test document within 90 days of boarding and have recovered and 10 days have gone by. Also, a document from a health authority is good.

 

Go to the Princess website and read the health rules. It's all written there. 

Pretty sure you need a negative test to board!

King crab legs at Tracy’s in Juneau! A drink at the Red Onion in Skagway (sit at the bar so you can talk to the bartenders). Any chance to visit with a Sourdough! Bird watching, wild life watching for that matter. 

3 hours ago, ChimneyTenders said:

Answering a bunch of questions here. 
 

booking time for Juneau was 12:00 but arrived at 3:00

 

princess uses two docks in Skagway. Broadway and railroad. The royal was on railroad where the slide was and crown was on broadway which was a 2 min walk to town. Not saying the crown doesn’t dock there, but we didn’t on this trip so no issues. There were 4 ships in port yesterday. Crown, Royal, konegsdamm and a celebrity ship. 
 

skagway arrival and departure were on the booked times of 600am to 8:30pm. Honestly more to do there than in Juneau. 
 

at glacier bay now and icy point tonight. Arriving in icy at 6:00pm and leaving at 9:00pm which sounds like 2 hours too many for that place. Staying on board and eating at the crown grill. 
 

crew is fantastic. No issues at all on board. Billing is fine.  Service is fine. Ship seems fine. 
 

nothing to complain about at all. 
 

Side Covid note. Lots more people coughing yesterday and today than when we boarding. Still don’t understand why pre-boarding testing is needed. Between the test and boarding we went to work, ate out, went to an airport, fly, another airport, skipped the transfer for an Uber, cruise terminal and was on board. Could have gotten sick at any point there. Also, why no testing to reboard in juneau or Skagway. 

Thanks for all the information. Your comments have been positive and helpful! Safe travels

11 hours ago, miagirl said:

I just got off the Crown on Saturday July 1st.  I really did think about doing a live from thread but frankly I was too busy enjoying myself!  The crew was fantastic, the food in the main dining room was very good.  We made all the ports.  Every time I checked the speed, we were cruising along at around 20 knots.  The entertainers were very very good.  Had a chance to see Steve Morris twice.  He's so funny, one of my personal favorites.

 

There is a violin duo who perform with the orchestra for Encore but perform a lot in the Atrium.  The Ladies in Red.  Go listen to them.  They are utterly fantastic.  I told the CD that I would literally book another cruise if I knew they would be on board.  They will be on board for the rest of the season. My schedule doesn't allow for me to go again this year.

 

The only real problem I encountered on this trip was the weather.  It was so very hot in both Juneau and Skagway.  Not Princess fault.

 

Overall it was a great break for me.

Trying to get real information about the Arrivecan app. Can you share?

On 7/3/2022 at 9:56 PM, ChimneyTenders said:

So after reading all the posts from the sky is falling people who have post counts in the thousands and all the marine engineers who specialize in naval propulsion, we still decided to go. 
 

Having a great time. 

 

No issues with internet, billing, service, rooms, or everything else people complained about while not actually being on the ship. 
 

Ship is doing 20knots, going to make all the ports. What told they made all the ports last week too. 
 

Club class is great. Never an issue seating for a feeding. 

Seems like the know it all twitter mentality is alive and well on cruise critic and I’m glad I didn’t listen to anyone here….well…at least the ones that have more than a couple of hundred posts. 

Matt on Dolphin Deck
 

 

Matt, could you please explain how the Arrivecan app worked? 

5 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, this has been a feature from relatively early on with DMW.  It is hard for me to remember how DMW was behaving when it first came out, but I do recall seeing the actual table size and there was no such thing as a SPLIT. 

 

Perhaps wording has changed again on a confirmation review?  I see the language has not changed when viewing the options for the time selected.  If no Private table is available for size of Dining Party, it indicates party will be split across multiple tables (and who knows if that means a Private table for two, or sharing).  It's totally dumb to split a dining party. 

 

I can tell you that when booking for the full voyage (all nights same time, etc), if the default of first night, or the last night you looked at individually had Private space available at your selected time, it will LOOK like the full voyage reservation worked.  However, for any individual nights where it did not find Private space, it will reserve Split table space.  The only way you know the end result is to go through night-by-night to see what you ended up with.

 

If you get some Splits, you can do what you did - attempt to alter the time on those nights to secure Private space to fit the entire Dining Party, or you can keep checking DMW and see if Private space opens up at your preferred timeslot.  If you see that it has done so, you could then re-book for full voyage.  (I would always try and get a clean re-book for full voyage if possible as it is the best situation to be in in order to attempt to actually get what you are supposed to get:  same table and wait-staff each night.

I want you to know how much I appreciate your positive, informative information. I have read many of your responses and they always seem to be “just the facts”. Not at all inflammatory and so far as I know always correct information. So keep it up. Folks need the real information ❤️

3 hours ago, Willwils said:

I was planning to get a rapid NAAT(supposedly like PCR) from Walgreens b4 leaving home starting our Alaska land part of Majestic Princess cruisetour.  But in trying to schedule  for 7/3/22 they are now not showing ANY dates past 6/28/22 on their web. . Plus.  their phone recording says may not be acceptable for travel because there's NO QR Code on results that are now delayed. Does anyone know what going on?

We used them for our Caribbean cruise. We made reservations online about 1week ahead of time. We got the results within the two hour window, printed the results at the hotel and all was well.  We have decided that hard copies are easier to deal with. Wait until 1 week before you need the test, schedule, relax and then enjoy!

53 minutes ago, vdlcruiser said:

I am on two seven day cruises to Alaska back to back same ship. They are booked separately.  Does anyone know if on the last day of the first cruise will the ship Covid test us in order to continue on the second cruise. We will test two days before our initial boarding but not sure how they handle the second cruise test requirement. 

We did back to back in December and yes we were tested before the end of the first cruise. We also did a back to back in March and tested. No big deal, Princess had it very organized. 

18 hours ago, WAvoyager said:

One thing to keep in mind is that apps have to peacefully coexist with many, many other apps on a device which may have very limited storage space.

 

Adding in more features means increasing the apps storage requirements.  The additional complexity also means more difficulty (cost) to maintain the app over time.

 

So designers need to look carefully at the features which get built into any app - otherwise they’re doing a great disservice to their users and their stakeholders.

 

I won’t try to justify why Princess chose to include/exclude specific features - there’s a lot of work that goes into those decisions.  I will say that the app appears to be aimed at supporting primarily those features you would need to do once onboard the ship.  I’ve always wondered why they included the pre-boarding checklist items on the app.  But I can see how the other features all logically tie together - and how other features wouldn’t make sense to add.

 

As far as not being able to do things outside the app - everything can be done without the app - either by calling in, at the gate, or once you get onboard.  It would be helpful if they had an alternate electronic method (website)  for doing these things, but I’m guessing it was a cost/resource issue.  Once they decided what was going in the app, making it unavailable on the website means they no longer have to spend time/effort updating the website - and the fallback is still he in person process.

 

Definitely not ideal, but every company deals with those trade offs.  Princess just made some questionable decisions.

Very informative. Thanks for your input.

1 hour ago, kamelia said:

I would just like an answer to my question as to why THIS app is SUPPOSED to exclusively support certain functions!  Maybe I’m way off base here, but my take on apps is that they are supposed to be an enhancement, not the second half of the equation.  I cannot use the MedallionClass app exclusively to book a Princess cruise from start to finish, and I cannot NOT use the app to complete the cruise from start to finish. 

 

The inanity of it all really hit home yesterday as I was completing details for “the boss” (DH) who’s flying to Canada tomorrow.  He booked his flights on the airline website.  He could have done that on the app, but chose not to.  On his behalf, I completed the ArriveCAN application on the ArriveCAN website, created a PDF file with the requisite QR code that I then printed a copy of as well as emailed to him so he can take a screenshot to have as a secondary back-up.  I returned to the airline website, which has all of his passport information on file, uploaded PDF files of his vaccination card and the ArriveCAN QR code, and printed off his boarding passes.  He will be able to get there and back without having to upload ANY app to do so.  He COULD, if he chose, upload the airline app, and have the enhanced ability to track his checked bag, be able to access a map with step-by-step instructions to get from his arrival gate to the next departure gate, or even to watch in-flight tv shows or movies, but he doesn’t need any of these functions.  I also thought it was telling that I could upload his credit card and authorize the airline to keep it on file in case he decides to order food or drinks during the flight, but at no time did that require me to authorize the food service company to keep his credit card information in their files. 

 

With the exception of the MedallionClass app, there is not a single app on any of my devices that precludes me from getting done what I want to get done without that app.  If anyone can help me understand how the designers of the MedallionClass app can justify this half-apped approach, I would be sincerely grateful!  🥴

PPP! Plain and simple!

4 minutes ago, Roberto256 said:

 

OK.

Sample:

 

"I put my phone in Airplane mode to avoid any charges ... just like I read on the internet ... now, I can't connect to anything?"

 

Um ... after putting the phone in Airplane mode, did you turn on wifi?

 

No point in wasting your best onboard talent answering front line questions...

 

 

This is pretty much how a HMO I one belonged to worked.

 

When you show up, they try to have you treated by the least cost provider...

 

First the janitor has a look...

Then, someone who has taken a first aid class...

Then, someone who has driven by a nursing school..

Then, someone who has actually entered a nursing school...

It could take days before you saw anyone with a medical degree...

 

 

Often times I find more information on my own. The guy who finished last in medical school is still called doctor!

9 hours ago, supaflyrobby said:

I had to deal with this issue recently, as we just returned from Seattle after sailing on Discovery Princess on the 29th to Alaska. You can submit your vax card beforehand via the "ocean ready" app months before cursing, and we did, but the actual test you need 48 hours prior to sailing if you do not want to be fee gouged at the pier for 80 bucks (though it appears someone has made a nice little side hustle business out of this process). 

 

There were dozens of places near our home that would give us a test on the spot for nothing. And since all Princess requires is an antigen test, you should be able to knock that one out before cruising no problem and with limited hassle. 

 

Though I will say this much, on the day we arrived in Seattle the additional time required to check the added documentation turned the check in process into an absolute nightmare. There was no green line, blue line, or any line. Just a mass of people corralled into various winding and roped off lines. You try sitting in a line in a chaotic and noisy environment for well over an hour with a 3 year old with you. It sucked. Bad. I was ready for about 10 cocktails before I even got on the ship. Though while we are on the subject of our daughter, kids under 5 are omitted from any Covid requirements, with no exemption required. 

 

Staff members checking your documentation are not at all discriminating. They just want you gone and out of their face ASAP. I probably could have photoshopped a complete fabrication and marked my name as Dr Bigus Dickus and he would not have noticed or cared. Just an FYI. 

 

On the cruise itself, pretty much nobody other than staff members were wearing masks. 

Guess every terminal is different. We have been on 5 cruises since November and the boarding process only took 10 minutes. We have learned that arriving after 2pm helps.

8 hours ago, amajaa said:

I’m sure this has probably been covered but I tried the search and can’t find it, so apologies if it has.

 

Just looking through the Elite Benefits , am I right in saying the Elite/ Platinum cocktail party has disappeared and also the Elite Lunch? I know the internet has definitely gone but wondered about the others and what is now it their place? 
 

I see there is a wine tasting, how do you get that and also the afternoon tea please? Do you get the canapés automatically on a formal night or do you have to pick a time (I hope so) and also can you pick what you want or do you just get a selection? 

Elite/Platinum still have happy hour with hors d’oeuvres about 5-7pm daily. We have always received a card in our room for the wine tasting. Yes you get to choose the formal night canapés and delivery time and in my opinion the choices have greatly improved. We no longer receive “upgraded” toiletries. No internet, but everything else is in place. 

15 minutes ago, fairmontracer said:

Well, that's good to know, however I don't know why the specific "Medallion App" concierge did not know that. Also, why would you write an app that has a feature to message someone, that doesn't work with the notification feature on a mobile device?

The app/medallion support on the ships are same as sales folks in ATT store. They only know what they have been trained to know. They are not technicians who can “fix” issues. 

31 minutes ago, nini said:

I do not care what it is called, as was stated, we prefer more organized and considerate airports than LHR. You may think an hour is plenty of time, but YOU did not almost miss a connecting flight from LHR to Rome and we knew the gate before we landed.

Extremely stressful 

On 6/29/2021 at 2:16 PM, PROCRUISE said:

Well, just got the word from Medallion Support, in a very rude manner too.

"Only iPhone 8's and above will work for the MedallionClass App."

When I inquired as to when we could print off luggage tags for our August 8th cruise I was told: "if you had the app you wouldn't need luggage tags!"

Great way to treat return clients Princess.

I have an Apple iPhone 8. It works fine for the onboard app, but will not connect o wifi calling. Pretty sure the info you got isn’t correct!