BobandLizM

10 hours ago, dronnygirl said:

We will be on Sky Princess in 4 weeks.  Could you please advise whether there is a kettle and tea facilities in deluxe balcony cabins?  Thank you

@dronnygirlWe are in Deluxe Balcony, yes there is kettle and tea/coffee facilities.

27 minutes ago, Rorolopollo said:

This is really helpful thank you! We have our first ever cruise on 3 August on Sky to the Fjords. Is Skjolden not worth getting off then? (We have young children with us so will stay on board unless there’s something to see!)

 

Are you able to book the casual dining when you get on board or is it walk in? Is it generally available? Thinking of Alfredo’s in particular!

Really nice walk off ship.  We booked to walk Llamas at a local farm with Princess. The guide/farmer walked us from the ship to his farm.  About 28 of us with 20 Llamas and sheep/lambs.   If not on booked trip I am sure you could walk up the fields where the animals are.  Number 7 on the map.

3 hours ago, CaribbeanSteve said:

PICTURES:

 

Just wanted to see if anyone has already taken (or is willing to take) pictures of daily schedule(s), MDR menu(s), International Cafe consolidated list of daily meal specials, etc. and post them on this board so we can get a sense of what to expect when our Norway journey in mid-June.

 

Thanks/Best,

Steven

I tend to scan in the patter on my phone so daily, so see attached

Tue 30th Patter.pdf Thu 02nd May Patter.pdf 01st May Patter.pdf Sun 28th Patter.pdf Mon 29th Patter.pdf Sat 27th Patter.pdf

On 4/30/2024 at 8:21 AM, FancyPants21 said:

Thought I'd do a report from on board.

 

Embarkation at Southampton was quick and easy for us. Boarding started about 10.30 and we were one of the first on. I did hear that there were waits of up to an hour for those that arrived later.

 

Once on we did the normal stuff... got a drink, visited our muster station and watched the video. I went to book some speciality dining by visiting each restaurant. Then to the room to see if we could drop off the bags there instead of using the allocated MDR. To our surprise the room was ready so we moved in. A PH suite on Riviera.

 

The general feel on the ship is familiar and hasn't changed much but what has changed is the level of service. It isn't bad , just different. Where the bars were mainly waiter/ess served now you mainly need to line up at the bar. That simple change means they have less waiting staff but it has changed how the bars work... not for the better IMO. There are still waiting staff around just very few and if you waited to get one to place your order it would have been much quicker to just line up.

 

Apart from that it is pretty much the same. The MDR service is excellent (Reserve Collection) as is the food. We have eaten once in Crown Grill and I have to say that it was the very best rib-eye steak I have ever had... and I have had a few!

 

However, the biggest disappointment so far for me has been the standard of entertainment around the ship. It is not good IMO. Princess has never been one for doing great entertainment in the piazza or bars but on this trip it has hit a low. Having said that the main theatre entertainment has been superb. To be honest, it isn't a problem for us.

 

The first port in Norway, Haugesund, was cancelled due to high winds so we had a day of scenic cruising around the fjords. Actually, we didn't really mind as Haugesund was not a place we particularly wanted to see. Weather has been mostly cloudy with the odd shower and the odd sunny spell so it made for a relaxing day.

 

We are in port now in Aalesund... oour first chance to get off. 

 

More later

Hi FancyPants21

We are also on this cruise, we concur with all your comments.

With regard to ‘lining up at the bar’, we are also finding this very strange.  We have 13 cruises on board Princess, including 2 cross Atlantic on this ship, we are used to either sitting at the bar or being served either in person or using the app.   The long queue (lines) are new to us also   We were not sure if it was because there were more Brits onboard, we have never sailed UK-UK before.   Even British people in my experience do not like queuing at a bar, we generally spread out and try and ensure everyone is served in correct order.

Entertainment also a bit odd in Vista, no house band etc. 

still enjoying ourselves though, had a lovely day walking to a glacier.

hope you continue to also have a good time

2 minutes ago, Esprit said:

That’s odd. We got ours within 24 hours of applying via the U.K. email address the other week, and we don’t sail until 10 August.

Not even paid the final balance yet either!

I guess I have been unlucky!  Never mind, all good now.

On the Princess website if I access it on my phone I get a little Chat function in the bottom right hand corner, if I click on that a big white box comes up stating it is offline at present.

On the Princess App, the chat function on the bottom menu is for friends and Family whilst on board.

I was a big fan of Stockperks, coming from the UK we could never get our applications processed through benefits@princesscruises.co.uk outside of the 90 day window before a cruise.

The new App seemed simple and effective, the first couple of times I was impressed with the service and was happy that it was offering to process shareholder benefit further in advance, up to 31/12/2024 at present. 

Unfortunately it has not gone smoothly with the latest application.

I have been trying since the 24th March, but as per some of the other contributors of the thread I started to receive messages such as “Invalidated - Earmark full” ?

To Stockperks credit they did E-Mail and stated it was their issue and they would  fix it.   This did not happen, over a number of weeks I have repeatedly tried to get the perk applied.  The last submittal I tried was April 04th, the usual service agreement level of 5 days was quoted, but this did not happen.  I used the app multiple times to contact them but they never responded.

Last night I got fed up, so sent An E-Mail to the UK Princess E-Mail.  I stated that this was not acceptable and this contract company was spoiling Princess reputation.

I had a reply from Princess Cruise Benefits within hours, apologising but stating that it was run by the US and asked me to persevere and contact them directly again at Carnivalcorp@stockperks.com.

They also said if it was within 90 days they would be able to apply it for me directly.

A positive end to this long story, I forwarded on their E -Mail reply and had the share benefits applied within hours.

Good afternoon - we wanted to let you know that there was a processing error with your recent claim(s) for Carnival shareholder benefits on Princess cruises.

Kind regards

 

-- 

Zac 

Customer Support Team

Same with me, stock perks replied that they knew about it and were fixing the issue

22 hours ago, QueenB4ever said:

I'm having the same problem with my b2b cruises.  I have four cruises booked that are B2B, all with different booking numbers.  The first and third were refused with that same message " BOOKING EARMARK IS FULL".  I have just sent off an email to both Stockperks and Princess Shareholders.  Hopefully they will fix this glitch soon.

I do not think I know the ‘Old Princess’.  I Have cruise 13 times since 2013, before and after Covid.

enjoyed all of them.  When I retire, then perhaps I will sail a lot more.

I can see that a lot of people that complain a lot, have many more sea days to their name, perhaps they just remember the past through rose tinted lenses when they enjoyed life more.

Some I notice have increasing standards, probably started off with an ocean view, but now complaining that the suite experience is not grand enough.

Perhaps they have outgrown the Princess experience and need to change.

I think I would prefer to bump into the people who just enjoy being on holiday and perhaps turn a blind eye to the minor inconveniences.

On my first cruise ever in 2011 on star Clipper (four masted ship) sailing out of Singapore I got to know a couple from Yorkshire, they both seemed to not like the ship, they had steak and chips off the menu every night because they did not like food etc, it turned out they cruised twice a year on the same ship.

This confused me at time, now I know there are thousands like them.

looking forward to the future, perhaps I will also grow out of Princess, but I really hope I do not become an unhappy cruiser though.

1 hour ago, sarahuk said:

Hi,

We are from UK. We have a cruise booked for August 2025. The price recently went down . I was told previously by a Princess rep that I was allowed one change to a booking without losing my deposit. There is a charge of £100 to do this but the price reduction was a lot more.

Agreed, cancelled and rebooked with Princess rep before with a £100 charge but saved over £1000.  I think another time I did the same and also lost the Future cruise credit (£75) that was the deposit.  The FCD purchased on board are a good way to keep the deposit to the minimum, just in case it is lost.

Good so far, iPhone prompted me to update when accessing the App.

Dowloaded with no issues.

logged in with E-Mail & Password.

All information transferred, took a few seconds on IPad Pro (133mbit/s)

Only issue I could see was that it only showed our first cruise, to get the second one to display I had to change to login by booking number.  

@SargassoPirate

Your views on topics and outlook on life seem very balanced. You sound excited, there is only one possible outcome, you are going to have a brilliant time.

1 hour ago, louden said:

I understand that.  What I am curious about is what period a single statement will cover and how and when to you submit another statement for a future cruise?

Understand, honest answer is I not know.  For me it sounds whatever timescale it sounds better than having to submit documents each time, but understand your point.  How often do we have to submit proof of ownership.? Historically I could not understand what I could not submit in advance etc.  until someone told me that the shares are often bought & sold frequently.  I guess I was a bit naive.

On 12/8/2023 at 4:46 PM, memoak said:

There is no “new” app regardless of how many rumors you hear. I don’t expect any changes until sometime in 2024

Maybe Princess has teamed up with Santa and aim to deliver it on Christmas Eve down the ships funnel.

1 hour ago, louden said:

I had the exact same problem with my Canadian broker statement.  Eventually sent email with statement attached which they acknowledged.  Shortly thereafter the app acknowledged that I owned the required shared and gave a prompt to "Redeem Perk".  Selecting this I was required to enter the booking number for my cruise.  It stated that perk would show up in a few days.  This is day one.

 

My question is what is required to apply for future cruises.  Our next is in Sept.  The app does not seem to allow for further uploads.

Last time I looked, it said it would only accept applications up to 31st July 2024

2 hours ago, gam888 said:

We are still having difficulties. We did manage to upload a picture. But unfortunately, we had a one page with my broker's name, my name and my account number on it, and a separate page with all the stocks listed. I managed to upload one page, and when I tried to take a picture of the second page, the app did not allow me to do it. It kept getting stuck on the page with the message " upload was successful" and would not allow me to take another picture. Then I got a message on my email that the request has been sent and they are reviewing it. But I know that I haven't even included the page with the list of the stocks including the Carnival Corp that they will be looking for. So I am back to square one. I might have to wait for a few days until they send me another message to say the information I sent is not sufficient and maybe I can try to do the whole process again. Is there a way to send more than one picture to the app? This whole experience is really frustrating and irritating. 

I must confess, I took one screenshot off my brokerage website, redacted it very heavily.  I am not actually sure it even had my name on it by the time I finished. I was amazed they accepted it.   Princess used to be a lot more fussier what I sent them.   They accepted it within the hour and I beleive that stays on record for a period of time…. I then got the perk within the week.  Not sure what happens if you have multiple to claim.

On 12/8/2023 at 2:15 AM, memoak said:

Don’t hold your breath on a new app. My bet is it will be months. Those touting December 1 have all been proved to be false. When I checked with my CVP they told me who knows when something will show up

Princess might have teamed up with Santa to deliver on Christmas Eve down the ships funnels.

Worked ok for me in UK, received within a working week, 6 months out from cruise.  That was a real benefit, could then use to book a shore excursion.  Uk normally will not accept any earlier than 3 months out to receive benefit.  

34 minutes ago, memoak said:

My Princess CVP is stil saying sometimes in December and to wait for an email from Princess. Nothing yet 

App Store says coming soon, statement about interchangeability and new features in 2024

4 hours ago, BettyNL said:

Where did you get that ???

 

Sorry but it seems everybody has different responses 😱😱

That was the E-Mail I received, App was updated as well, but I quite like the happy pictures they send.

i think I clicked the button that I was happy to receive notifications.

2 minutes ago, BettyNL said:

Used Alinea -- got immediate response "checking availability"..........

 

Just one thing:  there was no where for me to input my cruise information !!

 

Oh, this "system" is going to need some work 😞 

Cruise information comes later, when your brokerage statement is accepted.    Ken the cruiser posted an excellant description of everything up to that point.

10 minutes ago, juicyjuju said:

I just downloaded the app. After I click on princes cruises, the only option I get is to "validate my portfolio" which takes me to Plaid and then I can choose a broker and log in.

How do I find "Alinea" or alternately, I don't see anywhere where you can just upload a redacted copy of your brokerage statement

Sorry Juicyjuju, I can not remember.  I just typed in the broker as mine was not listed and then I just uploaded document.    I have no idea what Plaid or Alinea is.  I did create an account with Stock perks and put in minimum information to begin with.

I fully respect the members of cruise critic that want a choice of submission, but this really worked for us.  
Seemed simple to use, minimal information required.

And they applied credit within the 5 working days that they promised and a whopping 6 months in advance!

Being a UK shareholder the benefits team were brutally efficient at enforcing the rule of being within 90 days of sailing before accepting request.  
Terms of business on App state that Stock Perks will request benefit from Princess for sailings up to 31st July 2024 at moment.

Princess even updated the booking confirmation immediately.