NownZen

38 minutes ago, Jemnibabe said:

Did it ever occur to you that some people are not in the same position as you might be?  I have a friend that can't do medically observed tests on a phone, she has to fly from Florida to LA on the 15th and cruise leaves on the 17th.  That means she must take a rapid test on the 14th.  Believe it or not, in her area, they are almost impossible to find.  AND in searching for her around the San Pedro area, they are not easy to find either.  Things aren't always as easy as they may appear to you

.

So she will be ok if she is denied boarding? These days it is hard to believe that there is no one she knows that has a laptop, tablet, computer or smartphone and that there is no computer at her hotel or at where ever she is staying in LA.

That said, on our last enhanced voyage, there were a number of people who showed up who claimed to have no idea that a test was required. There were a certain number of tests available at the port but you have to hope you are early enough in the line before they run out.

18 minutes ago, jwattle said:

In case of doubt, I would err on the conservative side: 

If I thought it looked like I could do medically observed OR a home one with a picture of the result, I would do the Optum/emed observed online because the bottom line is that it's their playground, their rules as far as getting onboard and when you get to another country, like Australia, it will be THEIR playground and THEIR rules for letting you in.

Travel safe and happy friends🥂

Some people seem to enjoy stress. If you take the medically observed test, there will not be any. Some people are doing the same arguing regarding passports versus birth certificates.

On 1/16/2023 at 4:30 PM, DHP1 said:

Yes it does “or”

The "or" in the second sentence does not erase the first sentence. If you take a medically observed test, you know you will be ok. If you hope the first sentence is wrong, you may not be ok.

3 hours ago, Broadside said:

It is noted that the Casualistionists are once again asserting their non- evidenced propaganda.

Fortunately Princess Cruise Lines have ignored them and instead listened and responded to the most influential and preferential sections of their customer base by continuing to promote Formal Nights and expanding the 'dress to impress' events.

 

 

You forgot to use the sarcasm font. Some people might mistakenly think you are serious.

24 minutes ago, rjack22 said:

I thought of that.  But our cabin is near the midship elevators.

You could go down one flight of stairs and get the up elevator before it gets filled up.

On 1/15/2023 at 5:29 PM, jagoffee said:

You. Just have an Android phine?

There are others?

3 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Make sure to sign out of the App, periodically.  Or as you did, delete and install.  If you’re on the website, sign out of there too.  Make sure to delete your history and cache also.  
They were up and down over the weekend, causes issues.

 

The common advice to delete and reinstall the app is the standard Dogbert school of customer service. It gets you off the line without having to tell you anything useful. Signing out of the app is of no use either. Signing out of the website is not useful (it will sign you out after a few minutes anyway). All the information in the app comes from the servers. By going through the various time delays, it makes it more probable that the server will be in a better mood. Closing the app and relaunching it may help if the app has gotten lost.

3 hours ago, capriccio said:

I agree with your first sentence from personal experience.  Accenture was the original contractor but I don't know if they are still involved.  They shouldn't be but if not, the replacement contractor is no better.

There has been more than one group working on it. You notice the difference in the back arrows (sometimes two show up) that are different styles. As is the ubiquitous "Loading" circle. Sometime last year the new group changed the opening graphics (rather than fixing the bugs). There was a statement I saw years ago saying that the superficial design flaws totally obscured the fundamental design flaws.

One of the fundamental design flaws was having work done by people who have never been on a cruise or cruise ship. Very basic things like knowing what time the ship is on. We were on our way to the port and the app said the ship left 6 hours previously. That, of course, took away the QR code.  You cannot look at other bookings while on the ship. And so on.

I just tether my other internet devices to my phone so there is no need to change anything.

On 1/9/2023 at 1:48 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I can confirm that hose fancy ones (I have one with rhinestones) doesn't always allow me to be seen by the scanner.  I often have to place it right on the scanner and/or reposition it.  A big pain for something that should be so simple.

The surprising part is that they work at all with the metal ring around the NFC circuit. That basically makes a short circuit. Making the NFC work well in that instance is not going to happen.

We did the home tests for our cruises. Easier than going to somewhere outside.

Did you ask for it to be mailed? If you are Blue, there will be some red marks on what you need to fix.

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Interesting to see what Princess will do with their European/UK cruises this summer, as us Brits are not allowed to participate in the bidding process. 

Perhaps Princess will raise the bidding levels, knowing that Brits might pay more to upgrade when they are onboard.

Just send everyone to the Princess Theater and have a room auction. At least it would be entertaining.

You could show up with one and see if they let you board. Passports always work. Read the Princess requirements very carefully. Opinions here are worth what they cost. They are refusing boarding to people who do not have sufficient documentation.

54 minutes ago, davidgv said:

Has anyone done a cabin upgrade after embarcation or the following day - there seem to be many empty cabins on our cruise which leaves in less than 30 days - just wondering about the chances and likely costs of upgrading from balcony to mini suite on a 15 day cruise?

There is now a bidding program now where you can try to get an upgrade. I suspect they do those first but if some are left over, they might be available on embarkation. You could do a minimum bid and see what happens.

4 hours ago, mnocket said:

 

 

 

A heartbroken child isn't going to feel better because someone gave them a token monetary "reward".  The issue here is the child's crushing disappointment. 

 

No, the issue is that the kid knew he was not eligible and that he had withdrawn. He was hoping to scam the system by not telling them he was not an entrant. The mother is at fault also for not telling them that he was not an entrant. They were the ones who did wrong.

2 hours ago, chrysalis said:

We didn't have medallions....we had yet to receive them. They wanted to see QR Codes

On our last cruise the QR code disappeared while we were on our way to the port since the app thought the ship was on GMT not PST. It claimed the ship had left hours before so there seemed to be no need for a QR code.

28 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Supposedly, the QR code on the App is your so called BP, according to PCL verbage on their website.

 

You fill out everything on the App, then you’re in the green lane.  THEN, once you pick an arrivals group, which can be loaded anywhere 59 to 12 days before sailing.  You will then see your QR code appear on the App.  You can’t miss it, shows on the top of your screen for that cruise on the App.

 

Not really necessary, at this time.  But, it looks good.  🙃  They don’t really check this at the port, maybe eventually. I like to get it all done before sailing, but that’s just me.

 

 

The humorous part of the QR code is that it can disappear just before the cruise since the app has not figured out that our local time is not GMT. Last month we were on the way to port and, according to the app, the ship had left 4 hours previously.

4 hours ago, Ron the Rev said:

Not a fan of the trough, why not use the dining rooms and slow down into your holiday.

Because in the buffet I can eat when I want, what I want, how much I want and at the speed I want.

Another sign that the app programmers have never been on a ship is the lack of ability to see your excursions. You can purchase them, but not see them.

52 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

One drawback I have noticed with the app is that when I open it, I can't back out of it to another screen without shutting the phone off.

 

I never use it once I'm on the ship.

I switched out of the app all the time and never had a problem. With an Android, just swipe up from the bottom to get to the home page.

11 minutes ago, cruisermsoon said:

I was on the Coral Princess 14 night Christmas/New Year cruise ex Brisbane, with a Plus package, and the notice appeared near the end of the cruise, as I recall just after Auckland when a bunch of New Zealanders boarded. 

I'd be grateful for any information you could find out.

We were on the Sapphire and got the wine notice as a special for New Years. Seemed a bit pointless since we had the package.

On a cruise departing from Santiago today a passenger reported that a self administrated test without the proctoring was accepted.  However masks are required for at least the first three days. When we got on in LA, a proctored test was required but that seemed to have been changed after we left.

18 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

I hope you are correct. I haven't been through embarkation since before the medallion so admittingly aren't the expert. It just seems that even if it takes one minute to get the medallion in your hands and there are hundreds more people than before needing that service, there has to be a time penalty to the wait times. 

 

Time will tell. My concerns might end up being one of those infamous "nothingburgers". 🙃

 

Our check in at San Pedro was very efficient. They had runners who were going back and forth to a set of counters manned by agents who got the medallion for you. There were various slowdowns for other reasons (one couple was at the checkin counter for the whole 20 minutes we were in line).

1 hour ago, sonomaphil said:

Basically you can't make a reservation at princess.com   I've now tried cruises I really want to book and cruises I have no intention of booking.  Every time you get "We Apologize for the Inconvenience" after entering passenger info.  I tried choosing Princess Standard and Princess Plus, no dice.  I tried getting into the site using the players club email offering an extra discount, still you can't book. 

 

I do know where I can make a booking, celebritycruises.com  You read that correctly John Padgett. 

Try clearing the cookies. We made two reservations yesterday with no problems.