Sea Hag

Yes, that would mean that the stores would need a medallion reader. My understanding is that some, but probably not all, stores have signed up for this. Princess gets a cut from each sale, so I wouldn't do this in any case. I'd rather the shoreside store owners got the profit.

I think you nailed it. I propose a new slogan for Princess, to replace that "come back new" or whatever it is right now. "At Princess, we alpha test software on our customers."

Oh, I'm not being helpful. 😂 Sorry, but I have no idea on that. I just think that unless it's a technical person it won't be very productive. It's doubtful that we could get anybody to do this, but if we did we'd probably end up with some marketing person who has no idea how the app should work.

Technical team or nothing.

You're heading in the right direction, but I think you missed the target a bit. A Zoom meeting with upper management would probably get a lot of "I need to check with the technical team" or something like that. A Zoom meeting with top level technical team (I know that "Princess top level technical team" is probably an oxymoron) might be productive.

I've signed in with both username/password and booking number. I get different results from each, but in neither case does everything work. Your comment about having to sign in each time is what I get with both methods, and it's currently my biggest beef. It's totally ridiculous. It's simply not rocket science to generate a login cookie so a person doesn't need to log in each time.

And that would make it a really good deal. I'd jump on that immediately.

I'm back for additional whining and complaining. Neither login method seems to save credentials. It doesn't remember me either through username/password or through booking number. Logging in through booking number shows a title at the top, "Quick Access," and it wants first name, last name, booking number, birth month, birth date, birth year (separate fields for each one of these). How, in the name of reason, is this "Quick Access?"

I downloaded the new app, and I have good news and bad news. The good news is that after a second login, I seem to be staying logged in with my username/password rather than booking number. I'm also seeing some - emphasis on "some" - of the info for my next cruise. The bad news is that for the majority of stuff I just see a message saying one way or another "can't get that information." Good job, Princess! 🤣😂

This one is actually a yes and no. Entry level cabins in each category have a non-refundable deposit. For instance, I booked us an ocean view cabin on the Discovery for next September. A better option popped up for us, so I canceled that one. Talking directly to our wonderful CVP in doing that cancel, she told me that the deposit was non-refundable since it was an entry level cabin in that category. The other shoe hadn't dropped for me that this was the case, but when she told me that I could see that it was so since there's only one ocean view category on that ship. The deposit was only $100 each, so no big deal.

All I can say is that I would book that cabin. The location is good. The obstruction isn't bad, since you have a good view looking out over the lifeboat. You can't see down, but that's not where the eclipse will be anyhow. 😂 And chances are that most of us who're on that cruise will need to leave our cabins to see the eclipse in full. Even if the ship rotates, a person would miss a lot of it by staying put in a cabin.

Glacier Bay! We've only gone down Endicott Arm once, and I fully realize that our experience isn't what others might have gotten. But our experience was truly the most underwhelming of any glacier-op day we've had. There was a lot of ice in the water, and I understand that the ship can't get close if that's the case. The end result was that when the glacier finally came into view, way in the distance, the sun was just clearing the mountains behind it. We were looking right into the sun and could hardly see the glacier at all. Again, I understand that this isn't a universal Dawes Glacier experience, and I'm happy for those who had otherwise.

I'm lucky enough to have a wonderful CVP. She takes care of things that I can't do for myself online. I've had to cancel more than one cruise, and all it took to do that was a simple email to her with the details. This is not frowned upon. She's refared many cruises for me when there's a price drop and has helped me in other ways. She was able to snag my preferred cabin for the upcoming eclipse cruise on the elite sales day as soon as sales opened. Bookings were crazy on that day, at that time! Plus, she's a really nice person that I always enjoy talking to.

I agree with you that the lady in question is simply trying to make things orderly. But I've explained to her nicely and fully twice why her method doesn't work for me. I think I'll ask for a different person. 🙂

I've cruised mostly with Princess, who has Cruise Vacation Planners (or some such or maybe PVPs for Princess Vacation Planners. They changed it at some point.). Probably most people knew what I meant.

Good advice. Thanks!

I'm pretty new to HAL, having done only one cruise so far. When I made my first booking, the system assigned me a CVP. Some time later, I contacted her through email, and she called me. One of the things she said on that call and on a subsequent call was that if I need something from her I should book an appointment with her through a link she provided. She would then call me at the appointment time. Is this how it works with all HAL CVPs? I'm not a fan of this, since I like to make arrangements via email. That gives both me and the other person a reference to check back on, rather than both of us relying on what we think the other one said. I explained that to her both times, and that doesn't seem to work for her. I appreciate the fact that she needs to structure her work, and this may actually be what they all do. But I don't like it. So, is this how they all manage things on HAL?

All the times we've had Club Class, it was in the deck 6 midship dining room. Haven't cruised since they changed the name to Reserve Collection, but it's surely the same. 😃

You've probably already thought of this and factored it into your thinking, but it's a long trek from the cabins on Sun deck to the dining rooms.

Get one and wear it! Some years back, there was a guy who ran Spartan Races in a thong. If he can do that, you can surely wear one on a cruise.

I don't mind them. If somebody wants to wear one it should be that somebody's personal choice.

I do see what I think might be a minor gotcha on this. Booking the lowest category price within a meta category means a non-refundable deposit these days, or so I've been told by my PVP. The promo says it's for new bookings only. So, in my case if I canceled and rebooked an upcoming, getting the better cabin for the lower cabin price, wouldn't that mean a non-refundable deposit? For me, that makes it a gamble, betting that nothing will prevent me from actually going on the cruise. Hmmm.

That looks like a great place to be for a long cruise. 😃

I don't know what deck you're on, but we had a cabin on Observation deck. It was just a short walk down the hall to get an early morning coffee and sit in a big, comfy chair looking out the front of the ship while we drank said coffee. No lines. No crowds. Just good coffee and peace. That was just one of the things we liked about the ship.

I don't need wow factor either. I hear you on the comment about the Carnival ship. We sailed on one of theirs some years back, and I always said it looked like an explosion in a Barbie Dreamhouse. Pink and silver everywhere you look. We did our first sailing with HAL back in September of this year on the Westerdam. The ship is well laid out and very well maintained. This works fine for me.