Cruise Raider

We just got off the Majestic and while I hardly ever use the laundry benefit, I sent a few items to be cleaned and/or pressed on day one. I got all the items back on the next day and we weren’t even in a suite. However, there were not ven 100 elite status passengers onboard, 😂

We just did a galley tour and I had sandals on .. asked if I needed a pair of shoes and they said, no, what I had on was just fine. They were a pair of backless sketcher sandals. We were invited up to the crew deck for sail away on a celebrity ship once and for that, I needed closed toe shoes .. no exceptions.

Our were added to our profile a couple of days after the cruise ended. Instead of just adding them to the cruise you were on, they inserted an additional line in your cruises history showing the extra cruise and extra days accrued form the promotion.

I may be the spoiler here .. I didn’t like her at all. We’ve been many different ships with many different cruise lines and she is officially my least favorite ship on which we’ve cruised. Of note, I love the Royal class ships. So, that may help you knowing what you value vs what someone else values. As for the things I didn’t care for … I didn’t like the dining rooms .. they felt so cramped. The flooring in the aft MDR shifted underneath with every step by the waiters. The ship felt dirty and that started in our cabin, which was filthy and in disrepair. No IC, no Alfredo’s and a tiny little piazza are things I didn’t like. The electric power was down twice and for no short period of time. Our cabin didn’t have a bidet but we saw them in the public bathrooms. I guess some like them, but they are not for me. The whole layout in general was not good, IMO. The food was great and the entertainment was absolutely fabulous so, I didn’t have an awful cruise. I just didn’t like the ship, except for the Wheelhouse Bar, which was beautiful and spacious. Maybe that’s where they should have had some musical entertainment. Instead, it was mostly used for meetings for various groups.

You are able to just download any digital photos .. as many as you take. You have to be in the photo and if you see any missing, just let them know and they will make sure they are placed under your account. You also get three printed photos for each person in your cabin that has the premier package. Any additional prints will cost you anywhere from $2 to $5, depending on the size print you order. You can even upload your own photos and have them print those out for you. You can customize onboard, them either on the app or on their computers in the photo center onboard. It does not include the platinum studio (if that’s what it is called). I absolutely love photos and I do look at mine often. They don’t just go in an album, either digitally or hard copy, never to be seen again. So, that is a very valuable inclusion in the premier package for us.

I finally got it to work on one card using my log in and on a different device on my DH’s log in, I found the card. I would still like the check balance work for than one card at a time .. then, having to check another 2 days later. But, at least I’m good for now. I will have to start keeping hand written documents of which have money on them and which ones I pre used and for which cruise. I did write to customer support .. not sure what good it will do but it made me feel better.

What a fun surprise! Have a great time when you go. I surprised my DH for his 60th bday with a cruise. He simply had no idea and I made several of the reservations right in front of him. He hadn’t a clue. He says the surprises are for me .. well, that is true. I love him more than he does but he was ok with that wonderful surprise,

Just make sure it shows $0 due when you hit the confirm button, even if you go to change a reservation. It does take anywhere from several hours to a couple of days to show up but it does show up eventually. Keep us posted on how it works out.

I love that! I can take it or leave it when it comes to the food and have found it’s the crew and the staff that can make or break a cruise experience.

Happy you are enjoying a very lovely day. I agree, the crew/staff of our cruises is what keeps us coming back. I also agree to show them kindness and patience always. If there is a mistake made, my motto is ‘everybody deserves a second chance’! I love the newer ships but we are oftentimes finding ourselves on the older ships because of some of the crew that we see as part of our ever growing family. We keep in touch with many of them long after our cruise is done just to find out which ship they will be sailing on next. If it’s on the US west coast, we do our best to book our next one on one of those ships just to see them again. Safe travels back home!

While that is true, we’ve seen that many of the staff are cross trained for that very reason. If the patrons are dining in the MDR, they will probably be needed in the specialty or casual dining. On each sailing, there are also a fixed number of passengers and they are well aware of the reservations they see on a daily basis.

While I probably wouldn’t upgrade on a cruise over 15 days or a Grand/Crown class ship, it has more to offer than what you state. It all has to do with what one prioritizes, though. We will most likely upgrade on the 3 Royal class ships that we have booked in the near future.

I am in complete agreement with this. Not only because they are aging out, they also have expectations that aren’t very practical in today’s world. What, if anything, is the same as 30-50 years ago? I’d say, nothing! if one of us ran a business, would we rather have customers that are willing to part with their discretionary dollars and be amazed and happy for the most part, or would they rather have customers that are complaining that every change they try in a competitive market is a complete failure? I can’t even count the number of times on these boards that I’ve seen people condemn any and every new thing Princess has implemented. And, they are still filling their ships to max capacity! I hate to say it, but I don’t think they’d miss the complainers that much. This thread started out with such good intentions .. to be kind to the staff during this transition to the upgraded premier package. One thing I believe CoVid taught me is that It’s so much healthier to just be positive and grateful we can cruise again. Give it a chance and if you still don’t like it, move on.

That’s not what we see but then again, we must eat early or not at all. Anywhere between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM would be perfect for us. That is our normal dinner time range at home. And yes, I’d be more than willing to use $45 for lunch instead of dinner. Again, I’m not alone! Not meaning any disrespect but people have already set this up to be a failure before it even started. If I can’t get in before 7:30 PM, I’m certainly not going to starve to death on a cruise. Heck, I’m not even going to be upset.

For @kitkat343 I think the supply chain for food 2 years ago might explain why food that was previously good had gone downhill. While I do usually like lobster, what was being served on Princess 2 years ago was not very great. It is now just heavenly.

Celebrity would oftentimes have lunch in Murano on a sea day and it was always full. I would prefer to eat my large meal at lunchtime and I know I’m not alone. I may get some small snack around 5 PM, or maybe not.

I’ve been asking for this option for years. 🤞

I wonder if they will be allowing us to order off the specialty dining menus in the MDR if there is simply no room in these venues. I know they have some items from the Crown Grill on the room service menu, maybe even some items from Sabatini’s.

While that may be true, many passengers eat early for health reasons, not over fear of missing out on something.

Not criticizing or commending this. They did send out a survey a few months ago to those that regularly purchase the premier package, such as ourselves. This question of unlimited specialty dining was specifically addressed in the survey. I responded that I thought it should be proportional to the number of days of the cruise. I believe once every 3 days would be appropriate. I am sure once it first starts, people will go gang busters and reserve their times for every single day but also think that novelty will wear off after a while. New cruisers will probably keep it going for quite some time. We still intend to upgrade to the premier package on our next few cruises. It’s only worth it for us on the Royal class ships, though. I don’t see the need to upgrade on the Grand or Crown class. We on an 11 night cruise, we will probably try to go about 4 times, at most. With the limit of 2 specialty dining, on a 4 day cruise, we find ourselves thinking we are wasteful if we don’t go to that second dinner. There’s a theory that if people have unlimited, they either set their own limits or suffer the consequences of over indulgence and in turn, set that limit somewhere down the road. I’m not saying everybody will, but I think it might be a majority that do! But, when they have a limit (of two specialty dinners or 15 drinks), people try to make sure they reach their limit. How many times have we seen people say, “I can’t drink 15 drinks a day, so I share that 15 with a friend that doesn’t have the package?”. They don’t even think there is anything wrong with that. We even heard someone talking about it at the MTP luncheon that they never get the package because their friends share their package with them. This was said right in front of one of the senior officers without any shame. I am sure it will be some trial and error and they may even decide to go back to limiting it but I don’t think the price will go down. Back to @Lady Arwen’s post, I sure hope people are patient and kind with the dining staff.

I was thinking that but I was able to get into it to check a few cards this morning on my iPad. I tried a different iPad, rebooted, cleared all my cookies, tried my phone and my laptop using Chrome. Nothing worked. I am just baffled. I will try google for the heck of it.

Actually, we’ve seen the area for suite guests reserved on the Discovery. I only know that because I saw the blue seat covers and sat there as we had the premier package. We were asked to move as they saw we weren’t in a suite. Upon further inspection, I saw the seat covers showed ‘suite guests’ or something like that printed on the back. I just wasn’t paying attention when I sat down. If you order the meal for your balcony from the Concierge, you won’t be charged for that, even if you don’t have a package. That’s probably not true for ships that don’t have a suite concierge, though .. but the OP stated she was on the Discovery.

Unfortunately, that’s the one I’ve been using. I thought I may have had a work around but the screen through payments on the Princess website is also fussing with me. Not to mention, the AARP website is also not function properly to check on balances.

Frustrating, isn’t it? I wish to know which gift card the refund went back to? If I go to put money down on an existing cruise, I have to know the exact balance (or less) on this card. I suppose I could start with $10 on each card and if it takes, I can shoot for a higher amount. They need to fix this!

I would first go with @Astro Flyer’s recommendation but there are plenty of this available at both the airport and at the pier when a ship is in town. It’s a very short ride from the pier to the airport so it won’t cost you an arm and a leg for a taxi. But, like Astro Flyer said, the walk to the car rental agency is less than a mile.