northwestbear

On 6/3/2023 at 1:31 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

I just checked and the Princess Gift Card purchase options are definitely gone. Thanks for the heads up and for letting us know the why.  😁
 

They are back… I bought one yesterday- however, they are now only an 8% savings whereas before they were 10%. I bought a $500 gift card and it was $460. 

As a couple who do not drink alcohol, I feel like these changes only take things away that were previously included. We really enjoy having lunch or sometimes even dinner at Alfredo's - which it seems will now become a pay restaurant unless you have a package. We have rarely used room service, but it was always nice to have the option. We usually dine in a specialty restaurant a few times each cruise. We used to buy coffee packages (another sad change) but now just pay for our drinks individually.  We have an anniversary cruise coming up in September and we splurged for a very expensive cabin, but now it feels like Princess wants even more out of me. I priced it out and the Ala carte pricing is still a better option than either package by hundreds of dollars. It will definitely cost us more to cruise than in the past. We'll just have to see - We had a really nice cruise on Celebrity this past winter and our next cruise after our September trip is on Holland America. We're Elite on Princess, but maybe it's time to branch out. 

We are Cameron and George from Washington State. Wondering if any other LGBTQIA folks will be traveling with us? 

I really appreciate this information. It gave me a reason to join AARP. The gift cards were showing in denominations of $500 and $100 at 10% off the face value - I bought a few and was immediately able to apply them to the balance on a future cruise on the Princess website.  Really great deal. 

We are not big alcohol drinkers, but do like our coffee. On a recent Celebrity cruise we were offered the zero proof at a discount, which we took. Even at the discounted price we did not find much value in the package and it was one of the few things that was cheaper than Princess. I cannot imagine we will be purchasing a drink package. The soda package doesn’t include coffees, and we don’t drink much soda… so I guess we’ll just pay as we go or cut out coffee for the week (or three). 

We are on that Feb 4 Solstice cruise as well. We don't usually buy drink packages, other than the premium coffee package if we are on Princess. It has never been worthwhile since we barely drink alcohol and don't drink much soda. When I got the Celebrity Email advertising the 40% off we decided to go for it, since I figure it's about 3 non-alcoholic drinks per day to break even.  It looks like Celebrity has a lot of non-alcoholic options and we usually splurge on "mocktails"  and love our coffee drinks, so I'm sure we'll get our money's worth. 

12 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I'm curious - what's the cruise that you're supposed to be taking?  

 

You stated a "short cruise".  Out of LA, first port San Diego.  Only one I can find is LA roundtrip.  Boarding in SD and disembarking back in LA would be illegal under the PVSA.  

LA-San Diego-Sea Day-Ensenda-LA. It’s one of the 4 night “comedy cruises” on Discovery. 

I’ve already posted here about EZAir canceling my first class upgrade through Delta. Well the day of travel things got much worse. Because of work obligations we had to travel on the day of departure for a short cruise we had booked. We made sure to book through EZAir since they promise to make things “seamless” if something goes wrong. We also took travel insurance (thank goodness). Our 7am flight on Delta  Seattle- LA was delayed to 8:20, 10:00 and then 3:00pm. Our ship sailed at 4:00. Multiple calls to the enroute travel desk at Princess- only one person I spoke with seemed even slightly interested in helping us. We were told by Princess that they could not get us on another flight and essentially left us to deal with Delta. We did standby on two flights, one which would have gotten us to LAX at about 3:00pm. Princess told us the gangway was going up at 3:30 and if we couldn’t be there before then we would not be allowed to board. We didn’t make it on the flight, but still. So we focused on meeting the ship in San Diego, its first port. Delta had already sent our luggage to LA on one of the earlier flights, so we were told we had to fly to LA. Okay- so how was Princess going to get us from LA to San Diego as they promise? Short answer, they were not. We had to find our own way. Oh, and Princess will not pay for any accommodations, so that was also down to us. Their whole script during this was we would have to make a claim with our travel insurance. Oh, and any questions we had that were not air related, we were automatically transferred to the reservations line - where you can sit on hold for an hour. After being up at 3am and not getting to LA until after 6pm we had to rent a car and drive to San Diego and get a hotel room. The only thing The Princess enroute travel people did for us was email the ship to let them know we would be meeting them in San Diego. As I write, we are still at the hotel, so we’ll see how that process goes. Ironically during this day from hell, we got an Email/ad from Princess EZAir touting how they make your travel “seamless” even if you encounter problems during your journey. 

Booked a “comfort plus” ticket on Delta through EZAir for our upcoming cruise. When I signed onto the Delta app to check our flights it gave me an offer to upgrade for a set amount per segment per person. It being the holidays, I took the offer- my CC was charged and I got an Email from Delta confirming my upgrade and seat selection. Fast forward to two days ago and I again logged into the Delta app and it gave me the same offer and showed our reservations as “Comfort plus” with no seat assignments. I spent a total of 4 hours trying to get this figured out. The short of it as explained by Delta is EZAir tickets are “bulk” tickets and not upgradeable and this is a Princess restriction. So supposedly when Princess was notified of the upgrade, they cancelled it. I was not notified and was not credited for the amount I paid. I was initially told I would have to request a refund in writing since the upgrade was “non refundable” but I was finally able to speak with a Delta supervisor who agreed to refund my money. 

Visiting Rome on a Princess Cruise in October 2022. We've been a few times before and are looking for something different. I noticed Princess offering a Rome "Foodie Walking Tour" which sounds interesting. Princess shows the tour is 8 hours, but the excursion detail only shows less than 2 hours of activity. So we are wondering about the rest of that time. Has anyone done this tour? I thought of booking with the idea I can always cancel once on board when I can get additional information, but then I thought someone here might have some additional information. Thanks in advance. 

We have two stops in Kotor on a late fall cruise with Princess and I am wondering about this excursion. We've been to Kotor before, and I think the scenery will probably be stunning at that time of year, but the tour allots only 1:30 for the boat ride on the lake and 2:15  for "lunch and swimming." I cannot imagine anyone is going to be swimming in Montenegro in November. So I am wondering about the restaurant - It sounds like it is within the National park? If so it might be possible to do a short hike during the allotted lunch time. 

Memories Of Naples: Borbonic Tunnels & Pompeii With Pizza Lunch 

Thinking about booking this through Princess. Has anyone done this tour? If so, what did you think? We have done Pompeii on our own before, but would like to go back with a guide. We would also like to see a bit of Naples. Pre-Covid we booked almost nothing through the cruise line, but with so many  of our cruises cancelled and the possibility of port cancellations on this one, I am booking everything through Princess. 

"Start your tour at the historic port guarded by the imposing Castle Nuovo, which looms over the harbor. Continue to the heart of the city, the Piazza del Plebiscito, dominated by the Royal Palace of Naples with its formidable, red facade featuring the statues of the eight king. Admire the Church of San Francesco di Paoloa, the Teatro di San Carlo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Galleria Umberto. Tour the Naples Galleria Borbonica and see the aqueduct of Carmingnano. A the end of the walk through the tunnel, you'll arrive at the Naples shoreline, where you'll see the famous Egg Castle in Santa Lucia."  Lunch at a local Pizzeria included. Afternoon guided tour of Pompeii. 

Thinking about booking this through Princess. Has anyone done this tour? If so, what did you think? We have done Pompeii on our own before, but would like to go back with a guide. We would also like to see a bit of Naples. Pre-Covid we booked almost nothing through the cruise line, but with so many  of our cruises cancelled and the possibility of port cancellations on this one, I am booking everything through Princess. 

"Start your tour at the historic port guarded by the imposing Castle Nuovo, which looms over the harbor. Continue to the heart of the city, the Piazza del Plebiscito, dominated by the Royal Palace of Naples with its formidable, red facade featuring the statues of the eight king. Admire the Church of San Francesco di Paoloa, the Teatro di San Carlo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Galleria Umberto. Tour the Naples Galleria Borbonica and see the aqueduct of Carmingnano. A the end of the walk through the tunnel, you'll arrive at the Naples shoreline, where you'll see the famous Egg Castle in Santa Lucia."  Lunch at a local Pizzeria included. Afternoon guided tour of Pompeii. 

 While St. Petersburg is certainly an amazing city, the trip is definitely worthwhile without it. Hopefully the cruise lines will substitute ports in other countries to make up for the missed ports. The entire region is so beautiful - I could be equally happy spending 2 days in Riga and Tallin as St. Petersburg for example. 

On 11/12/2021 at 7:32 AM, pklein9747 said:

When booking the Crown Grill through the Medallion App, it tells you the cost and your posted credit card.  Does it charge the credit card right away or is it just a hold?

Watch your onboard folio carefully! We prepaid for a reservation for 4 people for the last night of our cruise. We did not realize until we got home that we were also charged to our folio for the dinners. Trying to get the money refunded once off the ship is next to impossible. I sat on hold with Princess for over an hour who then told me to send an Email. I've been waiting a couple of weeks now for a response. If I don't hear anything I will take it up with my CC company. 

Be careful with Specialty Dining reservations made in advance. We made a reservation for 4 for the Crown Grill for our recent trip on Grand Princess using the Medallion app.  We paid in advance as was required and my credit card shows the charge. We were treating two friends to dinner on the last night of our cruise. Imagine my embarrassment when we were contacted by our friends letting us know they were charged for their dinner on their onboard account! A look at our folio revealed we were also charged again for 2 dinners. So we paid twice! Trying to call Princess is  currently almost impossible - you sit on hold for hours. I have Emailed them, so we will see what happens. I am hopeful they will make this right.

Well.. our issues were temporarily resolved. But now it appears Medallion has created new ones. For some reason, with two days to go until sailing, much of my husband's personal information has disappeared from the app. So we now have a big red exclamation point over his profile and we have gone from "green lane" to "blue lane." I attempted askoceanmedallion email I tried last time and I did get a response requesting another Email from me, but so far no resolution to the problem. It is just so crazy to me that Princess can do business like this. Between potential flight issues, weather and now Medallion, my anxiety level has me wanting to just chuck the whole damned thing. 

I called Princess yesterday, 11/6/21, and spoke with a representative and a supervisor. I was told the department that is handling the promotion is delayed in getting out all of the Emails. I was also told I could go ahead and book the cruise I was looking at and then once I get my Email I could send a copy of the promotion and my verification Emails in order to have the promotion applied to the booking. Normally this would be okay, but the cruise is past the final payment date, so we'd have to pay in full and then have them refund the 50%, which just sounds a bit complicated.  There are still plenty of cabins on the cruise we want,  so I think I will give it a few more days and see if the Email arrives. 

Current nurse here. Was verified on 10/21 and still waiting on the Email. Hoping it comes through soon. Starting to feel like this was just a marketing ploy and I will have to sit on the phone for hours if I want to actually get a cruise. Still a few days left in the "week after" November 1st, so hoping Princess does right by folks. 

I leave today on my Alaska Cruise. Dealing with this app has and still is a nightmare. I still don't have our medallions, so even though we show green lane, I am sure we are going to be waiting in some horrific line at the terminal. I got a survey from Princess asking for my feedback on the app and told them exactly what I thought of it. I really hope that this is not a sign of what we can expect from Princess going forward. This whole thing just seems half baked and not ready for public use. 

Very sad about the sale. We were on Pacific Princess in December, 2019 for the first time and fell in love with her. We had another cruise booked for October, 2021 specifically to sail on her again. Of course that has now been cancelled. We’ve booked on the Enchanted Princess for the same time period, but of course the experience will be very different if it goes at all.

Booked on a 12nt. Mediterranean cruise Rome to Venice, October 2nd on Pacific Princess. The longer 19 day that ended in Ft. Lauderdale has been cancelled due to CDC regulations, but so far ours is still scheduled to sail. Keeping our fingers crossed. If that falls through, we may try to schedule something for Jan, 2022. 

We are also on the October 2nd twelve night sailing and have not been cancelled. In fact, we just made our flight reservations with EZ air. Keeping our fingers crossed on this one. 

Thanks so much. These are useful. I think we are now leaning toward doing Paestum.

Will have a port day in Salerno in early December. We’ve done Pompeii on a previous cruise and have an interest in both Paestum and the Herculaneum, but don’t have time for both. Anyone been to either one or both. Is either worth a visit? Anybody love one over the other? Thanks for any information.