Crzn-Life

John Padgett is the new president of Princess. He's the guy responsible for the Medallion app and he's being rewarded for this fiasco by being promoted!! Apparently Princess doesn't read CC or if they do, they don't care what the complaints are about it.

We were on the emerald’s last cruise in March 2020. It was the same old Emerald we’ve sailed many times. Nothing new added that we were aware of. 

3 hours ago, arthistory said:

Does anyone know what kind of non-alcoholic beer is served on Princess, specifically the Ruby?

Heineken 0.0

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Princess' most traveled passenger (MTP) of all-time is on the Nieuw Amsterdam as well and coming onto Majestic next week.  Eileen N_____?

Her name is Ilene Weiner. She and her husband Carl are on the Nieuw Amsterdam. 

32 minutes ago, BassettMom said:

Except that I can type 120+ words a minute on a keyboard compared to hunting and pecking and hitting one letter at a time with my finger or a stylus pen--not just waaaaay tooo slow but extremely frustrating and stressful.

Have you considered a blue tooth keyboard? I have been using one with my iPhone for a couple of years. 

Port Canaveral started vaccinating cruise ship crew yesterday. They were able to do that because the governor removed the requirement of FL residency for vaccine eligibility.  No Princess ships dock in Port Canaveral but hopefully Port Everglades and Miami will follow suit. It's exciting news. and hopefully is a major step toward getting cruising started again.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/05/01/cruise-covid-vaccinations-port-canaveral/4905928001/

Just a bit of clarification. Previously the ATMs on board were provided by BB&T bank out of Miami (and BTW which is now Truist bank after merging with SunTrust). The ATMs in use now are provided by Brightwell which is partnered with Travelex. The fees are not set by Princess. 
 

The fee is $8.50 per transaction plus whatever your bank charges for out of network transactions. 
 

This is probably more info than you really wanted to know!! 😏

One of the best things about EZ check is that each person on your reservation can check 2 bags and the weight restriction of 50 lbs doesn’t apply! So if you have 4 bags between the two of you could stuff the equivalent of a 5th bag in those. 

I have 6 of the Fitbit holders in different colors so I coordinate them with my purse, tote, outfit or mood🤪. I clip it on my purse, watch band, phone strap or inside a pocket. 
 

Have used them on over 10 cruises in NE, Canada and the Caribbean. Have been asked by local port security to see the medallion several  times but have never been asked to remove it from the holder. 
 

On the first medallion cruises I used a Princess clip but it wasn’t very sturdy and would fall off. Luckily for me I was on the ship when that happened and each time I went to Guest Services and they could locate it and tell me where to look like under the dining table or a slot machine. 

29 minutes ago, WisCruiser2 said:

For anyone who has done EZ Check in Ft. Lauderdale with Southwest Airlines -- will the EZ Check do the check-in for us and get our boarding number or do we need to still check in ourselves? I'm wondering if I should bite the bullet and see if I can get Earlybird Check-in for just our return flight, especially if I can't rely on EZ Check to do it as close to 24 hours as possible.

We’ve used SW several times with EZ check and they have never checked us in early. Two weeks ago we were B34 & B43! Also the luggage tags typically get to the cabin late; like after 8pm. If you really want an early boarding time suggest you get the Earlybird but admit I don’t know how that works. 

I know that there is a marketing affiliate notice that you have to agree to the first time you go into the personalizer for a cruise. Usually I just click and move on. Today got my first affiliate emails. Apparently instead of just listing cibt as a resource for visas, Princess is now giving them passenger names and emails. 
 

Got 3 emails this afternoon for holiday cruises in December, Panama transit and Tahiti cruise in January telling us we need a passport and they can help with that. Since the cruises are past final payment you’d think they would know we have passports. 
 

Did anyone else get these?  Seems to be a nuisance but there is an unsubscribe option in the email.
 

The option to get a cruise card has always been available. I don’t understand those that said their request for one was denied. All it takes is a trip to passenger service to request it. I’ve been issued several cards on Medallion cruises because it wasn’t until recently that the Medallion worked in the casino on the 2nd of b2b cruises. 

For those concerned about being tracked, go into your privacy settings in the app and change them or go to customer service. Please note too that the Navigators can only help with app issues. You must go to passenger services for Medallion issues. 

For those that are concerned about being tracked, they get the same information whether  you buy something with your card or Medallion. 

19 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

This maybe a good substitute if you can’t find it

 

https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/baked-potato-leek-soup-with-cheddar-bacon

 

I find it takes a lot of seasoning to get it right. 

Interesting recipe but the Princess baked potato soup is a vegetarian dish. Has no bacon but has a corn relish added.  

2 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

It has always been 5p to 7p.

There have been a few that posted that they moved some cruises up 30 minutes earlier.

But I have yet to see that.

We are on the CB right now docked in St. John’s Nf. 

I agree with the OP that the ship has felt crowded. That’s primarily because the weather hasn’t been good so everyone is inside. When that happens you’re much more aware of the limited public space.

 However, the crowded feeling is exacerbated by some very rude passengers on this cruise who are deeply into the “me first” mode. The seating in the buffet area is usually adequate for lunch but this cruise finding a table has been a challenge because of the card & game players including one couple yesterday taking up 2 tables for a jigsaw puzzle.!

 On this cruise there are 3049 passengers (not 3600) with 919 of them platinum and 1086 elites. I’ve been on many cruises and for the first time observed some of the bad behaviors by elites that others have written about. Worst was the elite tender lounge. OMG think of Kindergarten room with a 4th of the 5-year olds having simultaneous tantrums. Then picture them as elites getting tender tickets. One guy was screaming because he couldn’t get 13 tender tickets for his friends! A woman complaining because she’s elite and was promised priority service and now she has to wait!!!😮 ... and so it went.  It would have been funny if it hadn’t been so absurd to watch people make absolute fools of themselves and denigrate staff who didn’t deserve it. 

 We’ve been on for a few cruises and I can tell you from my perspective that the service and crew on this ship are phenomenal. My admiration for them has only gone up during this cruise as I’ve observed them dealing with some pretty rude, cantankerous people plus the crowds inside at the same time. 

 But with all that I’ve still got to tell you that I’m really enjoying this cruise and this ship. The CB is right up there as one of my favorite ships. 

 You can’t go on a cruise with 3000 people in the Arctic with cold, fog, rain and limited shore services and not be prepared to share your space and just roll with weather and mechanical issues. (The aft elevators have been weird). 

 We’ve enjoyed this cruise and the ones prior  so much that we’ve already booked them again for next year. We’re also sailing on the CB again in December. 

 So for you folks that are booked on the CB, don’t worry 😉 My take on the CB is that you will have a wonderful time. 

2 hours ago, suzyed said:

I agree!  When we first sailed on the QM2, we were surprised how uncrowded it seemed with 4000 passengers!  We have sailed on the MSC Seaside which is a mega ship and again it didn't seem crowded!
As a matter of fact we sailed on one of the small ships (approx 3000 passengers) and much of it were sea days with cooler weather so everyone was inside rather than at the pools or on deck, etc.  During trivia games there was literally no  where to sit.  People were actually taking the cushions off the couches outside Explorers Lounge to sit on and others were sitting on the couches without cushions! Pretty crazy!

I think the reason that you didn’t feel crowded is the max capacity on the QM2 is:

2,695 passengers (after 2016 refit); 2,620 passengers (original design). 

No way does the QM2 hold 4000 passengers. That’s the approximate total for passengers and crew. 

On 8/9/2019 at 4:21 PM, idahospud said:

Glad to hear it's working on the ship right now. I won't be on the Royal for two more weeks so I'll be anxious to hear how it's working in the meantime. Can you keep us updated?

 

Enjoy your cruise!

I tried to send this a few days ago but just didn't get it done. At any rate, I'm sure you are on your cruise by now or if not, soon will be.

...two more things about the Medallion Class app.

1. In the Journey View section there is a circle in the upper right with a + icon in it. Click on that and it opens your "Journey Detail". It's the itinerary but if you are on B2Bs in includes the itinerary of ALL of your cruises in one list. For those on a single cruise, it is no different than the itinerary listed in the Ocean Concierge but for multiple cruises, it's great.
2. The Medallion Class App is slow to load. Actually the individual apps open faster. So if you are just need Ocean Compass it is actually a lot quicker to open the old Ocean Compass app instead of the new combined Medallion Class.

We're on our way to Greenland now so it will be interesting to see how the Medallion Net holds up that far north.

Enjoy your cruise.

1 hour ago, dides said:

 

Isn't the JourneyView function new in the app? I know it appeared on portals on the ship. I understand you can 'bookmark' the events you are interested in on the timeline and view these using the My Events filter. Plus you get to see events for the whole cruise so can plan ahead.

 

Sandra

Journey view is in the new Medallion Class with a separate access page. It is also in the old Ocean Now app. Not new. Don’t think you can bookmark in the app but you can in Ocean Concierge which is the old princess@sea. New name, same info. 

On 8/9/2019 at 4:21 PM, idahospud said:

Glad to hear it's working on the ship right now. I won't be on the Royal for two more weeks so I'll be anxious to hear how it's working in the meantime. Can you keep us updated?

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Here's what I know now. I did speak w/one of the navigators. Plus I've played around with the new app comparing its sections with the individual apps downloaded previously.

The navigator said that they aren't necessarily telling people about the new app. The only difference in the new app and the old ones is that all of the individual apps i.e. Ocean Ready, Ocean Compass, Ocean Now et al, can be accessed through the one app instead of downloading separately. As for content, they are the same. The section in the Medallion Class for each points to the same site as the individual apps. I did a comparison of each by opening the old individual app and that section in the new Medallion Class app. They are the same. The Navigator says they are continually updating the apps/sections.

I found the Ocean Ready section in the Medallion Class app to be different from what I remember was in the Ocean Ready app the last time I was able to open it and there was more info in the new app. However since I haven't been able to open the old Ocean Ready since I printed the Ocean Ready boarding pass with QR code back in July, so I have no idea how the old and new versions compare.

I do know that I can now open Ocean Ready through the Medallion Class app and all of my info is there plus it added my upcoming cruises that I just booked on board.

We were on the CB in May and I used Ocean Ready to set up everything. However, that app has always been glitchy for me and only occasionally opens. I was able to open it prior to boarding for this series of cruises in July and I didn't have to do anything for those cruises since all information was the same including the security photo. I'm still using the security photo taken when we boarded for a cruise in May. As long as security is OK with it I can use it until it doesn't look like me anymore!!!

I have absolutely no idea how these apps will work once we leave the ship. I'm able to log on with my name and cabin #. Once I'm on land and have to use the password I don't know if it will open or not so can only hope that it does.

The Navigator says they are "light years" ahead of where the were before but it was so bad back then that may not mean a whole lot in the long run, but I can say without equivocation that the Medallion Class app works well onboard. I previously had some problems with locating my DH with Ocean Compass but the upgrades seemed to have improved it and that is working well now.

BTW, have an iPhone.

We’re on the CB right now sailing from Quebec to NYC on B2B cruises. We were in Quebec for 3 days and we did not have to go through immigration. Nor did we go through immigration at any Canadian Port on the way to Quebec. You are free to come and go as often as you please however you must have a passport to reboard. We were given in transit cards which we needed on turnaround day. 

14 minutes ago, idahospud said:

Glad to hear it's working on the ship right now. I won't be on the Royal for two more weeks so I'll be anxious to hear how it's working in the meantime. Can you keep us updated?

 

Enjoy your cruise!

I’ll try. When I’m cruising I tend to lose track of time as well as forget what I’m supposed to be doing! 😮 

BTW the allergens are new. Previously they were added to your profile via the Personalizer so only your MDR had that info. Hopefully with this when you go to an alternative restaurant they should have that info if you entered it in the App.  I checked and the app didn’t have my allergens listed so I’m going to enter them. 

Thanks Deb. 

We’re on the CB right now and are docked in Quebec. Just downloaded the app and it works! Pretty cool. 

Surprisingly all all of our upcoming cruises are also listed including a bunch we booked last night. 

The old ocean ready gave me fits and this appears to be much better. 

The Ocean Compass function in the new app works much better than the old app. It actually just located my DH correctly!! The old one was pretty hit and miss. 

I’m going to ask the Navigators if they are directing people to this app now. 

You are correct that iPhones have Wi-Fi calling but whether or not it works depends on your carrier. I have Verizon and it supports it. When connected to the internet if Wifi calling is on it will appear in the upper left corner of the phone after the airplane mode icon. Be sure your phone is in airplane mode!  

I’m on the CB right now docked in Halifax. I just made a couple of calls with no issues. The downside of WiFi calling is that people can call you too when it’s active. 

You have to turn on WiFi calling in your settings. I suggest you try it now. Connect to WiFi, turn on WiFi calling, put the phone in airplane mode and see if it works. 

As as others have said you can also use What’s app, Skype, etc. 

5 hours ago, Reprocity said:

New chocolate journey desserts. They are yummy!!

 

These aren’t new. Sadly you don’t see them that often except on longer cruises. DH is hoping they have the coconut one too. 

2 hours ago, CruiseVA said:

other than the cranky aft elevator, which seems to have a mind of it's own, it's been pretty seemless. I don't mind the elevator doing it's thing, it's a fun conversation starter - "Have been on the elevator that tell's you you are on deck 10 when you are on deck 15?" it also just changes directions willy-nilly - LOL. Glad I'm, not a elevator tech...

 

It’s a bit unsettling to not know where you are going on an elevator. Yesterday got on at 15, pushed 8 then some people got on at 9. Next stop I got off without looking at the # because it had to be 8. It was 10!  Today it was showing 11 for deck 15.