CruisingJs

Hi, could you tell me who you contacted to organise the Meet&Greet? I just jointed the Roll Call for the Diamond Princess leaving in a week and it seems that we don't have one organised. I tried contacting Princess here in Oz but the two ladies I spoke to say they have never heard of such a thing. Perhaps it is too late, anyway, but the Meet & Greets are often worthwhile. Cheers, Linda

I'm not positive this is current but I have Rosanne Pennucci as the Onboard Activities Coordinator for the Emerald. Her email is rpennucci@princesscruises.com. The backup agent is Berna Grayr.

For me, the best feature of a mini suite is that it has a separate sitting area with a couch, a chair and a coffee table. On Princess, the balcony cabins only have a chair, no couch...except for the deluxe balcony cabins on the Royal class ships which do have a small couch. If I'm relaxing in my cabin, I do not want to have to sit on the bed. Also, the mini suites have a tub/shower combination which gives you a much larger shower area.

Do you know how long Kelvin Joy is going

to be on the Grand? He's a great CD.

 

Thank you in advance for answering.

He didn't say. He was kind of hiding out because he wasn't starting until the end of the cruise. I'm guessing he will be on during Dave Cole's break then Dave will be back. Isn't that 2-3 months? I'm not sure how long CD vacations are.

Thanks again for doing the review. One thing that I loved about this cruise was the made to order Belgium waffles. They were outside at the ice cream stand every morning until about 10:30 am.

How did I miss the waffles?!?!

There's the French Onion soup, and good old Dave Cole. You are making me very antsy for my cruise in March!

Dave Cole got off the ship at the end of this cruise. His replacement was Kelvin Joy who is also very good.

There have been reports that the grade of concentrate has changed, for the better, so you might want to try the HC coffee before buying the coffee card.

We just got off the Grand last week and I swear the room service coffee has improved. We only ordered it a couple of times when we had early tours but it does taste better than previous cruises. I think the rumors may be correct.

What was wrong with the sofa?

The cushions kind of scoot away from the back of the sofa and you have to shove them back. It's mildly annoying.

When did the Arch collapse in Cabo? It was intact in October. When the ship shifts with the current it does seem like the Arch is no longer there.

It's still there.

I can't wait to see our cruise from your perspective. I get to relive it all over again. :D

We've had window suites on the Golden twice and the Grand once. I love the location right off the atrium. The hallway where they are located is very quiet. There is lots of storage space and the suite benefits are great. Definitely avoid F301 as it is much smaller than the others.

If you're picky about pillows bring your own. We sailed in F309 on the January 9th sailing. I asked our steward if we could have firmer pillows than the soft squishy ones provided and he could only come up with one and it was kind of flat. I actually mentioned this is our post cruise survey because they do advertise a pillow menu.

By the way, we didn't experience any unusual noises in the cabin from the stabilizers or squeaking. We had a really noisy window suite on the Golden once going to Hawaii and it did keep me awake but the Grand was very quiet.

We are around 1000 points. But, probably less than. DH a couple hundred more than me. We lose our $20 quickly.

 

Last cruise (10 day Mexican) was the first time we got the casino cash voucher. It was for DH who has the casino rate. Worth $100 if we booked and travelled soon. We can not use it. I do not know if it can be combined with the casino rate.

I got one of those letters on the cruise we just disembarked from. In the small print it said it's NOT combinable with other casino offers and is only good for new bookings.

Not necessarily. Last year I got the Casino discount but didn't know it until I went to book a cruise. No matter what I do I don't seem to get any of the offers via email from Princess.

This is our second year qualifying for the casino rate. The first year we didn't get notified and found out when booking a cruise. This year we both got emails.

We just got off the 10 day Mexico cruise in a window suite. This was our third time in one. We love them and especially love the suite benefits. Enjoy! You got a great deal.

The amount of the discount varies from 5% to 35% depending on the destination and the type of cabin you book. It is also capacity controlled. It seems that they only allow so many discounted fares per cruise so you need to book early once you qualify.

We got off the Grand on Dec 30th and the Bingo was $100, $200, $300 and $400 all week. No snowball.

 

We did not play like we used to. 2 sessions and we gave up it just didn't have the excitement. We used to hope for big crowds to up the winnings!

That's interesting because they have the snowball now. Maybe bingo turnout was so low they decided to change it back to the old format.

Sorry to hear that it's affecting your trip home. SFO is a notoriously bad airport to fly in or out of given the fog delays.

 

OAK also connects to public transportation and never has an issue. I travel for work, so my airport of choice is Oakland first then SJC. I only fly out of SFO if I have zero choice in the matter.

 

Good luck getting home!

Now you tell me! I'm still here.

Be warned, there is no huge jackpot on the last day. It is a straight $5000 for 50 numbers or less all week and $400 for the final coverall game. The Snowball has melted!

What ship was that on? I just got off the Grand today and they had the normal bingo format. Nothing had changed.

I had no idea! We disembarked as quickly as I have ever seen. We got through customs and immigration in record time. The airport is another story. There seems to be minimum of two hours delay for every flight. It would be nicer to wait on the ship.

Regarding the 2 cruise credits - Both our TA and I contacted Princess several times but were not able to convince them to apply them to our account; only got the one.

Hope you have a great time!

I've heard that from someone else, too. It's actually the Captain's Circle that grants the extra credit so it pays to talk directly with them. In the future it may help to talk to the Captain's Circle Host while on a cruise. The woman I talked to specifically told me they give the extra credit for upsells but not upgrades.

Edited to say I didn't see azbirdmom's post before saying this. She gave excellent advice.

Personally I love the breakfast at Sabatini's. It's not a waste of time. Don't forget you get a complimentary dinner at a specialty restaurant on the first night so it's best to go to the restaurant you want after you board to make reservations. Also, you do need to ask your steward to drop off the main dining room menus each day. I also like the little slippers they give you.

And don't forget to call Princess after your cruise to get two cruise credits for your upsell. It doesn't happen automatically.

Suites sell out early so if you want it, grab it now.

They have pump dispensers. One has a shampoo and rinse combination and the other is body wash. I'm not a fan. I always take my own.

As long as they haven't booked yet there shouldn't be a problem.

The rate isnt based on who request it. It just doesn't show up online as it once did. There are I believe 3 different rate codes for this current promotion according to the email. Were you an onboard gambler or you just received it through your TA entering a rate code last year. Have you booked any recent cruises and received the rate.

 

Ive received obc through the Coast to Coast and Twice as nice promotion with it The word was that it had to be 6-20 night cruises for Casino rate.

 

Bottom line, its a great rate.....it wont just pop up as it once did. Someone must ask for it, your TA. Or you directly with Princess. If you are reading these post, you should ask if you are eligible. ..if you are--you'll SAVE some money:)

We just got a casino rate on a 2017 cruise we booked a few days ago. We recently got our second email saying we qualified for the casino rate so it sounds like they have extended the program another year. we have been getting casino rates for about a year now.