Magellan321

Sadly, instead of facts some posters have turned these changes into a bad game of telephone based on speculation and rumor riling up people.

13 hours ago, Bgwest said:

“Before final payment” is typically used to mean close to final payment.
Now you are talking about tying up and rendering multiple cabins totally useless to others who may be interested in booking for “only two weeks”. 
Nice. 

Thank you! Yes, there is a clear difference between those two statements. This is a prime reason as to why the idea of a non-refundable deposit or the much higher cost for a refundable room came about years ago on Celebrity. 

5 minutes ago, Sam.Seattle said:

Sorry, but I have to disagree.  The pizza is terrible.  Just wander up to Slice and even the cook admits not many people are enjoying the brown flour dough.  

 

I think it's an acquired taste for many. I use to be one that would say, No Way! Yuck! But, now it doesn't bother me. We had many supply chain issues during covid and I just started baking with whatever flour I had on hand. Eventually, it became normal for us.

1 minute ago, Cruise Raider said:

Wow .. I thought maybe you just didn’t realize your actions bothered others but now I see you just don’t care!  

So sad... but apparently correct. I know so many people that try to relax and star gaze... guess they don't matter.

It is very annoying and affects all of the cabins adjacent especially while trying to enjoy star watching.

2 hours ago, skynight said:

You say you have adjusted the crew incentive. Have you done this with an inclusive fare? My understanding is that when you have the plus or other inclusive fare, crew incentive is included as part of the fare. It can not be broken out and adjusted. This is the fare the poster has. While Princess informs you of the value based upon their normal charge for those who select the standard fare the actual amount included is only known to Princess.

Correct it is included in the plus fare and cannot be reduced. As for the other persons theory of reducing their tips... well.... higher category equals greater square footage cabin to clean and less cabins assigned to the stewards giving less number of tips collected. 

9 hours ago, bananavan said:

Whenever someone prefaces with a "No flaming" etc, you should be  prepared to get burned. 
Good for you. 
Good for you that you are so much more intelligent and better prepared than those of us caught up in the rules that changed once again on May 1. 
Good for you that you pack 29 pair of underwear, in case you test positive on Day 8, when you have not even seen land since the onset. and will potentially not be permitted to leave Italy until the 21 day quarantine period. 
Good for you that you did not take a transatlantic that ended in Rome. 
Now, could you please give me the numbers for the Poweball later this week? 
The Remedial Empathy classes are filling fast. Please sign up before it is too late. 
 

Really, she does not require empathy class. We have lived with Covid for 2+ years. We all know and assume the risk of travel as it is today and especially if we are traveling across the globe with thousands of people we can come in contact directly or passively thru others. May 1st changes or not, we assume the risk of travel. I actually had empathy for the situation till you decided that common sense deserves a nasty attack. 

On 10/2/2021 at 5:15 PM, Cruise Raider said:

I can’t comprehend why anyone would want to test after traveling all the way to the pier only to find out that you may test positive.  The vaccines don’t prevent you from contracting CoVid … it’s a virus and that’s what viruses do…they mutate and spread.  What the vaccine does do is prevent the majority of the people that receive it from getting seriously ill if they do contract it.  But, even the vaccine’s benefits are proving to wane over time.  
But, my point is, whay would anybody go through the hassle of not testing until they get to the pier.  Why would anybody want to unknowingly infect anyone on a plane or an Uber or shuttle only to have to turn around and find a way home in the event they test positive at the pier … assuming the pier is further than walking distance from your home? 
We live relatively close to the port of San Francisco and even the home tests that we can order via the Princess website are cheaper than an Uber ride to our home port.  And with that known, would anybody really want to subject an Uber driver that is just trying to make a living or someone just trying to get from point A to point B on public transportation or a plane to this nasty virus?  
Hopefully,, the home kits can be sent out to anyone that wants one for a nominal fee in the near future … until then, I don’t believe $35 is too much to ask for one now.  If Princess sends therm out with their medallions and charges $35 more per person for the cruise, maybe that would be an equitable solution.  Someone is making a lot of money from the testing supplies but I don’t believe it is Princess.  
 

100% on point!!! 

59 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We got up early and finished showering and packing up the loose ends this morning and ordered room service for out on our balcony.  The food and specialty coffees were there in no time.  We were ready to go and decided to vacate or cabin by 8:00 AM to give the room stewards a head start.  We carried our luggage off so the staff said we didn’t even have to go to our designated waiting spot, we could just disembark.  We were off the ship and out of the terminal in no time flat.  We requested an Uber by 8:15 AM and to LAX by a little after 9:00 AM.  
now, we are dealing with multiple flight delays but are waiting it out in the Alaska Lounge.  I told my DH, who is losing patience quickly, to just pretend we are sitting in our favorite spot in Crooners.  At least the food and drinks are plentiful here.  
 

Glad you made it to the airport... ah, the AK lounge... a little spot of bliss! Catch you when messenger decides to pop back up! 😉

6 hours ago, Syracusefan44 said:

I totally agree.  When I was in high school (many many years ago) the grocery store I worked at started a similar satisfaction guarantee for the meat department with double your money back if not satisfied.  It was an absolute nightmare with people returning steaks that were fully cooked and 3/4 eaten claiming they were not satisfied.  That guarantee did not last two weeks with hundreds of pounds of perfectly good meat thrown in the garbage.

 

If Princess makes this guarantee permanent you can expect them to lose a ton of money with passengers complaining about not being satisfied with everything from speciality dining to mixed drinks seeking a refund. 

Exactly! When Walmart offered it... nightmare!

Oh lord from the amount of 😪 going on the FB pages.... don't let them see this! We will never be able to get thru the line at passenger service of complainers.

1 minute ago, Thrak said:

 

Try putting your booking number all lower case. That allowed me to add my wife as a travel companion. It wouldn't take my booking in upper case (as all of their documents have it listed...)

Thanks... I will give it a shot!

1 minute ago, Thrak said:

 

Don't get too excited... I deleted the app I had and then installed the  version that's now linked from the Princess site. No difference that I can see. I still can't enter the personal info or get to the COVID acceptance thing. I still get the "all hands on tech" message saying they are working on it. On the plus side, the info I had actually gotten into the old version is still there...

Heck... at least I finally could grab it from the app store. It looks like I'll be waiting on the tech wizards... it loads.... accepts me.... but won't accept my bookings. So, fingers crossed they hire a new tech crew!

10 minutes ago, Thrak said:

I just now checked the link on the Princess site and the MC app is once again available in the Google Play Store.

Thank you Thrak! I had almost given up trying to find it!!

It's official..... cruising has resumed! The tipping, crew incentive, change of status posts, and I heard from a good source posts are back. 

I for one am pleasantly surprised that the "crew incentive" daily rate did not increase with everything considered during the last year+. 

We have 6 AK on Princess.... 5 docked in Juneau and 1 took me by surprise and tendered. Another Princess ship was already at the new dock space. Not a big deal for us... but I can totally see the issue for anybody with a mobility issue.

The "new" fares this past year or so are causing a lot of confusion. Some fare sales had non-refundable deposits voiding your right to get back the Future Cruise Deposits. Princess is following the trend of Celebrity and RCCL  having refundable fare, non-refundable fare, refundable deposits, and non refundable deposits.  If it was under a non-refundable deposit sale...the odds are good you won't get it back because it was the deposit.

13 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

I could live with that knowing I would only lose my non-refundable deposit and not the whole dang shabang.  I don't plan on canceling any of my future cruises, not even the one that is coming up in a little over a month ... but, on that one, I do have a non-refundable deposit.  If I have to cancel one of the other ones (for a wedding that doesn't have a date announced ... or whatever), I was only concerned it would be the entire cost of the cruise for which I couldn't swap out for future cruise credits.  If it's just the deposit ... that's fine.  It's the risk I signed up for.  But, again, I still plan on going but wanted to get a better understanding of it for all future bookings.  This is along the lines of what I thought it would be.  

Hopefully you will never need to use the insurance! Just pay close attention to the fare you book under and all is well. Also, remember if you believe the claim is excluded under the regular portion of the insurance(like this lovely virus).... look for the cancel for any reason box and it skips the submit paperwork and the sometimes few weeks

wait for review.

10 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

Are you saying that you are unable to get a future cruise credit in any amount with platinum coverage if you took out a non-refundable deposit?  I'm not aware of that ... 

Or, do you get back some future cruise credits minus the non-refundable deposit portion? 

I'm not trying to be snarky.... but will make sure none of my future sailings have a non-refundable deposit from here on out if it strikes out any and all future cruise credits?  I assume that is only for the CFAR portion and not for canceling for a medical reason.  

CFAR that I completed did not have any FCC attached. I am aware of some people having issues in the last couple months with using their FCC when booking under the non-refundable deposit sales.

The claim I did had a $100 pp non-refundable deposit, so the cruise credits are being applied for the full fare minus the 100 pp. The taxes and port charges are already in process to be applied back onto the credit card used at time of booking. Honestly a lose of $200 plus cost of insurance wasn't horrible considering they could have lost all of the fare.

46 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

It must be purchased by final payment DATE. My CVP assures me that I can still add it by that date, even though I accidentally paid off one of the cabins while applying Valentine's Day bonus gift cards.

41 minutes ago, Coral said:

You are right.

44 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

I always wait until final payment.

As you surely can see SOME is underlined .....companies other than Princess Platinum insurance offer  cancel for any reason with different terms and conditions that apply to how and when the purchase needs to be made to guarantee full coverage.

41 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

Never seen it on this side of the pond. However, personally, I know very few people who don’t buy travel insurance over here - obviously not CFAR.

Sorry no idea what CFAR's are available for UK. Believe it or not.... you may want to check out David Abel's  you-tube page to ask which policy he gets in the UK. I believe he gets a lengthy term policy. 

Just and FYI to others....read your CFAR policies and pre-existing condition policies! Some require you to purchase within a short time frame after initial booking not final payment to receive full coverage and require the entire trip....hotels, flights, and cruise be included. Every trip we pre-check all our options before booking ..... policy and plans change often when you are not in a yearly plan. Depending on our trip and what company we are cruising with depends for us on what plan we use and sometimes means taking two plans for different payout options.

Chase Sapphire has awesome medical and med transport.....but if you try placing a claim based on pandemic....not covered. This really is an issue for you and your dissatisfaction with your credit card insurance terms. 

Let's put this in a little bit of perspective: IF I were to catch this virus while at home and required hospitalization my family out of pocket of 13k would apply. So, should I expect my local hospital to have a heart and give me a pass on the bill. It's called things happen and you are not the only person taking a financial hit or in the lifeboat. This situation sucks for all of us! I personally live in the highest tourist area in the US....so yeah in theory going to my grocery store in the next couple weeks could be way worse percentages of risk. It's called life 

33 minutes ago, trrn2016 said:

I have trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance thru my credit card. I have contacted my travel agent and the insurance. I was told by everyone I talked to that since it has been declared an epidemic by the CDC that insurances will not cover, even cancel for no reason.  They said to read the fine print. I would advise checking with your insurance, etc and see what you hear. Please let us know.

Cancel for any reason with Princess is allowing it...... did it 2 days ago for friends traveling in April. It does not cover if you booked one of the non-refundable sales or one that had  non-refundable deposit. 

I understand your predicament .....however when we sail Princess we pay for the cancel for any reason and when we cruise Celebrity and Royal we buy private insurance with the added cfar. We pay the extra cost for this option and you are wanting the cruise line to give it to you for free basically. Then wouldn't it only be fare to refund all of us the money we spend for the coverage. As you see it's a catch 22 and at what point does the cruise line say enough. Yes, it was unexpected but this is a business that is trying their hardest to navigate this difficult situation. 

Just now, mtmatull said:

Heart breaking to hear David & Sally, from the Diamond Princess, have again been moved and both now have pneumonia, Covid19, a cold and flu per their son Steve. They have been moved out of the original hospital to one that sounds much inferior to where they were and have been told no treatment until they are tested in a couple of days.  No IV, no antibiotics, no steroids.  This does not sound good.  I feel for them and their family.

 

 

It's time to get these people home or at least to the US Naval Hospital in Yokosuka till the UK can get them out