Tigrou

On 8/20/2024 at 3:06 PM, Caipi said:

Hi, 

if you have already sailed, how was it please? I've just booked 8014. 🙂

Sorry, I don't sail until autumn 2025.

14 hours ago, SCX22 said:

Seems like pipe bursts and flooding have happened at least two other times on the Island:

 

In 2017 (Reply #2)

 

In 2023 (Cabin Review)

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=705312

 

Also during my cruise in July/August 2023 as detailed in my review.  

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=704321

Although I think there may be some exceptions, the way I work it out is by looking at the position of the door 'notch' on the deck plan.  Generally if it is to the righthand side then the sofa is by the balcony, if it is to the lefthand side the sofa is by the wardrobe.

15714 shows the door to the right so the sofa should be by the balcony, the bed by the wardrobe.

On 5/9/2024 at 11:17 AM, yorkshirephil said:

Not always Sue, Princess do have some well priced cruises if they suit your needs. We are on Sky Princess to USA and Canada whereas the Arcadia equivalent is just over £1000 pp more for the same cabin grade. 

But perhaps Arcadia will actually visit the USA and Canada ports listed on the itinerary (or, if necessary, find alternatives in the vicinity), and not replace 2 of them with ports in northern France as has just been notified for the Sky Princess cruise! 🤔

5 hours ago, 555 said:

I think the steak that some people are making reference to is not an included steak at no additional cost. 

It's been a rare occurrence in the last few years that an included steak has been on the menu, except for the one with the lobster tail. 

On Sky Princess over Easter there was an included NY steak available every night as one of the Princess Favourites.  From previous experience I try to avoid it as the quality is inconsistent but it was okay the one night I did have it. 

Last September on Sky the Princess Favourites sometimes included the NY steak and sometimes chicken, offering an alternative to what was on the main menu which made more sense.  This time I found that often there was steak or another beef dish already on the main menu, so offering steak as an alternative wasn't much of an alternative!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has provided photos and information on this thread. 

I've sailed in a sheltered balcony cabin and didn't like it even though I thought I would (turns out I want to see the water from inside but can't because I'm too short!) so have since sailed in a standard balcony.  I was planning to book one for my next trip but then wondered about the obstructed views, found this thread and now I'm booked into 8013. 

The photos were invaluable to me, being able to see the exact views in each cabin.  Some I definitely wouldn't consider as there's far too much of an obstruction, others I think I would find interesting.  I'm still undecided about those with tenders rather than a lifeboat - it looks like a bus is parked on the balcony but it does have windows which allow more light through and potentially offer more of a view.  When I saw that 8013 was available that was my decision made, I'll give it a try.  I know it's no guarantee but I have asked for my booking to be noted 'no upgrade' as I don't want to be moved to a cabin Cunard consider an upgrade but which has a more obstructed view.

Thank you again.🙂

On 3/29/2024 at 4:42 PM, LACruiser88 said:

How about cabin doors that don't slam shut!   

 

I understand that they slam closed as a fire safety issue.  It would be easy to place a warning on the back of the door instructing folks to not allow the door to slam closed.  One of our most annoying things when we cruise!

 

 

 

I’ve got that issue right now, exacerbated by being opposite a crew area.  As soon as I saw it I thought drat, that doesn’t show on the deck plans!  (From previous experience I’d never knowingly choose a cabin close to a crew door.)

Unfortunately I don’t think a sign would help.  Let’s face it, you only have to let it slam once to know what a noise it makes.  People just don’t care, it’s a typical lack if consideration for others.

12 hours ago, sailing canary said:

 And where would I get USD on a cruise out of Southampton?

The same places people get USD for holidays to the States, or Euros for holidays in Europe, etc etc.  For example:  a bureau de change; a travel agent; your bank; a travel money kiosk in a supermarket; a Post Office; an ATM in some branches of Marks & Spencer; online, delivered to your home.  If your local area doesn't have any of these, and the minimum order online is too high, there are plenty of walk-in options in Southampton.

From what American friends have told me, I believe it is far easier for us to buy USD in the UK than it often is for them to buy Sterling in the States.  

I always tip in whatever the onboard currency is on any cruise ship, regardless of the port of departure.  I always ensure I have local currency to tip on land so I do the same at sea, I just consider it polite.

50 minutes ago, sailing canary said:

So....if I have understood this correctly. In addition to the quoted fare, I have to add on £xxx per day crew appreciation and do complicated sums to add 18% to anything I might buy on board? I don't drink anything other than tea or water and the VERY occasional glass of wine.

Would a package make more sense? Then I would know in advance exactly how much the cruise was going to cost me?

And are there kettles???????????

Ref the 'crew appreciation', it is separate to the quoted fare.  You can either pre-pay it before your cruise (although generally I don't find the Princess exchange rate to be good enough to do that, unlike HAL) or it will be added to your onboard account each day.  If you've got OBC that will be used for the crew appreciation charge, it will be deducted from the balance each day.

What I do is work it out and just add it to the quoted fare, and consider the total as the real fare.  Or if I've got OBC, I just discount the amount for crew appreciation before thinking how much is available to spend.  There is often talk on these boards about people going to guest services and removing it, which is possible if you're on a Standard fare.  (I confess that I did consider doing this myself earlier this year in retaliation against Princess deciding to charge for a few things which were included at the time I booked.  However, once onboard I found the service to be so good that there was no way I was going to potentially take money from the crew because of a corporate decision.)  

You do not pay 18% on "all onboard purchases".  It's 18% on drinks, and someone earlier said spa services.  I don't think there's anything else but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Whether the packages are of value is a topic on which discussion can become almost as heated as tipping!  The best way is to do the maths but if you don't drink the extra cost coffees and only have the occasional glass of wine, my guess is that a package wouldn't be economical for you.  It certainly never is for me.

I've only cruised with Princess twice out of the UK but both times there was a kettle in the cabin. 

31 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

You are fretting over standard boilerplate text that is not customized when a guest used a FCD.  I'd be satisfied with your two fellow UK citizens who posted that all you lose is the FCD.

I have now emailed Princess customer relations in the hope of getting it 'in writing'.

I very much appreciate the confirmation from @antsp and @Geoffa30, it is reassuring.  But ideally I want it confirmed in writing by Princess because ultimately, if I did have to cancel, it's Princess who would process it.  And if it had been either of the agents I spoke to tonight, they would have charged me the 15%.

49 minutes ago, Geoffa30 said:

We’re in the U.K. and have previously cancelled a cruise booked with an FCD. We only lost the FCD and didn’t have to top up to 15%.

Thank you.

Just now, antsp said:

No when you use a fcd

Which is what I understood.

But I've just spent 45 minutes on a call with 2 Princess agents, clearly overseas.  (It sounds as if they're working in a football stadium where there's a very loud match on!  Wherever they are, why don't they use headsets so we don't hear the background noise?)  First one kept insisting that I was correct, the cancellation would only be £75, but she also insisted that the confirmation was correct and the cancellation would be 15%!  Aargh!!  We just kept going around and around in circles.

I asked to be put through to someone in the UK but instead got a 'supervisor' who initially confirmed the same conflicting information.  Again I asked to speak to someone in the UK but after waiting 10 minutes it was the same overseas supervisor who came back and insisted that if I cancel it will cost 15%.  However, I have no faith that she is right because I'm not convinced she understood what I was talking about when I mentioned Future Cruise Deposit.

Hopefully it won't matter for this particular cruise as PIF is only a couple of months away.  But I just want to get the correct information for future reference.

6 minutes ago, antsp said:

If you cancel you will loose the fcd £75, that's all

But that isn't what it shows on the confirmation, hence my concern.  It clearly states, "Cancellation Schedule - 24 Oct 23 - 15% of Total Charges".

Today I have booked using a FCD for the first time.  FCD value for a UK booking is £75 and that's what shows as the deposit on the confirmation.

However, under the Cancellation Schedule it shows "15% of Total Charges" from today, ie the amount the deposit would have been if I hadn't used the FCD.

I wasn't expecting this, I expected any cancellation charge prior to PIF date to only be the deposit I've paid, ie the £75 FCD.  Same as when I booked on a £50 deposit offer, the cancellation charge shows as only £50 up to PIF date.

One of my reasons for buying FCDs recently was because I thought it would only tie me into £75 until PIF date rather than the full, non-refundable deposit. However, this doesn't appear to be the case.

Could anyone who books using FCD in the UK please tell me if this is correct or not?

1 hour ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I am looking out for a low deposit/refundable deposit day in the UK now 🙂 

They did a £50 deposit week 18-24 Sep 23. 

Perhaps we'll get something once the current 'Free stateroom upgrade' offer ends on 31 Oct 23 although unfortunately I don't know if we ever get refundable deposits in the UK.

8 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Really? I didn't know we could do that. Was it direct or through a TA?

It was through a TA.  

1 hour ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I wish we could re-fare in the UK 😞

I'm in the UK and I re-fared a Princess cruise earlier this year.  It cost £100 admin fee but still saved me a considerable amount overall.

4 hours ago, TN-Mountains said:

BTW, did you have issues with the motion sensor light in the closet?  It only worked part of the time for me.  Our running joke was that I needed to wear a clown hat with a big flower to activate it.  

I didn't even know there was one!  🤣

On 9/9/2023 at 5:17 AM, TN-Mountains said:

I’m too short to use that shelf, so it never occurred to me to store the water there.  🙂

That shelf is of no use to me either, for the same reason. 😀

But what about under the bed? 

5 hours ago, OTrail said:

Apologies for hijacking but this is of interest to me for a future cruise. I'm arriving by train the day before, would my best bet be to stay at the Ibis and then just walk down the road through Gate 10? (looking on Google Maps)

It depends on which cruise terminal you are sailing from and how far you're okay with walking, potentially with luggage.

Earlier in the year I walked from the Holiday Inn to Ocean Terminal.  I did a recce the night before and it was an easy walk.  But when I did it with my luggage (just a medium sized spinner case) the following morning, I quickly wished I'd got a taxi!

More recently I stayed at the Novotel when sailing out of Mayflower.  Initially thought I'd walk, thinking it was closer, until I measured the path on Google Earth and realised it was actually a longer walk.  It's mostly within the working port area so you have to follow the designated roads, no shortcuts that I could see.  I opted to take a taxi instead and was glad I did.  I did see several people walking though, with luggage, but it didn't look like much fun to me.

12 minutes ago, david63 said:

That is totally untrue as there is no long term parking at any cruise terminal at Southampton - all long term parking is off site.

 

According to the Associated British Ports parking website there is long term parking at City and Horizon. (Which could presumably also be used for Mayflower as it's in the same area.) 

https://www.abparking.co.uk/faqs/

Where are the Long Stay Car Parks?

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Yes, I have found similar schedules, but nothing for 2024.  I even wrote to the port authorities...who replied with:  "We will get back to you...." and hasn't.   Hard to make hotel reservations for 2024.  I don't want to wait so long with higher prices and sold out.  

To be fair, they probably don't have the schedule for 2024 yet.  (Southampton is better than some ports at publishing their schedule, eg Quebec doesn't yet show the berth for my cruise there in early October.)

Unless you definitely want to walk to the terminal, it doesn't really matter which hotel you stay in, it's a short taxi ride from any of the central city hotels to any of the cruise terminals.  Personally I always book a hotel as soon as I can, but on a refundable rate so I can take advantage of any price reductions.  Although if it's a busy cruise day or there are other events happening in the city (such as the Boat Show), prices are likely to only keep going up, not down.

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Your last two sentences are true.  PCL in North America also does not simply post a credit balance to the CC on file.  They process in accounting and then send to a third-party company that cuts and mails cheques/checks to guests.  Apparently this saves them money.  Presumably this whole process is cheaper per $1 refunded over bank fees for credit cards.

In the UK hardly anyone uses cheques any more.  I haven't written one for over 4 years, and for several years prior to that it was only for one particular tradesman who still preferred payment by cheque.

19 minutes ago, david63 said:

In the UK you are emailed a link into which you enter your bank details and from that the refund is processed - in my case almost instantly.

That's what happened with me - except Princess put the wrong mobile phone number into the system so it couldn't send me the required code. (Or rather, presumably it was sent but as it wasn't my number I didn't get it!)  Once they amended it and I was sent a new link, the refund showed in my bank account almost immediately.