Alcairns

8 minutes ago, johnnylikely said:

Yay! Is rock opera any good?

Caan't wait to see 5 skies again!

Rock Opera is good if you like The Greatest showman. Seen it a few times now but will probably give it is miss on our next cruise. 

The way I learned was “The ship left port.”

We have asked for it on many occasions and have been successful most times. The only problem is getting the waiter to understand what you want. 

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

a) I note that it says the game ends 12/31/22. Unless they extend it, people who purchased the Premier package for a cruise next year will not get this "benefit."

 

b) As I remember it, when this was first announced they said that passengers who did not have the Premier package and had not purchased entry into the game would still receive one free entry. I do not see this mentioned in the rules.

 

 

I think it has something to do with the fact that lotteries cannot remain open ended. I suspect you will find it will be renewed for 2023 with and end date of 31/12/2023. 

Thanks for taking the time to produce this great and informative “live from”  greatly appreciated. 

2 hours ago, Billish said:

I must have missed the last two weeks, because it never reached much over 80, let alone 90 up here in the North, apart from Monday and Tuesday.

And yesterday, the temperature never went over 72!  I don't consider that to be a heatwave.

It would seem to suggest the more north you get the colder it gets. 

18 minutes ago, Billish said:

The UK heatwave lasted all of two days !

To clarify both  comments - The record 100 degree temperatures lasted 2 days. There has been a heat wave in the U.K. for the last two weeks with temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees. The heatwave continues now for the drought!

10 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:.

 

 

Afterwards we stayed in the theater to play Deal or No Deal, and unfortunately out of our 3 cards only one card scored 3 times (winning a bingo package) while the other two were duds.

 

 

 

It’s very difficult to win anything serious on the Deal or No Deal Cards. In March we found our card contained only half the numbers that were on the board the rest were duplicates. This makes it very hard to match the numbers. I checked with several other card holders and they had a similar spread of numbers. It’s fun to watch though -  apart from the annoying Fortuna Luck! 

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Data?  I don’t think so, they will follow the money.   It all hinges on the CDC guidance. 

Only on US cruises only. CDC guidance only applies to cruises from and to US Ports.  CDC guidance does not apply to the vast majority of cruises where local rules will apply. They will not be allowed to follow the money on those cruises where testing will be around for a while. 

On our round Britain cruise in 2015 the casino was either closed or had some pretty late hours particularly when sailing up the west coast when it is difficult to leave U.K. waters in the Irish Sea. 

2 hours ago, dfields1814 said:

Keep the vaccines drop the testing. Apologies to The Godfather.

 

I am a big fan of the testing in conjunction with mask wearing and social distancing. However I think testing needs to be dropped in that it is not doing what it is supposed to do, as of now.  For example we test negative 3 days prior to our December cruise. Then the next day we take public transport to the airport, wait in the airport gate area with 100's of unmasked people none social distancing . Take a 5 hour flight in an airplane full with unmasked people. Get our luggage in area with lots of unmasked people. Then take a public transport to a hotel and wait in line with to register with unmasked people who are not socially distancing. Finally we eat a crowded restaurant after waiting in the waiting area. The eext day we take a tour on bus crowded with people none wearing a mask. Eat at three crowded restaurants. Hang out by the crowded pool with unmasked people who are not social distancing .  Cruise day, we take a crowded public transport to the terminal, Stand in line with people not social distancing and not wearing a mask even though they are supposed to. Then two later we have covid and wonder why.  

This is why the original U.K. protocol of testing at the terminal immediately before boarding made more sense. This has since changed to the 3 day rule and outbreaks have risen. 

Princess do not help. I have just had an email re our October cruise from Southampton referring the latest health protocols. It makes specific reference to my cruise and testing at the terminal. There is a link to further info however this link takes me to Sailing out of Europe rather than the U.K. As a previous poster has mentioned the U.K. faqs no longer make reference to testing at the terminal. So confusing! 

If cruise lines are going to continue with the pre cruise testing they need to return to pre boarding testing at the terminal. It is futile to test 2-3 days before the cruise when passengers can easily be exposed after taking the test particularly when passing through busy airports. There is still a chance of exposure at the terminal but the risk of outbreaks would be lessened. 

Princess have a pre boarding test site at the terminal but it costs $60 per person - billed to the stateroom.

3 hours ago, Esprit said:

The cancelled cruises from 30 July are because the ship has been chartered for LGBTQ+ guests.

It will include independent security and crew currently onboard who have sensitivities or religious reasons can be excused from particular duties!

In addition Princess are looking for people to take part in a new U.K. daytime TV programme to be filmed on the Regal between August and October. They are providing the accommodation and expenses. This is not the U.K. version of the Real Love Boat. 

The personaliser is online not on the medallionnet app.

16 minutes ago, caribill said:

Not sure what they are referring to, but note the following:

 

When checking in for the cruise, there will usually be a line for those with Elite status (those with 150 days or 15 cruises on Princess) and full suites.

 

Once checked in, if boarding has started, you may go directly to the ship. If boarding has not yet started you will go to a waiting area which is dedicated to full suite and Elite passengers. That group will be the first general passengers to board when boarding starts.

 

There have been posts that for some ships/ports full suite passengers are personally escorted onto the ship and to their cabin. I have no idea if this would apply to your ship or embarkation port.

I am sorry to disagree but their are no priority lines at Southampton. We have been on two cruises as full suite Elite passengers in the last six months and boarding has been a free for all first come first served basis. Once clear of check in and you have your medallions you may get some priority treatment at security. 

5 minutes ago, caribill said:

I agree. I forgot about the paid entry option.

 

I wonder if the line to pay $20 to enter the open-the-door contest is as long as the line to purchase Bingo cards.

You can do it on the medallion app 

7 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Yes, it is connected to the casino, but not in an obvious way.

 

Those who booked the Premier Beverage Package (the new one that is higher priced than the Plus Beverage Package (which used to be called Premier)) have the opportunity while the ship is out to sea and the casino is open to participate by unlocking their cabin door with the Medallion. I do not know how many times or how often they can get an entry by doing this. My guess is winners are chosen at the times a participating door has been unlocked.

 

Those who did not buy the Premier Beverage package get (I think) one entry into the contest, also by unlocking their cabin door with the Medallion at some point while the casino is open.

You can pay $20 (I am reliably informed) a day to enter Princess Prizes otherwise it is included in the Premier Package. 

9 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

I believe I read somewhere that it's $20 per day.

Thanks 😁

1 hour ago, dog said:

We only got a glass of wine each in our PH suite in May.

Having an excellent suite steward helps! 😁😁

I note from the Medallion app that entry to Sky Prizes can be bought separate to the Premiere package. Does anyone know how much this costs? 

No - you will usually get the glass of bubbly when you meet your cabin steward. In April he just brought us the bottle and glasses and left the whole bottle! 

9 minutes ago, wowzz said:

In which case my timings are correct,  if all goes to plan. 

Out last Sky cruise arrived two hours late, so do have a Plan B for a possible late arrival. 

In April we self disembarked Sky at 8 am (carried our own baggage off)and  we were in our car within ten minutes of leaving stateroom. We parked with CPS which is very close to the ship. 

In 2016 we did a shore excursion that involved flying round to Silverking Lodge in Ketchikan for an all you can eat king crab claw meal. It was delicious and when they said all you can eat they meant it. You could also get there by boat or coach.