Ronnieslady

We have never gotten any of the packages, since we don’t drink alcohol. 

10 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

You will pay $4.99 per order if you don't have the $14.99 ocean now package. The exception is afternoon high tea and the mini bar exchange. I was in a full suite in Dec and the charge was indeed $4.99. Full suites lost this perk of included room service to make extra perks for those willing to pay for it. 

What ship was that?

1 hour ago, cruzsnooze said:

You will pay $4.99 per order if you don't have the $14.99 ocean now package. The exception is afternoon high tea and the mini bar exchange. I was in a full suite in Dec and the charge was indeed $4.99. Full suites lost this perk of included room service to make extra perks for those willing to pay for it. 

What ship was that?

Not sure if we have gotten lucky but the last cruise, a little over 5 months ago on the Sapphire & the one we are on right now , the Emerald , we were not charged the $5 .When I ordered lunch over the phone from the Main Dining Room, I asked if they were going to charge the $5 when ordering over the phone.  The guy said No, as long as we were only ordering from the Main Dining room menu & not the regular room service menu since we are in a full suite & it’s one of the perks of being in a suite.  It sounded like this has been asked before.   When we were on the Sapphire I never asked & I figured there would be that $5 charge about 10 times , since that was the sea days. We always order lunch & eat lunches on the balcony.  But we never got charged.  

3 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Oh no!  No excuse now, because they can track you with the OM.

 

SP port, I think you’re better off getting off the ship, go shopping or exploring and then back on as as an in transit.  IDK

You are right 😎 I guess they can track you now even in the bathrooms. In fact, on that occasion my husband had to use the bathroom as soon as we walked back from outside.And I’m the one that was told by the inside staff to pick up the nearest phone & they asked me were my husband was & I told them he was in the bathroom. They sounded pretty relieved. They told 

 me where to go .    I guess , @ that point they really wanted to tell me where I go.

53 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

In San Pedro:

 

You will meet in a designated area (depending on how large the group is)

Be escorted off the ship (given an in-transit card).

Down to Street Level, out the door, up the escalator, through security (no coffee or open bottles of water)

Wait in a separate area of the terminal

Board before everyone.

You will not have to do safety drill again.

 

I was told that the Iowa is free on in-transit days.  Good way to spend a couple of hours.

 

For us there’s always a certain amount of waiting around. Once we had to wait over 2 hours in the Explorers Lounger as a group. And another time we waited over 2 hours in the terminal before we could board the the ship.  This was in San Pedro, which is our hometown port and we said never again. Too much waiting around.  The very 1st time we thought we could play some mini golf, shuffleboard, ping pong , look around & have a nice walk around the ship without all those passengers. To our surprise everything was roped off & closed. Staff outside never said anything to us. We thought what a bummer. When we walked back on the ship they were calling our name.  We were holding everyone up & preventing any passengers from getting back on the ship until all is off & accounted for. I must have missed the fine print 🤪

How about the off the Main Dining Room menu for lunch delivered to your room while you’re in a full suite.❓Is that no more.❓ I have not seen this posted. I realize it would probably be the $5 , but is that for per person.  You must call for this. It was never on the App.  So the piazza went up from $3 to $8.50 .  Wow & I thought the groceries went up. 
Please post if you know or can ask for me.   Thanks a bunch,    
Grace

19 minutes ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Since the restart.  Long before June as some one else reported.  Started at least a year ago.  Have been on the newer ships with concierge lounge which is superior, but having a specific person to advocate for us has been great!

ETA:  looking back at cruise history, ad aearly as March 2022 on the Grand

Thanks 

23 minutes ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Have had this on the last 5 cruises.  3 on the Grand, one on Ruby, and this one on Crown.  
Eta.  All full suites

What months were those ❓

3 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I don’t think it was advertised. Just some guests were told that the Grand Class ships would have their own concierge (no lounge) starting in June.  
Definitely ask. The concierge, if there is one, should introduce themselves, if you’re in a full suite.
 

 

If it started in June then I see why.  We have not sailed since April of this year.  Do love the way they escort you to your room when embarking on the Grand Princess.   Have been on the Grand @ least twice since post Covid. 

2 hours ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

They have an officer assigned to you that contacts you.  She came to the room on embarkation day and introduced herself.  She arranged some specialty dining reservations for me since the app never worked for me.  She gave me her extension and told me to call if I needed anything.  She was great and said she will check in occasionally or I can call.  They had the same arrangement on the Grand a fee months ago.  There is no lounge .  

We have never had a concierge on any Grand Class ships in full suites.  Is this new❓. Or maybe part of the new changes?   If so why don’t they tell us❓. 
I haven’t seen any info on how the new changes will affect the full suite passengers,(Room Service)who can order anything from the Main Dining Room menus (as a suite perk) for breakfast, lunch or dinner.    Getting those menus from our room guy is sometimes a challenge.  It was never posted early enough on the TV,  when we were on the Crown, last April.   In fact our room steward tried to find it on the TV, but couldn’t.   
     If anyone knows please post ❓

I wear shorts & a tank top all the time.  They always ask me if I want a robe & I just tell them no I don’t need it, I’m just going to lay on the beds. They are fine with it.  I always put down several towels on the bed. I personally don’t like my skin to directly touch the bed surface. And one towel is used for my head as a pillow.   
 You could even wear a sundress or a moo-moo.

4 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

That’s my question.  I did not hear them say anything about an Elite check in.

 

We always go early and they send us through the Elite or priority check in lane, then on to the Elite/Platinum/Suites lounge until boarding time.

 

The now state, Aug 1st, there will be… Blue, Green and Accessible lanes, to simplify the process.

 

Will there still be an Elite/priority lane still?  Surely, we won’t have to go to the Blue, if we didn’t have our OM mailed. IDK.  We shall see.

 

We will find out after the sailings very soon.

 

 

 

 

I think I realize my mistake. Elites/ Suites still have priority boarding, but not check in, which involves the different color lanes or long lines to get in the terminal. Like we experienced in Fort Lauderdale 🥵 in September.

36 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Which perk or benefit are you talking about?  We will still have priority boarding benefit.

I must be misunderstanding something then.  Or my brain is still not working right since Covid.    In August how will the Priority boarding come into play❓

52 minutes ago, GoHuskies! said:

On our recent RT to Hawaii out of Los Angeles, I was expecting the great food onboard the Sapphire Princess that we have always experienced in the past.  I was sadly mistaken.  I'm not sure why it is, but across the board nearly all the dishes were flavored in a way that was disappointing.  My theory is that the crew and the officers were all non-Americans who brought foreign tastes aboard.  I'm not talking about foreign dishes--I love cuisines from around the world.  But it seemed that normally American dishes were seasoned in unusual ways, and not to the good.

If they haven’t noticed, then they haven’t cruised lately!!   Especially in the Main Dining room.  I don’t mind the portions being smaller, but when you can’t chew a steak in Club Class or in the Suite Breakfast & every passenger is talking about it, you just realize what’s new in cruising.   I could go on & on, but I won’t.

I guess another Elite/Suite perk bites the dust.  No one seems to care anymore, or am I missing something❓

On 4/23/2023 at 4:47 PM, Thrak said:

It's not always like that. We've tendered there twice and both times it was "fairly" quick and easy.

I agree,  but not this time.  We are on this sailing too right now .  It was a nightmare.  For passengers in Suites & elite that had No priority, when at least getting a tender to Lahaina was nice & easy with those little tickets we used to get in an envelope in your suite on embarkation day.  I guess those days are over.  On the Crown they told us we had to wait in one of the dining rooms for a tender.   1st half of the dining room was full,  we were the 2nd half. After over an hour they were just about to have the 1st half get in the line that started on the 5th floor to wait to get to the 4th floor. After we heard that, I we just said forget it.  Passengers had a really hard time standing for that long.  There goes another perk down the drain.  Even for full suites,  they lump us with all the hundreds or thousands of elites.    Wish I would have known, I guess I need to read these boards more often.    We did have the forethought to realize if getting there was this much of a mess, what would it be like getting back to the ship.  ❓
     I had a talk with the Hotel manager on the ship in his office & he told me 2 of the tender boats were not working.   I said, but aren’t they the lifeboats ❓ oh they would have worked for that he said.  Sure doesn’t sound right to me.    Seems we are still getting a bunch of baloney (lies) .   The Loyalty Manager was feeding the dining room group( Elites & Full Suites ) a bunch of other lies .  Read the other reasons “cool aid” the other passengers (above) were being fed.   I’ve learned when the upper Managers are giving out different stories , it’s all bull s……..          I could tell he knew , I didn’t believe a word he said.  
Sorry I went on & on, but it’s very frustrating not being told ahead what to expect when things change . We sure missed not going to Lahaina, but will have other Hawaii cruises to look forward to.

51 minutes ago, BubbaJo said:

I'm on the same sailing, and also received the white medallion/blue sea witch. Not sure why. 

That does make me feel better, that’s it’s probably not a mistake. And as long as Princess has the right info for us, I don’t care what color it is.  Too bad it’s not purple since that’s my favorite color 🤪

Go figure this one.  A few days ago we received our medallions for a cruise on the Crown on April 14. We have been Elite for a while & the medallions we received were white with the Sea Witch in dark blue .  We are in a full suite.       What’s going on ❓. Are these a mistake ❓. Was their announcement that I missed about this❓. Is it me or does Princess do a rotten job of keeping passengers informed ❓. You guys are the only way I get any info about any changes!!!

On 3/30/2023 at 5:12 PM, Moondogy said:

@mtnesterz I believe the gold color the OP was referring to is the color of the center piece ie gold CC level 😊

Ours came today. It’s white, we are Elite & they usually come in Black.  Is this a mistake ❓

Is all the Air Conditioning working now❓❓❓

56 minutes ago, Sunset329 said:

 

I am an amateur table tennis player. However, I am traveling with a friend who does play table tennis. He is bringing his paddle for tournament play. We are also both in our seventies. We are staying in cabin C624. Have Ron call us if he wants to play.

Just wanted to let your friend know, they might not let him use your own paddle for tournaments.  But he can for sure use it for regular play.   My husband said to tell you he is a just for fun & exercise player.   He doesn’t play @ home just on cruises. I will have him call you guys. Even if I have to do it for him.   You will all have lots of fun. It’s a good way to meet others with the same interests. 
          Thanks a bunch,          Grace  D738 

3 hours ago, dhanakorn said:

Ping pong tables are on the upper floor of the indoor pool. They’re indoor so you don’t need to worry about the wind.

My husband Ron, is going to love that Ping pong areas.  We loves playing. He tries to get me to play, but I am not into it like he is.  He considers it good exercise. 

Sunset look for him to play any time.  He is tall 6’3” with a mustache, in his 70’s .  Or call our cabin anytime.We are in D738.  Let me know if he should bring his paddle ❓

Is the air conditioner working for all yet❓

1 hour ago, travelin.sisters said:

  In today’s announcement, the captain addressed the fact that air conditioning has been problematic both in some people’s cabins & in public areas. We have been fortunate that our AC system has worked correctly, but others have had varying problems. He told us that the problem is not the capacity of the system, but rather calibrating the system for the various areas & that there is a team dedicated to fixing this in all areas as rapidly as possible. While it is miserable to have your AC not work (I know from experience on another cruise) that misery is doubled when the problem is ignored or treated as trivial so it was good to hear him admit that there is a problem & address how they are

I hope it will be fixed by the next cruise on the 4th of October.  This happened to us before on the Star .  They blamed the barnacles had clogged up the air conditioner for the whole ship, since the Ocean was very warm. We had come back from Alaska into LA .  Once in LA the air was out. I    And we were on a 5 dayer to Cabo.  No air for about 4 days.  It was a nightmare.  The ship overnighted in Cabo & people in inside cabins slept outside.  Those with balconies slept on the balcony.  Everyone near us all slept with their regular doors wide open.  There was no breeze because  the ship was not moving , since it was an overnighter.  I guess you could call it a cruise from Hell.  Air worked great once we got back to LA that morning of disembarkation.