NavyVeteran

you have to wait until after final payment with the most recent statement at that time. They require to have it no earlier than two weeks prior to sailing. If you send it too soon, they usually respond to wait until after final payment.

 

I always fax and it shows up rather quickly. If it doesn't show up in a week or so I call them and they ask for the time/date that I sent it and find the fax or ask me to re fax while I stay on the line and it is processed right then.

 

Vickie

That's no LATER than two weeks prior to sailing. The statement should be dated no earlier than 90 days prior to sailing.

Yes, of course it is. Take a careful look at the Patter and the information you get before disembarkation. It will indicate which of the MDR's will be open that morning - frequently they throw a curve ball on the Grand Class ships and open the fixed MDR that is all the way aft on Deck 6. That might be why it isn't really crowded - trouble finding the one that is open.

Breakfast on disembarkation day will normally be in the aft dining room on deck 6 (the one that you can't get to from deck 6 midships without going up to deck 7 and then back down. They will frequently use the midship dining rooms on decks 5 and 6 for disembarkation lounges for different groups, so they would not be available. The aft dining room is used, because it would be a very poor place for a disembarkation lounge.

I'm still unclear about disembarking between B2B cruises and perhaps you might know. If I'm leaving the ship (not with the group) & have some luggage with me, don't I need a customs card filled out or not? It seems to me that if I remove items from the ship (ie. liquor) I would have to fill one out each time? :confused:

Normally on a B2B this would not be an issue, because you normally would not be bringing anything back into the United States. You would just be carrying your personal effects that you would use and take back to the ship. It would be different if you did carry liquor or other dutiable items that you planned to leave on shore.

If you are planning to bring back liquor each time you return on a B2B, you may run into a problem. According to the law, the normal $800 exemption for returning U. S. citizens and lawful permanent residents can only be claimed once in a 30-day period. If "You have been out of the country more than once in a 30-day period", then you don't get the $800 exemption on the second trip - you may bring back only $200 worth of items duty free (which can include only 150 milliliters of liquor). More information is available at http://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/kbyg/types-exemptions.

You probably won't get caught, since CBP Form 6959B (http://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/sample-declaration-form) does not ask if you have made more than one trip in the last 30 days and I've never had a customs agent ask me that question. However, you are taking a chance if you do so.

Another twist here; I am considering a B2B in which I would not have the same cabin on both segments. Does anyone know when the cabin change (of luggage, etc.) occurs, and how that would be handled if I wanted to leave the ship for a time like the OP?

It won't be handled exactly the same way each time. You will need to talk with your cabin steward about the details.

If you won't be there, leave your hanging clothes on hangers and pack everything else in suitcases. The cabin steward will move everything. You may want to carry valuables (that you would normally leave in the safe) with you if you won't be there for the move.

I did the same thing in Los Angeles. I got off and walked over to see the Battleship, while my wife stayed on the ship and went with the intransit group.

You can leave the ship anytime you want once people start disembarking - you don't have to wait for any specific disembarkation group.

However, if you get back early you will not be able to reboard until they start boarding new passengers, so you will not board quite as early as the intransit group. However, with the intransit card, you should be able to board as soon as they start boarding.

For breakfast in the MDR, there are a list of always available items on the left side of the menu and two daily special items on the right side. Eggs Benedict are sometimes available as one of the two daily special items.

Eggs Benedict are also available in the MDR for lunch as part of the brunch menu. I believe they are available every day for lunch.

If your niece is using her own credit card for her onboard charges, then you will need to go to Passenger Services to get the gratuities transferred - as recommended earlier.

If you and your niece are using the same credit card for onboard charges, then you don't have to do anything. They will net all of the charges (positive and negative) at the end of the cruise.

DH still wants to bring too many pairs of shoes, and having free laundry service doesn't help me on that front.

Don't forget the Elite Shoe Polishing Service - "Your shoes will be polished upon request - this service is complimentary."

Or does he take all his shoes on the cruise because that's the only time he ever gets them polished?;)

Would next port protection thru Princess not mean they would have to fly you to HNL should they not be able to get you to SFO?? If so, at least you would get most of your cruise in.

Next port protection's not so easy on a round-trip Hawaii cruise because of the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) of 1886. If you missed San Francisco and flew to Hawaii to catch the rest of your cruise, then you could not return to San Francisco - you would have to disembark in Ensenada, Mexico, and get home from there. The PVSA would not you cruise one way from Hawaii to San Francisco without a stop at a distant foreign port.

The information should be available in the Cruise Personalizer for your cruise. Several Important Notices are listed under Travel Itinerary following the itinerary. One of the Notifications should be AIR FLIGHT GUIDELINES. For Embarkation, the guidelines would say the latest domestic flight arrival would be a specific amount of time (hours and minutes) prior to the ship's departure.

In the past when flying in earlier and then using a Princess shuttle from the airport on another day, I have entered a fake flight under Flights & Transfers - Provide Independent Air Information. If you do this, decide what terminal you want to meet Princess at and select a specific arriving flight that falls within the Princess guidelines. Then give that flight information to Princess on the Cruise Personalizer. You would then meet the Princess rep at baggage claim at that terminal, and your name would be on their list for that specific time.

I'm glad some of you like it. As long as it's optional, then it benefits some and doesn't hurt those of us who don't want to use it.

In addition to the easy cancellation, my other main reason for not prepaying is the use of OBC onboard. As a military veteran and Carnival Corporation shareholder who always books with Future Cruise Deposit, I pay for many - if not all - of my excursions with OBC.

Princess's policy on paying for excursions onboard and their generous OBCs are some of the reasons why I keep returning to Princess.

I have sent my laundry out the morning of the day before turnaround day on a B2B with no problems.

In fact, I received them back the same evening - even though I had not requested same-day service.

There should be no problem - especially if you're staying in the same cabin. They should be able to handle it even if you're changing cabins.

The documentation depends on whether it was a Princess promotion or a travel agent promotion.

When I have received free Sabatini's from my travel agent, I received a certificate onboard. My wife prefers Crown Grill, and I had no problem having it changed. On one cruise, I spoke to the head waiter at the Crown Grill, and he exchanged it for me. On another one, I spoke to Passenger Services, and they changed it to OBC which I then spent at the Crown Grill.

I booked my next cruise under the "3 For Free" Princess promotion offering "Free Upgrade and Shore Excursion Credit" and "Free Specialty Dining and Reduced Deposit", and the following comments apply specifically to this promotion.

The "Free Upgrade" would be shown in the category booked and the price quoted.

The "Shore Excursion Credit" shows on my Cruise Personalizer under Payment & Credits as "Shore Excursion Credit" - $100 for each passenger; $200 total.

The "Reduced Deposit" was not applicable to me, since I booked with a Future Cruise Deposit to get the OBC.

The "Free Specialty Dining" was not mentioned directly on the Cruise Personalizer. However it is listed under Important Notices on the Travel Summary that can be downloaded under "Boarding Pass & Docs". This notice gave the details on the "Free Specialty Dining", including the fact that "Princess will make on your behalf a reservation for a complimentary dinner for 2 at a specialty restaurant."

I have not sailed yet, so I don't know how difficult it will be to change restaurants or to change dates once Princess has made the reservation on my behalf. It probably depends on how booked they are - and on some cruises, many of the passengers may have booked under this promotion.

The children's menu is available to anyone in the MDR - no matter what your age. Are you have to do is ask.

Thank you for posting. With all of the complaints being posted, it's good to see an acknowledgement when they do something right.

Based on several observations, I don't believe the treatment you received in the MDR was unusual. Princess says to always speak with a Headwaiter - not a waiter - on any dietary restrictions, and I have seen the same excellent response several times. However, I haven't had the detailed experience that you had, and I'm glad everything was handled correctly - as we should be able to expect. I'm sure we will be seeing you back on Princess many times in the future.

Suite amenities are described at: http://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships/PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf

The official Princess policy as described on their website is that "Complimentary cover charge for one of the specialty restaurants on embarkation evening" is "Available on cruises 6 days or longer." However, I received the complimentary cover charge on a shorter west coast cruise. I have also heard of other people doing so - generally on the west coast.

It will not do any good to call Princess on this question, since all they will do is give you the policy. Some ships on some itineraries may give you the complimentary cover charge, but you will not know for sure until you are onboard.

On the other question, suite amenities - unlike some promotions - are for everyone registered in the suite. If you have three or four people in a suite, they all have the suite amenities - breakfast at Sabatini's, first-night specialty restaurant (if applicable), priority tender disembarkation, etc.

They are not for family members not in the suite. For example, if parents are in a suite and children are in another cabin, then they cannot join you at Sabatini's for breakfast, and you can't even pay to have them do so.

If you go by the Internet Café, they will have an instruction sheet with directions for logging on. Make sure to log off each time you are finished; otherwise, there may be a delay (using your minutes) before you are logged off.

If you have any questions, ask the host at the Internet Café. Availability hours will be printed in the Patter.

I would definitely recommend Glacier Bay. The National Park rangers that come onboard there always have done a great job. The rangers have special programs for the kids - someone who has participated will need to give you the details.

If you take the cruise to Whittier, you will need to take the Princess transfer to Anchorage. There are not many other transportation options from Whittier. You will then need to look at the flight availability from Anchorage.

The flight availability from United States locations is better for the round trip Seattle cruises. However, you see more on the one-way cruises.

In Houston last year on the Caribbean Princess, my brother joined me in the Elite boarding area with no problems - even though he had a gold card. However, he was sailing in the same cabin with me - we left the wives home for that cruise.

Other times when I was traveling with family in other cabins, I either boarded separately or waited to board with them.

So whats the difference between a "cruise" and a "cruise credit"? I'm assuming a single supplement counts as 2 cruise credits?

 

I think HAL gives additional credits for the amount of money spent on board once reaching a certain threshold. I could see Princess doing that. Also, the HAL program has much wider teirs but not sure the benefits are any better.

Paying single supplement counts as 2 cruise credits. Sailing in a full suite counts as 2 cruise credits. Paying single supplement in a full suite counts as 3 cruise credits.

If you've spent two days getting to the port and then another 2-3 days at the port pre-cruise, you start out with dirty clothes. There really isn't any difference after that if you send out two days' of clothes every two days or four days' clothes every four days. On an almost 3-week cruise with a lot of long, hot, tour-intensive port days, I don't like smelly clothes just sitting there so I send 'em out.

 

For a 2-3 week cruise, I don't pack 14-21 shirts, underwear, pants, etc. I pack enough for seven days because everything is mix and match. My bag for a longer cruise isn't any bigger than the bags I've seen on a short 7-day cruise. Heck, I think it's smaller than the huge bags I see outside doors after a week's cruise.

I agree. The amount of clothes I take on a cruise is determined by the number of pre- or post- cruise days - not by the number of cruise days. I will normally send my clothes out every day or two in small bags instead of collecting a large pile of laundry. On my last cruise, we spent six nights in London prior to boarding the ship, and we had a bunch of dirty clothes for the laundry when we boarded. What else were we expected to do with our week's worth of dirty clothing?

I agree that the carts can be a problem. I noted in the picture that the carts are all on the side of the hall with the handrails.

My wife has walking difficulties, even though she does not use a wheelchair or a walker. She often needs to use the handrails for balance - especially with rough seas. The carts blocking the handrails are a safety problem and could lead to a fall.

I believe Princess will allow other passengers in the same cabin as the preferred passenger to board in the preferred area - not family or friends in different cabins. It's not their age or family relationship that matters - it's whether or not they're in the same cabin as the preferred passenger.

The Princess policy is stated at http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/before.jsp under "Age Requirements/Traveling with Children".

The policy is not as simple as stated above. The exception to having a passenger 21 or older in each stateroom is "For family groups booking multiple staterooms, the minimum age for each stateroom is 16 years of age, providing they are traveling with a parent or legal guardian. We are unable to accept group reservations for student or youth groups that do not conform to our minimum age requirements."

If by 20 something, the OP means 21 or older no problem. If there are any 20 year olds not traveling with their parents, then they probably need to be in a stateroom with a 21 year old. A linked reservation may not be enough.

He was on the Emerald Princess trans-Atlantic from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton 18 April 2014 to 3 May 2014, and he played nearly every night - as well as giving lectures during the day. He said he was staying on for additional cruises, but I don't know how many.