reedy8

Check out the latest Princess Cruises news from Cruise Critic:

 

Sea Princess Cruise Ship to Add New Shows and Cabins During Refurb

i had hoped they would have added a few singles cabins.

I just found out I can Not pre purchase ...water bottle packages (12 bottles/pkg) Sailing on the Sun Princess...4 B2B cruises...62 onboard. I like my water and really don't want to have to carry this onboard as I am a solo cruiser now ( widow).

 

2 questions...

 

Can I purchase the Package of Water...onboard?

 

Can I exchange my Elite Bar Set Up for Water Bottles?

 

Thank You in advance for any info you can share with me. :)

 

I have never had this problem before ...always been able to pre purchase my water...wonder why the Sun Princess is different from all the other Princess ships.

 

 

 

 

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There is plenty of water on the Sun Princess at the moment.

http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/cruising/2017/09/cruise-ship-floods-minutes-after-leaving-port/

;p :')

RCI balcony guarantee 1600 for the 14 day Sydney to Singapore even cheaper if you are diamond

There are 2 on the RCI site, one on Voyager on 16/4 and one on Ovation on 16/3 (both 14 days) which are you looking at. (so I can look too):)

Because Princess thinks anyone not living in North America is a second class cruiser

An issue not unique to Princess I'm afraid

Sheez OzKiwiJJ, you must be so sick of posting this info time after time.

 

My 2 cents worth .... everybody, just wait to purchase your Princess AIBP ON BOARD if you are cruising out of Australia and your onboard account is in $AUD! You will pay $59 AUD per person per day. Easy peasy really. Do not take any notice of the Princess website, OK? Right, everybody informed and organised? Good! Happy cruising. :D

Ummmm, I didn't realise it was a repeated post.

thankyou, thats what I'll do then.

The online prices you are seeing have been affected by the online pricing bug which affects all Personalizer pricing in our region.

 

The coffee card is AU $36, and I think the soda package is around AU $8 - Princess haven;t shown a separate AUD price for that in the information part of their website.

Would it be better if I waited to buy the coffee card or the soda package on board, there are 2 different prices on the site, due I guess to that bug, $8.05 on their webpage but if you go in to pre order via your booking its $9.05 and recent CC members say on Sea Princess they only paid $7 a day. 2 prices of the coffee package as well.

Has anyone bought the 375 mil bottles of spirits you can pre order via the site through the cruise planner section called Princess cellars, I see they Australian bottle shop prices, at least the Absolut Vodka and the Jim Beam are?

The drinks package isn't available as my cruise is under 7 days, so I thought this would be a good option.

I agree, and while you do not get some of the perks on the Aussie Princess ships, other ships will be first in line. On another line, when they do not operate the lounge due to numbers they load the cards up with free drinks every day for those with the particular status.

Yes, that line does have a much better loyalty program and better perks rewards if you decide to really spoil yourself for some reason & upgrade to a suite. Because of that I prefer the other line. Princess is only sending the 2 oldies Sun & Sea to WA and I'm trying my first Princess soon (cabins look teeny) to see what they are like but I would be nice if it could be on one of the newer ships like Majestic.

Yes for the whole cruise, the $8.05 on the web site is wrong, it an ongoing problem $7 onboard. And it's charged per night.

 

The shakes (milk or thick) are only on the ships with a scoops ice cream bar, not those that have swapped to NZ iceCream.

 

Seems some inconsistency about it being offered on those short four day cruises.

Really confused now, were you on Princess recently? Their websites says the alcoholic package is not available on cruises in AU/NZ waters of 7 days or less, and this seems right as its not an option on my booking. It doesn't say anything about the availability of the Soda package. The prices of the Soda package is $8.05 on the main page, $9.05 if I try to book it ahead via my booking number, but seems to be $7 AU onboard. Very inconsistent aren't they .

It is not logical to administer the gratuity pool fleet wide - way too complicated. From my experience it complicates the administration of payroll.

 

Annie

It's not complicated, its what's done in many countries of the world. Include the cost of service into the price of the product, and increase the wages of service staff accordingly. So in UK waters, and Australian/NZ waters, they get a higher daily rate that includes gratuities Perhaps they would prefer that, I would much prefer to know exactly how much I was 'talking home' each week/month rather than relying on the wims or generousity of others. Most payroll IT systems can handle that, they would have the ability to set more than one rate per scale.

Yes for the whole cruise, the $8.05 on the web site is wrong, it an ongoing problem $7 onboard. And it's charged per night.

 

The shakes (milk or thick) are only on the ships with a scoops ice cream bar, not those that have swapped to NZ iceCream.

 

Seems some inconsistency about it being offered on those short four day cruises.

Thank you, so if its a 4 night cruise, even though it's 5 days, in theory, it's 7 x 4 =$28. Yep its the Sea Princess and she doesn't have soft serve any more, only NZ Ice-cream, for a charge of course.

I can only talk about Aus prices but the percentages would be similar.

 

Package $7

Soda $2.25

Mocktail $5

Shake $2.75

 

Not sure about juice sorry, but as you can see only a couple of drinks a day to be in front.

Hello, is that the $8.05 AUD package? And, by shakes, do you mean milkshakes and did that include OJ. Sorry, lots of questions, I'm going on just a little cruise, out on a Wednesday, back on a Sunday. I would think you would have to buy it for the whole cruise, but do they include the last day when you more or less just get up, eat brecky and leave as an actual day.

Thanks

Yes, the dining room was open for lunch on embarkation day on both cruises I've done on Sun.

Thank you, I'll be on the Sea Princess, I would think it would be the same being the same class.

Here's my story about MDR and room service, for what it's worth and it has happened more than once....

 

I have a spinal injury and some days need to just spend the day in bed.

 

Mrs Gut trots off to the MDR, usually because she has either planned to meet someone, there is something on the menu she really wants, or we are on a smaller ship without any real option.

 

She gets to MDR, first question from door greeter, or waiter "Where is Mr Gut" she explains, next question 'Here is menu, what you think he like" shortly the meal after arrives at my cabin.

 

 

So while the answer is generally no, there are exceptions.

That's nice to know the MDR has been so accomodating when you haven't been able to get up.

Will Princess allow you to carry a plate of food out of the dining room to your cabin, we are just one deck down from the buffet, not going far and lunch on the balcony would be very nice.

Crooners bar and lounge is the real hub of the ship in the evenings. There is seating on both sides of the atrium and a dance floor at one end - the other end has the glass walled lifts (there are no shops around the atrium on this deck). It's a great place for a pre or post dinner drink, and is also nice during the day.

 

Have a great cruise.

Was the dining room open for lunch on departure day Ozkiwi?

Thanks

I would say buy now if you are planning on doing so. Not sure of your situation but they may re-introduce the 'everyone in the cabin needs to have one', so if you were the only drinker, might be a good option.

I didn't know they had dropped the 'everyone in the cabin has to have a drinks package rule' thanks for the info

We will be on the Sun from this Thursday and have just received SMS to say boarding will be delayed and departure will not now be until 7pm so they will obviously be doing a deep clean. Any idea on how many passengers affected datone?

Don't forget to take your daily shot of raspberry cordial, needs to be at least 25% raspberries to work, Cascade is a good brand. Much cheaper than taking Travelan 3 times a day to help protect against stomach bugs. It works, really it does, just google raspberry & gastro, lots of research done on it, especially in Australia. You will have to sneak it on because in the US a cordial is a Liqueur,.

Wow, thanks for posting the link! I hope the risk of pirates will be lower when I'm sailing aboard Sea Princess along the coast of Queensland. I'm trusting the Australian navy will keep things orderly, as I value my time on the top decks.

 

The "sonic boom" the author cites is most likely a "sonic cannon," which is used increasingly by police in the U.S. Here's a link to a random article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Acoustic_Device

 

And if you're interested in experiencing a cruise ship hijacking vicariously, there was a novel not too long ago by popular author Stephen Coonts called Pirate Alley: http://www.worldcat.org/title/pirate-alley/oclc/993966955&referer=brief_results

 

Enjoy!

tee hee, No pirates off the coast of Queensland cruiser bruiser.

This link shows the benefits as a comparison for all levels:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/cas/benefitsLoggedout.do

Just as a side note for those who are interested, I found on the Azamara site a chart that shows what reciprocal benefits you get across the 3 lines. Its a bit clearer to read than on the RC site.

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/en-au/le-club-voyage/le-club-voyage-program/member-benefits

Yes, they are complaining about port access, Royal and Princess too, in Sydney is that they can't get dock space when they want it, as the dock only takes one ship at a time,and the bigger ships can't fit under the bridge to the other dock and in the North West especially Broome and Karratha the docks are pretty basic (but so is KL's Port Klang) and even if they book a dock, if an iron ore carrier is late and needs a dock the carrier is prioritised.

So the lines have all 'chucked a hissy' and reduced the number of cruises in OZ.

They want the Australian & state governments to pay the costs of improvements. When you look at what the lines spend locally to refill everything from fuel to food to people and pay for customs etc in each port it wouldn't would be a good idea as far as the economy is concerned. but Ive read on previous posts on other pages like the RC page or one called Royal Caribbean Blog which isn't related that some of the lines will pay for the upgrades themselves. Usually American or Caribbean ports.

 

Last week I was looking at at the cruises that either started or ended in Perth, there were about 23 between now and April 2019 and out of those 11 were already booked out, some as far as February 2019. A lot of the others only have insides or ocean view cabins left. If you look at RC's list of Pacific cruises in the 2018-2019 season that has shrunk too.

Sorry, I went off track didn't I.

oops had to do a correction on this and it was too late to edit. Bits edited should be:

1. it would be worth the Govt paying the cost of port upgrades (not wouldn't) I would be happy to pay a little extra in port fees so they could recoup the money.

2. the cruises starting end ending in Perth include those to Asia.

I read somewhere that Carnival has been complaining about access to northern ports and is thus pulling out of Fremantle.

 

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Yes, they are complaining about port access, Royal and Princess too, in Sydney is that they can't get dock space when they want it, as the dock only takes one ship at a time,and the bigger ships can't fit under the bridge to the other dock and in the North West especially Broome and Karratha the docks are pretty basic (but so is KL's Port Klang) and even if they book a dock, if an iron ore carrier is late and needs a dock the carrier is prioritised.

So the lines have all 'chucked a hissy' and reduced the number of cruises in OZ.

They want the Australian & state governments to pay the costs of improvements. When you look at what the lines spend locally to refill everything from fuel to food to people and pay for customs etc in each port it wouldn't would be a good idea as far as the economy is concerned. but Ive read on previous posts on other pages like the RC page or one called Royal Caribbean Blog which isn't related that some of the lines will pay for the upgrades themselves. Usually American or Caribbean ports.

Last week I was looking at at the cruises that either started or ended in Perth, there were about 23 between now and April 2019 and out of those 11 were already booked out, some as far as February 2019. A lot of the others only have insides or ocean view cabins left. If you look at RC's list of Pacific cruises in the 2018-2019 season that has shrunk too.

Sorry, I went off track didn't I.

Is there any way to find out if a cruise is booked by lots of schoolies?

 

 

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By schoolies, do you mean just lots of kids that are there during school holidays with their parents or the almost adults (well they think they are adults but we know better) that have just finished year 12 or Uni and are waiting for results and want to go on a boozy holiday?

Hi I am sailing on Voyager Of The seas in November and do not want my credit card to bear onboard expenses if it can be helped. Can you put American cash on your card when you get on board the ship?

Also If one is booked into first dining time in the MDR, and the ship sails at 630pm, how does that work with life boat muster drill thrown in?

Yes, I did this on a cruise on Explorer of the seas, at the time, I just rang Royal Caribbean directly, if you ring the Oz number in the evening you get put through to the US which is who you are best to speak to. At the time I was advised by cruisescritic members (via the Royal Caribbean page of this site) to ask for it in US dollars but ask them to bill it to my card in Australian Dollars that way avoiding overseas purchase charges on my credit card. I believe that some banks have closed this loophole. By adding credit to your account now you get it at today's rates, so its a gamble as to whether the value of the Oz dollar goes up against the US but I did find the rates we got from Royal Caribbean were very competitive, better than if we had gone to a bank or exchange place in Oz to get US cash. You might like to ask the same question on the RC page. There are quite a few historical posts about it. The search button at the top narrows down search for older posts about it.

Doing a 12 nighter on the Solstice to New Zealand in January next year being our 1st time with Celebrity. I have just read about the Captains Club. Is it wise to join it before our cruise and for what advantage.

 

Regards Bob.

I agree with the others, yes definately join the Captains Club, one of the other benefits is some of the levels reached on the Captains Club are recognised on the groups other 2 lines Royal Caribbean and Azamara loyalty programs. (alas, unless I win the lotto I doubt I will get to sail on Azamara) I have seen a chart that shows how the recognition works but can't find it right now.

Does anyone know of a handheld steamer that is allowed on a cruise ship? I have a formal dress that needs to be steamed not ironed before wearing. I'm worried about it being really wrinkled in my suitcase

You will probably need to look at the Terms & Conditions of the particular cruise line you are looking at, if but from what I've read anything with a heating element on most lines (but not all) its a no. Have you thought of hanging it on the shower turning the hot water on and shutting the bathroom door for a few minutes. That often works well.

Hello

Just recently (within the last week or two) a poster asked about catching the train from Perth to Fremantle and the walking distance from there to the Cruise Terminal. I have searched for the post today in the Australian & New Zealand and Princess and RC pages as they are ones I mostly look at, and tried searching under Fremantle which unfortunately shows posts out of date order and can't find it. There is a bridge over the railway line that separates the train station from the Cruise Terminal. The poster has asked could you carry suitcases over or should he just catch a taxi from Perth. The last responder said it would be too hard to take suitcases up the stairs. Today, I thought to myself, I think it isn't stairs, I'm sure its a ramps, I haven't been to Freo for months so I 'google earthed' it and if you look at the directions in 3D from the train station to the Terminal it is indeed a ramp over the railway line not stairs. Its about 800 metres. So, if the original poster is still there, I hope this info is helpful