SargassoPirate

1 hour ago, cruzsnooze said:

Yes indeed but people seem to like to feel important and tip till it hurts.

Just curious how you arrived at that conclusion?

I'm sure that some people spend money they don't have to buy things they don't really need to impress people they don't even know 

On 2/21/2023 at 6:24 PM, wowzz said:

But bar staff get an 18% tip on your drink, don't they,  so are you not double tipping as well ?

That's why I said "I understand tipping for extra good service and I err in the side of generosity for the bar staff". 

On my most recent cruise in January, there were two really good servers in the Elite lounge.  After a couple of nights, my butt and my drink hit the table at about the same time.  If I was at another venue where they were working, they would hustle right over to take my order.

No ordering on the app and watching the server wander around trying to find me 

Extra good service = extra good tip.

17 hours ago, pmallen said:

This is the second reference I've seen lately to smoke from the casino. We're on the Emerald right now, and there is no smoking allowed in the casino. There is a smoking lounge, Speakeasy, just off the casino, but the smoke doesn't dlseem to escape much.

 

Interesting that there would be such a major policy difference between ships.

 I was on the Caribbean Princess for 20 nights in January and the smoke from the Smoking Lounge (Casino) drifted right out into the Atrium and into the back of the theater.  

Crooners bar may as well been a Smoking Lounge as well since it's right outside.

On 2/15/2023 at 2:26 PM, voljeep said:

Iron and ironing board is 'free' on board in the laundromats ... but you actually have to go there and use them...😉

And the turnaround time is better too.  I always do my own and the last time it took about an hour and a half for the wash and dry.  Take things right out of the drier and no ironing needed.

The only problem I've ever encountered in the self-serve was idiots who can't tell time and don't return to move their load from the washer or the drier.  I give them about 10 minutes and then I pile their stuff on the ironing board. Sometimes it'll still be there when I'm all done.

5 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@SargassoPirate and everyone else....Do you notice which ships have the larger numbers?

 

Coral, Sapphire, Diamond...Island...Grand.

Oh yeah. 

I've never been aware of the ratios listed in the table, figuring a bigger ship with more passengers just spreads people out more, but I am acutely aware of features such as a "real promenade".

The biggest ship I've cruised on was the Allure of the Seas and I never felt crowded.  But then, as I opined above, I tend to break away from the herd and travel to my own agenda anyway and avoid crowded times and crowded locations.

17 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Very strange for a Brit to say this, but if we do get exceptional service in a speciality restaurant, we will give our server €10/$10 or so. But if the service is just ordinary,  then we do not feel the need to tip. 

I understand tipping for extra good service and I err on the side of generosity for the bar staff, but isn't it triple dipping, so to speak, to tip extra for specialty dining?  

1) Daily gratuity charge - single dip

2) Specialty dining gratuity - double dip

3) Additional tip for specialty dining - triple dip

I have carried a medium-sized Swiss army knife and a small Leatherman in my travel tool kit for year without any problem.  It goes into my checked luggage.

To clip my luggage zip ties, I have a small nail clippers attached to my backpack.

On 2/6/2023 at 1:28 PM, memoak said:

COVID will never go away but if you are vaxxed  and boosted the odds of getting really sick are much less   I do not know anyone who had not gotten it at least once. Masking on a crowded elevator is not a bad idea and when using public restrooms   Also masking in the buffet is not a bad idea. Other than that I just go about my cruise experience like I did pre pandemic

memoak.....while you don't know me personally, I can tell you that I have not had covid.  And from the start I only wore a mask when required.  I got vaccinated as soon as I could and am triple boosted.  I've been on planes, trains, shuttles, buses, and cruises without a mask.

You would think that with that much exposure that I would've caught it if I was going to. Not so much as the sniffles.

13 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@mtnesterzThank you for a wonderful link.  For others who don't want to go there...

 

To add just a bit more information to help interpret the chart:

"The larger the number in the right hand column the more spacious a ship may feel. At least that’s the idea. A number in the 20’s would feel crowded and cramped while a number in the high 40’s and above may feel spacious."

On any ship, it's easy to feel uncrowded if you adjust your schedule a bit.  I'm an early riser, so I hit the buffet when it first opens.  Then I'm ready for lunch just about the time they changeover for lunch.  I have a light snack at the International Cafe mid-afternoon and skip the loud and crowded MDR dinner in favor of the nibbles in the Elite lounge.  I avoid the loungers and chair hogs on the Melanoma Deck in favor of a deck chair on the shady side of the Promenade.  

25 minutes ago, TN-Mountains said:

I'm curious about this too.  I booked directly online w/ Princess and didn't see an option to decline an upgrade.  I called the 800 # and asked them to mark it as no upgrade.  The lady said she did, but I still haven't found anywhere online or in the app to confirm it is actually marked that way.

I usually select my category and perfect cabin with Princess online and then transfer my booking to the big box.  After sufficient time has elapsed, I call big box and the agent marks my booking 'No Upgrade" and fine tunes any other details.  In the past, the big box agents have shared that the default setting for Princess bookings is "accept all upgrades".

Once big box sends me the booking email, it shows No Upgrade in the booking details.

And with all of this, I still check my bookings with Princess every day.

17 hours ago, gottagocit said:

I haven’t seen any reports in quite a while indicating whether plastic straws are back or are the paper ones still the only ones available onboard. Can you shed light on this?

Just off the Caribbean Princess and the International Cafe was serving frozen coffee drinks in a plastic cup with a plastic lid and a biodegradable paper straw that biodegraded after the first few sips.

Luckily, I have a stash of sturdy plastic straws  that I could reuse.

The shops were placing purchases in plastic bags.

Makes one wonder about the logic behind the push for paper straws that are useless for their intended purpose.

29 minutes ago, pompeii said:

We all handle things differently and it's great you've found what works for you.  Just a point though, you don't have to book through the big box to get the big box credit card cash rewards.  I use a pvp and get the same 3% rewards on travel.  

Correct. 

I also weigh booking directly with the cruise line or with big box.  Sometimes big box has perks that are only available if you book directly with them.  Since the restart I've had good luck with booking directly with the cruise line to lock in their price and perks, and then transferring the booking to big box to get their post-cruise gift card benefit in addition to whatever the cruise line perks are.

I recently booked a longer cruise with the cruise line and locked in a price and cabin that worked for me.  I then transferred it to big box and they added the post-cruise gift card which was worth about ten percent of the cost of the cruise. A few weeks later I noticed a price drop on the cruise, so I called big box.  The big box agent got me the cheaper price, and then big box added a drink package, wifi, and tips to my booking, all compliments of big box.

All in all, it pays to put the pencil to it and also decide how much time you want to spend on travel planning.

Labanos, for an extended cruise, such as a world cruise, one of the first things I look for on the deck plans is the guest laundromat.  I prefer to do my own and have it done right. 

On 1/28/2023 at 11:25 AM, Ombud said:

Who do I talk to at a big box?

I call the big box 1-800 number and the agent there takes care of my booking.  They contact the cruise line and get the issue fixed - usually correcting an unwanted "upgrade" from Princess.  I've been happy with their service and when I pay for my cruises with the big box credit card I get some nice cash back rewards every February.

I handle other cruise-related travel - air travel, rental cars, hotels, etc - myself.

When problems arise, such as when we got stranded on the other side of the globe when covid started shutting down cruises and flights, our annual travel insurance company helped with arrangements and covered our unexpected out-of-pocket expenses to get home.

Works for me.

You can do what we've done and stick with the first timers.  In the overall scheme of the cruise, will it make a big difference if you get on the ship before they do?

Unfortunately, for those with disabilities, the "American's With Disabilities Act" does not extend to ports outside of the US. Even for someone with no disabilities but whose odometer has rolled over at least once, some excursions are not just appropriate.

OP....I apologize if I missed it, but is the ship offering any World Cruise T-shirts?

Thanks again for your reports and photos.  I feel like I'm there with you.

Back to noro, before and after my recent cruise I stayed at the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale.  It's easy to see how noro gets on cruise ships.  Evidently lots of cruisers stay at the hotel and there was even a Princess desk in the lobby.  There were long lines down a corridor to board buses to the cruise ships.  I saw Princess and Celebrity tags on the luggage.

As I sat in the atrium for breakfast and the E-spot for the evening reception, I had ample opportunity to observe food service staff and their food handling practices.

Evidently, someone at Hilton/Embassy Suites believes that the rubber gloves have some sort of magic disinfecting properties because I saw them in use by all of the workers.  At breakfast, there were barriers and glove wearing workers had to hand you everything - even pre-packaged foods and fruit that would be peeled.  They did so while wearing the magic gloves, which also touched multiple non-food contact surfaces such as tables and chairs, their hair, their cellphone, their face, as well as food - such as muffins, rolls, and bagels.  I watched the people on the cook-to-order line touching multiple surfaces and then food, all while wearing the magic gloves.

The hotel never suffers.  Folks pick up noro at the hotel, board their cruise, and it becomes a cruise line problem.

As for me, after watching their food handling practices while I enjoyed a morning coffee, I ate only re-packaged cereal and bananas while staying there.  No noro problems on my cruise or when I returned home.

Can anyone describe the advantage of using a CVP instead of just booking the cruise myself and then transferring the booking to the big box?  

6 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

 

No loungers anymore.  There are sections with chairs and side tables.  I will post a pic later.  IIRC there used to be loungers with comfy cushions on other Princess ships we have sailed on.

So there are at least some deck chairs to sit on?  I love the promenade as a relatively quiet spot to sit, drink coffee, read, and watch the sea roll by.

50 minutes ago, rjack22 said:

Why not duct tape?

Ever try to remove the sticky stuff that duct tape leaves behind?  Painters tape removes much easier and doesn't leave a residue.

No loungers on what's left of the promenade?

2 hours ago, suzyed said:

I agree....I am also a nurse.

 

Thank goodness for nurses.  They keep doctors from killing us!

No official word on the number of cases. The crew is mum when I inquire.

I did walk all of the inside corridors this morning  for exercise, for exercise, and saw only three quarantine tables in front of cabin doors. 

I'm not worried while on board and if I were boarding Friday I wouldn't be worried either.  Just don't stick anything in your mouth - fingers or food - unless your hands are clean after touching any contaminated surface.  Here's a hint - you can't tell a contaminated surface from a sterile surface with your eyeballs.

Good luck and safe/healthy cruising to all.