SargassoPirate

6 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

There will be an info sheet delivered to your cabin a couple of days before disembarking.  It is only certain airlines that offer the service.  I know Delta is one...don't know about others.  It is picked up outside your cabin and checked all the way through to your home airport.  Regardless as to whether you get "free bags" via the airline, you will pay a fee per bag for the service.  I *think* $25 a beg, but don't hold me to that. (I've never done this...but I read those sheets every time to see if anything has changed.)  Part of the service is they get your boarding pass for you.  I do not know exactly how that portion works...but obviously you're going to have to supply all of your flight info.

Thanks for your info, but I booked Luggage Forward separately from anything offered by Princess. I just wanted to know the process for my bag getting picked up at disembarkation.  

I've decided not to schlep my second bag for a roundtrip cruise on Princess out of Fort Lauderdale.  I've used Luggage Forward to get an extra bag to the ship with success in the past, so I'm familiar with that process of having the bag picked up at home and the next time I see it is outside my cabin.

How does the disembarkation routine work?  Do I just leave the bag outside my cabin on the final night or do I retrieve it onshore and take it somewhere there?

Just curious how it's worked for others here.

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

thanks for the list😉
 

Noordam and its sister ships make the table for two awkward.  You are seated so close to the next table you feel obligated to say something.  They really aren’t tables for two.  

When that happens, we say good evening and then ignore them the rest of the meal.  If we wanted to share, we'd request a bigger table.  We request a table for two because after many decades we still enjoy each other's company and still have things to talk about. I don't want the pace of my meal interrupted by folks at the next table who may be low talkers, loud talkers, pontificators, zealots, or otherwise annoying.

When I cruise solo in a Luxury Inside Suite I have never had an issue with balcony smokers. 😜

And when I step outside the Suite, I'm cruising on the same ship with you fine people.

35 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

No medallion for you.... only a cruise card. 😄 LOL

I'm the guy who sees the sheeple lining up and all going though one door of a row of four doors or more and walks right over and enters through the unused door.

10 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

No medallion for you.... only a cruise card. 😄 LOL

Suits me just fine.  😂

6 hours ago, Gunther1 said:

I’m guilty of steering this thread even further from  the original question, but I wonder if anybody actually pays for the individual items  ( $2 for a pair of socks, for example) ?

 

it would VERY quickly add up to much more than  the cost of  the “by the bag” price.

I use the guest laundry when cruising on Princess, but when I'm on lines without guest laundromats - most all nowadays - I travel with a lot of quick dry clothes that I can wash out in my cabin.  Also wear a day, air a day works for outer garments.  

I take the ship laundry charges and apply them to a wee dram in the evening.

1 minute ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I can let you know soon.  Presumably the only issue is having to wait a while to get through check in.  I remember when priority check in was a loyalty benefit.

 

Please, keep us posted.

I remember one cruise pre-Covid and when we entered the port building the lines for the upper loyalty tiers were longer than steerage. I think it was Princess but it might've been RCI.  Even though we were in the top tier, SWMBO and I went over to the shorter steerage line and were processed right on board past the the Elite/Diamond Plus.

Sheeple.

I just received an email from Princess regarding an upcoming cruise from Fort Lauderdale. I'm an Elite but standard cruiser - soon to be renamed steerage.  Princess tells me that if I don't order the Medallion and pay to have it shipped, there is no way I'll be in the green lane. So what? I'll be on the ship 111 days.

What's the worst that can happen?  

3 minutes ago, DHP1 said:

FYI - https://visa-sri-lanka.com/do-you-need-eta/

 

I would apply on the safe side. According to the application there is no charge. 

Thanks.  That's what I'll have to do.  It will be interesting to see what they ask for at embarkation in order to board.  I'm ornery enough to make them show me what I'm supposed to have when 1. I'm not going ashore and 2. Sri Lanka doesn't require a Transit visa.

Why can't some intern come up with some clear language for the travel summary to explain what one will need if you are going ashore or not?

5 minutes ago, DHP1 said:

May I ask where you are going?  You stated ETA which could mean Australia. Are you going to New Zealand also and if so, you do require one there (NZeTA) also. All of this can be done online on the Government websites or their App. We did this cruise last year. These requirements also located in your Travel Summary near the end. 
I do apologize to others as I went off topic. 

Sure.  The port causing me the problems is Sri Lanka.  Not sure why Princess is even porting there with the civil unrest, but maybe they got a deal on fuel.

I have my ETAs for OZ and NZ, no problem, all very clear.  Been there before.

The issue is, boiled down, Sri Lanka does not require a Transit visa for cruises, but Princess can't decide if I'll need one before I embark or if they'll issue it onboard.  Then how will they determine if I'm going ashore or not, and thus require an ETA.

Frustrated because I can't get a definitive answer.

2 hours ago, DHP1 said:

Have you check with the Country Government website to see what is required. Furthermore, Princess usually states on their website what document is required. It’s under your Cruise Personalizer. 
I agree with you it would be nice to get it in writing and in the past before Covid the chat line was very useful. 

Yes, I did check with immigration of the country.  The language in my booking travel summary is unclear.  The country does not require  Transit visa if one arrives and leaves on the same vessel.  Princess says a Transit visa is required, but then can't decide if they will issue it onboard or if I need to show it in order to board.

Then Princess states that an ETA is required if one plans to go ashore - which I don't - but they cannot assure me that I will be allowed to board without the ETA even if I won't be going ashore.

Without clear guidance from Princess, I will probably bear the expense of an ETA that I won't need just to keep some zealous check in agent telling me that I can't board unless I have it even if I don't need it.

I'm Elite and was able to get free laundry tokens on the Caribbean and the Regal this year.  I had to be persistent on the Regal, but they finally gave me some.

Seems to be inconsistent across the fleet though.

24 minutes ago, hsmom said:

I am one of those early adopters so I plan on trying out the new app on December 1st. Our cruise is Jan 4th so I will have a month to play with it. 

I'm also on a cruise leaving Jan 4, but I'm not sure what I'll do regarding the app.  I'm a low key cruiser and when I cruise solo I don't use the app at all.

Most recently, SWMBO cruised with me, so I used the app to make dinner reservations and also the crew chat a couple of times to save time going down to guest services.

Maybe I'll download the new app mid-December and see if it adds any value for me.  I have little patience for wonky technology.

3 hours ago, cbr663 said:

Not that I saw on our May Alaska cruise or our recent California cruise.

 

Prior to the pandemic it was quite common to see crew all over the ship cleaning and wiping things down.  Crew could be easily seen in hallways and stairwells wiping down handrails.  I didn't see that on either of my 2 cruises this year.

 

For our most recent cruise we did sanitize our cabin upon entering it.  There were noticeable stains and grime in some areas of the cabin so we are glad that we did.

For years we have wiped down certain surfaces on airplanes, hotels, and cruise ships.  Mostly to remove bad juju and the yuck factor.

Commercial establishments wiping down every surface in sight nowadays is just theater.

7 minutes ago, JGmf said:

You can get a chat session to actually load?

I've tried for two days on two browers (Firefox and Chrome) and no luck, after trying multiple times. 

 

Oh well, I'll just call...

Yeah, I finally got connected first thing Sunday morning after two days of trying.

I wanted chat so that I could have a transcript of the call because of the ambiguous language in the travel summary for that port. After that hour I'll never get back, I sent an email to customer service at Princess and requested an email reply - no phone call - so that would again have a written record.

I refuse to call unless the call center is staffed with people for whom English is their first language.

10 minutes ago, Pickels said:

Don't waste your time going on a Princess chat session. -- first, they will tell you how many others are ahead of you, then, when they get down to you, they will ask you if you're still waiting, please enter "Yes".  They will repeat this over and over and over until you lose patience and hang up.!  Great customer support!  

I feel your pain.  I recently spent an hour with a agent on chat, trying to get a straight answer about a visa issue and which visa the shoreside staff would be checking at embarkation.  Two visas are required, an ETA if you go ashore and the other is a Transit visa if you arrive and leave on the same vessel.

Amongst the answers were.

The ETA would be available on the ship and charged to my account.

I would need to show the ETA at check in.

I need a Transit visa (the country does not even require a Transit visa if you are just passing through by ship)

The Transit visa would be purchased on the ship and charged to my account.

I would need to show my Transit visa at check-in.

I still have no idea what documents I'll need to show at check in for this country.

Still wiping down every surface in sight?

2 hours ago, satxdiver said:

Ships are made of metal while wood and other building products are not allowed.  This is partially because of fire danger on ships.  In a similar manner open flames, heating appliances etc are also not allowed.  I always have a collection of magnets with me when on the ship and use the blank walls in the cabin to port things I want to not forget.  I also use hook magnets to stretch my extension cord across for my CPAP by the bed.  Yes, I know about the outlet hidden behind the bed but this is easier.  While I do not put anything on the door, some do using magnets.  So magnet away!

Fire danger on ships?  You mean like this?

2 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

You cannot book cruises through the app, only "administer" existing cruises. Now, that may all change with the new app that is due out Dec. 1st...nobody really knows what this new app is going to deliver yet.

 

So, to answer your question,  you will still book via the web (should you desire to book directly with Princess) as you have always been able to do. 

And...unless they drastically change the dining reservations (they certainly could) you can use the "web version" in your cruise personalizer to make your dining reservations. 

And...... it's possible to cruise without the app.  We have done so since the app and the "ships for free" Medallions started.  Now that they want to charge for shipping the Medallion, we just show up at the pier with our booking confirmation and get a Medallion there. After that, we use the Medallion to open our cabin door and get in and off the ship. That's it.  It's like the old key card.

Dinner reservations?  See the maitre d who can look at their seating chart and work with you.

Want a drink?  Grab a seat at the bar and order from a human being.

SWMBO and I don't need to track each other with the app.  She always turns up eventually and/or we make a plan to meet up somewhere for lunch.

Command hooks take the guesswork out of whether a magnetic hook will stick or not.

6 hours ago, Drizzle66 said:

Wow!  Such sleazy games they play! 😢

That's how they fill those known to be less desirable cabins. Then they can "upgrade" an unsuspecting passenger into one of those cabins and then sell the newly vacant one.

For what it's worth, I wondered about the new activation fee for Ocean Now with regards to a world cruise booked with a single voyage number.  Online chat, if they are to be believed, reported that the activation fee is per voyage so there would be one fee for the entire 111 days.

I don't do Plus, but I was wondering about the mini bar setup for the WC. On my most recent cruise, two cruises booked as a single voyage, I received a fresh mini bar setup at the start of the new segment.

With the prevalent inconsistency with Princess, it remains to be seen what will happen.

On 11/26/2023 at 11:45 AM, BVILady said:

lol, not really "which car would you recommend" - I see it what do you want to spend and what do you expect to be covered. I am not like you, I will definitely be on shore in every port, since my reason to go on a World Cruise is to see the world. 

I am still swallowing on the price I had been quoted for single-occupancy by Viking, which had been around $ 100,000. So when you look at  Heidi 13 calculations I would have been charged about $ 30.000 for business-class airfare. Corresponding with other people on another board, calculating their business class flight to Japan might be $ 8000 p.p. - but now is late in the year to compare price for 2024 to the date they will need it for 2025. Early booking it might be less anyhow. When it comes to the OBC, how much would I have gotten? Also drink-package, I hardly drink anything, wine with dinner, most of the time not even with lunch - and lunch would only be on seadays anyhow. And now learning that the better wine is not included, so I wouldn't even have been able to select that! Got on HAL the HIA package (early booking perk) which includes 2 dinners in a Specialty restaurant which I really don't need and booking in advance being solo-cruiser will be difficult. Just read on Facebook how people compliment the quality of HAL food in the Main-Dining Room these days. My main-factor selecting a cruise is the itinerary, date and price - so that is why I am not loyal to any line. Looking forward to all the cruises I have currently booked. Hope you enjoy your Princess cruise!

My world cruise on Princess, solo in a Luxury Inside Suite, is just under $37K .  Roundtrip first class airfare is around $800 (I refuse to fly steerage with the crying babies and seat kickers)  I'm going a la carte for tips, 1/2 price wifi, and for my wee dram in the evening and will end up around 1/2 of what the Plus would've cost me..  I've used some TA OBC to book excursions in ports where I haven't been before and will probably add a few viator excursions soon.  

I'm projecting that all told I will have spent under $45K by the time I get back home.  That's about 1/2 of what a new truck would cost if I were to replace my 20 year old one now with a similarly equipped diesel model.

The icing on the cake is a $2800 gift card from the warehouse TA.

Knowing my cruising style, this will suit me just fine.

No way chat is AI.  I spent an hour trying to get a clear answer to a question and the agent's answers were unclear and changed 180 degrees when I pressed for a definitive answer.