Astro Flyer

Thanks for the updated price from $100 to $119…it is one of our favorite dining experiences with the other being the Winemakers Dinner on Royal-class ships (reading that has increased from $40/pp to $45). For awhile the UBD was available to book in advance by pre-paying but don’t see it as an option for our Discovery cruise in April 2024.

This OZ/NZ presentation was more informative for me than the Princess US webinars. It did peak my interest somewhat although not enough to book Sun. After reading about onboard experiences I’ll decide whether to book or not. At the end a question about coffeemakers shown in artist renderings was asked & I’ve read posts asking this question. He said that all suites will have them but as of now he thinks it would be upon request for other cabins. Whether there will be enough for each cabin that won’t be known until the ship sails. My guess is they will not have enough for each cabin or they would have them in every cabin.

On Thursday 6/22 we emailed the SOBC request form in my wife’s name at 3:30 and at 6:30 my TA forwarded our new booking confirmation showing that SOBC was issued to her for our Spring 2025 cruise in addition to my previously issued MOBC.

Based on this statement from their SOBC request form your separate 50 share accounts would appear to not be eligible for the credit. The form also states it’s only one SOBC per cabin. Our 100 shares are jointly owned & we request the SOBC in my wife’s name now that effective on 6/29 for cruises sailing after 9/12 receiving both military and SOBC will no longer be combinable. “This program is available to shareholders holding a minimum of 100 shares of Carnival Corporation or Carnival plc”. Shareholder Request Form Final.pdf

I booked a cabin this week through my TA with no problem. On some cruises on the Royal-class ships the deluxe balcony cabins that can accommodate 3 passengers are guarantees only for double occupancy. Sometimes a TA can get Princess to book 2 passengers in that type of a cabin.

Thanks for the info…hopefully onboard staff will be educated about the correct procedure. My concern would be if previous SOBC is grandfathered allowing one person to have SOBC & MOBC in their name that onboard staff might go with the new policy…one person cannot have both of them. I’ll wait for reports after 9/12 to learn how it’s working & maybe months later will have our future bookings changed to my wife being the first name listed & to reapply in her name. I’m hesitant to board a cruise & having a misinformed staff member incorrectly understand their policy.

I always use their form & quickly get the SOBC issued and that section said the form was created because they receive too many incomplete requests which creates additional work for them & slows down the process. While the form is not required for complete requests, it’s a way for people who are less experienced to submit complete requests to not slow down the issuing process.

Ever since Princess began to require pre-payment for tours many years ago they have immediately processed SOBC requests for all booked cruises. I just noticed you’re in the UK which sadly uses different criteria than in the USA.

We have 2 cruises (2024 & 2025) that we’re booked many months ago with SOBC in my name & after 6/29 will see if they remain. Although not until after 9/12 will we learn if passengers post that grandfathered SOBC was actually available. We’d have time to reissue the SOBC in my wife’s name for our jointly owned CCL shares if that’s necessary. I don’t fully trust Princess to provide as stated such as those who recently paid for the coffee plans who learned onboard that it had been eliminated without any notification. I feel that Princess won’t be promoting the change to SOBC & MOBC not being combinable so details may be difficult to receive & that onboard experiences will be best although standardization is sometimes lacking with Princess.

Until I’ve read about onboard experiences after 9/12, I won’t be fully convinced about how the policy change will be implemented.

On Veterans Day 2010 the military benefit began when Vietnam Army combat veteran Alan Buckelew was the Princess president. A Soldier Returns on a Cruise to Vietnam, as a Tourist https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/cruise-blog/50-essential-experiences/a-soldier-returns-on-a-cruise-to-vietnam-as-a-tourist.html

My TA made my wife the first name & it was issued to her within a couple of hours. Hopefully our other 2 bookings made months ago with SOBC issued in my name won’t be affected. 🤞 If so, will have our TA make my wife the first name & to reapply for SOBC.

Is she the first name listed on your reservation? Whenever I’ve applied in her name (jointly own CCL shares) it’s been issued to me because I’m the first name listed. And making both OBCs not combinable, even if they allow one person to get SOBC & the other person MOBC, we would lose our SOBC.

The way I read it there is a “cover charge $39 per person” with additional “surcharges” ranging from $18 for 6 oysters up to $100 for Sevruga Caviar.

Here’s the menu posted on Jeter2’s current lived thread from Sky Princess…$39

Another example of them being consistently inconsistent 🙄

As I wrote, in the past couldn’t get it done that way but with these proposed changes will ensure that she’s listed first if she can get SOBC & me MOBC which is still unknown. And all of our future bookings have SOBC in my name.

Thanks for sharing your experiences…we have always applied for SOBC for our jointly owned shares in my wife’s name to balance with my MOBC for pre-booking tours. Every time it is issued to me because my name is listed first on our reservations (couldn’t get my wife listed first). Thus even if a married couple is allowed to have one person receive MOBC & the other person SOBC, we’d be ineligible due to Princess’ policy of issuing SOBC to me & not to my wife. Both of our future bookings currently show SOBC/MOBC issued to me but being 9 & 21 months away things could change as Princess changes their policies. Unless this change is grandfathered, the conditions we booked under by receiving both SOBC & SOBC are changed for us. That’s a poor way to treat their guests…book based on certain criteria & then take it away later. Our trust in them has been eroding away & if I lose my MOBC that’s more lost trust for them to provide as advertised. Looking forward to soon having a definitive answer from Princess to see if they will treat passengers fairly or not. 🤔

My guess…there are not many tours to offer to generate more money.

I’ve never seen a list of the buffet’s daily menu specials…great idea! 😊

When we considered Global Entry the earliest appointment was a year later unless we wanted to fly hours from LAX to Texas or Seattle…crazy! Instead we went to Staples & like ‘kiwimum’ had our KTN the next day.

Agree…I appreciate the author sharing the info & there should be a definitive answer by 6/29 & to have answers to questions being brought up here such as can one person get SOBC & the other person MOBC. I am very thankful for both OBCs but if I can only receive one per cabin would likely sell our shares. As you know some benefits & options are already gone such as loyalty OBC, some free internet minutes & the coffee program…could MOBC could be the next lost benefit. We’ll weight all of these changes against other cruise lines such as when we sailed Celebrity late last year and having two Oceania cruises booked…both for the first time as we explore other cruise lines. Then Princess President Alan Buckelew (a Vietnam Army combat vet) implemented the MOBC in 2010 and I’ll always be thankful to him for this way to thank veterans. Like you, for now I’ll wait & see…standing by for a definitive answer.

Maybe too many elites didn’t join the back of the tender line & attempted to push their way to the front resulting in always requiring going to a meeting place now to be sent to a tender when ready. I think that many of us have experienced rude elites who want to go to the front of the line & to not just join the back as mandated.

For a long time when there were many elites (1500 on one cruise) we went to another entrance of the dining room to quickly be brought to a tender. Wonder if that was a factor for the author or it’s the new normal.