Astro Flyer

And sadly while Sapphire sits in the eastern Med mostly anchored off Cyprus with crew only. Sapphire was briefly scheduled to cruise from LA this summer before they were canceled yet Princess management decided to use the unreliable Crown in Alaska.

I also recognize your CC name & could have briefly met you at a M&G but it wasn’t on the PCL 50th that ‘avalong’ mentioned. Thanks for sharing your experiences & for us the onboard experience is our primary destination & being an hour away from the Port of LA eliminates the current crazy air transportation issues. I have lots to learn about an O cruise & eagerly anticipating our 2023 cruise & maybe beyond then.

Thanks for sharing your insights & remember you from the PCL board. We’ve become too disillusioned with Princess management after being our first choice for the past 35 years. Good friends primarily sail Oceania & also PCL & have greatly enjoyed O including in April without any diminished experiences. We’re looking forward to a more upscale experience even if it results in fewer days at sea. We’re expecting an experience similar to on Sitmar in 1988 only months before merging with PCL.

We’ve sailed Princess many times but due to several reasons will cancel this year’s Fall cruises (24 days). We’ve wanted to try Celebrity for the first time & now that they’ll be sailing from LA (Fall 2022 to Spring 2023) we’ll book a cruise. We already have a September 2023 cruise (20 days) booked from Vancouver to LA (Alaska & Coastal) on Regatta & look forward to experiencing both new cruise lines.

Mahalo

Here’s a link to the roll call for your cruise to communicate with other passengers.

I also watched what I’d describe as more of a pep rally with half of the webinar introducing several sales staff. The previous SVP of Sales always answered some real questions that affect clients but only one with the new VP of Sales. I’m not a TA but previously gained insights on many issues that affect passengers. The Sphere-class info promoted on the webinar over 3 weeks ago was not even mentioned so no explanation about when they’ll provide info as promised…disappointing.

Like me, the Accounting Department reduced your refund by about 25%. My final statement I got onboard clearly showed the correct amount but the emailed post-cruise amount & check were shortchanged. Maybe the 25% is a new processing fee. 🙄 Hopefully you’ll have better luck than us. 🤞

Unfortunately we never got any reply to our problem & after 8 weeks received a check short by 25% despite providing their documents as proof of their mistake. Like you, I’ve given up attempting to get them to provide customer service & to correct their mistake. They win but due to this & other issues will lose a 500 days Princess loyalist…a trivial number in comparison to your Princess loyalty.

Mer Soleil Chardonnay is $19.99 at Total Wine.

Me too…also my 10 bottles of beer for each cruise as an elite benefit. 🍻

Opps…my bad! 🥴 I mistakenly looked up that one which was another example the author used.

Also for the promotions that include a specialty dinner plus reports from some ships of only one being open each evening.

Same unavailable message for Drop & Go fares…wonder if that’ll be asked about at today’s webinar with their VP of Sales.

If Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc that’s $27.97 at Total Wine.

Update for Apple iOS:

My TA said that Solstice is coming to LA from September to April and in Fall 2023 on Eclipse. I like to drive to the Port of LA…time to compare Celebrity options & ships to Princess. Friends who’ve sailed both lines think they’re rather comparable in experience.

Princess crews have always been wonderful to make our cruises special but could see the extra stress caused by management such as attempting to deal with the unreliable DMW & running around the ship delivering food & drinks. How management thought that’d work with the same number of overworked crew members is a mystery.

From the cruise you’re considering: Select the green “Cruise Details” option Select “Flight Quotes” Select your flight options & click on green “Get Quite” option For me their Flexible airfares were cheaper & have the flexibility to get further price reductions after booking and to change or cancel flights.

I’d recommend viewing their Book with Confidence webpage to learn about your options when needing to cancel within 30 days due to Covid. https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cancellation-final-payment-policy/ We don't think finances should affect decisions about your health, so if you feel ill and need to change your plans, we'll protect your cruise investment. Under our temporary Book with Confidence policy, we’ve taken the worry out of booking your next cruise: Cancel up to 30 days before you sail, and get your cancellation fees back as a Future Cruise Credit (FCC). Applies to all bookings on voyages departing through September 30, 2022. To use the FCCs created as part of this program, book your cruise within a year from the date you received your credit, and sail by September 30, 2023. NEW: Cancel within 30 days of your sail date, we've got you covered with our new COVID-19 Protection Program. See Full Terms & Conditions https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/covid-19-protection-program/

I am so sorry about your awful experiences on Crown. There are a high percentage of first time Princess cruisers in Alaska & like you some won’t ever sail again on Princess. It’s a shame that you did not get to experience a pre-pandemic Princess like I have enjoyed many times. The crew are doing their best to overcome management’s decisions & are likely as frustrated as you. Sapphire was scheduled to sail from LA this summer but shortly after announcing them all of those cruises were cancelled without explanation until late September. This wonderful ship has spent most of this year in the eastern Med & anchored off Cyprus with crew only…why hasn’t it been deployed to replace the unreliable Crown. All cruise lines are experiencing crew & supply shortages but being on a ship not working properly is inexcusable to me.

Guess their new slogan is the brainchild of their new SVP & VP of Sales team they hired from outside of Princess a few months ago.

Hope you have better luck than me with 2 emails detailing a 25% reduction in refundable credit sent to Steinke being ignored for over 2 months.

However our $260 of refundable credit could not be provided onboard (maximum of $25)…unless we were to launder it through the casino. 😉

This article better explains the situation & about how it’s a half finished keel, fixtures & engines that are for sale from Global Dream II and Global Dream is about 80% complete…sad. https://www.businessinsider.com/cruise-ship-genting-global-dream-scrapped-no-buyer-mv-werften-2022-6 “But the ship was designed for service in Asia, and a new owner would have to spend a significant amount of money redesigning its cabin, deck, and drive concept if they wanted to deploy it elsewhere in the world, An Bord said”.