SantaFeFan

2 hours ago, Doug R. said:

Please note that the OP is from the UK, where the tipping culture is different. Of course, they believe that their way is the only way.

If you are worried about tipping costs during a longer cruise, perhaps you cannot afford to take that longer cruise.

 

The OP needs to adhere to the "When In Rome" idea. If he cruises on a ship where gratuities are the norm, then it is irresponsible to remove them due to his own selfishness. Responsible travelers don't force their own culture on the places they visit. They accept those "foreign" cultural norms as part of the experience of traveling.

When logging into your cruise booking on the website, go this page and click on the "Try our web version" shown at the right middle in the image below. Then click on "Dine My Way" under the "Suggested" section on the page that will open up. There you can make all your dining reservations, selecting dining rooms, times and size of table. I can make or cancel reservations there. Our cruise is in a little less than four months. 

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42 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

Quote feature worked for me.

32 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

It works for me in MS Edge. What browser are you in?

Same here and I'm on Google Chrome

12 hours ago, CasinoInvitee said:

Problem is that it's impossible to book speciality dinning days until you can see the MDR menu for each day of the sailing. You need to book the bad menu days on MDR no one books speciality blind - how do we check the MDR menu for each day on the app for our sailing?

We have always booked specialty dining based on any events we may be celebrating or the itinerary. Nothing "impossible" about it. Advice based on hyperbole is never good advice. 

7 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

The first time ot two when I was forced to surrender my passport I was not a happy camper.  But once I had to stand in line for an in-person immigration check, I was happy to surrender it to the ship personnel.

 

I do, however, photocopy and laminate the photo page of my passport and keep it with me. 

The last line is good advice. When going ashore we leave our passports in the safe unless we are required to have it on our person, which is not common. Having a copy is good in case something happens while off the ship, such as an injury requiring hospitalization

4 hours ago, sabreline said:

Had to laugh at formal night 2 nights ago. In the elevator with a guy in a tux and his wife in a ball gown, 2 couples in pants and shirts and 2 in shorts and tees!

Two over dressed to make an impression. Two going to the buffet to avoid being judged for what they wear. Two going to the pool grill because they don't want to deal with all the drama.

7 minutes ago, 1965 said:

What is an LS top? 

Long Sleeve. 

1 hour ago, VibeGuy said:

as others have said, make a time-and-party-size reservation on Dine My Way (after the final payment date for all passengers, after you’re paid in full for Platinum and Elite) and if you find a service team that meets your expectations, the DR managers may be willing to click the button that converts it to time-and-table.  

 I keep hearing that myth about Platinum and Elite. We aren't either and we made our dining reservations 4 months ago for a cruise that departs 3 months from now. So much for telling people that they have to be big shots to make those reservations early. 😁

53 minutes ago, trbarton said:

Anyone that has been on the Royal Princess lately, were you allowed to drop off your carryon on in your stateroom when you boarded the ship?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

It depends on when you board. If you board before around 1:00pm, you will typically not have access to your room. After 1:00 and your chances are much better. 

36 minutes ago, Kay S said:

This sounds like old time TD.  Did you request the same table at the same time on the app beforehand?

This was when TD was still offered - well before COVID. No app yet. We chose what we had been familiar with for decades, early traditional dining. Now, after several mediocre shared table experiences over the years, we are fully in favor of the Dine My Way format. No more sharing tables with unlikable people, such as the four ultra religious people who wanted us to stop our conversations with our friends when they prayed (we didn't - it's our vacation too!), asked us not to order alcoholic beverages because their religion forbade it (not gonna happen at my table), and other wise completely ignored us as the sinning heathens they believed us to be. 👿

7 hours ago, Kay S said:

They serve the same food in every dining room, so I guess the variety you are looking for is decor?

Not only dining room decor, but different perspectives on that decor, plus the benefit of seeing new faces and interacting with more of the staff. Seeing the same dining room from different locations provides an interesting and satisfying aspect to dining - the views are unique from every location. We get bored going to the same table in the same location with the same people surrounding us, every night, night after night, especially on longer cruises. And this is especially pronounced when that table is in a bad location.

On our last Grand Princess cruise we sat at a table for eight with four other people in Da Vinci. That table was located in a corner of the room. It became a race to be the first ones there to grab the best seats, the ones where the view wasn't two blank walls. The other four people were always at the front of the line when the doors opened, so we would end up with the bad seats every time. We eventually asked to be moved, and we did end up at a better location. For the rest of the cruise, the people at that first table would scowl at us anytime we crossed paths, probably because they thought that we didn't like them and were insulted. 😀

5 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

Sapphire has five different main dining rooms, and I wanted to try each one, so it never occurred to me to request the same table and staff each night. 

That's what we do. Instead of the same table and waiters every night, we prefer to try all the dining rooms and different locations in each, and to meet more of the great dining staff. We prefer variety so that each dining is a new adventure rather than repeating the same experience over and over and over again. 

On 11/11/2022 at 2:15 PM, SF Cfan said:

I just looked at my time stamp from my GG Bridge sail under video.  It was at 54 minutes after the hour. about 50 minutes after casting off.  

That sounds about right. Similar duration on our Grand cruise to Alaska. 

On 4/20/2018 at 5:05 PM, wishfulone said:

Yes, most people dress in long gowns and a dark suit or tuxedo on formal night on all European cruises.

Not true on our Baltic and Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity several years ago, each 14 night cruises. Most people did not dress up as you described. Not sure what you saw, but that certainly didn't happen on our European cruises.

30 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

Princess is  keeping track of when I log into their web site.  I logged in yesterday to view a cruise that some friends of mine are going on.  ( I am not cruising now, my choice).  Today I got a phone call from Princess.  The agent (called me by name) and told me that I had visited the web site, and that she would offer me a better rate and more OBC if I booked.  I did not listen to the offer because I have no plans of traveling now. Has this happened to  any one else?

EVERY web site you visit is subject to being tracked. Nothing different with Princess. At least Princess is reaching out to you to provide a service rather than just mining your information to sell to third parties for profit. 

8 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

On the other hand, we consider ourselves to be “loyal” passengers and the need for having a full promenade deck makes absolutely no sense to me.  While I know some “loyal” passengers absolutely love that feature, I’d bet there are just as many that just don’t care.  I just love and actually prefer the Royal class ships, especially where it seems to keep the smoking sections isolated and not directly under passenger cabins, which is something that I’ve noticed each time I have cruise on a Grand class ship.   
So, maybe Princess does actually listen to their “loyal” passengers, even though you may perceive that as you not being heard.  What is actually a loss to some may be a win for others because we are all different in what we prefer.  As of now, we all still have a choice on ships we can book that satisfy our likes and dislikes.  Maybe ten years down the road, that won’t be possible.  
 

Agree with you on the full promenade deck. On all the Grand class ships I have been on, they were very much under utilized. At any given time, perhaps only about 40 people were using the entire promenade as my wife and I walked the full length a couple of times during our cruises. Too much real estate with too few people using it. It's no wonder they have been eliminated on virtually every cruise line's new ships. 

24 minutes ago, bjkTX said:

Understand.  Over the years I have used the gift cards several times - either paying off a balance or the entire cruise.  I use a travel agent and at times I have sent her the card information (the card numbers and pins) and she has kept them on file for final payment - or I have just contacted her and told her to apply them.  On our recent British Isles cruise it was half and half.  On the Christmas cruise we are taking I contacted her just before final payment and gave her all the card info and she applied them.  I don't know if she can input them on the computer or if she has to contact Princess - but either way I get a paid in full receipt in an hour or so after she does it.  There are no expiration dates on the cards - so if something happens and we can't go on the Feb 2024 cruise I have gift cards to pay with - I'll use them at a later date on another cruise.  Hope this helps.

Thank you! 

4 minutes ago, bjkTX said:

We paid for our British Isles cruise in Sep and our cruise over Christmas with the gift cards totally.  I have purchased enough for our 2 week Caribbean cruise in Feb 2024.

How did the process work? I am thinking about doing what you did, but the thought of thousands of dollars of gift cards that are refused for some reason worries me. Could you walk us step by step if it isn't too much trouble? We have our final payment in a little less than four weeks though a Travel Agent, not directly with Princess. 

Thanks in advance for any assist!!!

On 4/25/2022 at 10:50 AM, Retirement2016 said:

Email address for UK is:  benefits@princesscruises.co.uk.  It's taking about 2-3 weeks for the OBC to post in the USA.

Not sure about UK submissions, but many people have reported that the OBC posted within hours or a day or two. I saw that mine posted the next morning after a late afternoon submission. 

18 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

In UK I thought it was typical to tell the barman to 'Have a drink yourself' if you had several drinks at a bar. The barman would take a small tip. Wozz ?

Correct. That is the accepted practice. The barman will add about half the price of a pint as his tip.

I think that Wozz is living in the past. There is information published at visitbritian.com about current norms:  https://www.visitbritain.com/us/en/plan-your-trip/money/tipping#

Some highlights from this article that visitors will encounter:

- If nothing is added to you dining bill and you are happy with the service you've received, a tip of around 10-15 per cent is standard. Many restaurants automatically add a service charge to the bill, so do check before leaving a tip.

- In Britain it is quite normal to tip taxi drivers and it's customary to round the total fare up to the nearest pound.

- If a porter takes luggage to your room for you, it is customary to tip them approximately £2

1 hour ago, Daisyloo said:

We are Canadian so we won't get our medallions mailed to us.  We will pick the up at the pier in Italy.  Will Princess include a lanyard with our medallions, or should I buy my own before we leave for Italy?

TIA for any answers.

You can also wait until you are onboard and look at the different options available for purchase. You may find something after boarding that you like better.

5 hours ago, wowzz said:

Yes, how did the "entry" course suddenly become the main course in the US, but nowhere else in the world ? Even us linguistically challenged Brits have avoided that mistake.

Yes, we are quite familiar with your disdain of us Americans. Do you have to turn every discussion into an "Americans are wrong" thread? 

1 hour ago, DCThunder said:

Beats me, but it was not like my mother used to make.

In defense of all mothers out there, no restaurant dish is ever as good as what mom made.  

1 hour ago, Pam in CA said:

Actually, the Promenade deck is a casualty of the Concordia disaster. SOLAS regulations require emergency boats to be directly accessible. 
 

There hasn’t been a true wraparound Promenade deck on any Princess ship in decades. 

All the Grand Class and Crown sub-class have wraparound promenade decks. The Ruby Princess was built in 2008, the Emerald in 2007, the Crown in 2006, and the Caribbean, Sapphire and Diamond, in 2004.

10 hours ago, DrSea said:

It's company policy that I wear business casual. If it were up to me, I would wear flip flops and board shorts or just laundered gym cloths

 

There is a study that shows that doctors who dress more casually are less trusted 

10 hours ago, DrSea said:

Here's one study

 

The Effect of an Orthopedic Hand Surgeon's Attire on Patient Confidence and Trust - PubMed (nih.gov)

 

There was another study but I can't find it. It was a doctor wearing a white coat vs just business casual vs jeans. The white coat had the highest patient trust. 

That's not "dressing up". That's wearing the uniform of a physician. Completely different situation. Just as a police officer wearing his police uniform while on duty is not considered "dressing up".