wallyboag

@CoralThanks for the heads up about Adventure Bound! Unfortunately Allen Marine isn't offering a tour the day we are there. 😕

Hello-

I know that Tracy Arm excursions from cruise lines are usually one way as it is a bit of a distance from Juneau.

However, our ship will be in Juneau from 7:30AM until 9:00 PM so we have a lot of time. I have been trying to find an excursion from Juneau to Tracy Arm, but am coming up short. Does this tour exist? Anyone have any ideas of an operator that has something like that?

Barring going to Tracy Arm, since our ship is going to be navigating Stephen's passage in darkness, are there any small boat scenic excursions that leave from Downtown Juneau, not from Auke bay? I have done several Auke bay whale watches and would like to try something different this year since our ship will be in port so long. I thought it would be nice to explore Stephen's Passage and/or Tracy Arm in a small boat.

We are on the August 15 voyage of the Crown Princess.

When we booked the cruise the "Medallion Class Experience" was advertised as coming included with the standard fare.

The perks of the "Medallion Class Experience" included "Ocean Now:

So this included perk is now an additional $15 per person plus a $5 charge per order to the stateroom? 

This is a complete bait and switch! These charges should be waived for anyone that booked prior to this anouncement.

4 hours ago, staceyglow said:

Another thing to keep in mind:  You sailed on a half-full ship that even when full, has more public space per passenger than any other class of Carnival ship.  Barring another pandemic or similar situation, you are NEVER going have that experience again, on Carnival or any other line.  It's kind of a shame that this was your first cruise, because it spoiled you in comparison to a normal cruising experience.

 

As I stated in my original post, I was just on Miracle at 100% capacity, which means my comparisson is actually apples to apples. 100% on Miracle vs. 100% on Radiance, and the difference is night and day. My real question and point of the post was are the other ships in Carnival's fleet more like Radiance or more like Miracle, as those are the only two I have been on. One is a great ship, and one stunk to high heaven.

4 hours ago, staceyglow said:

I would assume that the OP sailed around the same time I did.  Why would he wait so long to go on his rant?  

 

The OP sailed on the Radiance twice. Once at 75% capacity and once at 100% capacity. 75% capacity was crowded but OK. 100% capacity was not enjoyable. The 100% sailing was back in May.

The OP just got off Carnival Miracle today, also at 100% capacity, and not feeling crowded at all.

A little background on this question:

I took my first Carnival cruise back in December of 2021 on the Carnival Miracle. This was during the restart times and masking everywhere including the bars was in effect and the ship was less than half full. I had an amazing time and couldn't wait to cruise Carnival again!

Later Carnival Radiance came online and Miracle sailed away for a while. I booked a trip on Radiance not long after she debuted. It was not as good as the Miracle. At this time they were at about 75% full, but the ship felt way more than 25% more crowded than Miracle. Still I had fun even though I had to occasionally wait for a drink or an elevator. I was also stunned at the lack of imagination of the interior. Miracle had a lot of whimsy and imagination. Radiance felt boxy and sterile.

A couple of months later I booked another Radiance cruise because the price was unbelievably cheap. This time the ship was at 100% capacity, and it felt very much like it. At times I would wait over 30 minutes for a drink. Lines at every food venue were out of control, and let's just say my legs hated me for having to climb so many stairs because the elevators were too busy. I love having a drink in the piano bar, but the line was out the door every night with people understandably not wanting to leave once they got inside. Also, there is no actual bar in Radiance's piano bar. It shares a server with the nearby Red Frog Pub, but it was so busy in the pub the server rarely had a chance to make it into the piano bar.

That is the last cruise I will ever take on Radiance. It was just too crowded with not enough space for all the people there and not enough crew to take care of the passengers.

Miracle recently returned to Long Beach, so I trepidaciously booked a cruise on her, worrying that at full capacity she would be more like Radiance was on my last trip.

Well that couldn't be farther than the truth. I am on her now and had a great cruise! Even though this cruise is at capacity, there is still lots of room on this ship for everyone. You never have to hunt for a seat in a bar, and the food service has been incredible (though the quality of the food is not great, but it was edible so I can't complain much).

So I ask:

Is Radiance the worst ship in Carnivals fleet, or is it more like what all the other ships are?

Is Miracle an exception when it comes to quality and style and space, or are the other ships more like Miracle than Radiance?

I was driving through San Pedro and was surprised to see the Diamond Princess berthed at pier 92. I stopped to take a couple of pictures.

8 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Ambiance

Just like a boisterous table of 12 can effect the ambiance of a dining room, so can a quiet table of 12 with 5 out of 6 men wearing baseball caps.  A collared shirt and dress shorts are fine with me, but wearing a baseball cap is over the line in my opinion.  

I just cannot comprehend this at all. I can't picture every feeling like some baseball caps ruined my dinner. Completely foreign concept to me. How do the caps ruin the ambiance?

I just don't understand it. How does what somebody else sitting at a different table from you affect your experience at all? Why does anyone care what other people wear? It does not make any sense to me. It does not compute.

Would you also be offended if the person at that other table ordered a different entree than you did?

Would you be offended if they spoke a different language than you did?

Would you be offended if they had their elbows on the table?

You don't know that person and you are never going to see them again. Why would you let what they do or wear affect your enjoyment of your vacation?

Pleas explain to me why this bothers people because I just can't fathom it.

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

Did you discuss with Princess? When I do a test booking 'View Applied Promos' shows Military OBC for both passengers but only one of us qualify. Another poster said our actual booking, versus a test booking, would show different results. Try a Princess Chat.

I did call my PVP. They just told me that I should do Princess Plus instead of taking the onboard credit. She didn't say why, but I suspect it is because she wanted the higher commission.

49 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

When I look at that same cruise, I see no OBC for the Inside cabin standard pricing.

 

I checked without and with signing in.

 

I wonder if you have some special offer that is not available to everyone.

That may be? Is there a way to find out what offer you are on? I don't see it anywhere on my confirmation document.

7 hours ago, caribill said:

Do you already have a reservation without the Plus package and you want to add it or are you looking at a new reservation and comparing the standard and plus pricing?

 

If a new reservation, normally any OBC perk would be the same with or without the Plus package.

 

If you have an existing reservation without the Plus package but do have OBC, then looking at current Plus pricing would include current perks which may not include any OBC.

 

On the other hand, there are booking codes to upgrade an existing Standard priced booking to be a Plus booking and would not cause the loss of any original perks such as OBC. When you speak with Princess (or your TA), make sure they know you want to add the Plus package, not cancel what you have and rebook.

I booked the cruise without Princess Plus because it didn't make sense. But if I go to rebook the same, it is still happening.

Below examples are from the Aug 21 sailing of Discovery princes.

Here are the "Applied Promos" when I price the cruise as an Inside GTY without Princess Plus:

And here are the applied promos when I price the same Inside GTY on the same cruise with Princess Plus:

The onboard credit is gone on Princess Plus!

10 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

In step 2, your figure is wrong.  Crew Appreciation is $14.50 x 2 people x 7 nights and MedallionNet is $10 x 2 people x 7 nights (assuming you do not get the 50% discount as Platinum or Elite).  The result is $343.

 

In Step 4, your a la carte total should be $343 + $578 = $921.  Then, less $200 = $721. 

 

 

Good catch! The difference is closer than I calculated. I appreciate the bottom line there. I could drink 8 drinks a day, but it is not worth paying that much just to try and break even. Had the plus package included the $200 OBC then I definitely would have gone for it, but because it is not, princess is losing out on the money I would have spent on the drink package/plus package.

2 hours ago, Tedferg said:

I am surprised that OBC was not available with Plus, were these bookings done at the same time? I thought promos like OBC were for the cruise and Plus, Premiere were additional options.

That is what I thought too, but when you go to check out and click on the "View Applied Promo" on the non-Princess Plus reservation, it lists out the onboard credits for both guests. When I click on that link as if I am going to purchase Princess Plus, it lists the Princess Plus perks but not the OBC. On previous reservations where there was OBC involved it would list both the Princess Plus perks and the OBC.

That is interesting. I never thought of it as a fare class and not just an add-on to any fare.

I guess that explains why it took away the OBC. I had just always seen it as an add-on on the past since it usually just took whatever fare I had and added $45 per night.

Hello-

Has anyone had a fare that denied onboard credit if you purchased the Princess Plus plan?

For those wondering about why I would want to do this, here is the math:

When I priced the booking without Princess Plus it gave me a $100 per person stateroom credit. When I priced it with Princess Plus, it removed that stateroom credit.

I am sailing with my daughter who is under 21, so the beverage package does nothing for her.

So here is my math on why I am about to book without Princess Plus:

1. The cost of Princess Plus is $50 per night, or $350 per person, so $700 for the entire cruise.

2. Tips are $14.50 each per day, WiFi is $10 per day. For two people, that would be $171.50 for the 7 day cruise. 

3. The adult beverage package is $70.79 per day, the kids beverage package is $11.79 per day. That would be $578.05 for the 7 day cruise

4. The net cost for buying these things ala carte would be $749.55, less the $200 on board credit = $549.55, $150 less than going with Princess Plus.

So going with Princess Plus would save us $50 if we could keep our onboard credit, but cost us $150 more if we lose the credit. I called Princess and the customer service rep seemed confused by all of this and said that Princess Plus would save us money no matter what. But clearly it won't if you have someone that does not drink alcohol and you lose a decent amount of onboard credit if you use it.

Is this normal, or did I somehow find an exception to the Princess Plus rule?

Thanks for the recommendation to bring tape, but that is a little late now as I am in the middle of the ocean and wasn't planning on making any repairs of the cruise line's property myself.

For those interested in the continuation of this saga, we spent the afternoon wandering the ship and returned to hear howling wind noise coming from our cabin door. Opened the door and sure enough, while we were gone the balcony door became unmatched. Our enuance door was sucked out of my hand and I ran in to pull the balcony door closed.

Who know what was sucked out the balcony door into the  kid of the pacific ocean while we were gone... but the quest 5o get it repaired continues...

Honestly now that we are used to it the wind noise is very pleasant. We can also hear the waves outside. If they aren't ale to replace the weather stripping I won't be upset at all.

I am guessing whoever was in here on the last voyage complained about the noise and decided to lock their balcony rather than enjoy it. I couldn't imagine not having access to the balcony. Different strokes for different folks I guess. 

Update... The room steward sent the ships locksmith after we called the third time. The locksmith admitted that he had tightened the door jamb because the weather stripping on the door had depleted and there was a lot of wind noise. He loosened it up again and now just as he said there was wind noise...

So he said he was going to call his colleague to see if they can replace the weather stripping tomorrow. In the meantime we will deal with the wind noise because we would rather be able to use the balcony than not.

Very frustrating when you get on your cruise to Alaska excited to use your balcony and this happens, but we will be patient for the repair. 

Also frustrating that it took three calls to get maintenance out to look at it!

Hello- I am currently on the Eurodam and our balcony door will not latch shut unless you push your feet against the door frame while pulling and simulataneously turn the key in the lock counter clockwise about six rotations. 

We called the front desk to get it fixed and they sent our steward who also struggled to get it shut and finally got it and said 'Just dial 92 if you want to go outside and we will shut it for you."

I don't think this is acceptable so I called the front desk again and asked to have maintenance come and fix it... And they just sent the steward again who said the same exact thing he said before...

I called the front desk AGAIN and she said "Ok I will call your steward..." And I said "He has been here twice! Can we get maintenance?" And she said "Sir, your steward will call maintenance if there is an issue " and I asked to speak to a manager and she said "If the steward doesn't get it closed ask him to send his manager."

*****? How do I escalate this to someone that can fix the door???

I have recently been exposed to Covid-19, and while I am testing negative, I have to start considering what is going to happen if I test positive before my cruise in 10 days.

I bought cancellation insurance which does cover me if I am diagnosed with Covid-19. Simultaneously, I know HAL will give me a future cruise credit worth 100% of the nonrefundable fare.

However, this future cruise credit is non-refundable and expires one year from the date issued. Because of this expiration and the fact that I couldn't use that credit to book a cruise on a different line, combined with the fact that fares are much higher now than when I booked the cruise, I would much prefer to take the insurance claim rather than this very limited FCC credit that I don't consider total remuneration for having to cancel the cruise.

Now I would much rather take the cruise and I hope I continue to test negative, but is there any issue with getting an insurance claim paid if the cruise line is offering a future cruise credit for having to cancel due to a positive covid test?

On 1/29/2022 at 8:17 AM, SRF said:

 

It DOES say that on the page.  You just have to look carefully.

 

But it IS there.  

Where?

Hello all-

We are booked on the May 28 sailing on the Eurodam. Today we read that the adjacent sailing on the Westerdam was cancelled, and those booked on Westerdam have had their reservations moved to Eurodam.

Perhaps I am being overly alarmed, but I remember how bad the Christmas holiday cruises were in terms of crowds and covid cases and missed ports because they were sailing at close to full capacity. I remember hearing stories about not being able to see shows because the venues were full and that it was difficult to find places to eat with long lines and reservations filling up because the reduced capacity of the venues did not meet the needs of the increased capacity of the ship.

Do you think it is wrong of me to worry about the same happening on this sailing? I don't know how much each vessel was sold, but I know the Eurodam is really not that much larger than the Westerdam, so even if both ships were at 50% capacity, moving Westerdam's guests to Eurodam would put Eurodam pretty darn close to full capacity.

Maybe this is just not worth thinking about? Just show up and cruise and go with the flow? Or should I book with another line that is staying under reduced capacities?

46 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

However way you want to look at it, Alcohol is a huge money maker and its going to be expensive.  Case in point, on my last cruise, I found myself orering a glass of wine with dinner.  This is something I do not do often, but because of my diamond status, I have 4 drinks a day, which to me, is my drink package.  I'm hard pressed to drink four drinks/day.  So i'm looking at the wine list clueless at what to get, until I actually see a wine that i'm familiar with.  Its the Conundrum (i assume the white blend).  The diamond benefit, like the drink package has a max value of $13.00, so anything over it, I would have to pay.  The Conundrum by the glass, was $16.00.  I did not order that wine because i didn't want to pay extra, but I also know that the whole bottle by itself, were i to buy it at home...is $16.00.  They wanted $61.00 for the bottle!!!

 

I don't have issue with them pricing something to make a profit. It is a business. What I have an issue with is say you go to the dining room on Day 1 and the Conundrum is listed at $16 a glass. Too much you say so you don't buy it.

Then on day 2 you go to the dining room and the conundrum is listed at 50% off, but the price of the glass was raised to $40 and now the glass is $20. That is not a sale, that is a lie.

Then on day 3 you go in and it says "Special on Conundrum! By one get one for 50% off! But the price of a glass is now $32, so the real price is $24 a glass.

What they have actually done is raised the price of the glass each night while claiming that it is on sale. That is what I have an issue with. Pick a price and stick with it. Stop with the price raises disguised as "Sales."

50 minutes ago, Husky1987 said:

I love it when amateur lawyers cry "bait and switch" when all it take is a little bit of reading comprehension to realize when a company changes its "sale" terms.

 

Sometimes when I go to Safeway, Cap'n Crunch is on "sale" for $2.99 a box.  Then later it's on "sale" for $2.49 a box.  Then later it's on "sale" for buy one at $4.29, get one half off.  

 

As others have said on CC a thousand times, just look at the bottom line price and buy when you're comfortable.  That goes for the cruise itself, drink packages, dining.  Amazingly enough, it also applies to just about anything else in life.  

What did I read incorrectly? The advertisement said "Buy one get one 50% off." The price next to this "Buy One Get One 50% Off" banner said "$69.00 per person per night." It never said that the $69 price reflected the discounted price until AFTER I cancelled my previous order so that I could add the package to my cart. I could not add the package to my cart to see the words "Price shown reflects the discount" until I cancelled my previous order.

That is bait and switch!