Holomoku

In our 9 cruises with Princess there have been three upgrades offered to us, one free and two upsells, we accepted all of them.:) We always book through Princess direct and get any price discounts Princess offers except those for new bookings only. The free one we did not know about until checking in, since we always pick the room we want, we said we did not want the upgrade. They said go look at it and it's location and then let us know which you want. We took the upgrade, but our luggage went to the original cabin, only a minor snag, as it was delivered withing 15 min. to our new cabin. The two upsells we knew the location before getting on the ship. I'll take the upgrade almost any time unless it puts us right under a noisey deck.;)

That seems like a lot of work that would be outdated every six months with repositionings, refurbishings and Capt., C.D., Maitre 'd, Head Chef/menu/time changes, tours offered, etc. Too many things can change in the course of a year and you will have to keep updateing constantly. If you are looking for a constant project to do, I think you may have found it.;)

Is it possible to disembark at a port of call before the cruise is finished?

 

Thank you!

We did this on our last cruise and it worked out fine. Had there been bad weather it would have made it really difficult for us as we were getting on another ship in that port. We requested written permission from Princess ahead of time and it was granted, the Customs authorities in that country came on board and checked us and the other 8 passengers and all was good. My DW and I walked off the Princess ship and onto the other ship. Three hour overlap made it very close time wise. A Room Steward came and took us and our luggage all the way to the other ship, wonderful service from Princess.:D

Once you have applied, you need never apply again. You will automatically be given the appropriate OBC. Princess is the only line that honors Veterans this way. Thank you Princess.

I too had to apply on two separate cruises and once they did not have it recorded onboard ship. I always carry a copy of the DD214 with me and a print out of the OBC's we were promised, concierge took care of the one time onboard with no problem.;)

Mahalo Nui Loa Princess for this benefit!:D

Sapphire is down for the month of May to change over the decor, etc. We are on her for the T/P in April and are looking forward to a normal Princess cruise. Even with the changes I have seen several threads for cruises for next winter being booked by Aussies, so they are glad to have a larger ship for them to use. Most of the changes will be in May. All will be good.

We are considering purchasing walkie takies for our next cruise to use onboard as well as ashore (Europe Baltic and Mediterranean ports).

Does Princess allow the use of WT's onboard?

Should I look into a particular brand, frequency/range, channels etc ?

 

I'd appreciate any suggestions from those who use these devices.

We have been using them on the ships since '99. In the cabin they don't work very well, but we usually have no trouble anywhere else on the ship. We just play with the channels until we find an amost empty one. Sometimes when channel surfing we can tune into the bridge and the line engineer officer during docking and hear what they are doing. We would never leave them home or in the cabin. The new ones have mute and vibrate and all sorts of other features. They work fine!:D If you can't hear someone, just move to the side of the ship. We always have a balcony cabin so we have found that if the signal is weak just walk out on the balcony and the other person could be by the theater and everything will be good, or I'll be at the IC and my DW will be up in the Spa and we can talk, no problem. The little Motorola talkabouts are not "ham" radios and the officers on princess that I have talked with are all ok with it. No one in any port has ever said anything about not using them. The radios are always put on the outside of my backpack when I come back to the ship and the only comments from the Sec. Personnel and Ships Officers have, "do they work very well?";)

We filled out the survey. We have used the 800 number numerous times and book mainly through Princess, the reps have always been very knowledgeable about the product and able to correct anything that was incorrect.:) Having now done one cruise on Celebrity and an upcoming one on RCCL I can say that their websites are very unfriendly to use.:( I have had to post on CC Roll Calls for help in using their sites and call them when things like our names appeared wrong (not matching our passports). Their reps have all been very good also, just not their websites. Princess can make improvements but right now to us they are way ahead of the confusing competition.;)

Today I was able to "jump" on D707 which is a handicapped cabin on the Crown. My DH uses a scooter and this will be easier for him. Has anyone been in that cabin? It is hard to tell from the deck plan if the balcony is the usual size for a mini suite.

In the photos I found online there were none of D703/707 but from the deck plans these two cabins are wider so your balcony is wider but the same depth as the others. :)

We'll be in Alaska in mid-May. I was wondering there was a charge for hot chocolate on glacier cruising day. We've never done an Alaska cruise on Princess before.

We did a RCI cruise a few years ago and the morning of glacier cruising the hot chocolate packets disappeared from the buffet, and waiters were roaming the decks selling hot chocolate from urns. A fellow cruiser tipped me off that they had forgotten to pull the hc packets from an outside serving area and I grabbed some from there. We got hot water from roo service and along with the whipped cream from the buffet I lounged on our balcony watching the glacier in comfort. It just annoyed me they pulled the packets for the one day in order to sell it to all the people out on deck viewing the glacier.

If you have a Coffee Card the hot chocolate is free.;)

The Sky Princess was our first cruise back in '94. That one got us hooked on cruising, then our budget just had to catch up.

The Military OBC was instituted about two years ago and never have we had to reapply since the initial submission of the DD 214. I guess it works for most, but not for all. Wonder why. :confused:

It has been longer than that, I have used it 4 times and we usually only cruise once a year. The 2nd time I did have to re-submit, but now it is automatic. Maybe some minor glitches back in the beginning. This upcoming cruise it was automatic again. Another one of the great things about Princess!:D

Hi everyone,

 

I am a first-time Princess cruiser and I was just wondering what paperwork we will need in hand as we embark on our cruise. We are flying down from Ontario and I just want to make sure we aren't forgetting to print anything before we go!

 

Thanks! :)

We take a folder with copies of everything, plane, hotel, transfers, luggage tags , all of it. Only had to prove the Mil. OBC once when it did not show up on the ships list. We have it all just in case and it takes up almost no room in the carry on's bottom.;) On the last cruises we transfered from one line to another in Ensenada by walking across the pier. Since everyone else had boarded on buses in San Diego they (the check in point persons) did not have us on the list on the pier for the new ship. Lucky we had our extra paper work with us, made it real easy to get on once they printed new ship cards for us:D.

We are sailing on the Royal in a few weeks, my wife has bought a really nice gown. Since my suite has shrunk, i'm thinking i'll need to rent a tuxedo. Does anyone know how this works? How much it cost? Never rented a tuxedo on a cruise ship before but I can't look like a bum if my lady is all dressed up. :)

I do it on every cruise and bring two other bow ties and cumberbuns just to mix it up. It is so easy that I gave my Tux to a thrift shop. I see no reason to haul one around any more.:D

Our bar tender/supervisor on our last cruise made up non-alcohol drinks for us each night. We tried quite a few that were not on any menu and some that he would bring out items and say "what about some of this?" Most of them were very good, some not so good, but those he did not charge for. Made each evening at his bar special.:D

On our last two cruises the employees said it was better to do the survey than the cards. The cards too often stay with the ship instead of being entered in the persons file. We have done both since hearing that! ;)

We take ours on every cruise and they work fine, from the dining rooms to the spa and everywhere in between.:D The only place they don't work is from inside a cabin. Also, great for on shore when walking around in different places. My DW and I have found them invaluable, they kept me from almost missing the ship in Halifax. So, very close and the next stop was in Scotland!:eek: We wouldn't be without them.:D

The balcony breakfast is also "free" costing only the $32 for the half bottle of champagne. :D

I may have to let my DW pay for the balcony breakfast since I don't drink and she will get the whole 1/2 bottle to herself.;)

Mahalo for all the good updates, we'll be on her for the Trans-Pacific in April when she moves to Asia for good. Again Mahalo Nui Loa for your efforts.

And be aware that not all tables for two are private. While some are fairly secluded for a quiet dinner for two, others are only inches apart. It's impossible to have a private conversation at those tables. Here's an example. This is actually 2 different tables for two in the main dining room of the Coral Princess:

 

Coral Princess by Jasperdo, on Flickr

I have seen it done with 3 tables in a line, so might as well be a table for six.:rolleyes:

And if they have one of their jazz trios onboard would suggest making a reservation during the hours they perform. :D

Bayou is our favorite Specialty Restaurant on Princess ships. We did the Bayou on the Island once on the first night on board. There was one other couple in the restaurant with us, so the service was outstanding more so than usual and the trio was great! We did not call first, just happened to walk by and see it almost empty, the maitre 'd said come on in, so we did.:D

We enjoyed the UBD on a standard sized Royal balcony & had sufficient room. We had a UBD on the Island's standard balcony (9'x5') & the missing foot of depth on the Royal's standard balcony (9'x4') wasn't an issue for us. Once due to inclement weather we had the UBD inside our standard balcony cabin which was more crowded however we still enjoyed the UBD.

We have never done the UBD but will do so on our upcoming Sapphire cruise. Really looking forward to some Ono Grinds!

A Hui Hou,

Holomoku:p

Gavin just came on board from the Golden Princess

That is true, but the Sapphire is relocating permanently to Asia for the Asian market. They will be doing 4, 5, & 7 day runs during the summer from Shanghai in the summer months and a few longer runs in the winter from Singapore. I imagine that the next CD will have to speak Mandarin so it will be interesting to see what happens?;)

PotatoBug,

Could you find out who the CD is and if they will be on the Sapphire in April? Just curious and Mahalo if you have time for this.:o

Your Skywalker experience is exactly the same thing we do.

Article Headline:

 

Cruise ship Sapphire Princess to make Singapore its homeport in 2014

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/cruise-ship-sapphire-princess-make-singapore-its-homeport-2014-2013040

 

I don't think she is going to be based in Japan.

 

Japan is where she was built and I am guessing the builder may be making substantial alterations to be more appealing to the Asia market.

 

It was my original understanding that she would sail from Shanghai for a short time, then on to be based in Singapore. Is this no longer true? Did I miss something?

 

All that being said I am very much looking forward to my 11 days on the Sapphire Princess come the end of January.

From an Asian News article I read she will be based in both ports, Shanghai and Singapore. Shanghai in the summer and Singapore in the winter. They figure to run 70K plus passengers through on 4, 5, and 7 day runs in the summer from Shanghai. Short cruises, more passengers, less planning, more $$.

We will be on her voyage on April 3 from L.A. to Osaka with a stop in Shanghai on the way. We will miss her in this market, but may try to catch a cruise from Singapore if they are not overly crowded.:o

Mele Kalikimaka! :D

And a "Hou'oli makahiki hou" to you and everyone.:D