JimmyVWine

19 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I'm not going to argue about the merits of cabin choice but I can assure you our upcoming Sapphire cruise is vastly more expensive than $1,000.

The math works out the same on a proportionate sliding scale.  When you pay more, you get more back.  If you paid $2,800 per person for the 7 day cruise, then in your mind, this experience of being on the ship and seeing the ports was worth $400 per day.  Impossible to know how you allocate that amount as between the ship experience versus the port experience.  But if you allocate it $375 for the ports per day and $25 per day for the ship experience, why take a cruise at all?  Just book a series of legs on the Alaska Marine Highway System instead and see the ports that way since the cruise ship offers so little value.  But having opted not to do that, one can assume that you place some value on the shipboard experience.  After getting your 75% credit, then the week on the ship cost you $100 per day for a stay in (presumably) a suite, with all the food, drinks and entertainment that the ship has to offer, and you get $2,100 to play with for a future cruise.  Play your cards right and that covers 100% of your future cruise.  14 days on a ship, one to nowhere and one to all the ports you want to see, for a grand total of $700.  Not bad for $50 per day.      

10 minutes ago, ernnnn said:

What is good for you, may be not good for someone else...Remember, there are many factors behind every single passenger, and not all of them are the same.

All true statements.  But your earlier post that I quoted did not say: "for me."  It was a general statement that read as a proclamation for all guests.  Had you said that this is insufficient compensation for your situation, I would never have been so presumptuous as to tell you that your opinion about your situation is "wrong."

7 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

Crew keep very little of the money passengers are charged for "appreciation".

All the more reason to ensure that they get every crumb they can, no?

1 minute ago, rjhollan said:

I walk on to every cruise with the attitude "even if they cancel my ports and I have 14 sea days... I'm being waited on, entertained, and I don't have to work.  How bad can it really be?"

True, but I believe that that is an attitude that develops over time, and is certainly itinerary-dependent.  If I were in the Caribbean and the ship missed St. Thomas, Nassau and Princess Cay, I'd 100% agree with this.  If I booked a cruise to cultural and historic places where I expected to go to Delos (Mykonos), Pompeii (Naples),  Akrotiri (Santorini) or the Acropolis (Athens) and the ship never made these ports, the "even if they cancel my ports" philosophy would be hard to bring to the surface.  For many, the Alaska itinerary is such an cruise. 

3 hours ago, ernnnn said:

There is not enough compensation for that mess

Meh.  When you put numbers to it, it becomes pretty clear that this isn't true.  At the end of the day, if a person spent $1,000 to be on this cruise to nowhere, they will have spent $250 for 7 days enjoying the ship's food, drinks and entertainment.  Assuming that there isn't one other single redeeming factor of this cruise, that comes to $35 per day for only those things that I mentioned.  Of course, during the course of that week, there was angst, anger and uncertainty, and that surely eats into the overall enjoyment, but those are intangibles.  And as they say on TV...But wait!  There's more!  That same person gets to book a replacement cruise that presumably will hit all the places that this cruise did not and their $1,000 cruise will cost them $250 of new money. Add it all up, and that is 14 days on a ship with full use of the ship's services and entertainment, of which around 7 days are sea days (some on this cruise and some on the next cruise) and around 7 days are spent enjoying the ports on this itinerary.  All this for $500, or $35 per day.  Yes, there is the inconvenience of having to travel all the way back to Alaska, but if that is a hardship, the replacement cruise can be to any location.  I truly feel for the people who are missing out on this cruise, but it's not as if they were spending it on a ship that was dead in the water with no electricity, plumbing or food.  When the 75% refund and 75% FCC is overlaid on top of this, I'd say that this is pretty good compensation.  

12 minutes ago, AZaTaz said:

If you sign in to princess.com and are eligible they will show up. I just had this happen for the SA cruises a month ago. I did this around 8AM Arizona time the day they were released not sure if they were there earlier. 

Thanks!

On 5/9/2024 at 9:14 PM, Coral said:

Here are the files:

Can someone explain how the mechanics of the kickoff works?  I have never been in a position to book a cruise so far in advance before, but I believe I can commit to a cruise that interests me.  Assume that I qualify for the early launch date (May 16) and I am on the East Coast.  Will these 2026 cruises appear on the website if I am logged in to the Princess site and allow me to book one?  If so, what time will that happen?  Or do I need to work through a TA or a Princess Cruise Specialist during the early booking period because they won't appear on the website until 5/23? Thanks in advance. 

4 hours ago, 555 said:

Don't they have 2 shows each evening?

Not sure.  But if so, it's a fair point.

1 minute ago, EDVM96 said:

So whats's the problem? Just cancel and get the refund. Real drama here.

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most difficult to find. 

3 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

The question is, how often do they come around with the filet mignon.

 

Maybe you can use Ocean Now to order it from the app and brought to your table! 🤣

1 minute ago, lstone19 said:

 

I agree. But we can educate since the lack of that knowledge causes speculation as above of limping the ship to Victoria (the nearest dry dock) to fix it.

Very true. 

2 minutes ago, Coral said:

Let's hope they use higher quality ingredients at this restaurant

That’s a concern. I’ve been to several different Brazilian Steakhouses including Fogo (business dinners where I had no say in venue) and the quality of the meat at all of them was average at best. They try to disguise grocery store beef with theatrics. And the side dishes were all afterthoughts. 

49 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

I doubt this will require a dry dock visit

I suspect that many who use the term “dry dock” don’t understand the literal implications and really just mean time at a repair facility, wet or dry. 

14 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

If you don't want to go to a restaurant that you could visit in NY, CA, Vegas, etc then Sabatini's or Crown Grill or basically any specialty or casual restaurant would be our, given Sushi, Italian, Steakhouses, pubs, pizzerias, and so forth places abound in all of those.  

Interesting take really.   Especially as you comment that you do eat at Sabatini's on Sapphire - when you can eat at a multitude if various Italian restaurants in any of those cities (or virtually any other city around the world).  What sets that apart and OK for you, as opposed to a churrascaria?  If you don't like churrascaria for whatever reason, that's one thing - but knocking it cuz you can get it in any city is just a wee bit hypocritical given you are fine with Italian at Sabatini's, lol...

I simply said that I don’t want to dine at chain restaurants. If there is a Sabatini’s in Times Square or Vegas, I missed them. 

2 minutes ago, AZDuck said:

I love it! We go to Fogo De Chao whenever in Scottsdale or Vegas. If you like eating meats its like heaven. 

And I am disappointed for the same reasons.  I don't want my cruise ship to have restaurants that one can go to in Vegas, Times Square or South Coast Plaza.  I don't want Johnny Rockets, or anything from Guy Fieri, or Shake Shack, or meat on a stick.  But that's just me.  I'm sure that there must have been some marketing research done that suggests that I am in the minority.  That said, I was not a fan of the location of Sterling, and when on Sapphire, confined my Specialty Dining to Sabatini's...a trend that will continue if I am ever on that ship again.    

39 minutes ago, memoak said:

The people I see at guest services have complaints about waiting 10 minutes for a table in the MDR when they had a reservation

The definition of insanity.  Waiting in a 20 minute line at Guest Services to complain about having had to wait in a 10 minute line at dinner the night before.

Never quite understood the whole "reduce the crew gratuity because one issue arose or one crew member failed" thingy  Since the gratuity is spread across the entire crew, the act of trying to punish one crew member results in the entire crew feeling it.  Better to leave the gratuity in place and blast the one crew member on a comments card.  Reducing the gratuity is an invisible gesture and does nothing to improve service.  Calling out a failing crew member by name will not be ignored by their manager.      

26 minutes ago, canadarocks said:

I've been scouring over the Deck Plans..... am I missing them or are the extra large Premium Deluxe balconies only at the very back of the ship on Regal?

Yes, but...  While they are not sold under the title of "Premium Deluxe Balconies" there are "Deluxe Balconies" that have balconies that are just as big, if not bigger and some that are just a bit smaller, but still way bigger than a typical balcony.  Many of them have metal balcony walls instead of the blue glass, but guests report finding that feature to be worth the trade of getting the extra size.  Look at the forward area of Emerald Deck and the forward facing Balconies on Marina Deck.  They will say "Obstructed" but that refers to the metal framing as opposed to the blue glass framing.  Also, there are larger than average balconies on Dolphin Deck mid-ship.  They are not sold as "Premium" but are still "Deluxe" meaning that they have the love seat.  D407-D410 have fairly large balconies.  So do D424, D425, D428 and D429 though they are not "Deluxe".  They have bigger balconies, but no love seat.

Here is a link to a discussion of the ones on Emerald Deck with some photos.

On 5/12/2024 at 7:33 PM, StevenW said:

 

I believe that was just for the Dome performances.

Saying that it was "just for the dome" is like that old ditty about Mrs. Lincoln enjoying the play.  4,000 people booked a cruise to enjoy all of the new, groundbreaking, innovative, cool stuff that the Sun Class provides, and over the course of a week, only 250 x 7 (1,750) can see shows in the newest, coolest feature.  And that assumes that no one person goes twice.   That leaves over half of the paying customers out of luck.  Seems like a recipe for massive complaining. Perhaps that is why they have hidden the Guest Services Desk out of the general view of guests. 

43 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

Some people report getting to the port around 9:00 am so they can be first in line. Sitting in a lounge seems like it would be much more enjoyable than standing in line...

Missing the point.  The people who get invited to go to the lounge are not the hoi polloi who stand around waiting in a line.  The people who get invited to the lounge are the people who get right on the ship without even so much as tapping the brakes from the time they enter the terminal until the time they are having their first IC snack or cocktail.  As I said earlier on, the creation of the lounge was designed to avoid a wait and cure a problem that no longer exists.   

1 hour ago, Grace61 said:

Sailing on the Royal Princess in June from Whittier to Vancouver.  I keep seeing recommendations that binoculars are a must, especially sitting on your balcony to get a good view.  I wear glasses, and often binoculars for me have been difficult, Yes you can scoot your glasses up or take them off, but it's a hassle. I've seen some marketed to glasses wearers, but there are so many choices.

 

Also, I don't really have much use for binoculars in everyday life, so I don't want to be too spendy on them

 

Any personal recommendations for binoculars? Especially for glasses wearers.  How much zoom do I need for cruising viewing?  Would probably prefer more compact, if possible.  Less than $100- I know that may be low for what I'm looking for, but for how much I think I'll use them..   

 

For former Alaskan cruisers- did you use binoculars a lot?  Would I feel like I was missing out if I don't have them?

I think that the best option is to buy a decent pair of binoculars that has an adjustable right-side eyepiece that you can use to focus the lens to fit your need for correction, and then use the main focus bar to focus the rest of the way.  This entails taking your glasses off.  This is going to be far superior to using binoculars with glasses on.  That just never really works well.  And if taking your glasses on and off repeatedly is a pain, then add a chain or strap to them so that they hang from your neck.  This pair functions that way and should be in your price range.  The promotional photos that accompany the description explain how to align, focus the right eye, and then focus the whole thing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRBC2QT9/ref=twister_B0CWD1W5KG?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

I know that this isn't exactly what you asked about, but I think it really is the best solution unless your right eye eyesight is so bad that the lens adjustment for that eye won't compensate for it.

1 hour ago, MacMadame said:

but is not one I subscribe to for ... reasons

Yeah. I listen in when I hear that there is breaking news, but I can only take her in very small doses.  

1 hour ago, Sprocket said:

one of the perks of the lounge is being able to book the Sanctuary before boarding.

But that is not a necessary function of the lounge.  If they sunsetted the lounge, they could just as easily set up a sign-up table in the PES lounge in the terminal, or better yet, allow pre-booking on the app. 

1 hour ago, MacMadame said:

I believe the people in the lounge board first. 

 

I like the idea of the lounge. It lets suite guests have a good place to hang out until the ship opens for pax.

But when boarding starts at 10:30, when exactly is this "hang-out time"?  If you qualify for an invitation to the lounge, then you by definition qualify to hang out at the separate waiting area in the terminal.  You show up at 10:00 and barely have enough time for a cup of coffee before you are being boarded onto the ship.  If it is true that the people at the lounge get to board first, then those people have to leave the lounge probably by 10:00 at the latest since the lounge is off-site.  Maybe earlier.  So one's time in the lounge would be what? 9:00-9:30?  Does it seem logical to incur the expense of this perk for a half an hour or "exclusivity"?

8 hours ago, ILUVHOCKEY said:

It is gelato soft serve.  Which is why it isn't free.

Learn something new every day.  Didn't know it existed.

https://www.italiangelato.info/gelato/soft-serve.kl

5 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

We’ve had loud neighbors in a non-connected cabin.

Our worst experience was from a neighbor in a non-connected cabin.  This was several years before Covid, but this guy was hacking up a lung 24 hours a day in the most frightful way imaginable.  I mean this sincerely, we thought he was dying.  The next to last day of our cruise, an ambulance came and took him out on a gurney and quarantine tape was placed on the cabin door.  The next day, at disembarkation, a hazmat team was in the cabin doing a full sterilization. I suppose that if we had had connecting cabins under those circumstances, I would have been concerned about whatever he had slipping under the door.  Not sure that is possible though.