john watson

On 5/25/2024 at 12:12 PM, shipgeeks said:

I can see why people get confused about dining. When I look at my current booking, to browse excursions, there is a large section encouraging me to "book your dining package".  

I think this sort of approach by cruise lines to passengers tends to imply that if you do not book a dining package you may well end up not getting anything to eat or alternatively you may be charged a higher price. Then one might tell ones friends that this is the way things are on board before someone has even done one cruise.

Regards John

On 5/23/2024 at 2:19 PM, yorkshirephil said:

Whilst booking a Princess cruise this morning I was discussing with the TA that I wasn't getting any Captain Circle discount when trying to book on the web site. Seemingly I have two Captain Circle numbers and one of them has me as blue level with the other being Elite. The plot thickens.

I had this problem years ago but in my case the situation came about by my booking a Princess Caribbean cruise through a US based travel agency.  This meant they opened a US account which was independent of my UK account.  Then on one cruise I suddenly shot up the rankings when they amalgamated them.

Regards John

On 5/15/2024 at 8:58 PM, pennib said:

We are doing our first Princess cruise later this and have gone straight into Elite courtesy of our previous P&O travels. We are really looking forward to it.

 Did one or more of your previous P&O cruises occur during the period 1974 to 2003?

Regards John

At the time Princess were reorganising their Captains Circle loyalty scheme because they were going to run a much longer ex-UK cruise season. At the time legislation was going through relating to data and how companies could contact people, .phone, sms text email post etc. The email they sent asked for you to consent or decline contact by each method but also in relation to the Captains loyalty scheme you needed to agree that you wanted to continue to be a member. I think these emails only went to current at the time cruisers and in many cases I believe only one respondent replied from couples. I replied and made sure my daughter did too. Cruisers who had cruised during 1974 - 2003 were probably not all contacted. 

I think this is where you have slipped through the net because most couples probably only have one of them doing bookings etc. and might not have completed the confirmation of staying in the scheme for each person. This happened with my daughter when she changed her name and I needed to contact Princess at Carnival House and make sure her P&O loyalty number was recorded against a Princess loyalty account and in her case only from 2005.  This is what I think you need to do contact Princess speak to Captains Circle and let them know your P&O loyalty number, your wife's P&O loyalty number and get the two accounts to reflect the same cruise history.

Regards John

On 5/15/2024 at 4:26 PM, DS_Dean said:

Just wondering about the situation with P&O loyalty transfering to Princess. We are a party of three and we have loyalty with P&O dating back before 2017.

None of us have sailed with Princess before. We have now booked our first Princess cruise. My loyalty has shown up on my new Princess account based on my P&O history going back only to 2017 as expected.

 

 

I think the relevant questions are have you sailed with P&O between 1974 and 2003?  The second question is have you sailed Ocean Village or Sitmar at any time

Regards John

The information as I recall that Princess decided to discontinue the loosely reciprocal arrangement with P&O on 17 December 2017?.  What they said was that after that date P&O cruises will no longer be included in the cruise history which related to Princess loyalty status. Prior to that date P&O cruises would be taken into consideration where a passenger had sailed on P&O but only if the passenger had completed an actual Princess cruise prior to the cut off date. The term actual Princess cruise is not an easy one to understand because P&O purchased Princess Cruise line in 1974 and then traded as P&O Princess Cruises. So if you cruised during that period 1974 to 2003 they may tally you in on not only that cruise but all P&O cruises until 2017. P&O purchase included other lines and other anomalies exist if you ever cruised Ocean Village or Sitmar.  If you phone Carnival House Captains Circle or email them these anomalies may be relevant and tally you in for all the other P&O cruises which otherwise would not qualify.  I have no idea why post 2017 cruises would be tallied in

.Regards John

2 hours ago, Pink15 said:

Whereas following a person with an umbrella would fool a professional pickpocket 😉

On a more positive note they attract chimney sweeps which can be very lucky if you kiss them. I overheard a story in the laundry of a lady that got back on the ship and won the Bingo Jackpot.

Regards John

45 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

I see a lot of those hearsay things.

And then there are those who reply to "I'm so excited; I just booked a cruise on XYZ" by saying "That was stupid; that's the worst ship in the fleet!"  Some people are just mean.

When reading this type of post a sensible person will ask themselves; What experience has the respondent had in respect of that cruise line.  I am thinking, to be the worst ship in the fleet one would have needed to sail on every XYZ line vessel to come to this conclusion.  Why has the guy persevered with all the ships on such a line? In addition any assessment of a ship is subjective and how has one assessed this particular ship.  It might be that breakfast in the MDR finishes at 9 am thus ruining one guys cruise but irrelevant to 99% of all other cruisers.

Regards John

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

It is kind of sad to think someone needs to intentionally mislead.  I'm sure many folks, myself included, have unintentionally provided bad info.  Especially with those hearsay type things that seem to take on a life of their own.   

There is no shame in posting things you genuinely believe to be accurate, correct and still applies today. Whenever you glean information on Cruise Critic you should always realise it is the posters opinion. Anyone should exercise common sense in assessing whether it is true and the only overall authority in most cases is the actual cruise line.

Regards John

2 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

 

They also know your name when you approach any till etc as the medallion brings the faces of all the people up on the tills that are nearby 

 

Clever stuff

 

 

I think a lot more information comes up at the tills than you not just your name, they know the drinks you have etc.  I remember walking past a bar on Sky Princess very late around three to four am helping my daughter get back to the cabin.  I don't drink alcohol but she has trouble staying under the maximum fifteen/sixteen and therefore needs a bit of help walking.  I am thinking as we go past the bar that I am certain they can work out we come from the same cabin.  Otherwise it looks like I have attemted to pull a girl half my age back to my cabin.  So extra security there.

Regards John

1 minute ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

 

Basically I can order a drink or food to be brought to me in any location on the ship. Ie a sunbed, my cabin. And I can order a drink from any bar brought to me as well. Not just the bar I'm in.

 

They find you with your medallion

This is not true, my daughter and I were in a bar on Sky Princess and we ordered from our alcoholic drinks packages a drink each.  Mine arrived in a relatively speedy manner.  However my daughter's drink seemed to be taking ages.  Eventually she made a complaint to the drinks waiter who confirmed what she had ordered and said her drink had been delivered to our cabin. Ergo one must conclude that they do not bring your drinks to you.  They take them to the location of your medallion which in this case had inadvertently been left in the cabin.

Regards John

The big problem with internet website forums with topics such as cruising is that not every contributor is genuine.  People post information which they know is not true disingenuously and others have heard what a friend of a friend said about a specific aspect of cruising.  Others have heard things which were true many years ago but no longer happen.

Regards John

18 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I'm not rich enough for the Grills though.  Strictly down in the bilges for me!   

I think for many Britannia is good enough for a cruise holiday.  It is not about the cost it's about not wanting to go above what is sensible and have a decent cruise

.Regards John

If you like a lively hotel the Ravel Hotel in Long Island City was great when we visited but that was a few years back.

Regards John

Seven days Fjords is a bit short in my experience.

Regards John

Cunard are able to get you a good flight to a suitable airport at a reasonable price.  One way Transatlantic fares tend to be a bit inflated if you try to book one independently from the UK..  Cunard use scheduled carriers and will book you on any day one, two, three or more days ahead of sail date. They will also book hotels if you wish or you may do so independently.

Regards John

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

There are ways but at the end of the day if they are going to deny entry the burden of proof is on them to prove the person in front of them is not a US citizen if that is what they are claiming. We live 8 miles from the Canadian border and it happens a few times a year where someone goes up to Canada and loses their documentation (theft or carelessness). They spend some time in secondary inspection but always make it home. 

Were they not complaining about huge numbers of Canadian citizens without passports trying to get across the border for short break weekend holidays?

Regards John

21 hours ago, ToneBarone said:

Just in case someone is reading this and is freaked out.  The US will never prohibit a US citizen from coming home passport or not.  

How exactly do the authorities work out that a person stood in front of them is actually a US citizen?

Regards John

9 hours ago, david63 said:

On top of which they often say different things in different countries - or are interpreted differently in different countries. It would be so much more simple if there were pictures of what is or is not acceptable.

Yes attire is often described by the general populous using different language in US for example what exactly is a Pantsuit? Is it a good idea to wear suspenders in lieu of a belt?

Regards John

If you look at world cruises often there is a ship crossing last leg of world cruise  which can be booked plus a Queen Mary2 in the opposite direction.  There are also new builds coming out of Europe which can be combined in a similar way.

Regards John

16 minutes ago, Seabound Steve said:

Hi terrierjohn, we are due on Sky Princess next Sunday, having only ever been with P&O and Cunard and was wandering what the dress code for formal nights are on Princess. I had heard a rumour they had down graded the dress code, so do I need my tux or will a jacket and trousers do?

I have been reading this forum for many years but have only now “plucked up the courage” to post, hope I don’t mess it up.

Dress code encountered on Princess is similar to P&O. However I should say Alaska and Hawaii probably not as dressy.  Ex UK cruises on Princess cruises that I have been on seem to be very similar level to P&O.

Hope this helps.

John

10 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Thank you for your post, but you have to "play" by the rules.  Can't take "I like this..." from a different cruise line.  Princess WILL only include what they already have (aka sheldon cooper).

 

I just checked and you are correct.  Logically you would take all features already on the fleet and not get very far in the design

Regards John

Horizontal elevators like on the Carnival Pinnacle Project.

Regards John

Is there an Insurance link or availability on poamerica.com ?

Regards John

4 hours ago, david63 said:

I never suggested for one minute that you should not have travel insurance, just that nobody asks for it.

I understand, David.   I never thought for a minute you were suggesting to not bother with insurance it is just that some people might infer that because it is not looked into by the cruise line to try and behave in an irresponsible manner thinking they are saving what it in many cases a fair sum of cash.  The risk is enormous if you are helicoptered off the ship or it diverts to an unscheduled port.

Regards John