wallyj

Just boarded Discovery today 11/25. Received a list about 3/4 of a page. Sailings on list are supposed to be 20 or 30% off, so better than nothing. Have not studied list yet, but as @Cajuntravelerposted #2, they received 30% off a January 2024 sailing.

The 50% off on board booking promo DID expire at the end of October 2023. While I was on the Discovery Oct 21-28 sailing, the future cruise folks relayed they were told it was not going to be extended as previously and will end at the end of the month. I believe @Cruise Raiderstayed on for the following sailing, and confirmed it was not extended. Currently have friends on the Sapphire and there was mention of a new promo but details not clarified, but was told lead time would only be sailings within the next 30 days or so. @Cajuntravelerpost #2 seems to be relevant.

Yes, Capt Tuvo is with MSC. Was on the Majestic early October and at the MTG lunch the Staff Captain sat at my table and we had a lively discussion regarding Captain Tuvo, as the staff Captain knows him well and verified Capt Tuvo is now employed by MSC.

Princess is catching up to most of the competition, the room service ‘fee’ is easily double and more on the competition. I do not understand why disability rights have anything to do with the room service fee, able bodied or disabled both are subject to same fee.

Your ID leads me to believe you are Aussie and probably booked with your booking tied to Terms and Conditions that are unique to your region? US bookings can allow for refaring, cancel, and rebook with refundable deposits, so essentially no loss of $ to change to a better promo before final payment. I suggest you call Princess down under and they would be able to share what options you may have. With the cruise being over a year away, hopefully that helps, but I believe down under, final payment is a lot sooner than US bookings, meaning you are required to pay final many more days in advance of sailing. I believe UK bookings can only be modified once and come with a ‘processing’ fee of a hundred pounds? This illustrates terms vary based on your region. Maybe an Aussie TA will chime in, but it seems like your best bet would be to call Princess or your Aussie TA if you used one.

I believe Princess has closed this ‘loophole’ and now knows you are B2B and if you purchase from duty free during first cruise, it will NOT be delivered to your cabin till the end of cruise 2. Last summer I met a couple who were doing many B2B’s and wanted to purchase some duty free liquor for some band players that would be leaving. They asked me if I would purchase on last day of 1st cruise so I could take with me as they explained, the on board system now knows they are b2b, so if they purchased from the duty free store, the system would flag to not let them take the purchase. This makes sense as in the APP if u have b2b with 2 separate booking numbers, the APP actually thinks you are on one long cruise, which is also why even with a separate booking number for cruise2, you are not issued a new medallion unless the battery dies.

You should go into his profile on princess.com to see if the same cruises are listed in his cruise history. If so, then you are fine, it’s a glitch. If you will be on a Princess ship soon, the future cruise agents who now handle loyalty issues should be able to correct. If you will not be on a Princess ship, you should call to have this corrected as his status affects , benefits like insurance and WiFi discounts and if his level is not correct he does not automatically get the same benefits as you, even if he is traveling in the same booking as your spouse. Some cruiselines will match the lower level spouse/partner to the higher partner loyalty level as can happen if one cruised enough separately before meeting of even during the partnership which causes an inequity in loyalty level. Princess does NOT do this, each passengers record is their own, no matching partner to highest level of the two.

I was on Discovery Oct 21-28 with Premier pkg and was able to get any flavors of Gelato. Were you on after these dates? Could the policy have been changed to only Choc or Vanilla? I will ask as I am back on Discovery 11/25-29, and report back here.

Previously, there was a lower rate if you purchased internet pre cruise, but that was quite awhile ago. So it is the same price pre cruise or if you wait to purchase on board. Platinum and Elite receive a 50% discount. If you book for the entire cruise the rate is $15/day so discount is $7.50/day. If you want to book one 24hr session, rate is $20/day and with discount $10/day. This is for a 1 device plan, where you are allowed to use multiple devices, but only one ‘active’ at a time. I know of at least one cruise line, you are limited to the one device you sign up initially, meaning you would not be able to switch between a phone and a tablet or ‘share’ your plan.

@fun_one, Thank you for taking the time to post your review. Please clarify, you say you prepaid your tips but got the plus package which includes tips and then upgraded on board to Premier? This makes it sound like to paid tips twice? AFAIK, this ship does not have a dining area called ‘Chops’. You may have Royal Caribbean on your mind as that is the name of the Steakhouse on that Cruiseline.

With the Premier Pkg, you get 2 Specialty Dining credits no matter the length of the sailing. Unlimited Casual dining is part of the Premier pkg.

Yes, if you feel you will be using ‘room service’ often to justify the Ocean Now activation fee, then as long as you use Ocean Now to order food/items to your cabin/location, then you will not incur a ‘room service’ fee. The $5 room service fee is charged for each stateroom ‘Phone’ call for room service, unless you have Plus or Premier. @memoakresponse above assumes you are still ‘calling’ using phone for room service.

Sapphire and Diamond are unique because there is only one entrance to the Santa Fe /Reserve class dining room, opposed to most other Princess ships that will have a Reserve class entrance AND a separate non reserved class entrance which are usually the port or starboard side entrances for these venues for those not familiar with Princess.

I was on the Sapphire this past July. Only a portion of Santa Fe dining room is used for Reserve Class. Non Reserve Class passengers are allowed to dine in this venue which will be the same menu as all the other MDRs on the ship. I believe the new Sun and Star will have a dining room explicitly ONLY for Suites, not sure if Reserve Class will have entry to this Suites only venue.

It is easy to confuse Ocean Now with Room Service since Princess allows Ocean Now orders to be delivered to your cabin so it is a kind of ‘room service’ . If you do not have a package and want to take advantage of Ocean Now ordering, there is a one time $14.99 activation fee. If you use your stateroom Phone to call room service to order food or other items and do not have a package, there will be a $5 service fee for EVERY call.

I think you meant to quote the OP, not my reply, as for my upcoming March 18, 2024 Sapphire sailing, the International dining room DOES appear as a choice to make a reservation.

I recall reading recently if you do not have the Premier package which should automatically ‘activate’ your door for the Princess Prizes game, you need to go to Guest Services to OPT in and I thought I read the cost was now only $10/day. Previously you could OPT in by touching your door panel, but I think Princess got too many passengers not realizing the ‘costs’ to play the game and assume once you OPT in it is for all remaining days in the cruise. As the game is sponsored by the Casino, it is only active while the Casino is open. When I have Premier, I am more conscience to look at the door panel to see if I have won a prize, but I have only seen the messages ‘better luck next time’ or ‘game closed’. I believe there is a list on Princess.com what the list of current prizes are and the odds of winning said Prize. I seem to recall it says a 7 day cruise is awarded each cruise? Also I remember when the game was first introduced, the ship made it a big deal with a presentation in the Piazza on the last day with the Entertainment Director opening a suitcase with envelopes of 5 prizes? I believe the top prize at that time was $5000. I think that amount was suppose to vary depending on the number of players? It appears if you win one of the ‘top’ prizes, someone will try and find you on ship. An acquaintance currently on the Sapphire saw his account was credited with $250 OBC, so we assume it was a prize from Princess as he has Premier, but no one from the ship called or notified him to let him know he won a prize.

I have a booking on the Sapphire for March 18, 2024 and when I check dine my way to make reservations for MDR, the International dining room is available as one of the choices, so my guess is it is too far out or a glitch, but you are so far out. I suggest you check again, later, especially since rumor is a NEW Princess APP is supposed to be released on Dec 1 and the current one will only be valid till end of January 2024?

With the one device plan, you can use multiple devices, just only one active at a time, so unless you BOTH need to be connected at the same time, you can easily ‘share’ one plan so you can possibly only need to buy 1 WiFi plan if you are not going to buy Plus.

I believe this is the protocol with Princess when you want to ‘add’ gift cards to your booking that is not going towards the cruisefare. The OBC account is funds/promos from your travel agent or other promos from Princess, shareholders, military, etc. It is these funds you are able to use pre cruise towards shore excursions. You will be able to use ALL of your onboard services account onboard as previous posters have noted for ANYTHING including daily gratuities, shore excursions, WiFi and the Casino. What you have done has really only saved you from going to Guest services while on board and having them apply gift cards $ to your Folio. There have been instances where the on board system to connect to gift cards is not working and passengers could not get the gift cards added to their on board accounts, so you have that glitch to not worry about. You were misled/misinformed if you thought your gift cards could be added pre cruise to your account and be used to book shore excursions, WiFi, prepay gratuities. This has deviated from the original topic as your issue is not a problem with AARP gift cards, but how they are applied to a booking pre cruise if not being use towards cruisefare.

I think you are on the wrong forum. I believe Cagney’s is the name of the Steakhouse on NCL?

@KEG306, the Island Princess has very limited Casual Dining. I think the only option is a pop up limited menu Alfredo’s in Sabatini’s during lunch on Sea days? No International cafe. Its size allows passage thru the old/original locks. For 2 passengers that would be an additional $560. Do you see getting that much extra value for your 14 days?

Your question/thread will probably be moved to the General Princess forum instead of the Roll calls for Discovery Princess. Princess does not offer early/ late traditional dining. All MDR’s are anytime which on Discovery is Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. All serve the same menu, except if you are Reserve Class which offers an off menu item daily, sometimes 2 off menu items.

I know they were giving can soda as included in Plus or Premier packages when we were on the Majestic sailing Sydney to LA last April, so at least 8 months ago, do you consider 8 months ago ‘new’? Cans I have seen are Coke, Diet Coke, Caffeine free versions, ,Ginger ale, Sprite and Diet Sprite or Zero instead of Diet. Believe it depends on where in the world being supplied, as Diet is not available in some places but Zero is. Fanta orange soda. The description on the Princess website states ‘fountain’ soda for both packages, so it has not been updated, surprised? When the packages were first introduced, it was fountain soda only.

The APP when ordering your Medallion should recognize you have the Premier package and automatically include in your order the ‘included/free’ accessory. It is currently a ‘clip’ in an exclusive color(royal blue) to the Premier package. If you go to the Princess website and review the packages, when you scroll down what is included with Premier, it shows a stripped clip. You can order any other accessories, but you do not receive any discount or credit if you do not want the ‘clip’. I believe on the ship at the Ocean Front location where you can purchase Medallion accessories, similar clips in different colors are priced about $8 to give you an ideal of the value of the included accessory with the Premier package.