wallyj

There is a line at the bottom of the form for the passenger requesting the transfer to sign and date. I believe this is why your TA can not submit for you. While I was recently on board the Sapphire, the future cruise consultant said your TA is supposed to supply the form to you with their info filled in so you can sign and forward to Princess. As I have the form and know the correct info for my TA, I fill in the info myself. On the form, it requests your TA’s phone number, my understanding is this needs to be the official number Princess has for that agency and it is usually NOT a 800 or toll free number.

Hi @C & C Love to Cruise, do you happen to know anyone that will be on a Princess cruise? Passengers are allowed to purchase FCD’s for passengers NOT on board provided the person they are buying the FCD has a Princess Captain circle number. The passenger on board will have to pay for the deposit, so I do this only for trusted friends I have either been pre paid, or I know will reimburse me. This will also work for ‘referrals’ who have never sailed with Princess. Once the referral person receives their Captain Circle number, an on board passenger can buy a FCD in that person’s name for them to use in the future. FCD’s now expire after 1 year, but can usually be extended if you notify Princess before expiration date. Note, if the FCD expires, funds will go back to the original payment, which will be the person who bought the FCD, not necessarily the name associated with the FCD.

@deltahog, Generally on Princess, various juices from concentrate are complimentary during breakfast hours, after, unless you have a drink pkg, there is a charge for juice. In the buffet you are likely to to see pitchers of Orange juice from concentrate and possible some dispensing machines of OJ and Apple juice, as on the Sapphire. Other juices are available by request, just ask for what else is available. I know they also have cranberry, probably prune too. Depending on the Class of ship, brewed coffee from beans is available in the buffet. I just disembarked from the Sapphire Princess and they are in the process of converting the coffee dispensing at the Buffett. The front buffet drink stations have ‘new’ Lavazza coffee dispensers where it is like a huge drip coffee dispenser where a crew member will attach a big funnel like piece to the top of the appliance which I assume contains grounded beans and then I see water pour down into the funnel and then it flows into the big dispensers below, when the coffee needs to be refilled. The back buffet station still are using the coffee from concentrate, where you see a spigot to deliver the coffee. On Royal class ships, in the buffet you will see big coffee machines dispensing brewed coffee. Princess announced a new partnership with Lavazza coffee so I am assuming the non Royal class ships will be converting their buffet coffee stations to these new Lavazza dispensers as I witnessed on the Sapphire? Ice tea and lemonade are also usually available in the buffet and in the dining room. I have had lemonade in the dining room and sometimes told not available. Usually there is plenty of crew in the buffet you get you your drinks, but you can go to the drink stations and help yourself. During Covid, only crew were allow at the drinks stations to limit contamination. I have seen passengers bring back from ports 2 liter bottles of soda, etc. without issue, but YMMV. What/where did you get the impression with basic/standard fare, water, coffee, juice and ice tea not included on Princess?

I think you misunderstand the pkg. The 15 limit is for alcohol drinks, if you have a pkg, you have unlimited non alcohol drinks. Also nice of you to be generous but the pkg rules are no sharing and if caught, rules say they can cancel your pkg with no refund.

Booking on board you only have the option of the booking going to the TA whom you used for that sailing or Princess. Seems Princess should still allow you to move to another agency if not within final, but it’s their playground/rules.

Unless there was a price change or promo that ended, why not just have your TA make a ‘new’ reservation? If it is an issue about a particular cabin, have your TA make a reservation, then cancel your hold, then have your TA grab the newly released cabin, helps if you have a 3 way call. I believe the transfer request form has stipulation of request must be made within 60 days of booking AND not paid in full, but why go thru this hassle of submitting transfer request form?

Hi @chubbypiggy, I believe your original query was regarding the steam and saunas that were in the changing rooms by the fitness center, not The Enclave which is on Royal class ships but I believe on the Emerald they have what is called the Thermal suite, which is a separate venue with heated stone beds and aromatherapy saunas in an area by the Spa, which you can purchase a cruise pass to have access to this venue. The ‘free’ steam and saunas were removed when the Emerald Princess was last in dry dock last year. I believe the space was remodeled for accessible treatment rooms for the Spa, meaning for passengers needing extra space for possible mobility devices, not just ‘access’ to these treatment rooms. The changing room still has larger showers in case you want to freshen up after a workout or use a shower that is larger with better water pressure than you might have in your particular cabin. The sister ‘Grand Class’ ships being the Crown, Ruby, Caribbean, and Sapphire I believe still have the ‘free’ steam and sauna in the fitness center changing rooms. Not sure about the Diamond. I was on the Crown in May, so I can confirm the steam and sauna are still available in the fitness changing room. Was also on the Emerald last month, but already knew the steam and saunas were removed from the fitness center changing rooms from previous threads and friends confirming when they sailed on the Emerald this past February. Hello to @LACruiser88, Debbie and Rafael, I will board on July 22 when you disembark and then board again for the Hawaii sailing on August 5. I imagine we will be on the same ship again in the future. Did you pack any of your Panama hats for this sailing? Just off the 14 day Sapphire Princess roundtrip Vancouver and future cruise had a 3 page list of select voyages till Spring of 2024 that are 50% off, must be booked on board to receive the discount. Check future cruise as I believe this promo is still in effect, but was told they do not know for how long. Restrictions are you cannot use a FCD or combinable with any TA ‘group’ OBC, but eligible for shareholders and or military if applicable. Also deposit is $100 non refundable , with final payment due at normal schedule. As of end of June, solos can no longer receive shareholders and military if they qualified for both, but a couple in a cabin can each get one of these if they qualify so one getting military and the other getting shareholders, as 2 in a cabin are not always in a relationship/related or only one in cabin qualifies for military. Really enjoyed your previous live from Buenos Aires to LA, fyi, all of the Sapphire South America sailings from December 1 to the March BA back to LA are on the 50% list. I can’t do the 34 day LA to BA or the 32 day BA back to LA in March, but did book both LA to Santiago for December 1, 2023 and the Santiago to LA , March 18, 2024.

Check your travel summary when you login to your sailing on the website. I assume UK bookings travel summaries would be the same as ours in Canada and US? when you login to your booking on the Princess website. Look at the top for Print boarding pass and travel summary. Click on this link. Then click print travel summary link. This should display your travel summary, scroll down to special services and you should see each component of the ‘plus’ package amenities at the Princess ‘retail’ rate. Do not be concerned as it might also say from your TA, but Princess displays the items this way, as we know you the passenger PAID for the ‘plus’ upgrade in fare to get these amenities and they are not gifted from your TA. If the plus amenities are not listed, then you do not have the plus pkg.

The classes are usually listed in the daily ‘patter/events’. On day1 go to the fitness center and they will have the master list for that sailing of all the classes and times and sign up lists for each class, but for my sailing, it did not seem necessary and you could just show up before the class. They will have the list on the table for the sign up to other ‘seminars’ at the SPA raffle drawing on Day1, usually held around 5pm, else go to the fitness center and find an Instructor and they will find you the sign up list. All classes will be held in the fitness center.

Remember the ship will also add 18% gratuity to that daily rate. I was just on the Emerald and I think the rate with tip was just under $18 USD/day.

EZAir does not have ‘every’ flight available from the available airlines they use. Even if at one time the flight was ‘offered’, it may not be available later. Many of the fares are ‘group/consolidator’ fares and are limited in the number of seats available. It does seem strange that you would get a message the day before boarding, your return flights were changed as normally your EZAir reservations are ‘ticketed’ 30-45 days before your sailing. I have read for some reason EZAir has not ticketed some reservations and it has caused much frustration. If DL did not change it’s schedule, I think it is possible, your return flights were not ticketed, and EZAir did not have any more contract fares available for that flight, so they wanted to rebook you on alternative airline and flights. It is unfortunate passengers now need to verify ticketing, as they assume it is done automatically at around the 45 days before first flight as advertised. In these days of airlines changing schedules and equipment, it would be understandable if EZAir needed to make changes, but if your original selected/booked flight was still operating, something went wrong. Please report back if EZAir agrees to refund your out of pocket to take your original return flights.

Was on the Crown last month for 11 day roundtrip YVR and just off 7 day Emerald CA coastal. On Crown they had Zumba but no Pop choir and no Mob flash dance. Crown had crew member who wanted to do Pop Choir, but no time in schedule because of itinerary. Emerald had Zumba no Pop choir or mob flash dance. It is possible they may call it Cardio Dance Class if crew member is not certified Zumba instructor. Pretty sure patter/event listing said Zumba on the Emerald.

Most Princess ships I have been on , MDR breakfast doors only open till 9am, so be in the door by 9, not 10. Just off the Emerald, CA coastal and MDR breakfast, doors closed at 9.

Ez-Air would not have allowed you to book a flight not acceptable to the guidelines based on Port departure and arrivals. I sailed the Majestic last year on the LA to SYD sailing last Sept. I booked a DL flight on my own using miles. I was traveling solo so the easiest and cheapest option was to take the train which was only about a 10 minute, at most, walk on level flat surface, from the port. There is an airport ‘add fee’ if you leave or arrive to the airport stations. If you are 2 passengers or more, Uber is probably your best option. You also do not need to ‘buy’ tickets. The turnstiles accept contactless ‘tap’ credit cards, so you tap in and out, and you are charged the same rate as if you had the ‘opal’ card, which is the best rate. Of course, hopefully your credit card does not have foreign transaction fees. If, I remember correctly the train fare with the airport added fee was about $22 USD after conversion. You should be able to see current fares on the Sydney transport website. The train runs very frequently. Make sure you tap out, as you will be charged the MAX daily fare if you ‘fail’ to tap out. In case there is a major delay in arriving Sydney, EZ air would rebook you on the next available flight in the same class. The ship would probably allow you to call from the ship or would advise you they are already working on rebooking passengers with EZAir. I was on the Sapphire in February 2020 and our 21 day sailing roundtrip Singapore was cut short on day11. The ship informed us Princess would rebook those passengers who used EZ air and allowed use of the ships phones to call your airline to make alternate arrangements if you booked independently. My cousin who was traveling with me, was planning on going to Thailand after the cruise, so we had to call from the ship to change his flight to Ten days earlier and get him more hotel reservations. Princess also said they would reimburse change fees up to a certain amount which was a reasonable amount and covered my cousins change fee, sorry I do not remember what the amount was. I would cancel your Princess transfer as you will have to wait for the bus to be full before they leave for the airport. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Just off the Emerald where I had the ‘Premier’ pkg, so I could have ‘unlimited’ classes. I believe ‘plus’ gives you 2 classes for free. The classes offered on the Emerald were Yoga Six, Stretch Lab, Pure Barre, Tour Cycle and TRX. I went to one Yoga Six class and it was very Basic. I had intended to do other classes, but they were scheduled for very early each day, like 7 and 8 am. Without the pkg, the class fees were $20-$30 each. For me, I would have preferred classes scheduled just before lunch, or late afternoon. Sorry, I am on vacation and not waking up to attend a 7am exercise class, but I imagine there are a few that would. They are designed for beginners to be able to do, and instructors know how to adjust for each level of the participants. You can sign up at the Spa for each class, but I do not think you will have a problem getting into a class, as they accept walk ins if space available. For Royal class ships, the fitness center is not by the Spa, so you would sign up at the Fitness center. I do not know if the classes offered are the same through out the fleet.

Yes, you should get a mini bar setup and specialty dinner for each segment. If you look at your cruise history, you should see your cruise listed as a future sailing with 6 credits. You will receive a credit for each segment and an extra credit for being in a full suite, even though you booked as one 21 day sailing. The Princess system recognizes it is actually three, seven day sailings. Depending on your particular situation if you are a shareholder and use FCD’s, sometimes the math works better to book as one 21 day sailing or 3 separate seven day sailings. Booking as a 21 day guarantees you to be in same cabin, booking as 3 separate can be challenging getting same cabin, but easier the earlier you book.

1. The Journey view of activities is loaded about a week before sailing in my experience and sometimes even closer to sailing date. 2. Surge protector power strips are not allowed on ships as the electrical system is not the same as a household and can cause a short as the simple answer. 3. with ships sailing at full capacity you will still find challenges with crowds, but older Princess ships like the Caribbean do not have slides, climbing walls, skating rinks to attach the younger more active passengers, so the vibe is usually more relaxed and older crowd than RCCL except during summer and holidays where you will see more families with kids under and over 18. 4. Dining room open for Breakfast and Dinner everyday and lunch on Sea days, Buffett available for Breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday, dinner will usually have a theme like, Italian, Asian, etc. 5. Arrivals groups usually open to select on the APP around 45 days before sailing, but varies, join your roll call and someone usually posts. You can pick up your Medallion at the port at no charge and it only adds a minute or two at the most. Really no reason to have shipped to you, even if you have a pkg and the shipping is free. Currently, no one is checking if you are green lane, just if you have your medallion already. 6. Normally on a 7 night sailing there will be 2 formal nights, but Princess has really relaxed it dress code suggestions enforcements. Khakis and knit shirt and or button down collar will be acceptable for ANY night including formal in MDR or any specialty restaurant.

A passenger has reported earlier this year, 2023, talking to Princess management , the Casino does have plans to finally update the accounting software so charges in the Casino will NOT net against OBC. This has always been the ‘official’ written policy, but it has not been enforced. Just a heads up that this loop hole is looking to be closed, but who knows when? I know NCL has not allowed Casino charges to reduce OBC. We have seen many posts that state Princess ‘reads’ these boards, so they are aware of what passengers are saying and doing.

I am guessing once Princess decided to charge for shipping unless you have a package, many will opt to pick up at the port. I really do not see much value in having them mailed to you. In the cases where it did not arrive in time or you left it at home, a new one will be made most likely on the ship. You will be issued a ‘cruise card’ to board the ship and go to guest services to have one made. This saves each port having to have the equipment needed to make/etch a medallion since the ship has it to make replacement ones.

To answer your question, normally , yes if you pay to upgrade or Princess changes ships to higher category, you will receive the corresponding OBC for that FCD used. I was originally on Emerald in Oceanview for Transpacific and ship was changed to Majestic which does not Ocenview so Princess upgraded us to Balcony and our FCD OBC was increased to the Balcony amount.

If you know any ‘good’ friends’ on a sailing before you will be, they can purchase FCD’s while on board for you. They will have to pay, but they will be for your Captain circle number and be available to use once posted/charged. I am currently in the Emerald and will be on the Sapphire June 28-July 12, you wanna be my friend? If you have Zelle, you can post you are interested and then we can exchange info.

Depending on the length of cruise and cabin type booked and if one or both are military and shareholders, which we have been warned will no longer be combinable with military, so $600 OBC is quite obtainable and if your TA has group or other promo OBC.

Thank @Ken the cruiser for find my post on the other thread. Many years ago, Princess would ‘backdate’ the FCD so you could use it and get the OBC, but they have stuck to their official rules which is understandable with the amount of debt incurred.

Currently on the Emerald and it was announced you can purchase ‘plus’ or ‘premier’ on day1 or day2 at current price. Buying before cruise will add to Princess insurance cost, as packages are consider part of cruise fare, waiting runs risk of package price increase, so how far out your cruise could matter as we do not know when Princess will increase prices for the packages again.

Your FCD acquire date has to be before your booking date. I have made bookings with an online TA where their engine does not have capability to use/apply a FCD. Since the agents do not work on Sunday and I want to book and not wait to talk to an agent, or their office is closed for the day, I will lock in my booking online paying initial deposit by credit card and then when office is open, have them apply a FCD to receive the OBC. This will work even if you are after final payment as I have done this before AND after final payment. When you do after final payment, in results in overpayment and $100 is refunded back to credit card used for final payment. Remember you need to have your FCD acquire date before your booking date. With current FCD’s having only 1 year expiration, future planning is a must. In your case, buying a FCD after you book will not reap you any OBC for that booking, and you probably would not be able to apply to the booking because the FCD is after your booking date. If you think you might cruise again within a year, buy one or two to have in the ‘bank’ since they are fully refundable.