wallyj

FYI, I was on the Sapphire for the Dec 1-18 LA to Santiago sailing and had a good cruise. I believe there is a current live from @Ken the cruiser, Jan 20-Feb 19. Although the Sapphire is an older ship she is well maintained and one of the 2 ships that were built in Japan, her sister the Diamond is the other. Princess started a competition a couple quarters ago among their fleet named the Princess Cup. The winner is based on the total metrics from the Cruise survey passengers receive at the end of the voyage, so it is entirely based on passenger feedback. The Sapphire has won this ‘prize’ when the competition started 2 quarters ago and again for the 2nd time in a row, so based on passenger feedback, the Sapphire has received the top spot among the fleet, so this should tell you something about the ship and it’s crew. It is an actual trophy and the ship proudly displays it currently between Crooners and the Wheelhouse.

There have been reports passengers have been able to add Princess gift card $ as OBC, BEFORE sailing. I think most Princess call center agents will not be able to help. I would try calling once, then not waste time again if they were not able to do and then try on board when lines are not long at GS. Also, it is a Princess Gift card, AARP is just the vendor selling the gift cards at a discount. A caveat is sometimes the on board system to process the gift card is not working and you will have to come back later during the cruise and hope it comes back up before the cruise ends. My sister ran into this issue on our Sapphire cruise last December. She had guest services notate her record that said if they were still not able to process her gift cards before she disembarked, Princess will allow her to use them against her paid folio and then issue credit back to her credit card.

Future cruises no longer has a ‘list’. Was just told today discount are for sailings in the next 60 days and not all sailings qualify. You just ask if there is a discount for a sailing you might be interested in and they will check. I happen to ask about the 32 day Sapphire roundtrip LA for April 5, 2024. The princess.com fare is showing as almost $1900 for the lowest fare, double occupancy. The on board booking fare is currently pricing at just over $1300 , so an almost $600 savings or about 30%. Was told they no longer produce a list as the sailings are selling out very quickly and pricing is very dynamic, so you need to ask about the particular sailings you might want.

For the on board booking promo with a discounted cruise, one of the ‘rules’ are you are not able to apply a FCD. When it is a big discount like the previous 50% off , you still have a good savings. All other benefits apply, like shareholders if you qualify and if your travel agent offers any extra amenities.

Yes, you will only pay the remaining balance due for cruise and gift card will have $30 balance which you can take to Guest Services on board and they can add to your folio. Please note, Guest Services usually request a paper copy of the gift card for their records, so have a printout.

Currently on the Discovery Princess. Future cruise currently says most sailings within the next 3 months are discounted anywhere from 20-70%. You need to ask which particular sailing you want pricing and they will tell you how much discount is available. With these on board bookings, you can not use a FCD and since sailing is within 3 months, you are in final payment period so it must be paid in full. You can use Princess gift cards to pay if you have or can purchase before you book. The previous on board discounts promo was also discounting the packages, now the Future cruise agent will remove any package from the pricing so only the cruisefare will be discounted.

Yes, a passenger currently on board a Princess ship is eligible to purchase FCD’s for any other person who has a Captain’s Circle account. You need to keep in mind the acquisition date of the FCD must be before the ‘booking’ date of any cruise you plan on sailing. The FCD will be charged to the person on board, so you want to only do this for individuals you know/trust will repay you, unless you are gifting it. Also if that person does not use within a year, it will be credited back to the person charged, not the person it was bought for.

I have a ‘friend’ who has used a ‘router’ but you need to remember, all users will need to be in proximity of the ‘router’ while using the WiFi. So all can be using WiFi at the same time, but you will also need to be at the same place, same time. It is not like you connect other users and they can then roam around the ship and use WiFi when and where they want. Using a router works if your ‘group’ wants and can meet at the same place and time to use the WiFi, which is not really ideal for many groups and depending on who wants to do what on their devices.

@rideev, your comment on this thread regarding not buying Gift cards for cruises out of Australia is misleading as your experience has to do with Carnival gift cards and not Princess gift cards and we are on the Princess board, so your comment is more appropriate on the Carnival board. I am pretty sure I read a thread where a passenger used Princess gift card on Australia cruise by presenting to Guest services and the ship converted the $USD gift card to $AUD on board. I guess this is where you ‘assumed’ Princess and Carnival followed the same rules?

@Thunderbird19, I suggest you also take a tour of the changing rooms on the Caribbean Princess as I believe this ship still has complimentary saunas and steam room, showers and lockers in the changing rooms for the fitness center. You can then decide if you want to pay to get a thermal spa pass to use the heated loungers and the other amenities.

@beshears, my understanding from reading threads regarding using Plus or Premier while sailing from Galveston say the ship has given a $25 OBC to help offset costs you may incur for not being able to use your drinks packages while in Texas waters. Certain Alcohol drinks ARE available but will come with a cost no matter if you have a package, until you are in international waters and your drink packages are ‘active’. I thought the Texas restrictions were for alcohol drinks only, but may pertain to ANY beverages? It usually only takes a few hours from Galveston port departure to reach international waters, so you can use the $25 OBC to indulge in the limited selections. Royal class ships do not have a traditional outside promenade that you can walk outside around the entire ship. Using Deck7 to go from the front of the ship to the back, you will be using inside pathways. Please refer to the deck plans available on Princess.com under onboard our ships.

As the author of post has not replied, I will add you may or may not get a bad exchange rate since the Australia based sailings use $AUD as shipboard currency, so your $USD AARP cards submitted to Guest Services on board will be converted to $AUD. I recollect a previous thread discussing this and the passenger said they got a decent exchange rate, but YMMV.

My last experience on the Discovery was last year with Premier on a 7 day sailing, I only ate at the MDR for dinner on the second Formal night to get the lobster entree. Otherwise, I dined at the Gastropub, Ocean Terrace and Gigi’s/Alfredo’s. A few times, my dinner was I would go to Ocean Terrace for Sushi then stop over to Gastropub for the Burger or Shortrib entree and fries. Then stop by and have Gelato and/or the big slice of Specialty cake next door. See you On board.

@lakegirl16, Princess prizes is a game sponsored by the Casino, so it is only active while the Casino is open. If you have the Premier package, you are automatically enrolled. If you do not have the Premier package you can ‘opt in’ to play by visiting Guest Services and will be charged $10/day. I believe the website has details of the current ‘prizes’ and odds of winning. You are supposed to get a prize ‘entry’ every time you unlock your cabin door while the Casino is open and the game is ‘active’. There is a timeout so you cannot continuously unlock your cabin door and thus will need to wait a period of time before unlocking door will result in an entry. When the game is active and you unlock you door, the door panel should display you won a prize, the message ‘better luck next time’ or ‘try again later’ if you have timed out. You can verify you have been enrolled in Princess prizes as there should be a P icon in the upper right of your door panel screen.

There is a time out, so you cannot just stand at your door and continuously open and close for entries. My experience on the Sapphire last December was after about 2-3 consecutive door unlockings, you will get a message of ‘try again later’ meaning you have been timed out and need to wait before the ‘game’ will register another entry. Not certain of the wait time but believe it is at least 10 minutes. When the game is active, meaning the casino is open, if you do not win a prize, you should get the message ‘better luck next time’.

Depends on when everyone shows up and which port. Last December at San Pedro to board the Sapphire, there was a delay in starting check in. Lines got very long and I heard some passengers say they had over 1 hour waits to pick up medallion. So YMMV.

I believe @Wishing on a starmeant ‘up charge’ not uncharge. I believe Ocean Terrace is also available on the Enchanted which has a set sushi menu you can use one of your casual dining credits here.

You did not read the post correctly. The passenger won the clip accessory which had a value of $10. The ship actually was being generous in giving the passenger the option to choose any other accessory and just pay the difference. On my last cruise I won the clip accessory and when I happen to pass by the Ocean Navigators they saw me via my medallion and handed me the prize, they did not offer me to select any other accessory and pay the difference.

Princess no longer has you select a ‘Check in’ time. Everyone will get the same check in window of about 10:30-2pm depending on your departure. Boarding when it commences, will start with wedding groups, then usually suites and elites, then platinum and then the various boarding groups as assigned when you checked in if you are not in one of the above categories l

When and where is your sailing? You normally are offered to purchase plus or premier on Day1 or 2 of your cruise. If sailing soon, call Princess to verify or check if any current passengers doing a ‘live’ and ask there. My understanding is for sailings down under, the packages for passengers in the Oz market, do not include crew appreciation since your cruise fare already has that component baked in the fare. For passengers buying a down under cruise not using a Oz TA such as US passengers buying from Princess direct or a U.S. TA, your fares do not have crew appreciation baked in so you will be charged for CA on board.

I believe the deck 5 midship MDR has its own dedicated Kitchen whereas the Deck6 midship and aft MDR share a kitchen located between the 2. Depending on where your cabin is located or what you are doing just before dinner may influence your choice of dining venue to minimize walking, especially if your cabin is located very forward, it is a long walk to the deck 6 aft dining room accessible only by stairs from deck 7 aft or the aft elevators.

Room service via using the Ocean Now APP if you do not have Plus or Premier, will result in a one time Ocean Now activation fee of $14.99 upon your first Ocean Now order which you will need to acknowledge. Calling room service from your stateroom phone if you do not have Plus or Premier will result in a $5 fee each time you call. The MDR open for lunch will be stated in the Patter/Event listing, go to Guest services if one is not in your stateroom if you happen to go to stateroom early to drop off luggage.

Demand will probably be viable once all the suite bookings before Dec 1, 2023 that ‘included’ 360 have been used. For those that have not kept up regarding this issue, full suite bookings no longer get 360 complimentary as part of your booking, if you booked after Dec 1, 2023.

I have not been offered any other ‘options’ for the included accessory that comes as part of the Premier pkg. when I have ordered the Medallion in the APP, you can order any accessory at additional fee, but what has been included at no additional fee as part of the Premier pkg is the exclusive colored ‘clip on’ and is automatically added at a zero cost to your order. Are you offered more options in the UK?

With the Premier pkg, you will receive a ‘clip on’ medallion holder/accessory as part of the package. It is an exclusive color(royal blue or navy blue with stripes). I have received the royal blue with it being mailed and also when I was picking up at the port. My friend who upgraded while on board the Sapphire in December received the navy blue with stripes as shown on the Princess.com website, first time I saw this style/color in person.