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Here is the Grand, just anchored in the middle of San Francisco bay. Did not notice her before, perhaps she moved here today? Is she moving around the bay as opposed to staying in one spot?

Evidently, the crew and a few foreign passengers are still on the ship and are stuck on board for about 12 more days--or 14 days since the ship left the Port of Oakland.

Sorry I did not get a better picture with my phone--but a look through my binoculars confirmed it is the Grand.

On 12/14/2019 at 10:26 AM, wwcruisers said:

 

'Truer words were never spoke'! But really, weren't we expecting more from Virgin?😕

Not better results, necessarily. But certainly the error message should be a hip purplish color instead of red, and perhaps have a groovy graphic to go with it!

Not sure how the cape will work out on deck...for the wearer or the people nearby.

11 hours ago, fishywood said:

Monitoring your every movement.

Argh.

The cabin stewards will, by default, do it for you. However, to add some Branson/Virgin magic, there is a passenger contest on the last day of the cruise to see which passenger can convert and then reconvert the beds the fastest. It is recommended that passengers do this themselves every day of the cruise so that they are well practiced and capable of seriously competing for the soon to be highly desired Champion Cabin Bed Award. Imagine the pride you will have showing off that award!

Virgin is running a contest, and this is in the rules:

Grand Prize consists of one (1) Virgin Voyages Caribbean Voyage for winner and one (1) Guest consisting of not less than 05 days/ 04 nights double occupancy stateroom accommodations on a vessel that travels to the Western Caribbean; and two (2) micro nautical tattoos at Squid Ink while on board. The approximate retail value (“ARV”) of the Grand Prize will not exceed $3,000 USD/$3,889.38 (CAD).

Yes, I got an email regarding this. Squid Ink.

There is a drawing for a free voyage for two including a micro tattoo from Squid Ink. I wonder if I can enter but refuse the tattoo if I win? Or if there is a requirement that the tattoo be the Virgin logo?

And, there is going to be an event at Soho Ink in Manhattan--free tattoo for the first 100 people and a chance to win a voyage.

The more I hear, the more I think I should just get my deposit back. Nothing wrong with any of it, probably just not my cup of tea.

As you probably know, the Obstructed Ocean View cabins on the Coral and the Island are the most obstructed in the Princess fleet. If the price difference is a lot I would suggest you take an inside instead of an Obstructed view. The only advantage of an Obstructed is that you will have some daylight coming in.

 

Here are pictures of one of the least Obstructed E 507

[ATTACH]428289[/ATTACH]

 

 

And one the really bad ones E 523 (looking at the inside of a tender)

[ATTACH]428290[/ATTACH]

 

 

Theo

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New to Princess and have finally decided on Coral Princess for a 7 night Inside Passage Cruise to Alaska next May.

 

First time to Alaska and I am now agonizing over whether to splurge on a balcony or go with an obstructed ocean view and use the money we save on excursions. (Typically we cruise in oceanview cabins as I don’t value a balcony enough to warrant the extra cost.) I keep reading that it’s different for an Alaskan cruise and a balcony is a must.

 

Right now a balcony is $700 Cdn more than the obstructed oceanview (for two) but we would get an extra $100 OBC for the balcony. I don’t want to cheap out and regret it, but also don’t want to splurge unnecessarily. If we don’t typically spend much time in the cabin will we really miss out by not having a balcony?

 

 

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While I don't care about a balcony for most cruises, we did enjoy our balcony on our Alaska cruise. I'd probably go for the balcony for Alaska again, but I don't know. Maybe if I get around to cruising the Panama Canal, that might be another balcony cruise.

All that being said, the best views are on the deck. This is particularly true any time a panarama is best--like at the glaciers. Also heard stories at dinner about wildlife views our table mates saw from the deck that we missed from our balcony. (We spent time in both places.)

If it's an either/or decision, I'm also in the use your money for excursions camp.

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This is interesting to me as I checked our printout slipped under our door on the last day, and I verified that everything on there was correct and everything that should be in there was. When the credit card charge came through, it was for more ($35?) than the statement said.

I didn't bother to check into it, and was not even sure how I would since I was off the ship. I figured it would probably turn out to be an accurate charge anyway.

But, if this is something that is happening regularly, maybe I should have checked.

Is there any way to easily get the details of the charges a month and a half after the cruise?

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Interesting. We Lyfted in super early and got through the line and into the port really quickly. We spent the morning on Lido deck working on our laptops and got off the ship last and exited without any traffic difficulty.

What is "super early?" Did you not have issues with people disembarking from the prior cruise?

(I wanted to get to the pier earlier than we did...)

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We just got off the Grand early this month. We had thought about getting transfers to SFO as we live very close to the airport, but we did not. We ended up wishing we had.

For us, it was traffic. The amount of time it took to go one block on Embarcadero and through the Pier's parking lot was ridiculous, both going and coming home. We were glad a family member was driving; it would have driven me crazy if a meter were running in a cab the whole time.

When trying to get into the port for the beginning of the cruise, we asked why we were not moving and were told the line of cars was being held because they were behind on handling luggage. This made the line of cars extend all the way into Embarcadero, back for at least a complete block including through a traffic light. Those that walked up or were in a bus that made it to the lot entry were allowed to go without waiting. Meaning more luggage to catch up on.

If I were to take a cab, I'd do a bit more research and find a place a block or two (or three!) away to be dropped off and walk the rest of the way.

I don't know if Lyft or Uber charge for time or only distance.

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If she was screaming and making that much noise, he must have been hitting the right spot.

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Many hotels have now included a "resort fee" that is like the auto tips that is found on the cruise line. My last conference was a four night affair, resort fee of $25 per day, and a resort fee tax of $1.63 and a resort fee occupancy tax of $1.50. I did not tip those who made up my bed or cleaned my room, nor did I tip the bellman who called for my cab (I would have if I hadn't been paying this resort fee). I paid $112.52 in total for four nights. I will not complain about the tips on the cruise line per day.

Is the hotel resort fee given to the employees? I thought it was another charge that was made by the hotel and was simply income for the hotel.

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I once saw a man with large breasts, lift one up with one hand, and the other hand popped his boils. He then proceeded to smell his fingers and wipe the blood/puss on trunks. When he was done with both breasts, went in the pool.

 

How's that for ruining your pool time!

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It’s not pie. Your piece will not be smaller because she got some too. Get over it.

Based on other threads I've read, the pie does get smaller. Evidently there are way too many Elites resulting in Elites having to wait to board, disembark, for tenders, and for laundry to be returned.

Perhaps Elites should have to identify how they obtained the status level and be subranked accordingly?

Geesh.

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You can stop speculating.

 

Just open the before and after deck plans side by side.

 

The only difference is some Oceanview cabins on Emerald deck forward are being reclassified as Obstructed View.

 

That is all. No cabins are being moved to a higher category. A fact that could have been ascertained from the deck plans in less time than it takes to start this thread.

 

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Most likely to strip more money from passagers by changing storeroom categories. Such as making some more OVER PRICRED mini suites called Club Class.

In other threads, people have indicated they have had to wait for seating even though they are Club Class. Might be a problem to add more unless Princess has gotten it together on this. Or, maybe that hasn't been a problem on Grand? Or, maybe they are reducing the number of Club Class?

Or it has nothing to do with any of this! Here I go speculating again...

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I’m going on the Grand ON April 7th and I’ve studied the two sets of deck plans carefully. I can see no difference, so I think the other responders must be right-it’s just cabin reclassification.

 

P.S. I’m a semantics freak, but I can’t figure out which one of the plans applies to my cruise. I’m not really “sailing between now and April 7th” or “sailing after April 7th”, I’m sailing ON April 7th. It confused me! Lol

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[emoji813]eyes:

 

No one in my house does either. I just went to the Walmart and looked at watches they start at $5. I was able to snag one on Clarence for $3.

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Hmm. So it could be as simple as changing which cabins are club class, for example? Different demand characteristics? I think this might be about the same time Grand changes from Hawaii to Alaska...but did not check that.

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When viewing the deck plan for the Grand Princess on Princess.com, after selecting Grand, there is a window that says, "In order to present the correct deck plan, please tell us when you plan to sail:

"Sailing between now and April 07, 2018

"Sailing after April 07, 2018"

Does anyone know what is going on here? Are deck plan changes happening on the Grand on April 7, 2018?

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Interior Guarantee to Large Oceanview. Did not really think they would upgrade interior cabin at the rate we booked at. Thanks RCL

Wow!

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Preferred boarding is often "not so preferred" boarding :). The reason is that many folks on the ship qualify for preferred boarding including those in suites, club class, as well as Platinum and higher Captain's Club. On some cruises it seems like there are more "priority" then not.

 

We have actually checked-in for some cruisers where the priority lines were longer then the regular lines....so we simply put ourselves in the regular line. This issue is not unique to Princess. Quite a few mass market lines have "dumbed down" the meaning of "priority" since we assume that their marketing folks determined that many folks are impressed if they get "priority."

 

Hank

I must admit that I am impressed/happy if I am told that I am getting priority. But if the provider fails to deliver after making this promise/offer/whatever, the resulting negative feelings are significantly more than they would have been were the promise/offer simply never made to begin with.

I've got to believe that in the long run, this is a marketing strategy doomed for failure.

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Why do so many Americans waltz around the world thinking US law is applicable? You see this not only on cruise ships but on land in other countries.

Before you ask: yes, I am an American.

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