SWORRUB1

 

Instead of fixing an ongoing problem that has plagued the AT dining rooms for years by discontinuing reservations altogether they're going to make the problem worse than ever. :mad:

I believe this move will drive everyone to TD dining...if you can get it.

There is only one sensible solution, Anytime Dining needs to be turn up and get in if you can or be given a pager. Reservations in ATD will not work as others have pointed out, as capacity is taken up by empty places.

I know that in the current case it looks as though the offer was withdrawn, and feel sorry for those affected but in my opinion the only choices that should be available are TD 2 fixed seating options or Anytime on a first come first served basis. We like 1900H but if we have to wait until 1930H who really cares? It wont ruin our holiday!

We were on this cruise a few weeks ago at the same time as Shogun. The weather in Stavanger was very similar to yours but we were very lucky and that was the only wet day we had, apart from a bit of drizzle in Bergen when we were back on the ship anyway. Very sorry that you have to miss Flaam but hope you make all the other ports. It is a lovely cruise. Emerald is my favourite Princess ship (though I haven't tried Royal or Regal yet). There has obviously been a very recent change of Captain, ours was Martin Stenzel.

Captain Kent joined the Emerald on the 23rd of July. He has only been on it 3 more days than me! hahahaha

We just got back from an Emerald Princess Mediterranean cruise and if this was amongst our first Princess cruises there's no doubt we wouldn't be back.

 

The ship had in excess of 3600 guests according to the cruise director, which is around 500 more than the normal capacity declared by Princess. Boy did it show.

 

For the first time ever for us the ability to call and reserve a table on the day was withdrawn for Anytime Diners. This despite all Princess brochures and ads (including bizarrely those on board) trumpeting the feature. Waiting lines were 30 minutes plus just to get a pager; the additional wait was then never less than another 30 minutes and some nights was 90. The reason was clear: nearly all the tables were re-arranged to be for 10 or 12, and staff pushed (a little too hard for many people's liking) the idea of sharing. Fine if you like it, an imposition if you don't.

 

After 3 nights of this, again for the first time ever for us, we gave up and went to the buffet. So did several hundred others, with the result that it too became unworkable, with the servery area so crowded the crew couldn't refill the shelves. In the end people were taking their main meal at the pizza or burger bar, sometimes even in formal gear. What a joke.

 

.

I was on the same cruise. It is true that the first night and the first formal night were difficult indeed, with a queue (line) from 1900H or so. After that we experienced no problems sat on a shared table for 7 nights and didnt share for the other seven. One of the problems on the first nights was the amount of tables that were reserved for a specific time. The line grew and grew outside but we sat with 10 tables to our left unoccupied presumably because they were booked for a specific time. This is no fault of the Customers as they are promised the ability to book, but it did seem very silly to us to have empty tables whilst hungry people stood around. Perhaps anytime needs modifying to when you turn up only. Being a three obviously helped as we had a choice of 2 2 tables pushed together, a 4 table or just sharing at an 8 or 10, we experienced no real issues in waiting times but I am sure others did. In essence I wouldnt describe it as a shambles, but on the other hand I wasnt really affected. Turned up at about 1845-1900H every night.

It would seem that the booking was disguarded to help the general flow and I would say that it worked.

As I understand it, most credit cards issued by US banks these days are "chip and signature", rather than "chip and PIN", as issued by European banks, Canadian banks, (and now by a few US banks).

 

If you have a chip and signature card, you can ask for a PIN, but it won't turn your card into a chip and PIN card. The PIN won't be used during credit card transactions, but only for things like a cash advance from an ATM.

 

Maybe someone who works for a US bank could clarify this for me?

All seems a little weird to me, what could be easier than remembering a PIN number and using it instead of signing. I would also insist on a photo on the card which seems a sensible extra security precaution. Didnt realise that even if you get a PIN on a US card that you still had to sign in person.

It is still good to be able to get local currency out of an ATM though rather than having to worry about Bankers hours! Stavanger on a Sunday was one of my first calls on a particular cruise! It is fair to say it was quiet!

:confused:

Do I really need to put a PIN on my credit card??? :confused:

 

I'm about to leave for a 14 day Baltic Cruise on the Emerald Princess. I have 2credit cards that I am bringing and both are chipped cards (& no foreign transaction fees) but do not have associated PINs.

 

I had researched a couple of months ago whether or not to have one of them with a PIN. After reading many points of view, it seemed pretty split on the subject. So now I am checking in one more time to see if anyone has recently returned from the Baltics with any new insight.

 

Thank you in advance! :D

Almost all transactions in Baltic are by PIN number not signature.(on the other hand I didnt try to sign because there was never a need!) Once you have a PIN of course you can then get money out of Automatic Teller machines that I have done successfully in Stavanger, Tallin, Helsinki Warnemunde, Stockholm and Copenhagen. Why wouldnt you get a PIN?

I had a look at my account and we can buy blocks of credit at up to £70 a time but it doesn`t show what you will get in dollars. I am scared to do it in case I get a rubbish exchange rate.

Refer to post 67, or ring them up,, and I am sure they will confirm the amount of $ you will get for GBP16.25/32.50/65, or whatever is applicable to your Sailing/booking time.

I have also checked this morning and for my cruise (as shown below and booked in Jan 2016) you still getl $100 for GBP65 or if you prefer 1GBP=$1.5384)

Thanks Brian, Reanne and everyone else who chipped in. I understand now.

Prepaying the gratuities is a no brainer too.

 

Isn't Cruise Critic just great.

 

Peter

The tricky bit is estimating how much you are actually going to spend, in cash, however as you can get the $ back in cash (so it seems by trawling through Princess section of CC) its actually a no brainer, especially if you are planning hols in the future that will require US$!

I have never paid for my excursions in advance. The tickets were waiting in our cabin when we boarded. They were charged on our account.

 

But why pay in advance:confused:

If you have GBP its a very good idea to pay in advance or Purchase OBC as the exchange rate is $1.538/GBP at present as opposed to $1.36 at the current rate!:mad:

The Personalizer amounts are usually in units of $25, $50 and $100.

The webpage doesnt make it clear. The amounts that you can purchase in GBP are in blocks of $25, $50 and $100, the webpage shows GBP16.25.GBP32.50 or GBP65.00, which equate to the $ amounts shown above. (It doesn't however show the $ equivilent)

I purchased USD 1500 yesterday to pay for our excursions.

Thanks to the CC member who pointed out that the exchange rate for OBC (and indeed anything else you purchase for on board) is $1.538 as long as you do it before you go!. I would suspect (but dont know) that accounts settled in GBP will not get this exchange rate!

Just noticed in the Personalizer that most excursions are on sale for 10% off.

 

Thanks for the info saved USD140 for 10 mins work!:)

,Hi,we got 1.66 last year also for our christmas cruise.As I said its locked in for the year.Also our prepaid grats are at this rate.If there is any excess to pay on portfolio we use a Santander Zero credit card which gives money market rates with no fees.This card is no longer issued,but once had it they continue to renew it.I think Halifax do an equivelant,cheers,Brian. ps I didnt know you can now do this online,we had to phone our guy at Princess for the OBC.

Thanks Brian I was so amazed at the answer that I didnt really read the bit about validity. Its super, can pay bits off now as I go along. I have a Halifax Clarity Card as you mentioned above, pay some into the account before you leave and it costs you nothing to extract cash all over the world! Worked in Tallin pefectly , and Bergen and Stavanger! If you have any credit left when you get back just use it to buy the groceries hahahahaha :D

Good ideas, I notice that the AIBP confirms exactly that rate $56.35 and GBP36.63 which when I went to school, equates to an Exchange rate of $1.5384 =1GBP.

Excellent Stuff!

:)

Any ideas how long that this rate is valid for? Is it until end 2016?

Also tried OBC and that is GB16.25 for $25.00!

I have opted to pay my on board account in US$.

I can pre-pay for grats, and Beverage packages in GBP , but not it would seem Excursions, anyone got any ideas?

One last question I have

- Is there a bar in Cellar Masters (Millennium) from the pictures it looks like there is not. Is serviced by staff who run and get what you want?

 

thanks for all the great info on this thread.

Experienced the same sort of thing on Eclipse, seemed to run out to a different bar to get what we wanted, but on the other hand we did get a cider that wasnt in the classic because they were out of stock, they fetched another of the lack of an alternative????????

We are transplants from Liverpool back in 1967 but still Reds Fans!

 

Why are West Brom called Baggies ?

2 theories on that.

In the 'olden' days the turnstile operators walked around the pitch and people used to say here come the Baggies ( ie the bags of cash!) and it was misunderstood, however the more likely is that we were one of the last Teams to switch from the very long shorts in the 60's, hence we became known as 'The Baggies' They then made a come back and now are getting shorter again!

The actual nickname is the Throstles!, but everyone round here calls them The Baggies!:confused:

We are up for a relegation for The Villa Party on Saturday, should happen (just) before we kick off!

I claim the Fifth Amendment ! BTW do you support Leicester City ?

West Bromwich Albion actually but most fans of the none big clubs want Leicester to do iit.I was a little upset that they couldn't beat us 5 games ago!:)

Hmmm I was thinking about that - is it 'sharing' if I charge the Mojito to AIBP but drink the beer ? Will I get caught ?;)

Of course its sharing but you will only get caught if you put it in print on a Cruise message board. (the last bit is a joke!, hahaha)

Yes, would be good to know all of that there in early August ( or late July cant remember!)

Sorry, but I don't follow that logic.

 

With a drinks package every hour is happy hour :D

Sorry yes I quoted the wrong post.

Try my reply in response to this post.

Are you saying that drinks are more expensive during happy hour?

Miserable hour if the drinks are more expensive!

$1 for the second drink, I think.

 

We had the drinks package so happy hour was irrelevant to us.

Perhaps it should be renamed the miserable hour hahahahahahaha

 

 

 

.why can't cruises from the UK be treated in a similar fashion using local currency, GBP Sterling, for charges to onboard accounts

 

_________________________________-

 

For us one of the attractions is paying in Dollars, on holiday as soon as you get on the ship!, just imagine the amount of reprinting pricelists and reprogramming computers it would take. Impractical!

Hi all

 

Thinking of doing the 14 day Scandanavian and Russian cruise sailing from Southampton next july.

 

To those who already have, what were the highlights of your trip? Would you recommend it? Do you have any tips or pearls of wisdom you'd care to share? :)

 

Thanks in advance.

Try this

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2082721

Would you be able to get O'Douls on the premium non-alcohol package?

Sounds as though it should be doesn't it!, but sorry I have no idea, as I have no experience of either. Someone will though and I bet its already been covered, use the search facility on the Forum for O'Douls!

Also the attachment may be of use

Bev Package FAQ.pdf

Would my wife be able to get a Becks Blue 0% Alcohol beer (or any other non-alcohol beer) while on the Reflection? If so, which bars would stock this?

O'Douls is available across the fleet.

Its not in the classic package, its prices dicatates its in the premium package

It was available at all bars on Eclipse, and if not they would fetch it for you.

It just needs to be somewhere on the ship.