Advice and Tips from a Princess Representative

[sghetrick]

Over the past couple of weeks I have been reading different tips and/or questions from everyone. Today I spoke with Kathleen from Princess and she had some great advice and information. Here's what I've learned:

 

1. Complimentary upgrades - during the booking process you can elect to keep your room and turn down any free upgrades. About a month ago Princess also created a new choice for this option." I believe she called it a "Meta upgrade" (hope it's the right spelling). A Meta is a specific block of rooms (i.e. Mini-suites, Balcony, etc.). If you like your room but would be interested in upgrading to the next Meta you can elect this option instead of just turning down all possible upgrades. For example, we have a mini-suite booked for our upcoming cruise but would love to be given a full suite. Warning: Not all agents will know about this but if you ask to speak to a supervisor they will know about it :)

 

2. Ultimate Balcony Breakfast - We are interested in the balcony breakfast but I was inquiring because my husband and I are vegetarians. Princess does offer different options to meet the needs of the guests. Kathleen did mention that the sample menu was posted on the Princess website before but it has been taken down.

 

3. Vegetarian Options - I was the 2nd person to recently ask about the vegetarian options offered by Princess. I have reviewed the sample menus and am content with the offerings. Kathleen did tell me though that if you speak to your waiter there is a separate vegetarian menu available.

 

4. Hard Liquor - Okay the actual Princess rules are that you can bring aboard one bottle of wine or champagne per person but not hard liquor. I know we have all read each others stories about how it's not a problem but for those who are nervous you can also purchase liquor from Princess gift department. Another option is to purchase any bottle of liquour / wine from any of the bars. They will also have openers and glasses you can bring back to your cabin.

 

5. On board cruise bookings - If you book your next cruise while on the ship you will get an on board credit. The part I didn't know about is that the deposit is good for 4 years and if you still don't complete a booking your money will be refunded to you.

[Rob & Beckys mom]

Another option is to purchase any bottle of liquour / wine from any of the bars. They will also have openers and glasses you can bring back to your cabin.

 

 

Purchasing a bottle of liquor from a bar used to be an option, but not for some time. Glasses etc, yes.

 

Jan

[Aruba]

Could the word have been mega-upgrade?

[Toto2Kansas]

Over the past couple of weeks I have been reading different tips and/or questions from everyone. Today I spoke with Kathleen from Princess and she had some great advice and information. Here's what I've learned:

 

1. Complimentary upgrades - during the booking process you can elect to keep your room and turn down any free upgrades. About a month ago Princess also created a new choice for this option." I believe she called it a "Meta upgrade" (hope it's the right spelling). A Meta is a specific block of rooms (i.e. Mini-suites, Balcony, etc.). If you like your room but would be interested in upgrading to the next Meta you can elect this option instead of just turning down all possible upgrades. For example, we have a mini-suite booked for our upcoming cruise but would love to be given a full suite. Warning: Not all agents will know about this but if you ask to speak to a supervisor they will know about it :)

 

2. Ultimate Balcony Breakfast - We are interested in the balcony breakfast but I was inquiring because my husband and I are vegetarians. Princess does offer different options to meet the needs of the guests. Kathleen did mention that the sample menu was posted on the Princess website before but it has been taken down.

 

3. Vegetarian Options - I was the 2nd person to recently ask about the vegetarian options offered by Princess. I have reviewed the sample menus and am content with the offerings. Kathleen did tell me though that if you speak to your waiter there is a separate vegetarian menu available.

 

4. Hard Liquor - Okay the actual Princess rules are that you can bring aboard one bottle of wine or champagne per person but not hard liquor. I know we have all read each others stories about how it's not a problem but for those who are nervous you can also purchase liquor from Princess gift department. Another option is to purchase any bottle of liquour / wine from any of the bars. They will also have openers and glasses you can bring back to your cabin.

 

5. On board cruise bookings - If you book your next cruise while on the ship you will get an on board credit. The part I didn't know about is that the deposit is good for 4 years and if you still don't complete a booking your money will be refunded to you.

 

Am I understanding correctly that you were given this information today from a supervisor at Princess? If so, you are getting some incorrect info. You can not purchase a bottle of liquor from any bar onboard, and haven't been able to for several years.

 

And I am questioning the upgrade information she supplied????

 

When provided information from someone that is supposed to know what they are talking about at Princess, and misinformation is being passed along by them, I then question a lot of the advice they gave to you. yes, some of it is correct, but I question those two points I mentioned above as I know for a fact the bottle of liquor purchased from a bar is not accurate.

[Pam in CA]

I've known about #2 and #5 for years, but have never heard of a special vegetarian menu. Whenever I've been seated with a vegetarian, they've been offered the next night's menu to look at and get something modified. Or, they can order something from a previous night's menu.

 

FYI, with regards to #5, if you book a cruise while onboard, you are essentially purchasing an FCC as your deposit and thus would get the OBC. This has been the case for years.

 

Like Toto, I question the accuracy of what you were told for #1 and #4. From what I understand, the Princess booking system automatically sets all bookings at "Will accept upgrade." That's the default so unless the booker specifically requests otherwise, that's what your booking will be set to. If you don't want it, your booking is set to "No upgrade." It's a "Yes/No" or "On/Off" option without qualifiers. That might have changed but I have yet to hear from my TA or anyone else that the system has been modified. This may be the case but I kind of doubt it.

[veggie59]

Maybe it is new this week (would be nice).....but I just got off the Emerald on Wednesday and there was no vegetarian menu offered. There was usually 1 or 2 options on the regular menu.....most were not really vegetarian unless you ate eggs and chicken stock.

[caribill]

3. Vegetarian Options - I was the 2nd person to recently ask about the vegetarian options offered by Princess. I have reviewed the sample menus and am content with the offerings. Kathleen did tell me though that if you speak to your waiter there is a separate vegetarian menu available.

 

 

Totally do not believe the rep on this one.

 

My wife is a vegetarian and always meets with the headwaiter each evening to plan the next day's selections from the regular menu. If a vegetarian menu really existed, why would the headwaiter on numerous Princess cruises never mention it or show it?

[caribill]

There was usually 1 or 2 options on the regular menu.....most were not really vegetarian unless you ate eggs and chicken stock.

 

Many of the items made with chicken stock (or beef stock) can be specially made without that if arranged the evening before with the headwaiter.

 

As far as eggs:

 

When most people think of vegetarians, they think of lacto-ovo-vegetarians. People who do not eat beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but do eat eggs and dairy products are lacto-ovo vegetarians (“lacto” comes from the Latin for milk, and “ovo” for egg).

 

Lacto-vegetarian is used to describe a vegetarian who does not eat eggs, but does eat dairy products. Ovo-vegetarian refers to people who do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/tp/TypesofVeg.htm

[Cruisin' Chick]

The question that formed inside my head while reading the first post is: What position does this person hold at Princess? It is a big company and as many of us have discovered from talking to both CSRs and personnel onboard the ships is that there is a lot of misinformation even for their employees.

[jomf]

We bought the bucket of Bud and asked for a bottle opener so we could open them when we wanted. They would not give us one! Said that we had to go to the bar each time or have them all opened immediately.

We managed to get an opener from our cabin steward, not a good one (made for wine not beer bottles).

So I would suggest that you take a bottle opener yourself if you like a beer in your cabin.

[spongerob]

Oh dear, we have fallen a long way if the skills needed to open a beer without an opener are no longer part of the rites of passage for young men these days.

 

In the pre-twist-off days a clever person could find at least a dozen objects within easy reach to open a beer. The easiest, of course, is another beer, and when you get to the last one you just pound a cap back onto a bottle and use that. Where there is a will, there's a way. :D

[hollon]

Over the past couple of weeks I have been reading different tips and/or questions from everyone. Today I spoke with Kathleen from Princess and she had some great advice and information. Here's what I've learned:

 

1. Complimentary upgrades - during the booking process you can elect to keep your room and turn down any free upgrades. About a month ago Princess also created a new choice for this option." I believe she called it a "Meta upgrade" (hope it's the right spelling). A Meta is a specific block of rooms (i.e. Mini-suites, Balcony, etc.). If you like your room but would be interested in upgrading to the next Meta you can elect this option instead of just turning down all possible upgrades. For example, we have a mini-suite booked for our upcoming cruise but would love to be given a full suite. Warning: Not all agents will know about this but if you ask to speak to a supervisor they will know about it :)

 

2. Ultimate Balcony Breakfast - We are interested in the balcony breakfast but I was inquiring because my husband and I are vegetarians. Princess does offer different options to meet the needs of the guests. Kathleen did mention that the sample menu was posted on the Princess website before but it has been taken down.

 

3. Vegetarian Options - I was the 2nd person to recently ask about the vegetarian options offered by Princess. I have reviewed the sample menus and am content with the offerings. Kathleen did tell me though that if you speak to your waiter there is a separate vegetarian menu available.

 

4. Hard Liquor - Okay the actual Princess rules are that you can bring aboard one bottle of wine or champagne per person but not hard liquor. I know we have all read each others stories about how it's not a problem but for those who are nervous you can also purchase liquor from Princess gift department. Another option is to purchase any bottle of liquour / wine from any of the bars. They will also have openers and glasses you can bring back to your cabin.

 

5. On board cruise bookings - If you book your next cruise while on the ship you will get an on board credit. The part I didn't know about is that the deposit is good for 4 years and if you still don't complete a booking your money will be refunded to you.

I have a question, I have a balcony booked for alaska, I can only upgrade for free if I get offered an upgrade, is that correct?

[sghetrick]

I confirmed it with another agent last night that it is called a Meta upgrade. It's only been in place for the past month. The person I spoke to was Kathleen, from other posts she appears to be Passenger Relations Specialist. I then called back spoke to another agent, who in turn spoke to a supervisor- unfortunately I didn't ask about the other "tips" but the Meta upgrade is true.

[sghetrick]

 

That has been the case in the past, If you accept a free upgrade you will likely only get the next category up from your room i.e. BB to BA. Princess now allows you to state that you will accept an upgrade but only if it's a Meta upgrade. When I spoke to the 2nd agent he didn't know about this nor did his help desk however, when I asked to speak to a supervisor they informed him it was true and how to identify it in our reservation.

[sghetrick]

Am I understanding correctly that you were given this information today from a supervisor at Princess? If so, you are getting some incorrect info. You can not purchase a bottle of liquor from any bar onboard, and haven't been able to for several years.

 

And I am questioning the upgrade information she supplied????

 

When provided information from someone that is supposed to know what they are talking about at Princess, and misinformation is being passed along by them, I then question a lot of the advice they gave to you. yes, some of it is correct, but I question those two points I mentioned above as I know for a fact the bottle of liquor purchased from a bar is not accurate.

 

 

I do find it frustrating that I was given this information yesterday from the staff of the cruiseline that apparently is inaccurate.

[flamomo]

Is this "meta-upgrade" complimentary, or would you have to pay the difference in fares?

[JNB]

#4 is also incorrect as the wine/champage "tip". The cruise contract/answer book (always the best place to go) used to say 2 bottles per person to celebrate a special occasion. It now says the following:

 

ALCOHOL POLICY FROM ANSWER PLACE

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/onboard/experience.jsp

 

We kindly request that you do not bring alcoholic beverages (other than wine and/or champagne) onboard for consumption.

 

Alcoholic beverages sourced from shore-side and brought onboard, no matter where sourced, will be collected at the gangway for safekeeping and will be delivered to the passenger's stateroom on the last day of the cruise.

 

A member of the ship's security staff will be at the gangway to assist passengers with the storage of their alcoholic beverage purchases. The only exception to the above rule, is that passengers are permitted to bring one bottle of wine and/or champagne per person purchased in a shoreside location onboard. If the wine and/or champagne is brought to the dining room for consumption, a $15.00 per bottle corkage fee will be applied to the passenger's shipboard account. We prefer that passengers bring wine/champagne no larger than 750ml, however, magnums are acceptable. Wine in a box is not encouraged.

 

Passengers are also permitted to consume the wine and/or champagne in the privacy of their stateroom only, but it may not be brought into any public lounge for consumption.

 

Please note that any wines and champagnes supplied from the ship's stock to passengers would not be subject to a corkage fee.

[sghetrick]

#4 is also incorrect as the wine/champage "tip". The cruise contract/answer book (always the best place to go) used to say 2 bottles per person to celebrate a special occasion. It now says the following:

 

ALCOHOL POLICY FROM ANSWER PLACE

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/onboard/experience.jsp

 

We kindly request that you do not bring alcoholic beverages (other than wine and/or champagne) onboard for consumption.

 

Alcoholic beverages sourced from shore-side and brought onboard, no matter where sourced, will be collected at the gangway for safekeeping and will be delivered to the passenger's stateroom on the last day of the cruise.

 

A member of the ship's security staff will be at the gangway to assist passengers with the storage of their alcoholic beverage purchases. The only exception to the above rule, is that passengers are permitted to bring one bottle of wine and/or champagne per person purchased in a shoreside location onboard. If the wine and/or champagne is brought to the dining room for consumption, a $15.00 per bottle corkage fee will be applied to the passenger's shipboard account. We prefer that passengers bring wine/champagne no larger than 750ml, however, magnums are acceptable. Wine in a box is not encouraged.

 

Passengers are also permitted to consume the wine and/or champagne in the privacy of their stateroom only, but it may not be brought into any public lounge for consumption.

 

Please note that any wines and champagnes supplied from the ship's stock to passengers would not be subject to a corkage fee.

 

I did say you were only allowed to bring on one bottle of wine/champagne per person. The inaccurate information is apparently in regards to purchasing hard liquor on board at a bar to bring to your room.

[sghetrick]

Is this "meta-upgrade" complimentary, or would you have to pay the difference in fares?

 

It is part of the complimentary upgrade policy.

[Toto2Kansas]

It is part of the complimentary upgrade policy.

 

I think I will wait for the jury to come back on this one and see if there are other reports about this in the next few weeks.

For me, when a CSR (even a supervisor) puts out false information on one topic (or multiple topics in this case), I question the rest of their information. Call me a skeptic, but I have read other reports from supervisors that are totally off the wall in the past.

This link takes you to the written word on upgrades straight from Princess, we will have to see if things change in the near future when it comes to some of these listed claims that you were told. ;)

https://book.princess.com/html/tapres/auto_upgrade_content.html

 

Thanks for posting what Princess shared with you, but the old saying is "don't believe everything Princess CSR's tell you, or even their supervisors". ;)

[sghetrick]

I think I will wait for the jury to come back on this one and see if there are other reports about this in the next few weeks.

For me, when a CSR (even a supervisor) puts out false information on one topic (or multiple topics in this case), I question the rest of their information. Call me a skeptic, but I have read other reports from supervisors that are totally off the wall in the past.

This link takes you to the written word on upgrades straight from Princess, we will have to see if things change in the near future when it comes to some of these listed claims that you were told. ;)

https://book.princess.com/html/tapres/auto_upgrade_content.html

 

Thanks for posting what Princess shared with you, but the old saying is "don't believe everything Princess CSR's tell you, or even their supervisors". ;)

 

Totally understandable! If I do get upgraded I'll let everyone know the results. I also wanted to thank you for your kind words, up until your post I was saddened that I tried to help others and ended up feeling like I had to defend myself.

[DougH]

Oh dear, we have fallen a long way if the skills needed to open a beer without an opener are no longer part of the rites of passage for young men these days.

 

In the pre-twist-off days a clever person could find at least a dozen objects within easy reach to open a beer. The easiest, of course, is another beer, and when you get to the last one you just pound a cap back onto a bottle and use that. Where there is a will, there's a way. :D

 

LOL That sure does bring back memories :) A long forgotten skill...........

[Toto2Kansas]

Totally understandable! If I do get upgraded I'll let everyone know the results. I also wanted to thank you for your kind words, up until your post I was saddened that I tried to help others and ended up feeling like I had to defend myself.

 

Sometimes we forget that in type, it's impossible to show emotion, and posts can come off crueler than intended . We can question the message passed along, but shouldn't shoot the messenger who delivered it. ;)

[veggie59]

Many of the items made with chicken stock (or beef stock) can be specially made without that if arranged the evening before with the headwaiter.

 

As far as eggs:

 

When most people think of vegetarians, they think of lacto-ovo-vegetarians. People who do not eat beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but do eat eggs and dairy products are lacto-ovo vegetarians (“lacto” comes from the Latin for milk, and “ovo” for egg).

 

Lacto-vegetarian is used to describe a vegetarian who does not eat eggs, but does eat dairy products. Ovo-vegetarian refers to people who do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/tp/TypesofVeg.htm

 

Thanks...I know about the different types of vegetarians as I have been one for over 37 years. My point was that they list things that are made with eggs as well as soups made with chicken stock as being vegetarian. Just an FYI for fellow vegetarians.

[CZEE]

I was saddened that I tried to help others and ended up feeling like I had to defend myself.

 

Pls don't feel that way. Some folks who post have a long history with cruising and will voice their skepticism. Questioning the content is not an attack on you. It's always useful to hear what the cruise lines' customer support staff are telling customers. Sometimes it's different each time the question is asked.