Princess Secrets they Don't Tell You - 2013 version

[Griller]

Hi

For the Uk readers of this post , where can my father obtain a record of his national service 53 - 55 to get the OBC , any info appreciated , thank you

 

http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/service_records.html

 

But do not expect very much information, the British Army kept very little in service records for most of its personnel, mine was not much but was sufficient to receive the OBC from Princess and Cunard.

 

Also - this is not normally a quick process. Mine took a few months, and meanwhile I received several apologetic letters from them saying they were very busy.

 

I hope you find this useful information.

[MGnut]

Thought I'd follow up with my experience. I BOUGHT the stock and faxed the request last Friday. Since we fly out in 3 days, I called them this morning to follow up. They could not have been nicer or given any better customer service than I received. I was told it is no problem doing this with less than 14 days, they just wanted to make sure I was taken care of and a happy customer/stockholder. They even questioned if my husband had military service so they could give us another $250 more in OBC (unfortunately he is not).

 

Thank you everyone for their input on this. I am so happy that I went ahead and purchased stock to get the OBC on our upcoming voyage. Guess the 14 day advance is not a rule, just a guideline. Wish I would have done this years ago!

 

That's great news, and nice to see that Princess can handle issues quickly. :)

 

Howard

[chamima]

Thought I'd follow up with my experience. I BOUGHT the stock and faxed the request last Friday. Since we fly out in 3 days, I called them this morning to follow up. They could not have been nicer or given any better customer service than I received. I was told it is no problem doing this with less than 14 days, they just wanted to make sure I was taken care of and a happy customer/stockholder. They even questioned if my husband had military service so they could give us another $250 more in OBC (unfortunately he is not).

 

Thank you everyone for their input on this. I am so happy that I went ahead and purchased stock to get the OBC on our upcoming voyage. Guess the 14 day advance is not a rule, just a guideline. Wish I would have done this years ago!

 

 

 

Thanks for letting us know.

It's always nice to know that something good happens!

[zetalove08]

Thanks for the all the tips!! I'm making lots of mental notes to remember everything for my first princess cruise that is coming up. :)

[Astro Flyer]

We were able to exchange our mini bar set up for a few bottles of wine.

 

Were you elite in a suite with 2 mini-bar setups or sailing b2b with multiple mini-bars because it's currently 1 bottle of wine (limited selection) in exchange for the complete mini-bar.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=271055&d=1368407263

[Kenswing]

Thank you so much for posting this! My DH served in the USMC and this will be a big help to our budget.:)

I too am a former Marine and got a $50 credit on two short (a 1 day and a 3 day) cruises last week. We treated ourselves to the Crown Grill.

 

On longer cruises the credit is more.

 

Everytime I fill out the post cruise survey I thank Princess for their acknowledgement of us vets..

[culvercitycruiser]

Do you bring your own laundry washing power and softner or buy it on the ship?

[yoyosma]

Sorry, wrong thread.

 

But I do bring my own, usually Purex sheets which are soap and softener. I bring a few extra softener sheets as well. The new pods from Tide and others might work really well for travel as well.

Edited May 15, 2013 by yoyosma

[bes391]

Is it worth to purchase the 100share just to get the credit? And how does one go about it, like where do you get them. I have never noticed any info about them on the Princess website nor did our TA ever mentioned the option.

 

Now back to the tips. You can use the free greetingcard on the Princess website while on board to send short emails to family and friends. This was still the case last June.

 

Theo

 

Totally worth it in my opinion. The dividends you get are better than interest on the same amount of money in a savings account. You get the onboard credit. When we are too old to cruise we will just sell the stock. Hopefully at a profit then.

[culvercitycruiser]

Someone posted the question, "What ships are in port with you?" Others replied with the sites below.

 

http://ports.cruisett.com/

 

http://ships.cruisett.com/

 

I really liked it. One spot to find out what ships are there with you. A week ago, I did it by hand, looking at each port's website. This just gives it to you in one place.

[GweninTX]

2 things I learned on our most recent cruise on the Golden - the ice cream shop serves sugar free ice cream - a new flavor every day! My husband is diabetic and this was a GREAT find for us - it is scooped by hand and the strawberry and chocolate were really good! I also learned that the great crew at the IC will make you a fruit and cheese plate even if they do not have any currently showing in their case. I went down about 4:00 one day and the sweet crew member asked what I wanted and I said that I guessed I would have to walk to the HC as I wanted some fruit and cheese to have with a glass of wine in our room. He said - no problem, went to the back of his kitchen and made me a lovely plate with 3 kinds of cheese, some beautiful grapes and packaged crackers (like Ritz)! Needless to say I wrote up a card immediately for his wonderful service!

[Jules59]

Is the IC open 24 hours a day?

[OCruisers]

Is the IC open 24 hours a day?

 

:D Yes! :D

 

LuLu

~~~~

[SeagoingMom]

Remember, the OBC for shareholders applies across the whole of Carnival Corp. and not just Princess.

 

If you have your 100 shares, you get shareholders OBC on ALL Carnival brands which include HAL, Cunard, Carnival and Seabourn (US dollars), P&O (Sterling) and Costa (Euros).

 

However, it is poor investment policy to purchase shares on a short term basis (risk of short term movements should not be ignored) just for OBC and you must remember that shares can go down in value losing you more than your the value of your OBC benefit.

 

Having said that, if you regularly take two cruises a year, then the ROI is very attractive. I paid around 40% more for my shares (in 2006), than they are worth today, but the benefits and dividends mean that even if I sold at a loss today, they would have delivered a return in excess of 7% per annum. Not outstanding, but equally not unacceptable.

 

Wow, to describe a return of 7% per annum, in the current economy, as "not outstanding, but equally not unacceptible..." is remarkable. Sounds like a fabulous return to me!! :) I guess I had better look into that! ;) Cheers!

[SeagoingMom]

 

On sea days, we never set an alarm clock (nothing worse than having to set an alarm for just room service delivery).

 

... if I discover they will deliver bacon. We try to eat "light" for breakfast. LOL

 

Sue from Fairfield, CA

 

Oooh, but there is nothing like being awakened by the knock on the door of room service delivering BACON to your cabin !! ;)

Edited May 16, 2013 by SeagoingMom

[SeagoingMom]

ooops, duplicate posting, how do I delete???

Edited May 16, 2013 by SeagoingMom

[jpthomas27]

Wow, to describe a return of 7% per annum, in the current economy, as "not outstanding, but equally not unacceptible..." is remarkable. Sounds like a fabulous return to me!! :) I guess I had better look into that! ;) Cheers!

 

Agreed!

 

Not to mention, at the very worst, if you take 1 cruise a year and simply count your $100 OBC as your only return on your $3500 investment then you are still getting almost a 3% return.

 

No one is going to get rich on a 3% ROI but it's 3 times more that you will get on a simple saving account so it's not exactly a waste, just take a little out of your sub 1% savings account and put it here instead.

[afiremansflame]

I too am a former Marine and got a $50 credit on two short (a 1 day and a 3 day) cruises last week. We treated ourselves to the Crown Grill.

 

On longer cruises the credit is more.

 

Everytime I fill out the post cruise survey I thank Princess for their acknowledgement of us vets..

 

That's a great idea, I'll have to remember to acknowledge it as well.

[Mara4166]

Agreed!

 

Not to mention, at the very worst, if you take 1 cruise a year and simply count your $100 OBC as your only return on your $3500 investment then you are still getting almost a 3% return.

 

No one is going to get rich on a 3% ROI but it's 3 times more that you will get on a simple saving account so it's not exactly a waste, just take a little out of your sub 1% savings account and put it here instead.

 

 

I do not disagree with purchasing stock, but unfortunately that is not the worst case. The stock value could decrease significantly and you could loose most/all of your original investment of $3500.

I do not think this is likely, but it is one factor to consider.

I have invested funds from a pension/IRA in 100 CCL shares. So far the price has gone up, I have received dividends, and have received OBC – wonderful situation. I am just aware that the original investment is not secure in stocks and theoretically you could loose your initial investment (but you keep the dividends and OBC).

[Vanilla]

Ships sailing out of Seattle will have their on board "sail away party" in one of the bar/lounges - not up on deck due to the Seattle City ordiance restricting noise:eek:. There isn't the great send off like you get in Florida.:cool:

[sminfiddle]

Fettucine Alfredo is "always available" and as an entree, comes in a crunchy Parmesan Cheese Basket. - this is not a secret.

 

What Princess Doesn't Tell You: you can order a Caesar Salad served in the parmesan basket.

Add chicken or shrimp and it becomes a meal!

 

The Salad Basket

[sunsetbeachgal]

2 things I learned on our most recent cruise on the Golden - the ice cream shop serves sugar free ice cream - a new flavor every day! My husband is diabetic and this was a GREAT find for us - it is scooped by hand and the strawberry and chocolate were really good! I also learned that the great crew at the IC will make you a fruit and cheese plate even if they do not have any currently showing in their case. I went down about 4:00 one day and the sweet crew member asked what I wanted and I said that I guessed I would have to walk to the HC as I wanted some fruit and cheese to have with a glass of wine in our room. He said - no problem, went to the back of his kitchen and made me a lovely plate with 3 kinds of cheese, some beautiful grapes and packaged crackers (like Ritz)! Needless to say I wrote up a card immediately for his wonderful service!

 

 

wow...very interesting. I just love everything about the IC...the food is great and the employees so helpful and friendly. We try to avoid the buffet, often not going there at all during a cruise, so we are good customers of the IC for light breakfast or lunch. What a nice thing to hear about the fruit!

Edited May 16, 2013 by sunsetbeachgal

[sherryf]

Ships sailing out of Seattle will have their on board "sail away party" in one of the bar/lounges - not up on deck due to the Seattle City ordiance restricting noise:eek:. There isn't the great send off like you get in Florida.:cool:

 

Out of my 4 cruises sailing out of Seattle, 3 of them have had their sail away party on deck... just with quieter music. Only last year was it in the atrium rather than on deck. Waiting to see what happens this year...

[Greg222]

2 things I learned on our most recent cruise on the Golden - the ice cream shop serves sugar free ice cream - a new flavor every day! My husband is diabetic and this was a GREAT find for us - it is scooped by hand and the strawberry and chocolate were really good! I also learned that the great crew at the IC will make you a fruit and cheese plate even if they do not have any currently showing in their case. I went down about 4:00 one day and the sweet crew member asked what I wanted and I said that I guessed I would have to walk to the HC as I wanted some fruit and cheese to have with a glass of wine in our room. He said - no problem, went to the back of his kitchen and made me a lovely plate with 3 kinds of cheese, some beautiful grapes and packaged crackers (like Ritz)! Needless to say I wrote up a card immediately for his wonderful service!

 

Sorry I'm kind of new at this. Does 'IC' mean Ice Cream Shop, Internet Cafe, or International Cafe? We'll be on the Diamond Princess to Alaska this summer and don't think we have all these places.

[paul929207]

Sorry I'm kind of new at this. Does 'IC' mean Ice Cream Shop, Internet Cafe, or International Cafe? We'll be on the Diamond Princess to Alaska this summer and don't think we have all these places.

Probably all three. In this context, the writer is referring to the International Cafe.