If we bring our parents will they get some of the Platinum and Suite perks too?

[MHMarkL]

We have invited my parents along on our March 2014, 7 day coastal cruise on the Grand. We will be in a suite and they will have a balcony room. They have never cruised before and we are Platinum.

 

Will they be able to join us in the Disembarkation Lounge and priority check-in line? Will they be able to come with us to Sabatinis for breakfast?

 

What other perks will they be able to utilize while with us and which ones will be off limits?

 

If anyone has experience with this, it would be great to hear your advice and insights.

[paul929207]

Are they Platinum? If not they are not entitled to any of the perks for Platinum.

 

Are they in a suite? if not they are not entitled to any of the perks for being in a suite.

[sweetsleep]

I am Platinum but my friend who is sailing with me in my cabin is new to Princess. Can she be in the priority embarkation line with me?

[capriccio]

We have invited my parents along on our March 2014, 7 day coastal cruise on the Grand. We will be in a suite and they will have a balcony room. They have never cruised before and we are Platinum.

 

Will they be able to join us in the Disembarkation Lounge and priority check-in line? Will they be able to come with us to Sabatinis for breakfast?

 

What other perks will they be able to utilize while with us and which ones will be off limits?

 

If anyone has experience with this, it would be great to hear your advice and insights.

 

Some will depend (disembarkation lounge, priority check-in) on the crew (and how crowded each is). Sabatinis is only for suite passengers (they have your name and cabin number and will check it off the first day). They can accompany you to your 'free' Sabatinis or Crown Grill dinner on embarkation day but will have to pay the surcharge. I've never heard of anyone having an issue ordering room service dinner or afternoon tea for more than 2 people. Use of the thermal suite requires a sticker on your card and that too is checked against a list of suite occupants before giving you the sticker. I suppose if you pay for their drinks in the Elite/Platinum/Suite nightly cocktail hour, no one will ever know that they 'don't belong there' :D but there is a sign saying it is only for Elite/Platinum and Suite guests.

[rkmw]

We have invited my parents along on our March 2014, 7 day coastal cruise on the Grand. We will be in a suite and they will have a balcony room. They have never cruised before and we are Platinum.

 

Will they be able to join us in the Disembarkation Lounge and priority check-in line? Will they be able to come with us to Sabatinis for breakfast?

 

What other perks will they be able to utilize while with us and which ones will be off limits?

 

If anyone has experience with this, it would be great to hear your advice and insights.

 

they would be able to check in with you but they would have to embark by themselves and same as disembarking they should wait in the normal lounge and wait until their colour is called

[rkmw]

I am Platinum but my friend who is sailing with me in my cabin is new to Princess. Can she be in the priority embarkation line with me?

 

this is from princess....If you are a Platinum Member, you and your family or guests will be invited to use the Preferred Check-In.... but it doesnt say they can board with you

[KruzPrincess]

I am Platinum but my friend who is sailing with me in my cabin is new to Princess. Can she be in the priority embarkation line with me?

 

I honestly don't think they will turn your friend away if you are in the same cabin. You both check in together and you'll get to board together. It's no different than a couple with one person who is Elite and a spouse who is Gold. They'd never say one can get on and the other has to wait. I've had friends who are not Platinum or Elite board with me.

 

To the OP, in my experience they allow you and a guest in the Platinum/Elite cocktail party each night. They won't be able to have breakfast in Sabatini's with you. As someone else said, they can dine with you in a specialty restaurant the first night and they'll have to pay. I'm not sure about embarkation since you're in separate cabins. They may have wait for their group to be called.

[MMDown Under]

Yes, my daughters, first time cruisers, accompanied me (on different cruises) waiting in Platinum Lounge for disembarkation.

 

As we embark later than most, there was no queue.

 

One accompanied me to a function, the other didn't want to.

[windango]

Experiences seem to vary on this. When cruising with my mother, she was allowed to check in with us (we're were both platinum, she was not) but she was not allowed to wait with us in the platinum/elite lounge or have priority boarding with us. We chose to wait with her in general boarding and we all embarked together. We were told if she'd been in the same room as us, they would have allowed it but since she had a separate room they would not. This was on the Sapphire last year.

[NavyVeteran]

There appears to be a difference between someone traveling in the same cabin and friends traveling in different cabins.

 

On a recent Alaska cruise, a first-time Princess cruise was invited to the Most Traveled party, because she was sharing a cabin with one of the most traveled passengers. On that same cruise, my wife and I were traveling with 11 other family members (brothers, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, grand-niece, etc.). I certainly would not have expected to be able to take all of them to the Most Traveled party or to the Platinum/Elite/Suite lounge.

[RNGALNG]

We are Platinum and we have traveled twice with friends who are Ruby. Both times we embarked in LA and they were not allowed to board with us but we were allowed to board with them. The wait was only a few minutes both time so it wasn't a problem.

 

I was chatting on another thread and we discovered that it seems to depend on the port as to if they will be allowed or not.

 

Embarkation was another matter. I asked ahead of time at the front desk onboard and our friends were allowed to be with us in the Platinum/elite lounge. Both times we have used it, there wasn't much there in the way of drinks or food, so I would suggest getting breakfast before going! There were no cups, hot water for tea, not even one danish on our last trip!

 

HINT: Our friends are older than we are and I did mention this when asking if they would be allowed. TOld them they needed help with their carry-ons and so on. It worked. Sadly, on our last trip, they ended up helping me as my husband was ill when we had to get off! (He has recovered)

 

Have a great cruise!

[rkmw]

There appears to be a difference between someone traveling in the same cabin and friends traveling in different cabins.

 

On a recent Alaska cruise, a first-time Princess cruise was invited to the Most Traveled party, because she was sharing a cabin with one of the most traveled passengers. On that same cruise, my wife and I were traveling with 11 other family members (brothers, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, grand-niece, etc.). I certainly would not have expected to be able to take all of them to the Most Traveled party or to the Platinum/Elite/Suite lounge.[/quote

 

made an error

Edited September 1, 2013 by rkmw

[fishywood]

Check-in: no problem, if one person shows a boarding pass marked Priority everyone who is "with them" can get in line together;

 

Boarding: if you arrive at the very start of boarding they tend to be strict in only Elite/Suite and their actual cabinmates going to the head of the queue. Once the first few groups have boarded, likely less so.

 

Breakfast in Sabatini's: a big no-no. They know which cabin numbers are suites and how many are staying in that cabin. When this perk first started there were people bragging that a firm "handshake" with the head waiter allowed them to bring guests in; that scuttlebut has faded though.

 

Priority Tendering: Suites will have one pass per person; other Elites can show their black card. But on sailings with a high number of Elites, the start of tender boarding can be such a scrum that enforcement of the ticket system collapses.

 

Platinum/Elite Happy Hour: have never seen anyone checking at the door. In theory you must present a platinum, black or suite cruise card to get the reduced price on the one-count-em-one drink special, but many reports have said otherwise.

 

Disembarkation Lounge: I have seen every level of enforcement, from checking every single room key, to checking one per party, to not checking at all (on Coral Princess in 2009 the Circle Rep sat in a chair with her head down at the very back corner of the dance floor in Wheelhouse; passersby would wander in grabbing handfuls of danish faster than they could be restocked). But as you are in a full suite, all of you can wait there as long as you wish; remember you can order full breakfast from room service on disembarkation morning, unlike the rest of us rowers.

Edited September 1, 2013 by fishywood

[MHMarkL]

Thanks so much for all your insights and experiences. I guess we will see what happens at boarding and roll with it. We certainly wont leave them behind if they don't let us all go on during early boarding.

[Pam in CA]

I am Platinum but my friend who is sailing with me in my cabin is new to Princess. Can she be in the priority embarkation line with me?

Someone in the same cabin will be allowed to check in and board with you.

 

As for priority disembarkation for those in a full suite, some people misinterpret this as meaning they can cut in line ahead of others. Priority disembarkation means that you can bypass getting a tender ticket and join the back of the line. It is for disembarkation only and does not include re-embarkation.

[cmst220]

we have never had problems with family embarking in the prefered check -in with us or them being able to be with us in the elite disembarkation lounge at the end of the cruise either .

a quick conversation with the cc rep on boarding will put you straight what your folks can attend with you would be the best way to find out .

[scarby]

Book the men in the same room and the women in the same room. When you get on board just switch to your preferred cabin. That way both parents are "booked" with a platinum member and should get the benefits. We are bringing new cruisers with us in November and planned to do this so they could get our discounted member price. But Princess allowed us to invite 2 people at our price. So we changed our rooms back to my wife and I and them together. Otherwise they would have paid $100 more per person for their cabin.

[bjkTX]

Thanks so much for all your insights and experiences. I guess we will see what happens at boarding and roll with it. We certainly wont leave them behind if they don't let us all go on during early boarding.

 

I doubt you'll have a problem boarding with them. The last few cruises we've had people with us who were not Platinum and I assured them they would be able to come to the priority line with us (because we're somebody...:-) - both times the regular line was shorter than the priority line so we used those lines instead :-)

[timbom]

We did as above with my sister who was not preferred. No problem.

 

For fun when we showed up we (my brother in law and I asked to have our beds made up as queen). Took awhile for the steward to catch on. Said it was done all of the time.

[1025cruise]

Book the men in the same room and the women in the same room. When you get on board just switch to your preferred cabin. That way both parents are "booked" with a platinum member and should get the benefits. We are bringing new cruisers with us in November and planned to do this so they could get our discounted member price. But Princess allowed us to invite 2 people at our price. So we changed our rooms back to my wife and I and them together. Otherwise they would have paid $100 more per person for their cabin.

 

This won't work with a suite looking for suite benefits, specifically breakfast at Sabatinis. They are specifically only looking for the named guests.

[Pam in CA]

The last few cruises we've had people with us who were not Platinum and I assured them they would be able to come to the priority line with us (because we're somebody...:-) - both times the regular line was shorter than the priority line so we used those lines instead :-)

Be very careful making "assurances" that they can board with you. That's not always the case and you could wind up being embarrassed.

[sept10dsm]

One thing I have to say about Princess priority boarding was when we were all gold members when traveling with my daughter and her family that included my grandchild in a stoller, they had us all go to the priority area which I thought was really great. We never asked for it or even thought about it but a VERY nice gesture on Princess part.

[vmom]

I am Platinum but my friend who is sailing with me in my cabin is new to Princess. Can she be in the priority embarkation line with me?

 

 

Its different if you share a cabin than if you have relatives/family in a different cabin. I used to cruise with my husband, but after he died about 1 1/2 years ago, I have been cruising with my daughter (same cabin). She has been able to accompany me to the disembarkation lounge and the priority check in. When we went to the pre-dinner happy hour. I just showed my card and we both entered together. If she had wanted to buy a drink I guess I would have just used my card. Lets face it, I'm not going to be able to use these perks if I have to use them alone and have my daughter in a different line or room.

 

When we traveled a few years back with another couple who had their own cabin, the staff was not open to having them accompany us to these perks. A lot may depend on the staff.

[KruzPrincess]

I've been able to bring a guest with to the Most Traveled Luncheon even if I have a cabin to myself. They just ask me who will be coming with me. I haven't been able to bring more than one person, though.

[wander]

On a Princess Cruise a year ago, I was Platinum and my cabin mate a Princess newbie. She could embark and disembark with me (I asked). I was invited to the "top 40" party and the invitation said it was for me and a guest, so she went. Other than that, any perks were only for me. (Well, I did share the bar set-up with her, but we only got one freebie set-up.)