new to Princess

[spearmint]

We are new to Princess, have a back-to-back on Regal P. next week and have a few questions. Have done 2 Royal C. and 20 Celebrity cruises.

 

(1) Cannot find on the Princess site: what is the actual dress code for the MDR's.... including formal night.

 

(2) The Princess site also states that if one wishes to pay the onboard account with Traveler's cheques (or cash) that a cash deposit must be paid first at guest services. Have not had to do that before. What amount do they want? It's because I don't want to carry much cash that I use traveler's cheques in the first place.

 

(3) I understand the 2 wine bottle rule upon boarding. I called about taking 4 bottles on board, and turning in two initially, for return to me on the second cruise. While the operator checked this out, I realized that this would be impossible as the logistics of possibly hundreds of passengers doing the same would be ridiculous. But. The operator did say that one could take on more than two bottles but would be charged a corkage fee. This is contrary to the website which states the other bottles would be taken and discarded. The reason that I am asking is that we have often found bottles of wine that we like in Florida much cheaper than at home in Canada. From Celebrity's prices at least, some of this wine even with a Princess corkage fee of $15 would be considerably less than the onboard cost. Can anyone comment?

 

Bill

[chrysalis]

Clothing...

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/bring.jsp

[-Lew-]

 

(3) I understand the 2 wine bottle rule upon boarding. I called about taking 4 bottles on board, and turning in two initially, for return to me on the second cruise...

On a recent B2B2B we brought six bottles of wine onboard. We presented proof by way of boarding passes and Princess Travel Summaries for the three cruises and were allowed to bring the wine onboard at no charge. You should have no problem with the same documentation.

 

[spearmint]

Clothing...

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/bring.jsp

 

Thanks, chrysalis. That is what I wanted to know. I don't know how I missed this but I did.

[spearmint]

On a recent B2B2B we brought six bottles of wine onboard. We presented proof by way of boarding passes and Princess Travel Summaries for the three cruises and were allowed to bring the wine onboard at no charge. You should have no problem with the same documentation.

 

 

That's great news. Thanks so much, Lew. I have all run off and can show that not only are we back to back but are in the same cabin.

 

Bill

[Pam in CA]

Your onboard folio: You must either have a credit card on account (you can't print out your boarding pass without a credit or debit card entered) or send yourself OBC so that you begin the cruise with a credit.

 

Since you want to use cash, a suggestion is to send yourself OBC as a "gift." You can do this in any amount. Go to the Princess website and the form is listed under "Gifts & Services." Once onboard, just go to the Passenger Services Desk with your traveler's checks or cash and apply them to your account.

 

Any cruise line or hotel requires some form of payment or guarantee upon booking or check in. Princess is no different. If you use a credit or debit card to guarantee your folio, nothing is actually charged until your final amount due. As long as you have a credit on your folio, no hold will be placed on your credit or debit card. Any leftover credit is refundable.

 

As for OBC, make sure you're getting what you are entitled to. If you are or have been military, you can apply for OBC. If you own at least 100 shares of Carnival Corporation & Plc stock, you can submit a request for OBC. If you're in the US or Canada, make sure you use a TA who discounts fares and gives you OBC. You can save 10-20% on your cruise fare.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Pam in CA

[spearmint]

Your onboard folio: You must either have a credit card on account (you can't print out your boarding pass without a credit or debit card entered)

 

Any cruise line or hotel requires some form of payment or guarantee upon booking or check in. Princess is no different. If you use a credit or debit card to guarantee your folio, nothing is actually charged until your final amount due. As long as you have a credit on your folio, no hold will be placed on your credit or debit card. Any leftover credit is refundable.

 

.

 

Thanks for the reminder, Pam. I have of course entered a credit card number on the site, as we have all our documents printed off. It is just that the website seemed to indicate that cash must be put in up front with no mention of credit cards .... and I guess I must have had a brain f..... ah ...burp because it did not click in for me.

 

With Canadian money so poor in contrast to U.S. dollars we will use some cash (traveler's cheques) which we put aside years ago in a U.S. account when the dollars were equal, for just such a situation.

 

Bill

Edited March 12, 2016 by spearmint

[LeeW]

Good thing you are using US$ checks - using Canadian would hit you with the Princess exchange rate, same as just writing a check out of your bank account plus the fee for buying the cheques.

 

The one thing we noticed on dress on Regal was strict enforcement of no shorts in the dining room in the evening. Hostess sent many folks back even before the dining room opened.

 

Four bottles may be handled two ways - they don't seem to be consistent on this. Assuming you printed out the boarding pass for the second cruise they may just let you keep them. Or they may take two and give them back to you on the last night of the first cruise. Logistics of this doesn't seem to be a problem for them (assuming they even have the wine checkin table manned).

 

Either way you should be able to take four onboard without corkage. In theory the corkage-free bottles can't be taken to the dining room without paying corkage, but you can bring in a full glass with you. In practice the waiters could care less as long as you are buying some wine at dinner.

 

Note that the Publix market on 17th has a large and cheap wine department, plus the Total Liquors next door has higher end wines. For example, the Woodbridge wine we drink goes for $33/bottle with gratuity onboard and sells for around $9 in Publix.

 

If you try to bring hard liquor onboard they will generally hold it until you get off or throw it away if it isn't in a sealed bottle. Wine over the limit they just charge for.

[SheriffJoe]

Yikes!!!! :eek: I was wondering who the 8 people left in the world who still use travelers checks and I guess I've found 2 of them! :p ;)

[RMMariner]

I am certainly not as experienced as many other cruisers on this board, but our experience with the two cruises we took last year was that if each person carried 2 bottles of wine you would have no problem.

 

On one cruise I actually had to go up to the table at check in and declare my wine. No one even asked me to. I could have easily walked by. Many otherw were. The second cruise there was no one at the table as the people manning it seemed to be busy elsewhere.

 

I just cannot see Princess causing any problems with you bringing 4 bottles of wine for a back to back.

 

They just seem very laid back about the whole thing. Of course my two experiences may not be typical.