Princess "Secrets" 2018

[Justprettynpink]

No coupon book but found the "offers" on the Ocean Concierge (on Regal). Nothing major..but you might find something you could use. Most things were good for the beginning of the cruise.

[Astro Flyer]

I have a friend that just booked who is Canadian military. We booked with an agency. Can he call Princess directly to get the military obc?

Here’s a link to the Princess webpage explaining how to qualify & to an application form. It’s a great program for many veterans & is just one of the many things I like about Princess.

 

https://www.princess.com/military_benefit_program/

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/faq_answer_legal/Military_Personnel_Benefit_US.pdf

 

For US veterans we apply once & receive it on every cruise. I’ve read that in the UK they have to apply for each cruise but don’t know the procedure for CA veterans.

 

Here are the options for submitting the application form & the required documentation of eligible military service.

 

In the US and Canada

Email: militarybenefit@princesscruises.com

Fax: 1.661.753.1394

Mail: 24305 Town Center Drive

Santa Clarita, CA 91355 U.S.A.

Edited April 11, 2018 by Astro Flyer

[Yukonjake]

I have a friend that just booked who is Canadian military. We booked with an agency. Can he call Princess directly to get the military obc?

 

Oops, somebody else beat me to it, and had a more complete response.

 

Get the forms from Princess's website, fill it out, and send it and whatever is proof of military service for Canada (the Canadian equivalent of a DD-214 form) to the email address listed on Princess's form. Within a week or so, your friend will have the credit.

 

I received no notification of the credit being applied, but noticed it when I was booking an excursion and it was applied to the tour.

 

It should, then, be automatically applied to any subsequent cruise your friend books.

[Markyarts]

It appears that certain ships are determining for them selves if it's profitable or not.

When was your trip?

 

I sailed with a large family group on January 20 on the Crown. The Happy Hour still existed then. BOGO for $1. Just sailed on the Royal on March 30 and its gone.

 

I would like to believe that it will still show up once in a while, but there's been no evidence of that so far.

[Waves of Blue]

Drinks of the day, including lemoncello and one of those cream liquor drinks were $3 and included a tiny souvenir glass. Guy came around the Horizon Buffet area with a pitcher one day during my 5 pm snack. Also saw a sign in the MDR. Never hurts to ask.

 

Better than nothing and certainly the bottle of wine I brought on board was nice to have.

[Waves of Blue]

Drinks consumption on our cruise seemed low ... Princess will add happy hours if their beverage revenues drop. The unlimited packages seems wildly high.

 

My son liked the mocktails but did not want to encourage himself to drink all those sugary beverages in the soda and more package (he's an athlete). I wish I had gotten a coffee card, the coffee was just OK at buffet and ice tea even worse. MDR coffee was very good, especially with those chocolate journeys !

[Pierlesscruisers]

You send them a copy of your DD214 as proof. I sent mine years ago and once is enough. It stays on record.

 

One thing to be aware of. If you book through a TA, make sure that he/she/they include your Captains' Circle number in your reservation as that is what your veteran's OBC is linked to. If they fail to put that CC number into the reservation, you will probably not get it. At least the fix is simple.

 

Tom

[monakayk]

Here are a few of ours:

Room service for wake-up calls. Hot coffee and food in the room getting ready for that early port tour.

 

There is usually a free plug behind the TV so you can put some charging needs in a different location.

 

Pay a bit closer attention to the patter as there are small details most people miss. One of the recent posts has been about the escape rooms on some princess ships. Notice for signup is in the patter on the day of embarkation.

 

Drinks you can bring on and those you can't. numerous other boards on wine and water can help you there. Extra wine without corkage can be brought on under certain conditions on longer cruises.

 

If you have an older bed that is "tacoed", ask for a bed board under the mattress and added foam pad on top. Have not had to do this for the last few sailings.

 

All your luggage can go under the bed. nest them if you can for more room.

 

Bring a few small magnets for hanging your itineraries on the wall.

 

What 'certain conditions ' can you bring onboard more Wine?

[moki'smommy]

I wish I had gotten a coffee card, the coffee was just OK at buffet and ice tea even worse. MDR coffee was very good, especially with those chocolate journeys !

I made my own brewed ice tea at the buffet. I brought a Tervis insulated cup with me. I'd brew a cup of tea with 2 tea bags (making it stronger), and fill the Tervis cup with ice. When the tea had brewed, I'd pour it into the Tervis cup, add lemon and sweetener, and I had real brewed tea. I agree that the junk from syrup is awful.

[floridalover5623]

What 'certain conditions ' can you bring onboard more Wine?

When reaching one of the scheduled ports, go to the local supermarket & carry it back with you.

[monakayk]

Yep - it's a well kept secret. Plus Loyalty OBC will not show up pre-cruise in the Personalizer - only once you board.

 

There is a discount for repeat cruisers.

 

Loyalty OBC is not the same as that discount or FCC OBC.

 

So you have to call for PCL to get the loyalty OBC....it isn't applied automatically ?

[Beachy One]

We always order the bottled water package from the cruise personalizer, 12 bottles for $6.90, delivered in the room on embarkation day.. Awesome value compared to the cost of purchasing the bottled water on the ship. If we are changing ships, we take the remaining water bottles to the next ship and have never had a issue.

[floridalover5623]

So you have to call for PCL to get the loyalty OBC....it isn't applied automatically ?

Loyalty credit is applied automatically.

It also shows up in your personalizer about a week before sailing.

[Astro Flyer]

So you have to call for PCL to get the loyalty OBC....it isn't applied automatically ?

 

No...it should be automatically added.

 

Recent posts say it’s now displayed in the credits section of our Cruise Personalizer within 5 days before the cruise. I’ve only had a card in my cabin and saw it in my shipboard account.

[monakayk]

When reaching one of the scheduled ports, go to the local supermarket & carry it back with you.

I was told PCL keeps the Wine till the last night ...now I am confused.

[Astro Flyer]

I was told PCL keeps the Wine till the last night ...now I am confused.

 

Princess will hold wine that you want to take home from ports without any fee. Wine from ports the drink onboard is subject to the $15/bottle fee.

[TheRabbit]

What 'certain conditions ' can you bring onboard more Wine?

They will let you bring on a bottle per person usualy in each port. Unfortunately in most ports, good wine is not always available where you can pick it up easily.

I have heard (as a rumor) that when the ship is low on wine they have let cruisers bring on more wine. I have not experienced this. Maybe someone else can add here if it has happened. You can also bring on more as long as you pay the corkage fee. In many cases, that is still cheaper than buying wine on board.

[TheRabbit]

When reaching one of the scheduled ports, go to the local supermarket & carry it back with you.

If you are doing a wine tour and buying to take home, they will hold the wine till the last day without charging the $15 fee or corkage.

You can also bring one bottle on in each port for use per person without the fee. You can bring on additional bottles for use on the ship and pay the fee.

 

I hope between what Astro Flyer and I stated these last few posts covers all the questions. If not, ask away.

[floridalover5623]

If you are doing a wine tour and buying to take home, they will hold the wine till the last day without charging the $15 fee or corkage.

You can also bring one bottle on in each port for use per person without the fee. You can bring on additional bottles for use on the ship and pay the fee.

 

I hope between what Astro Flyer and I stated these last few posts covers all the questions. If not, ask away.

We don't do wine tours but simply purchase liquor & wine locally at various ports & carry it back on board with us and just bypass the liquor check in desk. If you hand it to them of course they'll take it but we never do.

If you have it shipped back to the ship then yes, they hold it until you leave the ship.

[Genevivev]

We don't do wine tours but simply purchase liquor & wine locally at various ports & carry it back on board with us and just bypass the liquor check in desk. If you hand it to them of course they'll take it but we never do.

If you have it shipped back to the ship then yes, they hold it until you leave the ship.

What is the screening like going back on board? Do they scan bags? Check in them?

 

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[monakayk]

Thanks everyone for the info about bringing onboard Wine from ports .

[TheRabbit]

What is the screening like going back on board? Do they scan bags? Check in them?

 

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Just like at the airport. They have an Xray for the bags and a scanner for metal.

[floridalover5623]

What is the screening like going back on board? Do they scan bags? Check in them?

 

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Yea, they put the bags through a scanner but they don't say a word if any bottles are in the bags.

When you proceed to the elevator area there's a liquor check-in table where some people feel obligated to check their bottles because there's a sign that says "liquor check-in".

Most people just walk right past them & either take an elevator or walk up the stairs with bottles wrapped in their beach bags.

Many days if you get back to the ship in the early morning they don't even have the table set up.

If you arrive later with the crowd, they'll be so many people standing there waiting for an elevator that there's no practical way to check everyone.

[caribill]

What 'certain conditions ' can you bring onboard more Wine?

 

If the longer cruise is one with multiple segments, each adult can bring on an additional bottle not subject to corkage (if consumed in cabin) for each additional segment. With proof of being on the ship for those segments, you can bring all your "free" bottles on at initial embarkation.

[caribill]

Yeah, they put the bags through a scanner but they don't say a word if any bottles are in the bags.

 

On other cruise lines they also put the bags through a scanner, but:

a) On one other cruise line if they see a bottle that might contain alcohol they shout out to the person at the alcohol table that you have alcohol, so there is no way to walk past that table unnoticed.

b) On another cruise line the person at the alcohol table has a screen that shows what the scanner is showing security. That person will stop you if he/she sees what might be a bottle with alcohol.