Princess Cruise "Secrets" 2019

[ukbecky]

22 hours ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

 

You might want to recheck your source on that as I do not believe that is the case.

 

Tom

 

Unfortunately, my source is Princess.

 

Even if your booking is marked that way, it is seen as a request only.

 

[RRFan]

8 minutes ago, ukbecky said:

 

Unfortunately, my source is Princess.

 

Even if your booking is marked that way, it is seen as a request only.

 

You can talk to 3 different Princess reps on the phone and get 3 completely different answers and each will tell you their information is absolute gospel.  But if what you say is true, then this is a drastic change in policy for Princess.  I can't imagine why Princess would allow you to select your own room only to change you at their whim with no notification to you.  I wonder if the TA's didn't actually mark the box for "No Upgrades Allowed" and don't want to admit that?   Hmmm...   Let's just hope this isn't Princess policy.

Edited February 4, 2019 by RRFan

[Pierlesscruisers]

14 minutes ago, RRFan said:

You can talk to 3 different Princess reps on the phone and get 3 completely different answers and each will tell you their information is absolute gospel.  But if what you say is true, then this is a drastic change in policy for Princess.  I can't imagine why Princess would allow you to select your own room only to change you at their whim with no notification to you.  I wonder if the TA's didn't actually mark the box for "No Upgrades Allowed" and don't want to admit that?   Hmmm...   Let's just hope this isn't Princess policy.

I agree with your points completely. To me it makes absolutely no sense that if I call a company up and say I want X or Y to be done with my purchase, that the company would hold the attitude that that is only my request and can be ignored at will. If my request cannot be done for some reason, tell me why right then and let me make the decision whether I want to continue with the transaction at that point, but don't wait until sometime down the road and then arbitrarily go against my desires. That goes against all rules of common sense and customer service. If something has changed that causes my desired action to be unavailable, then tell me and let me choose which way to go but don't just blow off my desires. 

 

Tom

[Almighty188]

On 2/2/2019 at 5:08 PM, suzyed said:

Princess collected our passports when we were in Ireland.
When we were on an Alaska cruise, we made a stop in Canada, of course.  We were told to bring our ID/Passports and we had to show them before we entered.   This was back in 2008 and 2010 so maybe it has changed since then. 
We sometimes, but not always, talk our passports with us when we go ashore.

 

 

I can understand showing your passport but what was the reason that they collected the passports and how long did they actually hold them before giving it back to you? 

[Almighty188]

On 2/2/2019 at 6:43 PM, Ep010835 said:

If you travel a lot, you have a passport. 

What’s the downside of having it with you on all Cruises?

I don’t see a downside. 

 

They are worried about losing it but basically you always have a risk no matter what you do in reality as anything you can't look or physically be in contact with also can get stolen without you even knowing it.  

[Papa Yoda]

1 hour ago, Almighty188 said:

 

I can understand showing your passport but what was the reason that they collected the passports and how long did they actually hold them before giving it back to you? 

 

Passports were collected by Princess when visiting Tahiti April 2018.  Told this is for the authorities to check them.   We got them back after leaving French Polynesia. When we were there on PA in 2003 we all trooped up to the Pacific Lounge to meet with the French gov't agent in person and got them stamped.

[suzyed]

5 hours ago, Ferd Berfle said:

 

Passports were collected by Princess when visiting Tahiti April 2018.  Told this is for the authorities to check them.   We got them back after leaving French Polynesia. When we were there on PA in 2003 we all trooped up to the Pacific Lounge to meet with the French gov't agent in person and got them stamped.

I guess Ireland requires it....we all had to go to Club Fusion and give them in.  They gave them back as we left Ireland.
I don't remember them taking them in Tahiti....pretty sure they did not.

 

Edited February 5, 2019 by suzyed

[barbpretz]

Refer-A-Friend is still my favorite Princess cruise tip (and I'm not seeing it posted here).  Details can be found on the main Princess page at the bottom in small print under "Cruise Deals".  If you've never cruised Princess before, look into this before you book your cruise to get $25 on-board credit for yourself and whoever refers you.  If you have cruised Princess before but have friends or family members who are cruising Princess for the first time, consider looking into referring them before they book.  Every little bit helps!

[Ombud]

On 1/22/2019 at 5:29 AM, wbierbra said:

How did you buy your shares?  We were going to do this a year ago but advisor advised us not to.

I bought mine online with Schwab in my retirement account. It was 54.95 × 100 shares + 4.95 commission. So effectively 55. I've gotten 700 back in OBC + 150 dividends bringing net cost down to 46.50. 

 

Advisors often don't see the 'entire' picture 

[Pierlesscruisers]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

I bought mine online with Schwab in my retirement account. It was 54.95 × 100 shares + 4.95 commission. So effectively 55. I've gotten 700 back in OBC + 150 dividends bringing net cost down to 46.50. 

 

Advisors often don't see the 'entire' picture 

 

And $700 of that was tax-free income!  It's hard to beat free money, especially when it's also tax-free!!

 

Tom

[RRFan]

We bought our shares several years ago through Schwab when the price was < $45/share. We cruise frequently & do lots of back-2-backs. We get the owner benefit on each and every cruise. We’ve recouped our investment many, many times over. We also use it on Holland America. Haven’t cruised with any of the other sister companies yet. Well worth the stock purchase!  

[drjpreston]

I have a terrible record at picking stocks.  But several years ago all cruise stocks tanked.  I picked up 250 shares of Carnival at $19.00 a share.  It has been my one smart move.  With the increased share cost, dividends and shareholders reward it has been a little goldmine. 

When my DW complains about my investing mistakes I just offer to take her on a cruise and remind her of my great insight with Carnival Stock.   A no brainer. 

[MixerDave]

On 1/25/2019 at 6:37 AM, Almighty188 said:

 

The reason advisors advised you not to make the purchase is because it wasn't a security they are promoting.  Since advisors get paid for securities they recommend by the company which is why they don't care if you make money or not as their job is for you to bring your assets to them and for you to buy what they recommend to you as they make money from the recommendations and they usually require you to hold the security for a certain period of time too.   I know someone who used Edward Jones and they keep recommending things to buy so it gets bought but they would not let you sell it until 5 years later as they will not even accept your instructions to sell.  Another friend used Banc of America Investment Services, Inc. which was before Bank of America purchased Merrill Lynch.  The advisor sold them Mutual Funds and it was losing money big time and even 6 years later, they won't let them sell saying that they have to keep it there for a full 10 years or something.   A advisor really doesn't use their own skills to recommend things as they use what's on the list supplied by the Chief Analyst.  As for the dividends, even at 4%, it will take you 18 years to recover 100% of the cost of your investment.  And at 3.7% which is the actual dividend, it will take 19.5 years.  Regardless, it's better than putting the money in the bank even for the dividends alone and the depends on the actual return on the stock price itself.  If you cruise though, then the return is higher.  The shares you own will mostly be in street name as it's owned by the brokerage firm where you are the beneficiary owner.  Otherwise you will have the stock certificate in your hand and it has to be delivered to the broker before you can even sell the shares should you need to.  Make sure when you buy for the dividends, you look at the dividend-ex date and your shares need to settle on or before that date or else you won't be eligible for the dividends for the next dividend payment date.  

 

Just curious - when was the last time you bought a stock that issued a paper certificate?  As far as Edward Jones not letting you sell a stock for 5 years is B.S.  I have sold partial holdings to take profit.  And yes I trade through Edward Jones.

[Pierlesscruisers]

20 minutes ago, drjpreston said:

I have a terrible record at picking stocks.  But several years ago all cruise stocks tanked.  I picked up 250 shares of Carnival at $19.00 a share.  It has been my one smart move.  With the increased share cost, dividends and shareholders reward it has been a little goldmine. 

When my DW complains about my investing mistakes I just offer to take her on a cruise and remind her of my great insight with Carnival Stock.   A no brainer. 

 

Congratulations on your "one smart move"!!   I'm lucky to be able to "play" a bit with stocks and I only have 2 rules (I'm by no means a big stock guy) and that is the stock I buy is usually approx. $20 or less (see? I told you I wasn't a big stock guy), I buy 100 shares and it's got to pay a dividend on a monthly, not quarterly, basis. I try and find something that pays enough in dividends that I can purchase at least a share or a share and a half/dividend each month. That's worked really well for me on 2 stocks as I've gone from 100 to almost 150 shares in less than 2 years. I'm sure that a "real" investor would probably cringe at my methods, but, as I said, it's just something I play with. I figure my son and daughter-in-law will get in a few years and if it works out well for them, I'm happy.

 

Tom

[ceilidh1]

On 1/28/2019 at 6:19 PM, jagsfan said:

What I am trying to find out is if a cruise has multiple embarkation dates can the coupon be used on another embarkation date rather than the user’s actual one. 

I’d love for someone to tell me if that would work. 

If you are referring to the coupon in the coupon book, it can be used on any cruise as long as it's within the expiry date (which will be in tiny print on the back)...

[ceilidh1]

Not really a "secret" but something I look forward to on Princess - the chocolate mousse in the International Cafe! It is to die for!

[johnmik1]

On 1/27/2019 at 2:54 PM, 2 cruises a year said:

Also, on all ships, all passenger elevators (except the glass Atrium elevators) face forward.  So if your stateroom is even, port side, you always turn left getting out of the elevator.  If your stateroom is odd, starboard side,  always turn right.

If I remember correctly,the aft elevators on Sapphire and Diamond face inward.

[bobbismith]

On 1/14/2019 at 10:13 PM, TracieABD said:

If you are on one of the older ships (older than the Royal class builds), if you are are confused about which hallway to enter to get to your room... look down at the carpet--- on the edges there will be a red border or a blue border. 

The red border is for the Portside (Port= red like the wine) and the blue border is for Starboard. The waves in the border go to front of the ship.

Is this true for the Coral?

[RRFan]

This was once the case but is no longer true. PCL is recarpeting many ships and the carpet is the same on both sides now. Ruby was like that when we were on it a couple of weeks ago. But on most ships, (not counting the middle ones with glass at the atrium levels), when you step off the elevators, you are facing the front of the ship so left is port and right is starboard. 

[fdpevey]

On 1/19/2019 at 9:19 PM, FoghornLeghorn said:

When you use the Princess at Sea on your phone once you board:

You Can order your breakfast the night before (eliminating the door hanger)

See your account balance/expenditures

See the Patter and click on the event to make your own personalized schedule

Reserve shore excursions

 

Is Princess at Sea an app I need to download? I can’t find it in the Apple App Store.

[Pierlesscruisers]

49 minutes ago, fdpevey said:

Is Princess at Sea an app I need to download? I can’t find it in the Apple App Store.

 

You'll be able to download it on your ship.

 

Tom

[Coffeeluvr05]

1 hour ago, fdpevey said:

Is Princess at Sea an app I need to download? I can’t find it in the Apple App Store.

Princess@sea is not an app. It’s in a browser. There are various medallion related apps though. 

[flutprop]

On 5/27/2019 at 8:33 AM, barbpretz said:

Refer-A-Friend is still my favorite Princess cruise tip (and I'm not seeing it posted here).  Details can be found on the main Princess page at the bottom in small print under "Cruise Deals".  If you've never cruised Princess before, look into this before you book your cruise to get $25 on-board credit for yourself and whoever refers you.  If you have cruised Princess before but have friends or family members who are cruising Princess for the first time, consider looking into referring them before they book.  Every little bit helps!

I totally agree. I have a family group cruise booked this summer. I referred every family member and got 2 referrals for that cruise. In November we are taking MIL on a cruise and sent her a referral. She responded on the same day our TA booked us, so they passed each other in the digital world, but our TA got that straightened out and now we have another $25 for November.

[myjillian]

On 2/4/2019 at 11:19 PM, suzyed said:

I guess Ireland requires it....we all had to go to Club Fusion and give them in.  They gave them back as we left Ireland.
I don't remember them taking them in Tahiti....pretty sure they did not.

 

When we did a 33 day TA from Venice to Ft Lauderdale we went to 5 continents.  Our passports were collected the first day .  When we were in Gilbralter  3 couples had to leave the ship because their Brazilian Visa had expired.... they collect the passports for certain reasons....

[suzyed]

12 hours ago, johnmik1 said:

If I remember correctly,the aft elevators on Sapphire and Diamond face inward.

We look at the color of the pattern on the hallway carpet to know which way to go as we get out of the elevator....hope the Sapphire has the different carpets.