New to Princess. Question and tips please.

[welshfamily]

New to princess. We have booked a cruise 7 days Southampton round trip. October half term.

May I please ask a few questions. We have not been on a large ship for quite some years. 

realise things will be very different due to COVID. Testing etc.

How  soon will we know our boarding time?  This could influence our choice of pre cruise hotel as we may have a lot more time than normal to fill. 

When is the Formal night usually held? Are they still held on Staycation cruises? 
 

How full will the ship be ? Are things back to normal ( full passenger complement) or is this an unknown.

 

what things would people like to recommend. Looking forward to new experiences. Grateful for tips.

Thanks

[DuckDuck]

Have you downloaded the Medallion app?   you can book boarding times, mealtimes, allergies, preferences etc on there.  Seem to be running at about 50% capacity but they are dropping prices to get more bookings.  Enjoy

[JF - retired RRT]

There are 3 or 4 "live from" threads about the Majestic Princess to Alaska. You can easily find them (2 are on the first page as I type). You can learn a lot about what to expect from the "live froms".

[brisalta]

23 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

There are 3 or 4 "live from" threads about the Majestic Princess to Alaska. You can easily find them (2 are on the first page as I type). You can learn a lot about what to expect from the "live froms".

 

I suspect that would be a bit different from a "Staycation" cruise out of Southampton, England.

[JF - retired RRT]

53 minutes ago, brisalta said:

 

I suspect that would be a bit different from a "Staycation" cruise out of Southampton, England.

Of course, different...but similar.

[skynight]

Here is some information

 

[dides]

On 9/6/2021 at 7:37 PM, welshfamily said:

How  soon will we know our boarding time?  This could influence our choice of pre cruise hotel as we may have a lot more time than normal to fill. 

 

When is the Formal night usually held? Are they still held on Staycation cruises? 
How full will the ship be ? Are things back to normal ( full passenger complement) or is this an unknown.

what things would people like to recommend. Looking forward to new experiences. Grateful for tips.

Thanks

As stated before, you should be able to pick an Arrival Group time when you log on to the Medallion Class app. This is usually released earlier than the events which will show on JourneyView.

 

We've only had 3 or 4 night seacations so far and they have had smart casual nights with a 'dress to impress' night in the middle so will have to wait and see what they do for the 7 nighters. It should include this information on your Travel Summary from the cruise personaliser.

 

This weekend on Sky Princess it was 55% capacity - don't know if this will increase by October.

 

What to recommend..difficult to know what interests you. They have lots of entertainment. Foodwise - go to Alfredos for complimentary pizza/pasta and International Cafe for 24 hour nibbles. And try a speciality meal or two in Crown Grill or Sabatinis. 

 

 

[trbarton]

On 9/6/2021 at 11:37 AM, welshfamily said:

New to princess. We have booked a cruise 7 days Southampton round trip. October half term.

May I please ask a few questions. We have not been on a large ship for quite some years. 

realise things will be very different due to COVID. Testing etc.

How  soon will we know our boarding time?  This could influence our choice of pre cruise hotel as we may have a lot more time than normal to fill. 

When is the Formal night usually held? Are they still held on Staycation cruises? 
 

How full will the ship be ? Are things back to normal ( full passenger complement) or is this an unknown.

 

what things would people like to recommend. Looking forward to new experiences. Grateful for tips.

Thanks

I’m on a 7 day cruise & here’s my information from Princess. “Your itinerary includes 2 formal nights and 5 smart casual nights. Formal nights tend to occur on sea days. However, since exceptions can happen, it's always a good idea to check your Patter for details.”  I have been on many Princess cruises & from my experience their is no way to tell which days are formal nights. If you ask when on board they can tell you what nights. From what I’ve read from current cruises in the US their has been formal nights. 
 

What ship will you be on & where is the cruise going?  This could help with recommendations. 
 

Tom😀

[welshfamily]

Thanks all,

We are going on the 23rd October cruise. Half term ( no choice as we are in Education)  One port France two ports Spain.

We used to cruise with Celebrity until it got ‘classes’. We, as a family, like to meet interesting people and are not interested in what type of cabin they are in. We didn’t like the separation. Michael’s bar for example. 
We usually travel with Azamara, Oceania, Silversea etc. No Formal nights, this pleases the men,  no segregation, everyone the same once you have left your room. Used to ‘resort casual’ i.e. shirts for men, dresses and cocktail wear for ladies.
Still haven’t managed to sort out the app on iPhone 8. Going to use daughters iPhone 11 this evening. 
Interested  in ;

Entertainment. 
What’s not in the drinks package, is there an upgrade to get cans of pop etc as only cocktails up to $12 seem to be included. 
where is the best coffee as haven’t seen a coffee maker listed in the suite.

Do you tip room service ? ( frowned upon on our normal cruises)

What's breakfast in Sabatini? 
 

Thanks

 

Would like to know 

[skynight]

2 hours ago, welshfamily said:

Thanks all,

Interested  in ;

Entertainment. 
What’s not in the drinks package, is there an upgrade to get cans of pop etc as only cocktails up to $12 seem to be included. 
where is the best coffee as haven’t seen a coffee maker listed in the suite.

Do you tip room service ? ( frowned upon on our normal cruises)

What's breakfast in Sabatini? 
Thanks

Would like to know 

-Review the Princess Patters in post no. 6. You can see the types of entertainment.

- The beverage package full terms inclusions & exclusions can be reviewed in the referenced site below. It includes all alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages menu priced US$12 and under. This includes both straight whiskeys as well as cocktails, wines, etc.. Approximately 90 t0 95% of beverages offered on board are priced $12 and under. Some wines and single malt whiskeys for example are higher priced. For these your account will be charged the difference over $12 + the 18%.

-Cans of pop are excluded from the package, fountain sodas only. No upgrades available. You can carry on, not allowed in checked baggage, a limited amount of canned soda, believe it is 12 cans per person. You can check the passage contract for details.

- You can get specialty coffees at the International Cafe as well as other locations such as Coffee & Cones. You can also order coffee using the Ocean Ready app for delivery anywhere on the ship or call room service. If you are in a full suite then you have access to the concierge lounge on deck 14.

-You can tip for room service if you like. It is up to you.

-Breakfast at Sabatini's is a special breakfast available only to passengers booked in full suites. If you are in a full suite it is probably the best benefit. Breakfast is basically prepared to order. Each day you go the staff learns what you like. If you are not in a full suite, for example a mini suite, you can not have this breakfast.

https://www.princess.com/html/global/personalizer/ssv/beverages/disclaimer/

[welshfamily]

Thanks Skynight,

We have two penthouse suites. 

The info on cans is really useful, daughter addicted to Pepsi Max but can manage on Diet Coke or Coke Zero, much depends on the quality of the soda fountain.

 

still failing with Medallion app. We only booked Monday, however we do have a princess ref.number so maybe there is delay.

 

Spending rest of tonight reading all posts with mention of app.

hopeful for some insight.

 

any more comments welcome. 
Thanks

 

 

 

[wowzz]

Until  you have a booking ref, you will not be able to log on, although you can still download the app.

[sammybonny]

If you manage to download the app (it seems to depend on the age of device and being compatible) we were told by Princess rep when I booked there were some problems with the app and to use the "quick access" option to log in with booking number.... it worked ok for me.