Rare Roz Posted July 8 #1 Share Posted July 8 I'm taking my 2nd Princess cruise in August after a 12 year hiatus. A lot has changed since then. As background, most of my cruising has been on HAL and Carnival. 1. Dining on Princess seems really complicated, and I'm a bit nervous. My booking confirmation doesn't indicate anything. I don't want fixed dining and I don't want to have to make a rez every night, so I'm not clear on my dinner options. I'm sailing solo, if that matters. 2. Princess also has for pay casual dining, which is something new to me. When I think of casual dining, I think of the buffet, pizza, burger grill, ice cream, etc. I've tried to figure out what/where these casual for pay eateries are on the Caribbean Princess, but haven't located that information. I have the Plus Pkg. and apparently get 2 casual meals. 3. Does Princess use traditional paper bingo cards, or the machines, or both? I'm an avid bingo player, but quit playing on HAL because only the players with the more expensive pkgs. that included the machines were winning. 4. My understanding is that there are self-service laundries onboard, correct? How do you pay for the washers and dryers, as well as the laundry soap? With the Medallion gizmo? That's it for now. Everything else I think I've figured out. It took me about 3 months to realize that the Medallion and Medallion app are two different things. TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrak Posted July 8 #2 Share Posted July 8 (edited) 1 hour ago, Roz said: I'm taking my 2nd Princess cruise in August after a 12 year hiatus. A lot has changed since then. As background, most of my cruising has been on HAL and Carnival. 1. Dining on Princess seems really complicated, and I'm a bit nervous. My booking confirmation doesn't indicate anything. I don't want fixed dining and I don't want to have to make a rez every night, so I'm not clear on my dinner options. I'm sailing solo, if that matters. 2. Princess also has for pay casual dining, which is something new to me. When I think of casual dining, I think of the buffet, pizza, burger grill, ice cream, etc. I've tried to figure out what/where these casual for pay eateries are on the Caribbean Princess, but haven't located that information. I have the Plus Pkg. and apparently get 2 casual meals. 3. Does Princess use traditional paper bingo cards, or the machines, or both? I'm an avid bingo player, but quit playing on HAL because only the players with the more expensive pkgs. that included the machines were winning. 4. My understanding is that there are self-service laundries onboard, correct? How do you pay for the washers and dryers, as well as the laundry soap? With the Medallion gizmo? That's it for now. Everything else I think I've figured out. It took me about 3 months to realize that the Medallion and Medallion app are two different things. TIA 1. There will be an Anytime Dining (walk up when you feel like it) dining room. 2. On Caribbean Princess the only "casual dining" is in Vines and Planks/Steamers. Buffet, Lido Deck Pizza, Burgers, soft serve ice cream, etc. are included with the fare. 3. Both 4. You get tokens in the laundry room using your medallion. You can also get detergent and fabric softener but we always bring our own so we have what we like. It's something like $3 to wash and also to dry. (I may be off by 50 cents or so...) Some folks have reported finding "free" laundry onboard but that seems to be ship by ship or hit and miss or cosmic alignment or something. We have always paid. It's not like it's a huge expense. Edited July 8 by Thrak 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Roz Posted July 8 Author #3 Share Posted July 8 Thank you, @Thrak. That answered my questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare geoherb Posted July 9 #4 Share Posted July 9 Planks and Steamers are at dinner time only. They close off a section of the buffet for them. They alternate nights. I cruised solo on my cruise last month. I made a standing reservation in the app. If I knew I wanted a different time due to activities going on, I would change it for that night. If it was going to be after 7:45, I wouldn't bother to make a new reservation because there wasn't a wait at that time. I ate alone a few nights and joined shared tables most nights. The singles and solos group had a large table (for 10) reserved every night. I ate with them one night. A table that size is a lot slower. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Roz Posted July 9 Author #5 Share Posted July 9 Thanks, @geoherb. Very helpful information. Do Steamers and Planks require reservations, or do you just walk up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare geoherb Posted July 9 #6 Share Posted July 9 12 hours ago, Roz said: Thanks, @geoherb. Very helpful information. Do Steamers and Planks require reservations, or do you just walk up? They take reservations on the ship. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skynight Posted July 9 #7 Share Posted July 9 12 hours ago, Roz said: Thanks, @geoherb. Very helpful information. Do Steamers and Planks require reservations, or do you just walk up? Either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare tulok Posted July 9 #8 Share Posted July 9 On my June cruise, Planks was turning people away that didn’t have a reservation. May not always be the case but it was that night. Crown Grill did the same thing while we were in there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito1 Posted July 9 #9 Share Posted July 9 Roz, are you a comedian? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaCruzers Posted July 9 #10 Share Posted July 9 Hi Roz, Are you on the August 29th Caribbean Princess sailing? If so, will see you onboard. Please join the roll call thread. There are several solo cruisers on there who seem to be making plans together if you are interested. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito1 Posted July 10 #11 Share Posted July 10 16 hours ago, Incognito1 said: Roz, are you a comedian? Guess that didn't come across as intended. Nashville Third Coast is a comedy club. Thought you might be cruising as an entertainer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Roz Posted July 10 Author #12 Share Posted July 10 2 hours ago, Incognito1 said: Guess that didn't come across as intended. Nashville Third Coast is a comedy club. Thought you might be cruising as an entertainer. I'm not familiar with that comedy club. No, I'm not cruising as an entertainer. Nashville is referred to as the Third Coast because of the music and entertainment industry here, NY and CA being the other 2 coasts. @VaCruzers, I'm on the Aug. 29 roll call, but haven't been participating lately. I tried booking some excursions that didn't work out, and there seemed to be acrimony between some of the posters trying to organize tours, so I just bowed out. I'm intending to go to the meet and greet, and I signed up for the slot pull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Roz Posted July 10 Author #13 Share Posted July 10 Thanks for all the helpful info and comments so far. This morning I got notification that my shareholder credit had been approved. I looked for it in the app, but couldn't find it, but did locate it in my online Princess account. This was my first time using Stock Perks, and found the process to be easy. On the HAL board there's been much consternation and pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth. I just skipped the optional questions such as annual income, and only entered the necessary information. I don't think some people are aware that if you own shares in a publicly traded company, it's public knowledge if you're a shareholder. Once I'm on the ship, how do I check my onboard account. Is it available on the app, or on the TV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaCruzers Posted July 10 #14 Share Posted July 10 2 hours ago, Roz said: I @VaCruzers, I'm on the Aug. 29 roll call, but haven't been participating lately. I tried booking some excursions that didn't work out, and there seemed to be acrimony between some of the posters trying to organize tours, so I just bowed out. I'm intending to go to the meet and greet, and I signed up for the slot pull. Hi Roz, I haven't been as active on that roll call either, but was catching up the other day and noticed all the posts about coordinating activities for solo cruisers. Because you mentioned you were traveling solo, I thought it may be of interest. I tend to not pay much attention to the names of participants, so I apologize that I didn't realize you were already a participant. I don't see the point of a meet and greet 7 days into a cruise, so I'll likely be in the laundry room instead. 🙂 Sometimes my husband does the slot pull, but he hasn't decided for this trip. Regarding checking your onboard account, I have always done it on the app, but it may also be available on the TV. I've never checked. I try to get a hard copy on the final night to enure the copy emailed afterwards has no discrepancies. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Roz Posted July 11 Author #15 Share Posted July 11 OK, more questions. Please indulge me. 😁 I looked at my online check-in to see what items needed addressing. One of them was ordering my Medallion. When I tried to order it, I got a message saying it was too late to be mailed to me, and to just pick it up in the terminal. No biggie. For future reference, how far ahead do you need to order it if you want it sent to your home? It says that my boarding pass will be available on my phone a certain # of days before my cruise. Is it possible to print it as well, or at least save it somehow on my phone as an image? The reason I'm asking is that I'm not sure how to use my phone out of the country, and I don't want to incur a lot of roaming charges or use up all my data trying to log into my Princess account and load the boarding pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KKB Posted July 12 #16 Share Posted July 12 17 hours ago, Roz said: OK, more questions. Please indulge me. 😁 I looked at my online check-in to see what items needed addressing. One of them was ordering my Medallion. When I tried to order it, I got a message saying it was too late to be mailed to me, and to just pick it up in the terminal. No biggie. For future reference, how far ahead do you need to order it if you want it sent to your home? It says that my boarding pass will be available on my phone a certain # of days before my cruise. Is it possible to print it as well, or at least save it somehow on my phone as an image? The reason I'm asking is that I'm not sure how to use my phone out of the country, and I don't want to incur a lot of roaming charges or use up all my data trying to log into my Princess account and load the boarding pass. It would certainly seem like you should still be able to order your Medallion based on past experience but obviously they have other ideas! You can print your boarding pass or screenshoot it on your phone. I usually do both, particularly when traveling internationally--figure if something happens to my phone, I'd like backup. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martha1974 Posted July 12 #17 Share Posted July 12 18 hours ago, Roz said: OK, more questions. Please indulge me. 😁 I looked at my online check-in to see what items needed addressing. One of them was ordering my Medallion. When I tried to order it, I got a message saying it was too late to be mailed to me, and to just pick it up in the terminal. No biggie. For future reference, how far ahead do you need to order it if you want it sent to your home? It says that my boarding pass will be available on my phone a certain # of days before my cruise. Is it possible to print it as well, or at least save it somehow on my phone as an image? The reason I'm asking is that I'm not sure how to use my phone out of the country, and I don't want to incur a lot of roaming charges or use up all my data trying to log into my Princess account and load the boarding pass. HI Roz, we're based in the UK and have sailed on Princess out of Southampton a couple of times. We can't get the medallion mailed to us ahead of time but we've never had to wait more than 2-3 minutes for it in the terminal before boarding (just to reassure you that, you're right, it's no biggie 🙂). I've also always had a printed copy of the boarding pass plus a screenshot saved to my phone but have never been asked to show either of them in Southampton - we just presented our passports and that was enough. I hope your experience is the same. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Roz Posted July 12 Author #18 Share Posted July 12 @KKB and @Martha1974, thank you for the reassurance about the Medallion and boarding pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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