You’ve booked your trip and paid for it too.  Now what? Do online check-in! With Princess, the process begins as soon as you’ve made final payment. Here are details and tips from our recent cruise on the Enchanted Princess:  For smoother, faster boarding  Download the Princess app and do online check-in right away. Consider having the medallion (Princess’ version of the sea card) shipped to your home. If you have the Premier package, shipping is free; without the package, it costs $10*. You can order the medallion on the app at the same time you do online check-in. The medallions typically arrive 7-20 days before the trip; ours came 7 days before. If you want to know if it’s been shipped, you can call Princess. Once you order the medallion, you will be assigned to the "green lane,” teeing you up for faster boarding. At the terminal, agents manning kiosks check your passport and boarding pass. Then, you scan your medallion, and that’s it! It took us about five minutes. The Enchanted Princess' stunning piazza, the hub of it all. For better medallion management  Lanyards and clip  Check out the options for holding the medallion during your cruise. Amazon has a slew of choices, from watchbands to key chains. AirTag holders work too.  There’s also a shop on the ship with many options, including bracelets and necklaces.  The medallions are shipped with free lanyards, but note that the holder portion is a thin plastic frame. In just one day on our trip, we saw two people lose their medallions because they popped out of the holder. If you have Premier, the medallions also come with a blue plastic clip.  Musing's Top Tip: I used a different solution for the medallion holder, which worked really well. I bought a keychain and retractable badge holder from Amazon. I mounted the medallion in the keychain and connected it to the badge holder. I hooked the badge holder to the zipper of my little purse, leaving the medallion safely inside (see photo right). When I needed to show the medallion, I pulled it out of my purse with the badge holder cord. My spouse used the same technique, adding an extra keychain piece that he used to loop it through his belt, and keep his medallion in his shorts pocket. For hassle-free specialty dining  The Premier package includes two dinners, but if you make reservations in the app, you will get charged, and then will need to visit Guest Relations onboard to have it credited. You can avoid this hassle by calling Princess from home and asking them to make reservations for you, which they do without charging. Sabatini's, the Italian specialty restaurant off the piazza. You’ll want to make reservations as soon as possible, as they fill up fast. For example, when we visited the Crown Grill on embarkation day, the restaurant was already completely booked for the whole trip.  For quicker MDR dining  You can book your main dining room meals before the trip on the app. We made reservations for every night, even if we weren’t sure we were going to eat there. Note on formal nights: If you want to enjoy both formal nights and specialty restaurants, pay close special attention to your itinerary. For seven-day Caribbean trips, in general, if you have a port on day 2 (first full day of the cruise), the formal night will be on day 3. If you have a sea day on day 2, the formal night will be on day 2. (This can vary, though, depending on the length of your trip and part of the world).  Musing's Top Tip: For a faster meal, tell the waiter you have a show to catch. We did this one night and were out of there in only 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Communication from Princess One week before the cruise, your boarding pass will show up in the app. You’ll only receive a few emails from Princess between final payment and boarding. Some are informational/educational, highlighting dining options and entertainment. The last one, “Last Minute Must-Dos,” comes a few days before the trip and provides reminders on what you need to bring for check-in and details about the departure port.  Musing's Top Tip: To really be in the know before you go, consider joining the Princess Facebook site. I got some great ideas and advice from previous cruisers. Hope these tips helped.  By the way, we loved the Enchanted Princess. Stay tuned for a ship review coming soon!  * Available only to guests from U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico

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