pink845

I like the Princess product but and I agree with JimmyW Vines comments about the morbid side of things. Princess wants the 35 year old with a healthy income as he or she and their families will be around for 40 plus years.  It is all about the money honey and those who want to pay up front for all the bells and whistles. A lot of these young ones with kids cruise maybe once per while us older ones who Re their bread and butter for eons are not as important in terms of the lines Princess included catering to. As I say, I like their product  their itineraries and will continue to cruise them along with Rccl and Celebrity. I am an equal opportunity cruiser, whichever line offers best deal on balcony I will do with no added frills or  packages and try to avoid holidays and vacation times for my 4 to 6 cruises per year.  

We are on 2 back to back Crown Princess itineraries departing Sydney Feb 22 2025 one to New Zealand, the other to Queensland. As we are Canadian and it is obviously a stretch to Australia, we always book fully refundable airfare in the event of a cruise being cancelled and of course overall full medical and trip interruption nd cancellation insurance. We have experienced over the years outright itinerary cancellations  ship changes, departure point cancellations. We have always been offered the option to fully cancel and receive full cash refund or move over offer and obc. We usually simply take cash back to credit card and enact our refundable air. I know it is so disspointing when these things happen  but operational issues are always used.

Cruzsnooze, such a heavily debated topic those tips. You are generous at cutting tips to 10 bucks a day per person. We eliminate totally upon boarding. When we get good service we reward with cash directly to that person. Someone in posts mentioned some of the tips go to guest services.  Well that is nuts. On every ship when we encounter an issue, guest services are basically useless.  Yes  the room stewards do know when tips are eliminated at start of cruise and guess what they actually work harder for you. Good service deserves a reward. The supervisor is informed of reduction or elimination. We are up font. We do not wait for last day to remove tips. Our last cruise our cabin was filthy upon embarkation. That room steward obviously did not do his job. I suggest cruise lines pay staff better and increase fares by 100 per person across board and say tips are now part of of the cruise fare. Case closed.  Princess can stuff their coffers with the difference.  I barely drink alcohol, my husband does not drink alcohol  pop or sugary juices or coffee. Wifi not necessary for us as we buy a foreign sim card and have internet upon arrival in all the ports. People are so connected today. What happened to Princess motto of escaping completely.  Princess knows that so many passengers are addicted to their technology and you will see those packages start to increase yet again for their new even better wifi that wll be rolled out shortly.  Just adding my opinion.

I would myself contact the Princess executive team..you will have to jump through hoops but be patient and ask for some obc because of the cabin switch. Most times, they will give you $100 bucks or so as goodwill for putting you through distress so close to your cruise date. Princess very amenable usually. Be nice with them is the key. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure your having a cabin that fits 4 landed you ripe for a move. And in the contract, yes, they have the right to change your cabin for operational reasons which cover a myriad of reasons of which you will never be told which one but a simple ask for some obc might make you feel better. In over 30 years of cruising, there have been many operational changes o us and we always get some money given to us.

SeaCBear, did you buy the excess coverage for your car rental with Sixt.  We have checked National / Enterprise and it seems to be very pricy in the region of $AU500 for the day with Excess coverage. We would like to venture to Roturua and the thermal area.  What were the roads like to Roturua.   We have used Sixt in England and bought the coverage where we could drop the car off a cliff and not be liable for anything.  

One of my very favourite memories as I look at the poster I have in front of my desk of the Three Sisters. Incredible view.  Incredible day. We took the train from Sydney and had a lovely day at the Blue Mountains.  A must do.   And simple on top of it.

Princess has the Sky in Norway in June 2026.  We are booked.

Stop worrying about the buffet and catching Covid there.   If you have people on your floor who are sick (and you can hear them hacking away), forbid the room steward from spreading germs into your cabin by forbidding he / she from entering your cabin.  They can easily put your clean towels into a plastic bag right inside your door and can remove your old ones that way. No need for them to enter past one foot.  This is what we did.  We still got Covid because we acted too late.

We have booked the Sky Princess for the June 13, 2026 sailing to Norway.  Prices have increased tremendously since we booked.  Still so far off.  Perhaps only certain of the Norwegian ports will require the LNG ships.  It would be irresponsible for Princess to allow us to book a cruise where they already know their ships will be prohibited from entering.  I intend to keep an eye on this issue.

I would be also interested to know if the Almond Milk offered by Princess is the  sweetened or unsweetened one.  Just been told I have to watch my sugar intake and I have started using unsweetened almond milk.  It is a pretty big change from cream or Coffeemate.   

Not worth effort attending any more. Used to go for shrimp and sushi. Loyalty becoming thing imof the past. Today it is all about how much you are willing to pay for any perks. But then once paying for them, they are no longer perks.

Have been cruising with Princess for over 30 years. No longer feel special. Today loyalty is bought not earned. We still cruise Princess but it has truly lost its lustre. It is all about the packages and trying to convince us that we need these extras when we really do not. Used to be the Elite before dinner nightly cocktail was a highlight. That was when cocktails were 4.00 not 8.25 and when there was a large mountain of shrimp on cocktail menu each afternoon. Those days are gone. Shrimp three times i 14 days. Still choose Princess because we find them cheaper plus I always buy the future cruise deposits of 100 in multiples each time I cruise sdo they are handy to reserve a cruise if something catches my eye. We only book fully refundable and with rccl and celebrity, we hate that the refundable price deposit is a whopping 560 cdn for two when we book. So I stay with the devil I know. But loyalty to customers eroding by the year. Sad.

1.5 hours to 2.5 hours in highway depending on traffic and whether it is a holiday weekend. Whyvend a great holiday with the stress of getting to the airport to catch an early international flight. We always book flights 4 pm and later or spend a night at heathrow airport hotel who will hold luggage until check in and we dash off by city bus to windsor for the remainder of the afternoon. Then take early flight next day. So much more relaxed. One year passed  I do remember ship arriving 2 hours late in Southampton. What a mess for people with those early flights.

Remember though that should you cancel your shore excursion on the cruise because of illness or any other reason that money will sit on your cabin as obc again while on the cruise. Paying with credit card it would go back to your card.  We had a fare amount of on board credit and we simply redeemed it for cash at the casino. On last cruise, I was hard pressed to find anything nice to buy with my 600usd of obc. They have made all the Princess merchandise generic nothing specific to individual ships anymore. Sad.  

Truly Caribbean Princess should be retired not refreshed. Regal all the way. The only good thing about Caribbean Princess is the outside promenade deck.

Gift shop supervisor came back from meeting while I was at cash very excited and told rest of staff it was happening in October. Truly needs a refresh to replace  the myriad of carpets that have fallen victim to the sewage leaking out of pipes. 

Charlie's Pet,  we did British Isles on Regal last summer. For us there is nothing better than starting one's day or ending a long day out with sitting on our balcony. No matter the weather. I would stay away from insides at all cost. No air circulation. We got Covid in June while sailing in an inside cabin. Never again. It was an Iceland and Norway cruise. Thought I would not make use of a balcony and we were in our very first oceanview which on Caribbean Princess was basically an inside with a large window. My opinion a balcony lets you clean out the air that circulates in your cabin. Also we limited the cabin steward from entering our cabin because all they do is bring germs into ones cabin from the other cabins and if we had had a balcony for air circulation I am sure we would have fared better. My vote remains no matter the itinerary  no matter the price  it continues to be balcony all the way.

We had a large large window in our Oceanview room on the Caribbean Princess.  Unobstructed views.  Obviously, windows do not open.  We made the very huge mistake, one that we regret terribly of booking an ocean view room (thinking Norway and Iceland would be cold cruises (yes they are!!) and thinking we would not need a balcony. Boy, was that a HUGE MISTAKE. No air circulation. Just nasty.  Never again in my life would I book an inside cabin or an ocean view cabin!!!  The price between Ocean view and Balcony was $1000 USD more per person.  I should have paid it.  Both got COVID. No air circulation.!!

As Elites we do enjoy those priority tenders. That is great.  The mini bar we change to water.  The cocktail event each night prior to dinner is also great especially when they put out the large shrimp and it is nice to have an $8.00 cocktail every now and then.  I remember when they were $4.25.  They do have a nice Captain's Reception for Elites and Platinums as well where you can get a number of free cocktails on that special evening.  You have to ask for something special They will bring them to you.  10 percent off at shops. That is fine too and 10 percent off the shore excursions.  Laundry not so much unless it is old socks.  I do not need my clothes ruined or bleached.  What I really miss is the exchange of the mini bar for a coffee card.  I think the internet prices are outrageous even with the half off as an Elite.  What we do in let's say Europe is we buy a sim Card and replace our CDN one with that new one which covers all of Europe and we have internet at every port for a low price of $50 euros covered a month this past month.  Worked like a charm.   A soon as the ship docks, internet works.  Wine tasting event  not really very impressive.  So no longer attend.  

So sad but these accounts are downright hilarious.  Sad but hilarious.  Princess treats passengers like cattle being held to slaughter.  We sat down to dinner on Majestic last  year (Alaska in May) and I felt that the chair was a tad wet.  Hmmm maybe someone had suffered an accident.  Okay. My husband asked that the chair be changed.  Done.  Waiting for appetizer to arrive, water or something else not sure came gushing down from the ceiling.  Right onto the table.  Great.  Help.  So sorry was the reply from the head waiter.  Give us a minute we will find you another table.  Dining room was packed.   Found us another table.  Ordered meal. I got up from my table to head to the lady's room only to find that a new couple of now sitting at my old table.  Can you imagine.  

Hmm. These older ships are becoming a real issue.  We did sail Alaska (15 years ago on the Island Princess) and even then in a balcony cabin at the back of the ship (we had issue with sewage smell).  I can tell you that there will likely be no compensation for the OP.  I was on the Caribbean Princess, just a few weeks back and I can clearly still see two of the Officers in white sincerely apologizing to an older gentleman in the Explorers lounge (sort of a quiet section) that the ship was totally full and that there was no place to move him and his wife even though a pipe had broken and spewed sewage in his cabin. Wow. They could not even change the carpets apparently.  They were airing things out.    I did not hear the word compensation mentioned other than how about some coffee and a specialty dining experience. If that were us, we would be demanding a complete refund (this was day 3 of a 14 day cruise) and we would be demanding they pay our return airfare home as soon as the next port was reached. This man was just too accommodating to Princess while it should have been Princess accommodating him.   

We loved the Regal.  Sailed on her twice last year (2023) One of those being British Isles.  You are always going to find people who are critical.  Food is so subjective. Ports on British Isles were lovely.  Make sure that if you are not taking tours, you do your research on getting to the attractions on your own.  Almost every port requires some sort of train, bus, etc.. We love the Royal Class ships because of the Piazza on Deck 5. We do miss the promenade deck from the older ships however.

We were on the May 31 Caribbean Princess sailing Norway and Iceland.  We asked our room steward to bring us a kettle and he did.  There are limited kettles so do not delay.  Ask as soon as you enter your cabin and grab that room steward. (if you can find him / her).  Also, ask for any other items you might need.  So nice to have a kettle.

Well, I was on the Caribbean Princess recently and I observed and heard a passenger hand USD to one of the waiters in the Horizon Court.  I was sitting very close to the area where the coffee and tea is poured.  She was so grateful and was basically bursting and asked a fellow crew she was working with what to do with the money (he quietly told her to simply pocket the money.) He told her she was being rewarded and to keep it to herself.  I agree wholeheartedly.  She obviously gave great service to that passenger and she deserved it all to herself.   

Do not know what changes are coming but on our last cruise May 31st Iceland and Norway, this dry dock was all the rage for the staff.  They could not stop talking about it and how they were so looking forward to the time off in October.