So_Tweetie

I will have to watch the walkthrough video to confirm, but someone posted on FB that they were not happy to find that all Sanctuary seats on the Sun are .... in the sun. I want shade 100% of the time so will be quite disappointed if I can't have a seat under cover somewhere for whatever the price may be.

They send me some pretty fantastic offers but I always have to add $120 per day to the price because I really don't think it's worth sailing without a package these days. But the longer cruises just get so expensive without much return. I am sticking with 7 day trips for now to get the most for my money.

The old rule still applies (more so, it seems) to the new packages - The longer the cruise and the more ports, the less valuable the package.

Exactly! That's a huge change from when I was a kid and visited Canada; I remember people smoking while waiting for elevators at our hotel. America had already banned smoking indoors but we had culture shock that Canada was behind the times. More recently, while staying in Vancouver before a cruise, I was surprised to see so many people smoking marijuana while walking outside. Again, it had already been legalized in my state (Washington) but we still didn't (don't) have people doing it out in public.

Okay contrarian 😘

I trust you were able to deduce my point from my apparently flawed commentary. Cheers! (CCL is the ticker symbol.)

Correct - we were told the only thing they could serve us without charge was water. They will sell you a soda and tell you that the $25 onboard credit for the "inconvenience" of sailing out of Galveston should make up for it. I am honestly surprised they haven't changed this policy since November when I was onboard. I have been on many sailings out of Galveston on RC and can confirm that the drink packages work from the moment of boarding - they do have a limited menu which is what Texas law does actually stipulate. Princess has made up their own rules, that don't even align with what their parent company CCL does in the same waters.

I made the video you're referring to and thank you for grasping what most people don't - my main issue was with not being allowed to use the package for soda. Not that they were charging for liquor. Texas liquor laws do not apply to non-alcoholic beverages.

Don posted a Video on his YouTube channel saying he was supposed to be on the inaugural sailing and there was this interesting exchange in the comments:

I have never lost the cost of a cruise while gambling onboard, I think they offer much better deals to people who do. For the record - points are issued based on play, not losses.

No, it's real. They just sold out of the interior cabins on the sailing I wanted. The other cruises from the email are showing at the price offered in the email.

I am moving on from the Sun offer to others and the Iberian is still showing as available. I guess people snapped up those interior cabins on the Sun very quickly - not surprising!

Thank you - I will call the casino in the AM....I don't think there will be any sleep between now and then!

It's only been MINUTES since I got the email...dang!

I'm one of those "young people" who trusts legitimate email addresses....

Does this address seem like a scam to you all? It links directly to the Princess site...

I definitely noticed the typo, but....everything else made sense. Including my PVP calling six times since yesterday...

Princess just emailed me an UNBELIEVABLE offer that I want to book RIGHT NOW. I went on the website and cannot find availability, so I tried reaching out to my PVP. Got an auto-reply out-of-office...I think I might DIE if I can't take advantage of this deal.....what is the next best option?!

Thank you, I didn't realize that!

Wow, thank you for the enlightening information.

When booking with Princess and Royal, the fees are shown on the page where you browse sailings. I find it easier to scroll past and not consider cruises with high fees that way. On NCL though, I got my heart set on a birthday cruise and thought I had found a fantastic price all the way until I got to checkout and the fees were revealed.

Brutal!

Oh yeah, excursion rates are wild!

$265 is along the lines of what I would expect. $420 though... 🤯

I was just about to check out for an Alaska cruise next October, then the port fees and taxes were added to the booking...$419.29 each on a 9-day sailing! The itinerary is roundtrip out of Seattle with stops in Sitka, Glacier Bay (scenic cruising), Skagway, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan, and Victoria. I don't remember fees being that high the previous two times that I cruised Alaska, it seems absolutely ridiculous. Does anyone know if this is because of a certain port or if it is to be expected of all Alaska cruises these days?