SiliconCruiser

Canned sodas cost too much to be included in the drinks package. Only 3¢ fountain drinks are included and you don't even want to know how much the alcoholic beverages cost them when they are dispensed from the duty free bar bottles. But you can bring back soda (and usually beer) cans from port calls. Most of the time, you can even bring back bottles of wine and liquor to your cabin from port calls if you don't declare then when entering the ship if you aren't blatantly displaying them . If you don't see the liquor desk at the security checkpoint, you'll probably even be able to bring back liquor in their store bags with the gift wrapping.

Princess never puts anything on sale. They just re-arrange the sales pitch, just as you might experience at a car dealership. They're gambling on a gullible marketplace. But of late, they seem to be focusing on an even more gullible marketplace; the generation following the demographic that was their primary focus. i.e. they think your kids are even more susceptible than you are. Bear in mind, as we express our farewells to the Greatest generation, the Boomer generation has to step up to the plate and protect our issue.

Thanks neighbor! Guess they wised up. The last time we tried that (pre-epidmic) we were told that we would go into a "guarantee" status and may end up in a regular cabin (per both Princess and our TAs) It would appear that they are saying that ADA would only go to ADA, but given Princess' track record for veracity and the fact that it is on Facebook would suggest that it should be approached with caution. We once made the mistake of booking a regular cabin (the price was attractive,) and it was for a 15 day Hawaiian cruise. After 4 miserable days in a cabin with little space for the wheelchair, having to fold the wheelchair to get it through the door, we were fortunate enough to have been able to access (beg) for a cabin that was being vacated since the couple had decided to catch a plane in Honolulu and go home. We were only made aware of it because the couple told us (their friends and neighbors traveling with them in the adjoining ADA cabin knew a couple that I had attended grammar and high school with.) Even then, Princess was reluctant to move us to the ADA cabin.

We used Michelangelo because we had a Plaza level cabin right off the Piazza, it was a simple walk from our cabin to the dining room, but we had to use Da Vinci for lunch or breakfast. Actually we seldom got up early enough, so we usually had breakfast up in the buffet.

They have crew that will take people on and off the ship, but that is all. Once you're on the ship, you'll have to get out of the wheelchair, when you leave the ship, you'll have to make your way to the gangway and they'll transport you out. But on some port calls, you will exit from the 4th or 5th floor with a short gangway and there will be no wheelchairs available but they will have people to ensure that you are able to walk the short distance safely.

If you bid, you go into a guaranteed status, there's no guarantee of an ADA cabin. There aren't many ADA cabins on any of the ships. Even on one of the Royal class ships, like the Majestic, there are only about 34-35 ADA cabins. And very few for those who seek Interior cabins. ADA cabins on some of the more popular cruise routes may be booked up a 6-9 months in advance. That being said, we did manage to get a "Drop & Go" fare in an ADA cabin to Alaska this year (dumb luck!).

$999 for 15 days comes out to 66.60 per person per day. There were lower rates earlier in the season. Presuming that a balcony is the minimum cabin that can be booked is presumptuous and misleading.

They once tried to give us an upgrade and it was not to an ADA cabin and when Princess was contacted, the phone agent couldn't figure out why it should make a difference. Please note that this was pre-pandemic. These days it might be met with "who cares".

I wondered about that. Since we require an ADA cabin, I suspect none of this upsell business would be beneficial to us.

I was frantically notified by my TA that the No Upgrade had been removed from my profile, and she immediately put it back on after I told her that it was okay to do so. Since we require (actually REQUIRE) an ADA room for a motorized wheelchair, we don't need this kind of aggravation. I was furious for a while until I figured out where it may have happened. We received a meta-upgrade for a b2b2b cruise and they may have removed it to make it happen and then forgot to set it back.

We noticed the same thing on an Alaskan cruise in July. Actually the table wasn't even there. But after noticing that no one seems to care if you bring back alcohol (of any kind) back from port calls. In Shanghai (years ago) I brought back some sort of Chinese liquor (120 proof, and godawful tasting) that was left over from a luncheon. No one batted an eye. I soon discovered that other than at embarkation, they didn't seem to care about bottles or cans brought back from port calls. (I have to wonder if anyone would care if they brought on one of those Jim Beam bottles that was in the shape of a gun 🤣.) But one of the Princess security people freaked out when he saw a knife in the zip-loc that I put all my metal in for the scanners. Had to explain to him the blade on my Swiss-Army knife was well below the 2.5" maximum but he insisted that he had to confiscate it until the end of the cruise. He backed off after he saw the knife and I just acted very offended (though I do know that most of them don't really know what they're doing and that is also from one of my employment experiences where I really did have to know.)

It's possible, he seems to fit the age range.

Perhaps you could educate an old/retired marketing guy. How does disenfranchising your existing consumer demographic (the one that brings in the current income) to seek a new demographic help the company. Especially when the company is trying to emerge from a 2+ year shutdown. Your perspective sounds very entry-level, not "executive". But the term "executive" is often applied to first-line employees (e.g. "Account Executive" instead of "Salesperson") Your philosophy brings to mind the adage of "Throwing out the baby with the bathwater." Basically your philosophy of destroying current income flow in the hopes attracting a new revenue source makes no sense to me. Actually I've seen it before with "brilliant" fresh out of college kids taking the marketing helm in small tech companies as they drive the company straight into the ground.

Princess cruises to Hawaii have the lowest per person per day cost (around $50-60 per day). I don't understand his "wisdom"

But the 60+ (way plus) is the demographic that identified with the "Love Boat". Perhaps someone in Hollywood needs to create a new idea based upon one of the party lines (like Carnival) rather than trying restore an antiquated story line from a half a century ago. What's next? A remake of Ozzie and Harriet? Or maybe a new version of "Your Show of Shows"?

Looks like a crew cabin.

It has become common knowledge that Princess is less than responsive to inquires, and once they've got all your money, they no longer have a need to be responsive to you. Perhaps this situation may change if they are able to get out of their economic straits, but there is the possibility that this may be their new business model. Experienced Princess customers may remember that Princess was not terribly responsive (or truthful) to consumer inquiries even back in the pre-pandemic days, but that was no reflection on the service level of the exploited crew-staff.

I used to take a tux on every cruise and wore it on every formal night. At some point, I realized that I was in the minority and sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb. After a business suit, blazer and slacks, I'm going with the majority with "business casual". Also, I heard that Aloha shirt and slacks (even khakis) were considered appropriate business wear in Hawaii.

Yes. But I wear black walking shoes on formal nights. 😉

If you don't have mobility issues, the blue bus is the most convenient and least costly. If you need wheelchair accessible transportation, they you'll either the Princess Excursion that is ADA accessible or a cab (be aware of cab drivers that may tell you that the only way to guarantee a ride back is if you have them wait during your visit; these drivers tend to be college kids running whatever hustle they can to take the most money back to school.) You can also take the city bus (they're all wheelchair accessible) but it is about 1.1 miles from the bus stop to the glacier.

I'd probably hang onto it until one of those years when I needed to find every tax deduction I could find or when the company goes Chap 7-BU.

I used to always wear a tuxedo, but then I realized that standing out in the crowd. I started wearing a dark business suit (with tie.) Still stood out like the proverbial sore thumb. I went to the traditional blue blazer, dress shirt, tie, with gray slacks ... still a little out of place. I then went to a blazer, dress shirt, tie, and khaki slacks ... a little better but still stood out. On my last cruise, I brought a blazer, dress shirt, tie, slacks, fancy polo shirt, but just wore the blazer, and polo shirt with slacks. The next formal night I just wore the dress shirt with slacks. Thank goodness the tie didn't take up too much space.

It sez you can bring two bottles up to 750ml. That being said to satisfy 'the rules quoters', they are pretty lax after the embarkation port. The x-ray machines and mag operators are all Princess security and they only seem to be looking for weapons. I've seen many passengers taking 750 ml bottles of liquor, beer, wine, in various quantities in their carry-ons (backpacks) or other packaging. As I recall the only ones stopped were those bringing alcohol openly in fancy bags, and those who declared them. On our last cruise I didn't even see the alcohol table when we returned to the ship on port calls (but alcohol is pretty expensive in Alaska.)

DRO was previously known as the Maitre D. High ranking officer on the ship in charge of all restaurant operations. As I recall, it is not customary to tip any officer who is pictured on the officer's board. It would be like offering to tip the captain, or the highest paid officer on the ship, the director of hotel operations.

Credit card surcharges may not be assessed in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas, regardless of what Google says.