caribill

If you sign off on the new system, doesn't it tell you how many minutes have been used?

I think it is more than that. Last summer Princess raised the Plus package cost from $40/day to $50/day. Less than 6 months later they raised it again to $60/day. In order justify charging 50% more than it had been a year ago, Princess through in extra stuff that, as posts here confirm, many people will not use. That extra stuff may attract new customers to Plus, but a number of posts have shown a number of people who could easily justify Plus for two people at $40 and possibly justify the same for $50, cannot do so for $60/day.

The bidding does introduce a factor that never existed before, but it is more likely to get more $$$ from people who have already booked to be on the ship without influencing prices for the cabins yet to be sold. It will however mean that the empty cabins to be sold will be in lower priced categories. And although 50 people will not get together to collude not to book at the last minute, many posts on Cruise Critic before "price integrity" was introduced told the story of people independently not booking early because they were waiting for list minute deep discounts. The posts said they did not always get the cruise at the top of their list, but did get one they wanted at a low price. If you live, for example, within driving distance of Miami/Fort Lauderdale and want to take a Caribbean cruise for a week, you might not be choosy about which cruise line or ship you are on and there will be a number of ships doing basically the same itinerary. You would likely find an acceptable cruise every week if deep discounting to fill a ship continued.

You can always get one of the desserts and bring it to eat at the fitness class.

And the dessert menu includes the chocolate melting cake every evening.

Another difference: On Princess the waitstaff does not dance on top of the dining room tables.

Not that far-fetched an idea. Look what Royal Caribbean is now offering: "You might grab a bacon-topped-Manhattan at the brand new Mason Jar on Wonder of the Seas"

Pre Plus and Premier packages, selling water as you exited the ship was a profit center. With about 75% of passengers now getting free water with one of those packages, I suspect Princess does not see a need to supply personnel to hand out "free" water bottles.

With the rollout of the new coffee package this past week, there have been reports from several ships that the option to exchange the Elite beverage setup for two coffee "cards" is no longer allowed. Can you find out if that will also be the case on the Island Princess when your next segment starts?

On my recent Ruby Princess cruise they were not even selling water like they used to before exiting the ship at a port since many people already had picked it earlier up using their package.

That will never happen. You will always need to show a passport (or other acceptable alternative for some cruise itineraries).

I had a GTY for an oceanview cabin on one very sold-out cruise a few years ago that Princess went to unusual extremes to make space for those with GTY bookings. In my case, we were on an airplane to the port a day before the cruise without a cabin assignment, knowing that somehow Princess would be able to find a cabin for us. What Princess did was move two relatives who were solo in two oceanview cabins into a full suite that had originally been booked for the then president of Princess to be in for the cruise. We then received one of those two now available cabins and the president of Princess did not take the cruise.

Doing that would encourage people (especially those who do not have to fly to a port) to not book until the last minute in hopes of getting a dirt cheap cruise. Princess and other cruise lines have in recent (pre-pandemic) years tried to keep pricing constant and have sales that vary what amenities are included without changing the base price. There are savings to the customer that way, but the cruise line can maintain "price integrity." Pre-pandemic, Princess had sales promotions that only differed in what was included. Example, in late spring they had a promotion where a beverage package was included while the fare stayed about the same. In the fall they had a "three for free" promotion with, for example, a cabin upgrade, a free specialty dinner, and some OBC while the fare stayed about the same. Pre-pandemic, this strategy worked for multiple cruise lines with the booking curve skewed towards early bookings and cruise lines trying to adjust promotions so that as embarkation day approached, late bookings could be at a premium price (supply and demand) instead of at a deep discount. Note that much of current Princess advertising is not about the basic cruise fare, but, for example, getting "over $950 value on a 7-day cruise when you buy Princess Plus." In other words, spend $420/person extra over the basic fare and you will save money over purchasing overpriced individual packages you might never have considered getting in the first place. Yes, recently there have been some actual fare reductions on some Princess cruises, but, in my opinion, it is because demand is not back in all cases to what it was pre-pandemic.

One difference: The Princess dining room tables have tablecloths on them.

I wonder if it is really gelato which is a different preparation than ice cream. I suspect it is ice cream and Princess uses the word gelato to make it seem something it is not. From Mr. Google: How is gelato different from ice cream? Ingredients. While both gelato and ice cream contain cream, milk and sugar, there are differences, too. Authentic gelato uses more milk and less cream than ice cream and generally doesn't use egg yolks, which are a common ingredient in ice cream.

Also unaware of the Crew Incentive increase is the "Important Notices" section of the Personalizer for a cruise. CREW APPRECIATION PAYMENT INFORMATION To simplify the tipping process for our guests, a discretionary crew appreciation payment of USD 16.50 per guest for suites, USD 15.50 per guest for mini-suites, and USD 14.50 per guest for interior, oceanview, and balcony staterooms, per day (including children) will be automatically added to your shipboard account.

With the minutes system of the past, the free minutes were valued by Princess at about 50 cents/minute. For a 7 day cruise, the benefit was 150 minutes, worth about $75 which, until recently, was more than what Princess charged full price for seven days of unlimited ($70). So Princess changed a free benefit worth $75 to one that you need to pay $35 for with the 50% discount. Nice trick convincing people that getting a discount is a benefit when the old benefit was worth more than the full undiscounted price of the switch to unlimited.

All you say is accurate, but Princess does not promote the "Best WIFI at Sea" as only being available some of the time in some areas of the world.

And where is this juice bar located? Any idea what used to be at that location?

You can book any 10 DAY Mexico sailing and it will be free for the same category. You will not have to pay extra if the cruise price is higher than what you paid originally. (You will get a refund as OBC for any difference if the new cruise is at a lower cost.) And the fare you paid originally will be refunded via refundable OBC. I have seen some past "move over" offers posted that included an upgrade to a higher type cabin (example: from a balcony to a mini-suite) and/or an offer to allow booking any cruise anywhere in the world that was the same length (or less or sometimes more) than the original cruise. Basically Princess has oversold the category you are in and needs your type cabin to fill GTY bookings. You do not have to take the offer and will be able to take the cruise you booked. Many do turn down a "move over" offer due to not able to change vacation time from work, traveling with friends or family, etc. But by getting the rescheduled cruise for $0 and getting back 100% of the cruise fare you paid, many find that an offer too good to turn down.

Not based on all the TV advertising for cruises in our area. Princess ads show couples having cocktails, being served Champagne, eating fancy dinners, etc. Royal Caribbean and Carnival ads show families with children doing things together and kids having a great time with in board water activities.

Were both those with and those without the Medallions in the same line or was there a separate line for those picking up the Medallions at the port?

For cruises which start in the USA, if only those who booked without Plus or Premier package (and those not living in USA) have to pick them up, it will likely be less than 25% of the passengers who will need to do that.

Looks like New Grounds Coffee Package is just for specified number of espressos, not regular brewed coffee or hot chocolate or specialty teas.

You can exchange the alcohol and soda for bottles of water.