caribill

Yes

"Cleaning" (right side of laundry ticket) is their current equivalent for dry cleaning. Clothes in that side will not be washed, but will use whatever the current non-wash process is.

Pre-pandemic they were always selling H20 bottles as you left the ship. If they are still doing that now, can you get your beverage package H20 there at no charge?

They used to open up world cruises with a promotion that if you booked the entire cruise (all segments), then you would get free gratuities. Since they hope in general that 50% of passengers will book the Plus package and 25% will book the Premier package, both of which include gratuities, there is little incentive for Princess to offer free gratuities anymore.

I saw a new TV ad for Princess last evening. It ended with the slogan "What happens here stays with you forever."

And that is why DMW cannot possibly replicate the previous Traditional Dining experience. o Traditional had two times and 100% certainty your table was ready when you arrived. o Having the same table every evening meant that after the first evening you could go directly to your table without having to wait to check in and be guided to the table you would have that evening.

Op did not say Bravo was a bad show, just that he saw it before and wished that Princess would change shows more often.

Don't know if OP had made a reservation with DMW or not, but DMW does not appear to work for everyone . If showing up for a reservation and finding there will be a wait, then showing up at the same time without a reservation definitely means there will be a wait.

The reason it is not necessary is because it is ignored on embarkation day.

Plus is $50/day more than standard. For the number of days on a world cruise, that adds up. As pointed out above, that does include the daily gratuities ($14.50/day for most cabins) and Internet ($10/day ($5 if Platinum or Elite status)). So if you would not be consuming at least $25 of beverages a day/person, it would not be worth the cost. So for a 120 day world cruise, gratuities would be $1740/person and Internet would be $1200/person ($600 if Platinum/Elite). If two people in the cabin can share a single device at a time Internet package, then without the Plus package, only one Internet package would be needed If not Platinum/Elite at the start of the cruise, you would become at least Platinum before the last segment of the world cruise.

Princess has done that also which has been at best about $50/person unless in a full suite. Not sure if that is a meaningful sale. Princess has also had sales with free upgrades within a type cabin, but not to the highest level within that type. Also worth about $50/person at best. Booking with a discount TA gives more savings than either of those "sales" plus when booking with a TA those same Princess sales incentives still apply.

Princess expects that about 50% of bookings will be with the Plus package pricing and about 25% of bookings will be with Premier package pricing. That leaves about 25% of bookings with standard pricing. So Princess sales will not include, as they did in various sales in the past, various "free" gratuities, beverage package, etc. as that would cut into the lucrative bookings with one of the packages. In the past Princess has resisted sales that actually significantly cut the basic cabin price as they wanted to preserve what they term "price integrity." So offerings of free gratuities or a beverage package cut the cost for the passenger while maintaining cabin pricing. Yes, there is the current sale of 3rd/4th passengers sale free. That will attract bookings from those who want 3 or 4 in a cabin, but is not at all a factor in attracting those who book 2 or less people in a cabin. So going forward, what kind of meaningful sales will Princess have is the big unknown.

Pre-cruise, OBC can only be used for shore excursions. You can use your OBC if you book on board. Some people have a dining credit which can be used pre-cruise. For example, those in a full suite who automatically get a "free" specialty dining experience the first evening of a cruise.

The servers are in the tipping pool that you already contribute to. That said, if you wish, you can tip them more. No special amount, just what you feel is appropriate for the service you receive.

Maybe we can have her go to onboard smoking areas and annoy the people there so much they will never smoke again.

So if enough people do not know about it and therefore do not go to it, Princess might discontinue it saying it is not popular enough to continue.

Only if they know the combination to unlock it.

It will not apply to cruises that involve Canada, but starting soon many Princess cruises will accept a self-administered test without medical observation.

You can enter the terminal, but you cannot check your luggage and check-in for your flight until three hours before scheduled flight time. As pointed out above, there is no convenient place to wait until that three hour point in time.

There have been posts that on some ships the Pub Lunch food items have been available in the buffet for lunch one day. (I do not know if this is advertised in the Patter or not.)

Like the old cruise cards which also had your name and sailing info on them, the Medallions with your name and sailing info allow port authorities to know you are authorized to enter the cruise terminal and return to the ship. (Ports do not have equipment that could read the reference number on the chip and check it against a database of passengers on the current cruise.)

Princess has a lot less real sales already, especially since the introduction of Plus package pricing. For example, there used to be a spring sale with the beverage package free. You do not see that anymore. Instead you are encouraged to pay Princess more by buying the Plus or Premier package. In the fall there used to be a sale with gratuities free and often a specialty restaurant meal. You do not see that anymore. Instead, your are encouraged to pay more and get the Plus package (includes gratuities) or the Premier package (includes gratuities and specialty restaurant meals).

If they do take CC status into account, it could make the difference if the highest bid amount was the same from multiple passengers.

That may work. The way it used to work if they offered you the chance to pay for an upgrade, if you did not respond you obviously did not get it and that was the end of it. With the bidding method, your bid can be accepted anytime from when you made the bid until near embarkation time. So if there are any higher category cabins available near embarkation time, your hail Mary bid may be accepted as it does represent additional revenue to Princess, even if not much $$ additional. Making hail Mary bids in several categories could increase your chance of a significant upgrade at minimum cost. Worst that could happen is that you stay in the cabin you already know you would be happy in.

Even for the round trip Galveston voyages on the Ruby which have shore excursions available, Princess has buses to the two airports, but no touring stops available on the way there.