2 cruises a year

Personally, I book ahead. It is one less thing to worry about.

2 hours ago, TRLD said:

While similar from a dance perspective, waltze off is often used to mean a quick and easy departure.

I have a feeling that by now Mark_K has slapped his forehead and said "Oh, now I get it"  🙃🙃

To the credit of the crew, I don't think it would make any difference at all.  In my experience, Princess crew treat every passenger, from inside cabin to suite, many days at sea to first time  cruiser, like you are their best, most favorite guest.  This is how they really feel.  They will not be better or worse from the prior cruise.

13 hours ago, kirtihk said:

Perhaps, you didn't "translate" a meaning of my post properly.  It was about the fact that 10 years expiation is truly <10 years.  So, people pay for 10 years when in reality they pay for 9.5 years or potentially even less.

Yes 10 years is arbitrary, the State Department can chose whatever time the want, but your passport is good for 10 years, no if's ands or but's  You do get your moneys worth.  It is other countries that arbitrarily require the 6 month rule.  It is not practical for the State Department to try to satisfy the requirements every other country in the world.  It is up to the traveler to follow the requirements of the country they are traveling to.  As far as the U.S. is concerned, your passport is good for 10 years when in the U.S., and leaving or returning to the U.S.

4 hours ago, masonchar said:

I booked a 14 day Alaskan cruise directly with Princess back in January.  Final payment was three days ago.  We couldn't afford an oceanview cabin or better, this time around.   But, we decided to book an obstructed view cabin.  There weren't many left, but we found one with a pretty good view. ( I used a website that shows pictures of the views).  Last night I got an email saying they are moving us to a cabin beside the one we had booked.  They said the reason was that the one we booked could accommodate 4 people and there are only 2 of us.  The new (they call it an upgrade) does not have as good a view.  The one we had booked was between two tenders.  The new one is blocked by the front of the tender.   We aren't happy about this change at all.  Before I get on the phone today, is there anything I can do?

I can't find it now, but it has always been my understanding that if you book a four passenger cabin it is with the understanding that Princess can move you IF they need it for four passengers.  A more extreme, and unlikely scenario is that you can book a handicap cabin if you so choose, even if you are not disabled, with the understanding that IF Princess needs the cabin for a disabled passenger, you can be moved.

28 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

If you click through to find a cruise, you will find you book it on another site (that sells cruises), not CC. CC is advertising the cruises (for some sort of kickback, I assume) but not actually selling them. 

@cnice515 They just can't help themselves. And they don't bother to read all of the posts.

11 minutes ago, cnice515 said:

Understand that CC is a part of trip adviser but the site I linked is indeed a CC site at least for me.  However, so as not to offend the cruise booking site police I will never make the mistake of stating that CC is a booking site for cruises.  Thanks to all for letting me know how wrong I am lol.

I'm glad that you took that well, CC posters can be pretty nit-picky. 😉

16 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Not on Sapphire yet. 

 

I don't call anyone on anything written onboard a ship, when English is their second language. 

Well said.  And just as relevant, a different culture. They are all trying to do their best.  There isn't any way that they can know and  cater to every language and culture on board.  That is part of the fun of travel, experiencing different languages and cultures.

45 minutes ago, OSU Buckeyes 1980 said:

I don’t have a dog in this fight (we don’t decorate but I don’t have issues with those that do) but you have to admit they could make a pretty good Saturday Night Live skit out of this “dispute”. 

I agree, you can't make this stuff up.  Reality is greater that fiction. 

Any other expressions anyone would like to add?

6 hours ago, CruisinCouple2010 said:

We are boarding the Ruby Princess this Saturday March 09. I am bringing a Saint Patrick’s day decoration for the door. I will see what happens.

Love it.  It is easier to get forgiveness, than permission.

9 minutes ago, Tom Baker said:

How the hell am I going to find my cabin at 3am now staggering down the corridor is bad enough without trying to figure out the numbers

Beat me to it. My door decorations have saved me from trying to enter the wrong room more than once. (Seriously, I've knocked on the right door, wrong deck before. Luckily no one was home. I finally figured it out) 😉

1 hour ago, Btimmer said:

We were informed yesterday that per new Princess Company policy, no door decorations are allowed and we had to remove ours.  After following up, a supervisor explained and read the policy which only permits company approved items in public areas. 

This is a fairly common "fire" safety issue.  Just more fuel if there happens to be a fire.  Christmas trees in public spaces have some pretty strict regulations.  Also, and I know that I'll get a lot of blow-back on this, but lights, and cheap paper decorations are possible fire hazards.

I'm as disappointed as everyone else, I had battery operated lights and non-flammable magnetic door decorations for every holiday.

On 2/22/2024 at 4:57 AM, DallasGuy75219 said:

9 sq ft is not a meaningful difference, only 5% more square footage.

It really depends on how that 9 sq. feet happens.  One example, in my opinion, an extra foot along a 9 foot wall would be nice.

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

Dinner at the GastroPub tonight was even better than we expected.  We didn’t get dressed up formal night and went in around 5:30 PM.  We were the first ones in there and wow, did it ever get crowded quickly.  
 

The Elton John show was fantastic.  We went to see the comedian in Club Fusion right after that but there were no seats left so we headed down to the Explorers Lounge for the Majority Rules game show.  That was fun.  
After that, some easy listening music at Crooners with a great piano player / singer.  
Another great day at sea … 

 

Who is the piano player in Crooners?  I pretty much live them all, easy listening and up tempo.

On 1/27/2024 at 6:28 AM, phabric said:

I keep a few in my suitcase encase I need them to carry beach towels, book, lotion to the pool.

Perfect for saving your lounge chair while you go back to your cabin for a nap, 😁

7 minutes ago, joetop2467 said:

We hardly ever use cash any more. I get nervous if I have over $80 in my wallet. 

I don't think that the tour guide cares if you are nervous, he wants cash.  He is nervous that your credit card will be rejected.

28 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

That's less than $700. I have no issue carrying that much cash. Six $100 bills and some smaller stuff would cover it. Not an issue to tuck into a wallet.

Even some $50 dollar bills for the in between $100 amounts  as you suggested.  It is easier to round up to the $50, as a little extra tip rather than trying to get change.

1 hour ago, charliedalrymple said:

I'm assuming from the responses that "pop" means soft drinks.  🙂

Do you mean as in "I never drink anything stronger than Pop.  But Pop drank just about anything"😁

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

 

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

At 500 days, life support would have to be a perk. If you can afford and have the free time for 500 days why are you nickel and diming the cruise line for for a lot about nothing perks? If you are looking for a challenge sail another line and start from scratch. You may enjoy it better.

31 minutes ago, skynight said:

I have more than 500 days. Believe me, I'm not on life support yet. These days were accumulated over the last 20+ years. It's nice to have the comped laundry and the priority tender boarding when there happens to be a tender port. Beyond that I don't use the other benefits very much at all. I have been on other lines. Princess so far provides the experience I enjoy. 

@BamaVol, affordability is relative and cruising is about priorities.  Like @skynight, we've been cruising for over 20 years.  I was " Union, Blue Collar", paid well, but not a millionaire by any means.  (another sign of my age, to me a millionaire is tops, a multi-millionaire exceptional, now we have multi-billionaires)  Our  cars are 14 and 20 years old, we didn't move into a bigger house (mortgage) every time I got a raise. not a lot of fancy clothes,  We've lived comfortably, don't feel like we've sacrificed, and since retirement have been able to take re-positioning cruises from ports all around the world back to the U.S. for a short flight home.  Laundry and priority tendering are also our favorite perks.  We are happy with those.  (ps: this "new category" subject comes up regularly, I personally don't think it will ever happen)  We don't have any fancy tangible things to show off, but the memories, experiences and fun we've had were the best choice for us.

19 hours ago, SCX22 said:

The new tier should be called "Geriatric"

I resemble that remark!

On 12/24/2023 at 4:04 AM, skynight said:

I have a person watch my home and collect the mail. Almost all my Bill's are on auto pay. The few that are not I pre pay. I over pay credit cards to cover expected expenses. The post office will stop your mail, max 30 days. Parking. I would call the Crown Plaza and the Double Tree to determine their parking fees with a pre cruise stay and just accept as a cost of the vacation. I have been on these extended cruises. It takes lots of planning.

I prefer the Crown Plaza, they have indoor parking.

48 minutes ago, 2 cruises a year said:

Check into this, this is from my memory from a few years ago.  I could not use FCD's on a couple of longer cruises (true, I do remember this), but my TA was able to use them for some sort of discount on the cruise fare.  As I recall, it was significant.  The FCD's were "sold" back to Princess, the $100 each was credited back to my credit card and I no longer had the FCD's.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

16 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

The below is my post from the 54 day cruise roll call (3/13/26).

 

This has been in place for as long as we remember.  On voyages of 45 days or longer a FCD can not be used as the deposit.     

 

We did apply 2 FCD's towards this cruise to receive a 3% fare reduction and those 2 FCD's were refunded to our credit card.  This is a very strange application of FCD's, but it ended up saving us $1,300.   This also raises your refundable deposit to 5% of the total fare.

 

We have done this on several recent cruise bookings that were over 45 days in length.

Just one more note.  Since the FCD was not applied as usual, no FCD onboard credit was applied either.  Not a game changer to me, but worth noting.

11 hours ago, gottagocit said:

We just tried to use a FCD to book a 54 day voyage and we’re told they can’t be used for any cruise >44 days in length. The one we’re booking is not part of a world cruise which I seem to recall can’t be booked with a FCD but we’ve never heard of this. Has anyone here?

We spoke to two different Princess contacts (agents) and both told us the same thing. 

Check into this, this is from my memory from a few years ago.  I could not use FCD's on a couple of longer cruises (true, I do remember this), but my TA was able to use them for some sort of discount on the cruise fare.  As I recall, it was significant.  The FCD's were "sold" back to Princess, the $100 each was credited back to my credit card and I no longer had the FCD's.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

You can't go wrong with FCD's.  The plusses are many.  The worst case scenario is that you don't use it, you get your money back and all you lose is what ever money that you MIGHT have made investing it.  If you do use it, the least you get far out weighs what you could have received investing it.

It is hit or miss these days.  Probably more miss than hit.  I always ask.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.