plane2port

I just ordered a $100 physical gift card using the code. Got $15 off, but $2.99 shipping. That's ok!

But it's still charging PayPal 102.99, instead of the $$87.99 that is listed on the ebay invoice. Strange! I have put in a request to cancel the order, which is with gift card mall. Hope it works out! I have screen shots in any case.

The biggest issue I would have would be with being constantly bombarded by music not of my choosing. There was one playlist on the Emerald Princess that we really liked (the one on the channel with the front of the ship webcam). All other music in all venues got to be very old. There is a playlist in the dining room that sounds like a woman is in pain. DH and I would just look at each other and say "Ditto". There was no sense belaboring it any longer.

Maybe I am showing my age here, but you bring up one of my biggest pet peeves about cruising--the ubiquitous noise. I won't even bring up the eardrum shattering decibel levels of shows and deck parties. I'm talking about the piped in tracks that play constantly everywhere on the ship. It's annoying to be up on the pool deck trying to enjoy a morning cup of coffee and have to listen to music, especially music I don't even like.

Hey, I think I've hijacked my own thread!

Here's my analysis on the Royal Princess sailings in January 2017. $295 per day for two people. As always, the details and itineraries are in the blog.

I'll be taking a break for a while now, as my son and I will be on the Norwegian Jewel next week! This cruise will be a first for me in several aspects--a new departure port, new ports to visit, our first "comped" cruise from the casino, and most shocking of all, we actually bought our plane tickets instead of using miles.

I really enjoy doing the number crunching on these cruises and would like to investigate further. If any of you have any thoughts as to which direction I could take at this point please give me your input.

I've just completed a breakdown of costs on the Regal Princess.

Works out to $278/day/couple in January 2017

Details, tables, itinerary maps are on the blog.

A couple of years ago, someone posted here that this person had called Princess and it was $52,000 a year in an inside cabin. Sorry, I can't remember the details... but that's a good deal...

This number keeps coming up. I think that was what Egon (see his thread on the solo cruising forum titled "Never too Old.") paid for his year at sea on an MSC ship.

It very much depends on the destination. the class of ship, the month of travel, the type of cabin and how far in advance the cruise is booked. For the Caribbean in an inside cabin from January to March, booked in advance of final payment, it's about $85-$100pp per day for an inside cabin, including tips and incidentals but not including excursions. On the Pacific Princess in other parts of the world, it's $150-$200pp per day, including tips and incidentals. These are net of OBCs, some of which are refundable and others are not.

 

Of course, flash fares and last minute deals can lower this significantly. But if one is living on a ship, it's nearly impossible to take advantage of these. We cruise knowing that others, even if they're staying on for a long time, cruise less expensively than we do. But they have booked last minute and move every turnaround day. There is a premium to be paid for staying in the same cabin.

Thanks for replying. I figured you would know more than anyone. I'm getting $132/day/person for an inside on the Caribbean Princess on January bookings, and you are estimating $85-$100/day/person. Am I looking too far out? When do you make your bookings for your winter cruise season?

I know that the analysis I did on the Norwegian cruises is not realistic because they tend to discount heavily close to sailing. Carnival and Royal Caribbean, on the other hand, tend to give good prices 9-12 months out.

About a month or so ago I got very interested in determining how much it costs to actually live on, or spend a long time on cruise ships. I've looked at Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and now I'm looking at Princess. One very appealing feature of the Princess itineraries is that they vary from week to week.

I've determined that it costs about $265 per day for two to cruise on the Caribbean Princess in the month of January 2017.

I'm hoping that folks who have actually done this, like Pescado Amarillo and others will feel like piping in and discussing. I think many of us are wondering if this is feasible and are interested in the costs.

The calculations, and nit-picking details are on the blog, if you're interested. I'll be looking at the costs of sailing on the Regal Princess and Royal Princess in the next few days.

There is a website you might want to check out. Sleepinginairports.com.

There are a lot of people that do what you want to do. We were recently in the Mexico City airport from about midnight until 6 am. We didn't want to get a hotel for just a few hours sleep. I can't say we slept but we did get horizontal for a few hours. Good luck!

This has been one of my main complaints about cruise ships for years! Sometimes the volume it is so loud it is uncomfortable and I have to leave the venue. I always regret it when I leave my earplugs back in the room, but it's ridiculous that I need to wear them just to go see a show, or stay out on the pool deck when music is being piped in.

I've had this experience on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian. Not on Princess, tho.

If you could give us some idea of what you are looking for in a card, the answers could be tailored to you.

I've been traveling with miles and points for years now, and credit cards have definitely played a huge part in this. I get credit cards to get airline miles, hotel points, airport lounge access, and travel insurance. Which is more important to you?

It's important to target the cards that you want/need, because each one requires a inquiry on your credit report, and each one dings your credit score.

Here's my guideline for determining which card I apply for: I want to get at least $400 value from each credit card application. Say you get a bonus of 50,000 Delta SkyMiles for getting the Delta AMEX card. After meeting the minimum spend (in my case it was $1000), I got the 50,000 miles. I used that to buy my daughter-in-law and grandson round trip tickets to come visit us. The tickets would have cost a minimum of $1000.

On the other hand, if I apply for a Hilton credit card (any variety) with a bonus of 50,000 points, that is a poor value (to me). Most Hiltons that I would be staying at charge at least 30,000 points per night. The cash price for these rooms is $150 or less.

If you can tell us what you want/need from your card(s), I can make some recommendations.

I don't think we're allowed to mention specific travel agents here in the forums. I'm not recommending them in any case at this point. I've had an issue applying the extra payment online. It just took a phone call but I like to do as much as possible online.

Here's what I did:

1. Enrolled two cards (don't forget this step!)

2. Booked the cruise with an online travel agency (wanted lower deposit than Carnival and gave some onboard credit.)

3. Paid the deposit with one card.

4. Will call in a couple of days to put $250 more towards the account using the 2nd card.

5. Plan to pay the balance with gift cards before the deadline.

6. Get shareholder credit before sailing.

Getting 20% off so I'm very happy!

Did a blog post on it with pix, but the above is what I did in a nutshell.

It will be fine! I've cruised in an inside cabin with my husband and our two teenage kids. We had the beds split so it was like two bunk beds. If you're worried about the younger kid falling you could have the beds on the floor put together and then one adult could sleep with the younger child. However, I predict the kids will want to sleep in the upper berths.

Enjoy your cruise!

And a new follower - your blog was linked over on the Royal Caribbean boards in a thread talking about retiring on a cruise ship. I am now hooked, but I think I'm caught up on the most recent journeys. Just as well, I spent a lot of time reading it this week - instead of working!!!

 

I do have a question for you - how do you manage to book the same cabin for all your cruises - is it just booking as soon as the reservations open? What about when you add cruises later??

Hi, I'm the poster who wrote the thread about retiring on a cruise ship. Glad you were able to link here, as the thread was taken down. I think it's because I put a link to my own blog in there.

I've discovered this blog via a comment in that thread as well! But I've just discovered this thread here on the Princess boards.

PescadoAmarillo, I'm sure you're going through your adjustment period right now and may not be commenting for awhile, but when you "recover" know that we are still interested to hear your thoughts on cruising, even though you may not be onboard ship.

DH and I each got the offer. I was able to add it to 6 cards total, including my teenagers AU account. Made 6 $250 payments to pay off cruise. Saved $450!!

Wow! Now that's a way to work a deal!

I got the offer on my AMEX Platinum. Just a reminder that you need to register for the offer before you book.

I booked a cruise today and paid the deposit with the AMEX. I immediately got the congratulatory email that the credit will be applied.

I used an online travel agent, not Carnival.

I have a lot of experience using AAdvantage miles, so let me offer some points for you to consider.

First, I'm no expert on the devaluation, but my understanding is that most of the horrible changes will be to the business and first class tickets. The miles needed on the Economy tickets will rise, but not so much as to make a huge difference. I've resigned myself to flying economy in the future so I'm not making speculative bookings.

Second, make sure you will be able to fly without being on British Airways, who have huge fuel surcharges. The AA website likes to route you through London on BA. When you go to the AA website to check fares, there is an option for you to uncheck BA in the search function. Do a search and pick some flights, but go to the point where you see the total price in miles and money and you'll see what I mean.

Given my second point, it makes sense to book as soon as you see flights in the Saver category appear.

Third, there is a $75 late booking fee if you wait to book within 21 days of your flight.

And last but not least, take heart and don't worry too much! You are flying off season and should be able to get flights that will work for you. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

The answer to the OP is yes! But one needs to understand Port Charges and fees. Each port has their own fee schedule which are assessed on the ship/cruise line. These fees theoretically cover the costs of using the port facilities and the Pilot plus perhaps some additional local fees. They can be assessed on the tonnage of the vessel, number of passengers, time in port, etc. So when you do back to backs...or back to back to backs, or whatever..that is not relevant. What matters are the ports your ship enters.

 

A few years ago there was a class action lawsuit about so-called Port Charges which resulted in the cruise lines being somewhat more honest and even refunding port charges/fees for missed ports.

 

But to answer the OPs specific question, every time a ship enters the Port of Miami (or any other port) there are fees. The ports are expensive to build and operate, and the ships are expected to pay their fair share. Even cargo vessels have to pay various port fees. Perhaps it helps to think about parking your car in paid parking garage. Every time you enter that garage you have to pay the fees. If you enter that garage every Saturday you are going to pay the parking fees each and every Saturday.

 

Hank

If you are charged when you ENTER the port then the port is only charging the fee once per cruise. That makes sense, and it doesn't matter whether or not you are taking a single cruise or many B2B's. Thanks for that explanation.

I'm trying to put together a larger picture on what costs actually are when you are a long-term cruiser (you should know!) The port fees and taxes make up a significant proportion of the cruise fare, and I am trying to gain more of an understanding of how these work.

From the context I assume you are asking about the government taxes and fees rather than the port charges which is travel agent-speak for the non-commissionable portion of the cruise fare.

 

When taking a back-to-back cruise from a USA turn around port you are process thru customs and immigration as if you are disembarking and re-embarking as a new passenger. And if the port calculates the berthing fee for that ship in part based on head count there is no discount to the cruise line for how many such heads are the same one counted twice. So no rebate on the taxes and fees for you.

So when you miss a port due to weather, etc, the refund you get is from a portion of the government taxes and fees you have paid?

Who then is the recipient of the "port charges?" Do these go to the cruise line itself or some other entity?

If you take a series of back-ta-back cruises, do you have to pay port charges on each one, even ones that leave from the same port?

For example, you leave from Miami, so obviously you would pay the port charge for that day. When you come back to Miami on the turn-around day, would you have to pay port charges twice for that day?

Anyone know?

I just taken a look at similar itineraries on Norwegian cruise lines, if you're interested in comparing:

http://www.plane2port.com/cost-livin...n-cruise-ship/

Enjoy!

United award tickets don't earn miles.

No matter what kind of trip we take, or where we go, or how long we are gone, we always take the same thing:

A rollerboard carry-on and a day pack.

We've done a lot of standby travel where checked bags limit your options, so we've just gotten used to traveling light.

Of course, I've become an expert in "sink laundry."

Must you leave from Baltimore? If you can make it up to Boston or NYC you could take one of Norwegian's ships to Bermuda. They stay docked two nights there, which would essentially give you two and half days there in Bermuda.

I like the Grandeur, but if my purpose in taking the cruise was to see Bermuda, I would look at NCL.

Let us know what you decide.

OP, you have posted an interesting question. Could you tell me how long you would want to stay in Europe? This would help me frame my answer.