NownZen

Also, Princess does not go to Egypt and India for example. Also does not go to Patmos and (it looks like Israel unless I missed how they sort ports). We had a wonderful Oceania Athens to Dubai cruise with a two day stop in Luxor so we could go on an overnight tour and visit the Valley of the kings. Also got a lecture on what to do if pirates attack the ship but they had loaded some people and equipment on board after the suez canal. The Dubai to Singapore extension to this looks very interesting and we will be on that. That continues to Tokyo and then to (I think) LA.

The Princess search function is not very good. I wish you could start with a map and drill your way down. You also cannot search by itinerary port. You can search for excursions and then which cruises go there but then you get a list that you cannot further sort. This also showed up on the "deal" offer where there were something like 110 cruises with no further sorting possible.

No it is not backwards, we never want TD.

We travel light and have made it lighter through the years. It is so much easier to get around with just a carry on suitcase. This means you need to do laundry. We have carefully chosen clothes that dry quickly so when we wash them out they will be dry in the morning. When this is your habit, it does not matter how long you are out on a trip. We did use the laundry one time before we learned some of the packing lessons. On the cooking issue, at the beginning and/or end of cruises we often rent an Airbnb for a week. Some of our fondest memories are of cooking meals with friends, going to the local markets and dealing with the locals.

We were on the same cruise. I am sure you noticed the massive increase in tables outside the rooms the last days when they did the testing for the b2b passengers. Lot of coughing on that ship. And we gave up the MDR since we did not know when we would finish up in Crooners or Good Spirits.

That is why the onboard tracking info is useful for them. You would hope it would help plan to reduce congestion but it could just as well be to see how much more people would accept.

I agree that that is an unpleasant experience. We do not go on the new ships so we have never seen the pagers. The spaghetti incident was on the Royal, just the small one that they got rid of after we were on it. Come to think of it, they got rid of the Pacific Princess and Ocean Princess very soon after we were on them. I do not think it was something we did.

I think this looks better than at first glance. They had 22 million bed days so an average of about $120 per bed per day. This means they lost $30 per bed per day. So they need that increase or they need to have 5 million more bed days. They raised the drink package by $20/day. They are shrinking the covid areas so that could add more bed days. Also the FCCs are expiring. I wonder what the cash position change was. Long term, cash tells you more than earnings since you can lose "earnings" but you shut down when you run out of cash.

I am curious what was so horrible. We would show up, never waited more than a couple of minutes and had dinner. Having the same waiters every night is of no importance to us as it is to some people. We were on a cruise with traditional dining and had a waitress who was a nuisance and we could not get her to calm down. She new we had had discussions with the MaitreD about her so she was nervous around us. One evening after interrupting us yet again, she spun around a hit a waiter carrying a tray of dinners. I looked across at my wife and the had had a full plate of spaghetti and sauce dropped directly on her head and is was running down her front. The look on the waitress's face was that she thought she might have to swim home. I am old and stupid but not so much that I would laugh at my wife's situation. I think my tongue is still healing from biting it.

I am old enough to remember when people wanted to have Cadillacs. Many years ago, I saw a survey that said the average age of Cadillac buyers was increasing by a year per year (meaning no new blood coming in). They have been trying to get a younger image but I still would not consider one. Princess is in the same situation if their clientele is aging. It is ok to have an older group as long as the average does not keep going up. I worry about that last comment. There are lots of lines that do cater to the folks who are willing to spend more already. We enjoy Princess for relaxation but will not go on the megaships. If the prices are anywhere near the same we will go on a small ship with Oceania or Azamara.

We tried to buy some superglue to fix a broken watch band. They do not sell it (I guess too many opportunities for mischief) but they did have a large bottle in the back and glued the watch band for us. That is a handy feature I had not been aware of.

My wife and I were looking hard at that picture for different reasons. I really want that lawnmower.

I think the FCC have been an adventure for Princess as well. We had a number of cruises canceled and had a collection of FCCs which had gone through a number of cruises and so it was not clear which part of them were bonus and which were just holding onto our money. I lost track. On our upcoming cruise, we got one statement saying we owed something like $2300. A couple of days later the statement said paid in full. I have no idea which was correct but I was not going to question them. Now with a cabin level change and a upgrade bid in, who knows what will happen.

Was that why they would put us in traditional dining and wait list us for the anytime dining?

Thank you for the analysis. There does seem to be a trend to just add another deck of cabins and hope it all works out. You see this on what they did to the Island Princess where they added a lot of cabins and removed some public space. We have always had trouble getting out of the dining room in less than two hours so only go when we have nothing else to do or we got back early from an excursion. Maybe I should look at the buffet to see if the same size ratios exist.

We were on the Island earlier and they used up all the deck tables and were using the round glass top tables in front of the rooms. The real question to me is what the severity level of the cases was and whether the commotion level is justified. It seemed like everyone was coughing but still going on with normal life. The people here who are reporting from quarantine have talked about procedural issues and not much about health issues. The other interesting points are what happens when everyone has had this version and what effect the new bivalent booster has. We were sick before the vaccine was available and it was miserable for a month. This summer it went through our family in two states and it was from two to four days of being tired. For me, the difference in the side effects of covid and the booster was that with covid my arm did not hurt.

The correct answer for all is that Princess does not care. There are those who do not like that answer.

People will ask if it is ok to wear shorts in the dining rooms. The answer is yes--as long as they are under your long pants.

I thought I would give an actual correct answer and then we can get into the emotional replies which are so much fun to see.

This topic comes up about once per week. Nice pants and shirt are fine. Go to the buffet if you are uncomfortable but many (most?) people do not dress up so there will be no issue with being comfortable.

They are trying to maximize yield per passenger. There comes a point where the difference between Princess and other lines like Oceania and Azamara gets small enough to make them much more attractive. Plus they have smaller ships.

This is a pretty good summary. My wife tends to buy a set of antiseasickness wrist bands (on every cruise). I might get a T shirt or two. We wander through the expensive stores wondering why people actually shop there. Although I did break down and get a down jacket that packages itself into a neck pillow, never mind that I never use neck pillows or down jackets. It was surprising when we got home and I found out that I had bought one on a previous cruise (just did not know it make into a neck pillow).

Because we are already paying for drinks on board with the Plus package so when we bring wine on board, it saves Princess money. By the way Oceania does not care if you bring wine on board. We were on an extended cruise where the official line was three bottles at a time (not per port). I went in and out with three bottles at a time until I asked and they said they did not care so I brought in more than that on succeeding trips to the store at the port.

We have different styles as I would never buy the high priced premium wines on the ship. Your way works for you and that is good.

The servers know how bad it would be for me if I could only get one coffee and went back and told the wife she had to go get her own coffee. They know you have the package and that your roommate does as well so there is no issue. Same for drinks.