1sttimertoalaska

One of my favorite cruises I’ve ever been on was when my family of four was in an inside cabin. The kids were in their teens and we would lay in our bunks in the dark and watch movies and the Princess ship channel and laugh at the cruise directors during all of recorded game shows…Some of my fondest memories. We tried a balcony on the same 10 day cruise two years later and it just wasn’t the same. The roll away made the room feel very cramped. Now they’re older and there’s no way we’d have 4 adults in a cabin. Our most recent cruise my husband and I went by ourselves in a mini suite on the Discovery. My favorite part of the cabin was the shower😍 Other than that, the balcony was a bit cramped. During the balcony dinner, we could barely move 😂 I think I would upgrade for the right price, but I really do love the quiet coziness of an inside, so I could take or leave an upgrade. The only time I feel a balcony is an almost must is Alaska. Just my thoughts😉

Actually, I have traveled internationally extensively. When I travel, I follow the customs of the area as not to offend anyone while still showing my appreciation. I called tipping in America “crazy” because in the last few years it seems to be moving that way. I’ve heard stories of people tipping non-traditional service people from nurses all the way to bridal gown salespeople. I put myself through college being a waitress so I understand the need to be generous when warranted. Sometimes it just seems to have gone a little far in the US (I agree—I don’t feel this way when I travel to other countries). Then sometimes I wonder if I’m just getting old and need to get with the times.😂 I was just curious how others addressed tipping excursion staff. I appreciate all of your insight😊

I was just going through the excursion info on Princess’ app and came across the gratuity guidelines of $2 for a half day and $4 for a full day. Is this correct?? It seems a little low. I know tipping has gone crazy, and I’m just curious what others generally tip. What if it’s a pricey Alaska tour vs. a significantly cheaper snorkel tour in the Caribbean? The tour guide gets the same amount? Thoughts are appreciated 🙂

When booking ahead, we’ve never had to select a time. I didn’t even know that was a thing until DUCHESSRN chimed in with the helpful info. It’s always been come and go at your leisure. It is frustrating when there’s so many people because they say they cap it at 40 passes which can’t be true unless everyone is either just sneaking in or they don’t cap day passes which they say is based on availability. Paying for the full cruise pass should entitle you to go whenever you want and not have to sign up for a time—but that’s the only experience I’ve had. I just looked at our next cruise and when I add the Enclave it just assigns the 10 day pass and I don’t see any time listed. I would say if you get on the ship and if they tell you that you need to have a specific time you could cancel and get a refund. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Maybe DUCHESSRN can elaborate on the sign up process that she experienced.

My husband and I go to the Enclave on every cruise. It’s such a nice getaway and a wonderful space to recharge and relax. Just a few thoughts on the Enclave on our two recent cruises… In March we went on the Regal for a seven day cruise in the Caribbean. We pre-booked the week for $149 each (no longer is there a couples price). We also booked for our 19 year old daughter who was super excited because in past sailings she was too young. We checked in and hit the Enclave day 1. The first thing we noticed was the lack of locker keys. They only had a couple of bracelet keys for everyone. If you wanted to lock up your stuff, you had to find someone to lock the locker and when you wanted it unlocked you had to walk to the front desk in your robe (awkward!😂) and ask to have someone come unlock it. We always love the Enclave. It doesn’t disappoint. Unfortunately, for my daughter it did. She said the whole thing gave her the “ick.” 🤢 She said seeing the dry sauna floor filled with water sloshing around with stuff/debris floating was the final straw and she was done after the first 30 minutes. Luckily, they let her use the cost towards a massage. We enjoyed our time but did notice it was a little worn down. Tiles were falling off in the spa and it did look a little grungy and we never saw anyone clean anything. It was never overly crowded and no chair hogs. The biggest disappointment was the water and cups were always empty and we would have to ask for some on our way out. I asked about the price onboard and was told $149 for the week or $40 for a day pass. Then in April we went on the Discovery for a quick getaway. The ship and Enclave were pristine. I chose to book the Enclave onboard because we had a chunk of onboard credit to use and nothing else to really use it on. Pre-booking was $118 for a four day cruise and onboard it was $139. Kind of pricey for four days. Just to compare our next cruise is 10 days but only $199 on the Enchanted. Anyhow, again, it was pristine. Staff was always in there cleaning and only encountered empty water once. But this is where it goes all wrong—the people in there. It was actually a bit crazy. Again, no locker keys (the lockers used a card instead of the bracelet) and so I just put valuables in my robe pockets and clothes in an empty locker but everyone else seemed to be carrying beach type bags in the Enclave. I swear half of the people in there did not pay for a pass. In the four days there, I saw them giving tours of it every single day. So awkward to have people walking and looking around while trying to unwind. I also heard three separate people at the front inquiring about a day pass—which they were told was $49. So why do I think people didn’t pay? Because nearly everyone in there had absolutely no clue how the Enclave worked. Not what the saunas were, not how to turn anything on, where to find towels etc and just from overhearing conversations. The most frustrating part was how crowded it was and there were at least 20-25 people in there at all times. 12-14 people in the spa is too many. People would be in the water and then put all of their stuff on the beds and not sit in them at all. It was so bad staff came in and began moving people’s things—kudos to them!—much to the ire of the people occupying two spaces (spa/sauna and a bed). The door was often not locked—it may be a delayed after scanning the key. The breaking point was when I was in the spa and a girl sat in there for a good 30 minutes on the steps on her phone—weird, but fine. She was with a group that just talked loudly the entire time. Then a bunch of people wandered in—fully clothed and started talking to them and then taking pictures and selfies. 😱 They did not care that they were taking pictures of other people on the background. The group was more than 10 people. This was the last day of the cruise and I talked to the nice lady at the front who said they only sell 40 Enclave full cruise passes, only sell day passes if there’s room and people who have spa services do not get to use the Enclave. Oh and locker mystery solved!—the company who made the locks went out of business. 😢 Neither cruise ever asked for proof of Enclave pass. They just handed over the key. Sorry so long just wanted to give perspectives to two totally different experiences as well as some pricing info.

When we went on the Enchanted in March 2022, we LOVED having the plus. We are not big drinkers but we loved being able to order drinks from wherever we were and having them delivered to places like Princess Live while we played trivia etc. and never waited too long. We also loved trying all of the different drinks because ordering from the app gave such a big menu of drinks and it was fun to try new things. I am sure the ship had limited capacity but the service was stellar. We just got off the Regal last month and upgraded to the Premier. I have mixed feelings. Ordering drinks this cruise on the app was horrible. After three or four times of ordering and never getting our drinks—even when we sat in Good Spirits 20 feet from the bar—we gave up. I loved ordering from the app because I’m not a big drinker and I appreciated the detailed menu. If I just went up to the bar, I’d never know what to get. So, the few times we ordered on the app, we waited 30 minutes to an hour and never got our drinks. They would be processing or order received but not ever made. When we would go to the bars to get them, they would be out of ingredients or just never made. Even when we used the app to order specialty coffees to our cabin before dinner we waited over an hour and they never arrived. Later, they were marked off as delivered. The good thing about the premium, and why we upgraded, was because I was able to share my wifi with my kids. They are still Ruby and would’ve paid full price. DH and I did have one specialty dessert. I asked for it without all of extra stuff so it was just a sundae with a piece of brownie. Nothing special about it. They should just give you gelato. As for Princess prizes, we just got the message of “better luck next time” every time we opened the door—which began to make me feel like loser every time I went to the cabin. 😂 Just kidding, we never really expected to win. They don’t do a drawing at then end of the cruise anymore and when I looked at the prizes, they odds of winning are very slim—like 1 in 500 wins a specialty dinner or something like that. I think almost everyone has plus or premium on the cruise. I never really saw anyone actually pay for a drink. (Based on the folio I was emailed at the end of the cruise, I don’t think my kids, who didn’t have a plan, didn’t get charged for a couple of their sodas—but were charged for my husband’s specialty dessert so I called it even. 😉 ) This kind of makes it difficult to get drinks. By the pool as well as in the open areas, we rarely saw servers and there were long lines at the bars. Since, it became so hard to get a drink, I think I had only 1-2 drinks and a specialty coffee a day. So, until they have more servers and figure the app mess out, the plus and premium is not worth it to me.