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Discussed recently in the thread below.

This is is true to a certain extent, maybe not on Princess, but on RCL and Carnival, security stops me and checks the bottles of water to see that the seals haven't been tampered with. On Princess, I got stopped in San Pedro for a 1 liter bottle of mouthwash, which was in my hand luggage; good thing I had not broken the film seal. There are YouTube videos teaching people how to add food coloring to clear spirits like vodka or gin so that they could be poured into empty, used, and cleaned mouthwash bottles and pass as mouthwash or using opaque mouthwash bottles. If you're interested search for how to sneak alcohol onto ships on YouTube.

Maybe in the States and Europe, but this is not true in other countries where tap water isn't potable. When I'm in Mexico or Asia (not Japan or Korea), I drink bottled water and use bottled water to rinse my mouth exclusively. Drinking and using bottled water in these situations could deter getting a stomach bug, which could ruin your trip.

The point of my comment in is that, yes other places and other cruise lines charge more for bottled water, but it's designer bottled water. Princess is doling out Crystal Geyer in the States and wants people to pay a premium. On Celebrity, equivalent sized water is $3.50 per bottle but it is Evian. On Holland America, 1 liter glass bottles of Acqua Panna is $5 per bottle. At Disney, Dasani is served. All of which have higher base costs. Yeah, water is water, but the same can be said for designer handbags.

Except, that's the price of a martini/mojito on land, probably cheaper. At a bar in a major city, a martini will run you around $15. Bottled water on land is cents. In Northern California Costcos, you can buy a Crystal Geyer, the brand that I've seen most often carried on Princess ships sailing from the US, 35 pack for $4.99 which is right around $0.14 per bottle ($0.19 with CRV). Would be less of a blow if Princess didn't start pricing at $7.08. At $24, that's close to a 400% increase to what they were charging. Gift shops and spas are a little different because it's the trickle down vendor model where too many parties have to take a cut of the sale which causes the price to increase.

It's a waiting game where Princess will assign a cabin when it's convenient for them. It can yield to some pretty sweet upgrades. You also can't be particular about location. You win some; you lose some. We pretty much always book guarantee and are pretty happy with the process. We always get assigned the category we booked or better. All the cabins are pretty much the same unless you go up in meta category. Lucky for us we're deep sleepers and aren't bothered by much. Much more concerned about AC that works and toilets that flush.

Bring shelf stable oat milk and store it the mini fridge once opened. This will ensure you have oat milk. I saw a lady every morning that I ate breakfast in the buffet with a bottle of French Vanilla Coffeemate.

My point is cruise lines will do what they want until they are caught. If they get rid of plastic, how do we know the cartons or aluminum containers are being recycled in what ever country they are disposed in? The ship could be incinerating them in open waters. We don't know. As far as bringing cases in port, I've brought cases of plastic water bottes on board. Sams is right across the street in Puerto Vallarta and I went to Costco in Juneau. Took them out of the film and put them in tote bags. In Hawaii, I buy iced tea only that can only be brought on the islands on plastic bottles by the case and bring them on board. Never been stopped on a Princess cruise. Also have brought a case of plastic water bottles from in a rolling carry and have never been stopped on embarkation day in FLL or SFO. San Pedro security is sometimes weird, but they usually let them through after having inspected that the seals haven't been tampered with. I've yet to see Princess ban single use plastic or attempt to switch to other packaging. Heck the drink mixers they use are in plastic bottles.

Rules are fine, but it the lax enforcement that allows people to break them.

I've yet to see this enforced. See people brining on single use plastic soda and water in port. That's great but what happens to the waste in the other country is unknown. Does the recyclable stuff actually get recycled? Everything is hunky dory until they get caught. Not about plastics, but still a violation and from 2 years ago. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/princess-cruise-lines-pleads-guilty-second-revocation-probation

That's why much of the waste on ships isn't unloaded. It's incinerated. In terms of Princess, they can try and reduce plastic use, but their Medallions have a battery with a short shelf life and a chip in inside of them which is hard to access making them unrecyclable. In addition each Medallion is single use. So much for caring about the environment.

My friends parents purchased a few large 1 liter bottles for $5 on the Emerald last January and only $5 showed on their folio. No SC. I only know because they have bad vision and it was our job to audit their folio.

I really doubt Princess is ditching plastic water bottles. If you read the itemized description it says "Stateroom BOTTLED Water Package." No mention of boxes or cartons of water. And I doubt they are using glass. In the States, there's too much concern over plastics and recycling in general. In California, it's been proven that recycling is just to make the consumer feel better, but very little of what consumers put into the recycling bin gets recycled. California charges a CRV tax on beverages in plastic containers, but the locations where consumers can cash out has dwindled. It's so bad that Targets and drugstores now have a deal to take back CRV containers and pay out the CRV, but investigative reporting shows that much of it still ends up in regular garbage dumpsters despite California having passed strict garbage, compost, and recycle separation laws.

Just bring them. If they make you dump it, so be it. I'd gamble it since water is cheap when not purchased on the ship. What I can say, is I've never been stopped from bringing water bottles onboard at embarkation or while in port. YMMV.

It's been reported on this board that excursion pricing now increases based on demand and proximity to sail date. Based on that, buying sooner is better than later. Even with just a deposit, you can still use OBC to purchase excursions. At payment, a box will pop up asking if you want to apply OBC. If the OBC is not enough to cover the total, then you pay the difference with a CC. Having said that Princess' excursion sales aren't really sales. It's been noted on this board that many times, but not all times, the a sale results in Princess raising the price of the excursion to compensate for the discount. It's best to keep monitoring the prices. Once onboard, the ShoreEx staff has been known to discount excursions that aren't selling well as the date of the excursion draws nearer. Excursions can be canceled and rebooked if the price drops pre-cruise. The OBC will go back as OBC and what was paid by CC will be refunded back to the CC used after a while. If the cruise is cancelled, the OBC is forfeited and what was paid by CC will be refunded after a while. (I keep saying after a while because it seems that there is no set time for the money to come back. Some people say a few days but others report instances of weeks.)

The regular sized bottled water is $2 each onboard. Unless Princess is raised the price onboard, doesn't make sense to pre purchase water. You don't save anything. Princess might want to rethink this one because it's been reported on this board that some with packages still like to pre purchase bottled water out of convenience. At $24 for 12, can't see anyone with a package wanting to pre-purchase at this price. If you get them at a bar with a package, it's already included.

Don’t see how Princess App can have an accurate countdown for all given time zones and the International Date Line. Not all cruisers are from the US and not all cruises depart from the US. Pointing out a non issue. One shouldn’t rely on the App to inform you of how far out one’s cruise is. That’s what the Gregorian calendar is there for.

Because Princess and the App make it too much trouble. Clearly there is some disconnect between ordering and fulfillment—if the App will even let you order at all or order them correctly (read the story in the App sticky thread about the App adding Medallions to orders for people not even on a booking or adding multiple Medallions for the same person). Then you have to worry about them delivered prior to departure, which is all dependent on the shipper used and whether or not they go missing in transit. It’s a nuisance to hear about Medallion order problems on the board at least once a month. Princess’ attempt to send them pre cruise has created unnecessary customer service issues. You didn’t hear about these problems when everyone had to pick up cruise cards at the port. Obtaining them pre cruise isn’t necessary as evidenced by every other cruise line who provides cruise cards at check-in or in cabins. This doesn’t even take into account cruisers that leave a week or more prior to the cruise who can’t order them prior because they won’t be delivered in time or the batteries being dead on arrival and wasting time having to get in line at GS to get them replaced. Pre ordering Medallions has become part of the gimmick to sell packages for those in the US and Canada.

One has to learn street smarts. Letting a teen explore is one way to do that. Excursions are very controlled environments. Family isn't always going to be around. As long as you can keep time, you're good. Some old people can't seem to manage that.

If SE does approve, make sure he has money and a way to get hold of you, in the event of an emergency. I've cruised with my grandparents when they were still alive and I was underage, and like your situation, we didn't always have the same interests. When we did part ways in port, they gave me a wad of cash, an emergency meet up location, and the ship's phone number (roaming plans weren't in back then).

Same principle can be applied for those of us that live in metro areas and states with diverse ethnic populations like California or New York where the cost of living is higher and as a result wages are higher. As has been expressed by another poster, we’re not being snobbish, we’ve just have the ability to experience more because the ethnic restaurants are at our disposal and we have more immigration to the states we live in. It is what it is; we live where we live because our careers took us there, can’t help it. Don’t think it’s snobbish to snub Harmony on the Majestic of Umai on the Sun because I know that I can have a more authentic Asian meal without having to go to Asia when I’m at home and probably spend less than the cover. Also, The Catch isn’t French in theme. It’s supposed to be a seafood restaurant. Sodiman is a classically trained French chef like Pepin which is probably the reason why he added the deboning a fish table side, aside from the wow factor. Bistro Sur La Mer was scrapped because passengers weren’t interested in Princess’ rendition of French food.

I don’t think cafes and bistros are for just the wealthy. Those establishments aren’t The Ritz or The Four Seasons George V. I only know those hotels because I’ve used the sidewalk in front of them. 🙃

That was the point. Some cruisers might “ooh” and “ahh” at the food and food presentation on board, but if one has experienced more and/or tasted an authentic preparation then, the reaction just turns into “meh.” As far as deboning the fish table side, I don’t think that it was only practiced in Haute Cuisine. I remember eating at cafes and bistros in Paris and the waiters doing this in the 2000s when we ordered fish. Maybe they were putting on a show for us Americans? I can say that this type of service has gone by the wayside in the present time. Recently, I’ve only seen it at The Catch. That’s why in my mind it comes off as dated. Nouvelle Cuisine, which is all the rage now, prefers the fish be filleted off the bone even before it’s cooked. All I know is that is presentation is not new.

I agree with this. Not only where you lived, but what you have experienced in your travels. Living in a metro area, we can get excellent authentic ethnic foods. When Princess released the Teppanyaki and Hot Pot spots on the Sun Princess, I thought "yawn" and "probably won't be authentic." The "Mexican" options on the on the ship are more Tex-Mex than they are Mexican. The Asian options are very Asian American; sometimes spaghetti and linguine noodles are used instead of proper Asian noodles. (The Noodle Bar on the Majestic tastes very close to legit but is still not quite there; the "wontons" are frozen dumplings, among other things. Harmony, on the other hand, makes me want to hurl.) It seems like the deboning of the flounder tableside at The Catch is very new to many people, but that is a very dated way of serving fish; this has been part of the French culinary repertoire for decades. I experienced this when I on a trip to Paris as a kid; Julia Child and Jacques Pepin made shows showcasing this technique. But I get it...The culinary program on a ship has to follow a budget and has to appeal to all tastes, not just the exotic.

I really like the name below. It complements the celestial nomenclature that that Princess is fond of.