1412p0oi

10 hours ago, nbsjcruiser said:

You will learn that cruise ships are experts at the upsell and enticing you with great deals that require you to buy something first. So to answer your question, yes it is an upsell event. They don't give you anything for free. If you're not careful you'll nickel and dime yourself to death on a cruise ship.

I’m a bit susceptible to the idea of a “great deal” and I know that, so I should just stay away before regretting a purchase that has no value to me. Besides, I’m bringing one small suitcase that I had to sit on to close so don’t think I can fit even more air in there! 

3 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I've found the opposite.  It seems much less pushy these days.  But I do agree the scheduled "activities" that are no more than sales pitches to a captured audience seem to outnumber actual fun activities during the day.  

 

Then again, who would not want to know what a terrific investment opportunity there is in tanzanite.  🙂

Lol I saw that tanzanite activity and thought maybe I’d check it out 🤣 now I’m rethinking it haha 

56 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Sea-Tac has only two airlines?   

No it’s just that those two had a huge number of cancellations due to the Boeing 737 Max 9 plane needing to be inspected and my flight was on United. From what I could see pretty much all of the flights to Houston are those two. Except for a Frontier flight but that would take 16 hours for me to get to Houston past midnight at a much higher cost and I don’t think my back can handle that. 

2 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

@1412p0oi - did you make it?

Thankfully my flight was not cancelled so I arrived! 

Thank you for caring 

On 1/2/2024 at 12:10 PM, SargassoPirate said:

I'm one to find a workaround on things and I tried one that worked on a recent cruise on the Regal speed things up in the MDR.

 

Very simple.

 

SWMBO and I ordered our starter and main and requested they be delivered at the same time.

 

 

I had actually wondered about that! Like can I just say to the waiter that these are the foods I want to eat for the meal and ask that all be brought to me at the same time? As I hardly ever go to any restaurant that serves courses, I'm used to just have a dish come to me once.

This was a great review that definitely gave me some ideas for my upcoming cruise, as I eat early, eat fast, and am dining solo. I want to make sure to make the shows and not be waiting for 2 hours.

9 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

It definitely won't go to the person who did the extra work. The tip that you provide to the person who drops of your order is the one who gets the tip.

Some report success writing in a desired food. I've tried it a couple of times without success.

On that note this was something I was curious about as well. If you wrote like you wanted certain ingredients in an omelet, is that likely to be accepted or rejected?

49 minutes ago, AZjohn said:

I would suggest having a plan B, C, and D of alternate flights to get you where you want to go tomorrow (look online).

 

Its handy if you show up at the airport and flight gets cancelled (for whatever reason) and have to call a agent to find you alternate flights (don’t stand in a long line at customer service, just call the airline). Try to think outside the box with connections.

 

It’s just something I do every time we fly anywhere. I had to do a ton of business travel and it’s just something that I learned to do as something always seemed to screw up my best laid plans😊.

 

Your insurance will cover any extra cost to get you to your cruise.

 

Cheers and have a great cruise!

I've actually never tried calling the airlines directly to book (just always booked online). Is it faster to use the airline number I can find on google versus immediately buying a ticket out on my own, since an agent can perhaps find better routes?

1 hour ago, Huenemecruiser said:

I once went to an Art History lecture, it was interesting and well presented. During this event they raffled off a poster, and my ticket was drawn, I was told to stop by the Gallery later to receive it. When I stopped by that evening to pick up the poster that I had won, they told me that the poster that I thought that I was to receive was the ship's copy, and that they would send me an identical one if I paid the shipping cost. There was nothing special about this poster, yes I would take it if it was free, but I wouldn't pay for a copy.

That's so annoying! I also wouldn't pay shipping cost just to receive a poster. It's a bit sad the raffle are just at that level. 

Just now, cr8tiv1 said:

Lots of questions for you.

 

When is your cruise?

Do you have Princess Insurance?

Are you arriving a day early?

Did you book EZ Air?

According to one youtuber (Don's Vacation), you have to make every effort to get to the port...even if you know you will miss the boat.  Then insurance can be filed.

Cruise is this Sunday, and I'm flying out tomorrow (Saturday). I think I should be fine because my flight isn't using the Boeing 737-Max 9 plane that's grounded, but I was just generally concerned given the recent situations.

I bought travel insurance separately so not through Princess and booked my airfare myself. 

So Don is saying that I'd have to try to fly out and get to Galveston anyways in order to file for insurance in a scenario if flights are all cancelled?

I just read about the 2000(!!!) flight cancellations that happened TODAY alone across the US, not only with storm issues but also with the Boeing 737-Max 9 problems, which greatly affected the only two airlines at my closest airport (Seattle-Tacoma international airport). My flight status shows no change at the moment, but I was worried and wondered if any cruise travelers were caught up in all the cancellations today. So what did you or would you do in such a situation? Just try to contact travel insurance and get a refund? Or try to catch up at the next port?

11 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Just use WhatsApp instead of the Princess app. It will give you an audible alert just like a text would. It's free but you will need an internet plan for both.

I read somewhere a few weeks ago that iMessage might work on Princess and a few other cruise lines without paying for an internet package. Is that still a thing? If so, OP could do that if they both have iphones.

1 hour ago, Italy52 said:

My husband would like to use his Kindle while on our cruise; we have quite a few sea days.  We will NOT have an internet package.  What does he have to do in order to read his books and not be charged internet fees?  Thanks in advance from two technically challenged seniors.

As the other users said, download the books beforehand and they will be good to go offhand. My understanding is that in order to read a book on Kindle you have to download it anyways, so then it's just on your device and you'll have access to it offline. 

I've been using the kindle app on my phone to read many books over the years. You can also always choose the Send to my Kindle option after purchasing to make extra sure it shows up on the device.

39 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We have sailed with friends who never purchase a drink package. The lady of the pair always goes to the free Mimosa type "events" at Effy and any other "event" that offers her a free drink (or two). We don't go but these do seem popular and there is often a free "charm" offered along with the drinks. If this is something that might interest you then, by all means, go to these events. There is usually no real selling at them and you can enjoy a free drink while checking out the offered jewelry.

 

We avoid the art auction like the plague. On our first cruise we went and had the free "champagne". Never again. I'm always amazed when I'm walking past the art auction and they are asking $35,000 or so for the "art". If people can spend that much on the art what in the world are they doing sailing Princess? They talk about the wonderful Giclee process used for the art as if it's something special. What they don't explain is that Giclee is nothing more than large scale ink jet printing.

 

Be aware of the difference between a port talk from a Destination Host and a port talk by a Shopping Concierge. One is informative and useful while the other is all about directing you to the nearest Diamond's International or other selected venue where they want you to spend money.

 

I must say I'm a bit jealous. One only ever gets one first cruise. Enjoy yourself and have a great cruise. Take in the positives and, if there are any negatives, minimize their impact on your experience.

Thank you for the advice! I'm exactly in that position of not having bought any drinks packages (I hardly ever drink for health reasons) but bookmarked an art auction for that complimentary champagne haha...I'm not going to get that glass of champagne, am I?

That registration for free grand prize also seemed interesting, but I guess it's probably also useless. 

2 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

I was stretching in the room off the fitness center where the footprint seminar was going on.  The very fit looking sales guy was pitching $500-750 per pair orthotics to several women who were holding their footprints and listening very intently. 

 

I must say he was a very handsome dude in a tight tee shirt, so perhaps that was what was causing the attention.

Wow that is a crazy price! lol Those situations make it hard for me to refuse to someone's face before they finish their sales pitch, so I should avoid haha. Thank you all for saving me lots of time!

4 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

It might help to do some research on the Princess board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/119-princess-cruises/

I’ve already been stalking that board for weeks now checking up all the posts that come up and also searched about this. Since the question was half geared towards all cruises and half geared towards Princess specifically I felt it was better to ask here. 

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

With 34 Princess cruises under our belt. we think we have a little experience with this issue.  Always keep in mind that Princess has both an Entertainment Director and Cruise Director and both are very involved with the day to day activity schedule. While they have a tentative schedule by the start of a cruise, the schedule can (and does) change on a routine basis.  You can usually count on the schedule you get the evening before (for the following day) but we have even seen schedule changes on the "day of."  This is especially true for activities/entertainment that involves guest entertainers, singers, dancers, etc.  Folks get sick, there can be technical difficulties (this just happened on our Sky Princess cruise) and sea conditions can cause the postponement/cancellation of entertainment involving dancers.

 

Over the decades we have learned to plan our following day around bedtime (after looking at the following day's printed schedule) and even make our own adjustments during the day.  No need to over plan as its easy to just do what feels right at the time :).  We even change our dinner plans, at the last minute, to deal with the current situation.  So, for example, if we are planning to dine at 7:30 (and even have a reservation) but enjoying ourselves in a lounge (during pre dinner cocktails) we might just delay going to dinner.  Of course, this means that our entire evening plan must be revamped...but so what?  Do what feels right at the time and do not get hung up on following a detailed itinerary :).

 

Hank

Thank you for the information! 

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Once, on a short cruise to nowhere, my cabin mate and I decided to hit every “seminar”.  We even made it to the ice carving.  One and done.  
 

Art auction with Princess Fine Arts was enjoyable.  Now they make you register.  Free art packet not too bad, but what will you do with random prints that you would have to spend $$$$ framing?

 

Arts and crafts used to have good crafts.  Mostly origami paper folding.  
 

Some port talks and a few enrichment lectures may be watched in your tv.  Princess has some interesting speakers.

Was ice carving really boring? I noticed that too and wondered if it was going to be making ice sculptures or something. 

2 hours ago, DCThunder said:

Another presentation to avoid is the one in the fitness center where they take your footprint and then try to sell you orthotics for your shoes.

Thanks haha I had actually bookmarked that one because I was curious to get an analysis…but it’s sad if it’s just an upsell. 😞

Hello. So my first cruise happens this weekend, and I now notice a very heavily populated amount of activities listed in the app planner, many of which being the ship’s own jewelry shops, art gallery, spa, fitness center, etc.

In the interest of deciding what to do and avoiding having to awkwardly decline any special “treatments,” I was wondering how much of these events are just upsell of onboard services you can buy? And how much are actually useful information? For example, there are ones listed like “how to live healthily” or “free hair consultations” or the ones about acupuncture. 
 

I would appreciate hearing what experienced Princess cruisers have to say on this, since my curiosity was piqued but I don’t want to run myself ragged just trying to go to all the activities if they’re just advertising a product. 

I enjoy reading these Lives and I’ll look forward to your review of the cruise. I’m going on the same one but I decided to not pay for any packages nor internet to disconnect so I’ll just read it once I’m back on land. 🙂 

I just felt a bit puzzled and also disappointed that I spent so much time a few weeks ago deciding on what events to go to on my upcoming Princess cruise this weekend, and then I checked the app again today and a lot of events and times changed. Does this happen each time? 
 

Also for Princess cruises, if an event shows full in the bookmark page can I still attend? If it’s a limited workshop, how early would I need to go to secure a spot? 

I really enjoyed reading your live! Thank you for all the food pictures!

9 hours ago, chrysalis said:

The more that the tour guide reminds us to tip, the less I do....on one recent one, she must  have mentioned it at least 10 times during the relatively short bus ride to and from the destination. Small tip.

 

One guide in St Vincent handed out comment cards, and when we he collected them, proceeded to read each one....not very polite.

Oh my gosh, talk about putting people on the spot! That's something that would bar me from doing that excursion ever again, or possibly contact all future excursions to make sure that it's not a thing they do. I really hate things like that, and being a highly sensitive person putting me on the spot would really just ruin the experience. 

Thank you all for your reply! I just don't believe in America's tipping culture at all. It's obscene to be expecting me to pay 20% extra just for bringing my food to me? If you waive the 20% I'll go and grab my plate myself. I didn't grow up here and certainly hate a culture where I have a surcharge on top of already having prepaid for everything. It's really like a slap on the back to see a bill much larger than one that you had in mind seeing menu prices.

I really want to know because I don't have any cash on me and my bank isn't a depository one either (and haven't used cash in almost a decade to pay for anything) and an article brought this to my attention. Second, it's frankly a gulling practice to me for people to be *expecting* tips from you as part of an excursion I already paid big bucks for. So I would really like to hear people's thoughts on this and whether I will be prevented from going back on the cruise ship if I don't give a tip.

Thank you for the detailed yet concise review. It hit all the points for a prospective cruiser without being overly judgmental (like many of the super negative reviews posted in this forum recently).

As an East Asian with similar expectations from what I can read off your post, I think I'll enjoy myself in the MDR with my go-to food (salmon) and skip all the Asian foods that seem too westernized (or Panda Express style). And the duck too. It's clear it's not peking roast duck style lol.