Cruise Raider

We’ve found that some casino cruises are very full but, it was amazing one time recently on the Crown Princess, there were just not that many smokers. We were such happy campers. We enjoyed gambling on machines in both the smoking and nonsmoking sections because there just no smokers in the casino. Next time onboard that same ship, we could barely walk through the casino, as it was just so smoky. I really hate when people just stand in the casino to smoke .. wish they would all just go outside! I know that nicotine if very addictive but we all have to pay the price for their habit? I think not!

The roasted cauliflower is a must for us on each lunch we attend. It is a combo of the red and white cauliflower (at least that’s what we’ve seen) and is super delish. I also love the chicken street tacos, although had the, once when they were spicy and have been craving that spice ever since. Once, they brought be tobacco to make them spicy .. but that’s the wrong spice for Mexican food. It needs some jalapeño or even a good Mexican hot sauce. I still love them, regardless. also good is the calamari, the Thai rolls and the pasta olio. The enchiladas weren’t bad .. but my mantra is “must have chicken tacos”. They do have pub lunch in the MDR sometimes, too. The chicken curry, again, with all the spicy toppings, is phenomenal.

I think they’ve been changed to an arcade on most of the Princess ships.

Just of note, if you book directly through Princess with a group, you can list yourself as a group leader and get some benefits, refunds based on the number of cabins in your group. You can decide how you wish to share that refund. Everyone in your group will receive a bit of extra onboard credit. If you wish to book with a TA, they may have some group rates on certain cruises. I was able to get one through a TA recently (it was combinable with their annual Princess 3 day sale) and it saved us a few hundred dollars over what Princess could offer.

Premium cabins on the Crown/Grand class ships tend to be midship on the Caribe deck or aft facing balcony cabins. These cabins have larger balconies than those on the other decks but are the same exact balconies you can get on the Caribe deck just forward or aft of the premium section. It’s all about location. The aft facing cabins are just that and usually have larger balconies. We love the two that are available on the Dolphin deck. On the Royal class ships, the premium balcony cabins are located forward, aft or midship, in addition to aft facing cabins, but think all of those ones might be premium deluxe cabins (meaning they have a small couch in the cabin). Not all but most of these cabins have larger balconies. We love the aft facing ones on the Baja deck. But booking a guarantee, you won’t have a choice of cabins. You will get that cabin type or better. We will only book a guarantee or bid up on a premium balcony cabin on the Crown/Grand class ships, as we don’t really like sailing in a cabin all the way forward. I’ve not sailed on any Sun class ships so can’t say what those are. The deck plans will show where these are located, though.

We QuickShuttle them whenever we cruise from Vancouver. The rate for the transfer right from Canada Place parking garage to SeaTac is $47.50 pp one way. I do see they are currently have a limited offer a free piece of luggage, so depending on when you go, keep in mind that you may have to pay for checked luggage. I’m not sure the cost for the Princess transfers but, you can compare once you book to see which one works out better for you. https://quickcoach.com PS .. So disappointed that Southwest is pulling out of Bellingham. It’s such a great little airport but you do have to walk out on the tarmac to get on the plane there. I love that QuickShuttle also picked up and dropped off there. If you go before they pull out of BLI in August, you may want to consider using that airport.

Oh darn! I’ve never had trouble upgrading once onboard but, those are based on the itineraries we’ve taken. Hopefully, you’ve just gotten your original booking back to what it should be.

Yes, chat is pretty much worthless and hopefully, you can just get your booking back and you should be able to upgrade onboard. We’ve always been able to do so but when they’ve reached their max for capacity at the specialty dining, they may deny you. Depending on what itinerary you are on, it’s unlikely they will be at the max on the premier package. fingers crossed for you! BtW, we have not gotten casino perks in a while but are you able to upgrade beforehand on the website for just $20 a day pp?

We’ve racked up an average of Just over one cruise a month since the restart. I fear I will have to go cold turkey with the rising prices but it sure was great while it lasted!

Those promos and discounts they offered during the restart were so great! It was almost cheaper than staying at home. And believe me when I say, after the lockdowns, we were ready to go cruising again and as often as possible.

They were giving discounts to first responders and to teachers but haven’t seen that in quite some time. Princess does offer military that is now combinable with the shareholder’s credit (for a brief period, it was not). I’ve not seen an AARP discount on Princess but that doesn’t mean there never has been one.

I assume he meant that he could pay for one of his cabin mate’s package .. trade it for the best bed!

I’m laughing as that is exactly what I did. Glad I’m not alone in this .. 😆

My mistake .. I just reread the OP’s comment. I believe you are right.

We are always able to book two specialty restaurants per each leg of a B2B when we get the premier package, so not sure why you wouldn’t be able to get two casual dining per each leg with the Plus package. It just makes no sense. Talk to the restaurant manager if they try to charge you. I’m sure they will arrive at an equitable solution. My guess is you won’t have to go that route, though. I think it is just included for each separate leg of the cruise.

Thats exactly what I would do.

Nor is it for us. We now only cruise from the west coast and the longest one booked would be a 22 night sailing. I booked the $10k cap so that would cover that particular sailing, otherwise, I’d have gone with the $5k cap.

We've actually been invited to sit with them over coffee or eat a meal together. We would definitely back off if it was an intrusion of their down time. But, when they ask, then we know it’s not forced but rather, something they might enjoy.

While I haven’t seen a tip jar on a cruise ship in ages, it doesn’t mean you can’t tip them or buy something you know they like. We’ve made friends with some of the entertainers (and crew) over the years and have been known to break bread with them on occasion, either on the ship or in port. It’s a nice way of showing your appreciation.

I signed up for the middle one, the premier plan and chose the $10K limit but that is for a covered reason for pre-existing conditions. You know insurance companies and all of us might find a difference as to what is a preexisting condition. I decided to be better safe than sorry.

Embarkation in Vancouver is indeed, pretty bad but some of that depends on how many cruise ships are in port. If it’s more than one, it is really horrible. Also, only if your first port of call is in the US, Will you go through immigration before boarding the ship. Then again, if your first port of call is in Canada, your immigration will be when you hit your first port of call in the US and that can be equally as bad. I just buck up and know it’s going to be bad and try to keep a sense of humor about it all. I actually just prefer to cruise out of Seattle instead.

No, it’s $149 per guest (no 18% service added) but depending on when you booked your suite, it may still apply?

No, it does not. Also, the cancellation is once time per policy for the annual term, although you can up the limit for the cancellation for preexisting conditions. It appears this can only be done when booking at least two persons on the policy but you might be able to have that portion increased for a solo policy if you call in. I’m just not sure.

Absolutely! I asked all my friends which annual insurance product they used, read over different policies and went with Allianz. It’s going to save us hundreds of dollars over the course of a year. The one thing I will miss with the Princess Protection is the ability to cancel for any reason to receive cruise credits in return. It’s what just a nice peace of mind option that Princess offers, albeit, not ever used by us. So, I suggest weighing that out ahead of time. Plus, you will want to take notice of the cancellation component that is per policy vs the portions of the insurance that are per trip. The coverage is decent and much more reasonable if you travel a lot.

If you get the Princess Vacation Protection, only then will your insurance increase by a rate of 9% if you purchase the package ahead of time. From what I understand, you can purchase the plus or premier packaged fare on day one or two (if purchased on day two, we were told it was prorated) and you can use OBC to pay for it and your insurance doesn’t reflect any change. A couple of things to consider: If you purchase it when onboard, your insurance also won’t pay out if you need to leave the cruise early (such a rare occurrence, though). Also, if you receive a move over or move down offer (again, a rather rare occurrence), it will be for the stand alone fare only, no other perks included. Of note, I think you may be more likely to get one of these offers with the cheaper fare. You can still purchase your fare package onboard and have guest service apply the AARP gift cards to pay your folio balance. At least they were able to do that for us a couple of years ago. On the cruise where we met you, I upgraded from the $50 plus package to the then $80 premier package ahead of time and it cost $54 extra on my Princess insurance. I did have a lot of OBC on that cruise so I wondered if I should have just upgraded once we were onboard. But, we were lucky on that sailing with Princess Prizes so, I have no regrets. I’ve since upgraded to an annual insurance policy as it made financial sense for us to do so, at least for the upcoming year of travel that we have planned. That way, it makes no difference when you buy the package.