Cruise Raider

Thank you for the positive comments. You’ve renewed my hope that there are grateful people out there. It is funny you mentioned the 80’s cruises because I was just mentioned that to my DH yesterday. I’m on the lookout for a good 80’s cruise. That band, DSB, the Journey tribute band on the last 80’s cruise was phenomenal!

I know during the holidays they are probably busy so, I hope they get around to my reversal of charges in the upcoming weeks.

I love the cleanser, as well as I don’t like sweet drinks for the most part.

they took my payment but it was supposed to be from a SD credit.

Oh, and there was some nice Macallan to choose from, too. some were covered but some went way over the $20 limit if the premier package.

They had it at the bars and even in the shops in early 2022 .. and for an amazing price, to boot. Haven’t found it onboard since! We did see if in a bar in Ketchikan but it was $45 a shot, so we passed.

My DH loved the 100 proof by Jack Daniel’s made specifically for Princess. He’s a fan of Woodford, Crown Royal and Blantons, if that gives you an idea of his tastes.

We went to The Catch several times on the Majestic and it was phenomenal .. probably the best restaurant we’ve ever eat at, and consistently so.

It’s $15 a day for one device. You can switch on and off of different devices

I’m just assuming this .. but if there is not a suite in a higher category available, it would still make sense to put the offer out there in case the passengers in that cabin also bid on a higher category (if their is one) or if they have to cancel the cruise kind of last minute. Some of these are last minute and it’s easier to have someone pay for the upgrade that fill it with only a few days to spare.

Aha! That makes sense!

I agree .. I love the days on the private islands. This port is one where you will want to take beach shoes for getting in the water. The bottom is quite rocky but you’ll see lots of sea life and you can even snorkel there. There are a few local little shops there, plenty of music, games, food and drink. The food isn’t anything spectacular but it is not bad. Grab a nice spot in the shade and you’re good to go. Some people book a calm shell .. way too hot in there, IMO. Some book a cabana with a bunch of people .. now, I can definitely recommend that.

We’ve done this several times and believe we can answer some of the questions asked. You can purchase the plus or premier packages onboard on day one or day two via the app or via one of the crew members selling it. Someone mentioned to me that if you book it on day 2, it is prorated to exclude that first day. I’m not sure as I always upgrade on day 1 if I haven’t purchased it ahead of time. In my experience, it tends to be one of the sommeliers selling it but it could also be purchased through one of the bartenders, bar supervisors or even one of the bar waiters. The crew members do get some type of reward for the most packages sold or upgraded. The current price onboard is $60 for the plus and $80 for the premier. I’ve not seen a refund or discount when purchased onboard as someone else has indicated. (I can only speak to my experience.). However, if you purchased the Princess Vacation Protection and book it before you board, you will be charged the extra insurance costs. That can really add up if you are on a longer cruise. You can use your OBC if you book it while onboard. So, why not always book it while onboard? I can think of only two things to consider. 1) The price of the packages may go up in price by the time you board your cruise. There may be a warning period so you can book it at that point in time. Maybe? Maybe not? 2) If you are lucky enough to get a move over offer and accept it, the packages will be included in that offer if you’ve booked it ahead of time. This is a more rare occurrence but it does happen from time to time.

I’m jealous! I can hardly get my DH to go more than 2 weeks but I am working on it. I actually got him to go for 19 days and have a 22 night booking for 2025. He balked at it at first but it starts and ends in our home port of SF, so no air travel involved. He agreed .. maybe a little reluctantly at first, but now I think he’s getting better with the idea. I don’t even mind when they repeat the production shows. It makes missing one event in lieu of another scheduled at the same time easier. Same with the menus, I can order a different entree the second time around.

It’s the risk factor involved. Imagine if a big wave hit and they dropped someone by accident. now, it clearly states that if you cannot make it by yourself under your own power onto the tender, you will not be accommodated. They used to help people in wheelchairs but some people were just too heavy to lift. Or the seas were just too rough to take the chance.

Of course! The Crown did a short cruise over Thanksgiving from SF roundtrip .. that’s the cruise that the OP was referring to. It must have stopped in Ensenada first. The February 17th cruise has San Diego prior to the stop in Ensenada so, the ports have been arranged so immigration can be done at disembarkation in SF instead. I have had cruises where that first US stop after visiting a foreign port is in San Diego and for some reason, it is just always been awful going through immigration there. They do this process well in other ports that I’ve been to, I don’t know why there’s such a difference. While it makes for a really quick and easy disembarkation, I would never choose to go through immigration in San Diego ever again. It’s a day wasted, IMO.

That stop in San Diego can be rather chaotic. Thank goodness Princess thought better than that and immigration will be at disembarkation instead.

I think you just referred to us as being younger .. love that so much! Actually, we are long term and pretty loyal cruisers but not so young anymore. We have cruised on many of the mainstream cruiselines and absolutely love the experience that Princess offers and so pretty much stick with them now. We ventured back out onto Celebrity, which used to be my favorite line of all and found it to be rather boring for us now. I missed too many of the aspects that make me so happy on Princess. They are getting pricey, though… but what hasn’t? I will still cruise when I can afford to do so.

Since you apply for it online now through StockPerks, why not try it?

@beg3yrs.. if your personalizer on the Princess website shows as 3 separate cruises, you definitely get treated to 2 specialty dinners per each segment.

@jagoffee did you mean to post your invoice with the booking number on it?

To be brutally honest, I wouldn’t pay $149 pp for the ‘experience’. But, I would also not pay $149 for one meal. We’ve done the Winemakers Dinner a few times when it was $40 pp. The meals and presentation were absolutely superb and we really enjoyed those dinners. We were gifted a Super Tuscan dinner and it was also very good but it’s doubtful I would return to that one. We’ve never done the Chef’s Table and it just sounds like way too much food. A friend of ours did get a reservation for the 360° Experience. While she thought it was ok, she commented that she felt rushed. She went to the early seating and they had to prepare the room to get ready for the second seating. Plus, I understand the courses are coordinated with the surrounding 360° experience, so one would have to not dilly dally. I guess at one point, they had projections of bees crawling on you. It just doesn’t sound appealing to me. While I only heard the personal opinion of my friend, I would probably only attend if the meal was comped. Since we rarely book a suite, it’s doubtful that would happen. BTW, when we went to the winemakers and the super Tuscan dinners, the staff was always very good about altering the menu items for those that had special requests. I don’t eat beef so was given the best Chilean sea bass I’ve ever had as a replacement for my main course,

It seems to be very popular so, I think that their mission is accomplished.

I’ve not seen any great sales on Black Friday or Cyber Monday on those items but you can oftentimes get a better price booking ahead of time vs on the ship. They don’t combine any discounts, though. So, you may be able to book one of the port day specials for about the same price once onboard.

As others have mentioned, surf and turf is served in the dining rooms .. usually on the second formal night. Plus, there is always the option of getting a steakhouse quality steak or lobster in the MDR for approx $19 per piece every night. The Catch by Rudi has what my husband referred to as a most perfect Filet mignon. The Crown Grill serves meat, fish and seafood.