Greytgrey

Hi, folks! I'm sailing on Princess for the first time in February. When I booked a few weeks ago, I chose the option to select my room and paid the extra $30ish to do so. When it got down to it, though, I was given the message that there weren't any specific rooms for me to book but that I'd be assigned a room at some point... so basically it became a guaranteed stateroom thing. I'm sailing on the Royal Princess, I selected a deluxe balcony, and it looks like there are only 4 of those on each deck (two fore, two aft, on either side right at the end of the hall). As an uber-planner, this makes me kind of nervous. I'd selected upper-middle floors, and know I won't be mid-ship because of where these rooms are located, so the specific location of the room is not super important. I just like knowing well in advance where I'll be. And I'm also a little concerned about getting down-graded to something obstructed if there's not room. What say you? Am I working myself up over nothing? This sailing was priced so beautifully that I couldn't resist and I am looking forward to the trip. But since I've never left my cabin fate to the cruise line gods, this is uncharted territory for me. Thanks!

My niece's boyfriend was lying butt-up naked on the bed when their room attendant walked in, and she (the attendant) screamed at first, then died laughing. She made a big deal all week about how excited she was about the possibility that she might "accidentally" see this very attractive young man again, but, of course, she'd try not to.

LONG ago, did a Disney cruise (probably 2009?). Then Royal Caribbean in 2010 and 2019. And I never messed with the gratuities but understood at the time that they were removable if you went to guest services.

Sorry 😐 I wasn't trying to be controversial but am enjoying the input a lot.

Yeah... it's just going to be me and a kid, and we both mostly drink water. Years ago, I always got a soda package because it's all I drank, but GERD nipped that in the bud!

Thank you. I was going to ask about this separately. I haven't bought a package and don't really plan to but I couldn't tell exactly what the Crew Appreciation was. Actually, knowing that it is the suggested gratuities makes the packages MORE appealing to me, so I might need to run some numbers on that.

I've never cruised Princess before, but on other cruise lines have consistently paid the "suggested" gratuity, and then also tipped as compelled beyond that. Someone over on the Princess subreddit said that they'd talked to Princess crew and been told that the gratuities that are paid through guest services (pre-paid/suggested/mandatory whatever you want to call it) are all factored into their salary and they don't get more if you leave the tips on or less if you don't. So this person worked out a system in which they took off the suggested gratuities and instead paid the individual people they had face-to-face interactions with a certain amount per day, which they said worked out to be a lot less than the suggested gratuities, and plus it made sure that the crew member actually got the cash. From what I've read, the suggested gratuities are pooled and distributed among crew that includes folks like kitchen and laundry crew, who never or rarely see the public but who also contribute to the positive cruise experience. This person with "the system" said it's not their job to make sure that cruise lines pay people a reasonable wage (which is the same thing people who don't want to tip at restaurants say, and while it's true that corporations should pay their employees a living wage that's neither here nor there when you're actively participating in the business as it presently operates). So. What say you, experienced Princess cruisers? How do you handle taking care of the people who take care of you when you're on vacation?

Ha ha. I'm no Apple stan. It just works better for me right now... My kid has an iPad, so I am connected to that, plus I have an Apple Watch and that's how they get you: everything is integrated!!

My husband and I exclusively communicate through Google Hangouts/Chat/whatever-it's-called. I have an iPhone, he has an Android, and we both already had Google accounts, so it's the easiest way communicate! Editing to add: We speak to each other, too! I'm just talking about when we're not in the same room. 🙂

Genius brain here! Thanks! We can totally do that.

So, does the app work on-board independent of purchasing WiFi? I don't need to text anyone, but just in terms of seeing where my kid's medallion is and looking/bookmarking activities, etc. Thanks everyone for all of the answers and discussion. This is helping me in my decision-making a lot!

I did a search and didn't come up with anything, so apologies if this has been answered, however... If you get internet service for one device, is it one device AT A TIME like Netflix, or is it "You signed in with an iPad so that's the only device your internet will work on"? Also, how reliable is the internet service on-board the ship? I'm leaning toward it not being something I'm willing to pay an extra $100 for, but would love some input. Thank you! Laura

Man, I wish I'd checked here before I paid off my cruise yesterday! This is brilliant. Oh well. Will probably pick up a couple of them for gratuities, anyway. Next time, I'll know! 😉