kywildcatfanone

Must make a lot of money off the casino.

My TA also has trouble seeing cabins similar to me on most of the sailings I search, and says she hast to call and wait on hold. They want you to book directly, presumably so they don't pay a commission to a TA. The new world of cost cutting continues.

I don't understand why Princess thinks this is a good idea. I guess as someone mentioned, they want people in guarantees to fill their least desirable cabins, but hiding cabins from view by a paying customer just seems like a bad business idea.

I do too, but I don't always have sunny 85 degree weather.

Looking forward to your comparison. We took our first Celebrity cruise last year and the Celebrity board told me it would seem like a completely new experience from Princess, that the food would be better, etc. I found it to be very similar overall, with little differences other than ship design. I will say the service was excellent. We took a second Celebrity cruise 6 weeks ago and had a good time, but it just reaffirmed to me that the differences between Celebrity and Princess are minimal and mostly ship layout and cost.

Chasing money

My understanding for check in purposes it's only blue and green lanes. No more priority check in for loyalty customers. If that is wrong, would someone clarify?

Yep. Remove what was once a loyalty benefit to something you pay for. For clarity sake, I'm talking about the priority check in you used to get for your loyalty level.

They are trying to force people to book guarantees so they control cabin locations they give out and will upcharge for specific cabins. They have been doing this for a while now. I do see a few sailings here and there where you can still find a cabin, but I suspect it's based upon the percentage of bookings at that time and once they hit a specific number, those cabins disappear.

There is no question this change is intentional. They are trying to force people to allow them to select cabins when they reach a certain % of bookings at least, maybe more than that. It's so they can then upcharge you for the cabin you want.

This will be my first cruise upcoming since they ended the priority check in for loyalty members and moved it to pay. Will see how it goes. I hate these constant benefit cuts to loyal customers.

That's crazy. We usually get to the port around 10:30.

Yes, they are both adult only, but there is no charge for the retreat pool unless you want a cabana.

You are mostly correct. Many elite now on most sailings, especially longer sailings.

Ah, class system comes to Princess. I hate there is no adults only retreat area on these newest ships.

I don't really disagree with this, but my experience is the wind tunnel that is created can be just about as bad as the open deck on sea days. I guess for me, I prefer the openness of the Regal, there are a lot more chairs around the pool itself, and the layout is just better IMO.

Boarding is all based on the readiness of the ship. Could be anywhere from 10:30 to 1pm generally before they start boarding.

Well, not that much, but our favorite area is the retreat pool which on the newer ships they put cabins outside and makes that area sit down in a hole, which ruined the ambiance of the space, for us anyway.

Love the Regal. Wish they made more than just 2 of those ships.

Like Most companies, it's probably a bot till human interaction is needed.

You are known for cherry picking someone's comments and ignoring the whole, so this is no surprise. As you have been told before, cruise critic is for discussing everyone's opinions and experiences and they should be respected.

Black Friday means nothing to most retail businesses anymore. Most do like Princess, and follow the Kohls model. Mark something up 40%, list it for 50% off, and make a ton of profit on it. Most all princess sales are exactly the same, they just word stuff different. Book the cruise you want at a price you are willing to pay, then watch it and you may or may not see a price change before sailing.

If the cabin has outlets by the bed, I bring a European to US Adapter, then a short non surge power strip. Plug in one on each side, and have all the power and USB I need on the bedside table. Never had an issue doing this. I have brought extension cords, as I prefer my cords over the ones provided by the ship. Those are almost impossible to clean well when you get them, especially if they have tape all over them and are sticky.

Yes, it's just regular OBC. Use it for whatever you like.

Ship will likely start boarding between 11 and 11:30. That's pretty normal. Could be slightly earlier or later defending on circumstances