Dunk

On 5/13/2023 at 12:24 AM, nini said:

Why can't Princess be more creative and come up with some more unique names?

Because it is maritime tradition to reuse names, and previous names are

already trademarked, saving the expense of vetting and registration. 

The local news indicated it was cargo only. 

On 5/25/2023 at 8:07 PM, TYCruise said:

I saw that too. Should be renamed the Rust Bucket Princess. 

 

Anyone know what the crane ship that was pulled up to the Emerald was for?

I was on this voyage and agree that the hull is pretty rusty. However, they were touching it up in Los Angeles, and were painting balconies and overhangs throughout the cruise. The interiors are in excellent shape. 

On 5/12/2023 at 3:31 PM, Sea Hag said:

It'll be fine as long as they don't carry the astronomical theme too far and end up with Uranus Princess.

Ships in the Evergreen container fleet are all named “Ever XX”, such as Ever Ocean, Ever Orient, etc. this is what greeted me one time in San Pedro: 

5 hours ago, Ombud said:

The walk off in SF was extremely fast 4/23/23. CBP used new facial recognition software for screening and I paused, didn't even stop. Hope San Pedro (LA) is just as fast next month 

The Port of Los Angeles also uses facial recognition. Easy and fast. 

In the Princess app, under Preferences >Dining, you can note the speed that you prefer to dine. Whether they look at that or not, who knows. 

Magic to Do is my favorite Princess show of all time. Unfortunately, the title confuses people into thinking it’s a “magic show”, which it’s decidedly not. It’s named for the song from Pippin, and has to do with the magic of life, not magic tricks. I love that it has a plot, and is jam packed full of Stephen Schwartz classic songs. 

Have you ever considered that choosing your own cabin is the “regular” price and that guaranteed cabin is at a discount? 

20 hours ago, jeromep said:

 

 

When I first started cruising Princess had virtually no co-branding.  Everything was in-house.  When you stepped on board a Princess ship you were in Princess' little world.  No Starbucks, no McDonalds, no Applebee's.  It was refreshing, you really were on vacation.  Not that the recent co-brands they have done have occurred with people that are household names, it still felt out of place to have "celebrity" chefs names being attached to a desert section of an MDR menu or on a main dish in the MDR.  Ditching the endorsements, co-brands, and celebrity chefs is a cost cutting measure that shouldn't negatively impact passengers.  I suspect that Princess discovered that these associations weren't really getting them extra passengers or profit.

 

i  recall that, at least 20 years ago if not longer, that some Princess ships’ Internet Cafes were presented by Microsoft. 
 

I work for a company that has maintained corporate alliances like this since the 1950’s. They serve as both advertising for the outside company, and a revenue source for the other one. They also, in some cases, lend a feeling of quality in products served-for example, I’d be much more likely to think that a coffee provided by Lavazza would be better than some generic, no-name coffee I might get otherwise. 

16 hours ago, BCCRUSINGCOUPLE said:

 

3. 0% finance charges to book a holiday 2 years out so you can spread the cost over 24 months to pay 

 

 

 

This is already a thing. 

On 1/27/2023 at 5:32 PM, JimmyVWine said:

The thread title is a bit misleading. This isn’t “bait and switch” which is a term applied to circumstances where you actually buy something but receive something different. Here, you go through the booking process (or your TA does) and you can see the actual price and the choice is yours to book or not. If you don’t like the price, you pass. This is a systems failure, not an attempt to defraud. Disappointing? Yes. Dirty commercial tactic designed to dupe the customer?  No. 

Thank you! So many people cry “bait and switch” without grasping what the concept really means. 

Just off the Discovery, and it was handled by the steward. Much easier/quicker. 

The violence was was in Culiacan, almost 150 miles from Mazatlan.

57 minutes ago, Kay S said:

I think they called it American night only on Princess.  Other lines will have different names.

I remember it sometimes being called “Landfall Dinner” on Princess. 

When I first started cruising in the early 90’s, almost all the ships were “old”. There were very few new builds, on any lines. Many ships were recycled transatlantic ocean liners; I had the pleasure of sailing on both the Carnivale (ex Empress of Britain, from 1955), and the Oceanic from 1965. I had great experiences on both.  I always  chuckle at people who see a bit of rust-on a an ocean going vessel-and wonder if they should be worried about maintenance. On these boards,  someone even posted a photo of some rust they saw on the maiden voyage of Discovery Princess. Oy. 

Wow. There are a lot of highbrow people in this thread. I don’t know what people expect-it was never advertised as anything other than what it is-a reality dating show. And for those of us who remember “The Love Boat” fondly, remember it was not well received in its day-from a first season review: 

“Overall, there's nothing wrong with The Love Boat that couldn't be remedied by sharper writing, better casting, more original situations, an end to the indefatigable laugh track or, barring those changes, an enormous tidal wave.” 

This all sounds like someone confused the elimination of the milestone OBC that we used to get, which did cost them some funny money, with the milestone recognition, which is little to no cost for them. I’d take it with a grain of salt. 

19 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

 

Yes, I know. Sorry I may not have been clear. If they want to creat a true ship-within-a-ship for the Signature Suites then the bar, restaurant, lounge and Sundeck/pool area would need to be close to each other. Having the Signature Suite restaurant on deck 7 would nix that concept. In this photo of side by side decks, the Signature Suites aft area could be considered a ship-within-a-ship if the suite lounge (bar), restaurant (Altitude?) and a selected Sanctuary area were dedicated Signature Suite areas. 

Makes sense! I forgot to mention that the rendering of the restaurant (that matches the deck plan) was labelled “Signature Restaurant”. But for sure we’re all guessing at this point! 😊

5 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Unless the one on deck 8 is for the Cabana suites of which there are many. 🤷‍♀️ Putting the Signature Suite restaurant on deck 8 does not make it a ship-within-a-ship - If that is what they were going for. 

The Cabana suites are Reserve Suites, not Signature Suites. Plus, there are regular inside cabins among the suites, which would make the “ship within a ship” thing not the case 

4 hours ago, sloopsailor said:

Looking at the deck plans on that other website, I notice that the "Altitude Restaurant" is next to a group of Signature Penthouse Suites on deck 17. Then when reading the Princess information about the ship, it appears that the Altitude will be for Signature Class suite passengers only:

 

 

Then, there is that "Inclusive Restaurant" space on deck 7. When matched with other information from Princess, this appears it might be for Reserve Class cabanas and mini-suites only:

I would have tended to agree, except that “suite dining room” is labelled on deck 8, and it matches the rendering of the room that you can find online. I don’t think they would have more than one restaurant for suite Guests. Plus-the Altitude space is way too small for as many suites as they have. Maybe it’s an up charge restaurant for suites! 😉

53 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I looked at the deck plans as presented on "cruise deck plans dot com" (thanks for the reference @AtlantaCruiser72).  I have to say I am intrigued by this new ship design.  For me, it is more evolutionary than Crown Class to Royal Class.  I like a lot of the flow and placement of facilities shown.  Here are some comments:

 

1. This information could be from a pre-release type of general information since they are not using the same names for venues that Princess used in their press release.  So, I wouldn't necessarily expect the steakhouse to be badged as Sterling versus CG.

2. I like the idea of placing the WFM amongst all the other venues on Deck 9.  I am sure they have considered wind flow and I do see lots of outdoor areas.  On some ships, the outdoor dining on Lido can be sunny or breezy, depending on location and winds.

3. True to catering to more multi-generational push, it appears to be relatively spacious areas for various age groups, including a new family space (whatever that might be).

4. The new design for Princess Live looks great with a semi-circle type layout that appears to be open to the traffic flow, much like the Explorer's Lounge is on ships that have it. 

5. Just realizing as I wrote that, that there is no Vista Lounge at all and that area on existing ships seems to be downplayed a lot in recent times.  I suppose the new Dome area elevates this type of alternative entertainment area.

6. Interesting that the large mid-ship DR's are moved aft and Main Dining is now a 3-level stack on Decks 6 thru 8.

7. Not sure how much larger the Sanctuary might be now on Deck 18 Aft and how much of that space is going to be given over to Suites access.  Of course, we also don't know how many high-priced cabanas will be placed in the area versus the more affordable loungers.

8. I cannot find any information about the Beach Club on Deck 16 forward.  Not clear, but perhaps an adult-only area.  Beyond that, it is first-come free, or is this another area for the Reserve/Suite guests?  How is it different from The Sanctuary?

9. Not clear to me what specialty dining options exist for guests beyond the steakhouse.  Not sure what the Inclusive Restaurant is on Deck 7 (not likely its real name).  Altitude on Dec 17 - is it for anyone to book?  So, it seems a lack of SD venues on this ship compared to current fleet.

10. There has been all sorts of mysterious puffery by Princess over a new concept called "360" and I don't see where that would be on Sphere.

 

So, I think it would be great to experience one of those Cabana cabins, but we probably won't spend the dollars required (not concerned with Reserve section).  In any case, I would be interested in trying this ship out in Caribbean sector where we have been many times and view it as going more for the ship.  So many new approaches being taking from cabins, to dining, to entertainment, I think it is worth a try sometime.

Great thoughts! You can tell that there are a lot of venues that still aren’t labelled, so more to come I’m sure. My guess on The Beach Club is that it’s an outdoor space for kids/teens, as they need one as their main areas look to be down below. I was thinking that “inclusive restaurant” could be the Reserve dining room, or maybe a no-charge but still specialty restaurant, like some other lines have. I don’t see a burger/pizza location on the Lido deck-they really need to have some food service up there, unless they expect everyone to order from the app! 

27 minutes ago, Fairsky84 said:

I looks like the website has simply made educated guesses about what the different venues are. I wouldn't take these plans as accurate.

Disagree. The font and design that is being used has definitely originated from Princess. It They just got ahold of something that they shouldn’t have, and posted it when they shouldn’t have. It’s like how on the day of the big announcement, the Orlando Sentinel leaked all the information about the ship early. That day I can guarantee that Princess gave them a “release no earlier” than time, and they did it anyway, accidentally or on purpose. 

Having worked as a manager in the hotel business for many years, this is Revenue  Management 101. The difference is that if a room goes unsold tonight in my hotel, I have the potential to sell it tomorrow-but once a ship has sailed, that’s lost revenue, and you can’t make it up until the next sailing. It’s why cruise lines are doing this-it’s a way to make some of that up. Hotels often offer up sells at the Front Desk, and my hotels would offer incentives to Front Desk clerks who would do the most of them. Human nature loves a bargain, and people often jump at the chance to get one. Like at hotels, sometimes these will be actual bargains, and other times not. 
And just like at a hotel, cruise lines oversell lower categories, then upgrade/upsell into unsold higher categories. The percentage is lower on a ship for obvious reasons, but hotels are often oversold by ~10%, based on historic no-show rates. And hotels DO sell out, and no, we don’t have a room for a celebrity. I’ve relocated many a guest to another hotel when that happens, and when it does, they are comped and get compensation. 

On 8/30/2022 at 12:16 PM, jwattle said:

Where have you had the pumps of soap in a suite? Majestic had the individual tubes...😊

On the Discovery, and I have seen them in videos of suites on the Sky and Enchanted. 

“Suite bath amenities” has been removed from the list of Elite benefits. From experience, suites mostly have the same amenities as a regular cabin these days-the large pumps of Lotus Spa soaps, and little else other than cotton balls/ swabs and maybe a loofah. It wasn’t like the “olden days” when there was lip balm, emery boards, and often upgraded individually packed soaps and shampoos. Plus, with supply chain issues, you never knew what you were going to get, if anything.