KWinSF

The 15 min package on the last day is mainly for people to check in for there flights and print boarding passes. All though you can use them for what ever you want. The internet caffee is usually really busy when flight check in times start to open up.

Online flight checkin times generally start at 24 hours before flight departure. Thus, in many cases, that would be the day before the end of the cruise. (Except for people who are flying out later than that, of course.)

When I follow this link it gives me some information, but it does not give me any costs - included pre-cruise and on-board comparisons?

 

Could you please perhaps send me a screen capture of the costs?

 

I am new to cruising and this forum, but perhaps it doesn't show me costs as I am in Australia?

 

Thanks,

Kate.

You are probably automatically getting an Australian version of the site. And perhaps the costs are different for cruises from Australia?

I had trouble with both copy-paste (formatting was lost) and screen capture. I suggest you look at post #5 above; most of the prices are shown (other than the pay-as-you-go and last-day specials).

I believe there is one other internet minutes "package" available, that was offered on the last day (or the night before) of my last cruise. It was a smallish number of minutes at a reduced (but still fairly high, per minute) price. I didn't bite, although I might do so on my upcoming cruise.

 

Does anyone else remember seeing this offer and the details?

 

(I'm not Platinum yet, but will be after my next cruise. So, no free minutes for me yet.)

I found the answer myself on Princess' website:

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/onboard/experience.jsp#Internet_at_Sea

It lists the prices of all the packages (both the onboard purchase and pre-cruise pricing). In addition, it shows:

15-min. (last day special) for $8.99 (cannot be purchased in advance of cruise)

Pay as you go for $0.79 per minute (also cannot be purchased in advance)

The 15-min. (last day only) one is what I was thinking of; the pay-as-you-go is also of interest to me. If I can limit myself to a few mins. per day, it would cost less than the cheapest (100 or 120-min.) package.

I believe there is one other internet minutes "package" available, that was offered on the last day (or the night before) of my last cruise. It was a smallish number of minutes at a reduced (but still fairly high, per minute) price. I didn't bite, although I might do so on my upcoming cruise.

Does anyone else remember seeing this offer and the details?

(I'm not Platinum yet, but will be after my next cruise. So, no free minutes for me yet.)

In this particular case, I mean the OP's case, seems like more trouble than it's worth if it would take so many hours on the phone to book it. (I have inside knowledge of the OP's situation, that's how I can say this. ;) )

"Multi-million" dollar ship is actually a gross understatement. It costs HUNDREDS of millions to build these cruise ships. It is common for it to cost around 500 million = half a billion dollars to build just one. That, and the lives of thousands of people (passengers & crew) just on a single ship, is an enormous responsibility. I never want to second-guess the captain & crew! (Not saying that they are infallible, they are certainly human, but I have to trust their decisions, up to the point where it becomes obvious that I cannot.)

Well, really, if you want to visit countries, a cruise, especially a multi-country cruise, may not be the best way to do it, not unless you think of six or eight hours sightseeing in a port town as "visiting a country." I've been on two Canal cuises, and my "visiting Aruba" has consisted of seeing the main commercial drag of Oranjestaad and hanging out on a beautiful beach. Very pleasant, but "getting to know Aruba?" Maybe not. And while it was great to spend a day wandering around Cartagena, it was "visiting Colombia" the way spending a day in Fort Lauderdale would count as "visiting the USA."

 

That's not to say you can't see some great stuff on port days. But if there's a country you really want to get to know - and not just be in for a day, and then check off - you really shouldn't count on doing it on a cruise.

However, it MAY be an excellent way to get introduced to a town or city -- then come back on a future (perhaps land-based) trip (or trips) to re-visit the places you want to explore further.

On the recent San Francisco - Vancouver cruise I took (Grand Princess, May 2014), the stop at Astoria, Oregon had to be skipped (due to an overly-strong current, I believe). Astoria rarely gets cruise ships, and it may have been more of a disappointment to the residents of the town (who might have appreciated the extra business) than to the cruisers. Of course, I would like to visit Astoria sometime, but perhaps it will be by land rather than by sea. ;) I did not receive any port fee refund for the missed stop.

I agree -- all you are getting with the "opaque" booking process on either Priceline or Hotwire is a standard, double-occupancy room at whatever hotel you are given. Of course, AFTER you've booked through Priceline or Hotwire, you could always call the hotel and see if they will let you "add on" the park & cruise option, but don't be surprised or disappointed if they turn you down cold. :eek: :eek: :eek:

I think everyone should ALWAYS include the city, hotel name, dates, accepted bid, AND total price. Hotel tax adds as much as ~16%, and both Hotwire and Priceline tack on additional fees. So it's misleading to say that a room cost $100 when in fact it might have been more like $130 all-in.

Also, there is much more information on Priceline & Hotwire (including bidding strategy) on sites such as www.biddingfortravel.com & www.betterbidding.com .