skynight

You would receive full suite benefits which include reserve class dining plus lots of other stuff. In addition if you sail on one of the new sun class ships there will be a special DR, and other full suite locations.

Alfredo's was first introduced on the Grand Princess way back when Skywalker's was removed. At that time the cost was $10 with a glass of wine. Almost nobody used it. Princess changed it to a no charge venue, highly used. Seems like we are now in a similar situation. It has been similar with the Salty Dog Gastropub. Very low usage. A way out may be to include free use of these casual dining locations to all inclusive fares and make them dinner friendly.

Yes. It isn't really cost effective to just purchase a stand alone drink package. The plus package which covers most alcoholic beverages will cost you $76.69/day. Compare that the the plus package fare. The plus fare includes the plus beverage package, daily gratuities which is $16/pp/day, $17/pp/day or $18/pp/day depending on cabin category, wifi which is $20/per device (other multiple device plans available), access to free room service, access to ocean now, 2 casual dining meals and some other stuff. With the plus fare the net cost of the beverage package works out to somewhere around $25/day, two alcoholic drinks/day or 1 alcoholic drink/day plus some non alcoholic beverages such as specialty coffees. If you use all of the benefits the net cost for the beverage package per day will be actually lower than $25. There is also the Premier fare at $80/pp/day. You can search for both of these fares online. If you want the beverage package upgrade to the plus fare which is $60/pp/day. Note: most alcoholic drinks on Princess are under $15. Some wines and some special high end whiskeys are higher than $15. With the plus package if you purchase a drink that is over $15 you will be charges the difference + 18%. Example a $20 drink will cost $5.90.

Agree

I can tell you: *that they are not close enough to the mid ship lifts to cause any traffic issues. *that except for the HCP cabins the interiors are all the same with a 3 cushion sofa, bathtub shower combo. Most have a standard 9ft x 4ft balcony. *that 10 of the standard Cat M1 cabins are reserve class. Some have larger angled balconies. Reserve class means you receive some extra benefits, the most beneficial of which is reserve class dining. *that there are also cat MA and MB minis available. Four of the cat MAs have larger angled balconies. Four of the MBs are connecting cabins, B324/6 and B325/7.

All the airline flights were in coach. I did not see any upgrades in our group of 39. We had plenty of clothing and supplies for our 8 day tour, 6 days on the road with the 1st & 2nd evening in Sydney, packed into our 22 inch suitcases and daypacks.

We did not have access to our airline seat selections. They were assigned. The guide may be able to switch seats around. If a person is handicapped that should be reported in advance I guess through Princess. We had a wonderful time on our land tour. It was well planned, well guided, seamless, with no real problems. Princess land tours used to arranged by a land tour group that was located in Seattle. I was able to contact them directly. If I remember correctly my T.A. provided me with the contact. I think she placed me on a 3 way call. I don't know if they are still there, or if you can actually get through to them, but it may be worth the investigation.

Not really. If you book without an FCD you will have to pay the full required deposit. There is no real benefit to adding a future purchased FCD to your booking. It will just reduce your final payment by $100 without any OBC. The advantage of the FCD is that he deposit is only $100 which is already in your account, and you receive the OBC when used as the deposit.

First, I would like to provide you with some additional information that was not in your query. ELUA, Tiki Dave and Leialoha, are scheduled to be on your cruise. They are Hawaiian ambassadors, providing ukulele lessons for beginners, hula sessions, Hawaiian crafts (small fee), entertainment. They are very good. If you have a uke bring it along. If not there are a limited number of instruments on board. Arrive very early for the first session to be assigned a uke. Participants perform a uke & hula theater show at the end of the cruise. The weather crossing to Hawaii is not tropical. The first two to three days can be cool and you could encounter choppy seas. Be prepared with layered clothing and motion sickness meds. It normally isn't sit around the pool weather like the Caribbean until you cross the Tropic of Cancer into the tropics on the 3rd day. It is not quite as cool on the return as the ship takes a more southern route to Ensenada. Formal is anything from long pants/slacks with an Hawaiian shirt to jacket with or without a tie to suits. Very few in true formal wear. The buffet is open from around 6am until 11pm. Never closes during that time. Some of the selections are quite good. It's a good option when you wish to plan your evening dining around your evening shows & activities rather than the reverse. Menus in the specialty restaurants never change. There are a few selections in each one. The MDR has a different menu each evening which for your cruise will be on a 16 night rotation. Some selections will repeat on different menus, and there are a few always available items. You mention that you have 2 specialty dinners which sounds like the premier fare. You probably also have access to casual dinning locations. The Crown has the Salty Dog Gastropub and I believe it will have a casual dining selection at Vines. These can be a nice dinner or maybe lunch if open alternative. There will be pizza by the slice as well as selections at the grill in the Lido Pool area. These are no charge. The International Cafe also offers continental selections for breakfast and paninis, salads, desserts from late morning into the evening hours. It is always open and there is no charge for food items. A specialty coffee location is also adjacent to the International Cafe.

Purchase your Future Cruise Deposits at the end of September. Once home research and book your 2025 cruise(s). Most promos allow you to either re-fare or cancel and re-book. Just make certain that any promo that you book has a refundable deposit. Most do, but some do not. Read the fine print carefully. Most promos move the fares and OBC around so that the net comes out to be roughly the same. I always use a T.A. Most have access to group fares and other promos.

In the OP's case on Christmas evening there probably will be some special selections. A traditional U.S. turkey dinner comes to mind as a possibility.

Are you asking if Princess does the same as NCL?

I interpret this as meaning that after you disembark your flights your luggage that was on board the flight will be placed in the undercarriage of your motor coach, or will be placed on a separate truck to be transported to your hotel. For example, when we disembarked the plane in Cairns we boarded a bus and went directly to the skyrail which took us to Kuranda. After spending some time in Kuranda our bus met us and took us to our hotel in Port Douglas. Our small suitcase was at the hotel when we arrived. I remember that there was normally a sightseeing stop(s) on the way from the airport to the hotels.

2 formal evenings. Probably Monday 18th or Tuesday the 19th and Christmas, Monday 25th. Christmas should be a 'special' meal. Formal nights are never on boarding day and never on the evening before disembarkation.

"They are allowing us one 30" suitcase to take along on the land tour, but not to actually be placed in the belly of the planes. Instead the information I have read is that our larger pieces of luggage will go by motorcoach from one city to another and be available to us by evening at the hotels." I would check again. These are very long flights, about 4 hours from Sydney to Uluru, 4 to 5 hours from Cairns back to Sydney. I remember we had a small plane with a stop in Alice Springs to get from Uluru to Darwin. The flight from Darwin to Cairns was maybe 3 hours. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't see how it is possible that luggage will be ground transported between these locations. Just to drive from Sydney to Uluru will take maybe 30/35 hours non stop. Darwin to Cairns is about a 30 hour drive. It was a while ago but I remember that we each had one normal 30 inch suitcase. This suitcase was provided to the tour group. We did not see this on our land tour. It was in our cabin when we boarded the ship in Sydney. On our 8 day tour we each had one 22 inch wheeled suitcase and one daypack. The wheeled suitcase was checked by the airline. The day pack was weighed and we carried it on board. Our daypacks weighed under 10lbs each, if I remember correctly maybe around 7/8lbs.

Although some time ago we carried one soft day pack on board the flights. Yes, it was weighed. Ours weighed under 10 lbs. We also had one of the small hard sided wheeled 22 inch suitcases which were checked. On the bus these were placed underneath. There is no room for them in the bus cabin. We also had a large normal airline size 30 inch suitcase which weighed around 50lbs. This was taken from us when the tour began and was on board the ship in our cabin when we boarded.

Where are you going? Caribbean on a closed loop cruise? Assume you are a U.S. citizen. Check out the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requirements for closed loop cruises at one of the many government sites. They have all the legal details. I can mention for sure that you will require an "original" birth certificate, one with the stamp issued by the city/county where you were born. Copies not allowed. Did you send your passport request to Philly? I mailed mine to Philly at the beginning of March this year, and received it back roughly the 2nd week of June, around 14 weeks.

No more golf simulators on Princess ships. Almost all ships have a putting area and there probably will be some sort of putting contest for one of those great Princess prizes.

The Terrace Pool, deck 14 aft (access from passenger deck 14 or from deck 15) is a nice alternative to the main Lido Pools. Outriggers and tables for eating are 1/2 deck up.

Agree. Princess did not really think this through. They just tried to get a small amount of money from their customers.

I have no reason to believe that a phone app isn't the present & future for leisure industries. My question really is was it smart to spend development funds during a time when there was no or limited income to pay for a proper development, and no way to really test the system? Princess better get it right soon.

Can you purchase on line? Just guessing, but on board pricing probably higher unless you use OBC.

Princess probably spent large sums to develop the app during the shutdown. Was that really a smart use of money when they had no income? How were they to test when ships were not sailing? Has the app brought in new customers, or just frustration from old and potential ones?

Post 25 is interesting. My question. What percentage of Princess' passengers would know how to do all this stuff or even know what what it all means? Half? Customer service has to be seamless and very simple, not complex.

As others mentioned. If it is a RT Seattle you can not do what you propose, board in Ketchikan and disembark in Seattle. Princess would deny you boarding if you showed up at the pier. It's a violation of the PVSA.