sloopsailor

What "scarred" you? Cruise ships are built to last 40 years. Older ships owned by reputable companies like Princess are kept in very good condition, and even go in for multi-million dollar upgrades every 10 years or so. I wouldn't hesitate to cruise on a ship because she is 10 or so years old. I wouldn't even hesitate to cruise on a ship that is 20 years old. In their own way, they are just as nice and safe as the newer ships.

Your cruise ends on the 30th. There won't be anything special the night before since passengers need to pack and the crew is preparing to turn the ship around for the next cruise the next day. If you were on the following cruise, there might be some festivities. But that won't help you at all!! 😉

Thanks for the screenshots. The casino rate is the problem. For some reason the Plus package isn't picking up on that. I would speak to a Princess rep about the discrepancy. You should be getting that same casino rate with or without the Plus addition. Then the difference should only be around $600pp Canadian, about half the difference shown. EDIT: I just saw that others pointed out the casino rate as the culprit. Sorry to duplicate what had already been mentioned.

Crew appreciation is absolutely included!! It's a darn shame the customer service people working for Princess don't even know the details of one of it's most popular pricing packages. What the heck is wrong with the Princess' training program? Is there any at all?

Of all the cruises I have priced out, I have never seen the Plus package costing more than about $500pp US for a 10 day cruise, and certainly not $150 more. Are you certain those numbers are correct? Could the $2,618.65 fare be for the room with double occupancy and Plus?

Yes, you will double the outlets. But, keep in mind that the European outlets are 220 volt as opposed to 110 volt for the US outlets, so make sure anything you plug into the adapter will handle that higher voltage.

Agreed. We factor in the cost to send out our laundry on every cruise, even if self service laundry is available. It's no different than budgeting for excursions, spa treatments, specialty dining, and everything else that is not included with the base fare. Compared to the cost of the cruise itself plus transportation to and from, the cost of having our laundry done is less than 1% of the total cost of the cruise. We are on vacation and for us it seems pointless to spend valuable vacation time to do chores when we are supposed to be relaxing and enjoying ourselves. We do enough chores at home in between vacations. But that's just us. We place value on our precious vacation time differently than some folk do.

We're Elite on Celebrity and we never felt the "snooty" vibe you mention. Or maybe we are also snooty and don't notice it? 🤣

Found another FrugalVoyager comment on a thread about the value of Princess Plus. It pretty much tells everything I need to know about them. "Best possible way to sail is to find a person who is on a casino comp cruise offer to get ALL your alcohol drinks at the casino and only order water/coffee/soda as an exception at the pool deck only if you must. "For gratuities cancel them right away when you get on board and wifi I usually knock on my neighbour's door and ask if they are using all their devices as wifi you can use multiple devices, you can piggy back off someone's device for free. "This way you are essentially eliminating $50/day all together, I am amazed people aren't doing this more often as I feel far superior and smarter doing these tips." He/she is wasting everyone's time so they can have an immature level of fun.

Our Hawaii cruise has 9 sea days out of 14 full days. Being on the ship all day for 2/3rds of the cruise certainly made the beverage portion of Princess Plus package more attractive.

Yes, he's the one who can't count and calculate why longer cruises cost more than shorter cruises. His complaint was that he didn't understand why a 15 day Hawaii cruise cost two times more than a one week Alaska cruise. His words: "What is up with Hawaii cruises being so expensive" & "The Hawaii cruises cost 2x Alaska cruises ..... day/per rate.. why? Makes 0 sense." Apparently being a "young marketing executive" doesn't require a basic understanding of the economics of things that are significantly different in value. Not sure what they are teaching these youngsters in college these days. But common sense economics apparently isn't one of them. Or maybe the job title he claims is only in his imagination?

You are absolutely correct. One weather event that can affect tidal anomalies is a LOW ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE event that appears in the area. This can result in higher water levels due to the LOW resulting in reduced weight of the air on the water surface, allowing the water to rise. High winds can also push water towards the location in question. When these occur in concert with high tidal events, water levels can be several feet higher than during the normal twice a day water level fluctuation. This is what happens in Venice, Italy several times per year, where significant portions of the city can be flooded when these extreme high water events, called Aqua Alta (High Water), occur. The multi billion dollar Mose flood gate project is nearing completion and the hope is that it will protect this vulnerable city from being slowly destroyed by high water incursion as climate change results in world wide higher water level issues.

Tidal fluctuations are known years in advance for almost anywhere on the planet. It is a simple matter of referencing moon and sun positions which are very predictable and easy to determine.

Bingo! That's is exactly what we have done for decades. We use them only to keep the zippers from accidentally opening. It is sooooo easy to open a suitcase that is locked. Takes less than 15 seconds. Watch the video below for how. I have tried it on all our suitcases and this worked every time. Unless you have a clamshell type suitcase with no zipper, a lock will not stop someone from opening it. Besides, experienced thieves will simply pick up the suitcase and move it to a hidden area so they can riffle through it without being seen.

The older ships are being updated to the Edge model as they go into longer dry docks.

Fun is a totally subjective thing. The Jacka ss movies are about "fun", but I don't find them interesting either.

More like vapid, shallow, narcissistic & forgettable.

I submitted mine yesterday afternoon. This morning the $250 was already posted to my cruise. The email I received confirming the submission said up to 21 days, so I was surprised it only took overnight.

The wrong kind of customers, IMHO.

Nope. I won't be celebrating one of the tackiest shows on TV! I'm embarrassed to be a Princess cruiser after watching a few minutes of that shipwreck of a show. Ugh! 👎🚽

$7.01 a share as I type this. With the drink package canned sodas are not included for some reason. So I always bring a case. Besides, I am not a coke fan and have a favorite diet soda that is a store brand at $4.99 for a case of twelve as opposed to $30 for the same number of cans of diet Cokes on Princess. I keep them cold in my mini-fridge so I can grab one when I am in my cabin without having to order and wait for one or head out to a bar to get one.

There was a thread started by a poster here who was disappointed that he was informed only one week prior to embarking that there would be filming on the ship. This wasn't the show being broadcast now, but for a future UK based reality TV show. One week before boarding! That gives people no opportunity to cancel before the cruise.

With 70% of the cruisers choosing Princess Plus, they miss out on much of the drink revenue on those days. But you do have a point about the casino, shops and spa. However, the shops and spa are run by contractors, so Princess would only receive a percentage of those revenues, with part of it probably going to the contractor.

My wife and I watched it mostly because we will be on Regal next year. The ship, what they showed of her, was great. The show, however, was the typical low IQ trash these "love" reality shows are. We fast forwarded though most of it and won't be watching it again. If I wanted to spend my time watching trash, I could just as easily stare at my garbage can for an hour.

After reading what you wrote I checked the prices of an Alaska cruise against my Hawaii cruise next year. Both cruises that I compared are at the height of the season for both destinations. The Alaska cruise is 7 days, Inside Gateway Seattle to Vancouver. The Hawaii cruise is 15 days, San Francisco round trip. Both are on the larger Royal class ships. For the same cabin on both cruises, each a lowest priced mini-suite with the Princess Plus package and all port fees and taxes included, the Alaska cruise is $4,114 for two people and the Hawaii cruise is $9,302. Considering that the Hawaii cruise is 8 days longer with a much higher percentage of sea days than the Alaska cruise (more sea days increases the cost to operate the ship since people need to be fed and entertained more often than on a port intensive cruise), the prices are not that much different. Averaged over the length of each cruise, the Alaska cruise is $587.71 per day for double occupancy, while the Hawaii cruise is $620.13 per day for double occupancy. That makes the Hawaii cruise just 6% more expensive per day than the Alaska cruise. Not "2x", or 100%, more as has been claimed.