JimmyVWine

Do you know for a fact that there are any Owner’s Suites available to book? That would be rare. If there are, you can call to buy an upgrade or bid for an upgrade. But in the end, pricing is a combination of timing and certainty. In the future, you can gamble and try to get a great price for a last minute cruise. There are definitely bargains to be had that way. But you might not get the cabin you want, or even the cabin category you want. Lots of disappointment awaits those who wait. And even if you get an acceptable cabin at a great price, your savings may evaporate when you try to book a last minute flight to your departure port. Bottom line is that most people value Itinerary, ship, cabin category and cabin location over saving a few hundred dollars. Hence, they book early to lock in “certainty” and don’t look back. I always look at booking a cruise the way I look at the price I pay for a car. It is not a game where I “win” only if I get a lower price than everyone else. I “win” if I get the product I want at a price that I think is fair. If others do “better” than me, I really, really don’t care.

Yeah. Right.

And Princess' posted sign says otherwise:

I don't see any changes coming in the near term, (as in, the timeframe of your cruise), but long range, who knows. Remember that the "Original Love Boat" used to sail to Acapulco as part of its routine itinerary, and Princess hasn't stopped there in decades. Most everyone has called it quits there. I think that only NCL goes there now. So the idea that a common port might get pulled from the rotation is certainly not out of the question. But I don't think we are quite there yet.

Also, all of the Blues will be Platinum when they walk off the ship!

I guess I’d want to know how many cruises each of the Blue passengers had before answering. It could be that many (most) have very high status ratings on other cruise lines but their favorite line does not offer a world cruise. I suppose that with the proper amount of research one could conclude that 110+ days on an untested cruise line is a safe bet. Also, do you know that they are all on for the full journey? Aren’t there several shorter (relatively speaking) segments?

The answer to your question is “no”. Princess has no different dress code for Alaska. Do the passengers? That’s a different question. We didn’t notice any meaningful difference.

There is no justification for bringing water onto the ship. Packages include bottled water and if you don’t book a package, bottles of water can be pre-ordered at retail cost. Adding bottled water to one’s luggage load is completely unnecessary.

Seating at the Specialty Restaurants is finite and while they do hold back some space for walk-ups, it isn’t nearly enough to accommodate all of the people with Premier were they ALL to follow the advice you were given. Imagine if 400 people were all told to just walk in and they all decided to go to Crown Grill on Tuesday! Even if all 400 were to magically divide their visits equally over 7 days, and magically divide equally between two restaurants. That would still be 15 couples per night per restaurant. Maybe, just maybe they could get seated if spread out from 5:00-9:00. As noted, some people have been successful using their credits on the app. Others have received refundable OBC once on board if their credit cards were charged. If dining at a Specialty restaurant on a specific day and time is a priority for you, make a reservation.

My first choice would be one of the port side “patio” deck areas on the Promenade. There is one outside of Crooners mid-ship and one outside of the Vista Lounge, aft. But the latter might be a smoking area, not positive.

Caribe deck, second balcony in shows a person sitting outside on a balcony that has 3 chairs.

You cannot request the same table when making your online reservation. That is done once on board. Preferably after you finish dinner on the first night to confirm that you like your table and server. On our last cruise our first night table was awful and I am so glad that we were not locked into that one. Our second night table was perfect and we locked that one in.

On every Grand Class ship we have sailed on we have been in Dolphin Deck Mini-Suites with 3 people. Upon being greeted by Stewart 😉 with our glass of Champswill we always asked if it would be possible to get a third balcony chair and on every occasion one appeared. Fit nicely on those balconies which would be the same as Caribe. Aloha might be a little tight.

Sky Princess will be in Bermuda on 12/12/24 as part of its TA. Island Princess will be in Bermuda on 4/22/24 as part of its World Cruise.

Yes, but only on TAs. By way of example, check out Sky Princess, 11/28/24 from SH to FLL.

The swap out was for two coffee cards, so that would bring the value up to $72. And yes, one could look at this two different ways. Was the swap equated to the cost of two coffee cards, or was the swap equated to the cost of however much coffee one was going to purchase at retail cost? Those are two different numbers. But that latter is unknowable to Princess and therefore unusable as a cash equivalent.

Thanks. That would seem to end the debate regarding "fraud", "scams" and the like. The conspiracy theorists can direct their attention elsewhere.

I guess the question on everyone's mind is: "While they were enjoying the space, did anyone try to give them a pressured sales pitch or sell them a future package?" Seems that if the answer to that question is "No", then there should be no worries. Don't know if you have any way of finding out.

Sapphire. It will sail the true Inside Passage (which is a deal breaker); it has the best Promenade of all of the ships mentioned. It has Balcony cabins with large, comfortable balconies. It has fewer passengers than any of the other ships mentioned, and that makes a difference when the crowd descending from the gangway can overwhelm a small town. It is not the newest or shiniest Princess ship, but it is still a wonderful ship that has most of the features of the more modern ships. (Vines, Crooners, Alfredo's, International Cafe, Sabatini's.) And it has the Explorer's Lounge which I find to be a much nicer venue than "Princess Live!" on the newer ships. The only thing that Sapphire does not have is a Crown Grill steakhouse, which may not be a loss at the moment. It does have a Specialty Dining "Steakhouse" called "Sterling Steakhouse", but that is really just a cordoned off area on the buffet area and lacks the same special atmosphere of Crown Grill. But all things considered, I think that Sapphire is the absolute best Princess ship for Alaska. Not just among the ones you are choosing from, but among every ship in the entire fleet.

Back at post #43 my back of he envelope calculation was that the minibar perk had a cash equivalent value of somewhere around $80. So if Princess is giving $50 in OBC, that seems close to fair. They probably wanted to stick to a round number and rounded down to $50. $75 would have been nicer. But $50 is not insulting.

Note, however, that arrival by mail is limited to U.S. residents, and is only free if you have purchased either the Plus or Premium Packages. If you purchase only the basic fare, medallion home delivery is $10 per order. From the Q&A section on the website: You will be receiving a complimentary Medallion device and lanyard as part of your cruise experience. For any guests with a Plus or Premier package, you may order these items delivered to your home (for U.S. guests only) for no extra shipping fees. If you do not have the package, you pay a $10 flat fee to have these delivered to your home. Or you could choose to pick them up at the departure port for no extra fees.

Sanctuary?? I have no idea what this means.

The level of risk that you are willing to take is up to you. But the "Expires in 90 Days" language is there as an incentive to get people to act quickly and has no real legal binding effect. Sort of like the Dress Code on Princess. That said, I don't know how Canadian rules differ, if at all, from the Uniform Commercial Code in the U.S. https://blog.remitly.com/finance/do-checks-expire/ https://www.huntington.com/learn/checking-basics/how-long-is-a-check-good-for#:~:text=Personal%2C business%2C and payroll checks,a check sooner than later.

Hopefully you can get a "Deluxe Lifeboat" (middle and right in the photo) and not a regular Lifeboat (left in photo). Either way, your check-in at the muster station will be a breeze. And the servers should be able to find you for remote drink orders but you may want to hoist a little flag or handkerchief just in case to alert them to your location.

I'm going to take a wild guess. The ocean?? 😎