princess cruises

hey there i am new to cruise critic and I seem to be messing up. I guess once I understand how to use the site I will be fine. Anyways I just booked a back to Back Cruise with Princess Cruise ( Regal princess). we just decided to cruise and went with princess Cruise. in the past Holland American and Celebrity Cruise lines is who we used. they were good but I did not get the Wow factor. has pros and Cons. well question is this. does Princess offer any Perks that is free example Holland American will offer Pinnacle grill, Drink package 50% less on deposit and ship credit Celebrity will offer paid Gratuity ,Beverage package. I think we got a $200 on board Room Credit. is there ever sales for example Specialty Dining Packages 3, 4, 7 dinner packs. ect. Also what did you think of the Lunch and Dinner meals at the Buffet. Also when the cruise is closer to departing is there ever sales on upgrading staterooms to a class higher, Thanks in Advance for the information...CAMAROSS2:):)

Welcome to Cruise Critic, camaross2. The website is a gold mine of information and there are so many helpful people who can respond to requests for information. You are already on the Princess Cruises forum and so you can focus your thread title with a more specific phrase (rather than repeating Princess Cruises) that describes your reason for posting (a question, a point of interest, a clarification, more information, a picture.....). If you focus your thread title, you may find you get many more helpful replies. Once again, welcome to Cruise Critic and happy cruising!

Right now they are offering the Sip & Sail promotion on most cruises for next year. After this will probably be the 3 for free...free grats, OBC and a so called room upgrade. I watch the pricing so yes you can sometimes upgrade yourself for little to nothing but you may lose whatever promo you have, so you have to weigh it out if it works for you.

Not sure about “wow” factor. It takes a lot to wow me. That is also very subjective. I’ve not sailed on the Regal, but I have read great things about it. Princess doesn’t offer specialty dining packages. They do offer beverage packages though. The price never changes though. If your sail date falls within the summer of 2019 and spring of 2020 you can get the Premium Beverage Package for “free” if you booked a balcony or above. That is the current promo. I’ve learned to shop. I have not always booked directly with Princess. For instance, on an upcoming Alaska sailing we booked a year ago, we have the PBP, free grats, specialty doming one night, and $300 OBC. That was booked through a large well known travel company (its against the rules to use names of TA’s here). We got a similar deal on a Fall 2019 cruise on the new ship, Sky Princess.

As far as upgrades, we’ve gotten upgraded to a better location. Same room type, just higher category. We had booked a guaranteed room. Search the Princess forum for upsells, upgrades, move downs, and move overs.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I've sailed on HAL, Celebrity, and Princess (Regal), and I think that Regal really has that wow factor.

The Regal is simply amazing. By far, the most wow factor of any ship that we've been on (though we haven't gotten on an S-class yet). But, if you want to wow factor and are into food, check out Chef's table and the Ultimate Balcony Dining options on the Regal. Both are expensive upgrades, but bring the wow factor!

Regarding promotions, the Sip and Sail promotion (going on now) is about as good as it gets. There are others, and Princess is fairly active cycling through promotions, but Sip and Sail is typically considered among the better options. Princess also has a bad reputation for changing sailing prices when offering some promotions...

Hope that helps.

Thank you all for the useful information I appreciate it. Just a question. What do yiu mean Princess has a bad reputation to change oricing when they have a promotion.

I think Jeremiah’s term “bad reputation”is a little harsh. Like any business, pricing is variable. Sometimes a new promotion is introduced but the base fare may be more or less than the previous promo. Like in all purchases you need to review your options. Depending on what the promo offer is, you may be better or worse off than your current booking. I always compare pricing by calculating the per day cost per person.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

As a new passenger to Princess don't expect any perks. Just like any cruise line. Your second cruise on the B2B you will get a free drink probably at a Captains Circle event. There may be a presentation for new passengers where you get one on the first cruise as well.

Wow factor? Not so much for me, IMHO Princess is a mass market cruise line where you are not so much a human being guest as a cabin number and an opportunity to nickel and dime. It didn't use to be like that.

No packages on pay extra dining. Average $29 per meal or so last I heard.

Drinks package pretty pricey compared to other lines, yes they sometimes offer it in a deal but usually only if you book way ahead and sometimes they put the fare price up to cover it.

Buffet on the Regal is one of the better ones on Princess. Decent.

Yes sometimes you may get offered an upsell, don't think I ever have , in 71 cruises on Princess

Book the cabin you will be happy with.

Gratuities are optional on Princess, but are sometimes included in a promotion.

While you are on board if you think you will cruise Princess again then be sure to buy some Future Cruise Deposits which will be good for extra OBC on unspecified future cruises. Get your money back if you don't use them in 2 years.

hey there i am new to cruise critic and I seem to be messing up. I guess once I understand how to use the site I will be fine. Anyways I just booked a back to Back Cruise with Princess Cruise ( Regal princess). we just decided to cruise and went with princess Cruise. in the past Holland American and Celebrity Cruise lines is who we used. they were good but I did not get the Wow factor. has pros and Cons. well question is this. does Princess offer any Perks that is free example Holland American will offer Pinnacle grill, Drink package 50% less on deposit and ship credit Celebrity will offer paid Gratuity ,Beverage package. I think we got a $200 on board Room Credit. is there ever sales for example Specialty Dining Packages 3, 4, 7 dinner packs. ect. Also what did you think of the Lunch and Dinner meals at the Buffet. Also when the cruise is closer to departing is there ever sales on upgrading staterooms to a class higher, Thanks in Advance for the information...CAMAROSS2:):)

If you look at the Princess web site and select plan a cruise you can see there is a current promo for your cruise. Promos change all the time and may include Premium Drink Package, OBC, a specialty dining meal, free gratuities, reduced deposits of $100 and other things. Be careful, some promos have non-refundable deposits. The Regal has two specialty restaurants, Crown Grill and Sabatini's. I have never seen dining packages. The Regal also has the one of the largest and best buffets at sea. It has a number of sections, so look around before you make your selections. Food there is good, something for everyone, fresh made omelets in the morning. Nice seating on the Horizon Terrace aft and forward next to the Lido Pool.

Upgrades, you may receive one, you may not. Keep looking in your cruise personlizer. Princess does not generally notify you if you have been upgraded. You could also be offered an upsell. If you get one you like act fast before it is gone.

Being a past HAL cruiser you probably already know that if you own at least 100 shares of Carnival Carp. stock you can get some OBC. Also if you are a military vet you can receive the military benefit. Search Princess Cruises Military Benefit on line.

For our cruise next month on the Royal Princess, I booked during a promo that included free gratuities. Between on-board credit from our TA, loyalty credit, future cruise deposit credit, and shareholder credit, we also have over $500 in on-board credit.

We have also cruised on Celebrity and Holland America (as well as Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean). Princess is comparable to Celebrity and HAL. I give it the edge in activities and entertainment. The Regal Princess does have the wow factor.

If you look at the Princess web site and select plan a cruise you can see there is a current promo for your cruise..

I seem to have missed something here, I could only see that the OP said he /she had booked a B2B cruise, how do you know there is a current promotion for the cruise?

Although they do often change the prices for the "sales", the price is still in keeping with demand.

I booked a 15 day TA when they first opened for reservations. There have been two sales since - one offering OBC and now another offering a free beverage package. The price has remained the same throughout.

I changed my booking (for free) during the OBC package -- for no additional cost, Princess is giving me and my wife $1000 OBC. This is in addition to $100 each for future cruise deposit (give them $100 per passenger while you are on a cruise, it will pay for the deposit on a future cruise, in addition to giving up to $100 OBC on that future cruise) as well as Veterans OBC (Princess will reward those who served in their armed forces (US, Canada or GB) up to $250 per veteran (defined as serving at least two years with an honorable discharge). They also offer OBC to anyone who owns at least 100 shares of CCL stock.

This cruise, I am walking away with over $1400 OBC, not including whatever may be given by my travel agent.

Unlike RCL owned lines, Princess will allow you to stack OBCs.

Thank you everybody for responding and giving me all the valuable information. I am just confused on the specialty Resturant. I see only 2 but on line seems to be more then 2. I will keep an eye on my cruise weekly to see about upgrades and OBC being offered. Thanks again everybody

Thank you everybody for responding and giving me all the valuable information. I am just confused on the specialty Resturant. I see only 2 but on line seems to be more then 2. I will keep an eye on my cruise weekly to see about upgrades and OBC being offered. Thanks again everybody

Specialty restaurants can vary by ship. Most have Crown Grill(or the Bayou Cafe variation) and Sabatini’s. Others also have Share, the Caribbean Princess now has Planks and Steamers. Just look at deck plans for your specific ship.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums