PescadoAmarillo

I don’t. Why don’t you tell us what you’re not telling us?

Those shifts in energy are always so interesting to witness. No two cruises are alike, even on the same ship. I’m still following with much interest. I hadn’t yet mentioned that I caught a wild hair (or is it hare?) just prior to your arrival in Auckland and nearly flew down to join the ship. I think Auckland was on a Friday, and I would have had to leave on Wednesday and actually applied for (and got) the NZETA overnight Monday, and made sure I had enough meds, and DH brought up my suitcase from the basement (I would have gone alone as we had already bought our annuals which needed to be tended to until planted) and I waited until Tuesday to pull the plug and book…and then I was up all Monday night worried about my suitcase not making it and trying to figure out how to pack for that long in a carry on since I’d have gone directly from the airport to the ship and…well, I obviously didn’t join you. But I’ve added a glass of wine to most of my days, and read your Live From and nearly felt like I had. And look at the money I saved (and SWA points. I just cancelled the flight I booked home from Seattle on Sunday). And that NZETA? It’s good for a year. Must get down there. Can’t let that $13.50 go to waste!

Stewards, waiters, cooks, bartenders, etc. are crew, not staff. Entertainment team (and others) are staff. And then there are officers. I don’t claim to know the details but have learned that there is a big difference onboard regarding the privileges and responsibilities of the various members of the ship’s company. They are acutely aware of those differences.

I’m not sure that logic stands. Starbucks in Safeway is selling their own products, not Signature Select ice cream. Princess is allowing (leasing?) space on their ships for O.N.E. to sell Princess cruises. Hard to get into agency law without seeing a contract (though we certainly have contractual experts on this forum!), but a strong argument can be made that O.N.E. are acting as agents for Princess.

@PastryPal, while I feel very badly that your parents got caught up in this, I appreciate you posting here to educate us all. Your parents are very fortunate to have you in their corner on this. I have long felt that there is a special place in hell for companies that take advantage of older people, though most of us don’t want to imagine we’d ever fall for a scam (or, I should say, become involved in a non-personally advantageous business relationship). For those people who think they don’t need WiFi on a cruise, having it could have stopped this in its tracks. I receive a notification the second something is charged to my credit card, even while on a ship, and the only time my card was hacked, I was notified about it while at a football game and had it all taken care of before end of the quarter.

Gosh, I couldn’t have seen that coming. 😆

I’m confused by this entire thing. Didn’t Princess make an announcement last year that their roll out pricing was going to be their best pricing, period, and that prices would only go up after that? Did I imagine that? Because we still see periodic promotions and certainly last minute sales just prior to sailing.

I can’t help but wonder how many great TAs there will be left selling Princess if they’re spending all their time getting avoidable issues resolved for their clients. I mean, once they start pushing minimum wage because of the pre- and post-cruise effort they’re putting in, there are plenty of other occupations to consider. The answer is not “let a TA handle it”. The answer is fix the darn problems.

Just those friendly black tip reef sharks. @LACruiser88, were you anchored in Cooks or Opunohu Bay to get to that lovely beach?

Yes, they always have at least one. Subsequent get togethers are usually spearheaded by the veterans themselves, particularly when the group just “clicks”. Photo: 102 year old WW2 veteran on a cruise last fall.

Pre-COVID, that would have meant a re-stock.

Was the cruise available from Sydney to Auckland only? In my experience, that has made a difference in the past. If it was, then a second minibar setup has been provided. If not, then no.

Gorgeous day in Papeete!

He was the BEST entertainer! We still talk about his horse, Chips.

The post has evolved into a discussion about dining times, and I have to admit that I was no fan of DMW from the time we first encountered it on the second post-start-up Majestic cruise to Alaska in 2021. When doing B2B cruises, it shouldn’t take a literal shake down cruise to get the seating we want on subsequent cruises, and it seemed that was too often the case. I have high hopes for the new dining system, and only wonder why it took Princess nearly three years to figure that out. On another note, I’m also not a fan of too-big, overcrowded ships going to overcrowded ports, but it seems that is what mainstream cruising has become. Sadly, recent reviews I’ve read about Oceania and Azamara, whuch I’ve always considered my fall back cruise options, haven’t been very positive. However, saying that, we are considering (and have booked) a long HAL cruise this year. At first glance, it offers exactly what I would like in a cruise: a small ship, remote and less visited ports. But getting into the details, I can’t help but compare it to Princess, and, interestingly, most of the Princess options that I would miss on HAL are relatively recent additions, part of the “new” Princess. All inclusive packages that include tips, high(er) speed WiFi, a dedicated vegan menu. Ocean Now delivery. We cruised for years on Princess without these features, but they sure spoiled me in a minute once we experienced them. It’s obvious there is no one perfect cruise line or cruise experience. Find that one that offers the least opportunities for dissatisfaction and roll with it.