Trixie21

Yes I'm aware thanks. My wife would take a couple of sodas each day and bottled water also . She likes her own WiFi also - factoring that in in top of what I will use myself we will more or less break even.

Yes , I've had a look at the new inclusions with plus, and what that means for standard. At a quick glance I would probably more or less break even with plus and the OBC I will use towards excursions. The ease of knowing everything is paid for in advance is a big plus for me also . How much is a photo taken by the onboard photographers? We usually get one for each cruise we do and recently they have been free as diamond level on Royal.

Thank you. Are both cans and fountain included in the plus package? Is there a daily drink limit with the plus package - not that I would get anywhere near it anyway , but I'm just curious .

I've more or less just said that in a reply above lol. Plus package it is and I will make use of as many aspects of it as possible (except the fitness classes lol🤣🤣🤣)

Thanks I've googled all these things and I suspected in a lot of cases the info was out of date . Best info in my experience is from these boards ! I do drink coffees - like 2 or 3 premium coffees per day and we would get through 2 or 3 bottles of water per day also. The plus package is costing £50 pppd on our cruise , so £1400 for the duration of the cruise. I can deduct the OBC from that , but I could also use that for excursions etc as we will book at least 1 or 2 through Princess themselves. I don't like not paying gratuities as the staff on cruise ships are so hard working and literally give the best service you will find anywhere.

We are from the UK and trying to work out if the plus package is of value to us. We are about to book a 2 week cruise on sky princess (will be our first time on princess). Maybe someone could answer the questions below to help us decide. We also have $300 OBC with the booking which I will factor in. 1 - How much would a 1 device wifi package cost for a 14 night cruise if booked separately? I'm assuming a 1 device package can be shared between 2 people by logging in and out of different devices ? Is there a price difference if booked in advance or booked onboard ? 2 - how much are current gratuities pp for a deluxe balcony? Are they optional (ie if we don't pay them in advance can we get them removed when we board ?) We normally do pay gratuities and extra tip as well but this is quite an expensive cruise and I have a budget to work to. 3 - how much is a soda onboard? And how much is a standard glass of wine / cocktail / baileys ? My wife does not drink alcohol and only has one or 2 sodas per day. She eats very little so no value to her in meal packages etc associated with plus package . Fitness classes / premium desserts no value to us either and we don't normally use room service and I can do very well without oceannow delivery (I have read the multiple posts about the new dining arrangements associated with standard/plus/Premier. Makes no difference to us as first timers on princess.

Just want to double check something We are ready to book a deluxe balcony on sky princess. Catherine picture of the cabin shows a separate seating area with a sofa , which the picture of the regular balcony does not. I just want to confirm that these pics are accurate. We would definitely want the separate seating area with the sofa on a 14 day cruise. Any particular cabins/decks you recommend or should avoid? We always book a deck which is between passenger decks to minimise any noise from public areas . Any noise on sky princess with cabins which are beside the lifts? The cruise comes with 300 dollars OBC. This would be our first Princess cruise. Is this OBC able to be spent on the cruise planner booking things like excursions etc in advance of the cruise , or must it be spent onboard?

We are considering booking this itinerary next year. Why was Bruges cancelled ?

Thanks @insidecabin. The pirce has indeed dropped by £200. Of course it went up by £200 a few days ago as I have been looking at the price each day 😂 NCL and Royal Caribbean must have the same pricing algorithm lol!

I actually have a latitudes account from about 10 years ago when we did our first cruise on Epic. Haven't logged into it for years- must have a look.

Just had a look and only one sailing for this year on Prima left now , in September. Do you have any idea when the pricing for this year's open jaw Prima sailings started to come down to around 2--£3000 ? I'm actually ok with around £3000-£4000 pounds including free at sea - seems reasonable, but £5500 seems a bit excessive.

Balcony cabin. If I were booking now for this year its half the price . But we can't go this year unfortunately.

So even in the UK I can get a one time price drop? Thats good to know. Obviously that would only be outside final payment date. I assume inside final payment there are no changes , or would they offer non refundable OBC? I've already seen them extend the date on the "sale" by a few days a couple of times since I've been checking prices. One of the cruises I have been looking at has actually gone up by £200.

I'm familiar with that type of "promotion" when booking with RCL - its just a matter of seeing a price you are happy to pay and pressing the button. Unfortunately in the UK we do not get price drops the i am aware of (unless NCL is different to RCL) - its a matter of cancelling , losing your deposit and rebooking , so just have to cross your fingers that you have booked at the right time.

What are the best sales from NCL? Currently in the UK its 35% off each guest and all 4 free at sea. There is an airfare credit as well but it doesn't seem to apply to the cruises we are looking at for 2024. Someone mentioned in another thread I started that they do 50% off sometimes- how often does that happen?

Thanks for sharing your experience on the Star. We cruise more for the destination than the ship now , but if the ports get cancelled then the shipmis the destination lol! We have not made a decision yet - i actually prefer the ports on the Prima cruise, whereas my wife prefers the Star itinerary . Some discussions to be had and I have some numbers to crunch as the Star itinerary would mean we would need to spend a couple of nights in Reykjavik to see around it , and nothing is cheap in Reykjavik.

Hi @www3traveler Tha ks - I'm already following it!! I've looked on the website and the ship looks to be in pretty good shape (public areas refurbished recently) - we have enjoyed the smaller , older royal Caribbean ships and find the service is often better than on the larger ships which have all the glitz and wow factor but can be a bit impersonal at times. The star looks like our type of ship! This cruise is more about the itinerary (Iceland and Greenland) than the ship - as long as its clean , the food is decent and there is some good music to listen to we will be happy- not hard to please!

We are considering booking the star for Iceland and Greenland next year. Can I ask what your general impressions of the ship were - cabins/public areas in good shape? We will be booking a balcony cabin.

Has anyone had a medical fridge delivered to their stateroom on Apex (or maybe they are standard throughout the fleet - but its Apex we are looking at a cruise on) I was curious about the rough internal dimensions if anyone can help? My travel agent is trying to get the information from the accessibility department in the UK but hasn't had a reply yet.

I have a strange question about the balcony cabins on the Celebrity apex and maybe someone who has been on the ship can answer it for me. How high roughly is the step from the cabin into the bathrooms? I ask because my wife has a minor mobility issue which wouldn't require an accessible cabin if this step wasn't too high. Some of the sailings we are interested next summer on Apex don't have any accessible balcony cabins left and anyway , I don't want to take one if we don't need it , when they are obviously in demand.

Just found this and following as promised lol!

I'll have to go back and check- i don't recall seeing mention of free at sea plus in the mock bookings I was doing but will look at it - my wife drinks water and coffee also and we would likely book NCL excursions on this trip - I also like a couple of baileys in the evening and I see its not included in free at sea so there is that. We would almost certainly have to upgrade the WiFi package and like one each if possible so factoring all in the plus package could work out - ill look at the math if its available .

Hi @YVRteacher I'll be avidly following your live review lol! We have been to Norway , Denmark and the Shetlands -all highly recommended , Norway especially.

OK thats great. Upgrading the WiFi package sounds suitable for us. Based on all this info the free at sea is a no brained, even if my wife doesn't drink and doesn't use the speciality dining. Thanks for all the help.

Thanks for your comments. Interesting to hear that Prima is purpose built for cold weather. I wondered why they would deploy her 2 seasons in a row to Northern Europe if she was unsuitable for that region. Weighing everything up we have decided to go with the Prima. Just have to get all our ducks in a row with various aspects of the trip before pressing the trigger. Incidentally the current price for the 2 of us for the 10 day Southampton to Reykjavik is £5500 including the free at sea. Dont know what is good and what isn't with NCL - any comments on that price ?