Torfamm

Breakfast is included for everyone on the ship so there’s no doubt that they must have misunderstood your question.

There will be specific nights designated as formal nights. How many depends on the length of the cruise. Formal wear is requested, but definitely not required. Formal nights are never on the first or last night and most often on sea days. You can see which nights are scheduled as formal nights in the ship’s schedule under “Journey” in the app. Every evening will show either “casual” or “formal” portraits. I’ve seen it populate as much as a couple of months before a cruise.

The train is, in my opinion, more comfortable and gives you the opportunity to move around etc. The road excursion makes photo stops. There are tours that use the train in one direction and the road in the other. This one is very, very popular https://chilkootcharters.com/bennett-scenic-journey/

1 point for every $2.50 played

This might help as far as size for bags on the train. https://www.princesslodges.com/alaska-rail-tours/faq/

I’ve never seen a child that age turned away but it wouldn’t hurt to be sure he packs a pair of pants.

I would agree with you. It appears we’re both wrong though. I think it’s generational as well as about need and opportunity. In my age group, some own tuxedos but almost all own a dark suit. That number gets fewer as you look at those in their 50’s, 40’s, 30’s and finally 20’s. Relatively few 20 something’s wear suits to work and don’t need them, while a lot of 70 and 60 something’s were accustomed to it. Of course, many of them burned their ties at retirement the way women used to burn their bras.

It is live. Look in the Pre-Cruise FAQ’s. It’s a moot point though. Once cruise lines stopped offering opportunities for men to rent formal wear, they closed the door on dress codes for formal night.

I think a lot depends on weather and activities. Some itineraries see everything from 90 degrees to 30 degrees with snow falling, and include a need to pack scuba gear, hiking boots, warm jackets, etc. The Caribbean is pretty easy but Asia, Alaska, Australia and New Zealand have been packing challenges for us. The next one is calculating how many diapers need to fit in a suitcase when we head off with the kids and our littlest family member on our next cruise!

It’s difficult to guess without knowing exactly what you plan to do and where you plan to go. Martinique is the one port where I’d recommend Euros, most others will accept US dollars easily. Are you planning to book tours or take taxis from the port? Those things might require cash. Any pre-arranged tours or excursions will either be pre-paid or give exact instructions about payment. Most restaurants and shops accept credit cards, but street vendors may require cash.. You will also need to use cash if you want to offer any extra gratuities onboard.

That is what Princess requests in the What to Pack section of this page. Many are unable or unwilling to comply though. Reports show that fewer than half of American men own a suit of any kind, much less a tuxedo. https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise

I agree for the most part. I only feel a need to tip if a guide has gone out of their way to do something above and beyond normal expectations. Getting local currency for all of those countries isn’t at all necessary.

What is different is the option to book ahead for individual nights.

To each his own. I prefer Princess’ more unobstructed deck spaces, longer itineraries, large closets, self serve laundry, and affordable drinks, gratuity and internet packages. We go back and forth between Celebrity and Princess but have never found a fit with Royal Caribbean

How many will comply with the requested dress code varies. I’ve seen it vary from well more than half on some sailings from Southampton to literally almost none on sailings from San Pedro.to Mexico. As long as you meet the minimum standard for smart casual evenings you will be fine anywhere on the ship

12:50 is definitely fine.

What was their citizenship? Were they all adults? Princess is very clear about document requirements. It’s sad, but true, that many people just don’t take the time to read them.

Are you asking if it’s available to use ahead of time or if you’ll be able to see it? It definitely shows that you have it on your travel summary, but I’ve never tried to buy OBC to make pre-cruise purchases. I just pay for those directly with a credit card. I’m 100% sure if you have to wait to use pre-purchased OBC the way you do on Celebrity but I don’t believe so. Most refundable OBC on Princess can be used before sailing.

That makes sense to me. I wonder how this pool is affected by cruises out of Australia and New Zealand where gratuities are included in the fares?

The crew appreciation fee has nothing to do with the 18% charge on drinks and other optional purchases like specialty dining that are not included in your cruise fare.

I've always found Take 5 to be less smoky than the piazza area

A quick search shows that tip pooling is legal in the UK. There is no guarantee the the individual who serves you is the one who keeps the amount you tip even if you tip in cash. Are you saying that you don't think the funds paid as crew appreciation are actually paid out to crew members as described in the policy or just objecting to the way the policy works?

This is probably true. What I'm hearing sounds more like an objection to the pooling of the amount paid as "crew appreciation" than to the total paid. Cruisers have always been asked to pay out a recommended amount for crew in addition to their cruise fare, at least on mass market cruise lines as far back as the early 80's when I first started cruising. In the past it was cash divided into several envelopes and handed to individual crew members. I'm not at all sure in thinking about it now that those funds weren't pooled. Everyone assumed that the person receiving the envelope kept the money in the envelope, but it's entirely possible that cruise lines may have been pooling those funds as well.

Just increasing cruise fare would eliminate these discussions and let the cruise line pay the money out however they like without upsetting guests who are bothered by it being called crew appreciation.

I couldn't agree more. The simplest thing would to just add $16 or $17 per day to cruise fares.