caribill

Is this a single segment for 14 days or is it a back-to-back of 7 days each?

Pre-pandemic, MIA was also part of this program.

Skywalkers is the preferred location. It is in the deck 7 aft lounge if there would be too many people eligible to attend for Skywalkers to hold.

Majority rules: It does not matter what the correct answer it. The accepted answer is the one the majority of answers say it is. For example: Who was the first President of the United States? If 15 answers are George Washington and 16 answers are Teddy Roosevelt, then the winning answer is Teddy Roosevelt and teams with that answer get the point.

I somehow suspect that some of the flight arrangements made months ago are not late enough to allow the Pan Pacific Hotel testing. Also, I question waiting for shoreside staff to answer such questions as: a) What do I do with my luggage? Can I leave it at the cruise terminal while I go to the hotel to be tested or do I have to bring it with me? b) I have booked a Princess transfer to the airport. Will this now depart from the hotel after test results are in?

I do not know what factors NCL used in making that determination. For Princess (and sister companies that use the same ship designs) and RCI, the larger ships do cost less to build per ALB (available lower berth) and also cost less to operate per ALB. So from a cost viewpoint, larger is always better. However, the behemoths being built are much more limited as to what ports can handle them so what used to be unique and exciting itineraries cannot be offered with these larger ships. So instead the main itineraries for them are to overcrowded Alaska ports, over crowded Caribbean ports, and crowded European ports. You will not see the ships that have 4000+ passengers able to go up the Amazon River or be welcome at ports with insufficient tourist structure such as the Falkland Islands or Bora Bora or Greenland.

At the end of the cruise, these multiple accounts are combined into one. However, I am not sure there is then any retroactive changing what was charged to refundable OBC to any remaining non-refundable OBC on the other account when the accounts are combined. Certainly if one account had no OBC remaining of any kind and the other did have OBC remaining, the balance of that account with no OBC remaining would be applied to the remaining OBC of the other account with non-refundable being used first. However, during the cruise I see no reason you could not go to the Passenger Services desk and request that the charges for anything you want (except gratuities) be moved to the account with unused non-refundable OBC.

Some history: o Originally the request for the Stockholder's OBC had to be submitted no longer than 90 days before the cruise. This was, of course, to be sure that the shares were owned at least this close to the cruise. o Back then, excursions could be booked before the cruise, but payment was made with the on board account during the cruise. o Many people liked to use this OBC towards shore excursions and this worked well. o Then Princess decided to be more like the competition and if you prebook shore excursions, they must be paid for immediately. Any posted OBC can be used towards the cost. o But since many shore excursions are fully booked before the 90-days pre-cruise that stockholder OBC could be posted, nobody could use that OBC towards shore excursions if the excursions were booked before that 90 days. o Many passengers complained that this favorite use of OBC was no longer possible before that 90-day pre-cruise period. So in a move that made many Princess passengers happy, Princess started to allow stockholder OBC to be posted (with proof of ownership) anytime after a booking was made. This was even before 90 day day previous limit. This was even if the cruise was later than the date the CCL Corp Board of Directors had authorized this benefit. (After all, the OBC could be removed if the benefit was not extended.) o This does require trust that the customer who submitted proof of stock ownership really would still own it by the time the cruise occurred. Because, I suspect, the great majority of those eligible for the benefit cruise often enough that they do not just buy the stock, get the benefit, and then immediately sell the stock.

But Princess sells the packages by price levels, not with a list of brands. So the only way from a brand to migrate to the Premier package is to increase the price.

The comparison chart earlier in this thread said there are over 60 additional alcohol beverages available with the new package than available now with the original package. Since there were very few beverages over $12 with the original package, either Princess is adding a large number of new liquors, wines, beers and cocktails on board or they are raising prices. Which do you think is more likely?

And once again something that made Princess different (and better) than other cruise lines is eliminated. There have been many posts on Cruise Critic in the past about how people appreciated the simplicity of the Princess beverage package. One price. Only a few high end alcohol beverages not included. Some other cruise lines do not include the gratuity in their beverage package and the passenger is charged 18% of the list price for every beverage consumed. So far Princess has resisted being like those cruise lines.

Interesting changes in that paragraph: "Bar" -- they are supposed to have their own tipping pool from the 18% service charge added to all beverage orders and the Beverage Package. "Onboard Revenue Areas" - Does this mean those working in the Boutiques, photo department, flower department, casino, Sanctuary, etc. are now included? When was the last time anyone gave a gratuity to someone in the jewelry shop on board? Originally the pool only included cabin stewards and food service personnel. With the addition of then other employees to the pool, the amount of money to be distributed to cabin stewards and food personnel appears to be reduced.

You are not the first person to be surprised by this. However there are multiple notices about this. First off is the Passage Contract which you agreed to online before doing any personalization for the cruise, either via a web page or via the App. : “Crew Incentive” and “Service Charges”: A Crew Incentive will be automatically added to Your onboard account for Your convenience, to recognize the efforts of a wide variety of crew members in various departments who interact directly with Guests and/or behind the scenes throughout every cruise, including those in the Dining, Entertainment, Guest Services, and Galley areas. The amount of the Crew Incentive is based on Your stateroom category. The Crew Incentive is subject to adjustment at Your discretion, except as otherwise provided in the Crew Incentive and Service Charge Policy. There are many other important pieces of information in that contract, but few people actually read it. Second is within the Personalizer where there is a link titled Important Information: CREW APPRECIATION PAYMENT INFORMATION To simplify the tipping process for our guests, a discretionary crew appreciation payment of USD 16.50 per guest for suites, USD 15.50 per guest for mini-suites, and USD 14.50 per guest for interior, oceanview, and balcony staterooms, per day (including children) will be automatically added to your shipboard account. This crew appreciation payment will be shared amongst those staff that help provide and support your cruise experience, including those in the Bar, Dining, Entertainment, Housekeeping, Guest Services, Galley and Onboard Revenue areas. For your convenience, crew appreciation can be pre-paid before you sail by calling us or logging in to your Cruise Personalizer online at http://www.princess.com/cruisepersonalizer. Pre-paid crew appreciation may be added up to two days prior to your embarkation. You have complete discretion to adjust crew appreciation payment while onboard, but crew appreciation may only be adjusted prior to disembarking the ship. If included as part of a promotion or package, it cannot be adjusted or refunded. Third is also within the Personalizer where under "Payments & Credits" there is the opportunity to pay the Crew Appreciation in advance: Crew Appreciation Pre-Payment During your cruise, regardless of which Princess ship you chose, you will meet staff who provide you with excellent service. To simplify the tipping process for our guests, a discretionary crew appreciation is applied automatically to your shipboard account on a daily basis. This crew appreciation will be shared amongst those staff who help provide and support your cruise experience, including all waitstaff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, and housekeeping staff across the fleet. There may be other places where this information is presented, but these were the first three I found.

On the recent Carnival Corp stock analysts conference call, it was stated that on board revenues are up significantly due in great part to existing pre-purchased packages. So items such as the Plus package pricing was already generating more income per passenger than ever before. In the current economy, Princess is just trying to generate even more of what already is higher income.

In the past digital downloads of photos have been relatively low resolution. The announcement does not say these now will be high resolution downloads.

Be sure to take a screen shot of that wording. Show it on board if they deny you the Premier Beverage Package features.

From the announcement: For a one-time entry fee per stateroom of $20 per day, when purchased separately, every time an adult guest accesses their stateroom with their Medallion*, they will have the chance to win grand prizes that include $100,000 in cash and a cruise for two every year for the next decade, along with prizes won on every voyage that range from a cruise for two in a balcony stateroom, onboard cruise credits from $25 up to $250, wine tastings, and chef's table dinners. Guests can also win entries for an end-of-cruise drawing in which someone will win at least $5,000 every voyage. (To me "one-time entry fee" and "per day" contradict each other unless Princess means they will charge you only $20 once a day for this fantastic opportunity.) I wonder how many people will now spend many of their waking hours just unlocking their door with the Medallion over and over to get as many entries as possible.

The 15 per day limit is booze only. lattes, fountain sodas and 1/2 liter waters are unlimited.

Remember that alcohol drinks on land are expensive because of the Federal and State taxes that muist be paid on each and every bottle and can. But Princess (and other cruise lines) do not have to pay those taxes. If an onboard alcohol drink increases in price by $3, I guarantee that one drink increase covered any increased cost of an entire bottle.

Definitely. Previously all but a handfull of spirits and wines cost more than $12. The chart in your post now says there are at least 25 spirits and at least 15 wines plus the 20+ high end cocktails that will not be included in the Plus package. Definitely a bait and switch for all those who purchased Plus package and expected almost all alcohol beverages to be included.

What applies to Europe in the following paragraph should also apply to cruise ships. Don’t Overtip The widespread tipping culture of the United States hasn’t yet got much of a foothold in Europe. While adding 10% onto your bill will be appreciated, there’s no need to go wild. Each country’s slightly different, so do your homework and find out what the norm is. Rounding up a taxi fare and sticking with the service charge that’s already on your bill in a restaurant – that’s likely to be enough. source of this paragraph: https://www.thediscoverer.com/blog/5-mistakes-to-avoid-on-your-first-trip-to-europe/XvHyVpKgiwAG5amU?utm

There have been posts on other threads that this has changed. Whether you pay the "crew appreciation" or not, the cash you give to servers and cabin attendants may be kept by them. Only a guess on my part, but I suspect the reason for this change is that so many people have the Plus package that includes the "crew appreciation" which cannot be reduced or removed it was not worth the effort to check every cash tip anymore.

Interesting it did not say July 31 of what year. I have successfully applied for and had added to my cruise for this December the stockholder OBC. Lucky for me Lucy James was not involved in processing my request.

I have used the web version to check-in for a cruise this December. It worked 100% correctly for the options that it has that used to be available on the web site such as passport info, credit card info, etc. It also has new working options such as uploading a photo you want to be displayed to represent you. But one option it does not have yet is DMW.

I have no problem with using option 1 if the App would work on any of our 5 digital devices, but it does not. As for option number 2, I would select that if Princess was paying me the $99 for all the pre-cruise hassle of not being able to use the App.