caribill

It will cost us $330 at the discounted rate to replace the free minutes we used to get for a 33 day cruise. $330 is not small change.

Yes, "just in case" basis is in effect. a) Someone in a full category may need to cancel b) Someone in a full category may win a bid to a higher category.

Just as with Travel gents, some PVPs are better than others. The PVP you have is not the only person at Princess that can help you book a cruise or work with you if there are questions of problems. If you know or learn that your PVP is not in the office, speak with another PVP or Princessagent at the 800 number. If your PVP is in the office and does not respond in a timely manner, ask to be assigned a different PVP. What can you expect from a PVP? Good and timely communication. If you do not have that, ask for a different PVP. If you have time sensitive questions about sales and bookings, speak with someone else at Princess if you cannot make contact with your PVP. And if the alternate agent cannot properly answer your questions, just call back and a different agent will likely answer.

Cabins may be sold out, but space for a 3rd or 4th person in a cabin that can have a 3rd or 4th person may still be available to a cabin that has been booked.

The LBD used: a) to have a crisp bottom wafer, not a soft piece of cake b) to have a thick, rich chocolate, not chocolate pudding c) to have a Godiva chocolate on top with the Sea Witch logo

Princess needs a new Internet at sea provider.

I thought with a blank post you might be following the addage "if you can't say something nice, say nothing at all."

Is that result (90 Mbps) from a Princess ship? If so, it is faster on a ship than with my home Internet which has a very good response time with that test showing 72Mbps. Although a different test http://www.speedtest.net/ had the following results:

Yes. Request it (customer service desk) the day before if Princess has it to avoid delay once you are in the port.

In my experience, it has been USA ports in the Caribbean where a photo ID was required to enter the terminal area when returning to the ship.

Tipping to the extreme in the USA https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/tipflation-taking-over-holiday-shopping-155343429635 Tipping culture in the USA https://www.nbc.com/today/video/has-tipping-reached-a-tipping-point-whom-to-tip-and-whom-to-skip/NBCN838981937

Those who had booked that 500th day before a certain date (unknown is what that certain date is) still get the celebration. If you booked the 500th day after that date, no celebration. A couple who has reached 500 days on Princess has no doubt spent more than $100,000 cruising with Princess, possibly over $200,000. The celebration included stuff that cost Princess nothing (example: breakfast where the suite occupants eat breakfast) or less than $100 (example: flowers in the cabin).

And barrel chairs

And then if they dial it for you, their cabin number shows on the display on your phone if it has such a display.

Just like a Medallion, a cruise card has the passenger name on it and it is not hard to find out what cabin number that passenger is in.

I think Idubs is saying if you daily hand $10 cash to three different people who provide service to you (a total of $30/day), you are actually paying much more than the normal $14.50/day.

Since the alcohol package by itself costs more than the Plus package, nobody who hates tipping is going to spend more money to avoid tipping with the Plus package.

The 75% of passengers that Princess expects to book the Plus or Premier rates do not have option 1 or option 2 available to them.

Not that hard at all. The passenger's name is on the Medallion. It is not difficult to learn what cabin that passenger is in.

That's why lessening of incentives cause the change from "I want to take a cruise, so let's see where Princess is going" to "I want to cruise in this area of the world, let's see which cruise lines go there."

You might be surprised how the newer HAL ships do not have the same "older people" vibe that their older ships had. Evening entertainment is in more venues than Princess and continues later than it does on Princess.

Princess has also done its best to be like the competition instead of being better than the competition in other ways, and these changes were before the pandemic shutdown. Examples: o Princess shore excursions previously could be booked pre-cruise, but paid for at the end of the cruise. Princess has changed to require pre-payment just like the competition. o Princess has changed their final payment times to be like the competition. Previously the final payment dates were closer to sailing than the competition. o Princess used to allow a booking to be moved to a TA anytime before final payment. Princess changed this to a limited number of days after booking was made, just like the competition. o Princess used to almost always have cabins ready for passengers when embarkation started. Princess has changed this to mostly not have cabins available for an hour or two after embarkation starts, just like the competition.

True. But when the grass is just as green and the itineraries are similar, then cost (which includes various benefits) can become the determining factor. Many posts in the past comparing Princess with RCI, HAL, and Celebrity basically say they are about equivalent in the experience. Some things are better than others on each line, but overall they are not that different. So as Princess builds larger and larger ships that are limited in what ports they can go to, itineraries are about the same as the competition. So if booking a 7 day cruise that goes from south Florida to St. Thomas, St.Maarten and a private island (and Princess definitely does not have the best private island), why shouldn't cost (including various benefits) be a deciding factor? Same can be said for Alaska itineraries and Mediterranean itineraries.

Reason for plural: a) Loss of loyalty OBC after 20 cruises b) Loss of extra benefits on 50th cruise, 75th cruise, etc. These were benefits for those really loyal to Princess.

Great service from the staff is not a loyalty benefit. It apples all passengers and, yes, it is a great part of why Princess is still a cruise line of choice for many.