WAvoyager

We’ve had one cruise cancelled due to non-payment, one cruise cancelled for some unknown reason (system glitch per Princess), and one cruise with the offer benefits messed up. in all of those cases, Princess agents or managers were able to correct the issues. In some cases, it was a PITA to get things fixed. But in none of the cases was it ever a conspiracy theory worthy issue. my lessons learned: 1) ALWAYS keep a copy of the promo you’re booking. The promo code at least, and ideally a copy of the actual promo email or mail, with all of the info (not just the front cover 2) Princess’ systems suck. It impacts us cruisers, and it impacts Princess employees. No one is out to get you - sometimes they just don’t have the info available to help you 3) keep track of your cruise after you pay your deposit, a couple of months before your cruise, and immediately following your final payment date. If anything goes wrong, that’s when you can act, and get things fixed. we’ve been cruising on “free” casino cruises for the last 5 years, and besides system/process problems, always had great experiences.

There are definitely more differences. Tile is designed for use with either - there’s an app you have to install on your mobile device. Air tags were designed for use with Apple products - support is already built into existing apps, but you can’t use them on Android. things have changed over time (like batteries not being replaceable on Tile’s products) so I’m not sure that this is still accurate, but I use both, depending on what my primary needs are. Tile is great for finding things around the house - two way signaling, multiple formats for their devices, and other features make them really handy for keys and wallets around the house. Air Tags have a very robust location function, and are great for tracking things outside of the house - so for luggage, backpacks, and 5 year olds (your own of course!).

Didn’t see anyone mention it - if you use a Tile tag, they have a button on the tag. Pressing the button makes your phone ping. Attach a Tile to your keys - so if you can’t find your keys, use your phone. If you can’t find your phone, use your keys. If you can’t find either…. 😶

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that there is some value to not having to think about things when you’re on vacation. Pencil in your calculations and if the plus package value is anywhere near breakeven, I’d definitely recommend adding it. my wife and I don’t usually drink much. But on our last cruise my wife admitted that not having to think about how much the drinks were, she was really enjoying ordering drinks during the cruise! Just like staying at a resort which includes activities - it doesn’t matter if you use them or not - having the freedom to do something if it sounds like fun, with no other things to weigh, definitely can make the vacation much more fun.

On our June sailing there were no Stanley’s, only Stanley backpacks, and a windbreaker which folded into a Stanley pack. We were told it was a restocking unavailability issue. My daughter wanted one, so we went down to the gift shop only to discover the shops were closed (at 8:30 pm?). We stared into the main gift shop to see if we could see any Stanley’s, but only saw the aforementioned backpacks and jackets. We promised our daughter that we’d get one on the next cruise if we couldn’t find one the next day. upon returning to our cabin later that night, we received a nice note from the customer service desk, who we had talked to about some minor issue. And along with the note was a Stanley backpack! My wife talked to the desk agent the next day, and she said she was sorry about the problem we had had, and our daughter was so cute while we waited in line, she just wanted to give her something to remember the trip. Unusually serendipitous, but very much appreciated the gesture. My daughter filled her new backpack up with her treasures and wore the backpack when we disembarked.

When we sailed in June, we never really noticed the vibration until we went back to the Kids Club, or when we were at Sabatini’s. Dinner at Sabatini’s had me a bit worried about the structural integrity of the ship. Especially as we had dessert. 😀 IMG_3915.MOV

It’s more accurate to say “the best way is still in a shell…” Shells are reusable, and most of the time the shell did not belong to the snail that’s being served. 😁 I grew up eating Escargot Bourguignon, and something always seems missing in Princess’s dish. It’s still yummy, but something’s missing.

I’m wondering if it’s still a tea bar though. Princess has been removing all of the Aisa region specific element of the Majestic.

I wish they would have sailings further out. Every time we get the offer the only options are for 2-4 months out, and we’ve already booked our trips in that timeframe. Hopefully one day we’ll get to get the special treatment! 😁

Not necessarily anything wrong. I believe they are just queuing everything up - so anything for sailings more than two weeks away isn’t looked at, so they can work on other things. It won’t hurt to resend the request, but they’ve added my credits to my 2 recent cruises without reminders. Could also be that they get tired of entering credits early, then having the credits and/or reservations wiped out by their funky reservation system, and then having to enter them all over again.

We’ve received recent offers with Princess Plus included. Only on two out of the five recent offers though, so maybe they’re cutting back. At least they have the kinks worked out. First time we got an offer with it included, we had to jump through hoops to convince the casino rep that we should not have to pay for Plus for the third person in the room…. Since she was only 5 years old, and unlikely to consume 15 alcoholic drinks a day, we wouldnt allow her to drink coffe or sodas, and she did not have her own device to connect to wi-fi. The second cruise with the offer they automatically applied a “specialty and soft drink” package instead of the full drink package. And the latest one, they dropped the Plus requirement for the third passenger. Progress appears to be slow but steady with Princess.

My concern is that the one cruise your 8 year old has been on was on the Bliss, which is loaded with fun “special” activities (stuff he can’t do without leaving the house). The Regal does not have anywhere near the level of experiences for kids that age, so I would prepare for a bit of a letdown. Offsetting that is that the itinerary is much more port intensive, so he probably won’t be as impacted as if he had to spend more days at sea. Our daughter has only cruised on Princess, and I’d like to book a trip on a more “loaded” ship, but I’m also fearing it a bit. She had a great time on the cruises, but she doesn’t have any expectations of amenities which aren’t there. No matter how much fun Universal Studios is, if the kids are expecting to see Mickey, there’s bound to be a bit of a letdown. (We have the opposite problem now … damn Minions!) Just be prepared for the “where’s the arcade?” Or “where’s the go kart track?” questions, and you’ll be fine.

Princess has an excursion which includes a stop at the Rio Bendito Fiesta. Half of the excursion (mining museum) doesn’t sound like any fun for my family (and is poorly reviewed on Princess’s site). But the visit to the Rio Bendito Fiesta sounds great. I’ve been trying to find any information on this portion of the excursion, to see if I could arrange to just visit that, but there’s little to no info that I can find. It seems to be the same location as the “Rio Bendito Tequila” distillery, but that’s just based on pics I’ve seen. wondering if anyone is familiar with this location? It’s interesting for us because they indicate it’s a visit to a more local county fair type activity - with games, food, and tequila tastings. I’m hoping there’s enough to make it fun for our 5yo, in addition to mom and dad. 🙂