Princessfan20

Well said. People need to worry about how they do their business on a cruise ship and stay out of other people's business on a cruise ship.

You certainly are a brave sole to be so honest. Nobody really knows how much people tip or where it really goes. There have been so many stories recently in the US how people think the tipping culture is out of hand and they are tired of it. Princess changed the way they encourage people to tip from you decide to we will decide for you. I do not see people on cruise ships working any harder than people in other service industries like Las Vegas Casinos, airlines or Disneyland entertainment parks, etc. They are just doing a job they signed up for and nobody shanghaied them to work on a ship.

Our experience is nothing major happens on formal nights. It is almost a non-occasion and really just one big photo shoot for the Princess photo department to make some money. Maybe a champagne waterfall (for photos again to be bought) but no gala balls, dances or really big changes to the menu.

I really think it is the other way around if you read the posts. It doesn't matter anyway because no one really knows what is happening and people still have a choice which is a fantastic idea in a free world.

We just received this from the casino department affiliated with Princess on an upcoming cruise in regard to an offer: Casino offers are sent solely at our discretion based on criteria that we do not disclose. We cannot disclose the criteria used for this offer. With regards to your offer, this is the best offer currently available based on your play. Again, these offers are based on the best possible offer we can make at a specific time. I can also confirm that the criteria has been thoroughly reviewed, and the offer that was made to you is the best offer you qualify for at this time. If you are not happy with this offer please know our casino promotions will be refreshed regularly to ensure we always give you a great reason to rebook a Princess cruise. We have had friends and family who have lost thousands of dollars in Princess' casinos and the lost was way more than the offers they were given. Casinos really only want to com players who have the potential for significant losses which benefit the casinos. As they say in Las Vegas, if you are being comped in general you are losing. Nothing is free in a casino!!

We would be gone too.....we have traveled so much that there is very little a TA can do for us that we cannot do ourselves....it is not rocket science planning trips and TA's are really dinosaurs and very few travel agency really exist today like they did in the past. The other issue is that if something goes wrong with a trip that a TA had planned the airlines, hotels, and cruise lines will want you to deal with the TA and not them. Have fun with that if you are somewhere far away from home.

We like everything about the Regal and Royal class ships and find the Grand Class to be outdated and boring. Two things we really like are the larger Piazza on Royal Class ships and also the gyms because you can work out at anytime but on the Grand class ships they open the gyms usually at 7:00 AM and they are poorly designed.

Agree. It is just a waste of time to try and discuss the simplest issue with the call workers in the Phillippines. It has to be costing Princess a lot of customer goodwill and business. I know we are thinking of changing cruise line just because of this one issue alone. It is painful to talk to that call center.

Age has very little bearing on whether a person is a good swimmer or snorkler. They need to add a lot more restrictions then for "safety reasons" instead of an arbitrary number...ie, must be able to swim, get in and out of water without assistance, demonstrate proficiency in using mask, snorkle and fins, no serious health issues, etc.

I would go with a private outfit too. Probably will be more personal tour experience, less costs and more adventure and fun. At least that has always been our experience. Being from Hawaii it is hard to imagine there being an age restriction on who can swim and snorkel in the ocean. What a ridiculous rule. Do not worry about the naysayers who will say "if you do not get back to the boat on time they will leave you." Private tour operators know how Princess operates too on return times.

We have found the Princess entertainment over the years to have become anything but entertaining that we usually do not even go and attend anymore. It seems that entertainers on cruise ship are not really destined for the big time.

Our last few times eating at the Crown Grill on several different Princess ships has been nothing short of underwhelming.

On one of our Alaskan cruises we saw overalls worn on a Formal night with no hassels at all.

They will be just fine! Princess is changing with the times and for the better.

This was our experience too at the last two weattende. Maybe we got bad tables but there was a couple each time that just went on and on about what Princess does or is doing wrong and nothing positive. Felt sorry for the officers both times.

One theory as for the increase in peanut allergies is: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, doctors changed their approach regarding food allergies. They mistakenly thought that delaying the feeding of peanut for several years was the best approach to preventing peanut allergies. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a (now-outdated) recommendation in 2000, which directed parents to avoid feeding baby peanuts until they reached the age of three, especially if a baby was at high risk for a peanut allergy. Today, doctors know that this approach to delay peanut introduction actually increases food allergy risk, and that delayed introduction was a major factor that led to the sharp increase in peanut allergies. Thanks to landmark clinical studies, doctors now know that the opposite approach, feeding baby peanut early and often, before they turn one is the best way to prevent peanut allergies.

More like over a 1,000 times....and still there is no clear answer.

Exactly. Princess needs to take in consideration the 70% of the world population that do not use toilet paper and offer bathrooms with built in bidets too.

I was wondering how much is pent up travel demands and how much is due to Princess's new cabin management program where they have a bidding system and are maybe holding cabins back so they do not have to reduce their price. . It seems to me there are other things going because cruises that use to be hard to hard to fill seem to be full very soon after they go on sale.

Same here. We were like....what is all the fuss about....deal with it.

We had a similar problem once and went through to the chain of command because there was a banging noise in our room and it could not be located when the ship was moving. To our embarrassment, we had discovered that someone had left a bottle of wine in a little cabinet in the suite prior to us and when the shipped moved it rolled a little and made the unusual noise hitting the wall inside. Everyone who checked our room only did it when the ship was docked so there was no noise and it was funny in the end when it was finally figured out. However, up until that time it was annoying to say the least.

Sounds like some passengers maybe feeling left out/less then because they are not getting the same level of care, recognition and services in Suites as those passengers in Suites on the Royal Class and Sphere Class ships?

This is true and all good gamblers know this aspect of the game. The fact is that the effect of other players at the table is random, as likely to help as hurt, whether the players are good or bad. The only sense in which other players at the table affect a good player is they make the count fluctuate faster. Others’ play at times can be frustrating, but the math proves that in the long run, the decisions of other players at the table has no effect on the expected result for a basic strategy player. You lose when you lose and win when you win and it is basically a lot of luck and no one else's fault.

Is there a charge for this now, calling room service, if you are on Standard fare and not a package?

Great idea. We use to always buy the Princess bouquet on board for $39.00 but we see it is now selling for $99.00 under the new regime.