PescadoAmarillo

I don’t think most here have been emotional. People are just stating facts. There’s been only one emotional post that I can see that encourages people to shut up. It seems the emotion is running high on the part of those who feel their BFF, Princess Cruises, is being attacked by stating facts about the actions that the company has taken. When a person can’t state that they’ll likely cruise less because cruises will cost more without others getting defensive and attacking, THAT’s emotional.

Try harder.

That is often said, and certainly Princess’s actions seem to back that up. But I think that both high spending, one or two cruises a year people and lower spending but faithful passengers are valuable. When we used to cruise for 4 or 5 months each year, it took no effort on Princess's part to market to us. They posted schedules, we booked, and had thousands of dollars on deposit with them at all times. We never got last minute flash deals; in fact we were willing to pay more to lock in cabins for months at a time, cabins that didn’t need to be resold time and time again. The only thing s we really didn’t spend money on were photos and the spa. Excursions were booked depending on the itinerary (in Asia, in every port). If Princess can fill every cabin with first time, big spending cruisers, more power to them. But that is not the reality of their situation right now. Someone needs to fill those ships 24/7/365, not just during school breaks and holidays. I thought a business relationship was a transactional one, not an emotional one.

Pack ear plugs. I never travel without them. One time we had an inside cabin just below (next to, really) the pool. Every night at 3am the barracuda started running and made an awful noise.

Not sure why that matters, but, on most cruises, 3 to 10 cabins have more days. Quite often 3. 😉 @Coral, you’re right. For cruises of less than 5 nights, there was not (even pre-COVID) an MTG event. The top ten cabins received one specialty dinner. Cabins 11 to 40 received nothing. And, @Ombud, speaking about the Princess vibe, I agree. There is much to enjoy there. I’ve always felt the ships were very well maintained regardless of age, and found the entertainment quite good. I love the Princess crews. But when I think of the Princess vibe, I realistically recall the long lines outside the dining room for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The inadequate theater seating. The Medallion app that has been broken for nearly 18 months. The fiasco that is DMW. The crowded elevators. No, if I didn’t have a travel budget, Princess would not be my first choice. But, as I said, I do. So it’s always a strong contender. I accept that many people have a different reality. Please accept that this is mine.

There is a big difference between not being able to cruise, and purposefully choosing to cruise less because of rising prices. Perhaps you don’t have a budget for travel, but I do. If I didn’t, I might be cruising on a line other than Princess.

I don’t think that’s true. And though not many may be quitting, I know of several who have reduced their cruises. People know better than to come on this board and announce that they’re quitting Princess. More telling, I think, are the number of people who are just quietly cutting back. The loyalty OBC used to add up to over $1000 a year for us. I don’t think that’s as trivial as some are making it out to be. Our travel budget is set, and between higher air fares, cruise fares (admittedly due in part to Princess Plus) and fewer OBCs, something has to give.

Yes, we avoid that area. Not only are there the shows, but there are the practices for the shows. On the bright side, if it’s a guest performer, you can kinda tell from the practice if you’ll enjoy the show.

I’ve used this for years. On cold weather cruises, I have something similar that is made of a tapestry print. It’s about 5 by 7 and holds sunglasses and lip sunscreen and ear buds too.

it’s definitely the busiest travel season of the year, more so than Christmas.

I thought it was Monday, November 28. I HOPE it is. I spent two hours this morning figuring out the best cabin selection for 16 B2B cruises. I’m willing to put $32 on deposit with Princess, but not $3200.

I call it the Vista-less lounge, because it is. I love the PES lounge when it’s in Skywalkers.

It’s because the Emerald just arrived back in the US for the first time since spending the summer in Europe. It’s standard practice, even pre-COVID, and it does generally delay boarding.

Honestly, we had never previously ordered room service via TV, and I don’t even have the TV on in the cabin if my DH is not there. Again, written instructions that don’t assume prior knowledge would be helpful. There are always people who are not familiar with what we might believe is commonly known, especially when it comes to technology.

Especially after over 15 months of experience, they certainly should do better. Princess should have made this capability known, in writing.

Thank you so much. That’s nice to hear. I was up late last night re-reading my blog from the year we went to Easter Island. Great memories! We are doing land trips, and I *might* actually fly in February to visit several friends in Arizona.

That was our decision and I never regretted it. It was nice to be able to send things from our cabin to DH in quarantine. But the biggest reason was that, from the time he tested positive, his only concern was for me. In fact, he was so crazy with worry about me that I hoped that, if I tested positive, there would be a second quarantine cabin available for me. He would have kept me up all night making sure I was ok. The hardest part was talking to each other using that darned wired cabin phone. The internet wasn’t good enough to phone each other over WiFi on our cell phones, and the cabin phone required us to each be sitting at the desk/vanity.

This took me a minute to figure out. I kept thinking biscuits? Sausage gravy? 😆 Any patience I had for almost three years for dealing with those who mocked my mask wearing is long gone. I’m afraid I would suggest anyone commenting kiss something far less pleasant than southern oatmeal. It’s best I just don’t cruise I guess, or I would find myself in trouble.

I hope those volumes read that the relationship is a long and happy one based on mutual respect and trust. 🙂 He was in the military for 27 years; my corporate career moved me all around the country. We learned how to enjoy ourselves while apart or we would have been pretty joyless for decades. He is far more social than I am and either sees old friends or meets new ones on every cruise. The funny thing is that wives have been traveling alone or with girlfriends (as I did, all over the world) for years and no one thought a thing about it. But it seems men traveling without their wives face more scrutiny. Hopefully that’s changing.

He has a Caribe Deck balcony next cruise. He will likely spend more time there, but he always goes to the CC parties and MTG luncheon if you’ll be at either of those.

@Coralthanks for fighting the internet to upload all those wonderful photos. The prime rib in that one pic looked amazing. Hope it tasted just as good. Stay healthy!

My husband is currently on the Ruby Princess. He took every test kit we had with him, and I ordered more. He’s been testing every few days, and is extending his trip, so he’ll buy more on turnaround day. He was supposed to have dinner in the Crown Grill on the last night of his first cruise with someone he’d met on board. That person contacted him that morning to tell him he had developed a sore throat but didn’t think it was serious. What should he do about dinner? DH offered him a test kit. That person tested and was positive. He had Crown Grill in his cabin that night. Thankfully, DH remains well. So do I, which is a good thing, since he also took our digital thermometer, BP cuff, and every cold and flu OTC med we had on hand.

There is nothing stopping us. When I think of how many really hard things some people do in life every day, this is nothing in comparison.

We get eight free home test kits for free each month through our health insurance. We’re don’t use that many but we certainly use 10 to 12 monthly for both of us. I don’t view it as a punitive thing, but an etiquette thing. Tomorrow I’m going to an art exhibit and out to lunch with friends. I’ll be testing tonight, even with no symptoms. I don’t want to spread the virus.

Take your own from home. At least that way you know for certain that you’re not positive and don’t have to feel guilty about continuing to be out and about on the ship. Right?