TheMichael

That’s when the cruise lines dropped prices further and cranked up their advertising. They’re specifically targeting people who only begrudgingly dress up for their own family’s weddings.

The thing is, most of these things have changed because the cost is cheaper. If you’ve been holding prices down for multiple decades while paying staff commensurate with inflation and continuing to build multi-billion-dollar ships, savings have got to be made up somewhere.

Keurigs make the coffee equivalent of American light beer. Take the average hotel-room pod brewer and make the coffee a touch weaker, and you've got it. (Wet 'n' Wild is a chain of waterslide parks. Kids love them, but they don't compare to a multimillion-dollar recreation of Harry Potter's world or a ride through life-size animatronic dinosaurs.)

They're looking for Compensation with a capital C.

I loved when they felt moved to take their grievances to the Today Show (quite literally "we know they have rules but they shouldn't have applied to us"), and Al Roker basically spoke for all (well, most) of us in putting their gripes into perspective. People seem to have an expectation that a cruise vacation will take care of them like Mommy even when they're off the ship. The fact is, any responsibility the cruise line might have had to do whatever it takes for your personal well-being certainly stops when you venture out from the ship into a foreign (or even foreign-ish) land. YOU have the responsibility of knowing what you'll do if you miss the ship. It's travel, and I can guarantee you, people who don't do it via cruising have plenty of stories about missed flights, hotel bookings that somehow disappear, officials wanting payoffs, rejected visas, and worse, and they don't have the advantage of a cruise line pulling the strings to get them to the next place. Frickin' entitled frickin' people. I'm sorry.

That's cool for a start. Is the berth for the cruise line or the specific ship? (I'm thinking about things like days at some ports when more ships are due than there are piers.) Of course this has very little bearing on pier runners, since departure times are generally driven by the need to get to the next port on time...but I think that was your point.

They were added in 2019 - so there's hope.

Not the I'm ever going to be in a suite, but Keurig is to Nespresso as a Wet 'n' Wild is to Universal Studios.

I think you're confusing a blanket policy for what Princess HAS done, which is make specific mains - lobster, filet mignon, and a combination of the two - an upcharge, and limited THOSE items to one each on formal night when they're on the included part of the menu. But from what I've seen, you can order anything else in the Mains section along with your one surf & turf. As recently as January, a server offered to bring me two entrees when I couldn't decide between them. It's a bit baffling to me that this is a huge deal to some folks - many people who order multiple entrees end up leaving a substantial amount of food behind. Sure I'd like to try two different things from the menu sometimes, but it doesn't seem like I should have a right to that or that not being able to do it is going to lessen my "experience" in any way.

I would love to read more about how that works. Is there a full on-call port staff large enough to handle a cruise ship being paid for that 24 hours? Is it midnight-to-midnight, or docking time to the same time the next day? I find this concept fascinating and it would be great to get a link to official (or at least expert) information.

It's also not loud or chaotic in the MDR if you eat late like we do. Sometimes the staff are kind of "over it" after dealing with the 5-6pm rush, but it's definitely quieter with a bit more elbow room.

Oh yes! Just last week I was watching a 1984 TV broadcast on YouTube, with an ad for Western Airlines' discount fares: - Seattle to Honolulu for $400 RT - $1200 in 2024 dollars - right now I can book for $400 RT. - Seattle to LA for $300 RT - $900 in 2024 dollars - right now I can book for $175 RT. Of course, the flying experience has degraded much further than the cruising experience, in part because it's become so cheap to fly. I'd go on about circa-1984 car dealers' "low" 17% financing, but that would be off topic. 😀

We were on the Regal in January and had twice-daily service. Not sure if it's what some would consider "full turn-down" (no chocolate on the pillow), but in addition to tidying, the decorative bed cushions and runner were stowed (then replaced during the next morning's service).

Re: restaurants, the same kind of complaints have been springing up about "land-based" fine-dining restaurants. I recently went to one of the most highly regarded steakhouses in our area and found it lacking in quality. I've also been to a Capital Grille where they forgot something as basic as letting a steak rest before slicing - had a cut served to us in a pool of blood. IMO the rise of the "neighborhood place" is something a cruise ship can never ever mimic. The best food you can get is generally served by a place most people don't know about, and once you find it, you can't hope to have it replicated on a mass scale. As examples off the top of my head, a ship could never serve sushi or teriyaki chicken that could hold a candle to my favorite local places. Again IMO, where most cruise lines can succeed with food is taking the "classics" and doing them traditionally but well. Serve things that are popular, without curveballs. Offer enough choice to be considered choice by most, but don't deviate from classic flavors people expect. Regarding the "nickel and diming," see below... This, Cruising is verifiably cheaper in today's dollars than it was 20-30 years ago, which is why so many do it, and also why it includes less service - you can't price things lower, pay your staff commensurate with 30 years of inflation, and expect to make money, even with the scale of today's much larger ships. That means they have to do one of two things: 1) Charge you along the way for everything beyond being on the boat and eating in the MDR/buffet, or 2) Create a package that brings the price of the trip closer to the "real" cost of cruising. Princess has basically made its packages the way of bringing their product up to a certain level of enjoyment by tying things in that you would no longer have to worry about, like gratuities and drinks. And even with a Plus package, a cruise is still a great value. If it wasn't, there wouldn't be record numbers of passengers. Which brings me to my main pet peeve about cruising in 2024: the record numbers of passengers. 😀

If so, I’m glad. I was used to checking the number after I’d had several morning espressos 😀

Oh, people feel entitled to all 15 drinks, alright. I've been swarmed when I suggest that Princess has every right to ensure the drinks on a person's package are only consumed by that person. "Those are my 15 drinks, whether I drink them myself or order half for friends shouldn't matter!"

Yes - for paper sheets only (trying to get the public to recycle things properly is really hard) but that would require a whole recycling chain for Princess, which I'm not sure they want to do. I'd love that, but not sure that wouldn't add a whole lot of extra work (especially when there's otherwise no sushi bar). This seems like one of those things Princess does purposely. As far as casual dining, there's really no good reason not to make it unlimited for Plus since those venues have really declined in patronage since the change. For specialty, Crown Grill in particular generally gets booked solid on sea days as it stands, so a third included night would either negatively impact the revenue from people paying "full price" or anger Premier guests who can't book that third free dinner they're entitled to. YES OMG A THOUSAND TIMES YES This is basic software functionality, but as such, I expect a large number of cruise lines' most lucrative passengers will be frightened by their phones' "Allow Notifications?" pop-up and reflexively click "No." If people with addictive personalities weren't such a large portion of a casino's revenue, it would be a natural. I think Princess missed the boat by converting the cigar lounges to crappy claw-game arcades instead of enclosed casino areas for smokers. I do like the focus of the app on the upcoming/current cruise (again, perhaps a portion of the clientele were confused by those) but maybe there should be a separate booking app with deck plans and other general items. Or a button on the remote that automatically turns on the TV to the bridge view channel. By the time I've fiddled with things to get bridge view up, the announcement is halfway done. By the time the last batch of ships were built/refurbished, there doesn't seem to be an excuse for that other than Princess doesn't want them there. Maybe they're scared that if they installed USB-A the European Commission would fine them for limiting consumer choice. This should be an option (on HAL our steward offered this on the first day), but I can see the staff not knowing how much work they'd have each sailing, and knowing how business works, Princess would start staffing for the least work and just expecting them to work harder if more people want two-a-day. - Limit the drink packages to a lower number of alcoholic beverages (7-8) but add unlimited soft drinks/smoothies/espresso - it would stop a lot of people from demanding every drink of the 15 they feel entitled to (either for themselves or to give to friends) and instead making every one count - Online reservations for casual dining, now that it comes with a charge. - Ability to sign up for alerts on the app if a desired MDR/specialty dining reservation time opens, like OpenTable. - Not-so-reasonable-maybe: deck loungers with availability flags and sensors - to use, fold the flag down, and when nobody's sat on them in 30 minutes, the flag goes up.

Cruising is travel. Travel includes the anticipation of the unexpected: sometimes you get a last-minute suite upgrade, sometimes you get "cancellated" or miss the damn boat. In either case, stay humble and have a plan (and insurance!) and you'll have a great story to tell for years to come. Oh, and make sure your phone is set to ship's time before you get off. While I do feel bad when people, either through "force majeure" or their own stupidity, miss the ship, and I won't be one of the people derisively cheering them as they run to the ship, I have little sympathy for those who casually saunter in, thinking the ship would certainly hold for them. Personally, I always plan to be back on board with a drink in my hand in plenty of time to watch any pier runners, which coincidentally also ensures I won't be a pier runner.

I try not to eat too many desserts on a cruise, but there's never been a time when I've asked the server which of two desserts they'd recommend when they didn't respond, "why don't you try them both?"

Those things will have an upcharge whether 2nd or 1st. On lobster night, I'm fortunate to have a GF who's allergic to lobster - I get two tails every time. 😀

Nothing. I'm not even sure if they've started charging for a third like other lines.

I'll be on the same cruise as OP. People with actual experience with travel on that exact route (Panama Canal) have stated in no uncertain terms that a valid passport is a requirement that WILL be enforced. (And not a Passport card - a passport book.) Do not rely on what a phone person said. That and $2 will get you a cup of coffee. Also, in your situation, the phrase "beggars can't be choosers" is particularly valid. Think of it this way: If you go to the passport office and they CAN get you the passport, you're on. If you don't even try, you're not going on the cruise. It's your choice.

They're in the hot tubs. (Seriously, our Sept. Alaska cruise on the Westerdam, almost every hot tub was full of kids, and there were only a handful of kids.) I think that many kids is a completely unanticipated issue on a HAL ship. I'm sure the staff are asking themselves, "do these parents even know which cruise line they're booking?" With the unprecedented number of people booking cruises and cruise lines going all out with TV campaigns and discount offers, including HAL, my guess is that a lot of those people only see the bargain and don't think about much else. Also on our Alaska cruise, the trip up the Vancouver Island coast was so rough that even seasoned cruisers we talked to called it the roughest they'd ever felt, with just pounding rain, but one cruiser posted a review upset that the pickleball court was closed, because "my kids were so excited to play pickleball!"

Don't tell anyone, but I heard the crew also uses high-powered audio amplifiers, food cooking apparatus, and internal combustion engines. They should never be allowed to ban those things ever again!

I'd say that the ships are more packed than in the pre-Covid days. People are still traveling like their lives are depending on it, and cruises are cheaper in price per day than flying somewhere and staying at a hotel/eating at local restaurants. I'll be on the Emerald for the eclipse/PC cruise, and expect it to be roughly like my recent sailings on the Discovery and Regal, maybe slightly better overall due to the lower capacity, but possibly slightly worse in the buffet since that's quite a bit smaller. Book your specialty restaurants early, get to the big theatre shows early, eat at times when every single body else isn't also eating, etc.