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The way that Princess packaged the Plus/Premium fare packages is like they created solutions for non problems. Before these packages all you really need was the drinks, wi-fi, and crew appreciation. Now, they throw in all of these ancillaries (some of which Princess just made up, like the "Premium Desserts" and "Juice Bar") to try and make make the value of the packages go up. Not to mention they failed to take into account that adding these aspects require more manpower. I feel so sorry for the crew at Gelato and Coffee and Cones who have to make these sundaes that most passengers don't even finish. Even if they do finish the toppings and ice cream, I've never seen anyone lick the chocolate drip off the rim of the glass.

It's really hot and humid the further the cruise goes south, like 90° with 80 to 90% humidity. Being from a dry, temperate climate, we found ourselves running towards air conditioning every time every time we've done a Panama Canal cruise. We couldn't stand being outside for very long and were melting in Panama City, Cartagena, and the Central American ports (except for Cabo and Puerto Vallarta). When we did had a balcony we seldom used it because of the heat. We did the Panama Canal in an interior cabin this past January. It was the coolest cabin we've ever had on a Panama Canal cruise because the sun didn't beat down into the cabin. IMO, (obstructed) oceanview will be fine.

Pre cruise, if your loyalty level is correct in the App, the App will reflect a wifi purchase price with the 50% Elite discount. If not, you can try calling the 800 number and see if the person on the other end will adjust the price to reflect the discount. If your loyalty is incorrect in the App and purchase the wifi pre cruise at full price, then, yes, you will have to get your discount as OBC. You can wait until you're on the ship and connected to intranet, which for most corrects the loyalty level in the App and the App will also automatically reflect the discounted price.

It's because the Princess experience doesn't appeal to most Millennials. All in all, Princess ships feel like floating retirement homes. The overwhelming sentiment of Princess' current demographic is that they don't want to cruise with kids. Millennials can scrape up enough money for an experience if they really wanted to do it. Millennials cruise on RCCL and Disney, and their fares are even higher than Princess.

But these cold calls aren't for promos or sales. It's just a check up call from the CVP to introduce themselves. Princess doesn't call for promos or sales. That ended a long time ago.

It's 15 alcoholic drinks per person per day with the packages, not 20. Non-acholic drinks (coffee/tea from Int'l Cafe, bottle water from bars, sodas, etc) don't count against your drink count and are unlimited. I've asked for 5 bottles of water at time and the bartenders don't have a problem giving away multiple bottles at a time.

Princess started with non-refundable deposits last year. The lowest location category in each meta category, is sold with non refundable deposits and GTY. Theoretically, all the forward cabins are for reserved for these fares, but any cabin category above what what booked can be assigned. Some of the fares have non refundable deposits and are due in full upon booking when booking Future Cruise Desk specials while on board. When booking Drop and Go, final payment has passed so it's a moot point. Princess now also holds back some cabin inventory for bid to upgrade. Also, when someone wins their bid to upgrade, the cabin they vacated becomes available. Point being, these two aspects adds to the clumsiness of Princess cabin inventory program. Management should make this program leaner to maximize revenue. Ships can be sailing full but cabin revenue can't be maximized if they are selling cabins at discounted Drop and Go rates.

Are you really this gullible? Princess doesn't make cold calls for specials and promos. You'll get an email or sometimes something in the mail, but there won't be any cold calls.

Princess needs a leaner cabin management system. Cruises show as sold out, but around the 60 to 30 days before embarkation cabins all of a sudden become available. Princess is then left to sell these cabins at a discounted rate (which CCL has threatened to retreat from). The trend is that the Princess sailings do sell out but a certain percentage comes from Drop and Go. The sailings aren't truly sold out months/a year in advance like RCCL or X. Example is the solar eclipse cruises...in February, cabins suddenly became available.

I'd be very careful of making a special order of Indian food in the MDR. We made befriended an Indian couple on the Enchanted Princess in November of last year. They made a few requests for Indian food a few nights--nothing in particular, just Indian. What was brought out to them every single time was the Indian food in the buffet, which was plated so it would look presentable for the MDR. After they caught on, they stopped the requests for Indian food.

Per EZAir's terms, air reservations will be ticketed 45 days prior to the first air segment. During the restart EZAir dropped the ball and forgot to issue some passengers tickets. Now a days, EZAir tends to ticket sooner rather than later--around the 60 to 70 day mark. You should check your Travel Summary at 40 days (or sooner) to see if ticket numbers populate in the air section. If these remain blank, that means your air reservation has not been ticketed. If less than 40 days, you still don't see ticket numbers, you need to call in to EZAir and get your air reservation ticketed. The seats you selected are reserved and will remain yours. The great thing about booking BA through EZAir is that you can preselect seats in economy or business for free. If booked directly though BA, there's a fee for seat selection which adds up, especially if you have connecting flights.

It really varies on the water pressure in your cabin bathroom. If water pressure is low, the water will not even make it a foot past the shower head. You'll have to shower holding the wand.

I personally hate the showers in a mini suite. It's at bathtub and the shower is confined to one corner and so will you. Sometimes the water pressure isn't strong enough to project the water far enough into the tub to reach where you are standing so you have to squeeze yourself into the corner.

Sailed on both in the past 6 months and bathroom on Enchanted is slightly larger. Vanity is slightly wider, as are the shelves. Shower space is slightly larger and as mentioned previously has a shower "bench." The actual shower is a shower wand rather than the stationary shower head on the Emerald. Toilet and bathroom setup are the same.

No idea what Princess' rule is, but I hope you plan on leaving this item in you're cabin in the event that you're able to get it onboard with it being confiscated. In Ensenada, someone in front of me in the security line brought a butter knife off the ship. The port security agents made a big fuss about it and it required the ship's security staff to go and bail the person out. Overhearing, what transpired, the ship's security reasoned that the butter knife was part of the ship's wares.

Wait until you embark from a foreign port. The App's countdown is based on the local day/time of your embarkation port, but the Cruise Personalizer's countdown is based on the time in the U.S. The Cruise Personalizer's countdown can sometimes be 2 days more than the App's.

This actually applies to some cruisers. There are some cruisers who are on a strict budget and want to milk every penny out of their cruise fare. They have a big breakfast, go on an an all day excursion, and don't eat again until they return to the ship. I've been accompanied by some of these types on Princess excursions. IMO, it's worth it to treat yourself and spend money while ashore to get some local eats.

At dinner time, there's some sort of prepackaged cracker (saltines, water) by the cheeses on a Royal Class ship. Having said that, the cruise line expects passengers to come back to the ship to eat, purchase food on shore, or go hungry until coming back to the ship.

The sofa bed in a Mini-Suite lies parallel to the wall in a mini-suite when setup, not perpendicular to the wall like in a Deluxe Balcony. Doesn't hinder access to the balcony. If anything, the coffee table gets in the way.

On land food, safety rules that regulate food establishments state that food can only be kept out at ambient temperatures for 2 hours. After which, it has to be put in the fridge or thrown out. Food is food for humans and food for microorganisms. If someone were to get sick because of this sort of negligence of a food establishment, the establishment is liable. I think part of the problem with brining food like a sandwich off the ship is food safety. If, for example, you bring a sandwich off the ship and you don't keep at the proper temperature (which is impossible since you're not toting around a fridge), and you get sick, it's a liability for the ship and Princess. Even with the hold harmless clause in the passage contract, it's potential for bad PR for Princess. I think one work around, is to plan ahead, and go to a supermarket before embarkation or in a port and purchase prepackaged snacks to bring on excursions for upcoming ports.

I've never seen flavored sparking water on any Princess ship. Perrier/Pellegrino sparkling mineral water come in single serve glass bottles.

Just browsing excursions this year, I have noticed that the excursion prices are inflated this year. The 20% off offered this year puts the excursion prices in line with regular prices from 2023. IMO, Princess is giving 20% off excursions to increase cash on hand for the company. When excursions are booked pre-cruise, passengers pay immediately and Princess has the money at their disposal. The 20% off entices the pre-cruise bookings.

If that's the case and you were charged for 49 day of Wi-Fi in AUD, then... AU$936 in Wi-Fi - AU$500 OBC = AU$436 outstanding on your folio. When you start your segment with US$ as currency, the AU$436 will be converted using an arbitrary exchange rate set by Princess into US$. Only after the AU$436 due for Wi-Fi has been converted into US$ will the US$550 be applied, and only then will you know how much extra US$ OBC you have. This is assuming that you don't have any other charges.

For the 23 day segment using AUD... (Wi-Fi price per day) x (number of days) = total cost (total cost) x (50% for Elite discount) = total cost with Elite discount (total cost with Elite discount) - (AU$500 OBC) = excess OBC in AU$ AU$38.20 x 23 = AU $878.60 AU$878.60 x 0.5 = AU$439.30 AU$439.30 - AU$500 = - AU$60.70 For the 26 day segment using USD... (Wi-Fi price per day) x (number of days) = total cost (total cost) x (50% for Elite discount) = total cost with Elite discount (total cost with Elite discount) - (US$550 OBC) = excess OBC in US$ US$25.00 x 26 = US$650.00 US$650.00 x 0.5 = US$325.00 US$325.00 - US$550.00 = - US$225.00 Is the the point you're trying to get across? I would also make positive that your folio is being closed and zeroed out at the end of each segment. It could be that you will keep accruing charges for the entire cruise and being presented one final bill at the end. If this is the case, then the segments in AU$ will be converted using an arbitrary exchange rate into US$, since that's the final currency of your last segment.

On the Emerald in January, it was a free for all for Elites. Tickets weren't even handed out in the dining room. You just showed up, showed your Medallion, and were directed to take the stairs to the water shuttle embarkation area. If you just joined the Elite queue after exiting the dining room, you were considered priority. I think it all depends on who's running the show in the Elite Water Shuttle Lounge and if they're strict on enforcement. In the past, I've been able to take 2 of my cousins who were at the time first time Princess cruisers.