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Logistically, it would make sense for the sick passengers to be let off ASAP. Cabins have to be vacated by 8:00 or 8:30 am and all the lounges will are used as disembarkation lounges for non sick disembarking passengers. There would be no other place to quarantine. It wouldn’t make sense to stop the disembarkation schedule to let sick passengers off when it was convenient for them. It would delay the process. As far as escorts, the ship doesn’t want them touching stuff (ie elevator buttons). Once the sick passengers are off the ship, they aren’t the ship’s problem anymore. Thus wanting to get them off ASAP. Again, sorry for being the devil’s advocate.

Princess needs to change the wording on their website regarding this aspect of the App. On the Princess website, the word "reserve" is used blatantly, when we all know that it only bookmarks, or in the Princess Cruises App, adds it to your Schedule. Reserving could be forthcoming, but I doubt it.

Don't mean to be the devil's advocate, but Princess is damned if they do and damned if they don't in these situations. When Princess tries to contain a potential outbreak, people complain. When they don't control an outbreak, people complain. Glad you're feeling better.

Don't purchase from the Shops of Princess, but the Princess USA website has the number below listed as the contact for aftercare. No firsthand experience myself. Don't even know who answers that number or if it's still even active.

My experience with solo sailings is through a friend who cruises with us as a solo (in their own separate cabin, of course) on occasion. My first recommendation is to find friends that you can cruise with. Unfortunately, post restart, there are very few cruises with reduced single supplements. Many of the sailings out of Vancouver and Whittier to Alaska have reduced single supplements. Drop and Go rates within final payment can sometimes yield reduced single supplements especially on long sailings (4/5/24 Sapphire Princess 32 days South Pacific RT out of LA, for example).

You should try VV again. 2022 wasn't a good reflection of the VV. They were only starting out at the time and the pandemic protocols hampered what they could offer on board their ships. It affected all cruise lines. Great that you found your niche in Princess, though.

Princess does provide transfers so long as the dates coincide with disembarkation and embarkation days of your cruise. There used to be options to be dropped off/picked up at the Captain Cook Hotel and the Egan Center. Not sure if these still exist. For sure, drop off/pick up will be available at Anchorage Airport. Another option would be to use Alaska Cruise Transportation (ACT) Big Bus. Very reliable and cheaper than Princess transfers. They also provide transfers in both directions on days where there are cruise ship arrivals/departures.

I will say this about VV...Given the price point and target audience, there's a reason why VV won't do longer voyages. First is, their demographic is younger and working and really only take one week or shorter vacations. Second is, their pricing is higher (but with more included) and longer itineraries would make the price point out of reach for their demographic. In these aspects, Princess wins.

Yes, but you're getting top shelf alcohol. On Princess this would require you to purchase the Premier Package. With the Plus Package you get the cheap stuff. On VV brands are listed so you know exactly what you're getting.

Be young at heart and will to accept change and you'll find a way to appreciate what VV has to offer. The atmosphere on the ship is more lively.

Virgin Voyages is amazing, if you're willing to look at with fresh eyes. Food is much more inspired than the traditional fare that's served on Princess. Virgin makes Princess food seem like hospital fare. Ships are pretty spartan, but this is the norm of contemporary design. Much better looking, IMO, than the clutter of having so many tables and chairs in public spaces on Princess. Having said that, there's no shortages of spaces to sit and enjoy. The crew seem much happier to serve passengers. It's always a pleasure to interact with the bartenders and waiters. You don't need OceanNow when the crew is amazing and can serve passengers in a timely manner. Virgin Voyages isn't for everyone. I think the traditional Princess cruiser would have many complaints about them. The demographic is primarily Gen X and Millennials. What many would appreciate is the no kids policy, but their no kids policy doesn't make the ship feel like a floating nursing home.

Well, Princess is crying foul over their finances. As a result, passengers have had to accept cuts to service and pay more for onboard experiences. The Medallion is one way that they could cut costs there by reinstate services/experiences that once were. Personally, I would give up my door unlocking from a distance if I could dine at Alfredo's when I wanted to without a package or a cover charge plus tip.

If Princess can't even come clean about the Sun Princess delays, what would make them divulge this info in black and white? Sometimes you have to read between the lines. Disney has lost money with the MagicBands since they were introduced in 2013. They spent over $1 billion in R&D, implementation, and deployment. In 2021, they started to charge for these bands. The fact that they no longer want to hand them out as a freebie to park guests is a sign that the cost vs benefit analysis didn't make sense. If the data was that valuable, they would still be free. $1 billion (probably more because execs decided to advance the technology in the years preceding) is a very high price tag for data.

You are correct.

That was only during the restart to minimize contact. We really didn’t even leave our cabin except to go to port or to eat. No show for us either at that time. You have to remember this was the time where if you tested +, you physically had to move to a different cabin in a quarantine section of the ship. As far as working on the ship, remote work and faster ship Internet has allowed us to cruise more because we can work on the ship. Prior to the pandemic, we would never think of cruising almost monthly or going on a 30 day cruise. Now, we can. Most of the older people that we have to explain our lifestyle to have told us that in their time, they actually had to show up to work.

Was talking about the "medallions" of other cruise lines. They don't have batteries. It's an RFID chip used for NFID (near field) purposes such as unlocking and entering exiting ships. There is no tracking components. The device must be tapped on to receiver. As I said they are NFID chips that are tucked into non-card type housing (a bracelet). Princess' Medallion has a battery so it can have FFID (far field) purposes. FFID requires a battery and a magnet so it can emit a stronger signal that a receiver can read from FAR away. The hockey puck receivers around the ship and in cabins are used for tracking and locating functions. The door unlocking without tapping uses FFID as well. Other cruise lines "medallions" don't have these functions. Think of your credit card tap function. This is RFID, but is considered NFID. You must tap it on the card reader for it to register and accept payment. It would be a security breach if people could purchase NFID readers and skim you card info without having to tap it. Toll tags are also RFID, but are FFID, they require a battery and do not need to be tapped. The receivers can read the transponders from far away, which facilitate traffic flow. The driver doesn't have to stop and tap the transponder and the toll gate.

Don't follow. I get not everyone buys the package and there's more to buy on board but you don't even need a Medallion for that, you can just give your cabin number. You can purchase the RFID cards off of Amazon. The cruise lines would get them at an even bigger discount because they are buying in bulk. The ones used on cruise lines aren't as complicated or as expensive as you make them seem. The luggage tags some airports attach to your checked bags have RFID chips and UPS attaches RIFD routing labels to your packages. There isn't a uniform industry cost to them because they are a volume based purchase. The most important thing is that cards don't have a battery, a lanyard, or a clear holder, which all cost extra money. RFID is cheap, but when you add in the FAR field component, it adds to the cost. Just like the toll tags that some states have. Disney removed some portals from World and transferred them to Land. Not to say that new portals were not added. The MagicBands only allow for extra ride interaction in the park. The + option, which was the original MagicBand, acts as a park ticket and at World opens hotel room doors. Didn't install the door unlocking feature at Land because it would cost a lot of money to change door locks. The + was free to all at one point, but is now the more expensive of the two. It's main function has switched from an all in one tracking device to extra ride/park interaction and for those that want to spend extra ride interaction. At this point, Disney is trying to recuperate their losses in rolling the technology out. I've stated before that I think Princess should allow for those that will not use the Medallion functionality to have cruise cards at no charge and start charging those that want to have Medallions and use it's functionality. Yes but these are only cruise cards disguised in different housing. They don't contain a battery and don't have a tracking component. Royal Caribbean started with the WOW Bands in the 2010s but gave up on the technology. The cost vs extra revenue brought in didn't work out.

There's a toilet brush by the toilet provided in every cabin. All you have to do is borrow the chemicals from the steward and clean it yourself. That's what we did.

I think extra revenue from the Medallion never panned out as planned because now Princess' focus is selling packages. Other cruise lines have no problem sourcing them. The NFID cards that cruise lines use are the same simple ones that credit cards use. The most expensive part about them is the personalization. As I stated, Disney tried the this technology and it flopped. The young ones really don't care for it. I was in my 20s when Disney started with the MagicBands and I really wasn't that impressed. Wasn't impressed by the MagicBands and not impressed by the Medallions. Disney has proven that this information isn't as valuable as they initially thought with the MagicBands. Can it be useful yes, but not at the exponential costs of deploying the technology to capture the data.

The question is the Sun Princess really running on LNG? It can run on LNG, but is it? Per CCL's 10-K filed in January 2023, all CCL ships can run on both conventional fuels and LNG, but only run on LNG when the price is right.

Princess may have put cruising on the map, but they've failed to maintain their lead. It's still old blood cruisers that are keeping Princess and this "Love Boat" concept afloat . They really should move on from this "Love Boat" theming. The efforts to revive "The Love Boat" have proven futile. There was a release of "The Love Boat" in the 1990s with a new cast that was a flop and recently "The Real Love Boat" which was also a flop (to give credit to Princess, it was a cheesy matchmaking reality show). Oldies find "The Love Boat" theming nostalgic, but newer generations don't really have a connection. I hope that the new marketing guy finds a way to make "The Love Boat" concept more contemporary and relevant. But, TBH and only IMO, Princess should nix it from their brand.

JP is to busy trying to get his pet project, the Medallion Class Experience, to work. He really doesn't care about Princess as a brand. He wants to prove to his ex-employer, Disney, that they were wrong to let him go.

Not to wash cloth napkins. Towels and bed linens are fine because people don’t use those as snot rags.

In food service there are safe handling protocols and standards set out for washing utensils, plates, and glassware. Has to be washed at a set temperature and a certain ppm of bleach for sanitizing purposes. There are protocols and standards for washing food service linens, but many laundry services don’t pay attention to them because the inspectors don’t really check their establishments. The focus is on where the food establishment itself because that’s where food borne illness and contamination is more likely to happen. This comes from someone who is a restaurant partner.

I do. I hate using the cloth napkins because you don't know what the person before you did to it. I see passengers using them to blow their noses or using them as a catch basin for their sputum. I really don't trust the ship's laundry to get rid of all traces of human waste.