Joe Denver

Well this all took a weird turn - my plan was definitely not to share drinks. There is a difference between scheming to save money (which I enjoy and have no ethical issues with, heck Warren Buffett still uses coupons at McDonalds) and breaking explicit policies of Princess. And with two little kids and middle class jobs, we are likely to benefit a lot more than Mr. Buffett.

Good catch on the math Carohs! I was mixing apples and oranges by applying taxes and fees in one case and not the other. Still, its clearly the way to book this. $239 + the ability to have only one person on premium is the winning combination. Great info Navy Veteran on the photos!

I did clarify this. Irrespective of the gratuity and fees, it is definitely $500 cheaper to book 4 + 1 instead of 2 + 3. YMMV depending on the cruise and cabin.

My understanding is that its based on the person with photo package, i.e. any photos that she is tagged in are available to her regardless of who else is in them. It would be an almost impossible exercise to eliminate photos with other people based on their packages. Obviously this means she has to be in any photo we want to keep (or not pay for), but that's a small price to pay. We are not going to share drinks - that would be cheating. Anyone else will bill those individually, but as I said because of our group (one can't drink, one drinks minimally, two kids), that will be limited.

Interestingly, it was not double in this case. And in many cases, the fare is not double for one person. In this case, a solo person pays just $160 more than a double. Here is the pricing for 2 people: Guest 1 Cruise Fare$399.00 Guest 2 Cruise Fare$399.00 $798.00 $399 avg/person Taxes, Fees, & Port Expenses $537.98 Total (USD) $1,335.98 Here is the pricing for one person: Guest 1 Cruise Fare$559.00 Taxes, Fees, & Port Expenses $268.99 Total (USD) $827.99 So here is the math (assuming passengers 3 and 4 are free and we are traveling with five people, going to ignore the taxes and port fees for passenger 3 and 4 for a moment since it won't impact the final math) 1 room with 4 people and 1 room with 1 person = $1336 + $828 = $2164 1 room with 3 people and 1 room with 2 people = $2,672 So it saves five hundred dollars to assign 4 to one and 1 to the other. But it gets even better, given that 1 adult can't drink, 1 adult drinks minimally, and 2 are young kids, you put all of those people into one room. No one gets the drink package. Then you put the one person who actually might drink more into the solo room. You get that person the premium package and suddenly you get to share 4 internet devices without two people needing to buy a package. You also benefit from the photos (yes, the solo passenger will need to be in all the photos, understood). And since both rooms have shareholder onboard credit, those can be better applied towards drinks for the one adult who might need it from the 4 pax berth. In terms of actual sleeping, obviously we will split that up on board.

We are five on an upcoming cruise. Consists of 3 yr old, 6 yr old, adult, adult in one room and one adult in the other room. Once onboard we will split us between the rooms. Much cheaper to book this way. Of the adults in the four berth, one cant drink for health reasons, and myself, I'm a 1-2 drink a night kind of person. I also have shareholder onboard credits to use. None of us will get a package. Booked my wife for the solo room so we can get her premier since we will get plenty of photos this way and can share the 4 Internet connections. Since she is solo, only need one package. Here are my questions: 1) Is she allowed to order more than one drink to her room or is that frowned upon? Will they insist on billing half the drinks to the second adult in the room? 2) If she gets a premium drink and I have a regular drink (that I am paying for) , can we share and take sips if I want to try hers? (Not talking about having her get me whole drinks through the package) 3) Also she has onboard credit that she might not use? Can she buy a drink for me using her onboard credit? As in say "please put his drink on my medallion"? Thanks!

Eek - that's rough. They cancelled the glaciers, but kept the enrichment talk on, "Alaska's Mighty Glaciers".

I suppose the real moment of truth will come on Saturday. Princess either knows the full extent of the problem and believes they can fix it while in Whittier or they don't know and will find out as they attempt to fix it. I don't see them intentionally setting sail on Saturday and then announcing missed ports while on board. If the problem can't be fixed quickly, I presume they would either have to delay with planned missed ports and an option for refunds/cruise credits or cancel the Saturday trip. But I doubt they would want to cancel the Saturday sailing entirely since they have to get back to Vancouver regardless for the next sailing. And I do think if they knew with certainty that this would be a lengthy repair they would already have announced cancellations/delays - why make the situation worse by delaying the announcement?

My concern is that a serious propulsion issue may require significant maintenance at dry dock. Nearest facility is likely Victoria. So maybe Sapphire docks in Whittier and then treks slowly down to Victoria. A week or two in dry dock for maintenance. We could be looking at four cancelled weeks. That's exactly how Carnival ended up cancelling four cruises last year to fix propulsion issues and reposition itself. I suspect they will do a more thorough investigation upon arrival in Whittier. Anyone on this weekend's cruise from Whittier hear anything?

Six of us (ages 3 through 69) are traveling on the June 1 out of Whittier to Vancouver. If they have serious propulsion issues, my guess is they may need to place Sapphire in dry dock for an extended time. Carnival cancelled four weeks of cruises in a row last year to fix propulsion problems - https://lbbusinessjournal.com/news/business/4-cruises-canceled-as-carnival-panorama-experiences-recurring-engine-issue/ I almost wish they would cancel our cruise now so that we could have enough advance time to make alternative plans. There is one Holland America cruise that we could still book, but if we wait it won't be an option I imagine. We do have the cruise protection plan so we could cancel now and get the FCC, but that's not really what we want. And it would also prevent us from getting any additional reimbursement and FCC offered by Princess if they do cancel. If we were leaving on this Saturday's cruise out of Whittier, we would absolutely cancel at this point, but perhaps two weeks is enough time to fix this. Not even sure if they have a fully equipped dry dock in Whittier to do major repairs? Appreciate any and all updates on the mechanical situation, though I am guessing most will be more rumor at this point.