cruiser113

Can anybody compare the Princess AIBP to the Celebrity and HAL offerings? I used the premium beverage package on Celebrity and had a very good experience- I never found a drink that wasn't included, and there were plenty of wine by the glass selections. Conversely, I just returned from a HAL cruise, and the beverage package was not as convenient or inclusive. The dinner menu at the Pinnacle Grill literally did not have a glass of wine that was included; our waiter went to the bar and got the included wine, the cheapest on the menu was $8.50, 50 cents over the max! There were only a couple of included wines throughout the ship, so by the end we were paying for some bottles anyway (with no discount, I should add).

 

We will likely be around a break even, but I was leaning toward the package if it's convenient as it will also encourage me to try different things instead of worrying about ordering an expensive drink or wine that I don't like.

We did this package in Feb this year and found very few drinks outside of the $10 limit. At vines only several wines and one champagne over the limit.

Ordering by name brand as opposed to house brand was still under $10 ( grey goose bloody mary/ cosmo; bambay sapphire gin and tonic )

You still have the option to order any wine per bottle under $100 for 40 % discount. All MDR wines under $10.

Bottled water etc are also included,

I most always book my own cruises on line. I had a bad experience in the past with TA's. Lately I've had one of princess cruises personal consultants email me and want me to book through her. I would think this would be safer than a TA, but again she's not saving me anything and I don't really need her help. What's your thinking?

We have used the same Princess Cruise consultant for the past several years. She has gone to bat for us on several cruises and worked very hard to secure a cabin we desired for a TA cruise. She always returns calls and emails and we have prices for our next 2 cruises that are well below on line prices with some benefits.

10 day Caribbean on Royal (balcony) with free gratuities in Nov for a little over $800 p/p and a 7 day balcony on regal in Jan for a little over $700.

Have used an on line cruise consult in the past for about 10 years and she did a wonderful job for us but she left and never found a new one quite as accommodating.

If we bring on additional bottles of wine and opt to pay the corkage fee, what is the process. Who collects the money. Does it slow down the check in process. Is the amount added to your shipboard account, is cash required. Just curious for a future Alaska cruise.

 

I couldn't find this info on the PCL website if it was there you can teach me how to fish, no problem.

As you go through check in your carry on bags are scanned. Any wine/ champagne bottles in excess of those allowed will be noted and you will be sent to a table. You will then pay for the excess bottles as a charge to your onboard account. If you drink them all in your room no problem.

If you want to bring one to the MDR make sure you pick those to have the stamp tat shows you already paid.

Easy process and does not slow up the check in process.

Hi All

 

Princess has suggested this

 

Fairbanks

Friday, September 2

Alaska's "Golden Heart City" of Fairbanks is a great introduction to the heart of this unique state. Check in to the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge and get ready for the beginning of your adventure. Meet your Tour Director and fellow traveling companions this evening.

2 Fairbanks

Saturday, September 3

This morning, take a Gold Dredge #8 tour with the chance to pan for your own gold. Enjoy a miner's lunch before taking a cruise on an authentic Sternwheeler Riverboat down the Chena River. The evening is at leisure in Fairbanks. (B,L,D)

3 Fairbanks/Denali

Sunday, September 4

This morning, you say goodbye to Fairbanks for the spectacular trip to Denali National Park via scenic motorcoach. You'll be welcomed at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge for a 2-night retreat. Why not get to know the park with one of a variety of activities including a husky homestead tour, fly fishing or a glacier landing via helicopter. Enjoy dinner at the King Salmon Restaurant this evening. (L,D)

4 Denali

Monday, September 5

Start your morning with a quick stop at the Music of Denali Theatre for a hearty buffet breakfast. Explore Denali National Park on a Tundra Wilderness Tour, watching for glimpses of Mt. McKinley as well as moose, caribou and Dall sheep. Enjoy the "Music of Denali" dinner theatre this evening. (B,L,D) Shogun we did this dinner theatre and really enjoyed it,5 Denali/Mt. McKinley

Tuesday, September 6

Hop on the Princess Rail to Talkeetna and enjoy a scenic motorcoach trip to the south side of the park and the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. Take in the sensational views with a glass of wine in the Great Room or on the expansive deck. The Mountain View Restaurant is the perfect place for a relaxed dinner to end your day. (B,D) when you get off the rail the motor coach to the lodge is about 45- 60 minutes if I remember correctly and the Mt view restaurant was wonderful.6 Mt. McKinley/Kenai

Wednesday, September 7

Next you'll head by motorcoach across the stunning Kenai peninsula to Cooper Landing. Here the charming Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge welcomes you to the classic Alaskan lodge retreat - timber log construction and all. This evening, enjoy dinner in the Eagle Crest Restaurant. (B,D)

7 Kenai

Thursday, September 8

A full day in the beauty of the Kenai Peninsula awaits you. Perhaps you'll explore Kenai Fjords National Park, spend the afternoon river rafting or go fishing. Later, you'll return to your bungalow-style room with its wood-burning stove and sun porch for an evening of pure relaxation. (B,D)

Kenai

Friday, September 9

Another full day in the area is yours to spend as you wish. Enjoy your last night at the lodge. (B,D)

9 Kenai/Whittier

Saturday, September 10

Travel the scenic Seward Highway by motorcoach to Whittier and your awaiting cruise ship. Embark and sail this evening. (B)

9

Anchorage (Whittier), Alaska

Saturday, September 10

8:30 PM

10

Hubbard Glacier, Alaska (Scenic Cruising)

Sunday, September 11

3:00 PM 8:00 PM

11

Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (Scenic Cruising)

Monday, September 12

9:15 AM 7:30 PM

12

Skagway, Alaska

Tuesday, September 13

7:00 AM 8:30 PM

13

Juneau, Alaska

Wednesday, September 14

6:30 AM 4:00 PM

14

Ketchikan, Alaska

Thursday, September 15

10:00 AM 6:00 PM

15

At Sea

Friday, September 16

16

Vancouver, British Columbia

Saturday, September 17

7:30 AM

16

Saturday, September 17

Arrive Vancouver, B.C.

*

 

what do you guys think

 

yours Shogun

I think this is an awesome way to get your special day on the 14th in Juneau.

Princess does a wonderful job making this all appear seamless. All the little details are taken care so all you have to do is relax and enjoy.

If memory serves my correct you can pack a suitcase for the ship and they will store it and it will meet up with you on the ship, that way you will not need so many clothes for the land portion.

We have completed two Alaskan cruises with the second one including the land portion. My only regret was not staying two days in Fairbanks. We did the cruise about the same time as your planned one. We did the cruise first and then land due to constraints of cruise and work. We closed up all the lodges on our trek to Fairbanks.

Hope this all works out for you and Donna.

Just checked the Barclay web site and the drop down box shows 30,000 points =$300 credit and 40,000 points =$500 so that option is still available.

We love this card and do cruise several times per year. We gift our self casino credit that gets us double points and pay for FCC as well as all cruises with this card.

After our cruise this November we will have $1000 that we will apply to our bill when we return.

No foreign transaction fee is a plus as well as no annual fee.

They sometimes offer promotions as the current one we are using . From July 1- Sept 30, double points up to 2500 bonus points. ($1250 spent) in supermarkets , drug stores and electronic stores. Well on our way to extra points.

If we ever stop cruising ( highly unlikely) we would choose to use other cards that would be of more benefit.

In the past we have waited until 40,000 points to get the $500 credit.

Have been very pleased with their customer service over the years.

Also agree with all of the above...........

Vines bar with Tapas before dinner with the best bartenders

IC for a quick pick me up

I think it is the Players club ??

kitty9

When you go to dinner the first night on the ship if you choose the steak restaurant ?? maybe the maître'd will be the same one who is in Sabatini's in the morning...... bring your sister with to dinner and discuss these needs with him and see where it takes you. I find it hard to believe you would be denied access to suite benefits as you are actually paying for 2 as a solo in a suite. navigation around the ship in a scooter can be easy but the other process of your disability adds a different dimension.

Or check out in advance who the maître'd is in Sabatini for breakfast time and approach him in advance and discuss this with him.

You many find them to be very accommodating. If you don't ask ?????

If memory serves me correct those doors are always closed. The window suites are in a separate hall way by themselves and unless you have a cabin there you really do not know cabins are in that area.

Either cabin would be good IMHO. We stayed in 301 and really liked the set up of that cabin, it is different than the handicap one and the other WS.

Hope this helps...........if I am wrong about the doors...........sure someone will pop in

Enjoy your cruise and all the suite benefits!

Yes a new look. A couple of new threads on it.

 

I am finding restricted air is now 4 times the price of non restricted air for our med cruise the one way to Rome non restricted $671 restricted $2678 :eek:

 

The new format now allows one-way choices. It is much more user friendly.

Sorry to hear about your prices............

we are doing TA with extra 7 day cruise out of Ft Lauderdale in the spring of 2016 and our flexible air one way from Rome to Ft Lauderdale is less than $600 P/P through Princess.

Glad you make your decision....for now.

Sometimes I look at the price difference and say that is almost 1/2 the price of another cruise. Keep watching for price reductions. To us a great deal is around $100 p/p per day with or without port fees. Enjoy..........especially the free drink package.

Enjoy your WS, they are wonderful and the location is perfect IMHO! What a treat for you family.

Another bonus is that you can make reservations for anytime dining ( if you are not in fixed seating) and also order from the dining menu and have dinner in your room. Suite (sweet) perk!

Free laundry will also cut down on packing for 14 days.

Happy cruising in Alaska.

Some questions? How many port days? If you will be out most of the day on 4/5 port plus private Island would it be worth the price for 2 days or 3 days to have the extra room.

Mini also has a bathtub and I think love seat to sit on that is more comfortable than the chair in room. We love the extra room and larger bathroom with tub. In the Caribbean we tend to shower twice a day most days.

The price breakdown would be $26.47 P/P per day extra. And daily charge jumps to $11 p/p.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise.

The beverage package is really only for the person who purchased it and has the sticker on their cruise card.

The bottles of wine purchased at 40 % off can be shared with others, that is part of the beverage package (any bottle of wine $100 or less)

In our experience you could only order one drink at a time. We both had the package.

Do people share one package? Is it honest? Only you can answer that.

I guess we did not qualify for the casino rate...how did you find out about that promotion...do you spend alot of money in the casino?

I called to book the cruise after seeing the price go down after clicking on the room. Did not receive email and was told this was a casino promo by staff.

Do not spend a lot of money............but they do get some coin.

RWB special is $250 more P/P than we booked earlier with the casino promo and we also have free gratuities. Now the OBC would still make it $150 more P/P. We are 10 day sailing in Nov

We did the land sea, with the cruise first. We did our UBD on the evening we cruised college fjords....which was late afternoon to dusk..............it was amazing

We did the champagne breakfast in glacier bay

You can do the BOGO during the daily special from 3-4 PM and again at 11PM -12 midnight. You need to purchase the same drink (beer ) and request they not open the bottle /can. The patter will have the venue listed each day as each ship has a different venue. Makes for a great deal on the beer.

Of course it does. I wanted them to do this for my cruise fare but they wouldn't have any of it. I figured they could probably tell that 1 of us was on the cruise that shouldn't be. :p

colo cruiser...........you are too funny...........LOL

"Mandatory service charge would be good. It's not tips or gratuities if they are forced. And I know waitstaff rotates. But then again, you are not tipping your buffet staff, who is also bunch of hard working men and women. But you are tipping your waiter? Seems unfair and unbalanced.

I am sure they are overcoming this with pooling. "

Direct quote from Princess

How do gratuities work?

To simplify the tipping process for our passengers, a discretionary gratuity charge will be automatically added to your shipboard account on a daily basis. The daily gratuity amounts are; $12 per person for mini-suites and suites, and $11.50 per passenger in all other staterooms per day (including children). This gratuity will be shared amongst those staff who have helped provide and support your cruise experience, including all waitstaff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, and housekeeping staff across the fleet. A 15% gratuity is added to bar charges and dining room wine accounts

Meanee....as you can see every one that is included in this process. But it is certainly your option to tip as you see fit.

you set up an account when you play the slots........it is saved by using a PIN to access. You need to put your cruise card in the specified slot on machine.

If you win , in order to get money from machine you will need to upload to your account.

You can then use winnings on a new machine by downloading the money to that machine or you can take cruise card to cashiers window and they will give you the cash.

Hope you get your dream price Thrak!

Whole year away and lots of time for price drop. We did Alaska twice and cruise land tour was awesome.

On Friday checking prices............originally booked on Oct 21 but changed to Nov 10 same 10 day itinerary and better cabin IMHO for several hundred dollars less and complimentary gratuities ...started @1149 down to 1061 and then 936 for BZ cabin .........now have DZ 824 plus complimentary gratuities.

Life is good.

we did a b2b in feb, I turned elite on the first cruise on CB, on the second leg elite status, my booking documents (boarding pass ) showed elite status for the 2nd leg, we had to change cabins.........our elite bar set up was already in the new room. received elite documents for husband before end of second cruise.

We have stayed in both the window suite on the CB and an aft suite on the grand.

You will have more space to entertain on the aft suite and the curtain is nice for privacy as well as letting him sleep. Two sets of sliding doors make access to balcony convenient in the early morning and you can enjoy coffee and the morning air before breakfast at Sabatini's. Balcony is also great for entertaining.

We enjoyed the window suite, central location, had a wonderful attentive cabin steward. More open room concept, but still plenty of room to entertain.

Both have nice bathrooms, aft suite has toilet separated by a door from shower and tub.

If price is no object, would go for the aft, aft balcony is my favorite cabin.