Iamcruzin

When I look at value I also include flying in the equation. Princess gave up the NY summer market meaning if I wanted to sail with them it meant a flight for 4 people. It was cheaper to sail with Royal or Celebrity from New Jersey than to fly to Florida a day early and book a hotel and pay for meals. Now that I live in Florida it will be a level playing field. I do miss the 123 go and pick your Perk deals that Celebrity used to offer. Princess was late to the party with offering an all inclusive package so don't be surprised if they eventually go the route of Celebrity. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have smoke and mirror sales. If you don't book the drink WiFi package at the time of booking with Celebrity you will pay quite a bit more after the fact even with their 40% off fake sale. The restaurant discounts are a joke as I have always scored a larger discount on board when approached. We don't ever plan to eat in specialty but they have offered me a 20% discount on board. I can usually get them to go 25% off but you can't be picky about the day and time and it's usually for a restaurant that's not selling. The room accommodations are much better on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean which adds value to me. Princess doesn't even give you a comfortable chair to sit in while you wait for your wife to get ready for dinner. The shower is way too small on Princess. Our clothing has more space then we do with that closet that takes up the entire room. If I want to be accommodated on Princess I have to pay more for a deluxe balcony which isn't available on all ships or a mini suite. Once I do this Princess costs more than Celebrity for a similar itinerary even with the plus package.

The difference is with a traditional balcony you can just go inside and be cool. With the IV you have to wait for the room to cool down and the humidity to dry up.

I am in my 60's and want to try Virgin Voyages just because from what I have been reading it is a totally different experience from what I have experienced on Royal, Celebrity and Princess. It seems more relaxed and informal. There is no MDR and All specialty restaurants are included. The entertainment is more progressive with a Drag Queen performance. It's adults only so the comedians are more colorful. With that said, based on the above statement wanting a refined experience I would recommend Celebrity. I would suggest that you go over the the Virgin Voyage page and decide for yourself.

It's going to take more than a splash pad and some ropes to climb to get Royal Caribbean passengers to make the switch. You can't even compare the two. I won't sail their monster ships but the Anthem Class which is about the same size as Princess ships has way more to offer in entertainment for both Adults and Kids. I haven't sailed on Princess since 2010 and moved on to Royal and Celebrity. I will only sail Princess if the price and itinerary is better than what the other two offer. I started sailing with Princess in 1991 only sailed with them until 2010. When they stopped sailing to the Caribbean and Bermuda from NY I switched to Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. They also match loyalty status so if a couple wants a more adult atmosphere without the kids they would more than likely sail on Celebrity where they would have the same status based on their Royal Caribbean status and vise versa. My SIL and BIL who are in their late 50's and early 60's and have never strayed from Princess claim that they still feel like the youngest on board.

Only because my friends always want us to go and we sail for itinerary not the ship. Those inaugural sailings are also much more expensive than an older ship going to the same ports. I also make it a point not to book a ship before going into or coming out dry dock. They always start the renovations on the last sailings and sometimes finish up on the first sailing out of dry dock.

Those who just like the newest ships with the newest bells and whistles who will sail on any lame inaugural itinerary just to say they were the first.

Canada New England in the fall and leaving from Seattle to Alaska are cool and could be rainy itineraries also anything leaving from NY NJ to the Caribbean in the winter months are cold and rainy.

I would consider an IV for a cold rainy itinerary but living in Florida I know how fast the house gets warm and clammy just when I leave the sliding door open while I take the dogs out. So not a chance in the Caribbean.

I have sailed several times out of San Juan on both Celebrity and Princess. Just like any other port if you arrive super early you are going to wait and it will be congested. They did have separate lines for each category like Concierge, Aqua, Suite and general. There will be a line if you are one of the first to arrive. Eventually we learned to just enjoy the morning in Old San Juan or we stayed at the hotel pool after check out time. It was a much better experience. I no longer get there early and wait with my nose pressed against the door trying to be the first to board.

I ordered 2 breakfast sandwiches at the deli the other day. I was charged a 20% tip and was asked when I used my debit card if I wanted to add another tip. They also have a tip jar on the counter. If I'm standing to place an order I shouldn't have to tip. Tipping is for service not for doing your job. Don't even get me started on the donations at the register. These retailers collect donations and probably take a tax credit for my donation. I'm done saving the world and financing unskilled labor who are already being paid more than they should be making. Flipping burgers at McDonalds was not meant to be a career unless you buy a franchise or become the manager. Now that I'm on a fixed income who is going to give me a living wage. It's not going to be Social Security. If I already prepaid the gratuity for RS why should I tip. What happens to the tips that were prepaid for all those who don't order room service or don't drink their daily 15 drinks? I never ordered from RS even before they were charging for it.

Bottom line is it should always come down to a good experience and not for a free load of wash and a bar set up. I cringe when I read about solos or couples booking each one in a suite on a two day reposition cruise just to get the extra points. If you can afford to pay double to begin with you can afford to pay for plus package and pay for laundry or use the laundromat.

They need to revamp Princess Cay. It's the worst cruise line island around. I shy away from any itinerary that goes there. Tendering is not worth the visit. The ocean floor is filled with sharp coral and rocks. Don't even go in without water shoes as my wife sliced her foot the last time we were there. I would also like to see them do 7 day Bermuda itineraries. Although now that I live in Florida it might just be a hassle now to fly to New York.

I have been sailing Princess since 1991 before loyalty programs were a thing. At that time they offer a good product and I was loyal at the time because they met my needs. Over the years the itineraries changed. They weren't offering Caribbean Sailings from NY and there was a time that they moved their fleet to Europe and Alaska for the summer when my children would have been out of school. So I turned to Celebrity and Royal Caribbean who sailed where and when I wanted to go. to my surprise they were more like Princess then not. What I found different is the room accommodations were more comfortable with larger showers and seating in every category from inside and above. Princess rooms don't even have a proper chair to sit in anymore. I rank them now as the worst rooms at sea unless you book a deluxe balcony which isn't available on the older ships or a Mini Suite. The food is comparable on all three lines but all three lines have declined in this area over the years. During my working years I never had the time to sail often with limited vacation time and with kids in school it was expensive during peak season so the loyalty programs didn't entice me. Itinerary and value was and still is the driving factor when choosing a cruise line. Now when you read any of these boards you are constantly reminded by the the upper tier how much their benefits have declined and they feel slighted by the cruise line. As much as they complain they still book the same line which sends the wrong message. I have noticed that some of the long time loyalist on Princess and Celebrity have moved on to Virgin Voyages who was matching loyalty programs to theirs. Which by the way, their loyalty program is more attainable if the experience meets your needs. So for some the loyalty programs work enough to keep them coming back. I think they are going to have change their marketing to entice the next generation.

With All inclusive programs that the cruise lines have introduced the loyalty programs offer few if any benefits. Only those who have already reached the highest tier care about them. Millennials and Gen Z aren't brand loyal. They want the best experience at the best price. Free laundry isn't going to sway them. Free laundry is hardly a benefit since Princess has laundromats on board. Boomers and Gen X would be the target for a loyalty program. Being a Boomer myself I can tell you I shop around for the same itinerary and go for the best price. I'm at the mid point tier on Princess, Royal and Celebrity. The benefits mean nothing. I book AI so the cocktail parties, free bar setup and discounted internet minutes mean nothing. The benefits only appeal to the demographic that doesn't drink and only use internet minutes to print an airline boarding pass. With remote work, unlimited internet access is something that the younger working generation is going to want and will pay for.

They have no clue what woke means. Had me scratching my head. Also they dated them selves by using the term "Hip". May as well say Groovy. At 63 I think Princess skews too old for me.

It took a week after my booking before it showed up. I booked AI which turned out to be much cheaper than I waited to add WiFi and the classic drink package after the booking. It was $8.99 to up grade at first but now it's $13.99 DW is fine with any house Cab and as long as we are mixing liquor with something the well alcohol is fine for us. We will just pay the price difference if we want a top shelf liquor Martini and Manhattan.

It takes less time for me to print them than to wait in line for the porter to fill out the information and attach it to the bags. It's a minimal cost for the paper and ink for a legible tag.

I drink Bulleit Rye Manhattans at home. I don't like the Bourbon.

Princess used to be my favorite line but after sailing on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean it dropped to 3rd place. The rooms are better and the included adult Sanctuaries are much nicer than the pay for one that Princess offers. I was so surprised that we didn't have any issues with running into children on the Anthem of the Seas. The adult area was on the other side of the ship from the kids area. Very well designed.

Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity all have an up grade bid program. I have looked into all of them. The key is you need to know what the price of the higher category room was at the time of your booking. Every time it would have been less money had I booked the room originally. On my up coming cruise the lowest bid for a Celebrity Sky Suite would have been $400 a person costing a substantial amount more than at the time of booking . I booked Concierge class with the classic drink and internet package. I could have picked a sky suite room rather than them now picking for me, had the unlimited drink and internet package included for $300 less then the current bidding, if I booked it originally. I have had the same experience with Princess and Royal Caribbean. To me this is a marketing gotch ya. They know most people don't research past the room category they want and assume that the bidding will be a better deal. Some bid more than the minimum bid and the cruise line make bank. I don't know how much of a commission or service charge that they have to give the third party company processing the bids.

My DIL is a teacher and she always gets the calls from the parents asking if the child can do extra credit for the work that they didn't turn in. Her answer is if they didn't do the work in the first place what makes you think that they will do the extra credit work? Part of the lesson is turning in the assignment on time.

Apparently there is room for bargaining. First of all on the islands they never have anything priced. They are always using a calculator to make up the price at the time of inquiry. Second, have a good friend who lives on Antigua and she told us that the jewelry stores always mark up the items on days that there are cruise ships in port. Effy is in all of the department stores on land so if I was ever inclined to make a purchase I would just go to Macy's where I can return or go back there when the stones fall out or the chain breaks. The average person can remove links from a watch band to resize it if they have the tools. There is no reason why ship sales associates can't learn how to do this.

If a jeweler on the ship can't size a watch that tells me that I shouldn't be making any jewelry purchases there. Don't even get me started with Effy a.k.a. Iffy.

My watch has been a Fitbit for the past several years. I have 3 watches different brands in the original boxes that I received for yrs of service from my previous job. They have never been worn. My phone and Alexa are my new time pieces at home.

I have found that even before covid the land prices were better than cruise ship prices. I was looking at a Seiko watch on board and priced the same watch on Amazon for less money so I just added it to my basket and purchased while still at sea. It was there when I got home. You really have to know your prices and that includes liquor as well. Most times I can get it for the same price or cheaper when ABC or Total Wine runs a sale. We are at the point where we don't buy anything on board anymore unless it's something unique to the cruise line.