No more balloon drop?

[birdiebill]

We will not miss the balloon drop because in our 13 Princess cruises, we have never attended one.

[CineGraphic]

https://balloonsblow.org/the-ugly-truth/

[skynight]

Here is the answer. Sixth point on the list.

 

[c-boy]

4 hours ago, ohnonotmeagain said:

WOW are you serious???

ya gotta get use to his sense of humor

[Potstech]

13 hours ago, jasbo49 said:

Does the wildlife have to be on your ship to matter?

 

Jim

If the ballons are.

[Potstech]

5 hours ago, ohnonotmeagain said:

WOW are you serious???

Yes

[JimmyVWine]

17 hours ago, satxdiver said:

 In the case of Princess balloons, they are cheaply made from polychloroprene most likely. The elimination of balloons will have any effect on plastics in the sea.

 

But won't the change then have an impact on the amount of polychloroprene in the sea?  And isn't that a change in the right direction? It's not just all about plastics.

 

This is simply another change that we are living through, and hence notice the change, but in 5 years, no one will ever remember or care.  Remember when sailaways looked like this?

 

 

Now they look like this:

 

 

Not only does no one miss the old way, we look back and ask ourselves how we could have been so stupid in the first place.

[Katwoman007]

20 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

Well, if they all stayed inside, we wouldn't be finding them inside of whales, turtles and birds, would we? But we are.

People take them, they blow away, etc....

Glad to see them go.

We have seen a few balloons float away from our Aft Balcony. I am guessing the kids club had them? We were thinking that probably should not have happened. 😕 

 

[LoriPhil]

Balloon carcasses are swept up for trash disposal by cleaning crews.  And then what?  Well, they end up in landfills or wherever else cruise garbage goes.  Bottom line - even if they don't escape to the seas during the cruise, they do go somewhere, so yay Princess for taking steps to reduce those nasty live-forever compounds we're all so fond of.  I'll miss the festiveness they bring, but appreciate the bigger picture.

[subwayrider]

We had a balloon drop on the Ruby Princess on 9-20.  Most of them popped right away so yeah, I can see how it would be considered wasteful for just a couple minutes of entertainment.

[Brisbane41]

I will let you know in a few weeks if it is on the Majestic Princess.

 

Just to be clear it is NOT an environmental issue at all if people dispose of their waste properly. I dare say Princess is doing this to avoid the extremist protesters who like to intimidate/harass/bully/abuse and publicly shame companies and individuals into conforming to their idealistic views that may or may not be sensible.

 

For information much has changed in the last 17 years I have been doing cruising. On my first cruise they still had the paper streamers being thrown from the ships during sailaways, the air conditioning and heating was more powerful, the pools were much more heated.

 

If Princess wants to take my advice for the environment then perhaps they could cease wasting all the paper they are using with those silly little jewellery, art, boutiques pamphlets that turn up at your cabin door.

 

I do not take kindly to protesters and  the foolish and misguided people that take to the streets to protest the climate and environment. These stupid fools will hold up traffic for hours on end leaving cars idling and burning fuel on the road contributing to much more emissions than there would have been had they not had their silly protest. We are having this in Australia quite a lot now.

[cr8tiv1]

I have read bits and pieces of this thread; so forgive me if I missed anything important.

 

Here's my take.  I went to one and vowed NEVER to attend another one.  It was suicidal at the least.  There were 3-5 balloons with a "prize" slip inserted in the ballon.  People were trampling kids and adults to get to the balloons.  Some had sharp objects in their hands to pop the balloons.  I watched and envisioned lawsuits for those injured in the merriment.  

 

It took a long time to set up the balloons for just a few frenzied minutes.  

 

I am glad it has/will have stopped. 

[Thrak]

10 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

There were 3-5 balloons with a "prize" slip inserted in the ballon.

 

Are there really balloons with prizes in them? I've never heard of anybody winning anything but always wondered if there "might" be a balloon with something in it. That would explain the crazy frenzy of balloon popping. I always thought it was nuts to pop them all right away. Has anybody here ever heard of a balloon actually containing a prize? If so, what was it? I can't imagine there would be any prize worth getting involved in that mad scrum.

[cr8tiv1]

27 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Are there really balloons with prizes in them? I've never heard of anybody winning anything but always wondered if there "might" be a balloon with something in it. That would explain the crazy frenzy of balloon popping. I always thought it was nuts to pop them all right away. Has anybody here ever heard of a balloon actually containing a prize? If so, what was it? I can't imagine there would be any prize worth getting involved in that mad scrum.

 

Yes, I did see someone yell out with excitement when they found that slip of paper.  I did not know what they received, but others said that it was some worthless trinket (bottle of champagne, key ring, other trivia type prizes).

[greenie082756]

We have never attended the balloon drop. I personally have an issue with the sound of popping balloons. I do not know why it bothers me so.

I will not miss the balloon drop even though we will be doing a cruise during New Years and I would like to see some kind of fanfare if possible. 

I wonder what they could do instead? Change of times.

[caribill]

13 hours ago, greenie082756 said:

 

I will not miss the balloon drop even though we will be doing a cruise during New Years and I would like to see some kind of fanfare if possible. 

 

I wonder what they could do instead? Change of times.

 

Maybe show a video of balloons popping.

[Dobby_The_Ship_Elf]

14 hours ago, greenie082756 said:

I wonder what they could do instead?

 

 

 

OK ...... how about using some of the discarded paper products such as art sale flyers, patters etc and the like to be used by the kids in the kids club or craft groups onboard  to make into paper mache (spelling) type lanterns or similar.

 

Maybe paper planes or more ambitious origami.

 

Give them a coat of colour paint or maybe not.

 

And drop these "creations" on the last night creating a new tradition whereby the pax create their own entertainment props.

 

It may need more thought but it may also work

 

😎

[Qcruise]

we were just aboard the Star and there was a balloon drop one night.

[Roatanfans]

For the 50th year celebration there were prizes in the balloon drop- they were coupons for things like a bottle of champagne, a free drink, $50 off a purchase at the art auction etc- the same type of prizes they give away for the scavenger hunt.  My kids will miss the balloon drop, but not overly much- if for some reason this becomes a huge issue for Princess maybe they can switch to a beach ball drop- put numbers on the beach balls and have people turn them in to see if they have won a prize- then the beach balls can be reused without the waste

[Dan M.]

It will be interesting to see whether or not this is continued.  For the record, we BOTH enjoy the balloon drops and appreciate the festive atmosphere.  I'll concede that it isn't for everyone (neither is spending time in the casino or spa) but will be no doubt missed by those who do enjoy that event.  We sail on the Star in mid-November so will know for sure if it being discontinued or not.

 

dlm

[OzKiwiJJ]

We had a balloon drop on Sea Princess on Tuesday. 

 

 

 

[coo359a2]

Wonder if they will stop passing out balloons to the audience to blow up during pre show at  I believe the talent shows.  The audience had about 10 minutes or so of batting balloons back and forth in the theater before the show started.

 

[jwattle]

On 9/30/2019 at 2:34 AM, MissP22 said:

😢 Where will I get my balloons from? 

The list of things I'll have to buy before the cruise is growing faster than ever. 

AND MAYBE THEY'LL BAN THEM AND DISEMBARK THOSE WHO BRING THEM...

[Potstech]

1 hour ago, jwattle said:

AND MAYBE THEY'LL BAN THEM AND DISEMBARK THOSE WHO BRING THEM...

Not gonna see that happen anytime soon.  Talk about making the news and getting a black eye.  

Wonder how they would handle other latex items that can be turned into a balloon?

 

Balloons are cheap and do not take up much room.

Edited October 4, 2019 by Potstech

[jwattle]

My comment was directed to smuggling in general and specifically...