Princess questions (from a loyal RCCL cruiser)

[Russ Lomas]

We love RCCL and cruise them frequently with family and friends.  Well, RCCL has got really greedy with their current pricing and the quality of their service (MDR and cabin cleaning) is going downhill with the cutbacks (pay more, get less).  Time for a change.  We booked the Regal Princess for March and have had a few other families cancel their RCCL cruises to come try Princess with us for a first time.

 

Question 1 - On RCCL, you can check in for the cruise about 50 days prior to boarding, complete your check in, including picking a check in time for your arrival at the port.  How does this work with Princess?  Do you prebook boarding times?  If so, is it done through the app?  When can you pick your time if so?

 

Question 2 - RCCL often has "sales" throughout the year (though most of them are smoke and mirror games offering a higher % off after raising the initial asking price).  One sale they often have though that is real sale is on Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  Beverage packages, excursions, specialty dining can all be purchased for less than they usually sell it for.  Looking online I only see the Princess Black Friday deals as deals on cruises themselves.  Does the $60 per day for Princess Plus ever get reduced or is it always the exact same price?

 

Thanks for all your help in advance.  I worked for Princess 25 years ago, so I look forward to trying them as a passenger.

[JimmyVWine]

With the Princess App you input all of the necessary information and become “Cruise Ready” and you can do this as far in advance as you like. When you achieve this “Ready” state, your app home page will display a QR code. It is sort of like checking in, but on the day of you board you still need to go through a line and have your QR code scanned and passport checked with an agent who will be using an iPad. It is really fast. As far as boarding times are concerned, about a month before your cruise you can choose a boarding time but since the introduction of this process Princess has never enforced it. You can show up whenever you want. 
 

As for the $60 package, before the “Plus” Package was introduced, Princess used to run sales where they included the prior “Beverage Package” and Gratuities as part of the fare. Sometimes the base fare would increase to offset these “freebies” but sometimes they really were free. But since they introduced the Plus and Premier Packages, Princess has yet to run a sale where these have been given away or even discounted. But one can hope. 
 

Incidentally, I was playing around with some pricing on RCCL today just to see where they were coming in compared to Princess and I could not believe what I was seeing. One cruise I looked at was $13,000 for two people in an outside balcony cabin whereas on Princess I would expect to pay around $4,500 for a similar Caribbean itinerary. Granted that was for Icon, the new shiny toy. But still…

[Russ Lomas]

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

With the Princess App you input all of the necessary information and become “Cruise Ready” and you can do this as far in advance as you like. When you achieve this “Ready” state, your app home page will display a QR code. It is sort of like checking in, but on the day of you board you still need to go through a line and have your QR code scanned and passport checked with an agent who will be using an iPad. It is really fast. As far as boarding times are concerned, about a month before your cruise you can choose a boarding time but since the introduction of this process Princess has never enforced it. You can show up whenever you want. 
 

As for the $60 package, before the “Plus” Package was introduced, Princess used to run sales where they included the prior “Beverage Package” and Gratuities as part of the fare. Sometimes the base fare would increase to offset these “freebies” but sometimes they really were free. But since they introduced the Plus and Premier Packages, Princess has yet to run a sale where these have been given away or even discounted. But one can hope. 
 

Incidentally, I was playing around with some pricing on RCCL today just to see where they were coming in compared to Princess and I could not believe what I was seeing. One cruise I looked at was $13,000 for two people in an outside balcony cabin whereas on Princess I would expect to pay around $4,500 for a similar Caribbean itinerary. Granted that was for Icon, the new shiny toy. But still…

Thanks for the info.  You answered my questions on when you can preselect a boarding time (RCCL has been "enforcing" it by putting people in different queues for different boarding times.  When the 10:30 queue is empty, they immediately let the 11:00 queue board, and so on.

 

As for the Plus Package.  We will purchase it, but I am told it is the same price when you board the ship, so we might as well wait until we board since we have OBC that can be applied to the price.

 

I just priced our interior refundable deposit cabin in a preselected room on the Regal Princess ($1568 Canadian all in for 2 people).  The exact same sailing date to the exact same ports on the Harmony of the Seas is $4021 Canadian.  We love RCCL, but we could cruise on the Regal for $2700 for Princess plus (including all those great perks) for $1300 less than RCCL with no perks.

[Expat Cruise]

Princess has gone to doing everything on the app. Check in can be completed about 30 days before the cruise. If you're in the United States. Our last cruise would not allow us to check in and set a time, because we were outside the country. So we did not check in two days before the cruise they set an email saying check in at 10:30am, the start of boarding. Princess does not hold to its times, more like suggestions. If they finish a group early, they will take anyone who comes in next. 

 

Sales on upsell services like plus are rare with Princess Cruise. This year, many have got the best price on these packages by pre-paying. Since, Princess has changed the prices after guests have booked. But if you prepay, your price is locked in. We do not purchase these packages for a few reasons. First Princess does not give us our 50% off Internet if we buy the plus or premier package. Also, if you buy one of these packages, you cannot adjust the daily service fee. 

 

Princess has a completely different feel than your Royal Cruises. Royal ships seem to make guests feel like cattle. Royal is much more flashy than Princess. Also, you will notice very rare for Princess to use the PA system, once a day when the captain does his daily notice, and when the ship is open for guests to tender or go ashore. Unlike Royal that seems to make many announcements each day. You will never hear an announcement for a shop sale on Princess.

 

[caribill]

7 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

We love RCCL and cruise them frequently with family and friends.  Well, RCCL has got really greedy with their current pricing and the quality of their service (MDR and cabin cleaning) is going downhill with the cutbacks (pay more, get less).  Time for a change.  We booked the Regal Princess for March and have had a few other families cancel their RCCL cruises to come try Princess with us for a first time.

 

Question 1 - On RCCL, you can check in for the cruise about 50 days prior to boarding, complete your check in, including picking a check in time for your arrival at the port.  How does this work with Princess?  Do you prebook boarding times?  If so, is it done through the app?  When can you pick your time if so?

 

In general, Princess pays no attention to the selected boarding times (actually, they are selected check-in times). Show up when you want and you can check-in and, if boarding has started, board the ship..

 

7 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

 

Question 2 - RCCL often has "sales" throughout the year (though most of them are smoke and mirror games offering a higher % off after raising the initial asking price).  One sale they often have though that is real sale is on Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  Beverage packages, excursions, specialty dining can all be purchased for less than they usually sell it for.  Looking online I only see the Princess Black Friday deals as deals on cruises themselves.  Does the $60 per day for Princess Plus ever get reduced or is it always the exact same price?

It rarely gets reduced. There have been some promotions in other countries where the Plus package was offered for less. There have been some very specific promotions to get the Premier Package for the price of Plus.

 

And if you book the standard fare at a great sale price, upgrading to the Plus package could cost much more than $60/day.

 

 

[RedIguana]

9 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

Question 1 - On RCCL, you can check in for the cruise about 50 days prior to boarding, complete your check in, including picking a check in time for your arrival at the port.  How does this work with Princess?  Do you prebook boarding times?  If so, is it done through the app?  When can you pick your time if so?

 

Question 2 - RCCL often has "sales" throughout the year (though most of them are smoke and mirror games offering a higher % off after raising the initial asking price).  One sale they often have though that is real sale is on Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  Beverage packages, excursions, specialty dining can all be purchased for less than they usually sell it for.  Looking online I only see the Princess Black Friday deals as deals on cruises themselves.  Does the $60 per day for Princess Plus ever get reduced or is it always the exact same price?

Arrival times are usually available 60 days out. 

Princess does not use dynamic pricing like RCI. So the Plus is current $60 a day, regardless of ship or sailing, pre-purchase or onboard. If you check the online TA prices, you will see the Plus inclusion is $60 pp/pd more than the fare only price. Might catch a better price if on a true sale/promo.

The other advantage to purchasing on board besides using OBC is that you do not include the cost of plus in the cruise insurance.

They have raised the plus price twice I believe in the last year, used to be $40 a day. It can go up another $20 a day and still be a better deal than RCI.

[Russ Lomas]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

And if you book the standard fare at a great sale price, upgrading to the Plus package could cost much more than $60/day.

I booked the standard fare at a great price, but when I log into my account, it offers me the chance to upgrade for $1134 Canadian dollars for Plus for 2 people (converts to $60 US each with the exchange rate).

[SargassoPirate]

Russ, one thing that can help ease the pain of the cost of cruises is to use a warehouse club travel department as your TA and also pay for the cruise with their affiliated credit card.  The TA rewards me with a gift card based on what the cruise line pays TAs as commission and the credit card gives me a three percent cash back on travel charges once a year.

 

You can book the cruise directly with the cruise line and then transfer the booking to the warehouse club TA.  

Edited May 17, 2023 by SargassoPirate

[PacnGoNow]

11 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

We love RCCL and cruise them frequently with family and friends.  Well, RCCL has got really greedy with their current pricing and the quality of their service (MDR and cabin cleaning) is going downhill with the cutbacks (pay more, get less).  Time for a change.  We booked the Regal Princess for March and have had a few other families cancel their RCCL cruises to come try Princess with us for a first time.

 

Question 1 - On RCCL, you can check in for the cruise about 50 days prior to boarding, complete your check in, including picking a check in time for your arrival at the port.  How does this work with Princess?  Do you prebook boarding times?  If so, is it done through the app?  When can you pick your time if so?

 

Question 2 - RCCL often has "sales" throughout the year (though most of them are smoke and mirror games offering a higher % off after raising the initial asking price).  One sale they often have though that is real sale is on Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  Beverage packages, excursions, specialty dining can all be purchased for less than they usually sell it for.  Looking online I only see the Princess Black Friday deals as deals on cruises themselves.  Does the $60 per day for Princess Plus ever get reduced or is it always the exact same price?

 

Thanks for all your help in advance.  I worked for Princess 25 years ago, so I look forward to trying them as a passenger.

Our RCCL loyalty stopped after all the rollercoaster ships and prices started to soar!  We hated all the PA announcements.  We loved the fact that PCL is more laid back and a more relaxing cruise, if you want it.  

 

I use the Princess Medallion App for check in … just go through each item.

 

The arrivals groups are open anywhere from 59 days to 12 days before sailing. You’ll find it under travel checklist>move down to Suggested…arrivals.  Like others said, not enforced, but could be in the future.  So, just pick one.

 

Make sure on the App: Choose your medallion wearable.  Even though you will pick up at the port, it will get you to the green lane, eventually.

 

Website:  

Cruise personalizer:

Print your luggage tags out 75 days before sailing or later.

 

Print your Travel summary…Any time before sailing. Shows details  of purchases, your cruise info, you may need.

 

Welcome to the Princess forum.

 

 

 

 

 

[nbsjcruiser]

Others are providing good info on checking in and sales and so on. I did want to comment on the differences between the two lines. Like you, we were dedicated RCI cruisers and are currently Diamond level. A few years ago we decided to try Princess again (we had cruised once before) and the difference was noticeable. Food was better, service top notch and there weren't screaming kids running all over the place. We found Princess more to our liking (we're in our late 50's/early 60's) than RCI. Anyway, we're now 3 cruises away from Elite status which comes with some nice perks. Free bar set up for each of us, free laundry, first off the boat at tender spots and so on.

 

Last year we picked up a 4 day cruise on the Liberty of the Seas because some family members were going on it so we thought we'd join them. The food in the MDR was not as good as I remember it - certainly not in the same league as Princess. Service was hectic and rushed and people dressed anyway they wanted to, even on the evenings that were supposed to be fancy nights. The whole experience seemed down-level to me and for the money they want, certainly not worth it.

 

Princess has made the decision to up their game with food and service and it shows. You won't be disappointed with the Regal (we've been on it 3 times) and I'm willing to bet you won't look back once you've tried Princess.

Edited May 17, 2023 by nbsjcruiser

[Russ Lomas]

On 5/17/2023 at 8:40 AM, nbsjcruiser said:

Others are providing good info on checking in and sales and so on. I did want to comment on the differences between the two lines. Like you, we were dedicated RCI cruisers and are currently Diamond level. A few years ago we decided to try Princess again (we had cruised once before) and the difference was noticeable. Food was better, service top notch and there weren't screaming kids running all over the place. We found Princess more to our liking (we're in our late 50's/early 60's) than RCI. Anyway, we're now 3 cruises away from Elite status which comes with some nice perks. Free bar set up for each of us, free laundry, first off the boat at tender spots and so on.

 

Last year we picked up a 4 day cruise on the Liberty of the Seas because some family members were going on it so we thought we'd join them. The food in the MDR was not as good as I remember it - certainly not in the same league as Princess. Service was hectic and rushed and people dressed anyway they wanted to, even on the evenings that were supposed to be fancy nights. The whole experience seemed down-level to me and for the money they want, certainly not worth it.

 

Princess has made the decision to up their game with food and service and it shows. You won't be disappointed with the Regal (we've been on it 3 times) and I'm willing to bet you won't look back once you've tried Princess.

We have the Regal booked for March and the Harmony of the Seas for the following March in 2025 (prices were actually still reasonable - about half price what they are asking for March 2024).  If we really enjoy the Princess cruise, it will not be our last one with them (I used to work on the Sun Princess 25 years ago, so I assume things have changed a lot since then).  I always find great deals on cruises and Princess was always double what I paid with RCCL, but now the trend has reversed.

 

We, too, are Diamond with RCCL.  Love the Diamond perks, and now will have to start amassing status points with Princess.  I am more active, and enjoy all the activities on RCCL (in my mid 50's), but tore my rotator cuff doing the Flowrider (I ride a lot and try tricks I should not be doing at my age...lesson learned).  We will see how I do without the Flowrider for an entire week on a cruise.  Time to relax, and some reading may be what the doctor ordered.

 

If you cruised RCCL on the Liberty last year PRIOR to January 1, 2023, then that was before the massive overhaul of the MDR menus.  Sad to say, they are greatly inferior now to what you would have experienced on the Liberty (service is so much quicker, almost rushed).  Dining in the MDR always seemed "special" with everyone dressed up a bit, at least a collared shirt and slacks.  Now it is more like going to a McDonald's in a Walmart for dinner (in terms of dress attire) on RCCL.

 

 

[nbsjcruiser]

17 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

  I always find great deals on cruises and Princess was always double what I paid with RCCL, but now the trend has reversed.

Yep, same thing we are seeing as well.

 

17 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

We, too, are Diamond with RCCL.  Love the Diamond perks, and now will have to start amassing status points with Princess.  I am more active, and enjoy all the activities on RCCL (in my mid 50's), but tore my rotator cuff doing the Flowrider (I ride a lot and try tricks I should not be doing at my age...lesson learned).  We will see how I do without the Flowrider for an entire week on a cruise.  Time to relax, and some reading may be what the doctor ordered.

Like you, despite being 61, I'll do the flowrider and will even try a water slide but the downside to that is kids everywhere, noise, belly flop contests - no thanks. That's what I like about Princess. I can head up to the pool deck where its decently quiet - no hairy legs contest, belly flop contests. Find a chair, sit down and have a nice relaxing day at sea.

 

17 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

 

If you cruised RCCL on the Liberty last year PRIOR to January 1, 2023, then that was before the massive overhaul of the MDR menus.  Sad to say, they are greatly inferior now to what you would have experienced on the Liberty (service is so much quicker, almost rushed).  Dining in the MDR always seemed "special" with everyone dressed up a bit, at least a collared shirt and slacks.  Now it is more like going to a McDonald's in a Walmart for dinner (in terms of dress attire) on RCCL.

 

 

The menus were very underwhelming when we were on the Liberty last fall. The service matched it as well. Nowhere near what it used to be when we first started cruising RCI in 2004. They have dumbed down the menus, noticeably reduced service to the point where I find myself now wondering out loud if they shouldn't just do away with the MDR all together and just have everyone bell-up to the buffet. Even restaurants like Chops are now so bad that I wouldn't even bother going there again. Princess food is heads and shoulders above RCI.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

another thing we like about Princess is that you don't need to check out towels with your card and worry about losing them/checking them in. Take as many as you want and return them when you want.

 

If you have a drink package, room delivery was absolutely free on Enchanted. We put it to good use. Just be careful ordering frozen drinks - by the time they arrive, they are quite a bit melty. 🙂 I think it's also free on Regal, but we never had a package on Regal.

[Cruise Raider]

On 5/17/2023 at 1:39 AM, caribill said:

 

 

And if you book the standard fare at a great sale price, upgrading to the Plus package could cost much more than $60/day.

 

 

It’s really easy to add the Plus or Premium packages onto your booking at the stated prices of $60 and $80 pp per day.  You can even now just do it onboard via your app. If you have a lot of obc, it’s a great way to spend it.  

[caribill]

19 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

We have the Regal booked for March and the Harmony of the Seas for the following March in 2025 (prices were actually still reasonable - about half price what they are asking for March 2024).

 

From the Royal Caribbean stock analysts call this month:

"We expect to return to historical load factors in late spring and continue to benefit from a strong pricing environment. We expect to deliver record yields that are 6.75% to 7.75% higher than 2019 with every one of our brands generating positive direct profit this year. Our strong yield growth outlook is driven by the performance of new hardware, a strong pricing environment, especially for Caribbean itineraries, and continued growth from onboard revenue areas. New hardware has been a great differentiator for us, and we are benefiting from the eight ships that joined our fleet since 2019."

[ricka47]

2 hours ago, nbsjcruiser said:

Yep, same thing we are seeing as well.

 

Like you, despite being 61, I'll do the flowrider and will even try a water slide but the downside to that is kids everywhere, noise, belly flop contests - no thanks. That's what I like about Princess. I can head up to the pool deck where its decently quiet - no hairy legs contest, belly flop contests. Find a chair, sit down and have a nice relaxing day at sea.

 

The menus were very underwhelming when we were on the Liberty last fall. The service matched it as well. Nowhere near what it used to be when we first started cruising RCI in 2004. They have dumbed down the menus, noticeably reduced service to the point where I find myself now wondering out loud if they shouldn't just do away with the MDR all together and just have everyone bell-up to the buffet. Even restaurants like Chops are now so bad that I wouldn't even bother going there again. Princess food is heads and shoulders above RCI.

 

It took us a long time to finally make it to Diamond on RCI, and the food quality had fallen drastically by the time we did. We're doing our first Princess cruise in 20 years this July and are keeping expectations low. But we are hoping for something better than RCI.

[phatlad]

Loyal RC here. I found Princess underwhelming compared to RC. Which surprised me, because I thought it would be a step up. HOWEVER, that comes with the caveat that I haven't sailed RC post-COVID, so I'm comparing pre-COVID RC to post-COVID Princess. I'm afraid my biggest complaint about Princess (the food) I would now be complaining about on RC.

 

Here's my review:

 

 

 

Cliff's notes: (if you don't feel like reading my wall o' text) I found Princess Plus absolutely worth it, and the beds and pillows were AMAZING.

Food in all areas of the ship was ridiculously bland with an overall lack of options, Princess Anywhere was supremely underwhelming (for as much as they tout it), and the entertainment was 2,000 times worse than RC.

 

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

I 100% recommend Princess, but as a loyal Princess passenger, I do have to prepare you that all cruise lines seem to have had some cutbacks from Covid.

 

You can start checking in on the Medallion app at the 90 day mark. One of the steps is to order your Medallion, and you can place the order right away. They will just ship it a few weeks out from your cruise. Boarding groups do not open up for selection until a random day leading up to the cruise. I’ve had them open up as late as a few weeks before the cruise to as early as 50 to 60 days before the cruise, and my in-laws had theirs never open up.

 

You’re right that the sales don’t usually give discounts on excursions or drink packages the way that Celebrity and Royal Caribbean offer; they focus more on cruise discounts, which sometimes include OBC or the drink package.

 

Happy planning, and I hope you have found your new home on Princess!

[nasa1974]

I hate the dynamic pricing that RCI has but I like that the app has facial recognition.

[nini]

On 5/17/2023 at 4:50 AM, SargassoPirate said:

Russ, one thing that can help ease the pain of the cost of cruises is to use a warehouse club travel department as your TA and also pay for the cruise with their affiliated credit card.  The TA rewards me with a gift card based on what the cruise line pays TAs as commission and the credit card gives me a three percent cash back on travel charges once a year.

 

You can book the cruise directly with the cruise line and then transfer the booking to the warehouse club TA.  

 

What @SargassoPirate said. This has worked well for us, however, we also know the details of what we want to book.

[nini]

In our opinion and experience, the Plus is well worth it. We do not worry about how many fancy espresso drinks we get, how many glasses of wine that we may select, gratuities are paid and we have our WiFi which has typically worked well for us. Then we are free to tip extra when and where we choose, in cash, to some crew members. There are numerous threads and "discussions" regarding the worthiness of Plus. @JimmyVWine did an incredible job on his recent thread about being on the Regal and British Isles. His final "tally" was very scientific!