Back on Princess After 10 Years

[huntnewt]

We mostly cruise Carnival, but will be on Regal Princess on Jan 5, 2025. We last cruised on Caribbean Princess in April 2014. I know that Ocean Medallion is new and there are new dining changes. Tell me all that has changed since 2014 on Princess and what to expect. I know there have been a lot of changes.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Not really possible to answer your question as pretty much everything is different.   The changes mirror what you have seen on Carnival.   From less formal, food and food service a bit downgraded,  lots of high tech to cabin attendants having lots more cabins; the experience is different.

Also can say the experience varies from Europe to N America and on long vs short cruises.  One today needs to be flexible as there are likely to be a few bumps on your cruise that were not there 10 years ago.

We first cruised on Princess in 1990.  Ship was the same in 2010 when we returned and again in 2022, all else changed.

[555]

The biggest changes you'll experience is that Princess is now has many more casual and specialty restaurants at extra cost. 

Every time you turn around they'll be an additional charge including better items in the DR to their Plus & Premier packages. 

Be prepared for sticker shock. 

[skynight]

There have been lots of changes. The funky app and very poor off shore customer service doesn't help. Medallion itself is a very minimal change. It's basically just a cruise card in a different form. It unlatches your cabin door automatically as you approach. It also allows you to find your cruise partners anywhere on the ship, and allows crew to locate you if you order something using the on board Ocean Now app. 

Dining is a big change. The change is happening right now. Choose between traditional fixed seating, reserved times each day or walk in anytime. Selection is on the app only. If you are in a full suite or a reserve class mini suite then you don't have to concern your self with dining. It's just walk in, prompt seating.

Excursions, if you book them. I'm not certain of the exact date of change. Way back you could book excursions without any charge until you were on board. That changed at some point. Now if you pre-book your credit card is charged immediately, or if you have OBC that can be used to pre-book excursions.

Specialty dining. If pre-booked your credit card is charged. You can not use OBC to pre-book. You can use it once on board.

Check in. Complete all your pre-boarding information on the web version or the app. The medallion is sent to your home, $10 charge, and you are green lane. Choose to pick up the medallion at the pier, you are blue lane, and roughly a 5 minute detour. Not a big deal. No boarding passes or assigned boarding times. Just show your passports. Suggest you carry hard copy of your travel summary as a backup. You still have to print out your luggage tags at home. If unable to print them the luggage handlers can attach tags to your luggage when you check it at the pier.

Plus, $60/pp/day and premier, $80/pp/da, are now common. For me I found with the plus fare the breakeven point is around 3 alcoholic beverages per day. You can read all the terms and conditions on the web site. You can book these fare at the time of booking, or you can purchase them on boarding day once onboard. If purchased on boarding day the cost will net against any OBC in your account.  

[Treasure Hunter]

No chocolates on your pillow at night😢

[KKB]

Began cruising 20 yrs ago...on Princess. 

40+ cruises later (13 on Princess) & sailed the Regal for 28 days in April.

Sailed our 1st Carnival cruise last January. 

 

The MDR food on our Regal cruise was some of the best MDR food we have had in 20 yrs.
Hope that continues. We have always been very happy w/ Princess food but this was a step up. 

 

I would say Princess is a tad less casual than Carnival (a tad) but overall you will find lots of activities to keep you busy. 

Carnival typically does better in comedian department, tho.

 

If you got Princess Plus, specialty coffees are included. So are 2 "premium" desserts a day--which can be the cake slices at International Cafe or the crazy sundaes at the gelato place--or just a couple scoops of gelato. 

You also get 2 specialty casual dining options for that--Sushi or Alfredos. Our friends said the Sushi place was OK but we really enjoyed Alfredos (for lunch or dinner)

 

Have a wonderful time!

 

[lola2013]

7 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

No chocolates on your pillow at night😢

That's it...I'm cancelling Sun Princess TA next year...😂

[SKCruiser007]

I've been cruising on Princess for almost twenty years. Some of the positive changes:

 

Formal nights can be as formal as you want them, but you don't have to conform to a strict dress code. 

The Princess Plus package makes our cruises a lot more enjoyable when I'm not fretting over the cost of a drink, or making sure that I get to the elite/suite lounge to get the specials there before dinner.

Ordering food and drinks to your room through the app is easy, and usually food arrives fast.

No need for in-person muster drills.

The automatic nightlight near the bed is actually helpful (to me.)

 

On the negative side:

It does seem that the room stewards are a much more overworked. Technology appears to allow them to have more rooms to take care. Perhaps this is because the Ocean Medallion allows them to know when we are in or out of room. 

 

Things that haven't changed in twenty years:

Always hearing people comment that the food was better last year, or five years ago, or ten years ago.