Can YOU list the "extras" you pay for on Princess and NOT *insert mass market line*

[BarbCT605]

Barb...what a wonderful idea. Maybe I should have a few of those signs printed up before I leave home. They seemed to get your message....and without any fuss. While I'm printing maybe I should print something up for the "chair hogs" too.

Thank you for your civil response to my post.

 

Of course I was sitting near a bar -- if you're by a pool, you're near a bar.:rolleyes:

 

I wasn't talking about the occasional offer of a beverage by a server. I was at a table by the pool for only short while being pestered by 6 servers, one after the other, while I tried to eat lunch.

 

I finally got myself a glass of water, with lime, from the bar and just left it in front of me -- no signage necessary.:)

[oldgator]

DrPack, I see you were in the Coast Guard. I also was in the Coast Guard back in 1955,56,57,58. Went in a a SA (Cape May Boot Camp) and came out as SK-2.

I was stationed aboard the USCG-Icebreaker - Eastwind and made Operation Deepfreeze I with Admiral Bird aboard.

I see you live in Leesburg, Florida, We live in Enterprise, Fl which is just east of you. We live on Stone Island which is an island in the St. Johns River.

We are both retired and have been on 16 cruises and are booked on our 17th on the Jan 28th Manaus, Brazil to San Juan, P.R. which will be our 6th Princess Cruise. My regular e-mail is oldgator@cfl.rr.com

[Tina G]

Oh, my! Are there people who feel that they must buy things everytime they are offered?:rolleyes: What do they do when on land in Mexico, Turkey, or St. Thomas? Just say NO.:) We don't drink (much), don't gamble, don't buy stuff on board, don't go to the spa or specialty restaurants, don't go to the art auction, don't buy pictures from the photo staff (DH is a photography nut), and can live without ice cream for a week or two. Poor Princess, they just have to make money off of some other passengers!:p We love Princess, and we have a fabulous time! (We're the cheapskates in the inside cabin.)

[mrdawson]

After reading all these posts from people listing what they don't do I thought I had better post what I do do!:D

 

I buy and drink LOTs of cocktails on a cruise! (Celebrity's drinks are about 30% more expensive than Princess but the martini's are about 40% larger! ;) ) I do buy photos. I usually over tip the waiters. I do spend too much in the casino's. I do get annoyed if I have no drink and there are servers in the area and they don't ask me if I want a drink (which never happens though..LOL) I do pay for Spa services. I do spend too much money in the shops..OK thats my wife doing that! I do like to leave a deposit on my next cruise while I'm onboard. And lastly I am not that thrilled to see my bill at the end of the cruise, but am I upset at any of the good people who "offered" me these goodies!! Hell no!!!!!!!! I just look at the charges and smile and wish I had another week on board to spend even more money!:p

[sppunk]

So, the only charges so far are for lemonade and some coffee.

 

Good to know those people who are complaining that Princess is the worst "nickle-and-diming" cruise line, and not myself, are completely off base.

 

Happy sailings whichever line you get nickle-and-dimed on next! Mine will be Princess, then Oceania.

[SailAways]

I have read three or four threads here about the 'nickle and dime'ing' that apparently occurs on various cruise lines? Perhaps it is because I do not understand the defintion of 'nickel and dime'ing'...I thought I did...but may be not.

I am not a veteran crusiser. Having said that I don't think it makes any difference to this argument anyway.

We booked our cruises based on itinerary and cost. We research the CC boards about the specific ship and the service it provides. If all comes out the way we like it, we buy the cruise.

We don't use the spa. We don't care if there is one and we don't care how much it costs!

We don't drink alcohol (wife drinks wine with dinner) so we don't care what the price of drinks are!

We don't buy gold and silver by the inch, foot or yard so we don't care if it is offered, and we certainly don't care how much it costs.

We like one picture taken by the pros onthe ship. Don't care what it costs, we'll buy it!

I gusess what I am trying to say here is, who cares what these things cost or don't cost. If you don't like the price don't buy...if it is essential that the item is on the ship then find the company that offers it for free!

For anyone to decide on whether to take a cruise or not to take a cruise based on the cost of a cup of coffee, ice cream, or the price of drinks that are over-priced to begin with boggles he mind.

We want a mini-suite...we want it spotless...with a good bed...with good cabin service. We want three decent meals a day...we want a couple of fun snacks that we would probably not eat at home...we want good.... and most important.... friendly service. We want any problems that should arise addressed quickly and efficiently. That is what we expect Princess to deliver for the price of the ticket!

Anything else we want we'll pay extra for...and we know we will pay extra for before we even get on the damn shipbecause I don't see any of these companies hiding anythingh! Granted, some of them are not doing a very good job letting potential customers what they have to pay for...but that's what these boards are for!

If we are not going to get that then we're not buying.... but free ice cream ain't the deal breaker!

Just my thoughts

Tom:(

 

Great thoughts. This deserves to be read by those just appearing who will not go back to the previous page.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. How in the world some folks believe they have to do everything aboard which costs extra boggles my mind too.

 

Thanks Tom for stating all of this.

[Jacqueline]

Sppunk- hope you keep on posting to the board ! What a breath of fresh air !

I have done most of my sailing on Princess although have also been on RCCL, Celebrity and HAL.

You are "on the money" with your comments and observations. I will say however, that I do find it unpleasant that the atrium turns into a "turkish" bazaar every night, with the gold by the inch tables side by side with all the other trinkets. Keep them in the shops and maintain the ambiance !

The other pet peeve of mine is not that they have art auctions ( I have picked up a few nice souvenirs over the years) but that that darned "art" is EVERYWHERE.Believe me, beauty is in the eye of the beholder with this stuff. Then again if you have cruised on Celebrity, you have no doubt had your sensibilities challenged by the ship's own artwork. Well, at least it isn't as banal as what you see on Princess.

[Steve13]

My kind of guy. Sort of describes my cruise experience, too. You're welcome to cruise with me and my wife anytime!! :D

[Steve13]

After reading all these posts from people listing what they don't do I thought I had better post what I do do!

 

 

 

I buy and drink LOTs of cocktails on a cruise! (Celebrity's drinks are about 30% more expensive than Princess but the martini's are about 40% larger! ) I do buy photos. I usually over tip the waiters. I do spend too much in the casino's. I do get annoyed if I have no drink and there are servers in the area and they don't ask me if I want a drink (which never happens though..LOL) I do pay for Spa services. I do spend too much money in the shops..OK thats my wife doing that! I do like to leave a deposit on my next cruise while I'm onboard. And lastly I am not that thrilled to see my bill at the end of the cruise, but am I upset at any of the good people who "offered" me these goodies!! Hell no!!!!!!!! I just look at the charges and smile and wish I had another week on board to spend even more money!

 

 

My kind of guy. Sort of describes my cruise experience, too. You're welcome to cruise with me and my wife anytime!!

[bluefintuna]

If only we could buy lemonade on Princess. I will carry a 12 pack onboard because they don't offer it, but Carnival does and we will sail them in Jan.

[TourneyKit]

My father was the original "Irish Sheenie". I swear he had old Scottish blood in him. Could squeeze the face off a nickle. Going on a vacation was terrible because of all the **tching about this that and the other thing when it came time to enjoy something. Hence, being of sound mind, I'm the exact opposite. When I took my kids on a vacation, we did it all, and did it all right. Once I've made the decision to go, I don't worry about the cost. Why in the world would you "infect" your mind with such trivial matters and ruin the memories of your vacation doing so? Thats what a vacation is to me, the memories. And I'll be damned if it's going to be......."That trip cost me to much money". I tip the steward the day I get on board, I tip the Matre'd the first night I meet him. I'f I'm dining anytime, I tip additional as I go if the service warrants it. I buy what I want when I want while on board. And my wife isn't ever going to hear "what? are you outta your mind spending that kinda money?". It's a VACATION...that means to Vacate...including your wallet:) So if you want to "Nickle and Dime" me, bring a calculator, because all I carry is green backs.

[platterb]

Maybe many of those who are complaining about being "nickeled and dimed" haven't been cruising for a long time. The marketing of cruises has changed dramatically. Instead of the almost all-inclusive format, most of the cruise lines have reduced cabin rates significantly and then charge for the extras. I have sailed NCL, RCCL, HAL and Celebrity and am now booked on the

Diamond.

 

For instance, our first cruise was on NCL in 1983. Their special SeaSaver rate was $599 for inside cabin, $699 for an outside one. And, that didn't include port or government charges. So, add a conservative $150 and it would bring the base total from $750 to $850. Back then you still paid for drinks on board and shore excursions.

 

Let's move forward to 2006. I just booked a mini-suite on the Diamond for the same price we paid for that NCL outside cabin. So the bottom line: cruising today even with the extras if far more affordable then it was 20 years ago.

[TourneyKit]

Platterb,

 

That is so true. Inflation has not hit the cruise industry. It is hard to believe how little the costs have gone up in the past twenty years. There are so many more ships competing for business. I watched the special on the Travel Channel just a couple nights ago and was shocked to discover that only 5% of Americans have been on a cruise. As long as they keep building new ships and have such a large untapped market, it should stay competitive. And we will reap the benefits:)

[KAYEF]

smoothdancer

I DO believe cruising is a very inexpensive vacation.

We flew to Vancouver a day early for our Alaska cruise this year. Because I can't stand the "stress" (for me) of using something like Priceline, I did a lot of research and booked a hotel near Canada Place. With all the CA taxes, the hotel was just under $300.

I can find cruises for less than $100. a day and THAT INCLUDES room, food, entertainment, room service and even great people watching ! And, I'm not burning tanks full of gasoline, driving from one place to the next.

As a matter of fact, since almost everything I use is free once I board, and I've already paid for the cruise, it ALL seems free to me!;)

[stephenandrew]

I have no real basis for comparison having only sailed on Princess recently and only Disney once (quite some time ago), so I can't say if the nickel and diming is better or worse on one line than another. I will mention though, as I have in previous posts, that on some Princess cruises, not all, the dining room staff were really "motivated" to sell things like cook books and wine tastings during meals. It was not the end of the world, but it was pretty annoying to have to listen to multiple sales pitches during dinner while we were relaxing and trying to enjoy our dinner and conversation. For the most part the wait staff were not unpleasent or pushy when making the sales pitch, but they were, nonetheless, disrupting us----not really what I want to deal with when I am on vacation. Again, I have noticed this more on some Princess cruises than others (some cruises we were never approached to buy anything while dining). This may be common practice on other lines too----I don't know.

[cruise182]

the dining room staff were really "motivated" to sell things like cook books and wine tastings during meals. It was not the end of the world, but it was pretty annoying to have to listen to multiple sales pitches during dinner while we were relaxing and trying to enjoy our dinner and conversation. .

 

Tacky!!:(

 

Greetings Mr. Dawson!;)

[SailAways]

Tacky!!:(

 

Greetings Mr. Dawson!;)

 

I agree wholeheartedly.

 

We will be taking our first Princess cruise next April.

If folks appear at our table to sell anything, they will immediately get a polite "No Thank You" along with an explanation that this is our dinner time, and we do not wish to be disturbed with this sort of feature while dining.

If it persists, I shall take my polite complaint to a higher level.

[lovebug33]

I've never cruised before, but here is my two cents. After reading things and deciding what we want to do, we have budgeted a whole lot of extra money for all of the extras. We might come back with some, we might spend it all. Who cares? Last year, our vacation was spent in a tent. We're just happy we won't have to stay in a tent this year!

[rebeccalouise]

As a general rule, I would ear-mark $ 50. per day per passenger for incidentals (including tips, alcohol, spa services, etc.).

[nschurr]

I have no real basis for comparison having only sailed on Princess recently and only Disney once (quite some time ago), so I can't say if the nickel and diming is better or worse on one line than another. I will mention though, as I have in previous posts, that on some Princess cruises, not all, the dining room staff were really "motivated" to sell things like cook books and wine tastings during meals. It was not the end of the world, but it was pretty annoying to have to listen to multiple sales pitches during dinner while we were relaxing and trying to enjoy our dinner and conversation. For the most part the wait staff were not unpleasent or pushy when making the sales pitch, but they were, nonetheless, disrupting us----not really what I want to deal with when I am on vacation. Again, I have noticed this more on some Princess cruises than others (some cruises we were never approached to buy anything while dining). This may be common practice on other lines too----I don't know.

 

Just tell your waiter that the food hasn't met your standards to warrant purchasing a cookbook. The food and the service will undoubtedly improve.

[Tina G]

After reading all these posts from people listing what they don't do I thought I had better post what I do do!:D

 

I buy and drink LOTs of cocktails on a cruise! (Celebrity's drinks are about 30% more expensive than Princess but the martini's are about 40% larger! ;) ) I do buy photos. I usually over tip the waiters. I do spend too much in the casino's. I do get annoyed if I have no drink and there are servers in the area and they don't ask me if I want a drink (which never happens though..LOL) I do pay for Spa services. I do spend too much money in the shops..OK thats my wife doing that! I do like to leave a deposit on my next cruise while I'm onboard. And lastly I am not that thrilled to see my bill at the end of the cruise, but am I upset at any of the good people who "offered" me these goodies!! Hell no!!!!!!!! I just look at the charges and smile and wish I had another week on board to spend even more money!:p

LOL!! Thank you for helping us cruise for less $$!! People who spend cheerfully and freely make it possible for penny-pinchers like us to cruise! We're retired, and have to watch the $. However, we do tip very generously!!! :) It's great that the cruising industry gives us a choice as to how much our vacation will cost. Cheaper cruises = more cruises!;)

[Steve13]

As a general rule, I would ear-mark $ 50. per day per passenger for incidentals (including tips, alcohol, spa services, etc.).

 

We don't really think about it in advance, but based on our past cruises final bill, we end up spending about $75 per day per passenger.

[tapper]

We agree with Tom (TCCF). So-called "Nickle and Diming" has never been something that we have even thought about. We order only what we really want. We love the cruise experience. We enjoy having mini-suites that are maintained well. We don't drink much--occasionally at dinner. We don't use the spa. We now have free internet use (Platinum members.) We will pay extra in tips for something like room service--especially in the mornings.

[English Tim]

I've never cruised before, but here is my two cents. After reading things and deciding what we want to do, we have budgeted a whole lot of extra money for all of the extras. We might come back with some, we might spend it all. Who cares? Last year, our vacation was spent in a tent. We're just happy we won't have to stay in a tent this year!

 

 

I trust you managed to get out of the tent, at some point!

[mrdawson]

Tacky!!:(

 

Greetings Mr. Dawson!;)

 

LOL How have ya been? I saw your "other" posts to our old friend Coiran!!!! LMAO!!!:D