Ken the cruiser

I think the $60 price point is about the max for us, unless they start adding some perks we will actually use other than free gratuities, unlimited internet and beverage packages, as we pretty much ignore the other light weight perks and don’t use room service.

Or it's just a bug they need to fix as I suggested in post #391

I keep reading about this option. Am I understanding this correctly? You are logging onto you Princess App with a userid/password that is different than your website credentials? Where do you create this App userid/password combination?

I agree totally. Something just doesn't seem right when we were on a 25-day "single itinerary" cruise in a suite and got 2 cruise points, and another person got the same number of cruise points, 2, if they booked a suite on a 3-day cruise.

What's interesting about our upcoming January booking when it comes to the old and new Apps is that we are both in the Green Lane on my DW's Apps, as she has the CC posted to her account in the Shipboard section and I am acknowledged as an authorized user of her CC. However, when I look at my old and new Apps, I'm in the Green Lane on the old one, but in the Blue Lane on the new App (as are a lot of folks) because my new App's "Shoreside" check-in section did not recognize that I was an authorized user of my DW's CC, even though it recognized I was in my "Shipboard" check-in section on both my old and new Apps. In addition, my DW was never asked to provide a CC in her "Shoreside" check-in section, so we are figuring since she entered it in the "shipboard" check-in section, it was automatically added to her "Shoreside" section as well. Seems like there is a bug in the new App that needs to be addressed so that the necessary "authorized CC user status" information is also transferred to their "Shoreside" section, especially if the guest has that status listed in their new App's Shipboard section.

Here is the information on our return flight from Galapagos to Quito on Dec 17. AV1687 (AVA1687) Avianca Flight Tracking and History 17-Dec-2023 (GPS / SEGS-UIO / SEQM) - FlightAware

That’s what I figured. And since the category is sold out and the huge early booking OBC perk was eliminated, we have no desire to refare anyway.

Just so you know under the HAL T&C associated with the StockPerks request process for SOBC, the applicable sailings have to be on or prior to July 31, 2024.

Unless of course PCL decides at some point to increase the daily Plus charge again, like they have done twice before. In the beginning it was $40 pp/day, then $50 pp/day, before the latest increase to $60 pp/day.

No, you should blot out the account number before uploading your brokerage statement using the ALINEA option, just like you would have done in the past when you would email your CCL stock information to HAL, or in our case Princess.

After you register with StockPerks where you only need to give your name and email address, with everything else optional, and get to the point where you start the process to “Validate your portfolio to check eligibility”, Choose the ALINEA option rather than the default PLAID option if you just want to manually upload your brokerage statement, with your account number and any other unnecessary information blotted out, showing you own at least 100 shares of CCL stock.

Since the cost of the Plus Package is included in the base cruise fare, we did the math regarding the 8% TA discount we get if we book the cruise through them, and the increase in the insurance premium was pretty much a wash.

How about a visit to Iceland and maybe even Longyearbyen, depending on which itinerary you choose from this link? Cruises on Norwegian Star (ncl.com)

What happens if the final payment date has not been reached yet? In our case Princess gave us $2000 in OBC to book an18-day Jan 2025 cruise from Buenos Aires to Ft Lauderdale and we booked the cruise with the Plus Package. However, our cabin category is now sold out and the $2000 early booking perk has disappeared. Since the Plus Package fare was included in the base Fare, can we get the $60 pp/day fee removed, so we could pay for it with OBC once onboard? I'm feeling the answer is no.

Apparently, Princess started offering free internet minutes to Platinum and Elite guests in 2012 while ending the policy of giving suite guests unlimited internet. With limited bandwidth at sea in an era in which people are increasingly online with more devices --- handhelds, tablets and laptops -- Princess has ended its policy of offering unlimited Internet for its suite passengers. The policy ended last month, although passengers with suites booked before July 15 will still be entitled to the unlimited bandwidth. Princess will continue to provide its suite passengers with other amenities including a special breakfast for suite passengers at Sabatini's, the line's Italian restaurant; a dedicated priority line for suite passengers at the Passenger Services desk; and fee-free dining at a specialty restaurant on the day of embarkation, among other services. In addition, Platinum and Elite Captain's Circle members qualify for a complimentary Internet use package: 150 minutes for cruises seven days and under, 250 minutes for cruises of eight to 20 days and 500 minutes for cruises 21 days or longer. Princess ends unlimited Internet for suite passengers: Travel Weekly OTOH as you probably well know, Princess stopped providing free internet minutes to Platinum and Elite guests when cruising started back up in 2021. Not sure when they ever offered them to guests that had only reached Ruby status.

The Ruby perk for us was getting the Platinum insurance coverage at the price of the Standard insurance.

Beautiful pictures and being able to take a video of that breaching Humpback whale must have been an awesome experience! So glad to hear you are having a great time and that the internet is working for the most as you cruise around the Peninsula!

Yes

If you launch the “old” app, it should give you the option to download the “new” app.

When we made Elite after our last Princess cruise in Nov, we had to contact our TA to have our upcoming January booking updated with our new Elite Loyalty status. Just curious if your January booking reflects your current status, especially if your Loyalty status was upgraded to Platinum after you booked your upcoming January cruise?

FWIW we will be on the Sapphire for 30-days on a B2B starting Jan 20 and will be posting to a Live From thread.

When we booked our recent Flora cruise back in Dec 2021, the same "sale perks" were going on then as well. We took the "Free" Air option and booked through Celebrity Air. We even upgraded to Delta Comfort+ both ways and it only cost us an extra $480 total, and that was from our regional Alabama airport to Atlanta with a direct flight from there to Quito. They initially tried to route us through Dallas and Miami before flying to Quito. But when we told the rep about the flight combination we found, he had to check with his supervisor and was later given the green light to proceed. Just remember to book your RT flights as soon as possible to get the best rate. As far as the cruise price going down, our Sky Suite with Balcony actually went up $1,700 pp within a year of us initially booking it. So, I wouldn't hold my breath that the price is going to go lower. But you never know ...

We just made Elite on our last cruise and are quite tickled with the new Elite perks we now get on top of what we were already getting, plus the Military OBC we both get for being veterans, the Shareholder OBC for being CCL stockholders, the 8% AARP Gift Card discount we can apply towards cruise fares as well as once onboard, and the 8% off the cruise fare we get for booking the cruise through our TA. I'm not sure any line we cruise with can even come close to topping the overall perks we now get when we book a Princess cruise.

Just curious, but what would be the motivator for Princess to add an additional tier above Elite?

We were there on the Diamond Princess this past July and the temps ranged in the high 80s most of the time, with the dewpoint usually in the high 70s to low 80s. Yes, it was hot and humid. But we were on excursions at each stop and inside most of the time, so not a big deal. But then, we're from Alabama where hot and humid in the summertime is the norm. You can see my Live From thread for that cruise in my below signature area.