MacMadame

They aren't.

This is great information but YIKES that's early. Our son is picking us up at the port and there is no way he'll be up by then. 🤣 Oh well, I've wanted to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum for a while now. Maybe we'll have him pick us up there. 😉

I'm paying for my cruise with Princess gift cards. I can only buy a certain number per month so I'm buying them as I go. If I was paying with cash, I wouldn't do that but I want that 8% discount!

I've been following the "Ultimate" World Cruise and the people I follow report that they are getting cuisine inspired by wherever they are as well as the normal fare. So I think there is going to be more variety on a WC that does that (which I think is most of them?) vs. a normal shorter cruise. Though the cruise I am taking next year says they do food and events based on where the cruise is going. I guess to distinguish it from their cruises that go to other parts of the world?

My understanding is that it's the immigration officials who check those things at embarkation. And even they make mistakes as happened when a bunch of people were let onto a cruise with fake visas and got stuck later on not being able to get back to the ship when they tried to use them.

What can I say? The older I get, the earlier I eat. I haven't become one of those people who eats at 4:30 pm though. Yet! 🤣

The whole point of a fleet-wife pool is to make it fairer for all the crew so staff you don't see who help the people we do see get tips and so crew on ships with majority low-tippers don't get punished vs. crew on ships full of us tip-happy Americans. (Yes, we're crazy.) So maybe it used to be that way or maybe it's that way on other lines but it's not that way now according to Princess (and people who have talked to crew about it and reported back). Is it double-dipping? I can see arguments either way. But I don't see it that way. I see service charges on stuff that I used to tip as I went. i.e., I used to give the bartender a tip for each drink ordered but now there is a service charge so I don't have to. I see crew appreciation for everything that is included. It replaces the tips we handed out to our cabin steward and our staff in the MDR at the end of the cruise. So I don't see an overlap there.

Yes, but I'm not. There was apparently a window when anyone could make reservations but it's closed. It was probably a bug, tbh.

The 18% does not go directly to your server. It goes into the gratuity pool. And the Crew Appreciation charge (which also goes into the pool) covers more than servers. It also covers your cabin steward, bartenders, and other hospitality staff. It goes into the pool. The pool is used to pay part of the crew's compensation (as when Princess went to a pool system, they also raised wages) and to pay bonuses. Princess doesn't specify if these are bonuses only to high performers or bonuses that are more generally spread around. I am guessing the former.

Except the only opinion that counts is Princess'. 😄 I thought I read here that if you came on board without having made your SD reservations, you'd get a card with two reservations for random days/times and then you need to change them if they don't suit. Or am I confusing a suite benefit of some sort? 🤷‍♂️

Also. It didn't say anything we didn't already know. 😄 My reservations are still there. I will check tomorrow which is when I think they were supposed to start canceling them. What I am wondering is whether or not I will be able to make new reservations as I supposedly wasn't supposed to be able to make them the first time. (I haven't made the final payment.) Note: I know no one here will be able to answer this. I'm just speculating.

My very first cruise was a NYE one but NYE was embarkation night so a lot of people were jet lagged or tired from traveling so it was much more subdued than I expected. But that was decades ago so maybe they try harder these days. 🤷‍♀️

Crew appreciation is combined with the service charges (the 18%) and that creates a pool that is used to give the waitstaff (and others) bonuses and compensation. [According to the Princess website.] It's a big pool and money doesn't go strictly to those who served you by how much came from each source. It may not even go to staff on your ship as the pool is ship-wide. So the MDR is covered by the crew appreciation and the specialty dining is covered by the service charge so you don't have to tip anyone over and above that unless you want to.

You are not being charged an extra 18% for service in the MDR or buffet. It's only for items not covered by your fare. i.e., Specialty dining, drinks from the bar, casual dining.

They didn't say anything in the Press Release about priority so I am choosing to believe that it will be first-come, first-serve. 😉 Did it provide any new info not in the Press Release?

Are you not charged the 18% or is it covered? I had assumed it was covered by the package but would appear on the folio.

Which the computer can cancel in a few minutes once they write the script to do so. 😄 If they have a "just show up" option, wouldn't people who decide not to show up for their traditional dining time one evening, just go there? (Like if they get back late from a port and miss early dining.) I think it's in Princess' best interest to let people switch. Otherwise, they will have trouble planning especially for Traditional dining. If they don't, a ton of people will show up to the "just show up" dining room once they figure out that the option they originally picked wasn't working for them. I think

Then they should have more! 😄 If they did a few for each sailing, more could participate. I suspect it requires them to take too much time away from their regular duties to rehearse though.

On my last cruise, we brought our two kids, one 8 and one 1 year. We got an inside cabin that slept 4 and it was bigger than any I've been in that slept 2. It was 184 sq. ft. and had a queen bed, a sleeper sofa, and a bunk. We had a great time as we were only in our cabin to change clothes and sleep. ETA this was a Disney Cruise. Not sure if that made a difference in the cabin size.

I've read here that you can share those because, just like drinks, they ask for your cabin number and apply it to whatever account they feel like. 😄

How did you do this? When I booked excursions, I was not given the choice to add a gift card, only to pay by credit card. 😞

I didn't say assigned times cost more money. I said that cruise lines that still cruise in the old ways cost more money. Assigned times is just one place where things have changed, there is also turndown service, the midnight buffet, all drinks except alcohol, and all activities included in the fare, etc.

I was able to do it for a US-based cruise and I have never been on a Princess cruise ever. However, I can't do it now. Therefore, I think @BamaVol is correct. There was this brief window after the new app was released where it would let you but that window appears to be closed.

The TA who was going to take over my booking checks every day for all the booked cruises she is responsible for. That's more than I do and what I would expect since it's her job. I did too when I was just searching blind but when someone recommended a TA to me, I finally saw those deals that other people were talking about. Cruising is changing all the time though. It's hard to keep up.

One of my parlor tricks is being able to tell how much things weigh. 🤣 I pick up the suitcase until I think it's just under 50 pounds. I do double-check with the bathroom scale (I get on it with and without the suitcase) even though that method is not as accurate and so far I have never been wrong! I am obsessed with YouTube videos about taking everything in a personal item and a carry-on. I understand why they do it but I just can't see it for myself at least not for an 18-day trip (travel plus cruise). Even if I plan to do laundry during the trip, there are just so many little things I'd need that add up once I pack the 7-8 outfits that they show in the videos.