kywildcatfanone

Well, I'm back. Flight landed at 9:59am, got bags dropped with porter at 10:34am, and by the time we got through blue lane and onboard it was 11:15. No lounge stop. I asked the rep at check in about priority check in for loyalty and she said "Princess is moving away from loyalty benefits and priority check in". So, all in from the time we dropped bags it was 41 minutes. Green lane would obviously be faster. I hate the direction Princess is headed with their most loyal customers.

It's just a matter of time till MDR, buffet, and burgers and pizza cost something. I can totally see them starting to charge for all food options soon.

Yes, they are engraved and waiting at check in.

Do you know if they have coke zero on board?

I can let you know soon. Presumably the only issue is having to wait a while to get through check in. I remember when priority check in was a loyalty benefit.

We do this when our flights just don't align to go down the day before, and not had a problem YET. We do book direct flights when flying the same day to avoid any problems with connections. Not ideal, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

Yep, 100% agree. I think it's reasonably well know that they make significant profit from packages. It's why they push them so hard, and it does seem to work, so why not. I'm sure they are moving to no standard fare options, and I agree, the package prices will go up soon. They might even do like Celebrity and remove tips from the AI so it's not really AI anymore. We had stopped eating at the specialty restaurants when we noticed the quality of the options going down. Which is sad, but I used to enjoy the specialty restaurants on formal nights.

Must make a lot of money off the casino.

My TA also has trouble seeing cabins similar to me on most of the sailings I search, and says she hast to call and wait on hold. They want you to book directly, presumably so they don't pay a commission to a TA. The new world of cost cutting continues.

I don't understand why Princess thinks this is a good idea. I guess as someone mentioned, they want people in guarantees to fill their least desirable cabins, but hiding cabins from view by a paying customer just seems like a bad business idea.

I do too, but I don't always have sunny 85 degree weather.

Looking forward to your comparison. We took our first Celebrity cruise last year and the Celebrity board told me it would seem like a completely new experience from Princess, that the food would be better, etc. I found it to be very similar overall, with little differences other than ship design. I will say the service was excellent. We took a second Celebrity cruise 6 weeks ago and had a good time, but it just reaffirmed to me that the differences between Celebrity and Princess are minimal and mostly ship layout and cost.

Chasing money

My understanding for check in purposes it's only blue and green lanes. No more priority check in for loyalty customers. If that is wrong, would someone clarify?

Yep. Remove what was once a loyalty benefit to something you pay for. For clarity sake, I'm talking about the priority check in you used to get for your loyalty level.

They are trying to force people to book guarantees so they control cabin locations they give out and will upcharge for specific cabins. They have been doing this for a while now. I do see a few sailings here and there where you can still find a cabin, but I suspect it's based upon the percentage of bookings at that time and once they hit a specific number, those cabins disappear.

There is no question this change is intentional. They are trying to force people to allow them to select cabins when they reach a certain % of bookings at least, maybe more than that. It's so they can then upcharge you for the cabin you want.

This will be my first cruise upcoming since they ended the priority check in for loyalty members and moved it to pay. Will see how it goes. I hate these constant benefit cuts to loyal customers.

That's crazy. We usually get to the port around 10:30.

Yes, they are both adult only, but there is no charge for the retreat pool unless you want a cabana.

You are mostly correct. Many elite now on most sailings, especially longer sailings.

Ah, class system comes to Princess. I hate there is no adults only retreat area on these newest ships.

I don't really disagree with this, but my experience is the wind tunnel that is created can be just about as bad as the open deck on sea days. I guess for me, I prefer the openness of the Regal, there are a lot more chairs around the pool itself, and the layout is just better IMO.

Boarding is all based on the readiness of the ship. Could be anywhere from 10:30 to 1pm generally before they start boarding.

Well, not that much, but our favorite area is the retreat pool which on the newer ships they put cabins outside and makes that area sit down in a hole, which ruined the ambiance of the space, for us anyway.