I find your videos to be very detailed oriented, well organized and most informative on things people want to know. Your experience shows in your presentation, great visuals, good anticipation of what travelers will question next. Your videos are extremely useful, and provide great guide lines for all travelers. Weeks Prior to every trip, my group and I watch your videos just as a refresher on what to expect, & what to avoid. EXCELLENTLY!
Going on our 5th princess cruise in January. We love them. For cruises leaving and returning to Australia gratuities are not automatically charged to your account.
My husband and I have travelled with Princess Cruise Line and we have been very happy with everything! I have also cruised with Royal Caribbean as well as Norwegian, and Princess has my vote, though Norwegian had the best entertainment! Food on Princess Cruise ships is far superior than the other two cruise lines, especially the Vegetarian meals! Thank you for this video... it explained things I was not aware of!
One thing you didn't mention was that Princess are the only cruise line that have launderettes onboard where you can wash and iron clothes yourself, instead of paying out exorbitant charges to have stuff ironed or washed for you. Particularly important if you are on a long (ish) cruise and are restricted in your baggage allowance when flying to your departure port.
Brilliant overview of Princess, thanks. i too am new to cruises and I am blown away by just how many Ships there are actually cruising the seas, absolutely mindblowing as to the high level of investment that goes into these cruise experiences. Boy, this is another world altogether.
We did our honeymoon on the Tahitian Princess (now the Sirena on Oceana) 10 day cruise. Been to Alaska twice (Princess does Alaska very well), Western Mexico 3 times. The combination of price, accommodations, ambiance of the ship fits our life style. I especially like the Grand Class just because of the walk up to the front of the ship-you can't get any further forward than that. My two favorite ships are Sapphire and Diamond-both made by Mitsubishi (you can see the quality difference compared to the Italian made ships) and they are just a bit less crowded.
I just got home from a Princess Cruise British Isles Cruise on the Royal Princess. The video is right on in explaining the Princess Cruise experience. This was my 5th Princess cruise.
Great video. I used to work for Princes cruises. You basically covered everything. Very detailed and informative about the history of the brand. And largely unbiased. Impressive stuff. I'll watch more 👍👍
I leave on a Princess Cruise in 5 days... but I was looking forward to the fluffy robes and branded toilet supplies. That's all my friends talk about when they come back from their cruises, the animal shaped towels
My wife and I only cruise with Princess now, are going on our 6th cruise with them oct 7th. We have cruised with other lines they where good. But now that we are a little older we find princess just right for us . Thanks for the info, very point on. 😎
Lucky you! I hope you have a great cruise on Oct 7th. Where are you sailing to? Great to hear that you love the line and even as a regular user you found the video helpful! Thanks!
Regal Princess was amazing. I went with my wife to Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba. Best vacation ever! Only pet peeve was that the internet was super slow.
Once again, thank you so much for walking us through all this information. Really appreciate the level of detail in all your videos, and the professional/relaxed approach in the way its explained.
Thanks. Great to hear that you found it helpful in some way. Really appreciate you watching and even more for taking time to leave this feedback. Hope you got another cruise joined up!
We chose the all inclusive one-time tip option and I think it saved us money at no difference in service. For Anytime Dining, we found the service late in the available hours was the best for service and timely arrival of the main course.
Wife and I grew up cruising on Carnivial, but at some point you want to go to another cruise line because of all the rude kids. After we went to Princess, we never looked back. Cruisers are older and very few kids. Best cruise was the 28 day and the 15 day cruise to Hawaii from west coast. Put that cruise on your buck list.
Hawaii to / from West Coast is awesome I agree! I want to do that again! I did it as part of a few legs of world cruise but would like to do a dedicated cruise like you to get more Hawaiian ports in!!!
Excellent summary..Princess is a great cruise line speaking of price for value...also love and use Holland America and Celebrity depending on the destinations and schedules
Interesting, I didn't know that Princess went to the most destinations. We ended up booking that Holland American Alaska/Yukon cruise tour in June of next year, that I mentioned previously. Celebrity is the only premium cruise line we've tried, and we absolutely love it. Looking forward to trying HAL.
we had taken several cruises and we will stay with Princess cruise lines, the experience was over and above many of the others and the food was superior and at dinning and on the deck, over all we will use them again and again !!!!! Great shows and helpful employees and very very clean !!! The all you can drink pop and juice, hot chocolate was worth the money, never had to ask more than 1 time !!!
Thanks! Great to hear that you found it informative even as a Princess Cruise lover. Really appreciate you watching and leaving your feedback. Much appreciated
I have been on six Princess cruises and have been delighted with each and every one of them. The only negative is they rarely change the onboard entertainment from the ships entertainment crew, so you find you have more than likely seen it all previously. They do however, vary the special guest performers more regularly. You would think the staff would get quite bored performing the same old thing year after year.
+Judy Appleton thanks for taking time to add your thought and comments on Princess. It is a good point as lines spend a lot on developing shows and then cling to them - working I guess on assumption that lots of new guests but agree if one is loyal to a line the production shows get all too familiar!!!
We are going to New Zealand via Princess in a couple of days. We've had an email outlining the live shows, which sound to be different to when we last cruised with them two years ago. Wish I'd found your videos before our last trip! (But of course, this particular video wasn't made then.)
I've now watched a number of your cruise videos and have changed my mind and think you do a relatively good job. I have taken a good number of cruises, and these are great tips on each topic. One thing you constantly mention about fares and what is and is not included, which is good. But, you stress often that WiFi is not included, and gratuities as well. Very true for most ocean lines. But, I have never paid for gratuities, drinks, or wifi on any cruise, as they are the most given away items during sales! If someone cruising today on a major line pays for those items, they're not looking for a deal at all. Period. They are the simply given away as enticements. More mention of that would be very helpful.
...often early on in the bookings the deals fly rapid...closer to sail date not so much...more like do you want a ticket or not... ...best deal is last minute deals if no airfare is needed...just grab your bag and UBER to port....with credit card and passport your in...👍
I will be going on that ship for the first time I will be going to Florida staying there at a house for a few days and then going on that trip. I am super psyched and this video help so much. All of this is starting February 13 and I just can not wait
Excellent Video. Very informative, concise and superb delivery. Thanks so much. Going on Princess Sapphire to Norway from London this upcoming Saturday. Cheers.
My great grandpa died because he had a heart attack on princess cruises with a hospital a quarter of a mile away. In there log it said that he had pain in his right arm, even though it was clear that it was changed from left arm to right arm. A fifth grader should be able to tell that if there is pain spreading on the left side it is a heart attack. The doctor on board wasn’t a fifth grader, but he said that he only had a stomach ache, and he died even though there was a hospital very close to the boat.
My husbands life was save by the brilliant medical crew who cared for him before disembarking him at Malta for a check up at the hospital. We were looked after by the Princess representative on the island. He found me an hotel and two days later helped us reunite with the ship by finding flights to another port. The office also checked with me at the hotel to make sure all was proceeding well. Another passenger had his wife disembarked and hospitalised also at Malta, who had the same support. Can’t praise them enough!!
Booked on Princess out of Sydney. They are very informative about the more complex embarkation process. Getting help on the phone or web chat is not easy because of demand. They are organising visa on arrivals in PNG and Bali for us. The ocean medallion and associated app is useful. Their Covid protocols have been up to date. I have done 14 cruises with them so far and have few complaints. Not having formal contract bridge one of them. But with Covid I don’t expect that to happen.
Having done the World Cruise last year and the New Zealand cruise this year the wife and I are hooked on Princess cruises. I am concerned however, that the Cherry Blossom cruise is no longer available. If we want to cruise to Japan and Asia, we can only go one way. The whole idea of cruising is that we don't have to fly, but it is beginning to look as though we in Australia will have no choice unless we just stick to the New Zealand or Island cruises. I just love being at sea and feel the ships come alive.
+John Eriksson thanks for adding your comment! I agree on the big plus of not flying and agree frustrating that the option not looking likely. Princess Cruises seem to create loyal fans ! Hopefully they will add back in no fly options that go further afield !!
My partner and I along with my daughter, husband and two sons 6 and 15 are going on Majestic Princess to NZ. Xmas cruise and my concern will there be enough for them to do apart from swimming for the 12 days. Appreciate your comment and I think the Tips for Travellers is just marvellous!
Vivienne Khan Hi Vivienne, my family are going on the same cruise - my son is 16. I’m hoping he will meet up with other teens his age. They seem to have a teen lounge hang out area so hopefully they will have a good time
The only reason I cruised on Princess is I remembered it being the love boat. I have a nice experience. I am now going to book an Alaska cruise through Princess. I'm expecting a wonderful time. Me, wife, and 5 grandchildren.
we tried sapphire princess in asia,were very happy and lots of memories.friendly crew members and very comfortable ship.make sure to give something extra for those you think who give you an extra care
Fantastic video... My husband and I have always been big fans of the Princess Lines, we only cruise with them. My very first cruise was with Regal Princess the 1st in 1996 I think the year was or there about, she was a beautiful ship, been on several other Princess's since. Cheers.
Thanks! Great to hear you enjoyed the video and good to hear of your passion for Princess! The line does seem to have a big band of very loyal cruisers!
We did the New Zealand cruise from Melbourne December last year. The only days it didn't rain were the day we left and the day we returned home. We only went to Picton on the South Island because of bad weather down further south. Very disappointed about not being able to visit fjords. On our 4 day sail home it would have been nice if we could have even been able to see a big screen view of what we missed, filmed on previous trip. I had no idea in my ignorance the possibility of missing so much on our long looked forward cruise. I know it is a complete safety issue but that didn't make me feel any better. Staff were very obliging and spoilt everyone, accommodation excellent. Val Johnson.
+fred johnson so sorry to hear about the weather and disruption. As you say these things unfortunately happen on some cruises and it’s pretty awful when splashed out on a dream trip and it doesn’t go to plan. Good to hear though the accommodation and crew were great!
Hi Fred. We had the opposite experience. Did the Golden Princess ex Melbourne Xmas/New Year 2018 voyage and the Captain commented this was the best weather he has ever had on any New Zealand Cruise. It was an experience we will never forget. PS. The fjords were fantastic!
Great information. I have been on 6 cruises with my family and this upcoming August we will be on princess for the first time. Looking forward to it. Nice video very well put together and very informative
Thanks. Great to hear that you found the video helpful. Really pleased to hear that. Lucky you heading off on Princess. Where will you be going to and on what ship?
Thank you! We just booked a cruise for 8 of us with Princess. We have gratuities paid for, and 100.00 spending money on the ship for each person in our family. 1,600.00 savings.
If you booking for 8 or more check with them or your agent (if you went via them) if they can offer a group rate. I’m not 100% sure on Princess but some lines will offer a free berth for every 8 guests booked together..
Thanks for making this. It’s very informative and helpful. My wife and I are considering a med cruise and we’ve never done a cruise so I’m looking for all the info I can get. Thank you again
Great to hear you found it helpful. Really appreciate you watching and taking time to leave your comment. I hope my videos help and you have a fabulous first cruise!!!
Could use some bedroom suite upgrade's though to satisfy the passenger's taste to come back again and again, wall's are needed instead of curtain's because privacy is a must for certain people
I am taking my first cruise in November 2019, with Majestic Princess from Sydney around NZ, with a friend who has done a lot of cruising. Thank you this information. I have been concerned what the cost and what extras one has to pay for, which of course I do have to budget for. And the dress code if any.
We enjoyed our Princess cruise to Alaska. Our cabin stewart worked himself to death and we tipped him extra. I like having gratuities added to our fare and if someone does an extra special job, we can tip them more. Looking forward to our New England/Canada cruise on Princess. The Ocean Medallion system looks awesome. It seems very similar to the WDW Magic Bands.
Thanks for your thoughts and insights. I am looking forward to experiencing the Ocean Medallion and seeing if it (or how much) it adds to the cruise experience.
Me and my wife going with Princess Sapphire 8december 2018 from Singapore we are new on cruising, had one cruise with MSC ones b4 ...Thanks for the videos!!
WITH RESPECT TO GRATUITIES YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY THEM... ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS CONTACT THE PURSERS OFFICE AND SAY YOU WISH TO OPT OUT OF THE GRATUITIES AND PAY AS YOU SEE FIT... THEY WILL HAVE YOU SIGN A FORM AND THIS IT...
We *hope* we’ve booked our first cruise ever: SF (our home port) ==> AK ==> SF, embarking on August 28, 2022. We’ll be cruising aboard the Ruby Princess. Actually, our original (30th anniversary) cruise scheduled for August 31, 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic.
On days at sea if the weather is bad I sit in front of a window on the promenade deck and read or on nice days I go up front as high as passengers are allowed and just enjoy the day. Every ship we have been on seems to have these little hideouts.
My husband and I am about to embark on the World Cruise on Sea Princess. This will be our 7th Princess Cruise. Love Princess! Our last cruise was on a Holland America ship, didn't like the layout of the ship. No laundry room either!
It would have been helpful to give some tools for deciding on their various packages. How much must you drink daily to make the various drink packages cost effective? Why would you pay extra for the specialty dining, and what do you get? How much wine can you bring on board at each port? There are subtleties for the line that would be helpful to know.
Thanks for doing this video. We are heading out on the new ship, Sky Princess, in January. Looking forward to it! It was good to know about the gratuities; we thought they were included. Thanks for the heads up!
The video is almost perfect, bu as we used several times the Princess, there are so many things a little bit different than is published. For example, the gratuities - it is recommended, not duty. So if you say at the begging of the cruise, you donot want to pay it, it is OK. Then you can give the gratuities at the end for example to your favorit staff. nobody will tell you that, we lear it after 5.cruisse.
Thanks for the excellent info. We haven't cruised on Princess for awhile, but in Sept. we'll be aboard Grand Princess out of San Francisco to Mexico, 10 days. Can hardly wait!
Princess cruises departing from Australia the daily gratuity is no longer added to your account. A 15% gratuity is still added for bar charges, and Lotus Spa etc
Great thanks for this update. I wish that all lines would move to build the "gratuity" into the fare as now that it is auto-added and on some almost impossible to remove or change they are acknowledging that these are really part of the fare (and for ensuring crew get a certain salary level).
In our recent Princess cruise package, gratuities were included. Perhaps we just happened to catch a sales incentive, or perhaps this was something negotiated by our travel agent, I'm not sure. But I was definitely glad for it, since the default gratuity price is pretty significant. By the way, we loved our experience on Princess, and they'll likely be our first choice if/when we cruise again.
We enjoyed Princess but please add to your list the Obstructed View cabins and actually no view unless you like to look at the side of a lifeboat. We got an unobstructed view cabin for the same price and had a much better view. Another thing is they have The Love Boat playing on TV every day so if you want to watch old episodes great, if you don't then luckily there are other channels.
How formal is Princess? Do they have formal dining some nights? - I think that's so nice - a real getaway from the super casual dress that's predominant anymore.
Good description of Princess cruises. One item I found confusing on board, and in your video is gratuities. These were added to our bill, and we paid gratuities in some restaurants not aware that they were also added to our bill. We got a print out of these at the last minute of the cruise, complained, and they were all removed. No explanation before or after this event, leaving the whole subject not understood by us. You might get into this confusing area and ask Princess to be clearer themselves. Thanks. Bill G
The one thing I would recommend to anybody sailing on a Princess cruise is really think twice before booking a shore excursion through Princess. With a wealth of information on the internet, it's easy to book and plan your own tour. The Princess tours are way overpriced and scare you into the "if our tours run late the ship won't leave without you". Here's a couple of examples I recently experienced on a Sydney-Yokohama cruise. In Darwin Princess were selling tours of the Jumping Crocodiles tour for about $170. On shore at the tourist office, you could buy the same tour with the same tour company for $85. You even get on the same bus as those who booked through Princess Shore Excursions. A $100 four hour tour of Port Vila or Noumea can be arranged on shore with local taxi companies for about $30-$50 (that's for the taxi, not per person price). The Princess Cruises Shore excursion we booked in Hong Kong ($ 105 per person for a 4 hour tour using our on board credit) was so poorly managed, we felt like it wasted half of our day in HK (one of our stops was a jewellery factory and not one person on the tour was the slightest bit interested). Princess Cruises do look after you, but unless you like the concept of being herded around in buses like cattle stopping at places with not enough time to really enjoy it, and paying twice to four times what they're worth give Princess arranged Shore Excursions a big miss.
here's several things for spending less on cruises Watch out for for restaurant specials. Ask on board or keep an eye out for the occasional alternative restaurant deal to save money on a special meal. Book spa treatments on port days. Spas will often discount services on days in port or during other slow times. Go on your own on shore trips. Cruise lines offer a variety of shore excursions in every port of call they visit but charge for them. Look for drink specials. If you don't drink enough to make a ackage pay, look for special discounts. Bring your own drinks. Many lines are won't let you bring alcohol onboard (or they'll charge you a corkage fee), but a few let you bring on soft drinks, juice, bottled water and iced tea. (I read these and the reasons they work on Voyage Magic Method website )
Thanks. Great to hear this helped. Hard decision as both are great. Let me know what you decide and why! I love Asia and cruising is a great way too see lots of the area.
I love your videos !!! We booked. 1st Cruise of our little lives January 2019 with the Disney wonder! I have not looked enough but please do more Disney reviews💋 I hope it's all I have ever dreamed of!! My hubby is a humbug so I plan on making the trip relaxing for him and super exciti my adventurous and foodie for me!! You have helped me so much to find that happy medium ❤❤❤ thank you!! I upgraded to a verandah after holding back, and now I am more excited than ever!! Thank you for helping me make that upgrade guilt free.....it's a dream come true!!❤
Disney cruises are like no other. Check out some information on them and learn about door decorating, pirate night and other fun things only done on Disney.
Went around the world on Dawn Princess in 2009. 104 days of extremely comfortable and interesting travel
How lucky you were! I'd love to sail around the world.
I find your videos to be very detailed oriented, well organized and most informative on things people want to know. Your experience shows in your presentation, great visuals, good anticipation of what travelers will question next. Your videos are extremely useful, and provide great guide lines for all travelers. Weeks Prior to every trip, my group and I watch your videos just as a refresher on what to expect, & what to avoid. EXCELLENTLY!
Going on our 5th princess cruise in January. We love them. For cruises leaving and returning to Australia gratuities are not automatically charged to your account.
My husband and I have travelled with Princess Cruise Line and we have been very happy with everything! I have also cruised with Royal Caribbean as well as Norwegian, and Princess has my vote, though Norwegian had the best entertainment! Food on Princess Cruise ships is far superior than the other two cruise lines, especially the Vegetarian meals! Thank you for this video... it explained things I was not aware of!
Thanks for watching and great to hear you found it helpful despite having so much experience on Princess! I agree with you on your comments 😀
One thing you didn't mention was that Princess are the only cruise line that have launderettes onboard where you can wash and iron clothes yourself, instead of paying out exorbitant charges to have stuff ironed or washed for you. Particularly important if you are on a long (ish) cruise and are restricted in your baggage allowance when flying to your departure port.
Brilliant overview of Princess, thanks. i too am new to cruises and I am blown away by just how many Ships there are actually cruising the seas, absolutely mindblowing as to the high level of investment that goes into these cruise experiences. Boy, this is another world altogether.
We did our honeymoon on the Tahitian Princess (now the Sirena on Oceana) 10 day cruise. Been to Alaska twice (Princess does Alaska very well), Western Mexico 3 times. The combination of price, accommodations, ambiance of the ship fits our life style. I especially like the Grand Class just because of the walk up to the front of the ship-you can't get any further forward than that. My two favorite ships are Sapphire and Diamond-both made by Mitsubishi (you can see the quality difference compared to the Italian made ships) and they are just a bit less crowded.
I just got home from a Princess Cruise British Isles Cruise on the Royal Princess. The video is right on in explaining the Princess Cruise experience. This was my 5th Princess cruise.
Hope you had a great cruise. Thanks for watching and great to hear you found it spot on 😀
One notable thing favouring Princess is self serve laundries. Very good for longer journeys. Also outdoor movies are great in warmer climates!
Great video. I used to work for Princes cruises. You basically covered everything.
Very detailed and informative about the history of the brand. And largely unbiased. Impressive stuff.
I'll watch more 👍👍
Great to hear thanks !! Good to hear you will watch more 😀😀
Tips For Traveller’s
I leave on a Princess Cruise in 5 days... but I was looking forward to the fluffy robes and branded toilet supplies. That's all my friends talk about when they come back from their cruises, the animal shaped towels
My wife and I only cruise with Princess now, are going on our 6th cruise with them oct 7th. We have cruised with other lines they where good. But now that we are a little older we find princess just right for us . Thanks for the info, very point on. 😎
Lucky you! I hope you have a great cruise on Oct 7th. Where are you sailing to? Great to hear that you love the line and even as a regular user you found the video helpful! Thanks!
Mickey V!!!
Regal Princess was amazing. I went with my wife to Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba. Best vacation ever! Only pet peeve was that the internet was super slow.
Once again, thank you so much for walking us through all this information. Really appreciate the level of detail in all your videos, and the professional/relaxed approach in the way its explained.
I just booked an 11 night Grand Mediterranean cruise on Princess. I really enjoy cruising and it will be my first time in Europe.
Have a great trip!
No crap , good info for anyone , been on 5 sea cruises and still got something from this video
Thanks. Great to hear that you found it helpful in some way. Really appreciate you watching and even more for taking time to leave this feedback. Hope you got another cruise joined up!
We chose the all inclusive one-time tip option and I think it saved us money at no difference in service. For Anytime Dining, we found the service late in the available hours was the best for service and timely arrival of the main course.
Wife and I grew up cruising on Carnivial, but at some point you want to go to another cruise line because of all the rude kids. After we went to Princess, we never looked back. Cruisers are older and very few kids. Best cruise was the 28 day and the 15 day cruise to Hawaii from west coast. Put that cruise on your buck list.
Hawaii to / from West Coast is awesome I agree! I want to do that again! I did it as part of a few legs of world cruise but would like to do a dedicated cruise like you to get more Hawaiian ports in!!!
Excellent summary..Princess is a great cruise line speaking of price for value...also love and use Holland America and Celebrity depending on the destinations and schedules
Thanks ! Agree with you on the others too
Interesting, I didn't know that Princess went to the most destinations. We ended up booking that Holland American Alaska/Yukon cruise tour in June of next year, that I mentioned previously. Celebrity is the only premium cruise line we've tried, and we absolutely love it. Looking forward to trying HAL.
We always leave a tip on the first night when we go to dinner on our bed and o the last night as well .
:)
we had taken several cruises and we will stay with Princess cruise lines, the experience was over and above many of the others and the food was superior and at dinning and on the deck, over all we will use them again and again !!!!! Great shows and helpful employees and very very clean !!! The all you can drink pop and juice, hot chocolate was worth the money, never had to ask more than 1 time !!!
+Cindy Reinhart great to hear! I loved the hot chocolate too 😀😀
My husband and I have cruised with different lines, but find Princess our favourite cruise line. This was very informative, thanks
Thanks! Great to hear that you found it informative even as a Princess Cruise lover. Really appreciate you watching and leaving your feedback. Much appreciated
We are just about to go back with Princess to Alaska. Our first trip was absolutely fantastic. 5⭐️. That’s why we are going back with them
I am very pleased with princess cruises. Have been on three cruises now, and had a great time.
Great to hear!!!
Yes our Princess experience is just as described, and to our mind now better thanCelebrity, our previous preference
I have been on six Princess cruises and have been delighted with each and every one of them. The only negative is they rarely change the onboard entertainment from the ships entertainment crew, so you find you have more than likely seen it all previously. They do however, vary the special guest performers more regularly. You would think the staff would get quite bored performing the same old thing year after year.
+Judy Appleton thanks for taking time to add your thought and comments on Princess. It is a good point as lines spend a lot on developing shows and then cling to them - working I guess on assumption that lots of new guests but agree if one is loyal to a line the production shows get all too familiar!!!
We are going to New Zealand via Princess in a couple of days. We've had an email outlining the live shows, which sound to be different to when we last cruised with them two years ago. Wish I'd found your videos before our last trip! (But of course, this particular video wasn't made then.)
I had been on princess alaska for 7 days in 2016 nice and lovely experience
Going on the Golden day after tomorrow and when we come off, we're Elite !!! Whoopee.
I simply love Princess. I’ve been on Seabourn, Celebrity, and Windstar. I think Princess cruises is simply the best for value.
My mom and I travelled on the Crown Princess last year and enjoyed it very much. This video is spot-on.
I've now watched a number of your cruise videos and have changed my mind and think you do a relatively good job. I have taken a good number of cruises, and these are great tips on each topic.
One thing you constantly mention about fares and what is and is not included, which is good. But, you stress often that WiFi is not included, and gratuities as well. Very true for most ocean lines. But, I have never paid for gratuities, drinks, or wifi on any cruise, as they are the most given away items during sales! If someone cruising today on a major line pays for those items, they're not looking for a deal at all. Period. They are the simply given away as enticements. More mention of that would be very helpful.
...often early on in the bookings the deals fly rapid...closer to sail date not so much...more like do you want a ticket or not...
...best deal is last minute deals if no airfare is needed...just grab your bag and UBER to port....with credit card and passport your in...👍
I work for Princess in the restaurant department and I liked you video. Thank you
Hi sir good evening I want to do job in princesses cruse
I will be going on that ship for the first time I will be going to Florida staying there at a house for a few days and then going on that trip. I am super psyched and this video help so much. All of this is starting February 13 and I just can not wait
I love your videos Gary! I’m planning my second cruise ever and I find myself constantly molding it based on your recommendations
We went on a Princess Cruise last year. I'd say the information here is spot-on.
Thanks. Great to hear
I won't cruise, never ever in my life but I'm still watching the video and finding interesting.. Always love you videos! Thanks from Italy
+Annalisa Ruggiero thanks !! Never say never 😀 one day there may be one that appeals ! But understand! Thanks for watching anyway!!
Great summary even if you know it all about cruising or Princess. Take a few minutes and listen to Gary's presentation it's worth it!
Thanks! Much appreciated 😀
This will be our 40th cruise on Princess. We're going to Alaska soon, then in November to the Panama Canal.
Excellent Video. Very informative, concise and superb delivery. Thanks so much. Going on Princess Sapphire to Norway from London this upcoming Saturday. Cheers.
We purchased the princess plus package for our next cruise that includes drink package, free wifi+service gratuities. First time now with that option
Thank you. I am an Elite member, and have traveled many times with other cruise lines too. Princess overall is the best Premium.
My great grandpa died because he had a heart attack on princess cruises with a hospital a quarter of a mile away. In there log it said that he had pain in his right arm, even though it was clear that it was changed from left arm to right arm. A fifth grader should be able to tell that if there is pain spreading on the left side it is a heart attack. The doctor on board wasn’t a fifth grader, but he said that he only had a stomach ache, and he died even though there was a hospital very close to the boat.
My husbands life was save by the brilliant medical crew who cared for him before disembarking him at Malta for a check up at the hospital. We were looked after by the Princess representative on the island. He found me an hotel and two days later helped us reunite with the ship by finding flights to another port. The office also checked with me at the hotel to make sure all was proceeding well. Another passenger had his wife disembarked and hospitalised also at Malta, who had the same support. Can’t praise them enough!!
It’s been a while since I traveled on a princess cruise but this was a really informative video! Thank you!
Booked on Princess out of Sydney. They are very informative about the more complex embarkation process. Getting help on the phone or web chat is not easy because of demand. They are organising visa on arrivals in PNG and Bali for us. The ocean medallion and associated app is useful. Their Covid protocols have been up to date.
I have done 14 cruises with them so far and have few complaints. Not having formal contract bridge one of them. But with Covid I don’t expect that to happen.
By the way ,I’ve done many cruises & have watched two of your videos & learned something from each,thanks
Thanks ! Great to hear !
Having done the World Cruise last year and the New Zealand cruise this
year the wife and I are hooked on Princess cruises. I am concerned
however, that the Cherry Blossom cruise is no longer available. If we
want to cruise to Japan and Asia, we can only go one way. The whole idea
of cruising is that we don't have to fly, but it is beginning to look
as though we in Australia will have no choice unless we just stick to
the New Zealand or Island cruises. I just love being at sea and feel the
ships come alive.
+John Eriksson thanks for adding your comment! I agree on the big plus of not flying and agree frustrating that the option not looking likely. Princess Cruises seem to create loyal fans ! Hopefully they will add back in no fly options that go further afield !!
John Eriksson I
Great video. My wife and I will be going with Princess Cruises for the second time leaving from Auckland, New Zealand.
Thanks! Have a great cruise! Appreciate you watching and very much taking time to leave a comment!
@@tipsfortravellers Thank you for the tips very helpful. Going on my first cruise 2020
My partner and I along with my daughter, husband and two sons 6 and 15 are going on Majestic Princess to NZ. Xmas cruise and my concern will there be enough for them to do apart from swimming for the 12 days. Appreciate your comment and I think the Tips for Travellers is just marvellous!
Vivienne Khan Hi Vivienne, my family are going on the same cruise - my son is 16. I’m hoping he will meet up with other teens his age. They seem to have a teen lounge hang out area so hopefully they will have a good time
Absolutely love Princess our prefered line.. Thanks for sharing.
Great to hear ! Thanks for watching 😀
The only reason I cruised on Princess is I remembered it being the love boat. I have a nice experience. I am now going to book an Alaska cruise through Princess. I'm expecting a wonderful time. Me, wife, and 5 grandchildren.
we tried sapphire princess in asia,were very happy and lots of memories.friendly crew members and very comfortable ship.make sure to give something extra for those you think who give you an extra care
Fantastic video... My husband and I have always been big fans of the Princess Lines, we only cruise with them. My very first cruise was with Regal Princess the 1st in 1996 I think the year was or there about, she was a beautiful ship, been on several other Princess's since. Cheers.
Thanks! Great to hear you enjoyed the video and good to hear of your passion for Princess! The line does seem to have a big band of very loyal cruisers!
Great summary about cruise lines. Princess cruise has always been great for the money !
Taking my first Princess cruise next year and this video has been really helpful, thanks for sharing it with us! :)
+Emma Cruises great to hear it helped. Where you cruising and on which ship?
Singapore to Tokyo next April! :D On the Golden Princess.
In case you're ever bored I have a video about the itinerary on my channel :)
+Emma Cruises sounds fab! Will take a look !
Emma Cruises same!!
As a travel agent, I too enjoyed your video and love to share these tips with my clients!! I plan to view more of your videos.
Great to hear thanks!!!!!! Much appreciated.
We did the New Zealand cruise from Melbourne December last year. The only days it didn't rain were the day we left and the day we returned home. We only went to Picton on the South Island because of bad weather down further south. Very disappointed about not being able to visit fjords. On our 4 day sail home it would have been nice if we could have even been able to see a big screen view of what we missed, filmed on previous trip. I had no idea in my ignorance the possibility of missing so much on our long looked forward cruise. I know it is a complete safety issue but that didn't make me feel any better. Staff were very obliging and spoilt everyone, accommodation excellent. Val Johnson.
+fred johnson so sorry to hear about the weather and disruption. As you say these things unfortunately happen on some cruises and it’s pretty awful when splashed out on a dream trip and it doesn’t go to plan. Good to hear though the accommodation and crew were great!
Hi Fred. We had the opposite experience. Did the Golden Princess ex Melbourne Xmas/New Year 2018 voyage and the Captain commented this was the best weather he has ever had on any New Zealand Cruise. It was an experience we will never forget. PS. The fjords were fantastic!
Great information. I have been on 6 cruises with my family and this upcoming August we will be on princess for the first time. Looking forward to it. Nice video very well put together and very informative
Thanks. Great to hear that you found the video helpful. Really pleased to hear that. Lucky you heading off on Princess. Where will you be going to and on what ship?
Contemporary - Carnival, RCL, NCL, MSC, Costa
Deluxe - Princess,HAL, Cunard, Celebrity
Near Luxury - Azamara, Oceania, Viking
Luxury - Crystal, Silver Seas, Regent, Seabourn
You want more, you pay more
Thanks for the info, Richard, but which category of cruise line does P&O fit in to?
No probs, Vancouver to Alaska with princess,Great.
Thank you! We just booked a cruise for 8 of us with Princess. We have gratuities paid for, and 100.00 spending money on the ship for each person in our family. 1,600.00 savings.
If you booking for 8 or more check with them or your agent (if you went via them) if they can offer a group rate. I’m not 100% sure on Princess but some lines will offer a free berth for every 8 guests booked together..
Thanks for making this. It’s very informative and helpful. My wife and I are considering a med cruise and we’ve never done a cruise so I’m looking for all the info I can get. Thank you again
Great to hear you found it helpful. Really appreciate you watching and taking time to leave your comment. I hope my videos help and you have a fabulous first cruise!!!
Could use some bedroom suite upgrade's though to satisfy the passenger's taste to come back again and again, wall's are needed instead of curtain's because privacy is a must for certain people
I am taking my first cruise in November 2019, with Majestic Princess from Sydney around NZ, with a friend who has done a lot of cruising. Thank you this information. I have been concerned what the cost and what extras one has to pay for, which of course I do have to budget for. And the dress code if any.
Great information. I have had one experience with Princess, and looking forward to my next.
+Lyn Morris thanks ! Great to hear you had a great experience with them!
Thanks for the information, will need these for my first time cruise experience early next year.
Thanks for watching, and good to hear you found it helpful
We enjoyed our Princess cruise to Alaska. Our cabin stewart worked himself to death and we tipped him extra. I like having gratuities added to our fare and if someone does an extra special job, we can tip them more. Looking forward to our New England/Canada cruise on Princess. The Ocean Medallion system looks awesome. It seems very similar to the WDW Magic Bands.
Thanks for your thoughts and insights. I am looking forward to experiencing the Ocean Medallion and seeing if it (or how much) it adds to the cruise experience.
Me and my wife going with Princess Sapphire 8december 2018 from Singapore we are new on cruising, had one cruise with MSC ones b4 ...Thanks for the videos!!
Nice! Lucky you. Hope you have a great time. Good to hear you enjoyed the videos
A well thought out and insightful overview of the ship line.
WITH RESPECT TO GRATUITIES YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY THEM... ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS CONTACT THE PURSERS OFFICE AND SAY YOU WISH TO OPT OUT OF THE GRATUITIES AND PAY AS YOU SEE FIT... THEY WILL HAVE YOU SIGN A FORM AND THIS IT...
The last 2 cruises I went on the Gratuities were free, one of their perks!
We *hope* we’ve booked our first cruise ever: SF (our home port) ==> AK ==> SF, embarking on August 28, 2022. We’ll be cruising aboard the Ruby Princess.
Actually, our original (30th anniversary) cruise scheduled for August 31, 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic.
You should get the 'Cutting To The Chase with Quality Information' award.Thank you!!
Thankyou so much- I'm planning a first cruise and this video really helped.
How was your cruise ?
thanks a lot sir for this video. Extremely useful as I am new in the cruises world and am planning to book one on november, with my wife.
+psgman41 Thanks great to hear it helped. There are lots of tips videos about cruising on my channel and hope they help !!
Películas chistosas
Martin Excellent video. Covered key points with minimal distractions. Very useful info. Thanks much.
hi want to know about cut true average cost of cruises look at Panlarko Cruise Cutter Planner (do a search on google)? our neighbor uses it incredible
As someone who is thinking of going on their first cruise I'm interested in tips on finding your own space/refuge when on a large ship...
On days at sea if the weather is bad I sit in front of a window on the promenade deck and read or on nice days I go up front as high as passengers are allowed and just enjoy the day. Every ship we have been on seems to have these little hideouts.
My husband and I am about to embark on the World Cruise on Sea Princess. This will be our 7th Princess Cruise. Love Princess! Our last cruise was on a Holland America ship, didn't like the layout of the ship. No laundry room either!
Wow bucket list! I would love a world cruise!
Nice video!! We are contemplating Princess and your detailed info was great!!
Thanks. Great tom hear you found it helpful. Thanks for watching
I think we need to split out mainstream between basic and higher mainstream.
Higher - Norwegian, Royal Carribbean
Basic - Carnival, Costa, msc
My Novio and I will be sailing on the Island Princess Through the Panama Canal leaving soon. Very Excited/
+Elizabeth Whitley fantastic! Passing through the Panama Canal is amazing! Very envious! Have a great time 😀
Thank you! Very nice run down of the different cruise levels. Our first Pricess cruise is coming up and your video was very useful.
Great to hear it helped ! Have a great cruise
Thanks for the video, we have been on Princess and back again in 3 days. I understand a bit more how things work and especially gratuities.
Did you pay gratuities on your cruise
Zim going on my third Princess cruise and I feel it’s a great value for you money.
Great to hear you love the line. Where you off to on the next cruise??
It would have been helpful to give some tools for deciding on their various packages. How much must you drink daily to make the various drink packages cost effective? Why would you pay extra for the specialty dining, and what do you get? How much wine can you bring on board at each port? There are subtleties for the line that would be helpful to know.
Unless your a heavy drinker the drink package isn't worth it. Same with the coffee package, we never used it enough to justify the cost.
Thanks for doing this video. We are heading out on the new ship, Sky Princess, in January. Looking forward to it! It was good to know about the gratuities; we thought they were included. Thanks for the heads up!
Just got off the Star last week. Excellent food and service.
Great to hear you and a fab time!
Really an excellent review!!! Information that they have the most destinations key. Awesome thanks!!
The video is almost perfect, bu as we used several times the Princess, there are so many things a little bit different than is published. For example, the gratuities - it is recommended, not duty. So if you say at the begging of the cruise, you donot want to pay it, it is OK. Then you can give the gratuities at the end for example to your favorit staff. nobody will tell you that, we lear it after 5.cruisse.
Thanks for the excellent info. We haven't cruised on Princess for awhile, but in Sept. we'll be aboard Grand Princess out of San Francisco to Mexico, 10 days. Can hardly wait!
+Jim Holder lucky you !! Have a great time! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment 😀
+Jim Holder lucky you !! Have a great time! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment 😀
Princess cruises departing from Australia the daily gratuity is no longer added to your account. A 15% gratuity is still added for bar charges, and Lotus Spa etc
Great thanks for this update. I wish that all lines would move to build the "gratuity" into the fare as now that it is auto-added and on some almost impossible to remove or change they are acknowledging that these are really part of the fare (and for ensuring crew get a certain salary level).
In our recent Princess cruise package, gratuities were included. Perhaps we just happened to catch a sales incentive, or perhaps this was something negotiated by our travel agent, I'm not sure. But I was definitely glad for it, since the default gratuity price is pretty significant. By the way, we loved our experience on Princess, and they'll likely be our first choice if/when we cruise again.
Thank you for this video! We are scheduled to go on our first Princess cruise in Spring 2019 so this is quite helpful.
Thanks. Great to hear it helped. Have a great cruise. Thanks for watching and leaving your comment. Much Appreciated!
We enjoyed Princess but please add to your list the Obstructed View cabins and actually no view unless you like to look at the side of a lifeboat. We got an unobstructed view cabin for the same price and had a much better view. Another thing is they have The Love Boat playing on TV every day so if you want to watch old episodes great, if you don't then luckily there are other channels.
How formal is Princess? Do they have formal dining some nights? - I think that's so nice - a real getaway from the super casual dress that's predominant anymore.
i so remember the love boat
Good description of Princess cruises. One item I found confusing on board, and in your video is gratuities. These were added to our bill, and we paid gratuities in some restaurants not aware that they were also added to our bill. We got a print out of these at the last minute of the cruise, complained, and they were all removed. No explanation before or after this event, leaving the whole subject not understood by us. You might get into this confusing area and ask Princess to be clearer themselves. Thanks. Bill G
The one thing I would recommend to anybody sailing on a Princess cruise is really think twice before booking a shore excursion through Princess. With a wealth of information on the internet, it's easy to book and plan your own tour. The Princess tours are way overpriced and scare you into the "if our tours run late the ship won't leave without you".
Here's a couple of examples I recently experienced on a Sydney-Yokohama cruise.
In Darwin Princess were selling tours of the Jumping Crocodiles tour for about $170. On shore at the tourist office, you could buy the same tour with the same tour company for $85. You even get on the same bus as those who booked through Princess Shore Excursions.
A $100 four hour tour of Port Vila or Noumea can be arranged on shore with local taxi companies for about $30-$50 (that's for the taxi, not per person price).
The Princess Cruises Shore excursion we booked in Hong Kong ($ 105 per person for a 4 hour tour using our on board credit) was so poorly managed, we felt like it wasted half of our day in HK (one of our stops was a jewellery factory and not one person on the tour was the slightest bit interested).
Princess Cruises do look after you, but unless you like the concept of being herded around in buses like cattle stopping at places with not enough time to really enjoy it, and paying twice to four times what they're worth give Princess arranged Shore Excursions a big miss.
soem good watch out about excursions. I have done a number of videos on this topic for cruisers as many options as you say!
here's several things for spending less on cruises
Watch out for for restaurant specials. Ask on board or keep an eye out for the occasional alternative restaurant deal to save money on a special meal.
Book spa treatments on port days. Spas will often discount services on days in port or during other slow times.
Go on your own on shore trips. Cruise lines offer a variety of shore excursions in every port of call they visit but charge for them.
Look for drink specials. If you don't drink enough to make a ackage pay, look for special discounts.
Bring your own drinks. Many lines are won't let you bring alcohol onboard (or they'll charge you a corkage fee), but a few let you bring on soft drinks, juice, bottled water and iced tea.
(I read these and the reasons they work on Voyage Magic Method website )
This video was very helpful, I am trying to decide which cruiseline to book for Asia, Celebrity vs Princess
Thanks. Great to hear this helped. Hard decision as both are great. Let me know what you decide and why! I love Asia and cruising is a great way too see lots of the area.
I love your videos !!! We booked. 1st Cruise of our little lives January 2019 with the Disney wonder! I have not looked enough but please do more Disney reviews💋 I hope it's all I have ever dreamed of!! My hubby is a humbug so I plan on making the trip relaxing for him and super exciti my adventurous and foodie for me!! You have helped me so much to find that happy medium ❤❤❤ thank you!! I upgraded to a verandah after holding back, and now I am more excited than ever!! Thank you for helping me make that upgrade guilt free.....it's a dream come true!!❤
Have a great time! I need to do a Disney cruise soon as they are so highly rated!!
Disney cruises are like no other. Check out some information on them and learn about door decorating, pirate night and other fun things only done on Disney.
Afternoon tea was not included free on Regal last month. Cost was $10.
If you are a veteran you can get discounts from your bill and some wi-fi time by calling princess and sending a copy of your DD214.