VIDEO CHAPTERS – Friday, February 2, 2024
0:00 Welcome to Today’s Video
0:42 Really Affordable Princess Cruises This Year
2:44 Package Pricing Cost Analysis
10:27 New Cruise Ship Delayed
12:26 Carnival Vista Rumors / Carnival’s Receives Newest Ship
16:08 Man Overboard in Japan
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Today I am going to visit with you about some things you should keep in mind with some of the price increases that we have seen recently on Princess and just trying to decide if we should get that plus or Premiere package we’re going to talk about some new ships that are
Coming to a cruise line as well as a delay with a cruise ship we’ve I’ve got information for you on some Princess Cruises that are really quite affordable I know a lot of us are hoping for affordable when we go on a cruise and lots more lots lots more to talk about
So let’s go ahead and get started Hi there this is Allison with let’s go travel tips and today is Friday it is February 2nd of 2024 let’s start right at the top talking about um some of the Princess Cruises cruises that are very affordable in comparison so I know a lot
Of us plan a long ways in advance and I think that’s really important if there is a very specific destination that you want to go um it’s really good to plan ahead if you as partly if you like a certain cabin um so there is a lot of
Value in planning ahead but also if you’ve got some flexibility in your schedule there are a lot of affordable Cruises out there I know that the cruise lines are all trying to fill up their ships and so let me tell you a few of them here with Princess um and I have I
Have quite a few that I have like some I have found on my own some of them are on the list um from Princess but for example um starting in April we’ve got a Pacific uh wine country cruise on the Ruby Princess that is quite affordable
If you’re looking at the going to the Southern Caribbean look at the end of March 2024 they’ve got a world Cruise segment that goes through the Panama Canal that one is still really affordable that’s on sale um nicely we’ve got a couple of Hawaiian island sailings early in 2024 um and there are
Some Alaska even an Alaska cruise tour that um has not sold clearly the way they expected that they have got a better price on and then as we even look overseas we’ve got that Moroccan and Iberian passage that is due to sale on March 9th there is still a lot of um
Availability on that as well as a western Europe passage um there’s some that you know those South Pacific cruises we’ve got a British Isles Cruise really lots to think about and a lot of them are really early in 2024 but a lot of them um there are some even later
Like in September and um so take a look let me know if you need help with that I would be happy to book you but I just wanted you to know that there are a lot of affordable Cruises out there still and apparent and especially with the
Promo that princess is running they have actually a really good promo that runs through the end of February that kind of leads us into the next thing I want to talk to you about um Carnival Corporation has announced that they are ahead of where they thought they would
Be with the current wave season um wave season um with the cruise lines is always a really busy time it’s the peak um the peak booking season for them but they are ahead of where they are supposed to be what they projected also Royal Caribbean that Corporation Royal
Caribbean group they announced that they are starting 2024 in the best book position they have ever been in their history so clearly the demand for cruising is strong and the cruise lines are doing really well to me that doesn’t mean that there are not um still good
Prices to be had it means that there’s not quite as many I will surely say and I think it puts cruise lines in the position that on some of the things they can charge what they want to charge and they know that someone will pay it now
That um having said that we just recently had some Wi-Fi increases on princess the cost increases as well as um the fitness classes are no longer included they used to have some Fitness classes that cost extra money and that would just be added to your shipboard
Account but they had some that were also complimentary and they don’t have any complimentary Fitness class es any longer so turns out that that’s a bigger deal than we initially expected now if you are new to Princess um the most recent price for the Wi-Fi was that one
Device was $14.99 a day and so with these new prices that princess has just released for their Wi-Fi one device per day costs $19.99 and if you want to pay for four devices per day that’s $44.99 now one thing you should know about Princess is like some of several
Of the other Cruise Lines um more than one person can use the Wi-Fi devices on another person’s account so for example when Gordon and I go um since we do YouTube we have started so that we buy a four device package and then we both can
Use it one of us just buys it in our name but then both of us use it so um like for example MSC you cannot share your device with other people it is just for you but Princess um allows you to do that so that is really nice um so here
Are some things to think about when you are trying to decide now I am just going to say I want to say this I’ve thought about this a lot and I want to see what you think so tell me in the comments if you want to go on a cruise and be able
To enjoy all of the dining that you want to enjoy um within the parameters of what’s offered in the package but truly enjoy all of the casual dining that you want couple of specialty diningset you want to try all the different kinds of drinks and all of
That you are ahead just getting the premiere package truly we have a lot of different kinds of Cruisers here we have people that go really frequently they don’t want the package they don’t need the package they’re fine drinking their water and their coffee that are up in
The buffet it’s no big deal but then we have other people that either like that whole experience every time they go or they are just going um once a year twice a year once every other year and they want that full experience so I just want to give you that perspective another
Really important note when we talk about packages is I get so many questions about what casual dining is with princess princess is the only one out of all the cruise lines that say casual dining casual dining is specialty dining so just think of it that way uh it just
Costs different uh casual dining is $4.99 and the venues are different but it is dining that you pay for so it is really specialty dining they just called it something else but it is exactly the same thing so if you’ve got the Plus Package you get two of those casual
Dining during the course of your voyage and if you have the premier package you get two of those so let me point out a few things here first of all let’s just start with what gratuities are with Princess right now if you are in and for
The sake of my analysis here I’m using the gratuities are $16 a day if you’ve got that interior the ocean view or the balcony all righty so you think okay I want to get that one device of Wi-Fi so then you put that on it’s $24.99 a day and so now you’re at
$40.99 if you consider that the Plus Package cost $60 a day that gives you um $191 to spend on um two of the specialty desserts a day and if you get the ice cream ones those can run around $12 if you get the piece of cake it’s $4.95 um
You can have all of the drinks you want you can have all the bottled water all the soda all the mocktails all the cocktails well 15 alcoholic beverages a day uh worth clear up to $15 so if you want any of that you are ahead to buy
The plus package so think it that way if you are someone that is um that level with princess that you get your Wi-Fi for half off um then that tweaks it a little bit but if you um really think about it if you even do the gratuiti is
Your one device of Wi-Fi and say you don’t drink alcohol you’re like okay I’m going to get the soda package that’s $7.69 a day but it doesn’t include bottled water and um so it really to me and it doesn’t include the specialty desserts so if you want that experience
You are far ahead just to get the plus package when you think about the premier package I look at it the same way except for that is the way that if you love to go on a cruise and get all your photos now if you are new to cruising when you
Go on a cruise you can amass a lot of photos they’ll take your pictures at embarcation every time you get off the ship in a port they’ll have someone there taking your picture with something to do with that Port every evening they will have photographers set up in
Different locations around the ship in the public areas and you can get your picture taken several times every evening it is very rare that they have an evening that there are not photographers out there I know it used to be just during U formal nights that they would have photographers but not
Anymore they’ve got photographers set up every evening so you can get a lot of pictures they will come around in the main dining room some nights and take photos so that is a really special way to do it there is not another way to buy the unlimited digital photos there isn’t
That’s the way you’re going to get it is in that Premiere package so um just keep that in mind you get the two specialty diningset dining so just know that’s how you pick okay so I hope this kind of helps you as you’re trying to analyze in
Your mind what is worth it for you what’s not worth it for you but if you want that all-around Cruise experience that we historically think of of getting on the ship getting your photo taken a lot getting um all the drinks that you want um go eating at all the
Diningset T and Casual diningset as well cruising is a very special experience and I think that sometimes if we go really often we can get to the point that like well I’m just getting on the ship I’m just getting off the ship and I watch that um with you
Know you watch all these different vloggers and some of them go really often and um I kind of get that sense a little bit and so I just want everyone to keep in mind it’s a really special experience when you get to go cruising and you’re making memories whether it’s
Your 100th Cruise your 250th Cruise no matter what it is and so figure out how it is that you like to cruise and then you can pick your packages based on that and um go have a wonderful time so don’t hesitate to put any questions in the
Comments all righty we are doing our live tonight we are going to be starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern time so come bring your questions be ready to have a fun time talking about cruising we’ll look forward to seeing you there now before I go on to the next story I just want to
Ask you if you have not yet subscribed to our channel will you please go ahead and hit that subscribe button it really helps us out and I appreciate your support also if you appreciate my updates would you please give this video a thumbs up and share our video with a
Friend thank you so very much now um I talked um for a minute about a couple of um cruise ships so let’s start off with the one that’s being delayed and I really like that oceani figured it out already so Oceana figured out they’ve got that new Aura is their brand new
Ship that is going to come out and she is going to have to be delayed as a result of that they are going to have to cancel their very first inaugural cruises that are going so they will be cancelling their June 8th their June 15th their July um sorry June 25th and
Then also July 7th 17th and 29th and for anyone that happened to be booked on those they are going to give all of your money back and I love this perk you are going to get starting on February 5th you can book cruises first when they announce the newer inaugurals they will
Let you book first and they will open it to everybody else on February 12th so you get a whole week advanced notice um that you can go ahead and book those cruises with on the Allura now um I love that they figured it out um princess just figured out on a really
Really tight notice here that the sun princess was delayed and so I love would love to hear if any of you are booked on oceanana I would really like to try Oceana in fact that’s on Gordon and I’s list of things to try and um tell me if
You’ve been on oceanana what you think about it if you’ve got anything booked on oceanana um but yes they are a little bit delayed but she is indeed coming she’s supposed to be spectacularly beautiful so we’ll look forward to more news about her all righty another fun
Update for us is with the carnival Vista now the carnival Vista right now is in Dry Dock over in cadis Spain she is due to return to the United States to resume her sailings out of Port Canaveral on February 15th of this year and so she is running six and eight night sailings
Eastern Caribbean and Southern Caribbean and what is really cool about this is there’s been a rumor going around and I have indeed seen it people have been thinking that maybe during that dry dock they were going to remove the IMAX theater on board and John held has come
Come out and said nope they are not removing that IMAX theater they’re doing things like painting her hole uh think of um like that red white and uh blue hole that we saw first I believe it was on the Marty gr she is going to get her
Hole painted like that and a whole lot of refurbishment but that IMAX theater is staying on board so um they apparently it is an extra charge to be able to go to a movie in that theater but they charge you differently based on what kind of movies that they’re showing
So if you’re going to a documentary the most recent price I can find is 550 and if you’re going to a Hollywood Blockbuster type movie it could be $12.95 a person and they discount that to 9.95 for children under 12 and for senior citizens who are 55 and older so
Let me know if you have been on the Carnival Vista if you’ve been on recently let us know if those prices are accurate but I really want to go on that ship now in fact that’s why I know that she is doing those six and eight night sailings to the southern Eastern
Caribbean because I was wondering um where she’s going and so I like that update that’s a really good one and also another really fun thing going on with Carnival is that officially officially the carnival forense has become part of the carnival Fleet and she you know was
Part of um CA crues she was one of their ships and so apparently um today February 2nd um over in cadis Spain um team members from both um the carnival team that is taking over from the Costa team both team members um both teams from both cruise lines were there um to
Hand over the Reigns of that ship officially to Carnival cruise lines and let me tell you I am really really excited about that ship she is going to be coming over sailing year round year round from Long Beach um starting on April 25th um she is going to be running
Cruises that run from like your three and four nights um to um like down to Mexico and Catalina up to your five and six night in even 7day cruises that are going to take down to Mexico and back the really cool thing to me is what is
On that ship and so they have um it says the ship’s Atrium is modeled after Florence’s beautiful main Public Square there the Piaza Del Duo they have got the Leo deck draws inspiration from the Italian Riviera they are going to have a lot of the food and beverages available
On board those cruises that they presently have while she has been sailing in Europe they also are going to have um they have a restaurant there called LR grill that has Italian street food they’ve got a Mexican Italian Fusion restaurant called tomador they’ve got aajo which is Carnival’s newest specialty Italian
Restaurant it seems to me that it’s going to be a beautiful ship to see um a lot of really fun food to try with a little bit of that true Italian flare so let me know if anybody else would want to go on one of those cruises you can we
Could even do like one of the short ones um just there out of Long Beach Long Beach is so convenient to fly into and sail from it would be remarkable so I just thought that seemed absolutely wonderful now this is um a thing that I want this is a really unusual story for
Me but I am wondering if we are going to see more of it so tell me what you think in the comments so um there was a man who jumped off of the MSC bissa when she was um just um tendered there in the port of naha Japan and apparently crew
Members alerted the police when they realized that someone had jumped into the water and was swimming to the shore the police were able to apprehend that person there on the dock and it turns out that it was a Turkish National gentleman and he was arrested on suspicion of illegal Landing because um
It is um against the immigration Control Act there for you to jump into the water and enter Japan that way and so I have been thinking about this an awful lot and I know that there are a lot of people in different places that want to
Change where they live um to put it simply and it seems like perhaps and I’m really excited to hear the followup on this story um I’m glad that he is okay I’m glad that when he jumped in he did make it over to the shore but it’s just
A really interesting story to me so let me know what you think about it anything else you’ve heard have a lot more news but we’re going to just have to talk about it tonight at our live and tomorrow because um this is probably an awful lot ready today so I will see you
Here again tomorrow and I will be talking to you all again really soon you all take really good care God bless you love you bye-bye
23 Comments
? Are Zumba classes for fee now?
My last cruise was 25+ years ago. Other than tips (cash in an envelope left in your cabin), alcoholic drinks, and photos, there were no additional charges for anything. Excursions, all dining and desserts and soft drinks, and onboard entertainment were included. We didn't even pay extra for Internet (because there was no such thing back then π ). How things have changed! We're retired now and will be cruising again soon. I'm glad I'm watching the videos to mentally prepare myself for the many upcharges.
You said that getting the Premium package was the only way to get all of the digital pictures. However, I heard that on the last sea day, you could purchase a zip drive with all the digital pictures on it. I will be going on my 1st and probably only cruise in May. I have the Plus package, but I am trying to decide if it would be worth changing to the premium package. Thanks
Is plus worth it when no one in cabin drinks alcohol?
Hello Allison Gavin printed our luggage labels for Majestic on the 24th March we dont get the plus package we dont drink enough we are Elite and will exchange the bar in the stateroom fridge for cokes and water.
I like pakages but i dont need the premiere but i think it gives me a better experience stress free for me it is a must have .on some cruise lines they are very expensive but princess are more resonable
I was booked on the now cancelled June 25, 2025 sailing of Oceania Allura. We booked it for the itinerary: 12 days Barcelona to Athens with stops in Tunisia, Egypt, Jerusalem, Santorini and several other ports. We are so disappointed. We sailed once before on Oceania in 2019 to Scandinavia and the Baltics. Oceania is not everyone. The ships are smaller (the largest are around 1200 passengers), there is less night life, and the itineraries are more port intensive. It's a little pricier than Princess, but a lot of things you pay extra for on Princess are included in the basic fare, such as soft drinks, bottled water, coffee drinks, wi-fi, specialty restaurants. Oceania also provides free shuttles into town when the port is too far from the city center to walk. Also the ships are very elegant and the rooms are lovely. Allison, I'm glad to know that you and Gordon are considering trying Oceania.
I donβt mean to be negative, but I see the package as temporary packages. Once the cruise line gets the client hooked on one thing or another, then they pull it off the line item or raise the price. I donβt that type of practice, so Iβm going to say no thanks from the get go.
Iβve been getting the plus β¦ not really interested in all the photos
Thanks for the explanation π₯°
Love your informative videos. We are travelling from Brisbane Australia to NZ on the Coral Princess, our first overseas cruise. I have been looking at the internet WI -FI costings to stay in touch with family back home in Australia . No one speaks about using the Internet Cafe on board. What is it? How do you use it? What is the pricing? Can you just pay for internet usage for 1/2 a day or per one day usage. Can you receive emails and send emails to family and friends in the internet cafe. I would prefer not to use our mobile phone and pay large amounts for the ship internet. We are platinum cruises. Please explain using our mobile phone in New Zealand using free WI -FI in cafes ect in port. What are the charges to our phone. We are mobile dinosaurs and frugal with our money. Leaves more money for the next Princess Cruise.
If anyone wants to do a 14 day Princess British Isles cruise at the end of August, the price has dropped considerably. We've been re-fared twice. The second time was just a couple of days ago. It costs SO much less than it did when we booked.
I agree that packages work for some and not for others. I am always quite happy without it.
Also take into account how may days you are in ports. Unfortunately, if you are spending a lot of time off the ship…..port days are also charged in packages.
Princess are saying the unlimited digital photos is now not part of the premier package. Not sure jow that work if you have already purchased the premier package whilst it was part of the package but you are yet to cruise.
Alison I just looked at Princess web site and it states Premier package has unlimited casual dining.
Iβm wondering if you have the Premiere package and you want two appetizers or two entrees at a Casual dining restaurant. Would that work? Thanks.
I have cruised on Oceania twice. A Pacific coastal Cruise just before covid and a transatlantic Cruise a couple of years ago. Both were on the Oceania Sirena, one of their smallest, oldest ships. There were only about 600 people on board but maximum capacity was 700. Absolutely the best food I've had on any Cruise line, even in the buffet and wonderful staff. I would like to try one of their newest bigger ships for a comparison. I'm sure I will at some point.
Sailed Oceania last July on the Riviera. Beautiful ship, wonderful cruise and experience. Food was excellent and the fellow travelers were interesting and well traveled. More upscale for sure.
Important Notice:
The one thing not taken into consideration when buying a package is the fact you are paying gratuities on Wi-Fi charges and room steward gratuities, both of which do not have gratuity charges if purchased separately. That is 18% or $7.38 per day charged on two things that you would normally NOT pay gratuities on.
Hi RCCL cruises to me are out there compared to how they used to be. I guess bc the industry has really picked up, but princess to me offers the best prices right now.. Thanks for your video
That Pacific wine coast is awesome.
If we had limited vacation time and were cruising only once a year we'd do the premier package. By not getting the package we can take an extra cruise for about the same cost as the package.
For us it's such a no brainer to get the premier package.
It's not a vacation if I have to continually ask myself if I want to buy that next drink, or pay extra for a better wine, or occasional better meal. I pay the full cost up front: and then know that I'm now free to have the on board experience I want.
If I have to pay as I go, I'll certainly spend less — but it'll be because I've deprived myself of having the vacation I wanted to have.
(Ruby Princess – 2/18. First Princess cruise. Can't wait!)