My eye got distracted by $24.50 for Godiva chocolates - def ordering those next time, for gifts. Wouldn't need extra food onboard
I got the impression that Princess status got you extra minutes when you bought internet rather than outright free internet, is that right? I will be ruby next time, but so far gold Princess status hasn't given me much worth having.
Anna - I'm sure you already know this but for those who don't, the loyalty bonuses kick in after 5 cruises or 50 sea days (with Princess) - whichever comes first. Other cruise lines have loyalty bonuses too but they may not be as good as the Princess system, eg we have friends who have over 1,000 sea days on HAL and they do not get free internet. HAL is still part of Carnival PLC - as is P&O, Princess, Costa, Carnival and other lines too - but each line runs its own separate business model.
When you get free internet on Princess, the length of the cruise determines how much internet time you get. For example, we did a 53 day cruise earlier this year and each received 500 mins. On the day we boarded we could have bought extra minutes for a nominal amount (something like $10 for 100 mins) when we signed on to get our free mins. Usually we get 250 mins but for cruises over 30 days (I think) the internet minutes increase.
There are other bonuses too apart from free internet and laundry etc ... such as if you buy a Future Cruise Credit whilst on board, not only can you use it to deposit another cruise but also to get some On Board Credit (OBC) + whatever OBC is on offer with the cruise at the time of sale. In addition, if you own 100 Carnival PLC shares, you can get more OBC !! Win Win !!
My husband and I love cruising as it allows us to explore regions, get a taste for it and enjoy a new adventure at our next port of call. We usually combine a land based holiday with a cruise so we get the best of both worlds ... although we have done a couple of "all cruise" holidays which we liked too. Cruising on Princess and other similar lines is actually a very cost effective holiday - it includes your "hotel room", all food apart from specialty restaurants, tea and coffee (not the specialty tea or coffee) and ship's water. You can choose to spend nothing or a lot - depends on how deep your pockets are ... or your CC limit.
If you are doing a long cruise with many ports you can leave the ship (permission must be sought prior to boarding) and do some land based touring for a few days and then re-board the ship in another port. We did this earlier this year and worked out well - we disembarked at Colombo, Sri Lanka, flew to New Delhi and then did a private tour to Agra and surrounds. We had 3 nights and 4 days touring around Agra and New Delhi before re-boarding at Mumbai. This tour that a friend organised cost around $800 per couple plus flights which were pretty reasonable, and that cost included accommodation, driver, assistant driver and a guide. If we had done it with Princess, we would have disembarked at Mumbai and reboarded at Dubai and the cost for 2 nights and 3 days would have been more than $2K each. For us it was a no brainer ... I figured this may be the only time we could get to India to see the Taj Mahal - we saw so much more than the Taj and never felt rushed at all.
We cruise with Princess because we like the standard of service we get and the consistency of the product sold and we have our loyalty bonuses with them such as free internet, free laundry and a mini bar set up which we usually exchange for coffee cards or water.
We never get bored on a cruise - we use it to just relax and do as much or as little as we like. We've done three Mediterranean cruises and been to the same ports a few times but always find something new to do and see and sometimes re-visit the same places.
Anyone thinking of trying a cruise, try a 7 night cruise as a minimum to get a feel for it and life on board. Go for a mid ships cabin that is not underneath / over a restaurant or entertainment facility as you may get noise when you want to sleep or rest.
We have not struck bad weather all that often, but there are certain times of the year to avoid cruising in Aussie waters, eg Cyclone season, and I find generally in the winter months the waters can be a bit rough ... they certainly were the last time we went on P&O where we had a "never again" with them - based on our experience and opinion of their customer service and how they handled our issue, we will not recommend them.
Travel Blog: The cruise from hell - 2011
