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I Cruised Princess Cruises Despite Saying Never Again!
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Jul 5, 2025
It's been three years since I was last on Princess Cruises, when I vowed to never return after going on three underwhelming cruises in the space of 12 months: Sky and Regal Princess in Europe and Majestic Princess in Alaska. I felt Princess had lost its way, and they had slipped behind their competition in the premium category. In fact, I made a video after those cruises, which is entitled “My Last Time? Issues I Have With Princess” about my feelings. But I relented because I wanted to go on a Group Cruise hosted by my vlogger friends “Paul and Carol Love To Travel” which was on Sky Princess. So, I decided to go back and see if they'd improved. Here's what I found. Good and bad. For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * TeePublic Store: https://tipsfortravellers.dashery.com * Teespring Store: https://tips-for-travellers-youtube.creator-spring.com * Fourthwall: https://gary-bembridge-1-shop.fourthwall.com Book Cruise Port Excursions * Venture Ashore: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/excursions * Shore Excursions Group: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/shoreexcursions
View Video Transcript
0:00
it has been three years since I was last
0:01
on Princess Cruises when I vowed to
0:03
never return after going on three
0:06
underwhelming cruises in the space of 12
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months sky and Regal Princess in Europe
0:10
and Majestic Princess in Alaska i felt
0:12
Princess had lost its way and they had
0:15
slipped behind the competition in the
0:17
premium category in fact I made a video
0:19
after those cruises which is entitled My
0:22
Last Time: Issues I Have with Princess
0:24
about My Feelings but I finally relented
0:28
because I wanted to go on a group cruise
0:30
hosted by my vlogger friends Paul and
0:32
Carol love to travel which was on Sky
0:34
Princess so I decided to go back and see
0:38
if they had improved welcome aboard i'm
0:40
Gary Benbridge and here's what I found
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good and bad first a quick reminder of
0:45
who and what Princess is they're part of
0:48
the Carnival Corporation operating in
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what the cruise industry calls the
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premium category competing with Holland
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America line Celebrity Cruisers Kunard
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and Virgin Voyages based on price and
0:58
their overall offer they are actually
1:01
the largest of those based on passengers
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carried like those other premium lines
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they offer more traditional cruise
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entertainment dining and enrichment
1:11
experience princess has a wide range of
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cabins like those other lines do from
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inside to suites and they attract a wide
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range of cruisers now while it tends to
1:20
mostly be older couples they also appeal
1:23
increasingly to families and
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multigenerational groups particularly in
1:27
the summer months in the Mediterranean
1:28
and Alaska and in the holiday periods in
1:31
the Caribbean they offer itineraries in
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most regions of the world with a fleet
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at the time of recording of 17 ships
1:39
which are getting larger and larger
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while they do have some smaller ships
1:44
like Coral Princess of 2,000 their more
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recent Royal Class which includes Sky
1:49
Princess carries 3,660
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and their newest sphere class ships like
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Sun Princess carry 4,310
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passengers so let's find out what I felt
2:01
has improved based on those older trips
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I was very critical of the food and I
2:05
was delighted to find they made a huge
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improvement by bringing onboard Rudy
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Sodom a wellrespected restaurant tier
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and chef to help oversees the
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improvement he had worked with Honda
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America their sister line within the
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Carnival Corporation to significantly
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improve their food and he has definitely
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done that on Princess 2 the improvement
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is most obvious in the main dining room
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it has been elevated with a decentsized
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menu but really good choices the
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starters main courses and desserts were
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all consistently good and certainly for
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their category and fairs they are now I
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would say among the best of their direct
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competition of course they do not match
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the luxury lines but I wouldn't expect
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that for the fairs that I'm paying
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they've also made good changes in the
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main dining room formats to match the
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needs of different types of people
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cruising these days and certainly
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different from when I was on last time
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on Sky Princess they had three main
3:00
dining rooms so offered traditional
3:02
fixed dining so you could have a set
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table and waiters and choose early 5:30
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p.m or late 7:45 p.m settings for the
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entire cruise estrella offered anytime
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dining where you could walk in with no
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reservations now part of Estrella had
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reserve collection dining which is for
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people traveling in suites or reserve
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collection mini suites with a slightly
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elevated menu then there was Celio
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restaurant where you had to make
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reservations which could be done before
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the cruise or during the cruise on the
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app kind of daybyday as you wished in
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the world fresh marketplace which is the
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buffet i felt the food there was fine
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too probably not as elevated as in the
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main dining room but also I believe
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improved a standout change were the
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large vegan vegetarian and gluten-free
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sections which is way more than any
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other line I have seen like the other
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lines they did have different themes
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every day like pub lunch American
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comfort food Indian Italian picnic
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barbecue seafood and sushi and so on all
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of which were I could see was very very
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popular they've also kept and elevated
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their bakery section princess do place
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some focus on cookies cakes and desserts
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which I think is strong in the category
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and still is in terms of special dining
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it has not changed significantly from my
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last trips although the new large sphere
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class ships Sun and Star do have added
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new specialty venues on most of the
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ships they still have Crown Grill which
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is their steakhouse which is a pretty
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standard one and while my visit was fine
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it was no better than past trips others
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on the group cruise they reported a much
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more mixed experience there sabatinis
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which is their Italian restaurant that
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still exists it's not changed much but
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they now have a seafood restaurant Catch
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by Rudy which was probably the most
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popular of the three specialtity
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restaurants informal dining options have
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not changed though unlike before you
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cannot go as often as you like within
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the base fair Alfredo's still is there
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it has excellent pizzas which I think
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probably are my favorite at sea on any
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line I've been on and they also have the
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Ocean Terrace Sushi Bar that's still
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there there's no real change that I
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could see but when I was on last time
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both were included in the fair and I
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could dine as often as I wanted but now
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I bought the Princess Plus package I
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could go just twice once to each or
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twice to just one of them if I bought
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the Princess Premier package I could
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have gone as much as I wanted but if I
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had neither package these were added
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charge venues those not included in the
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fair up on the pool deck is the salty
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dog grill hamburgers hot dogs slice for
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pizzas nowhere near as good as Alfredo's
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and then Swirls soft serve ice cream
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that's still all included within the
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base fair all of the same as my older
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trips and they haven't got better or
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worse the other Princess standard is
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International Cafe which in Sky Princess
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is on deck 5 in the atrium it's still
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open 24 hours a day with food and snacks
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relevant to the time of the day now
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whilst those are included in the fair
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the coffees and teas are not but they
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are included if you've got the plus or
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premier packages the other venue is the
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gelato store which serves ice cream and
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sundas they cost around $17 each but you
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get two a day if you have the plus
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package and unlimited numbers if you're
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on the pre the premier package the
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options that they had for Sundays look
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to be the same as from past trips now I
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will talk more on the packages later
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because there are some negative changes
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since my last trips that I do want to
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talk about but overall I was pleased
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that the I found the food to be a big
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improvement so what else did I find
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improved versus my previous trips the
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second area which I thought was elevated
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versus last time was the entertainment
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and the daily program it's now
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jam-packed and seems to be catering even
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more for higher energy active and highly
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sociable travelers i counted at least 75
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different activities on a C day listed
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in the Princess Patter daily program
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with 15 of those running after 10 p.m
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and late into the night so much more
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going on and later I found most of their
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competitors i did find it to be a much
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more party atmosphere buzzier high
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energy especially in the evenings versus
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before in terms of entertainment they've
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kept their production shows which are
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definitely more contemporary than most
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of the other lines the three on Sky
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Princess were Rock Opera it's got pretty
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creative staging glitzy costumes high
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production values Five Skies a story
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themed around a video game which is
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quite innovative and Spotlight Bar which
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is heavily inspired by the popular Choir
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of Man Show that's set in a bar there's
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a lot of live music and cabaret shows
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around the ship in the evening with a
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band in the atrium occasionally also
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playing on the pool deck and at various
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times in the Vista Lounge they have
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cabaret shows by the guest entertainers
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in the Vista Lounge there's Take Five
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with the resident jazz band and at the
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Crown Grill Bar they have the pianist
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guitarist or violinist playing sets
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through the evening terms of the other
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activities it is a fairly classic one
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including Zumba and dance classes
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enrichment and pork talks culinary based
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events like vegetable carving executive
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chef talks galley tours there were
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multiple sessions of different games
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shows like Deal No Deal the Yes or No
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Game lots and lots of different themed
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trivia movies on the pool deck or in the
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Princess Live they had lots of games in
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the atrium like officers versus
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passenger challenges hoopla they had a
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voice of the seas competition inspired
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by TV's The Voice Arts and Craft classes
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bingo silent discos sports activities
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like fireside games and table tennis
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there are also many revenue generated
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activities like shopping events art
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auctions wine tasting cocktail making
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and so on more on this topic later i
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felt the entertainment has definitely
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been ramped up it's higher energy and
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there is much more a feeling of buzz and
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activity and I do think they're catering
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even more than before for a lively party
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social crowd certainly many on my cruise
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were up until the very small hours of
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the morning every single night another
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thing I felt was elevated since those
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last trips I've been on was port
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information and immersion and they
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particularly seem to be catering much
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better for people who want to
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selfexplore which I really liked the
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port talks were by an independent
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speaker not connected to the shore
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excursions team she gave information on
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history sites to see places to eat how
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to get around and so on then they had
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two sets of port guides for each port
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one was a four pager that was available
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on the app or you could get as a
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document which had an overview of each
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of the ports but the night before
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another two-pager was left in the cabin
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with specifics about where our ship was
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actually going to be docking how to get
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into town a map currency required the
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port agent all aboard time and
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information really specific to that
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specific sailing they also then had
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screens around the ship reminding
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passengers of the all aboard time and
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encouraging self explorers to take a
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photo of the important port agent
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information in case of issues or delays
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of course they did still have a range of
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shore excursions of various different
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types available but I really liked what
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I feel is a new focus on catering for
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self explorers like me so that's what I
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felt has improved now on to what
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unfortunately stayed the same and then
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what I felt has got worse while some I
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spoke to felt service was really good I
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didn't think it was and it definitely
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was no better than my last times i think
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it was fine it was pretty transactional
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and a little at times it was though
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quite erratic i found and still do see
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the service on Princess at best average
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and below their competitors like
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Celebrity and Holland America maybe
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because those lines have smaller ships
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the service is fine i didn't really feel
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the crew went a further step it didn't
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feel particularly elevated like on my
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past trips I did not feel anyone was
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worth naming a standout crew on the end
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of the crew survey it was all just fine
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and pretty standard it's clear to me
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that the benefits of the medallion
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technology have not helped improve
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service since my last times so let me
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talk a little bit more about this
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princess Medallion is a small wearable
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device that replaced cruise cards to
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open cabin doors check on and off the
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ship to make purchases on board and the
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ships have technology that tracks and
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identifies each guest via ver various
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devices that the crew have the concept
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was it was supposed to help provide a
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more personal service on these large
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ships because the crew would be able to
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address guests by name and at launch it
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was said in the publicity it would also
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allow crew to capture key information
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about guests and notes to then help crew
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personalize without asking such as your
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favorite drinks you know if you like
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caffeine free coke or whatever but I saw
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no improvements from before and even the
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weights I had every single day for
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breakfast didn't remember my usual order
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and quirks it was still handy because it
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opened my cabin door as I approach it
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worked perfectly fine to buy things to
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check on off the ship and crew would
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often call me by name because it came up
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in their devices but not always it was
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also supposed to make ordering drinks
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and food on the app better because the
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medallion identifies where you are for
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the crew to bring it to you now like on
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previous trips I found it remains rather
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hit or miss about how effective and fast
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ordering work and to be honest I just
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gave up and I ended as in the past just
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going to the bar or up to the venue to
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order food i could use it to activate
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some of the screens to then get into my
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account and make various bookings around
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the ship but again no better or
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improvement from before so what do I
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think has got worse versus last time all
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of these probably fall under the term of
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nickel and dimeming as it's called and
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this covers a couple of areas first of
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all there was definitely more focus and
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push on revenue generation on board than
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before with as I mentioned many daily
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program activities there to generate
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more money things like art auctions
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bingo spa events fitness classes
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shopping events shopping advisers drink
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tasting photographers were all over the
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place and so on on the daily program at
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least 20 of the 75 activities per day
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that I counted were designed to generate
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more revenue secondly some things
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included in the fair are now extra
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charges i already mentioned Alfredo's
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and the Ocean Terrace sushi bar but now
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there were up charges on all the menus
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both in the main dining room and even
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specialy restaurants like Crown's Grill
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for some cuts of meat and certain dishes
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so upcharges on all the menus thirdly
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there have been some downgrades on the
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Princess Plus and Princess Premier
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packages just before my cruise Princess
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removed soda cans out of the drinks
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package so unlike before I had to pay to
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get a little bit of discount if I wanted
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soda cans like caffeine-free Diet Coke
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or Coke Zero stuff that's not available
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in the soda dispensers behind the bar i
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could also only order one drink at a
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time and you could have no double paws
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also while with the Princess Premier
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package you get unlimited specialy
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dining friends of mine who had it and
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hadn't booked special dining before
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boarding found it was all full and they
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couldn't use the perk at all so based on
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all of this is Princess firmly back on
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my list of lines to cruise with again
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even over their other direct competition
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probably not because I feel that whole
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American celebrity probably still meet
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my needs better but for the right
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itinerary I probably would consider them
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however if you're looking for a premium
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line like the choices a bigger ship can
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offer you want diverse itinerary options
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and definitely an active and lively
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daily program Princess Cruises could be
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something to consider but find out how
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Princess stacks up in my view versus
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those other premium lines join me over
14:59
in this video where I break down which
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each of those premium lines does best
15:02
and worst see you over there
#Specialty Travel