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What's Up With Princess Cruises These Days?
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Jan 28, 2025
Has Princess Cruises lost its way? Or is it just a temporary blip as it gets back to speed? I've been asked this increasingly by cruisers coming off recent Princess cruises. Based on my 3 recent trips here’s 4 things they’re getting very wrong 4 things they’re getting very right. ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 95 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- * Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— * Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join * Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ * Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ——————————————— * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge
View Video Transcript
0:00
has princess cruises lost its way or is
0:02
it just a temporary blip as it gets back
0:05
to speed i've been asked this
0:07
increasingly by cruisers coming off
0:09
recent princess cruises they're worried
0:11
about the service the men use the food
0:14
and the much hyped medallion i'm gary
0:16
bembridge welcome aboard i've been on
0:19
three princess trips in the last 12
0:21
months on regal princess sky princess
0:24
and majestic princess and here's what i
0:26
think are the things they're getting
0:28
very wrong and the things are getting
0:30
very right
0:31
right now while some of the issues that
0:34
people are raising like erratic service
0:36
should be temporary and can i think be
0:39
put down to post shutdown challenges
0:40
that all lines are suffering in
0:42
recruiting experienced staff i'm
0:44
convinced some of the changes some of
0:46
the issues are much more permanent
0:48
because i see evidence that princess
0:50
cruises is in transition and they are
0:52
aiming to appeal to a different user
0:55
the enforced cruise down i think has
0:57
accelerated and made this change much
1:00
more obvious while waiting to board a
1:02
competitive line recently i was chatting
1:04
to some followers of the channel also
1:06
recently of princess like i was and they
1:08
said they were confused about what
1:10
princess now stood for as a recent trip
1:13
had just felt off i said to them that
1:16
during the cruise shutdown they need to
1:18
remember that princess made some big
1:20
changes first of all they are now a
1:22
mostly big ship fleet during the
1:24
shutdown they sold many of their smaller
1:26
ships leaving them a mostly mega and
1:29
large ship cruise line mega ships by the
1:32
way are those carrying
1:33
3500 passengers or more so all their six
1:37
newer ships sky princess regal princess
1:39
discovery princess enchanter princess
1:41
majestic princess and royal princess are
1:44
all mega ships they then have four large
1:48
ships carrying over 3 000 passengers and
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only five mid-sized ships
1:52
left in their fleets under that size
1:54
this means that they need to fill these
1:57
big ships with more people per sailing
2:00
than ever before and i think we've seen
2:03
some changes in focus and priorities to
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do just that leading us certainly as
2:09
regular travellers increasing the
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experience of princess that we're much
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less familiar with and used to i'm
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seeing for example they're becoming much
2:18
more family and much much more
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multi-generational family friendly i've
2:24
seen many more kids on princess than i
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had ever seen before for example when i
2:29
was on majestic princess in alaska it
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was packed with families with kids they
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overtook the swimming pools they were
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really busy kids clubs there was lots of
2:39
multiple occupancy of cabins and fully
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booked family cabins for example both
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cabins on either side of me had four
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people staying in them with parents and
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of course the kids
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even on excursions princess have now got
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partnerships with discovery and animal
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planet to have much more family friendly
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offers and excursions and they really
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have elevated and expanded the kids club
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in size in facilities and in program
3:10
it's really really changed significantly
3:11
friends of mine have started choosing
3:13
princess for the great kids clubs option
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that's something pretty new and i've
3:18
been following their sailings this
3:19
summer out of the uk on ships like sky
3:22
princess based out of southampton and
3:24
i've seen so many more families on those
3:27
ships
3:28
princess seems to be shifting away from
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what it's traditionally has been a much
3:34
more adult and couples experience
3:38
they're now appealing to a wider
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audience including giving families and
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younger groups of friends i think as
3:44
well a traditional more sedate classic
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cruising experience alternative to those
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hectic resort style mass lines like
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norwegian royal caribbean msc and
3:54
carnival
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which all have those big bells and
3:57
whistles and water parks and rock
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climbing walls they're offering an
4:01
alternative to that
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further evidence of this focus is they
4:05
have no solar cabins even on their newer
4:08
ships unlike other similar competing
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lines like holland america cunard and
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even new entrant virgin has solar cabins
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but the princess ships do have an
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increasing number of cabins that can
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take a third and a fourth guest on the
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sofa or pull up beds and those family
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cabins i was talking about earlier so i
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think it's going through a shift and
4:28
that could be throwing regular and
4:30
historic princess travelers like me
4:32
certainly of and why i think more and
4:34
more people are feeling it's a different
4:36
experience like me to be honest now
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while i could argue the princess are
4:40
trying to offer choice and help people
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on various budgets as part of this whole
4:45
evolution they're going through i think
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they are in danger of confusing all of
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us as they keep changing and keep making
4:53
their fairs more and more complicated at
4:56
the time of recording they've recently
4:58
changed now to three fares
5:01
they have princess standard which is a
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basic standard cruise fare with all of
5:06
the extras charged individually once
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you're on board or you can actually
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pre-book some of them then they have
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princess plus which has a beverage
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package wi-fi and what they call crew
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appreciation or as we call them
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gratuities then there's princess
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premiere now this includes all of the
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plus package and then adds some
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specialty dining a photo package and the
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chance to win various princess prizes so
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each day on your stateroom door on the
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screen you look to see if you want a
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prize and you could have won onboard
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credit
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spending
5:41
[Music]
5:42
vouchers wine tasting chef's table and
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even free cruises and once a year they
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give away 100 000
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in cash
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fares are definitely not as
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straightforward as they used to be and
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trying to work out if the levels are
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good value for you i find pretty much
5:59
challenging now especially if say like
6:00
me you don't want or need all of the
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perks and add on say like a drinks
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package based on those three cruises on
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three different ships in the last year i
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did not find food as good as their
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closest competitors
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in the included dining venues although
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it was pretty good and matched in the
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specialty added charge crown grill and
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sabatini's having also been on all those
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similar lines in the last year too
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princess felt to me to have a smaller
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menu choice and not as good food
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compared to cunard holland america
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celebrity or even the new entrant virgin
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voyages and it probably was about parity
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with piano cruises in the uk which is
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very close to them as a line as well the
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other lions have really upped it with
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culinary councils and celebrity chef
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partnerships and i suspect the princess
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knows this is a weakness because they've
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recently announced the appointment of
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the u.s chef rudy soderman as head of
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princess culinary arts he leads their
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sister carnival owned holland america
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culinary council which has done an
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amazing job upping the food on that line
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so hopefully this will change from a
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weakness quite soon
7:07
the fourth thing the princess is not
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quite getting right
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at present is delivering on what they
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have chosen as their big point of
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difference to other cruise lines so
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while other competitive lines have
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chosen physical features as their
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standout point of difference princess
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have not gone down that route honda
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america's unique feature for example is
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a series of themed music venues called
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the music walk celebrity now has their
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distinctive new ships with infinity
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balconies and the retreat suites with
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lounge and deck virgin voyages has no
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main dining room and multi all included
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special edited restaurants and really
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quirky entertainment and of course
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cunard has the only ocean liner at sea
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transatlantics the grills inside program
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and white club afternoon tea the thing
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princess have chosen to be the thing to
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set them apart from others it's making
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all their ships what they call medallion
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class this uses the technology entwined
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with the cruising experience with a
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wearable medallion an apt linked to the
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medallion and supposedly better wi-fi
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it's supposed to make the cruising
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experience faster easier and more
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personalized especially with their ships
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getting bigger and having to handle more
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passengers this becomes important with
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bigger ships for example crew will
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struggle to remember our names and the
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medallion brings up our picture and our
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name to assist them the medallion
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unlocks
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my cabin i can order food and drinks to
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wherever i am i can charge items on
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board and even now when i'm out in some
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ports like in alaska i could use the
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medallion to charge stuff directly to
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the ship now other than the medallion
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itself which is great for simplifying
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things like opening your door and the
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purchasing the app itself on all my
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trips was very glitchy and social media
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and cruise review sites are full of the
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same experience
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the apps on less technology leading
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lines even like holland america and
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celebrity on those trips that i did
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between these various princess trips all
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their apps worked better although
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admittedly they do have less features in
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but they definitely were better and less
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glitchy now like most i was expecting
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amazing wi-fi from all the princess hype
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and again on my three trips medallion
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net was not as good as on the other
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cruise lines that i've mentioned and
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i've seen many people posting about
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their frustrations around the whole wifi
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area princess is making a big play with
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medallion class ships but it's still
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glitchy and it's not quite running
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brilliantly so now until it's up and
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running it's not really for me a key
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strength or an advantage yet it's a
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little bit of a weakness
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so those are the four things they're not
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quite getting right these days but let's
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get much more upbeat and look at what
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princess in my view is getting right
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these days first of all princess wise
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and remains incredibly popular it's the
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largest in the premium line category is
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bigger than hull america
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celebrity virgin and cunard based on the
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number of passengers that go on princess
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cruises
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it is the biggest cruise line after the
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big four resort mass lines after
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carnival royal caribbean msc and
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norwegian so this is a big line
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so clearly appealing to an ever wider
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audience seeking a premium classic
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experience is working and i think the
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reason for that is it's driven by their
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consistency even though i'm less of a
10:32
fan of it but many clearly see it as a
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big plus is that all their ships layout
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venues and decor are basically carbon
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copies the ships are all very samey
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inside this means incredibly predictable
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and very consistent experience right
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across every ship in the fleet so no
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matter which ship you step on it is the
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same this definitely appeals to many
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many people another reason for their
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popularity and for me the thing that
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they do best better than their direct
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competitors and certainly for me the
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main reason i would choose princess
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is around destinations
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they claim to call on over 300 ports but
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key is not only do they have this
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massive range of destinations that in
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fact most of the others also claim but
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because they have a bigger fleet 15
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ships than the others they call on those
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places more frequently and the regions
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they're in with much more depth so for
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example in alaska
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while they're second only taught in
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america in terms of time sailing there
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they have multiple ships based there in
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the season you can sell out of seattle
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vancouver and whittier they own and
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operate scenic trains in alaska buses
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and lodges too
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they also home-based ships at various
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times of the year around the world
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offering intensive trips so for example
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they base ships in japan and they do
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incredibly intensive japan itineraries
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really fascinating attendees over and
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over again they base multiple ships
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every year in the uk and they do
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incredible round uk
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norwegian fjords and northern european
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sailings from there they even base ships
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in australia and do phenomenal around
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australia and new zealand itineraries
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they even base ships on the u.s west
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coast and do hawaii and west coast deep
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dives
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the other close competitors
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visit many of these places but with
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limited sailings
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by a long way by comparison with
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princess the next thing that i think
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princess are doing really well is
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although i have touched on it so far is
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offering a viable classic cruising
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option for multi-generational travelers
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many many traditional cruisers are less
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keen to go on those big mass resort
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lines like royal caribbean but this was
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really their only option if they wanted
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to include and satisfy all of the ages
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of the family when they were traveling
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with family and grandkids for example
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but now with the changes princess is
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offering a real alternative with a range
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of cabins excursions kids clubs
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activities so multi-generational
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travelers know they can go on princess
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and even their younger family members
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will no longer feel out of place on a
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classic cruising experience another
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thing that i think they're doing well
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is making it more affordable as they're
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moving into bigger and bigger ships i
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guess that they're obviously able to
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leverage costs much more than on smaller
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ships but when i look at what princess
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is doing they're constantly offering
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deals attractive pricing even in the
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premium category
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you know they're offering great deals
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for third and fourth guests in to stay
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in a cabin and they offer very low
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deposits sometimes as low as 50 us
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dollars or 50 pounds to book a cruise so
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catering for a much more
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budget-conscious traveler they have a
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wide range of cabins and choices from
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inside cabins right through to suites
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but even the suites tend to be less
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costly than their direct competition and
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it's partly because they don't have as
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many added suite features then they just
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have a small lounge they have an area
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within the main dining room unlike other
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lines like say celebrity which has a
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dedicated separate restaurant a big
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lounge and a massive big deck for sweet
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guests
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if all of this though makes you think
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the princess isn't the right cruise line
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for you and you still want a premium
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experience that's a little bit more
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adult watch this video about holland
14:30
america starting with the one thing that
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i think people get wrong about holland
14:35
america they misunderstand about the
14:37
line see you over there
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