Star Princess Overrated!
 

just returned from STar Princess 30 day tour. We will never do Princess again. Nickel and dime ya, ice cream, cokes, coffee, etc., and tipping policy sucks..just added to the bill, then the onus is on you to get it changed. Same with transfers from ship to town/attratctions. Added, even if you don't plan to go, then you must remove. A cheap way to give employees a raise, and 'opting' out of the tipping program only hurts the staff, by reducing the amount that is shared between everyone, not only the good guys. Sucks. We are thru with Princess.

To each his own... but you will find this on all mid price range cruise ships. If you want all inclusive try Radisson Seven Seas or Seabourn Cruise Line!
For anyone else cruising for the first time... research research research!!! So you know before you go... and then there will be no surprises.

Hint: join a dedicated cruise message forum like cruise critic or cruise addicts.

Princess added auto-tipping because 2/3 of the ship does PC dining with the possibility of having a different waiter every night which makes it difficult to tip. I have always had excellent service on Princess and have always tipped above the recommended amount.

Of all the main steam cruise lines - they all charge for soda - RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity and Princess. I recently compared the prices for soda cards on those 4 lines, and Princess was the least amount for the cost of a soda card.

I agree - do research. Unless you switch to a luxury line - you can pretty much expect the same on the other main-stream lines.

Unfortunately, it seems in the past few years all the main stream cruise lines have just gone way overboard (no pun intended) on nickel and diming the passengers at every opportunity. I doubt if Princess does so anymore than the other large lines. Getting charged for bottled water was when I finally drew the line and said ENOUGH! I haven't cruised on one of the mainstream lines since and haven't regretted it. You will most likely really enjoy some of the other cruiselines that don't do this (Radisson, Silverseas, Seabourn)...we sure have.

I guess with most lines it's all about quoting the lowest imaginable price and then making their profit once you're onboard. For me, I'd much rather pay more upfront and be done with it....

We've saved our final cruise bills from our past three 7 day cruises (Radisson Navigator, NCL Sun and RC Explorer). The Radisson was a 2 for 1 pricing and came in HUNDREDS less than the other two and the cabin, food, service was far superior. Keep your eye open for specials such as 2 for 1, free air, $1,000 off etc. and give one of the other cruise lines a try. It is an entirely different, very refreshing experience.

If you have ever been in the Lido for dinner (after eating there all week) , and see all the people on the last night-you know they are stiffing the waiters.

Pay the tips-if you don't want to - take it off. enouf said-