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Princess Cruises has announced that its Premier cruise fare will now offer guests even more benefits, although for US guests the price of the package will also increase.

The updated package is a result of a change to the Premier Beverage Package that’s included in the Premier fare, which now includes almost every drink onboard.

Previously, the drinks package included drinks up to the value of $18, but that’s been increased to $20 with the new package.

Guests who book a Premier fare can enjoy these drinks unlimited:

• Top-shelf spirits, reserve wines and signature cocktails by mixologist Rob Floyd
• A selection of 75+ spirits, 40+ wines by the glass, 20+ cocktails
• Premier wines by the glass including Duckhorn, Stag’s Leap, and Grgich Hills
• Private Woodford Reserve Bourbon Selection created exclusively for Princess
• Personalised Jack Daniel’s Whiskey Single Barrel Select
• 25% off wine bottles (including rare vintages)
• 25% off large bottles of water

Another enhancement has also been made to the package regarding speciality dining – that will now be unlimited for Premier guests too, provided you’re cruising from the US.

Previously, guests on a Premier fare would enjoy two free speciality dining meals, but now they can enjoy a speciality restaurant every night of their cruise at no extra charge.

The changes aren’t free for all Premier guests though, as the price for Princess Premier in the US has increased to $90 per day.

For the UK, the price remains at £65, and it includes the updated drinks package but it remains at just two speciality dining meals per cruise.

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

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Carnival Cruise Line was forced to issue a rare passenger alert on Tuesday 14th August, as it had to cut short its visit to Grand Turk.

Due to deteriorating weather conditions in the region, particularly in Grand Turk, the cruise line requested that all passengers return to the ship earlier than originally scheduled. The new return time was set for 2:30 pm.

In a bid to amplify the message, the cruise line not only tried to contact guests directly but also had brand ambassador John Heald share the news on his Facebook page, to make sure guests knew to return to the ship promptly.

The deteriorating conditions were attributed to the impact of Hurricane Ernesto, which affected the cruise industry in the eastern Caribbean.

It’s not uncommon for cruise lines to make changes to itineraries to avoid problematic weather. It is rare, though, for a cruise ship to visit a port but then realise it has to leave early.

There’s always a risk that some passengers won’t see the message and so would return to the ship at the normal time. For this reason, cruise lines will normally be extra cautious and skip a port if there are concerns that their schedule might be impacted by the weather.

Hurricane Ernesto has proven to be fairly unpredictable already though, and has caused alterations to several other cruises in the region.

It’s hurricane season, so if you’re booking a Caribbean cruise for this time of year you absolutely must take out suitable cruise insurance with missed-port cover!

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me

MSC Cruises and its sister brand, Explora Journeys, have adopted innovative “smart containers” to enhance the quality and freshness of food delivered to their cruise ships. These smart containers utilise…

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MSC Cruises and its sister brand, Explora Journeys, have adopted innovative “smart containers” to enhance the quality and freshness of food delivered to their cruise ships.

These smart containers utilise advanced technology to monitor and control conditions such as temperature and humidity during transportation. This ensures that food products remain fresh from the warehouse to the ship.

The company has revealed that it started using these smart containers in 2023 to transport food from a supply warehouse in Genoa, Italy, and it has now reported a significant improvement in food quality compared to 2022.

Although the cruise lines source about 96% of their food locally, some goods still need to be transported from global warehouses. The smart containers, monitored 24/7 by a central service centre in Antwerp, Belgium, provide real-time data and alerts to address any issues promptly.

As well as maintaining the perfect humidity and temperature to keep the food in top condition, it can also flag when a container has accidentally opened en-route, so that it can be resolved quickly, without spoilage.

It’s been particularly useful in destinations where sourcing food locally has been tough. Fresh seafood can now go from port to plate within 48 hours, overseen by celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto, the line’s Fresh Fish Ambassador.

The integration of smart container data into the cruise lines’ IT systems allows for continuous access and monitoring, ensuring the highest standards of food quality for guests.

Have you cruised with MSC since 2023 and noticed a difference in the freshness of the food?

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

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Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas was unable to dock at Amsterdam this weekend as planned, due to a protest by Extinction Rebellion.

The small group of just seven protestors managed to block key locks which meant that the ship was unable to safely reach the Amsterdam port.

Instead, the ship was forced to head to nearby Ijmuiden.

The impact was significant, as this was not a port of call mid-itinerary but it was an embarkation and disembarkation port.

This meant that guests had to board buses from the ship to get to the port, and vice versa – those guests due to embark on their cruise had to board the shuttle buses on the return journey to get to the ship.

The port was relatively close, with the bus journey taking less than an hour, but it was still a significant inconvenience for all guests leaving the ship or joining her for the next cruise.

The protest was directly against the cruise industry, with Extinction Rebellion releasing a statement:

This action is a direct protest against the scandalous pollution caused by cruise shipping. They deliberately prevented the arrival of the gigantic cruise ship, the Jewel of the Seas… Extinction Rebellion demands an immediate and total halt to the destructive cruise industry in the midst of the devastating climate and ecological crisis.

The local government in Amsterdam are already taking steps to potentially ban cruise ships from the dock and reduce cruise tourism in the city, due to the impact tourists are having on life for locals.

Police chose not to remove the protestors as they were not causing injuries or in life-threatening situations. The protestors left once they had caused the ship to divert.

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me

An issue with the engines onboard Carnival Vista resulted in an entire itinerary change for guests boarding this weekend.

The ship had been scheduled to depart Port Canaveral on a Southern Caribbean cruise that would include visits to Aruba, Curacao, and Grand Turk.

However, the ship had developed a problem with the engines which meant that the ship could not reach full speed.

As a result, the cruise line had to change the entire itinerary for one that featured ports in the Bahamas, much closer to Port Canaveral.

The ship will now visit Nassau, Princess Cays, Freeport, and Half Moon Cay.

While it’s not unusual for a port to be missed on a cruise, it’s very rare that an entire itinerary is swapped out like this.

The change means that engineers can repair the engines during the cruise, so that the ship isn’t taken out of commission and can continue to fulfil future itineraries.

However, it is likely to be extremely disappointing for guests who had planned on seeing different ports, especially as the announcement was only made on the day of embarkation, with some guests even onboard already.

Guests who had not yet boarded the ship were offered the option to cancel their cruise and receive a 100% Future Cruise Credit, while those who stayed onboard were given a $400 onboard credit per stateroom to use during the cruise.

Any guests who had booked excursions for the original ports of call through Carnival will have them automatically refunded, but anyone who paid for third-party excursions will need to seek a refund from the provider.

Here’s hoping the guests took out cruise travel insurance with missed-port cover!

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me

Shipping Italy, a trade publication, has reported that the Fincantieri shipyard is in negotiations with the Carnival Corporation for six new cruise ships.

This has not been officially announced by the shipyard or the cruise company yet, and is on top of the existing orders that have already been announced, including the three new mega-ships being built for Carnival Cruise Line.

It’s not clear which cruise lines these new ships would be assigned to – but it’s believed that it could be a new series of ships for Carnival Cruise Line, new ships for AIDA Cruises, or possibly new ships for Costa Cruises.

The Carnival Corporation also includes P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, and the luxury brand Seabourn.

The six ships – with the potential option for a further two – are believed to be in excess of 150,000 gross tons with the total value of the contract believed to be around $8.7 million.

If the deal is signed then construction would be due to start relatively soon, as the reported delivery of the ships would start in 2029.

Costa could definitely do with a boost to its fleet, as the cruise line has seen three ships move to the Carnival brand within the last couple of years. Carnival Luminosa, Carnival Venezia and Carnival Firenze all started life as Costa ships.

Related posts

Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me