Last sea day, sort of....

Today was our last sea day ..... sort of, depending on how you define it. A sea day could be literal...a day the ship is not in a port. But a sea day is so much more than that. Today a fellow world cruiser said that port days feel a bit like work and sea days feel like vacation. There's some truth to that. Port days require us to wake up early, be at a certain place at a certain time and we're given a lot of instructions.......sound like a job? Sea days are easy, laid back, do what you want, when you want.....sound like a vacation?

The transatlantic sea days won't be like the other sea days we had day 1-104. It will be the start of "starts". Start packing, start saying goodbyes, start reconciling the folio, start preparing for normal life again. It will also be the start of "lasts". The last formal night, the last card game, the last drink at the Bayou listening to Dan the man. I'm great with starts, I dread the lasts. Always have. I hope I always will. Tough "lasts" mean you made every minute count, you created lasting relationships, you made a difference, you mattered.

I also promised to update you on an issue with Princess Prizes. Firstly, the a la carte price of the program is 20/day/room. For this cruise, it cost $2,220. For the first 3 segments, we won quite a bit.....more than our share to be candid. But in the last 2 segments, we've won nothing. Literally nothing. It feels like something's wrong. I dont mind not winning if its working. But not winning cause its broken is a different story.

There was a significant change to the pool of prizes and how they are awarded beginning in Dubai. I've met with the program lead several times and he says it's working. So I posted a question on the 2023 cruise Facebook page to hopefully learn that others are winning or not winning. Here's what I know. There are 80 rooms enrolled in the program, 8 rooms responded and none have won anything in segments 4-5. So 10% have won nothing. I approached Princess again with the new facts and they continue to say the program is working as intended.

Despite that we won about $3,800 worth of prizes, I would not recommend the program due to lack of transparency.

As I finish this, I'm a bit behind. We've already been to Lanzarote, Canary islands, and I'll write that blog momentarily. Tomorrow is our last port. It will be bittersweet. I'm hopeful it's a good experience and we're left with that in our minds. I'll keep you posted.