Cruise lines have announced some changes in plans and prices recently; two big ones are a trend to higher daily gratuity charges on board, and a move to more flexibility in choosing flights as part of cruise packages.
- Princess Cruises is raising daily charges per person to $12.95 and $13.95, up from $11.50 and $12.00. What rate you pay depends on cabin class. This move follows recent raises by Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, as well as Holland America.
- Carnival is making a major change in its air arrangements, with a plan it calls Fly2Fun, replacing Fly Aweigh (Ahoy, Captain! Punster sighted!) The program allows passengers to choose from a variety of dates and flights, and buy the tickets through Carnival with a guarantee that if something happens to the schedule, Carnival will be responsible for the cost of joining the ship at its next port. There are two variations of the plan; one comes with change fees, and the other does not. Other lines that allow passengers to choose flights include Holland America and Norwegian.
More information at CruiseCritic.com. Fees, click HERE; Flights, click HERE
