scooter6139

No.  

• Items brought on board the vessel and not supplied by the Company containing any kind of heating element, such as but not limited to: immersion heaters, heating blankets, flat irons, water heaters, coffee machines with heating / hot plates, etc.

https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise

2 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

 

Total cost if you want Internet access is $66.38 per person per day:

• Zero-Alcohol Drink Package: $35.39 per person per day
• Crew Appreciation (Mini-Suites and Below): $16.00 per person per day
• MedallionNet 1-device WiFi: $14.99

That is more expensive than the Plus fare package.

I'm unsure why you have two Wifi quotes here, and I have no idea where that first price of $66.38 comes from for internet access. Prices start at $24.99 pppd for one device, and if you are Platinum or Elite, it's only half that.

-Zero Drink price only needs to be on one person if needed/wanted. The wife doesn't spend that much on drinks anyway, so it's not worth it to her. 

-Always pay Crew Appreciation.  That is a given for us. 

So, that leaves us with:

-$35.39 + $12:50 +$16 = $63.89 for me vs $60 for Plus (worth it as long as I want Internet/Wifi, which I don't really need as we mainly cruise Alaska and port Cell data works just fine)

-$16 = $16 for wife vs $60 for plus (not worth it for my wife)

-$63.89 + $16 = $79.89 for two vs $120 for two for Plus

So, in our case, Plus and Premier are not a good option.  It happens.  

20 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

You can make it zero a day if you drink fresh squeezed juice(1), specialty coffee(2), bottled water(2) & canned soda(1).  

OR just buy the Zero Alcohol Drink package for under half the cost and still get all that.  😁

On 4/20/2024 at 11:24 PM, justafem said:

On 4/20/2024 at 11:24 PM, justafem said:

All non-bar smoking lounges have now converted to arcades.  

 

Which makes the only inside smoking area, the casino.  And we're going to utilize that EXPANDED space to smoke in public/inside.  

 

Want that to go back to normal levels?  Tell princess to bring back the enclosed smoking rooms, until then, the casino is now our space. 

 

 

 

As long as you are putting money in the slots, have fun!

 

On 4/20/2024 at 11:24 PM, justafem said:

 

 

Laws about smoking on deck 7 on ships goes back to bulk carriers/ cargo ships when carrying dangerous goods.  Deck 7 smoking is written into those laws.  Cruise lines must follow those laws, same as the passengers act (what most call jones act).  

 

Good luck with that Sparky.  🙄

The luggage drop-off line and security line are the longest you will have to deal with. Once past those (after getting your shoes and belt back on 🙄), you have the check-in stations. When we went last August, there wasn't a person, just a self-use machine (I think there was a person nearby to assist). There will be a sitting area ahead of that, where you wait unless you are Pinnacle or Neptune, and you should be able to just board the ship.

But this was last August, and I think they might have changed some of this, at least the assigned times part.

6 hours ago, pghflyer said:

....Plus there is the whole thing of how much I trust my travel credit card to honor my travel insurance when I make partial payment with a gift card (I have not seen anyone that has actually needed to use their credit card travel insurance in this circumstance yet with multiple payment methods).

It all depends on what Credit Card you have and its requirements. I know the one I use, the Bank of America Premium Rewards Travel Card, requires you to post the entire "base" purchase on the card to get the main benefit of full cancellation coverage. The delay and luggage ones are just partial on the card.

I couldn't convince my wife last time to try the Pinnacle Lunch, but perhaps I will be more successful this time.  We have a 'boatload' of OBC so that we will give it a go.

Any suggestions?  (no issues with wife but I am Diabetic so need to keep the carb count down)

57 minutes ago, nannygoatjunction said:

We had our meal last night on our embarkation day.

Seriously. Fried onion rings and mashed spud with steak? Not my idea of fine dining thats for sure.  😂

 

 

Uhh, you do realize that the Pinnacle Grill is a Steakhouse, right?  Which is also served by the steakhouses on NCL (Cagney's) and Princess (Crown Grill).  😏

2 hours ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Not our experience.  PCC's have never lowered our cruise prices, my travel agent has. Maybe my travel agent wants to impress.  

That's too bad; you likely have a bad PCC, then.  Ours saved us $1k off our Neptune suite to Alaska this year when she was just checking on our AARP and Teacher OBC and saw we qualified for some Casino discount (odd as we never gamble).  Any discount I'll readily take.

18 hours ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

I should clarify somethin I said: It's interesting that when I had a long talk with an AmEx representative trying to answer that question, since the gift cards were for purchasing the cruise, I couldn't get a clear answer. So I don't use the gift cards for that. If one of us were patient enough to press them for an answer and wait for the reply, I'd bet that the cruise would be covered, since you could track the gift card number.

I too had to have a conversation about the Travel perks that come with our BoA Premium Rewards cards, or rather the benefits people that run those perks and not the bank itself.  At least with this specific card, certain benefits (like cancelation) require the entire "base" portion to be paid on the card.  Any additions like OBC, SPA, drinks, and HIA can be added later via other financing means. Others, like baggage and delay travel perks, only require partial payment on the card.  

I think the robes are all the same size.  One Size Fits All (OR None).  🙄

I recall something similar announced last year, as we had these options on our Westerdam Alaskan cruise.  My wife loved her Glacier Ice drink!  That ice lasted through three drinks and several plain glasses of water!  (You could get the drink cheaper as a refill)

32 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

 We contacted the  shops services department  , Because we are in handicap cabins & being diabetic  they placed us in early dining on all 3 cruises , We have low salt & no sugar diets .We know that carbs elevate  A1C levels  . Actually knowledge of what to eat is 80% of the battle  .More vefies  & lower carbs . 

I also think that they know I have a electric scooter also  maked it better for the early dining slot 

I hear you, being Type 2 myself.  Pretty much doing a Keto diet now, as it has worked for me.  Our MDR waitstaff on our last Westerdam cruise helped us a lot in adding/mixing the different apps/soups/entrees to make sure I got what I wanted and what I needed.  

We are also Waitlisted for our cruise on the 2nd time dining slot.  Our PCC said it was because they were "full" for that time of dining but we likely will get it anyway closer to the sail date.

Sorry, don't know if medically necessary meal times will work.  I would suggest you call HAL and let them know of your specific medical needs.

6 hours ago, Henk123 said:

Just a quick search on google

 

Nw Statendam Veranda

Zaandam

 

But also found this one

 

Thanks, but New Statendam is a Pinnacle Class ship, built in 2018.  Very different than the older Vista-class ships like Zuiderdam (2002).

Every picture/YouTube I can find of the bathrooms on those * marked "shower only" cabins all show a shower only (13 years up to two years ago) and a shower curtain.  I checked all 4 Vista-class ships.  So unless they changed that in the last Refurbishment from the last 2 years, then I would suspect they are all curtains.

11 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

So, essentially, you're claiming  that NCL makes so much money that it can afford to reduce it's profit by giving away service it now charges for?

Interesting, as that isn't what I said sparky, but you go ahead and roll with whatever strawman argument you want to make.  Cheers!

18 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Bliss has 80 Haven suites so at 100% capacity, it would be 160 people. 

More than likely, it will be more people than that. 

So that must be why the Joy's Haven seems so crowded at times.  I think it has 120 plus or minus Haven staterooms.  😮

Does anyone know if these Spa robes are any different in size to the ones put in rooms?  My wife and I are both "fuffy" so we need larger than the standard One Size Fits None room robes.  🙄

FWIW - The Lotus Spa robes on Princess are easily the largest robes we've found on any ship.  They would even fit my 3x tall frame!

6 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Suprised that you don't grasp the concept that if NCL doesn't make a profit, there won't be a NCL.

I'm pretty certain that NCL is making plenty of profit from the Haven guests.  No worries there.

Pretty sure NCL isn't in huge financial straights anyway, as they just announced those 8 new ships they are constructing.  

4 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Celebrity doesn't give you the mini bar for free for their Retreat guests and doesn't even give their entry Retreat rooms a proper butler any longer. So NCL isn't doing anything 'worse' than some of their big competitors.

 

Understood, but I don't think NCL and Celebrity are direct competitors though.    Celebrity is more in line with HAL and Princess, while NCL is more like RCCL and perhaps even MSC.  MSC Yacht Club, I think, does stock the mini bar and gives you free drinks during most of the day.  (please correct me if wrong, I think I got that from a Cruise with Ben and David youtube 😀)

The deck 18 HF should be the cheapest in the Haven proper, while the deck 17 HE is just slightly more. I don't recall how much though, depends on the cruise.  We liked the HE we had with the slightly larger deck and quick access to the Horizon Lounge.  

Meh, do not want larger ships, as I thought the Breakaway + were a bit too big, but that is just my opinion.  Guess NCL wants to be like RCCL and keep its "uber $$$ resort-style" status.  Just more "stuff" on a ship that NCL can charge lots of money for, just like RCCL is doing.  That works for some but not for others.  As someone else said, as long as there is some nice separate Haven to relax in I should be good to go.  

4 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

If the cost of Free at Sea is 'already baked into the fare', why do you think it is 'extra'?

Why do  you think stocking and re-stocking the mini-fridge would be a 'small thing'?

 

NCL wants more $$$.  Simple.  Surprised that this is a hard concept to grasp.  🤷‍♂️

1 minute ago, RocketMan275 said:

So, you think the Haven fares should be increased by the amount necessary to cover the Free at Sea, and re-stocking the minibar?  How much additional do you think this would raise the Haven fares?

No need to raise the fares at all, as they are already double/triple what one would pay for the next category down.  The Free at Sea is already baked into the standard cruise fare and stocking the fridge once does not cost the line much at all.