Cruise Raider

I love the wine flights at Vines. They always include wines from all different regions. I have my favorites but I'm with you .. I will try wines from all over the globe.

We are basically in wine country here in California ... very close to many wine regions. We have tried wines from all over the world and love them all. Our choice is to support our local wineries ... but we certainly do stray on cruises.

We have only seen the Old Vine Seghesio for $36 a bottle but if we can find it for $20, we would be all over that. But, yes … he oftentimes got the Rombauer right alongside me. It was the cab, somewhere in the Napa Valley that he loved so much but they didn’t have it at very bar. I think it may have been a Silverado cab. I was actually fine with the Mer Soleil Chardonnay and it fell within the package but don’t think they will be offering that by the glass anymore. For two future sailings, we are going with the Premier Package. It’s a bit of a splurge but we’ll worth it for us on a short cruise.

I had a free cruise and upgraded to get the Plus package and paid for air, etc. I was able to cancel, due to CoVid, which I know is different but did get everything back in FCCs for upgrade charges for the cruise and back to my credit card for the airfare.

We have sailed on both lines several times ... each has their plusses and minuses. We've only been on Princess since the restart but have another Celebrity cruise booked for next year. I'm not sure I would say (IMO) that Celebrity has better food than Princess ... I would say that it all really depends on what you order and what you expect. Specialty restaurants on Princess are about half of what they will cost you on Celebrity. Both are great! The beds on Princess are phenomenal as are the open closet designs. Princess also has onboard laundromats for everyone to us. Even though we get free laundry on Princess, we still only use the self serve laundromats. I like the loyalty perks on Celebrity a bit more. I also like it is a more adult atmosphere onboard or at least, less kids. You may want to look at CoVid protocols. Hopefully, they won't be in place by next year but who'd have ever thought it would last this long. Princess has been placing those with CoVid in balcony cabins, I've read that Celebrity might not be doing the same. I have no proof of the latter, though. I'd just go for the itinerary and pricing you like better. I think you'd be happy on either one.

We love California wines but no, these were not included in the under $12 a glass limits. They were more like $15 - $18 a glass, but we could get them for $3 to $6 plus gratuity with the Plus package. I love the Rombauer Chardonnay while my husband loved the Seghesio Zin. There was also a cab he really liked but that was even a bit more but cannot remember which one it was.

Never were the wines we drank we anywhere near $6 or $7 a bottle retail ... more like $37 - $65 retail. Of course, we were charged the difference but still felt like it was a great deal. BTW, Princess pours are 5 to a bottle, never 6. I'm not saying they aren't making a profit but, not so much on us. We took full advantage of the great wines we were served.

That may be true with some of the mixed drinks but not for wines. Even at wholesale, I think many of the wines we’ve had onboard are more like a cost of $5 to $10 a drink. Of course, we pay the upcharge for those but not $5 to-$10 .. more like $3- $6.

I think I’ve posted that you only needed two drinks to break even in the past … but a month or so back, they raises the price to $50 a day pp. We are trying the premier package on a couple of our shorter upcoming cruises. It will be a good way to try out the new offerings.

Once the tips and WiFi are added in, you only need about 3 drinks to break even with purchasing the plus package. But, the plus package also allows for unlimited specialty coffees, sodas, waters, mock tails, etc. But, I understand your point. It is hard to justify if you don’t drink any alcohol or use WiFi.

So many reasons. Insurance isn't just for CoVid.

I agree with what you've said. From what I hear and read all over the place, people feel they cannot contract CoVid after being vaccinated, boosted or wearing a mask ... none of which are true. I survived 11 cruises since the restart and got sick at a family party. I'm fully vaxxed and boosted. I wore a mask, I distanced from others, I kept my hands clean, I stayed outside, even walked in through the backyard, not through the house. I asked everyone if they were healthy because we were going on a cruise a week after the party. Well, darn it if I didn't get it 3 days before our cruise. It's just so transmissible, even though I was taking all my precautions. One person at the party had it and spread it to several others. What I didn't do was get really sick. I felt like I had a moderate cold but I was super tired and lost my sense of smell and taste. I used the cruiseline protocols for quarantine passengers to keep my DH from getting it. He never did and he was also at the family party. I isolated and I was the one to wear a mask if I needed to come downstairs. I do agree that the one who is already infected needs to be the one to wear a mask. But, that's not what happens onboard since the protocols have changed. We've cruised once since my recovery and I probably have a good chance of warding it off if I am exposed to it again in the near future. I would say about 2% - 5% of the people onboard were masked ... that was last month.

I loved it. Even if you live near enough to an embarkation pier, you could get some credits. We would treat others that gave us a ride to the pier. It was so wonderful.

You could board early even though you weren't booked on the cruise. You did have to sign up for it beforehand and you could board early and have lunch in the dining room, with other guests you were with or just on your own. You had all the benefits on being booked on the cruise, an embarkation photo, a personalized tour of the ship's amenities, embarkation lunch, etc. You could even book a massage or hang by the pool if you chose to do so. Then, you would get a future cruise credit if you booked while onboard. The disembarkation time for these guests was just before the muster drill. It was a nice payback for those that drove you to the pier .. that's what we did for our friends / family that took us to our cruise. It was about $39 pp ... forgive me if I got that wrong. Very fun way to experience ship life for a few hours.

Us, too. I think we will go for it. Thanks for the reminder.

Can you tell me if E424 over Crooners on the Royal Princess is noisy at night?

Either one is wonderful.

We were on the Ruby a few weeks ago and it was pretty much full. The specialty restaurants, The Crown Grill and Sabatini's, were only each open on alternating nights. The service was great throughout the entire ship, though even though I know they were a bit short staffed. It seems as though after having to open the third MDR, they may have lost some of their wait staff to that. But, as I said, the only problem we noticed is that it was hard to get into the specialty restaurants.

Princess has indeed implemented the cut off for the OBC at the end of each leg of the cruise. I don't remember that happening in Sept / Oct (maybe I didn't have leftover OBC?) but it was in place by last April when we asked. I was allowed to book and pay for a massage or two or three during the first leg of the cruise and actually schedule the appointments for the second leg. I don't really think anybody is being ripped off here, either. They simply changed the policy and it is what it is! In terms of the coffee cards, before the pandemic, I was full well expecting that my coffee cards were invalid (never was going to argue or even plead my case) but I asked onboard, they took my card and said I would need to leave it with them but they used it for my specialty coffees during the entire cruise. I had a couple punches left over so used those last two punches for a couple of our guest services staff. They were so happy!!

Just a bit off subject but I heard on the local news this morning that a pharmacist may be able to prescribe Paxlovid without a doctor's Rx but with a positive CoVid test result.

I also am a huge fan of Seattle Express. I wouldn't even think of using anything else next time up in Seattle for a cruise. They can't pick up at SeaTac but will pick you up at specific airport hotels. On the way back from the pier to the airport, you explained it perfectly. I love how you don't even need to give them a time for disembarkation ... they are just there at the pier and pick up every 15 minutes. I recently booked a ride with them and even though I missed to cutoff to cancel after getting CoVid, they still refunded my money. Class Act! They've certainly earned my business and recommendation!

You'll be happy with that choice. What a great price. We were just in those cabins on the Ruby up in Alaska. The location is so convenient to everything and not as noisy as some would suggest. We chose the starboard side, as it is not above Crooners. Plenty of day light and we headed down one deck to sit out on the promenade. As much as my DH loves when I book a balcony cabin for us, he survives quite well in these rooms.

No upgraded streaming service but there is decent connectivity in some of the port cities. I was almost always able to text back and forth all throughout the cruise. And yes, we cruised an average of once a month in the last year. It was a treat at a time that I knew we'd likely never see again. It was so lovely while it lasted. We were so spoiled!!!

We've stayed in that area a few times on the Royal Class ships. The obstruction is nonexistent in my opinion. I wouldn't hesitate to book another one in the future. Some have much larger balconies, such as E429 and E425, the same for the port side. There has been some noise heard from the seafood restaurant below (french music) but nothing from Alfredos. The location is so convenient.

We got that same notification for the Discovery when we booked it with a couple of friends. Even though the cruise was full, we were always able to sit together at the same private table each night. As a matter of fact, we've always been able to adjust our DMV reservations in the app once onboard.