dreaminofcruisin

Wow. Nope definitely not normal. Never seen anything like this....

This is an excellent idea as we also always share a pizza. The question though is whether or not we need to buy a 'meal' or if there will be an a la carte price for the pizza alone? Usually the pizza is enough for us.....

For me, regardless of the bells and whistles Princess adds, it comes down to the price, I have 4 cruises booked currently all with Plus at $50 pp pd. I could justify that price point with the things available at the time. When booking my next cruise now that it is $60 pp pd, I will have to get out the pencil. It's in the gray area whether or not I book it. The new 'value' added does nothing to change that decision. Although I think ordering from the app is kinda fun, I've had limited success with actually getting things delivered. I don't use RS. I will miss Alfredo's, but not enough to pay for Plus just because of it. On my next cruise, I will be tracking my drinks to see whether or not I can justify the $60. If the price goes up again...I'm out...no more Plus package.

...and regarding price increase for Plus.... check the math if you are booking in 2024 or 2025 Looking at South American cruises, the Plus per day increased to $70 for 2024. In 2025, it's $80 / day. Unless those are typos by Princess. I doubt it. Those prices take me 'out' for buying Plus....these new fees / "benefits" don't justify it for me.....

I have a very non-responsive CVP, but wasn't quite ready to book anyway. We often travel with another couple and I was waiting for them to indicate if they are interested in which case we would get cabins next to each other. It actually makes more sense that it would be only the Plus package, so those of you who got it without got a real deal I think! I'll let the dust settle a bit and see if I am ready to pull the trigger. I have been booking the Plus package in the past, but it appears in 2025 (if this is correct), it's showing as $80/day and at that rate.... I'm out.... 🤷‍♀️

It looks like I should have booked yesterday.... Today the $900 OBC is there, but only if you book the Plus package..... ☹️

I It's actually more a love seat than a sofa, but yes it is a place to sit. Some of the deluxe balconies mid-ship in the 'bump-out' area have a bit larger balcony. If you want to go with a really large balcony partially covered and pay a bit more for a premium deluxe balcony, there are some on Dolphin deck 9 -- forward D146-D225 or aft D711-D725. You can see the larger balconies on the deck plans. Yes, you should be able to purchase excursions prior to sailing using OBC, but that's all you can use it for before sailing (to my knowledge).

Interesting. I have 3 cruises in the next 3 months and used OBC for excursions for all of them....

Are your teens booked as 3rd or 4th passengers? If so, just so you are aware, even if you book Plus package for passengers 1 and 2, it does not include Plus for passengers 3 and 4. You could book the Classic Soda package for them which is $14.99/day. It depends on how much they drink, whether or not this is good value. It includes sodas, fruit juices, mocktails and smoothies. Without a Plus package, in the dining room, you can get iced tea or lemonade for no additional charge.

hmmmm...seems like some things are still changing. Not all 2025 cruises say up to $20 on the drinks price---it's still $15 for Plus and $20 for Premier. Also, I only see the OBC for South America so far. Guessing some things are bugs....and might still get corrected....

Interesting that I can see these cruises (not logged in) even though I am not Elite yet. I also noticed that the difference in Standard and Plus for 2025 is $80/day and the drink prices included is up to $20/day. Sounds like the price might be rising again..... The onboard credit amount though is really crazy for 2025....might have to think about other cruise possibilities in addition to the one I was looking at.... 😆

Your post is a little rambling, so not sure if you had a specific questions? It's not too clear? You can use OBC to pay for excursions before you sail. Yes you can purchase the package onboard the first day using OBC. I assume you have multiple cabins? Seems like for sure the two sons that drink should be in one cabin with the Plus package. The rest of you not as likely to benefit from Plus, but you'll have to do the math.

YMMV I had zero luck trying to use my OBC to pay for a DH excursion. I called twice to Princess and both times was told OBC could only be used for the person whose name it was in. Then tried chat and got dropped after waiting 3 hours. I sent my worthless PVP an email and she ghosted me. So, I gave up.....It wasn't a lot of money, but it was frustrating, since it seems others have been successful in the past. Since DH is now out of OBC, but I have a LOT, am I going to have to be sure and buy any upcharges for him? Or are they at least still consolidating bills onboard so my OBC will cover any of his upcharges?

We too are doing our first B2B this fall. Our turnaround day is in Athens. A reply to OP was that we will need to wait to disembark until all other passengers disembark. Is that true? Anyone with experience what time that will be? TIA

also iced tea....

No one knows until next week. It's being discussed in this thread. See post #97.

.....and this is the mess Princess has created. If they decide to add benefits to a package, just add them to everyone regardless of the price they paid. The small amount of people who will 'upgrade' to the new version of the package is so minimal in the profits they are going to make. It is way too confusing for passengers when signs are posted "Included with Premier package" or "Included with Plus package" and then it really isn't for the 'version' of the package you bought. The passenger good will lost by all this confusion isn't worth the potential extra profit by getting passengers to 'buy up'. Now it sounds like next week Princess is going to be adding more 'value' to their packages. Which version? Stop it Princess. If you add value, just add it for all passengers regardless of the price paid at the time it was purchased.

Another thing to look at when booking an Alaska cruise is the times that the ship is in port. I have a friend who recently did a cheap Alaska cruise on NCL, but was disappointed at the very odd and short port times. However, it was much cheaper than a Princess cruise....so you get what you pay for....

Princess Cays -- YES -- you can use your drink package. Anywhere else off the ship? Not that I've ever heard of.....

I think it is also available on the tv in your stateroom. As I recall, it was difficult to find, but it was there....

I finally had to give up. As I noted earlier and I know you went through this, DH didn't have enough OBC to cover an excursion we wanted to book. I had more than enough to cover us both and in fact will have to work to spend it all once onboard. I called twice trying to get a different person, but both told me 'each person's OBC belongs to them'. I then sent my PVP an email asking if she could do it. She NEVER responded after almost 3 weeks---really annoying. She seems really good at responding if you want to book a cruise...otherwise .... NADA. Then I tried Chat. I was on for almost 3 hours when it looked like they were trying to connect me and dropped me instead. 🤷‍♀️ I gave up and paid the difference for DH. It wasn't that much, but it was pretty annoying. Just thought I would post my experience and am curious if that's what others are seeing as well, or if I just was unlucky getting the ones who didn't know how to do it.

A few years ago, we took a Princess transfer from Civitavecchia to the Rome train station. They had Princess reps there who made sure everyone who wanted one was able to get a cab to city center. I don't recall the cost, but this summer we are taking the Princess transfer from the Rome airport to Civitavecchia port and the cost is $89/person.

This is a family who never should be cruising. It seems like they expected the ship to have a full hospital facility. When advised to get off the ship for further testing, they refused and then they complained about getting a big bill from being in the Ship's medical center a long time......They're lucky Princess didn't force them off the ship if they needed medical care. Also, covid is the new noro. Both will likely show up on many, if not all cruises. Like noro, it doesn't come from being on the ship, it comes from the people who bring it on the ship or the people one encounters at ports.... a risk one must take if desiring to travel...and not just on ships....

My days are counting down correctly. You could try signing off and on before reinstalling the app. Also, wondering if the "Good Evening" is relative to the location where the cruise departs from instead of the location you are in....just a guess.... (tacky yes, but....)

I think 4 adults in a mini-suite will be fine. Better than 4 adults in an inside....... 🤪