PrincessLuver

Filling up second bowl of pop corn....MMM!

6 hours ago, mowogo said:

It is a price increase and an attempt to move the standard price point for cruisers to the Plus fare.  And the reality is product change like this is studied and modeled.  They know they may lose x number of customers over this, but the bet is that most customers will just grumble about the change and it might push them into the Plus offering which then makes the upsell reasonable on Premier to increase sales of that.  And there is some truth to this because a Carnival customer has MSC, RC, and NCL before having to move up a class of line.  It is harder for a Princess customer to wander at the same price point, especially with Celebrity making cuts and price increases of its own (Yes there are other lines, but all much smaller and so harder to stick within one brand for regular cruisers.)  

Looks like they want to be an all inclusive cruise line and take away passenger choice.  

We usually just buy the coffee cards and soda package because neither one of us drink alcohol.  On our next cruise they want us to buy a package which will increase the cruise by $2500 after we have fully paid and now they are changing things on us.  

Our coffee card and beverage package we bought now shows "out of stock."  Princess is really going to lose a lot of loyal cruises.  Time to go to the more small ship luxury brands and leave Princess Price Gougers behind if this is the new Princess model.

2 hours ago, erienetuser said:

 

Yes! That's exactly what I wanted to ask. I'm used to buying a soda in a restaurant  and getting free refills and I wondered if  it was  the same on the  ship. I drink a few sodas a week so I  thought  I'd just buy one occasionally,  and wondered if I  would just get a can or a fountain drink (which I do like better) with refills.

 

Thanks for your help!

I always buy the unlimited soda package which is specifically for fountain drinks and in the MDR they keep bringing refills if I request.  

If I did not have the soda package they would bring me an individual can of Diet Coke and charge me.  There would be no refill and if I wanted more it would involve  paying for another can.  

At the bars you cannot buy just a glass of Diet Coke because there is no listed price… only listed prices are for cans of soda.

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

Dry dock was in Oct.  We sailed Nov/Dec 28 night South Pacific and no engine issues.  Smooth sailing.  Great crew!

I’d go for the suite. Big difference over a mini suite.  But, that’s just my opinion.

 

Have a great trip!  Happy Anniversary!

Agree when we were on the Crown there was no problems with engine indicated earlier this year.  Yes, go for the suite if you can afford it.  The perks are worth it over a mini-suite on the Crown.  We were in a Penthouse Suite and they are very spacious and nice.

9 minutes ago, memoak said:

Been doing it for over 40 cruises including 4 last year

Same here.  Have not had any problems getting a specialty restaurant reservation once on board with all the cruises we have done this year.  I really do not think it is a problem and maybe Princess is just not selling that many Plus or Premium packages.

18 hours ago, DCThunder said:

If you're talking about leggings or yoga pants, they are very popular with the ladies, from what I've observed.  Some fill them out better than others, of course...😉

Not just ladies anymore.  At our gym they seem pretty popular with the guys too.

21 hours ago, bjkTX said:

Did they ever really do that?  It never happened on any of our Princess cruises the last 20 years!

 

During Covid when the ships were very empty sometimes you could go to the Passenger Services desk during embarkation and ask if you could upgrade your cabin and if available they would do it for an added fee.  I do not think it is even happening with full ships and the new bidding system which we like.

21 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

I don't know if there is much difference.   But I have heard that all ships will be officially Alfredo's soon.   

 

I thought this was a really great video to show all the different options in the cruise lines on all the newer ships!

Alfredo's are being rebranded GiGi's.

17 hours ago, damiross said:

No, I didn't say that.

 

If you went to a friend's party and you knew the dress code was suit and tie, would you show up in a bikini?  Would you go to a wedding in shorts and a tee shirt if it was obvious that was not the dress code for the wedding? If invited to a grand gala, would you show up in your pajamas.

 

I'm not asking for people to dress up for me.  I'm hoping you will respect others who would like to experience a gala night and dress up in at least a suit and tea or the female equivalent.  (By the way, a sport jacket with a tie is just as good as a full blown suit.)

Most of my friends would not be pretentious enough to suggest a dress code for a party and would be more concerned about their friends having an enjoyable time together then wanting others to dress to impress which is so shallow.  

The reality is that Princess does not have a dress code that they enforce across the fleet and most long time Princess cruisers know that.  The newbie's will soon learn that too.

42 minutes ago, justafem said:

Here's the issue.  This is a topic that's been beaten to death.  There's a pinned smoking thread at the top of the page.  You want to discuss?  Discuss it there, but NOPE, you feel the need to keep bringing it up again and again.  

 

I'm going to be the party pooper and report this topic.  

In all fairness it is a poll asking for people's choice if they had a choice regarding this issue.  While you are at it you might as well report half the threads on Princess CC that keep getting brought up over and over and over.

23 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

No offense intended at all here, but if we were able to cruise exclusively in the high-end staterooms, I would be less concerned by the relatively small OBC (to my overall cost) than I would be with the quality of food, drink, condition of ship and other amenities.

Non taken.  I guess it all depends on how many OBC's you get or can get for each cruise.  However, we just do not see a major deterioration in Princess' product.  For us the sky is not falling.

11 hours ago, Torfamm said:

The restaurant manager may not feel it’s a suggestion. If a passenger wants to eat in the MDR they should be aware that they may be turned away if they choose to wear shorts. It is not fair to tell people that the the dress code won’t enforced unless you are going to be the person at the entrance making the decision. 

This is like saying you might get a parking or speeding ticket so you should not get in a car.  We just have not seen people turned away in hundreds and hundreds of days cruise on Princess for not strictly following the dress code ideas.

We always travel in Suites or Reserved Class Mini-Suites and just do not really notice the minimalistic changes mentioned.  Almost all travel programs have adjusted their loyalty rewards downward so Princess is not different.  We just do not want them to tamper with the OBC's they offer.

On the Crown recently the Chef's Table participants wore long white coats (like a Dr. or lab coat) provided by Princess?

3 hours ago, davekathy said:

No one can answer that. Depends on the staff at the entrance to the MDR. One way to personally find out. I'd tell him to pack at least one pair of long pants. There's always the buffet. I always wear shorts only on the first evening. All other evenings it's dockers and a polo/golf style shirt for me. My wife wears slacks and some sort of fancy tops. We no longer pack formal wear. 

This is true.  We were just recently on a 10 day Mexican cruise and there was very little monitoring at the door.  We were in CC and every night 3 different cruisers from different groups came to the dinning room wearing shorts, even on formal nights, and were greeted warmly by the restaurant manager.  I thought about all the comments on CC that say shorts are never allowed.

15 hours ago, memoak said:

This to me is the worst idea ever. They are starting a class by class differentiations. Suite passengers have their own restaurants, bar and sanctuary. Mini suites have their own restaurants. All the unblemished folk are excluded. If I wanted this I would sail Cunard

Nothing wrong with a cruise line trying to provide different experiences for different costs for its' passengers.  Life is about choices.  Princess is offering choices for the Cheese Burger crowd and the Beluga Caviar crowd with differentiating costs.  Smart business I think.  We definitely like the distinctions which can make cruising more enjoyable instead of being herded around a ship with the masses for everything.  

11 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Celebrity replaced formal night with chic night.  The recommended dress standard is very casual including designer jeans.   Yet there are still folks decked out with tuxes & gowns on chic night.  They are doing it because they want to.    I guess I'm saying all of this to show that those who want to dress casually and those who want to wear the fancy duds can coexist peacefully.   

Princess on a number of their cruises is starting to use the term "Elegant Night" instead of Formal Night and suggesting more causal dress is acceptable.  We all know that Princess does not enforce its' dress suggestion as many here on CC would lead you to believe and there are no MDR Dragons at the door checking everyone out on what they wear each night and allowing admittance or not to the MDRs..

3 hours ago, Coral said:

If you can't afford the tips, you can't afford the cruise. Tipping is how these employees get paid. Even if you disagree with how they get paid, it is a fact.

 

If you cruise on Princess - budget for tips. If you don't want to tip, plan a cruise which includes gratuities but you will pay a whole lot more!

What faulty logic.  There is no correlation if a person is given the choice to pay the Crew Appreciation charge or not and their wealth.  

Even Princess implies it is optional by stating "Appreciation is subject to adjustment, at your discretion, at any time during the cruise up to the time you settle your onboard account prior to disembarkation."

So people can try and tip shame all they want but it is still and individual choice that free people have the right to exercise if they choose.

There are no hard and fast rules in life or cruising as we have learned many times on CC.

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

There certainly are plenty of cruise-lines offering different experiences.  
Seeing that these so called ‘silly and childish’ events are very popular for many of the guests, I don’t see them going away anytime soon.  Just find a cruise line that suits your wants.  If Princess is marketing to a younger crowd, they are doing so for their financial sustainability.  They have to bring in more fun and games as one day, us seniors won’t be around any longer.   
I’ve found myself going up to Crooners or the hallway that has couches/ chairs by the windows on deck 7 when the noise gets to be too much for me.  But, I certainly don’t begrudge Princess for attracting crowds in the piazza for their activities.  They are always well attended so obviously, their goal is being achieved.  

Princess has been doing the egg drop and paper airplane contests forever.  I think it really is for the older crowd because it is actually something they can do.  Those kinds of activities are not going to draw a hip, slick or cool youthful group of passengers.  Princess is just what it is.

Every cruise we were on this year had Bingo this year and so glad they jointed the 21st Century and you can play on tablets now too.  

On 4/21/2018 at 1:16 AM, gilboman said:

 

Definitely not... On crown now in Mediterranean and last night was formal night . Majority had no ties nor gowns. Dresses and a sports jacket with polo or dress shirt was norm

This is has been our experience on most European cruises too.  Alaska, Mexico, Hawaiian and Caribbean cruises tend to be way more casual on formal nights and European cruises tend to have more formal dressers but they definitely are not in the majority.  It is not like they are use to going to Royal Balls.

1 hour ago, texswamper said:

So there is a connecting door for those 2 mini suites?  

Yes.....actually two....one in each cabin on the Ruby....there was not a sound problem  and each door has an individual lock.

1 hour ago, texswamper said:

Thank you to all of you for such detailed explanations and personal experiences with this issue.  I'm asking the question since it's been quite some time since this thread was active.  I booked Ruby #731 based on so many glowing reviews and cruisers saying that if it's ever available, grab it quickly.   I have realized that all of those posts were pre Covid and things have greatly changed, not just for the last couple of mini suites on Emerald deck but indeed for all of the aft cabins.  There are very few cabins left for our Jan. Ruby Princess sailing but I'm inclined to switch back to my normal Caribe balcony and forego the mini suite with that awesome balcony.  Do those of you who have experienced this recently wish that you had been sailing in a different cabin?  I have to make the decision today.  🤔

We had E729 and E731 on the Ruby Princess for a 10 day Alaska cruise earlier this summer.  We never experienced any issues with smoke or the connecting door either.  I believe the smoking area for passengers on the beck below  is a few cabins forward of those two cabins.  Plus it was an Alaska cruise so more people may have used the casino for smoking.  

Each person in your party is entitled to a 12 pack of canned soda.  Also, at different ports we have never had a problem of purchasing canned sodas and bringing them on too.  Nobody is counting.

You have to login in to your booking and then go to the upgrade section.  After entering that information it will show you your bid and allow you to cancel if it has not been already granted.