Mary Ann 2

Thanks to OP. I have looked and looked for how to access Live Chat and never noticed that at the bottom. This was very helpful!

Just a heads up that the Plus package is no longer $40 per day as you mentioned. It's now up to $60 per day.

None of the main dining rooms (Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci) charge extra for dinner. Only the specialty restaurants Sabatini's and Crown Grill (and Salty Dog Gastropub) charge for dining. Specialty restaurants that charge are booked separately on your Medallion app and you have to pay for them at time of booking unless you have the premier package which covers two specialty dining charges.

ceilidh1, Thanks for posting some of the wine menus!

Could you please post the wine menus? Especially interested in what reds are offered in Vines and would love to see any others like Crown Grill or Fusion Club, etc. Posts of the wine menus from last summer are plentiful, but we would love to see what will be offered on the cruises out of Galveston. Thanks!

Have you made dining reservations on your Medallion app? Not required, but if you don't have reservations, you might have to wait longer on most nights. Generally the first night is not as crowded though so you might be fine. We have been on the Ruby multiple times and will sail again on her soon. As everyone has mentioned the three dining rooms and the buffet are the only restaurants that are free. There is pizza and burgers up near the pool. I agree with VibeGuy to avoid the deck 6 aft restaurant which had a huge line on our May cruise on a different ship, but same layout. Not a restaurant, but we love the salads and sandwiches at the International Cafe. I know you didn't ask about others, but worth mentioning. There are two specialty restaurants that cost extra; $25 for Sabatini's which is Italian and $29 for the Crown Grill which is the steak house. It's worth going to your Cruise Personalizer and looking at the dining options on the Ruby: https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/ru-ruby-princess/

No idea what is going on with the bidding for our cruise. We're at day 79 now and still no email and using the link on Princess.com gives us a pop that says " This reservation is not eligible for Princess Upgrade at this time."

I keep getting the same message for a cruise just several days later than two posts for 2/23 cruise. I've checked every day since we reached 85 days and just get that message. Anyone have any ideas why? I've sent an email to my TA to be sure they didn't opt out, but it seems unlikely as they are just a small agency. My TA had marked my aft balcony as "No upgrades" before this whole Bidding process began as she knows we don't want to be upgraded to a mid deck Deluxe balcony and lose the big aft balcony. Anyone get an email with that notification on their reservation? Do you think that's the problem? Probably won't do anything as we need a completely covered balcony as DH has to stay out of sun or wear sleeves and hat. But I sure wanted to experience it. We are on the Ruby BTW so it is in the list of ships participating. Ideas?

We were the first to board the ship on a cruise within the last 2 years. I went first thing to guest services and called to get on the list. When I asked if since we were the first to board, we would definitely get in, they told me they were already full from passengers continuing on from the last cruise. We did get to attend on a cruise this year as the ship was just coming out of dry dock so no one was already in line!!

Just so you know, the price quoted is per person. There is more information on the Princess.com site if you want to read all about it.

The gifts are randomly given as you enter your room each day. If you have the Premier package, it will tell you if you won anything. It could be $25 onboard credit or greater amounts. I've seen posts of people who won specialty dining. I think I've only seen one post where a passenger won $5,000. It's not a reason for us to sign up for Premier, but the other perks are. We always do at least two specialty dining reservations. We buy pictures and have paid $200 or more for a picture package that included all pictures though that's not been offered lately as I use the digital pictures in my digital scrapbooks made after we get home. Primarily, it's for the wine. On our last cruise, we only found wine greater than the Plus package amount that we liked, so we were paying the overage amount multiple times a day. Hubby also dislikes having to sign out and sign in when he switches from iPad to computer or phone. Doesn't bother me, but he is happy to have 4 devices. He also uses the coffee benefit a lot but that's in both packages. In the end, one has to decide whether it is worth it for them. If we didn't drink wine, we probably would go with Plus again as the cocktails are almost all included.

We didn't have any problems in May with a MacBook Pro or iPads or iPhones connecting or getting internet. We were on Panama Canal Cruise.

Thanks for letting me know. I can put that out of my mind now. We love movement on the ship and have had mostly aft balconies with one front facing to Alaska with no problems. We like being rocked to sleep 🙂

We just put a deposit on suite on Regal A101 which I just noticed was directly under the bridge. Can someone who stayed in A101 or 102 tell me if there was noise all night from the bridge? I guess it would be just walking around? I need to change to a different floor if it's a problem.

Hasn't worked for me! Such a weird site with no way to create login/password.

How did you get in? I got one of these emails late last week and another about wine today, but can't get in. I sent it back to them asking them how to log in but no reply. I also clicked on Forgot Password, but never got an email to reset the password. Tell us all what the trick is! What password for what site do they want??

Yes, you definitely want to check your account every day. Last November, we had what was obviously a new waitress at Alfredo's. We ordered a glass of wine that was one dollar over the Plus package. She asked us at least twice if we understood we would be charged and we assured her it was fine. Lo and behold when the charge came through it was $13, the entire price of the wine. It was easy enough to go to the service desk and get it changed right then since they knew it was too much for someone who had the Plus package. Once you find mistakes like this, it is natural to check it every day - it's so easy to do now that it's on the app. We have also found out if we wait a day or two, we might not remember what bar or drink we had.

The whites might be the same as when we cruised in May as I never looked at them, but the reds are not the same price. I know that the Belle Glow Pinot Noir and Gaza Ca'Promis were not more than a dollar or two above the $12 limit. I am surprised, but glad to see the Nikiara because on another ship's menu posted online (below) it was only available by the bottle. Also the menu below shows the Chocolate Block at 16 not 13 and the Zinfandel at 16 not 15. This menu was posted shortly after the Premier package started. I wonder if prices have settled down? I've posted that menu below so you all can compare and see all the differences which is weird. Hope we get some others on ships currently post their Vines menus. We have chosen Premier package because we only like their more expensive wine and mostly only drink wine, always get pictures, eat at specialty restaurants, and would like to try the different wifi package like Mattnday.

On our Caribbean Princess cruise in May, the Silverado Cab in Vines was $16, so not covered by Plus.

Has anyone posted new wine menus since there has been more time pass? I haven't checked every thread, but thought someone would know or have saved them. I saved Vines and Explorer's that was posted early on, but haven't seen a MDR or Crown Grill with actual names (something other than type of wine like "red blend").

I thought the email said it would end yesterday, July 5.

It was the middle of August. You could call one of the tours; we used Alaska Hummer Adventures. They could tell you more about late July.

I agree with the previous post. We had a forward facing balcony room on our trip to Alaska last August and no one keeps you from having balcony access. It can be very windy and cold on a trip to Alaska, but the other perks make it worth it. We saw more whales from our balcony than ever before on a ship! If you are out on the balcony, you can see them before the ship scares them away. I got one photo where the whale was so close to the bow that I feared for its safety! It was also magnificent on the Glacier Bay day. We had a balcony breakfast and really enjoyed it. The ship barely moves even when rotating so there is no wind and such a great view!

We hope this will allow Princess to carry more types of wines. After an 18 day cruise very recently and as wine drinkers, I can tell you that the choices were very slim for any good wines under $12, and there were many wines missing that were on the menu in the dining room. We were very happy that our ship had a Vines with more choices. We were fine with paying $1-3 more per class to get better wine. Time will tell, but we can hope for better wine and more choices with the new package.

I'm in Texas and got in okay this morning. Are you still having issues?