HaveDogWillTravel

Thank you for doing this. We board the Wind Spirit in Barcelona on Oct 27. Our first time on such a small ship. So I’m just interested in your observations and impressions overall. We fly to Lisbon today but will have internet occasionally to check in with this thread between now and when we board.

@Jim_Iain thank you for all the pictures of the menus and various information provided by the ship while onboard. I have really enjoyed following along.

Thank you for the explanation @ORV So when folks get OCAPP there is no additional OBC given by TA’s?

Because Princess crew are, in my experience, some of the best. There is no need to do anything but be pleasant, cheerful and enjoy their company to get exceptional service. I routinely get treated like this yet my upfront tipping is zero and my end of cruise additional tipping is usually modest. I am a firm believer that tipping is a very personal affair. But I want to pipe in that in no way is tipping large sums of money either at the beginning or end of a cruise a requirement for exceptional service on Princess. That said I have occasionally tipped triple digits at the END of a long sailing when service was absolutely above and beyond the job title description.

We have the same TA. I only get $200 (total not per person) when they didn’t cover grats on my 10 day med sailing this October. And I got no extra OBC on sailings when they did cover grats on one of my future Caribbean sailings. So maybe I still need to shop around for the best deal? I don’t mind spending money but I do like getting the best value for that money. As a point of reference I have only completed one O 10 day sailing so no status. Three of my future O sailings are in PH suites and two are in a concierge balcony.

Thank you for this post (and many others…. they are very helpful). I am new to using TA’s. I have what many would consider a great O TA, but they do not always include the full price of gratuities. Sometimes the invoice shows gratuities are paid and sometimes I get OBC that covers part of them but not all. I am told on the sailings that the gratuities aren’t shown as fully paid that it is because on that cruise they aren’t “allowed?” Or “able?” To (sorry I don’t recall the exact words) I have no complaints regarding my TA. They are incredibly responsive, helpful and wonderful to work with. As I said I’m new to using TA’s but did get burned bad on my one previous experience with a different one. Are you saying that you always get the entirety of the gratuities paid on all sailings with O?

@Ombud holy smokes! I hope your son and his family are all ok. That’s crazy! And frightening. and thanks for posting while on your TA.

Wow a production show matinee. I love that! I hope it continues. We board in January. Thanks for doing this.

I had to try that out and found you are correct.

Well I was thinking, and that could be the problem lol, if there’s unlimited SD then maybe they wouldn’t need to script what you get each time. But I do get the logic @memoakpoints out of unlimited visits not unlimited food. But unlimited visits does mean you can go more than once a day. I haven’t seen any fine print (yet) that says one SD per day I try (as @Cruise Raiderdoes) to only order what I will eat. Adam and I lost 14% of our body weight this year and are so much healthier for it. I have not had to take my blood pressure meds since June. We can bend over AND breathe at the same time lol. We are strategizing how to enjoy the food yet maintain our success. Each having a salad and an ap then sharing a main & skipping desserts is kind of what we are thinking.

With the new premier now being unlimited SD I would hope we can order as many if any included item as we’d like during a meal. I’ll find out in January. But maybe someone can post their experience sooner.

It’s a 243% increase see post 202 please

It’s a 243% increase. See post 202 please

Thanks to all who replied with helpful information about in room specialty dining. We are on the Vista in the Med Oct 3rd for 10 days. Every day is a port day and every day has an activity or excursion planned. I’m already exhausted lol. I thought eating in would be nice so we could wind down early getting ready for a good night’s sleep. When I’m out and about I get pretty, I don’t know what the word is, but I become wide awake and can’t go to sleep easily. That would make those early mornings less comfortable. We are really looking forward to all the activities we have planned. I will be sure to talk to the butler and give plenty of notice.

Just a point of clarification. Percent increase is the difference divided by the original amount then multiplied by 100. In this case [($24-$7)/7]*100=243%. Please pardon my slight rounding error. I am a retired math professor and poor math is one of my pet peeves. No offense intended. This is why I’m not too popular at parties lol.