CruiserNorCal

35 minutes ago, CruiserNorCal said:

I may have answered my own question... Just got on Princess site and at this point, they want $64.99 per day "plus" an 18% service charge = $76.69 each - $153.38 per day.  On a five day Thanksgiving cruise, even if I only had to pay for four days (buying package second day), that would cost $613.52.  Not worth it to me... The wife doesn't drink alcohol and since I have an Elite bar set up in the cabin, I have some drinks and we can a' lacarte everything else we want cheaper than $613. 

 

Sorry, I have a bit of a rant:  We have cruised extensively with Princess over the years but this nickle and dime process of charging for nearly everything you do and taking benefits away from loyal cruisers, I'm souring on Princess.  Now charging for wifi (was free for Elite), simple room service and the Ocean Now service to have your drinks delivered, just a money grab.  Next, I anticipate they will modify or take away the Elite bar set up and free laundry service.  The loyalty cruise incentives and dwindling, so is my interest in Princess. 

And not seeing it in "Onboard Service" to pre-order a coffee or soda card.  Do they not have them anymore either or can they still be purchased onboard? 

I may have answered my own question... Just got on Princess site and at this point, they want $64.99 per day "plus" an 18% service charge = $76.69 each - $153.38 per day.  On a five day Thanksgiving cruise, even if I only had to pay for four days (buying package second day), that would cost $613.52.  Not worth it to me... The wife doesn't drink alcohol and since I have an Elite bar set up in the cabin, I have some drinks and we can a' lacarte everything else we want cheaper than $613. 

Sorry, I have a bit of a rant:  We have cruised extensively with Princess over the years but this nickle and dime process of charging for nearly everything you do and taking benefits away from loyal cruisers, I'm souring on Princess.  Now charging for wifi (was free for Elite), simple room service and the Ocean Now service to have your drinks delivered, just a money grab.  Next, I anticipate they will modify or take away the Elite bar set up and free laundry service.  The loyalty cruise incentives and dwindling, so is my interest in Princess. 

They say you can still purchase Princess Plus package on the second day of the cruise... If so, it it cheaper?  Do you not have to pay for the first day? 

On our current Emerald Princess cruise - You can in fact bring wine on at visiting ports and take it to your cabin.... No corkage fee unless you take it to the dinning room.

The alcohol collection table was set up at disembarking area for each port visit. I asked and confirmed, YOU CAN bring wine on from port and take it to your cabin. They just collect beer and hard lacquer. To test the process I bought a bottle of wine at port, put it in my backpack and boarded the ship. They sent my backpack through X-ray and said nothing. I hope this remains a consistent Princess policy. Best bet, ask at the alcohol collection table on your particular cruise to avoid disappointment / inconvenience.

Alternatively, one can buy wine at the Sacramento airport (and other airports I'm sure) and that can go into one's carry-on bag and fly in the overhead bin. Hum, never thought of that!... Thanks, good info.

 

BTW, the majority of the low-end California wines that Princess is selling for $28.00-$29.00 per bottle, can be purchased at almost any grocery or drug store in California for $5.00-6.00 per bottle. If I wanted to drink any of those wines (which I don't recommend them) Ah, my point exactly

UPDATE on corkage fee

I inquired at Customer Service regarding corkage fee with the rational we are on a B2B, two separate voyages, asking... Are we in fact entitled to two free bottles per voyage even on a B2B? *Short answer, YES. *Long answer... Desk staff clarified that at check-in, the wine table should have collected two bottles for the second voyage which we would receive back at the start of the next voyage... Allow two free bottles and charge for the extra two. *Based on info. I have seen here on CC, I had suggested exactly that however, the young man at the wine table said that was not possible, mistake #2. *To conclude, they Have now allowed me to keep all the bottles and I returned two stickers for a $30 credit. *This was not resolved with a rant, staff was always polite as was I. *

Ok, here's the scoop for check-In at Bayport / Houston this morning... Brought 6 bottles for B2B. They allowed the allotted two, charges for other four bottles and gave me 4 stickers. Discussed the B2B but they were stricktly enforcing only two bottles. Really don't mind the extra $30, cheap learning experience.

Upon boarding, steward provided wine glasses and offered a corkscrew.

Side note, a recent poster noted the value of wine onboard and the rational that an extra bottle you bring with a corkage fee nearly adds up to the cost of wine onboard, so why bringing extra? I agree, in part... If you are bringing inexpensive wines. But I took this opportunity to bring some expensive wines, which I already had, to enjoy in a nice setting. I stopped by the Crown Grill after boarding for reservations and viewed their wine list, they have some nice high end wines but expensive... honestly, glad I brought my own... wasn't that difficult. I'll use up some of my collection and save a bundle...

Now that I have 4 stickers, Ill check into bringing local wine back from a port at some point. My 6 bottles for 14 days... and sharing at dinner, won't last long. I'll see how the Emerald handles that. Also, did their wine package on an extented cruise years ago, I will also check into that for future referance.

Thank you for the clarifications… checked my wine box and included a corkscrew inside, solved that problem. Brought a cheap one in case it is taken as our flight travels continue after the cruise. I'll see how the wine inspection and corkage issue goes when I bored, worst case scenario I suppose is they charge me for the four extra bottles rather than just two. No biggie. $30 isn't worth stressing over. As one of the last posters said… Live and learn. Thanks again.

I will report back tomorrow after we board and let you know how it goes.

JimmyVWine You are on point with my questions, thank you.

Based on what I have read on CC, here are my plans and questions…

DW and I are bringing six bottles of wine/Champaign for a 14 day B2B out of Houston starting this Sunday. If we weren’t flying I would bring more but then again, honestly, I would prefer not to haul wine along at all… However, good wines on the ship are marked up excessively so I will supplement a glass of ship wine now and then with my own which would be too expensive if bought on the ship.

Anyway, we are flying from out of state so the wine is packaged as checked baggage but I intend to handle as carry-on when boarding the ship. I realize there are inconsistencies so I appreciate likely scenarios… I’m not looking to beat the system, just want to avoid problems…

Q1: Am I correct, because this is a B2B – two separate voyages, we are allowed one bottle each for each voyage… for a total of 4 bottles with no corkage? And I pay corkage for the other two. All correct?

Q2: The wine is sealed in a shipping box which is wrapped with layers of shrink-wrap for added flight protection. I’ve read that stickers are placed on wine bottles for which corkage is paid. After running the box through the security scanner I assume I will have to cut box open for inspection, correct? Or can they just give me the stickers to be applied?

Q3: Once a bottle has a sticker on it, am I correct it can be taken to the dining room with no additional charge?

Q4: Is it possible to obtain a corkscrew from the room steward / are they available in suites? Just one less thing to pack…

And finally, I have read many threads that reflect an overwhelming theme of inconsistent enforcement when bringing wine on at ports along the cruise. This gray area makes it hard to buy a bottle of wine at a visiting port to enjoy on the ship. I agree with many that bringing a bottle of local wine back to enjoy is part of the cruise experience. If I purchase wine and they took it until the end of the cruise, it would be a wasted purchase for me. It wouldn’t be worth the effort to take it home given or ongoing travel / flight plans. I hope to get some clarification onboard for our specific ship and cruise once underway… :)

Thank you for your insight.

This is the most current thread discussing Princess wine policy...

I have been searching CC but have yet to find a thread that thoroughly discusses bringing wine on board. I understand the policy being discussed here but I'm looking for more detail without hijacking this thread. Anyone have any suggestions where to look?

Or, if someone here is open to questions... I can post here?

Looking for recent insight and suggestions for Emerald Princess cruise and excursions. We booked the Emerald for March 1st out of Houston with friends. After reading so many positive comments about this cruise (iffy on the port but insightful) the wife and I booked a B2B starting Feb. 22nd. We have cruised about a dozen times but never a B2B, that will be a new port experience... We also have to change cabins, mini-suite to a suite.

Hoping to hear current “must does” on the Emerald… AND excursions… and equally important, any OMG – disappointments to avoid. Because of our B2B, we will have an opportunity to visit both Costa Maya & Roatan in addition to Cozumel & Belize.

I am researching:

· Tours: The only excursion we have booked so far is the Princess tour to Lamanai Ruins / River Cruise in Belize… Good / Bad chose? We don’t mind private tours but chose Princess on this one because of distance and CC comments.

· Beach resorts for relaxing: Have notes on Passion Island Beach in Cozumel… the Tropicante and Maya Chan in Costa Maya. Suggestions? Where else?

· Non-certified diving or snorkeling packages?

· Port: Which are good to just get off and walk around or hang out after a tour? As I recall Cozumel is not such a port, correct?

If you have an excursion suggestion, how did you book it, through Princess, internet or on shore?

Thank you in advance for your input and suggestions.