Tiggerontheseas

I save the money but paid them in full only a few days before the final pmt date! That way if you have to cancel before final pmt, you only are out the deposit. Saves filing insurance claims too :)

If you are already paid in full but cancel before final payment date wouldn't you be reimbursed without filing an insurance claim? Except of course for non-refundable deposits, etc? I'm asking because my husband wants to pay off our cruise WAY before final payment and I don't want to be caught with any surprises.

[quote name=AZ Ocean Lover;54158382

If you just drink the regular coffee first' date=' it's not too bad. A little bad, but not a lot bad.[/quote]

I was on the Emerald last month and I have to disagree. I know that it's subjective and all but the coffee in the Horizon Court was baaaaaad.

Isn't the point that neither the Package price nor Individual Drinks price include Gratuity so it is Apple to Apples.

Oh, I'll have to take another look then. I thought it said that the gratuity would be reflected in the final drink prices. I must have misunderstood.

You can change the value of the field yourself...

Thank you. That reminder is very helpful. I am slightly Excel challenged. :D

First off, my apologies for this newest thread. I realized after I posted my earlier thread this morning that I did not include the drink prices between $10.00 - $12.00 as the new AIBP structure now includes drinks up to $12.00. I know the individual prices are not the current prices but our next cruise on Princess is not until February 2018 so if any of you CC members are taking a Princess cruise in the near future, I would really appreciate it if you could take pictures of the drink menus, including the full bottle wine lists too, and email them to me using the link in my email signature below and I will update the spreadsheet accordingly. It would be nice if there was a "Files" section on CC to post these types of information files to share with fellow CC members rather than posting a new thread when there is an update. I have emailed the CC admins asking them about a "Files" section, like they have on Facebook Groups.

 

I have attached the updated Excel spreadsheet. You may have to download the free Excel file viewer in order to view the spreadsheet by clicking on his link:

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10

 

Here is the Google Documents link. It should allow you to open up the spreadsheet too:

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i6tGB99g37fgoVbQW5ntnfLC5eL8WBtwj9gb4Il3vdI/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

Thank you,

Paul

Thank you for all your work Paul. I don't know if I'm just doing something wrong but I think that you might still need to update the daily price to reflect gratuities - when I plug in the number of days the total cost of package is only showing the 'before gratuities' cost - total cost for day including gratuities is now $68.99.

Am I missing something? I don't particularly care for sea days. Everything feels crowded and the activities are repetitive. I also don't want to spend the day reading a book or playing cards because I can do those things at home for free. What do you do on sea days?

 

 

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I understand that some people find them boring but my appeal for seas days is that when I am reading a book at home no is making my bed, cleaning my bathroom, cooking all my food, putting on stage shows, and bringing me drinks poolside while I lounge in the sun. LOVE sea days. :D

If they didn't then I would imagine the sharing would be wide spread.

I understand that is the logic behind the requirement but I don't think it actually would be. Neither RC or Princess requires all adults in a statement to purchase the packages and the other person just pays for their drinks individually. I think that they would catch on pretty quick if you were trying to share the way that all drinks all electronically accounted for. :)

http://crew-center.com/miami-florida-cruise-ship-schedule-january-june-2017

 

According to this site, neither Vista nor Elation arrived/left Port of Miami on June 18, 2017.....

 

Things that make you go, "Hmmmm....". :eek:

 

Toot-Toot!!!

If I understood the previous posts correctly I think the murder on the Elation happened in 2009.

I

We had one of our most interesting Princess excursions ever in Astoria. We went to Mount St. Helens. It was a fascinating trip, especially if you are of a certain age and remember the volcanic eruption in the1980 or have an interest in geology and volcanolgy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_St._Helens

That sounds like a wonderful excursion! Very unique. I'll never forget having our yard covered with a layer of ash after the eruption. We were over 600 km away but it certainly did travel well. :)

>>Astoria, OR. A little research and I'm still none the wiser.<<

LOL! I don't think that you are alone. It is not a destination that I understand at all and I'm not really sure why so many ships stop there. If the port time is long enough I would just use the stop to go to Seaside or Cannon Beach. They are little coastal towns right on the beach about 30 minutes away.

We are gold on Princess about to embark on our 2nd cruise. We always planned to just stick with Princess, however our best friends are huge Royal Caribbean fans and we are going on a cruise with them on that cruise line in February.

 

Hubby wants us to just stick with one cruise line so that we get perks faster, but I'm not sure it's really worth it with the kind of meaningless rewards Princess gives to Gold and Ruby.

 

Does anyone cruise both regularly that can give us a good idea of the differences in cost on board ship and the rewards programs?

Most of the costs onboard are actually pretty similar. Royal Caribbean's alcoholic drinks are quite a bit more but some of their specialty restaurants can be less expensive than Princess, especially the ones that open for lunch. Sabor on the Freedom of the Seas was $15.00 for lunch and it was AMAZING!!!!

Here are the loyalty levels for each line:

https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/membershipBenefits.page

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/cas/benefitsLoggedout.do

I am looking at booking a trip to Hawaii next spring. I have options on the Grand from SF and Star from LA.

I live on the west coast so getting to SF and LA is a non issue.

We have sailed on Sapphire, Crown and Ruby so was just interested in thoughts as to which ship would be beast for a 15 day trip. Interested in Specialty Rest. available on each and overall experience.

I loved the Star on our Hawaii cruise out of Vancouver and really, really enjoyed Elua. And as others have mentioned Skywalkers is also a big plus for the Star. In the daytime it is just so peaceful to relax and take in the view from there. In fact, the only negative on our trip was the terrible bed in our cabin but even that will have been replaced by the luxury beds by the time you sail.

Very interested to hear that another Brit got the same email.

In the U?S. 'Upgrade' appears to refer to a free offer and 'Upsell' to one you pay extra for.

In the U.K. the word Upsell is not used. That may account for some confusion.

 

 

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Yeah, while I understand why posters use upsell to distinguish between the two types of upgrades I don't really care for the term upsell very much. It's certainly not the word Princess uses. I guess in my mind a paid upgrade is still an upgrade - it's just not a free upgrade. :)

Sure seems to be how it appears.

 

I'm trying to remember the last time I saw a waiter on Princess pull out a 'crumber' to sweep the table-cloth.

Our waiters on our Hawaii Star Princess cruise (anytime dining so several different waiters) did it almost every meal we had. I guess we're just messy. :p

No problem and apology accepted. Sometimes my dry sense of humor may be too dry. I meant no disrespect. Just pondering why this bothered so many people. We all have our pet peeves. One of mine is people getting too worked up over minor details to the point it ruins their experiences, and sometimes mine.

 

Happy cruising - in whatever dining room your prefer. :halo:

Thanks! No need to worry about me getting worked up on a cruise - it's my happy place. :)

It appears that you are the one who "doesn't understand". I am not hostile. I know what the "issue" is. I am only pointing out how over the top some people are over something that is actually quite insignificant. I just find it a bit unnerving how passionate some people are about this. So what if someone crashes the ATD dining room once in a while? Is this really that serious a problem to get so upset about - like you are with your reply? So your wait may be extended a couple of minutes. Is that going to spoil your cruise in any way at all? Is the world about to end because of what this person did?

 

It just isn't something to get so worked up about. That some people border on anger over this is mind boggling. It's just a cruise! Relax, have fun. Don't let what someone else does ruin it for you.

 

Oh, and one more thing. Please take a moment and learn what the emojies available for us to use mean. The one inserted at the end of my post is called "Wink". It implies something humorous. A tease. A joke. Try to let yourself chuckle once in a while instead of accusing people of being hostile and attacking when they are trying to include you in on a joke. :D (This one means "Big Grin". It is also for the sake of humor. Get it?)

Okay. I apologize if I misread you. I saw the emojie but even with it the remarks still came across as condescending sarcasm. I'm usually better at recognizing both tone and humour but I guess we can all miss on intent sometimes. Cheers.

We chose TD because we enjoy knowing we have a table waiting for us at the appropriate time. We enjoy talking every evening to new friends we meet at our table. And we like the interaction we have with the same servers for the duration of the cruise. We have never considered ATD, and won't upset anyone's wait time by going there instead, for any reason. We can dine at whatever time we want anytime we want at restaurants at home. On a cruise, we prefer to dine in a setting which to us feels more like an event that compliments the experience of cruising instead of just another meal away from home. So we will be staying in TD.

 

So, never fear. we won't be expanding your all important wait times by barging into your precious ATD restaurant. ;)

I don't understand your hostile attitude regarding this. Posters are simply pointing out their reasonable objections about this issue. You are obviously not double dipping on seating times yourself so why the attacks? I understand you disagree but it's strange that you're unwilling to even try to logically understand the issue here.

Thank you very much for this explanation. I went to check and mine reflects as you describe. So now I know it's set up correctly!

You're welcome! It's nice to know that everything has worked out the way it was supposed to. Have a great cruise. :)

The proliferation of "class systems" now being rolled out on many cruise lines has apparently reached Princess. This "stay out of my dining room if you aren't booked here" attitude is akin to a class system. The concept that ATD diners should not be allowed in TD and TD diners should not be allowed in ATD certainly has a class system tone to it - "You stay where you belong. Don't even think of coming into my area". WOW! Sad to see people so wound up about such a trivial matter. :rolleyes:

As said, this has nothing to do with class and certainly has no class system tones to me. It's more just "You already have your seat so can you please not take mine as well?" Think of someone using two loungers when they only need one and you have to wait for a lounger to come free - it's the exact same thing. And while I'm not worked up about it and I don't believe that all that many people go the ATD when they already have their requested preferred TD time but for those that do - yeah, I think it's wrong.

Just booked another cruise for next year even though we haven't even gone on our first cruise yet :').

 

Does anyone know how the AIBP or the free gratuities show up on their cruise personalizer? I still see a balance for gratuities and I'm not exactly sure how to check to see if the ABIP is included.

If it's set up properly the balance for gratuities should definitely be showing up as PAID and a balance of $0. I know the Princess had a glitch with this sale and needed to go and update the promotions for some of the bookings (mine, at least!) so I would check with your TA and have them contact Princess to correct it.

The beverage package will show at the very bottom of the Onboard Reservations Page of the Personalizer.

I hope this helps. :)

If you like 'Nestea", then what the ship serves should be fine. I like real "brewed" tea over ice (with sugar, of course! We call it "sweet tea")...I find the tea on ships to be a bit strong and bitter for me, but a dash of water helps! Simply add sugar and stir and stir and stir..the sugar WILL dissolve and you'll have your sweet tea.

Yeah, that doesn't sound like it would taste anything like the iced tea that is drunk in Canada. Love it or hate it, and I hate it, Canadian iced tea isn't very much like tea.

Tiggerontheseas,

Thank you for telling us about Canadian ice tea. The next time in Canada I will have to give it a taste.

You're very welcome. It's not to my taste but I hope that you enjoy it.

Thanks, Tigger, this is helpful. You entered this response while I was composing my latest one. If you ever get down here and are able to try U.S. Sweet Tea, I would be interested in a comparison. My suspicion is that it is not as sweet as you are used to, but that is just a guess.

Thanks! I haven't tried U.S. Sweet Tea, even while I was in Florida, because I am always so thrilled to be able to get the unsweetened variety but I would assume that even if it is as sweet it would still taste more like tea than our iced tea does. I will try to remember to check it out for comparison next time. :)

When I first read the OP's opening post I wondered what the difference was between Canadian "Ice Tea," and what U.S. "Iced Tea."

 

Reading subsequent posts I have learned some things, but I am still uncertain about some other things.

 

It sounds like "Ice Tea" can only be made from Nestea powder. Do I have that right?

 

It also sounds like "Ice Tea" is sweet. In the U.S., especially, in the south, although we can find it in the supermarkets here in Southern California, many people enjoy "Sweet Tea." I'd always thought that this was Iced Tea with lots of sweetener added. Have any Canadians tried "Sweet Tea," and, if so, does it compare to "Ice Tea.

 

I'm really confused by Canadians' apparent surprise and disappointment that "Iced Tea" is cold. Is "Ice Tea" a room temperature or a hot beverage?

 

I really find this interesting.

I'm Canadian and I hope I can help. Yes, Canadian iced tea is sweet. It is drunk cold (not room temperature) but it doesn't taste like straight cold tea because it's a powdered sickenly sweet drink (seriously, think Kool-Aid). It's not tea at all. It doesn't have to be made by Nestea but that is one of the most popular brands. I LOVE American unsweetened ice tea and am always so happy to get it. Yum!

Thanks for the reply all. Sorry if I didn't communicate this well... Actually, I'm not choosing between the two for a particular cruise. I'm just wondering how the Crown compares to the RCCL ships I mention. Just so I have a reference point.

 

The cruise that would get cancelled would be a NCL Escape over Thanksgiving. The itinerary on that on isn't that great and it's one less night. (7 night eastern vs 8 night southern). The Crown is an early Jan, 8 night ABC cruise. LOVE the itinerary.

 

The activities for our younger kids isn't super important. They will have fun no matter what, but it's just a consideration we need to weigh in.

 

Dan

I have sailed on the Freedom and on several Grand Class Princess ships (not specifically the Crown, though). I loved both lines but with kids I think that RCCL ships might be a better fit. Not even so much for the flow-rider, etc., but just for the general vibe of the ship. The music, entertainment, game shows on the Freedom just seemed all a bit more geared toward a younger audience. I also enjoy the multi-level open main dining rooms.

That said, the aft Terrace Pool on the Grand Class ships is my very favourite area of any ship I've ever been on. The ships are beautiful! And the Piazza atrium area of the Princess ships is far more my 'style' than the Promenade. The kids would probably love the pool deck area on Princess where there is a great pizza place and hot-dog/hamburger grill that serves really good burgers and fries. Movies under the Stars is done really, really well on Princess. For the evening shows they put lovely padding and pillows on all the loungers and serve up free popcorn, cookies and milk if you want.

I hope that this helps.