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Our mini bar was in the cabin when we got there, and the room steward immediately brought us a glass of champagne (sparkling wine) since we were in a mini suite.

True! Plus thankfully we had the elite mini bar in our cabin.

Unfortunately for us, even though we ordered them several weeks pre-cruise, our medallions were not shipped to us. I definitely think having them when you arrive at port is valuable in Galveston so I am happy to pay the $10 for that, and gratuities for day 1. Cutting $160 off embarkation day (yes, I think Premier is worth it) and adding those expenses in, we'll still come out way ahead.

The difference is that the other line (Carnival) doesn't charge for the first day and Princess does. In the future for sailings out of Galveston, I will not purchase Plus/Premier until day 2 and we will have our carry on wine for embarkation day.

We sailed on Regal November 5th and not only was alcohol not covered, but they were charging people for *all* beverages until we reached international waters. We had the Premier package and were denied Diet Cokes. I went to guest services before disembarkation to ask if this was a mistake and they confirmed that while in Texas waters no beverages would be given to passengers with Plus or Premier packages unless paid for separately.

Cruised on Regal last month - it's in great shape! My only complaint is that many of my favorite shows were hosted in Princess Live and the venue is awful (IMO). The cruise director even apologized on one of the morning shows and said that corporate has dictated that shows have to be held there for some reason.

Look for it, and don't listen to any crew who tell you that it's not a thing and the buffet is the only option.

We are sailing next weekend and currently have the Plus package. After calculating our cruising style with the value of Premier, I am now thinking we want to upgrade. When I go in the app and try to do a mock booking for specialty restaurants during our cruise, it looks Sabatinis is the only one with any availability at all during the week. Does anyone have experience with this, or having that happen but still being able to get a table once onboard? The main reason we see value in upgrading to Premier is the inclusion of two specialty dining meals, so we'd be pretty disappointed if they were all booked up. Thanks for any feedback/experience on this.

I think that the number of cruisers being drawn in from other lines due to the highly competitive pricing of these (nearly) all-inclusive options is what Princess is or should be most focused on. I know that for me personally, Princess became much more attractive than Royal Caribbean with the new Plus package. I haven’t purchased any beverage packages for years but just called Princess tonight and upgraded our November sailing to Plus. It is an absolute no-brainer for me on short voyages, and Royal Caribbean charges exponentially more for the same inclusions.

I've cruised twice with Princess since the restart. During those trips, I loved and saw massive potential in the Medallion and OceanNow, but did not find sufficient value in the Plus/Premier packages to buy them on either sailing. When I encountered the Premium Desserts on Caribbean Princess, I was both disappointed in and concerned for the brand (no need to rehash that now). I truly started to wonder if they were headed for bankruptcy. Increased costs will always be ill-received by most, so I hardly blame Princess for trying to blend the introduction of new fees into a press release celebrating how the new costs would *not* apply to passengers with Plus/Premier packages. It seems a lot of people were offended by that approach..Insult added to injury? The other lines I have sailed with since the restart are Royal Caribbean (six times) and NCL (twice). For what Princess is now offering at $60 pp/day, you would *easily* be looking at spending $160 pp/day on Royal Caribbean. I am less confident in quantifying it for NCL but I would guess it's similar to or more expensive than the new Princess Plus plan. The drink and dining packages on both Royal and NCL come with an additional gratuity added on, and while they don't add gratuities to it, the internet is a separate and very expensive purchase on both lines. In my view, the adjustments Princess has made to the packages puts them ahead of the competition and makes them more attractive to someone with my personal style of cruising. Of course I am sad to see room service and previously-free dining options coming at a charge, but the writing has been on the wall about that for a while. These changes, for me, significantly increase the likelihood that I will purchase the Plus package on our upcoming cruises. That's a win for Princess in my book.

We did this tasting on Adventure of the Seas in November and it cost $26 each plus gratuity. It was such a good time - we made a video of the experience. Highly recommend especially if you don't have the drink package!

Thank you for the info! I can't reason how this would be intentional because they already have increased pricing built-in to the self-selection of cabins.

I am booked in a mini-suite on the Nov 5 sailing, was hoping to see availability for those and for suites (of course hoping that they would sell all minis and bump me 😆).

I am able to see a few individual cabins available for balconies and interior, so I hope for the company's sake our sailing is close to sold out. I am experiencing a similar booking process for other cruises we're looking at though which makes me think there is more to this. Time will tell, I love picking my own cabins.

Thank you, I really hope it is not a new approach to business considering Princess already has a price increase structured in for those wanting to select their own cabin. I guess everyone having guarantees instead of assigned rooms would make it easier to auction off upgrades. 😏

We just booked a cruise on the Regal Princess in a mini-suite, and were only given the option of a guaranteed cabin. After confirmation, I decided to run through mock bookings to gauge availability, but from mini suites to penthouse suites I was only offered guarantees. Is this normal for the Regal, something new Princess is trying or, maybe the website is going through an update...? The cruise is over 120 days away so I would be surprised if it's close to sold out.

Happy to hear you're considering the lunch, it's truly worth the price and a great way to sample the offerings from several venues!

I haven't been on Harmony yet, but am sure Taste of Royal is a great choice. Enjoy!

Will you have the drink package (if you drink)?

I agree - very relaxing experience, especially with a table by the window! I think we will do this lunch in the future because it's such a great price and nice way to spend a sea day afternoon.

We sailed on the Grandeur of the Seas last October and tried all of the specialty dining restaurants during our cruise, including the Chef's Table and Taste of Royal lunch. Izumi was my favorite restaurant on the ship, an unbelievably delicious meal with fantastic service, quality and presentation plus the best location for watching the sunset while dining. On our final sea day we went to the Taste of Royal lunch which we'd booked on the cruise planner before embarkation for $29 each. After reviewing the menu, we decided to order the wine pairing for an additional $20 each (we don't buy drink packages). Nothing could show up Izumi, specifically on Grandeur, but if I was to recommend one specialty meal on Royal Caribbean to a newbie, Taste of Royal would be it. The value is great! We made a short video of the experience and dishes served, which I will share below. I have been on several Royal Caribbean ships since this meal and none have served our coffee creamer steamed like they always did in the specialty restaurants on Grandeur. Is that unique to the Grandeur, or maybe we just got lucky with servers who took the time for that extra touch? We loved it!

We were on the Caribbean Princess in February and noticed a sewage smell in the theater several times.

I understand that gratuities are included in pricing for Australia. Lol at the ugly American comment. 😜😘

That’s great and potentially a model for US cruises moving forward as people seem unhappy with add-on costs.

I understand the reason why tips are factored into rather than added on to pricing for Australian cruises.