caribill

I am not talking about the deck plans which do show a 3-story restaurant. I am talking about the above drawing which is supposedly of the restaurant, I only see two levels of seating in this picture. It may take up three stories, but there are only two levels to eat at in the picture. On RCI, for example, a three story restaurant has seating on three levels.

Do not on the deck plans. Do you see 3 levels in the picture?

When we have cruised out of Texas before, the ship served a limited menu of beverages having only purchased a few brands from Texas distributors. Now since is the first time the Ruby will be entering Texas waters to start a cruise, they do not have any beverages aboard purchased from Texas distributors. I would expect they will have some Texas beverages loaded onto the ship that can be sold on future voyages during the time it is in Galveston until it leaves for the next cruise and gets out of state waters. And be aware of another Texas law. If you purchases bottles of alcohol to take home while on the cruise, they will be subject to Texas taxes when you leave the ship at the end of the cruise. This is true if all you are doing is getting off the ship and headed to the airport to leave the state. In the past there was a table set up after US Customs/Immigration to collect the Texas taxes. Of course they must know you have made such purchases in order to tax them

Cruising on Princess used to be about a fun way to reach exotic destinations. The Sun class is changing that to the ship being the destination.

I only see two stories, Do you see three?

Outdoor dining is also featured on some of the recent ships, but reports say they do not use the outdoor area due to the wind while sailing.

You can set it up so other passengers cannot locate you, but Princess staff still can.

Right. No reason to be better than your competitors when you can try to be just like them.

Only recently, not last week.

Yup.

You purchased a package that covered beverages up to $12 for when you were on the cruise. Specific beverages were not promised. It is the same as if you had looked at the dining room menus before you booked and said you really liked the items on the menus. When you cruise, the menus could be completely different. What you paid for is dining in the main dining rooms, not specific items on the menus.

First of all, there is no Premiere Plus package. Those are two different packages with different costs and limits. But what you booked is what you will get, not the new enhancements unless you pay to upgrade to the new pricing. Note, for example, that if you booked the Plus package at $40 or $50 a day (depending when you booked), the package covers all beverages that are priced up to $12. It does not promise specific beverages, so if Princess increases the pricing for beverages that were $12 or less to where they are now higher than $12, they are not covered without paying extra.

Yes, those are the two.

Even after the recent 50% price increase?

Very clever marketing on the behalf of ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc. to be able to convince people to carry a tracking device on land. Amazing, really.

No. Both must trade.

I have been on Princess cruises where over 1500 passengers are eligible to use the Platinum/Elite disembarkation lounge. So often it is a better experience to wait somewhere else.

Only two Princess ships are about the same size as the HAL ship doing this route. Grand Class and Royal Class just have too many passengers for some of the ports on this itinerary to handle with a good experience for all.

Of course savings (or lack thereof) with the BSE compared to past pricing will vary depending on what promotion was previously used. In our case, once the proper pricing was posted I checked the pricing for a B2B we have for next year for 33 days. The BSE standard price was $598 more than the price when we booked. However, it was $2 less than what was posted the first day of the BSE sale.

If the Plus package was included as initially shown in the Standard fare, then this would truly be the "Best Sale Ever." Instead, it appears this is the "Most Messed Up Sale Ever." With the included perks with the Standard fare being essentially what has been offered for months and with the many posts saying they are already booked with prices lower than the BSE is showing, this is nowhere being a sale at all, must less the best ever.

Extremely easy to order on board. Just call room service.

I agree with you, but those occasions have been very few. I remember once when they were pushing a few cruises that if you booked on board you could get double the OBC. I remember a few other times when they were selling the next segment at deep discounts. But normally when booking a future cruise while on board, the price and benefits are the same as if you were doing it from homeand had an FCD to use.. Yes. Thanks for correcting my error.

Deals on board are exactly the same as deals not on board. Only difference is on board you can buy an FCC which gets you extra OBC if you did not have an FCC to use before the cruise.

I just checked out a cruise I have booked for next spring. Rightly or wrongly, the Plus Fare and the Standard fare are identical. This implies the BSE does include free Plus package at Standard price.

Regular ice cream is available at lunch and dinner in the dining rooms. Flavors may vary.