remydiva

12 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

To clarify, the per diem rate for MedallionNet is $15/day for single device as you were charged.  The other rate is a single day rate, which seems to be charged on a 1-off basis and not in the case of several days in a row such as the final three of the voyage.  (I would distinguish between the "per diem" rate and the "single day" rate when discussing MedallionNet fees).

Good catch and better description!

On 5/8/2023 at 3:00 PM, RedIguana said:

I hope they somehow remember to restock. Will be on Crown on the May 23rd sailing.

Vines no longer offer flights and tapas now from 6-8 pm.

Agree that most seats taken up by people playing cards or on their phones or listening to music in piazza. 

On 5/3/2023 at 8:26 PM, DallasGuy75219 said:

Ughhhh.... They're back to listing Plus wines by just varietal and not vineyard.

Yes but I asked for vineyard name from somellier and got it.  

8 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

here ya go. 
 

You have a different captain than we did on the TA immediately before.
We had Captain Aldo ‘forget last name’. 

rest of crew looks the same. 

Our recent 14 day cruise had two

formal Nites and two ‘Dressed to Impress’ nites.

The second Dressed to Impress nite was subtitled ‘White and Gold’ theme.

I had clothing options to partake but noticed as others have, the number of passengers who dress up at all for formal or ‘dressed to impress’ is waning. 

19 minutes ago, ldtr said:

it is probably a call to try and get you to buy a FCC/hotel voucher combination package. These are coming courtesy of ONE (Open Network Exchange). The same company that is now staffing the future cruise sales department on board ship.

 

If the call sounds like a timeshare sales call it might be because the owners of ONE, started and sold a company that allowed people to trade their time share weeks for cruises.

Wow I had no idea.. so much behind the scenes!

I guess I’ll never know for sure as I’m not phoning back. 

6 minutes ago, that said:

Princess Promotions

it is sales

not from your usual Cruise Vacation Planner.

Previously discussed on boards

but search is difficult ( at least

my search)

Thanks I did search prior to posting and couldn’t find anything.

needless to say I am NOT phoning back. 

I just got a phone call message from the promo dept wanting to “fill me in on all the new exciting additional perks to the Platinum and Elite loyalty program.

AND they’d really like to talk to me about our recent cruise”

( I’ve gotten 4 emails in the one week we’ve been home asking me to fill out the post cruise survey) 

Sounds  like a sales gimmick as it was not from my personal cruise planner.

Anyone else get this phone call? 

1 hour ago, oregonn8v said:

Thanks for this. I have heard that WiFi is spotty on the ships. I have been cruising since before WiFi was ever publicly available and I never missed it. The one thing I will likely miss at sea is being able to text my kids but I don't care about posting to social media or steaming a video and I'm certainly not conducting stock trades so I could probably do without the WiFi.

 

In that case, the Princess Plus package is not worth the cost.

Same with me. After 6 sea days on TA when wifi likeky would have been spotty at best, we just found wifi at bars and cafes at the ports.

I did buy ‘till end of cruise’ wifi package which , as discussed on another thread, seems to be cheaper than the per diem rate. I got the last  3 days for $22.50 ( elite rate 50% off the $45 rate ) to check in airlines and print boarding passes.

18 minutes ago, ldtr said:

12 bottles for 7.05

Thank you.
 

We just took a couple of empty bottles with us and refilled ( I brought a small funnel too) from glasses of water at buffet or pool. 
This would have been a good option as well. 

58 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We find the Plus package to be a great value for us but then again, we imbibe, especially with meals.  We also drink a specialty coffee every so often .. you can even order drinks to your room and it’s included.  
Without even looking at the new items such as the juice bar, exercise classes or special desserts, this is a good breakdown 

 

Total package price:  $60 a day pp 

Gratuities:  approx $17 a day pp 

WiFi:  $15 a day pp if not elite 

That leaves you with $28 a day pp for beverages 

Specialty coffee or tea:  $2 - $4.50 plus gratuity 

Bottle of water, juice or soda: $2.50 plus gratuity 

Mocktail:  approx $6 - $8 plus gratuity 

 

Without the package: 

You can always purchase a case of water ahead of time for $7 (in your personalizer)

you can drink the free coffee and tea 

if you don’t use WiFi, you can always eliminate that cost 

you can pick up your medallions at the pier for no cost 

there are plenty of sweets for free in the IC, at the buffet, through room service and in the MDR, etc

there are free Zumba classes every day in the piazza

 

 

Basically, if you want non-alcoholic drinks from bars and drink specialty coffees and teas, and you use WiFi, you’re probably breaking even with the plus package.  If you drink alcohol, the package is a no brainer! 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can order water ahead? Is a case 6 bottles or the costco sized 24? Is it delivered to your room?

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Is that still a "thing" ?

I know they have special drinks only at P&E HH as a lady we sat with ordered some blue martini thing that was only available during that time. But don’t know if it was a special price.

The whole P&E is run differently now.
 

No card in your room telling what appies are available or special drinks on west dates. Just a letter ( which our steward never left for us; I had to check at CC loyality desk several days into cruise to see if they even had it anymore) that said where and when it was plus the Grapevine tasting, 

8 hours ago, nini said:

Just know that if you remove the daily automatic gratuities from your bill, that your cabin steward is not permitted to keep what you have tipped them.

I do realize that and explained it further in a later post.

To clarify , we pay the daily crew appreciation AND tip extra to those who go above and beyond,

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Interesting number there.  Indicates the regular price was $45 total, or $15/day.  That is quite odd to me because prior to the last MedallionNet price increase, single day charge was $20.  It looks like they gave you the multi-day rate of $15.  Perhaps they only charge the $20 if a single day is booked, or non-consecutive days.

I agree …I thought it was odd number given my 50% discount.

I checked on Weds nite and clicked ‘till end of cruise’ ( cruise ended Sunday morning) and it was $30.

I checked next morning Thurs and it was $22.50 and lasted till we got off ship Sunday.

I think you’re right that a multi day rate seems lower than per diem.

28 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Not judging your statement.  Just asking for clarification.  DId you keep your automatic crew appreciation on the books plus tipped separately? Or did you remove automatic crew appreciation and just tipped your room steward?  What about wait staff?

 

 

Kept automatic crew appreciation AND tipped steward extra.

I never remove some or all of the crew appreciation as I know that automatic daily added tip is how all staff ,including those behind the scenes,  gets  tips. 

3 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

I realize everyone doesn’t attempt an estimate of their onboard charges before making the decision whether to purchase Plus or Premier. I have to assume those people who don’t run the numbers enjoy wasting money or worry about their spending onboard regardless of which choice they make.  So far, with one completed cruise and one scheduled cruise on Princess, I am confident I am making the correct decision for us to purchase Plus.

 

The drinks seem to be the biggest variable. Gratuities is a no-brainer. For us, wifi is essential because we are a lifeline for my 93 year old father-in-law back home.  We need to be able to text with him at all times.  Last cruise, we got a call in the middle of the Caribbean that my brother-in-law had died in an accident. We debated disembarking and flying north from our next port. Had that been our decision, it would have been more difficult not knowing until we reached port a day and a half later.

 

YMMV?  You’re quite correct. It differs from cruiser to cruiser, cabin to cabin.  I do worry about people who ask on CC “should I purchase Plus?”  This analysis is a fundamental life skill that should be acquired early in life.  Do these same folks go on Facebook or NextDoor and ask “Should I buy a home?” or “Should I start a family?”

 

“This analysis is a fundamental life skill that should be acquired early in life.  Do these same folks go on Facebook or NextDoor and ask “Should I buy a home?” or “Should I start a family”

Thanks for the laugh!!

20 minutes ago, phoebe2m said:

The Plus worked for us at $40 per day per person. About break even. $60 a day doesn't work in our situation so our next 3 cruises are basic fare. We need wi-fi for only me not my husband. And I rarely drink. My husband buys a bottle of wine for dinner that lasts 3 meals. People should do the math before deciding. 

Agree with you.. do the math. 
 

I also tipped our room steward separately.

Just back from 14 day TA on Regal.

We got the basic fares only vs paying $60 US pp per day to get included tips, wifi and drinks.

For us, it was absolutely the right choice.

here’s why..,

I’m Elite; hubby is Platinum so we got one minibar set up. I customized it to suit our drinking habits. Swapped out sodas and whiskey we don’t drink ; for more beer,  gin, Pellegrino and tonic for my G& Ts.

I even got limes from bar to keep in fridge so it was very civilized!

I forego needing wifi as we checked our emails when in port having coffee or wine at local cafes. I did buy a ‘Till end of cruise’ wifi package to be able to check in and print boarding passes for last 3 days so as Elite it was $22.50.

I drink 2 glasses of wine most nites.. one at HH and one with dinner. Three nites I had a nite cap. At Captain Circle nite, drinks were ‘free’.

I bought a bottle of wine the first nite at Crown Grill and took rest back to the cabin to supplement the mini bar options.

Hubby had total of 4-5 drinks/ beer over 14 days in addition to mini bar offerings.

Our total bill was under $900 US to cover tips at $16 pp per day, drinks, additional Crown dinner added on board, and 3 day wifi.

vs

Plus package at $60x 2x 24= $1680.

absolutely the right choice for us.

your mileage may differ 🙂

Back from 14 day TA on Regal and agree with the barking seals comment.

We wore N95 masks at all times except outside on loungers or in our room,

A pain but even with 5x vaccination, we are seniors and hubby is higher risk.

Very few others wore masks of any time. As cruise went on, more and more coughed.. some very ‘juicy’ coughs.

We and one other couple actually left our group ‘happy to share’ table one evening when a very sick looking woman was sat with us ( table for 10) and actively juicy coughed then handed bread basket, butter dish etc.

The unmasked lady who coughed in her hand and openly coughed over the keyboard at Internet cafe on last day as others were printing boarding passes was a prime example of not taking even minimal precautions to protect others.

I took CoVid test kits and meds with us. We tested negative  once home and laid low for another 5 days.

In spite of WHO declaring the covid ‘emergency’ is over, it and RSV are here to stay.

Remember the ‘good ol days’ when we only had to worry about Norwalk?!

2 minutes ago, UDChE89 said:

Uniworld does have their own insurance.  I booked outside insurance as it was much cheaper.

 

Didnt book my air through them so can’t help there.

Thanks for reply. 

Planning our umpteenth cruise and 2nd on Uniworld but I've forgotten how I arranged air travel first time.

No where on their site does it give info about them arranging air travel.

For those of you who have done so recently, can you share if it was easy, good prices, too many stopovers, etc.

Also, travel cancellation insurance...does Uniworld have their own product?

TIA

15 minutes ago, avalong said:

May I ask what company you used for your land tours, especially the privately chauffered ones?

Sure! 
for Ireland we used “Ireland Chauffeur Travel “ ( not sure if we can post web links here) … together we planned itinerary and style , they booked all accommodation and we had same driver/guide for the full 10 days in a private Mercedes Sprinter van.

https://www.irelandchauffeurtravel.com/

for Italy we used Dragonfly Tours. They too helped us plan itinerary based on our interests, time and budget. They booked all accommodation but we used fast trains to get from city to city. They arranged for driver to pick us up at train station and provided us with guides each day,

https://www.dragonflytours.net/

10 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

You had a table for 2? What MDR? What time?

 

I noticed that a couple who sat with us in a group first nite sat at same table for two every nite after .

Concerto dining room Regal Princess

They likely had table at 530-545 as were already seated when we showed up at 6 pm to be paraded around the dining room to end up seated near kitchen most nites.

wonder if tipping in cash helps great tables become more readily available?

45 minutes ago, Rainbow3fe said:

     Wow. You definitely have lots of cruising experience. 

     We can only say that if you are looking for a laid back adventure, try Oceania. Great lecturers, talented String Quartet, intimate Piano Bar, no children's activities, no formal nights,  no photographers, no art auctions and no charge for great restaurants. 

Felice 

Sounds perfect! The never ending art auctions .. ugh! Good riddance!

Agree with others this is an interesting thread!

here’s my two cents —/

just home from our 20 th Princess cruise of 4 th TA ( different ports each time) and feel we need a change.

As others said, not only has product changed over the years, but so have we as we age.

Too many people, too many lines, not enough enrichment opportunities, too many ‘health/ wellness ‘ promos (7-8 every day from acupuncture to teeth whitening) to push sales etc. The demographics in both age and ‘style’ has changed and eroded imho.

Princess Elite perks all but disappeared so staying for loyalty alone not the deciding factor.
Itinerary, shipboard experience, food and demographics of fellow passengers now more important.

We also have 2 RCCL, 3 Viking river cruises, 2 Uniworld river cruises and 4 land tours — two with private chauffeurs which were amazing.

So like others here, it’s time for a change and I will look into Oceania as a possible option.

I have Orkney Islands on my bucket list and see they have a cruise that includes that so it might be a good test run.