partybarbie

Lol, my heart almost stopped when I saw the pricing on the April cruises. We are booked for two weeks, with Princess Plus, for $779, per person, per week, with $100 TA credits, per person, per week. I'm still happy with that.

Interesting, I logged into the Princess website but I'm not getting those prices. I wonder why?

No, but it looks like someone else had the answer.

FYI, the Baked Alaskas that are paraded around the room aren’t real and the passengers are served individual ones direct from the kitchen.

What really irritates me is the elimination of the loyalty shipboard credits. I used to receive a $100 credit just for boarding the ship, but not anymore. I would gladly give up the laundry service as I don’t use it anyway, to get back my credits.

Having recently celebrated my 750 Milestone cruise, it was pretty darn nice having breakfast in Sabatini's every morning for fourteen days. It was nice getting a free picture with the Captain. It was nice getting a free bottle of real champagne and chocolate strawberries. Eliminating this recognition doesn't really save Carnival Corporation that much money. What it will do is irritate and annoy a lot of us that have been loyal to the brand. What the bean counters fail to realize is the number of people that are referred to Princess by past passengers. My sister is now elite with Princess because I refused to cruise on any other line. I started cruising with Princess because my aunt told me that it was her favorite cruise line. I have organized multiple family cruises, all on Princess. I probably won't cruise on any other line, but I won't be in such a hurry to refer new people.

I am just off the Ruby. We did have the Baked Alaska Parade, complete with the napkin waving, waiters carrying desserts (with the battery candle on top), and marching music. Meatloaf, turkey, and surf and turf were on the menu. It was pretty much like the old days.

We did have the drink package that included the $12 and under drinks. When I was on the Ruby in May, even though I had a drink package, I was charged five times for wine in the dining room. I thought they had fixed the problem, but it appears they have created new problems. My husband and I both caught colds, but tested negative for Covid. We got our fourth vaccine about a month before the cruise, and had Covid back in March. We didn't wear our masks very much, but tried to stay out of the buffet, and had a two-person table for dinner. Hope you and your party recover quickly.

I am also just off the Ruby. We didn't have any problems with ordering wine or overcharges. In fact, it was the first cruise we had taken in a long time that we didn't have to have any overcharges removed. In the Vines Bar, the bartender is still pouring the Gloria Ferrer by the glass, even though it's supposed to only be sold by the bottle now. We sat at different tables every night and also ate in Crown Grill. Our waiters appeared to be well trained in the drink order process. I guess the OP was just a one off in poor service, or we were extremely lucky.

I'm back from my recent cruise on the Ruby Princess with an update regarding the Milestone program. Per the Loyalty and Events Manager, this program has been discontinued. For those passengers that booked their Milestone cruises before the discontinuation, they will still receive their awards. The program though is being phased out.

Last year on the Majestic Princess, the ship’s Halloween decorations were over the top.

I received an email from Princess that the Royal will hold this party on my November cruise. I just bought a new white dress, and I already have a gold purse and jewelry. I guess I'm ready, lol.

Pre-Covid, we did these exact flights. All immigration was done at the Amsterdam airport. It took almost two hours, the exact amount of our layover. I hope you have at least that much time allowed. I think three would be better.

Sounds heavenly! Since the restart, I have been on four different ships and the Royal definitely had the best food. We didn’t get this menu on our Alaska cruise. I can’t wait to try it. Thanks so much for posting.

That’s an interesting menu. I’m hoping you will tell us what you ordered.

I really wanted to go on this cruise, but we are on the Ruby next week to Hawaii. I will be on the Royal in November, but I'm sad that we don't sail to La Paz and Loreto. We had to book the Crown for January to get back there. Loving following along with all of you though.

I was just there in March. Beautiful weather and people. We found a fun cafe, with live music, ordered fish tacos and margaritas, and then did some walking around and shopping. It’s one of my favorite ports. I would take it any day over Manzanillo. You all got lucky.

I’ve done it. It was on a Wednesday, one smaller ship, Island Princess, first group off, and I was at the gate at 8:30 am. I stressed about it though and didn’t tell my dad until the night before, lol. He would have been stressed the entire cruise! It’s not something I would normally gamble on.

You don't have to tip extra, but you were asking why people do. In the United States, we tip 15% for good service and 20% for excellent. The tips I have already paid would equal the 15% and the little extra that we leave bumps it up to the 20%. I also have no problem not leaving the extra if it's not warranted.

I do like a good martini, but that's not how I got my nickname. Everyone in my family has cruise names. We used to call our formalwear "party" dresses and my stepmom said that I had more clothes than Barbie. The name kind of just stuck, lol.

We tip extra in Sabatini's because the level of service exceeds the level that you have pre-paid for in the regular dining room or buffet. No, we don't tip at the supermarket. 😉

It is definitely worth it to us. We have five cruises booked under the old pricing of $40 PP per day. Before Princess Plus, our bar tab would run at least $100 per day (no judgement, lol). It's a money saver for us.

@caribill Yes, the glass paper weight is now a tote bag, which is actually more useful. The champagne that we received was Nicholas Feuillatte and Chandon Brut (sparkling wine). It's not Dom, but it's certainly drinkable. I'm actually finding that when I cruise with no expectations of receiving anything, that I enjoy myself more.

IMHO, the Carnival Corporation is stepping over a dollar to save a dime. The Milestone Recognitions aren't a significant financial drain to the Company. If they really wanted to save money, they would cut the champagne and gifts to the top three Most Traveled Passengers and keep the Milestone Recognitions, which cost them less, as there are fewer passengers celebrating Milestones (and we all have one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel anyway so we won't be celebrating for much longer). The decline in perks alone are not enough for me to change cruise lines, but raising prices would. Prices usually rise with demand, but when your ships aren't sailing at full passenger capacity now, how will raising the prices help with that? I'm all for attracting new customers, but let's not forget that many of us loyal to line agreed to let Carnival Corporation keep our money and apply it to future cruises. I find it hard to believe that alienating those same customers now, in the hopes that you will attract new ones, will result in increased profits.

If you are talking about the hangers with clips, like a lady would hang a skirt from, then yes. If you mean the ones that kind of open on the bottom, and the pants are folded. I have seen them sometimes, but not guaranteed.