MacMadame

But it costs money if you haven't got a package. That was my point. If every refill would cost us with the standard fare, then it's a lot easier to break even with Plus.

Agreed. OTOH, you can't convince me they don't make money on *everything* they sell. Internet at $25/day? No way that's a money loser! And the drinks... drinks are marked up big time everywhere with a bar (restaurants, cruises, casinos, etc). They are a known money-maker. So there must be something about packages that makes them more attractive than letting people buy things a la carte or Princess wouldn't push them so much. I think it's that getting a predictable revenue stream upfront (i.e., before the ship even embarks) is a benefit to them. There are probably people who don't break even but want the convenience too. But there can't be too many of those because the Plus is such a good deal for included stuff that most want (CA, wifi, drinks). You can break even with just one cocktail/mocktail and 1 or 2 sodas/bottled waters/fancy coffees a day even if you don't eat a single "premium" dessert or attend a fitness class. This is especially true if you want OceanNow and plan to use Room Service. The people who it doesn't make sense for are the ones who don't want wifi because that's a big cost and don't drink much except water/coffee/tea and juice with breakfast. Yeah, but I think that's okay. Not everyone wants that but most people like not having to worry about extra charges at the end of the cruise. And lots of their direct competitors are starting to have "all-inclusive" packages too. It's the trend in the industry. Agreed on all 3 points.

Ah, that makes sense. I personally think the 5 people who used to stop at 15 but now willkeep going aren't going to have much impact. 😉

It's a specialty dining offering so it has to be included IMO. I don't think the list was meant to be exhaustive and it leaves out many of the SD venues that are one-offs (only exist on one ship). But they are still classified as Specialty Dining and it says Unlimited SD. That's a big leap. Princess has made it clear in public pronouncements that they love it when people buy packages. They have continually improved the offerings, sometimes with a price increase and sometimes without. IMO this change is designed to get more people to switch from Plus to Premier. And to compete with all-inclusive lines at least in marketing. We are in the same boat. We have Plus which saves us money -- how much depending on what we drink and how it is charged (like if DH orders a refill of his soda in the MDR, is that a 2nd drink?) Premier would not save us money but provided some items that can't be gotten elsewhere. Plus some stuff we'd do more of if it was included. So it was tempting. But not at $90 pp per day. Okay, I'm sold! I'm a sucker for a party hat! 🥳 🥳

They need it! I'm confused as to how giving unlimited specialty dining to Premier people would impact the bars. Or how much the crew is overworked for that matter. All that should happen is that more people will be in the Specialty restaurants which means fewer people in the MDR and buffet. So it should even out in terms of bars and staff. I think you can still order one pizza. They may charge you for two casual dining visits though. That's okay with me. I'd rather that than wasting so much food.

Have you tried using "incognito" mode on your browser or using another browser you've never used before on the AARP site? If the problem is cached data like cookies, these tricks will get around that. If that doesn't work, the problem is 99.9% on the backend and only they can fix it. Unless you just make a new account, of course. You should be able to use your own cards. They ask for the name on the card and the billing address separately from the membership name and address.

Oh, the refund horror stories began long ago when the cruise was first canceled. My friends were ones who paid for that cruise but were able to get most of their money back via chargebacks as were others. But there is also a lawsuit that a bunch of them are involved in.

I would say, compared to the general population, that is a lot of gambling. Most people I know go to the casinos (a) never, (b) only if visiting a casino place like Vegas, (c) at most once or twice a year. Oh, and they only play the slot machines.

It depends on how big and how varied the country is. The US has several regions that are very different from each other. And even in those regions, there can be a lot of variety. Like the East Coast South is very different from the Gulf Coast South. i.e., Georgia vs. Louisiana. I've been to three of the Canadian provinces and they were all very different from each other. And even within them, Vancouver was very different from Penticton. Both of these countries are physically bigger than all of Europe. I wouldn't visit Germany 17 times but I would visit Europe 17 times as long as it was a different country each time.

On vacation? Hell no! 🤣 I don't think my cabin has to be serviced 2x a day but I loved coming back from dinner and having my bed turned down and a chocolate on the pillow.

Regular Medicare has a tiny amount of coverage according to my insurance broker. And my Medigap Plan G has plenty. I still have Princess Vacation Protection but only at the standard level. I'm thinking about upgrading to Premium. (Or whatever the top tier is called.)

Based on my experience living in a 55+ trailer park, they probably don't. We constantly get notices from management to stop chucking all sorts of random stuff in there including, and especially, underwear and adult diapers. 🤷‍♂️

They are being put up in a hotel room for free and have been giving pax all sorts of goodies since the first delay. Things like fancy dinners, excursions, etc. I think they even gave pax the option to fly back home and fly back when the ship was ready on the company's dime. So not being given money but having money spent on them.

They aren't though. They don't dissolve and can clog up your pipes. https://protectyourpipes.org/wipes#:~:text=Most baby wipes and similar,costly visits from your plumber. ETA, didn't see @Teechur's post.

I've been watching videos and tend to agree. I suspect that the company was planning to do a lot more work on the ship before all those mechanical issues were found. In one of the videos, I watched, one of the employees (the CEO?) was talking about how the rooms were not what they wanted and they will continue to work on them. Not sure how that will work but I guess we'll see.

Google Voice is no longer free.

IME, you get assigned to one when you book. They may or may not respond to your emails. When mine didn't, I just called the PVP line and talked to whoever answered. They refared me, no problem.

I know I'm out of touch with typical drinking patterns in the US when I go to the doctor and fill out the health questionnaire where the choices under "how much do you drink" are (a) Zero, (b) 1-2 drinks a day, (c) even more than that, etc. Yeah, there is nothing between being a teetotaler and drinking every day. 🤷‍♀️ Anyway, all my drinking is social drinking so, yeah, on vacation, I definitely drink more than at home. In particular, I like to try the specialty drinks that many touristy places have. I like trying new things on vacation and drinking themed vodka martinis I can't get at home qualifies.

I don't understand complaining about a price increase *that has not happened*. Princess has now added several things to the Plus fare that weren't there when I first booked without raising the price. You won't see me complaining about that! And if they do raise the price before my cruise, I will decide then if it's worth upgrading and/or complaining based on what the new price is and what it includes.

Yes, but a cruise ship isn't equivalent to a hotel or restaurant in the US.

I still have nightmares where the rotary phone figures prominently. 🤣

My photos on my iPhone back up to the cloud automatically but I use the laptop to read books and watch movies and other entertainment. Plus, once I had a flight canceled and was stuck at my destination for a few extra days. I had brought my work laptop and was able to get in some extra work and not have to take PTO for those days.

I ran into this one year with an event I put on and we needed Youth t-shirts and Adult t-shirts. Even shirts from the same company aren't necessarily the same color when you cross sizes!

Which is as is should be. From what the TAs who have YouTube channels say, they get discounted fares compared to what we can get by booking ourselves on the website. But some also sweeten the pot here and there and those perks are paid for by them however they choose to do it.