Cruise Raider

Princess is still filling their ships .. new customers seem to be happier and freer with spending their discretionary funds that the older clientele, that seem to be the squeaky wheels. Because the old time cruisers will fade away (sorry to be morbid but it’s a fact), they will have to entice new cruisers to remain profitable. I don’t think the passengers that look at every single dollar they spend will keep them in business for very long. We are no spring chickens ourselves with 80+ cruises each under our belts. We want Princess to become profitable once again. We live in a society where profitability of a company may be the reason they will stay afloat or fold. Personally, I’m more offended by the prices at the fuel pumps and the grocery stores, my utility bills and my healthcare costs. It’s way more than a $5 or $15 charge here and there. And why everybody thinks cruising should remain exactly the same from years ago, while the whole world around them is changing is mind boggling to me. I first cruised in the early eighties and I can honestly say that I am actually getting much more value now than I did then. I just think back to my first cruise. It was $100 a day per person for an oceanview cabin and we had to also pay our gratuities, there was no WiFi, we had to pay for our drinks and there was no such thing as OBC given. If fast forward to 40+ years later, OMG .. I can sometimes still get that same deal now, plus some OBC and maybe some other freebies. My goodness, it would be more than triple today for the same cruise fare and I’m just not seeing that. It’s still the best bargain out there. I refuse to squabble about a mere $15 charge. $100 in 1981 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $335.65 today, an increase of $235.65 over 42 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.93% per year between 1981 and today, 2023, producing a cumulative price increase of 235.65%.

We booked on the one out of San Francisco .. you are so right about sticker shock. I asked my CVP to price out a BD balcony vs a OV obstructed oceanview. She knows how we travel and our cost limits so she didn’t even bother to give me the quotes. Yowsa, I really really want to take this cruise so, I will be happy in my OV cabin. At least I really have time to save up for it .. it truly is an amazing itinerary!

The Salty Dog GastroPub also has an a la carte menu and the cover charge is no longer $18. one of their small plates, as they refer to them, is now only $10 and the price fix menu is also $14.99 for two small plates and dessert. Sadly, they aren’t open for lunch. That may change in time, though.

Correct me if I’m wrong .. or even if you just disagree with my thoughts on the OceanNow feature on the app. I believe Princess, upon the restart in July 2021, started with the expanded room service menu and delivery to wherever you might be on the ship to keep people from forming crowds and keeping the dining rooms emptier to reduce close contact with others. We will just bring whatever you want, even from the beverage package, directly to your room, or to the pool or to wherever you might be. Well, fast forward to 2023 and now they’ve kept this in place but the ships are sailing at full capacity. Do they cut down the number of these orders or do they hire more staff. The former won out there. The only way to cut back on the number of room service orders, now that we’re all spoiled, is to charge for it. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t but they won’t be going backwards on the charges. It sees, like all the lines are beginning to charge for delivery service, except for the continental breakfasts. I see Celebrity implemented this earlier in the year and are charging more than twice of what Princess charges. And, you can’t get your meal delivered to wherever you may be at the time .. it’s your room or not at all. I’m sure it’s cut back on hiring more staff for that line. Anyway, it’s still a bargain on Princess as far as I’m concerned.

I am hoping that’s the case! I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. I know they have an a la carte menu now, too. So, even if they don’t allow you to share the $14.99 price fixed menu, it’s still cheaper than it was before with the $18 cover charge. I know at Alfredo’s / GiGi’s we could only eat half a pizza each at best. They are also going to have the option to get a pizza for like $12, I believe. We’ve really just loved going for the casual dining options on our last few cruises.

If I recall correctly, Celebrity implemented their room service charge in much the same way. However, their pricing for the delivery is more than twice as much. Plus, they don’t deliver it just anywhere on the ship like Princess does. Thus, we just never used it.

Not being one that is at all upset about the changes, perhaps some common ground would have been to delay the implementation of these changes to occur after final payment date, so that would be 90 days out. However, I’m sure they analyzed all the financial data and as I’ve stated, they chose the ‘rip the bandaid off approach’. The ones that are really voicing their ire about this are those with the standard package and have past final payment date. It’s probably a small group in comparison. I don’t really think that Princess would want those cancellations but they are still filling their ships and my guess is, they will continue to do so.

My DH has been getting a single (maybe even a double) scoop of gelato very successfully through the package.

I omitted them on purpose .. along with the fitness classes. 😂

Based on the menus I’ve seen, the $14.99 will cover the complimentary breadsticks with fondue sauce, two small plates and dessert. The menu looks the same. I can only ever finish one small plate so, I’m actually happy about the changes. So, for those that haven’t been, the small plates are anything but small. They are a meal in themselves.

Only if you enjoy the free mocktails, sodas, specialty coffees, juice bar and WiFi ..

The casual dining, with the exception of Alfredo’s, has never been a free amenity. Now, the pricing of these places is actually cheaper than before.

However, the way I see it, they just made them more appealing to those that don’t drink alcohol by adding the complimentary casual dining. Plus, you can still get specialty coffees, mocktails, waters and sodas. Life is better when you view the glass as half full!

Like you, we upgrade to the premier package and don’t always use all the perks offered. I do love nicer wines, though and fully take advantage of that, though. But … We never get up to 15 drinks per day, I only ask for half of the normal amount of food that is served, especially in the specialty restaurants, I never eat dessert because I just don’t have a sweet tooth (I have a suspicion my DH makes up for that, though), don’t go to the fitness classes as we prefer to use the stairs. My DH doesn’t really like his picture taken but I make up for that. We love the chances at the Princess Prizes, although we’ve not one more than $75. My cousin did win the $5000 prize a few months ago, though. If it’s a show we really want to see, I will take advantage of the reserved seating! That packages may not hold value for those that don’t drink alcohol but they certainly are now more attractive than they used to be because now they combine casual dining.

I don’t seem to have issues anymore but there were several cruises we couldn’t get into any of the specialty restaurants unless we had made a reservation in advance. Same went for the winemaker’s dinner. Ever since the price increases, it’s become much easier.

We’ve actually seen just the opposite effect. So many times, we haven’t been able to get into the specialty restaurants but we’ve had zero issues the last few times we’ve had the premier package and on completely full sailings. just my experience

So, this is my take on this after reading all the comments on this post as well as many others on this subject. I think there is a small minority of people that are angry and state they will refuse to book with Princess ever again. They are the squeaky wheels and will probably be lined up at guest services to get some compensation. It may very well be provided. I think the majority of new cruisers with disposable income will accept these changes without giving it another thought. It’s the very seasoned cruisers that pinch their pennies, whether they really have to or not, will be the most disgruntled. The cruiselines will not become profitable when only these passengers are booking cruises. And because Princess is now filling their ships to full capacity, it stands to reason that they’d rather have the former type of cruiser onboard. I am not loyal to any one cruiseline but do have most of my cruises with Princess and cruise an average of once a month since the restart. We always purchase at least the Plus Package when we book because we find great value in it. We oftentimes upgrade to the premier package once onboard. The staff gets credit for those upgrades so, we like to give them that opportunity. We find value in the premier package even more so now with the added casual dining opportunities included, many times which we’ve paid for in the past. We do have a couple cruises booked with the $50 Plus Package one of which is on the Ruby and one on the Discovery. It won’t pay for us to upgrade to the new $60 Plus on the Ruby, as it doesn’t have a large selection of casual dining spots onboard. We will definitely upgrade to the Premier package on all our cruises on Royal class ships. As a stockholder, I appreciate these changes, most of which will be covered with my stockholder OBC. Many are complaining they were told of these changes after final payment and perhaps Princess could have gone with a better approach to rolling them out than just ripping the bandaid off. I, too, have will be on the Ruby on that first cruise with the changes. I really don’t see it costing us a lot more money, though. I will pay the access fee to the OceanNow feature on the app. Depending upon if just one or the second occupant in the cabin are charged, it will be a one time fee of $15 or $30. Since we’ve previously ordered the pizzas on the app on the Ruby, that won’t be a change, either. The GastroPub will save us money as we always go once or twice each cruise and can now just order one plate for $10 each instead of paying the $18 cover charge per person, which was always too much food for us.

I’ve only seen them charge extra for a Wagu beef burger on Celebrity. I have seen Princess charge for the lobster rolls when offered at the SD grill, never for anything else, though. I stand corrected after just seeing the photo of the menu right below your post.

You can’t use them just to pay EZAir after your cruise is fully paid. If they are added to your reservation using a flexible fare, you can use them to pay off your entire balance. That’s been my experience.

Mid ship on the Emerald deck. Actually, I like balcony cabins a lot more but since it’s a rather expensive sailing, we will settle for an obstructed OV cabin.

I always paid to go to the GastroPub in the past with the $18 cover charge but would just order one plate because I hate to gorge myself and really really hate to waste food. Now, I can pay the $10 cover charge and save $8 pp. This is where my savings comes into play. I’m saving $16 per couple per visit to the GastroPub and it’s only $15 to activate one OceanNow feature on the app. That’s not much of a savings to it’s certainly not costing me more. I only have one other cruise booked with the $50 Plus package and will be upgrading to the premier package for that one anyway. It will be $600 but it’s one that I will want to get a lot of photos, drink nicer wines, get reserved seating for the production shows and unlimited casual dining, as this ship will have an Alfredo’s as well as the GastroPub and an additional specialty dining restaurant. I have a lot of OBC on that cruise so was planning on spending it on the premier package even before these changes.

It is my understanding with speaking with the crew that post-CoVid, the gratuities are shared for those staff members in certain positions across the entire fleet. This was to equalize for their pay if they worked on a ship that sailed at a very low capacity. They seemed fine with that because they might be the ones to be hit on the next cruise. They could keep anything extra you gave them in person. However, you are so right that the crew does rely upon tips and if everyone decided to remove them, their overall compensation would be decreased. This info is straight from several crew members that have befriended us. Since Princess is now once again sailing at full capacity, this may be changed again??? I did see one post that stated the tips were shared with the entire crew but then she said the Captain was part of the crew .. so, I knew that post was just, as you put it, a bunch of malarkey!

I have a cruise in a couple of weeks with the same $50 plus package. It won’t pay for me to upgrade to the new $60 plus package. I never use the phone for room service and our next cruise is on a ship doesn’t have Alfredo’s or Gigi’s. I will pay the one time fee for activation of OceanNow for $15. Per guest or per device? But let’s call it $30 to be on the safe side. I may go to the GastroPub once or twice but won’t have to pay the $18 cover charge they previously charged. Now, I can order one small plate for $10, which is more than enough food for me for dinner. So, I’m actually saving money there .. enough to cover one activation fee for the OceanNow function on the app in one visit. Even on a ship with Alfredo’s/ GiGi’s, you could go for $15 pp per visit so add another $60. Now, you may want to go for the $160 upgrade that but it doesn’t seem to make financial sense to arbitrarily upgrade it just to get to get the activation fee and two casual dining experiences. Unless you plan on ordering room service via your phone, you would need to order several times a day to make your upgrade to the $60 Plus package worthwhile. And if you ordered room service only via the phone, you wouldn’t have to pay the OceanNow activation fee. The math doesn’t suggest that would be advantageous to upgrade.

This makes it very simple

I use the app to order food delivery probably once a day. The one time charge will be no problem for me. I get the chicken fingers or tacos and dump them onto a Caesar salad. I just love those combos. Oh and their chicken noodle soup is pretty good, too when I want something really light.