GRAYTech

If you (one person) consumes 15 drinks a day that equals 22.5 ounces of booze which would put you over the legal driving limit - good thing they don,t let you on the bridge

1.5oz is the perfect pour. If it is closer to 2oz it's closer to 30oz for the day. That's 2X a big day in my book. That's more than an entire bottle of scotch (750ml = 25oz).

:whiskey-glass: :whiskey-glass: :whiskey-glass: :whiskey-glass: :whiskey-glass: :whiskey-glass:

I have bought a few on board and would compare them to buying a cigar at the local liquor store. You can smoke them but they are twice the price and about 1/2 the taste.

Total Wine and More worked very well. Have also bought cigars while in Caribbean ports with good luck. I know, I know it's probably a fake Cohiba but they were still very good. By default they are the proper moisture content and less than $5.

Reading this thread and others it makes me wonder if Princess has ADDED anything recently?

Add something to a drink package, make that second Entrée available free of charge in the Crown Grill. Put up more than one bottle of cheap champagne for the ring toss. Bring back the featured appetizer at the PES cocktail hour. Make it really a BOGO and buy one and get one free. The list goes on.

I would gladly pay more for a cruise if I didn't feel the nickel-n-dime at every turn. Are all lines this way now or is it just Princess? Do the higher end lines charge for everything as you go ?

Skip Sabatinis if you are in a rush even if they are open.

Sabatinis is more of an experience, not something you want to rush through. Sit, have a Mimosa, yuck it up with the wait staff. Enjoy the cook to order breakfast and that second Mimosa. Then take a nap and before you know it it's time for lunch.

My personal favorite is the 'tender rush'. When the tender docks many stand up to be first off. We used it as a teaching moment for our then two younger children. We stayed seated and timed how long it took to empty the tender - it was about two minutes.

Just like the squishy elevator thing, is the jostling about on the tender really worth the two extra minutes on Princess Cays?

Is it just me or is this confusing under the "Keep in Mind" from the previous post -

Keep in Mind

-----------------

Each package comes with an unlimited volume of data on each day of your voyage. Transmission speeds for each package are subject to change depending on network usage. For current listing of data within each plan, see the Online Internet Selection page.

So what does "unlimited volume of data" and "data within each plan" mean ?

Thanks for the info Pam. Can you get them to run a land based speed test?

One like this - https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

Just for reference I have Charter Cable and get 60Mbps Download and 4Mbps Upload.

So has the Grand even made it to the list for the roll out for the Ocean Medallion yet? I haven't seen it on any of the releases so why would it have MedallionNet installed?

According to the MedallionNet article the speed is expected to be about 10 times faster. So that's 10 x dial-up speed. While better not sure that is going to be enough to have an exceptional internet experience while on board.

It would be great to hear from someone that has first hand knowledge of the "New Princess Internet" offering.

...but if the ship does not dock at #2, it can be a very long walk to either of those stores....

Very true. If you are not at Dock #2 the walk would be too far for a couple bottles of wine and doesn't really make sense to Uber/Taxi. I'd say your best option is two bottles from a port stop to take with you on the second cruise. Because you are on 2 different ships I don't think taking 4 on the first leg is likely to work without a fee.

Has anyone personally experienced a "Faster Internet Experience" on any Princess ship? If so, do you have any speed test results? How reliable was it etc ? What are your thoughts on it?

If it's the same old slow-n-stupid connection capping premium data usage to 500MB per day is a joke. I doubt you could even download 500MB in a week.

Same everything. I doubt the person you call would know if you got a TA Perk, paid for it in advance or plan to pay for it after your meal. They do know if you are in a full suite and based on experience you can usually pick your time even if it's last minute. So maybe it's a little different if your in a full suite in terms of reservation availability. Meal is the same no matter what.

Not sure if the ships duty free has wine but you can for sure buy wine while in a port during your first leg and have them hold it for you until the last night of your first leg.

There is also a Walgreens just outside dock #2 port Everglades that has champagne / wine. "Total Wine and More" was about a 10 minute walk from the port entrance.

What fun with 16 of you! Not sure if the ship matters, they would all likely work well for you and meet your needs.

If it were me I would do an Owners Suite (or at least a Vista if you can swing it) to have a place to gather before dinner, have lunch etc. Others can get by with a lesser cabin (fewer $$$) because they can hang out with Grandma. With 16 of you it might even make sense to book several aft cabins and open the balconies.

If $$$ is not an issue heck, book the aft Grand, Penthouse and Owners suite on the Aloha deck and have an absolute blast. We have done an aft Vista with our kids (older) in an inside and it worked out great.

...Even a cheese and cracker plate would be more welcomed.

Agreed, like something you might do for yourself at home. Heck I would even prefer the pre-packaged crackers / pretzel sticks and canned cheese spread we get at our local eatery.

The canapes are just plain nasty.

I agree, they are especially nasty if they have sat for an hour or two before you return to your cabin. It's another pointless "perk" offered by Princess. They should do away with it and as others have noted, bring a small cheese and cracker platter like the dessert one in the MDR. Cost less and pax would actually enjoy it.

All these new little restrictions on using the beverage package rather defeats the purpose of having a beverage package.

As someone else noted, that's likely why they changed the name. It's anything BUT all inclusive.

Wasn't worth it to us before these additional restrictions and price hike, it certainly isn't worth it now.

Hmmm. I have never had the package on Princess or RCCL. However, in comparing the two from published info it appear RCCL's only restriction is no room service, package covers everything else. If the drink exceeds $12 you pay the difference. You can also purchase the RCCL package mid cruise for your remaining days at a pro-rated price.

I was on the fence before because of RCCL Internet access. (Don't flame me I'm one of those that can't just unplug) Now with the price of drinks going up and the AIBP/PBP package value going down maybe it's time to give RCCL another try.

Wonder if Princess will put time restrictions on it next? Like it's only good between 8 and 9AM or after Midnight. Oh, and only if you aren't part of some event or group so you must drink by yourself during those specified times. Come on Princess.

Just was informed that for the Meet & Greet on our upcoming Island Princess cruise that the AIBP will not be honored during that event. Anyone else hear this? Has not happened on previous cruises.

I can't imagine it to be true. What possible reason is there? If not honored during the meet-n-greet then why honor it during an art show or any gathering on board like bingo? Raise the price and then don't let people use it - that will be the end of that IMHO.

How/who just informed you? Was this a rumor-has-it or an Email from Princess ?

That is not true. The dress code for the suite breakfast is the same as the dress code for breakfast in the MDR. They do require you to wear pants, shirt, and shoes - and wet swimming trunks are not allowed.:)

Yes, you should have underwear on or they wont want to serve you. Everyone in shorts enjoying mimosas and a Bloody Mary. Do not miss the breakfast.

We used to only do room service on the suite balcony which was very nice but the Sabatinis breakfast was a hoot on the Crown on our last in January sailing. The waiters were yuuckin' it up and the champagne was flowing. Nap time was around Noon..

I don't even turn my cell phone on when I go on vacation. But my employer doesn't give vacation time, so if I want to get paid, I have to get some work done on my laptop. Do you know if I would need the Verizon Travelpass to use the Jetpack to connect to the internet?

Not sure if the jetpack is allowed with the travelpass but I don't see why not but you need to check directly with Verizon.

You also don't need the travelpass but if you use it and it's covered by the Travelpass you get access to your domestic plan data back home. So for an extra $10/24 hr you connect to the cell towers in St. Kitts for example, and you are only billed an extra $10 and just use your plan minutes like you were back home.

If you don't have a travelpass roaming data charges can very high.

Keep in mind a travelpass only works while in port, not at sea with the ships cell service.

I'm curious. Does RCCL's app give an audible notification?

Only from what I have read it does for text and calls but you must leave the app open on your phone. I have not personally used the app.

Look into the Verizon Travelpass. For $10/24 hour period ($2 in Mexico) you can use your phone to text/call/data in many foreign ports. Worked great for us, speed was about what you would expect from home. Don't know specifically about your Jetpack if it's included or not. Might be worth looking into.

For what it's worth Princess@sea is not an app. It is an intranet address. I believe that is why notifications are not possible.

That's true Today it's just a website but it used to be an app. It's also possible to emulate push on a web page by having the page auto refresh every so many minutes.

As noted, maybe the medallion is the Princess solution. I think that could also give Princess more control of when, where and how notifications will be provided over an app like RCCL has.

Wait, what? You lost me. Which is easy to do if we're talking about electronics. I'm still working on mastering my flip phone . . .

Open/close, Open/close....Texting on a flip phone does take some mastering.

In defense of the OP, I have seen the provider of cell service inexplicable go from ATT to Cellular at Sea and back in seconds while around ports. My fix was to always hold my iPhone vertically so I can see the provider.

Can you clarify "Around Ports"? Was that coming in or with the lines tied to the dock?

Coming in I have seen it switch but never when fully docked.