skynight

You did not mention where you are going. You will have to figure out how much you will need to spend at the ports. This can vary depending on your itinerary. On board you need very little cash. On board additional tipping is totally up to you. Here is what I do. I always provide an extra cash gratuity to the cabin steward at the end of the cruise. It is usually $3 to $4 per day. I seldom provide tips to bar servers. I don't carry cash around on board. Some people do carry $1 bills around with them to tip bar tenders. If you use room service you may want to keep some $1 bills around. But room service is no longer free. It is included with the plus & premier fares. If you use the casino, bring cash, as much as you are willing to lose. I use cash for taxis in the U.S.. If you take tours bring along cash to tip the guide. Depending on the length of the tour maybe $10/$20 per person. Anything you purchase on board in the shops, specialty dining, bingo, etc. will go directly to your on board account. At the end of the cruise any positive balance will be charged to your credit card on file. Other than the casino you can not use cash on board to purchase anything. You can pay off on board account balances at passenger services with cash. At the pier on embarkation I tip the luggage handlers usually $5/suitcase. Probably similar if you use a porter on disembarkation to bring your suitcase to the curbside. I just wheel mine. Very easy. If you are visiting U.S. ports, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands or are turning around at a U.S. port as a b2b, you can always pick up extra cash at an ATM.

Sister ships, virtually the same. I enjoy the older grand class ships over the royal class. I like the 360 degree promenade, the multiple viewing locations including forward areas which are excellent for a P.C. cruise, the various lounges, multiple pool areas and more. These are available on both ships. The Ruby is scheduled for almost a month of Dry/Wet dock starting in a week or two. The Ruby should be pretty spiffy upon it's return to service. Look here for information. Postings 68 onwards have lots of current information.

The below site shows the Sky docking at WICO, Havensight, on Dec 6th. This is the Dec 2nd sailing from Ft Lauderdale. https://www.*****/cruise/ship-schedule/12-2023/

There is no charge to connect to the on board in house intranet. There is no free internet service. You have to purchase one of the plans. Some public areas in port have free internet if you choose to use it.

Quarter size and just a little thicker. You can keep it in your pocket, small bag or attached to yourself. Doesn't matter. The electronic readers should pick up the signal. If not you can just remove it.

There is no tax on the plus or premier fare. The plus and premier fares include the 18% beverage service charge. No further service charge is added per drink. If you wish you can, of course, provide extra gratuities to the beverage server. That is totally up to you. Personally I never walk around the ship with cash on me.

Are you in the UK or North America? Different T&Cs.

Believe it is possible to have the system programed to recognize more than one cabin. You can have access to your kid's cabin and visa versa. Visit passenger services.

Doors lock automatically as a default. There is nothing to do manually.

They are submitting local taxes where required. They would face big trouble if they did not. You are paying. You just don't see it. I would imagine that they have systems in place to identify the amounts due and submit according to the required tax laws.

At the top right of the main Princess page there is a box to start a new topic.

As you approach your cabin the door unlocks. You still have to open it. The system readers detect that you are close to your cabin. You are not required to take out the medallion and wave it at something to make this work.

Yes, 1 x 750 bottle of wine per adult without corkage fee for use in your cabin may be carried on. Additional bottles of wine are subject to a $20 per bottle corkage when boarding and are marked. If the free bottle is brought to a public area it is subject to corkage. Other alcoholic beverages are not permitted to be brought on board. Actual practice: People pour the free wine into a glass and carry the glass to a public area. Sometimes there is no check point on the pier and you just walk on. The same public area corkage rules will apply, but you could wind up with additional free cabin bottles. If you have the standard fare then you will pay for all beverages on board, you will be charged the daily crew appreciation which is $16, $17 or $18, depending on cabin category, per person per day. If you want wifi that will cost you, I think, $10 per day per device. That is the 1/2 price rate for platinum loyalty level passengers which you are as you have 5 previous cruises. The Plus fare to me is worth it as it doesn't take much drinking to break even.

"In your case, since you're cruising from Galveston, PSVA applies to you, so EZAir will most likely not try and get you to the next port of call because they will be fined for violating PVSA. " Incorrect. There would be no violation. Embarkation would be at a foreign port and disembarkation at a U.S. port. PVSA applies to sailings between two different U.S. ports.

Not a rip off. I can tell you for certain that if you purchase a beverage while the ship is docked in Fort Lauderdale that Princess is required to collect Florida State sales tax which I believe is 6%. This amount is added to the Princess' beverage price which includes Princess' 18% beverage service charge. Princess then has to submit the collected amounts to the State retaining a small collection fee which is certainly way less than what it cost Princess to collect the tax and submit the funds to Florida. It is NOT a Princess rip off. A similar situation occurs at Princess Cays on the purchase of beverages or a gift at the gift shop. Princess is required by the Bahamas to collect a VAT tax and submit it to the government. On your 2024 cruise if you purchase a beverage while the ship is still docked in Ft. Lauderdale you will be charged Florida State sales tax. When Princess sells a fare that includes beverages then that sale is made in California. Thus no Florida sales tax.

If at all possible fly in at least one day early. It looks like you are flying into Houston and sailing out of Galveston. Look at your sailing time. Believe it is 3pm. You need to be on board latest 60 minutes before sailing. Depending on which airport you use drive time from the airport to the ship is 1 to 1 1/2 hours without traffic. Can you make it the same day?

While docked in Ft. Lauderdale and some other ports a State and local sales tax is added to individual beverage purchases. Once the ship sails there is no tax. I have also experienced a local VAT tax on individual beverage purchases at Princess Cays. There are probably many other examples. Not too many years ago, before the inclusive fares, we normally purchased the soda package while the ship was still docked waiting for the sail away. The purchase was written up manually. These manual sales slips were processed in the evening after the ship sailed. No local sales tax was ever added. I suspect that something similar would be the case when purchasing the plus/premier fare add on before the ship sails. It's also possible that adding the plus/premier fare is not considered a taxable transaction, much like booking and paying for a cruise. In my State there is no tax on the purchase of a cruise vacation.

According to a current Princess dining guide the Ruby has (will have) the World Fresh Marketplace. I would assume this means a physical and selection makeover of some sort. Hopefully the makeover will include replacement of the current coffee with the Lavazza coffee installed on other ships.

I also renewed on line. Received my new card in a week. Was surprised when it arrived.

The Captain has made a correct decision protecting the ship and all on board. You would not be happy being on board during a major storm. Lee is expected to aim directly at N.S.. The seas all along the U.S. east coast are forecast to be very high and rough. I expect that once you clear immigration you will be able to arrange to head home. These weather events happen. They are part of cruising or any vacation sea or land.

My 2024 sailings from FLL are scheduled for 3pm. Agree with post #5. Risky day of fly in. The timing could effect bookings. Many people do not have the time to fly in early.

Princess has now decided to charge $15 for 3 course casual meals at their casual dining locations. Alfredo's which in the past was no charge now costs $15. Some other locations like the Salty Dog Gastropub always had a charge. Additional new locations & menus have been added. Places like Vines which in the past offered comped sushi with the purchase of a drink now has a cold plate casual meal. There are more and they vary by ship. With the plus fare you can dine at two of them per cruise without charge. If you have the premium fare then all casual dining is included and unlimited. Room Service and the Ocean Now (order on the phone app) was free until about a month ago. Now with the standard no frills fare there is a one time/cruise $15 fee to order using the app and a $5/call fee to call room service and place an order. These services are free with the plus fare. Premium desserts. They are like gelato sundaes. If you can eat two per day that's a lot. More like two per cruise. https://www.flashpackingamerica.com/cruise-travel/princess-cruise-premium-desserts/

On the Ruby the Salty Dog Gastro Pub is in the Wheelhouse Bar, which has some tables, some soft chairs, and bar seating. The Salty Dog Grill, no charge burgers, dogs, chicken and maybe some other items is on the Lido Deck. Yes, anyone can enter the Wheelhouse Bar. Can you share the food? That's a question the servers would have to allow or disallow. My guess is those ordering a meal would be seated at a different table. Vines is a wine bar with tables in the Piazza area. really anyone can sit there. There may be some tables reserved for those ordering meals. Not sure. Can't answer your question about lunch. There may be other activities going on in the Wheelhouse during lunch hours.

I'll answer your last question question first. A few weeks from now the Ruby is going to dry/wet dock for almost a month. The link below has lots of information. You may be able to get a fruit smoothie at some bars with or without alcohol. They would be included with the plus and premier fares. It has been reported that pre-prepared smoothies have been available at times in the buffet. Here is what Princess says: "Our Plus Beverage Package includes the classics: sodas, specialty coffees and teas, cocktails, spirits, wine and beer up to $15 each. Even hot chocolate, water to go, smoothies and an unlimited juice bar. You’ll also enjoy 25% off all bottles of wine. Whatever you want – with tips included!" Milkshakes are not mentioned. They may or may not be available at coffee & cones on the Lido deck. At times there may be sushi in the buffet. There is no sushi bar on the Ruby now, and I don't believe one would be added. In the past you could get sushi at Vines with the purchase of a drink. Now Vines has a cold plate casual dining meal and no sushi. The Ocean Now app may have sushi. You would have to look once on board. Here is what is included in the plus and premier fares: https://www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions/plus-premier-cruise-packages/

All the information is detailed at this site https://www.carnivalcorp.com/shareholder-information/shareholder-benefit