Steelers36

I agree with @Ombud, so this is good advice for future. Let the refund process and then begin separately when you see your OBC restored. I agree that your agent (notice I blacked out the name as you are not supposed to name TA's on here) has nothing to do with this since excursions are self-booked and self-paid. That said, this issue is now mixed up with dollars and TA's need to be involved because you can only review or "see" dollars on your cruise bill via the TA. That said, you can see Onboard Services and Onboard Credits (look in the Payment section of Cruise Personalizer). You should see the correct amount of OBC there. You could cancel the new excursion (generates a CC refund), and then re-book it which will allow you to select using any OBC you have (which should be restored to your profile by now).

It's ridiculous not to have a consistent international policy. Princess North America relaxed the rules a long time back so that guests could use the OBC for booking excursions (when PCL started requiring excursion payments up front). Does PCL Australia require payment for ship excursions at time of booking them? Otherwise, you have been treated extra harshly IMO since you can apply within 90 days, but to force the statement date to be within that as well is completely unreasonable. Even with monthly statements, a guest may have to wait over half month extra to apply and barely get the OBC on record ahead of sail date and excursions probably need to have been booked and paid for earlier if popular. It is too bad if you cannot send your request to PCL HQ for processing instead of in Australia. The old rule relaxed in N.A. market (at least there) does open the benefit to abuse (stock could be sold long before sailing date), but PCL is being very fair with customers IMO by allowing OBC way in advance.

IDK if they might still have a Tiramisu offering at the IC. Perhaps a different composition? IDK. I have no issues spending $8.50+ a couple of times for lunch. We usually share a pizza and an app. No dessert.

We are lucky as we get 10 free beers per voyage segment (due to being Elite members), plus 10 free Perrier. So we have extra beverages to consume for a change of pace.

I understand. In my case the cheapos on the wine list are generally not of interest to me. Some of those are +/- $10 bottles at discount retailers like Total Wine. I'd be moving up the menu list. I can score much better price/value proposition from Total Wine or other providers if I am able to obtain the wine and get it on board. I need a little less than I used to as my wife's consumption has gone down. If I was cruising and not able or not doing BYOW, then I realize it is a different situation. However, I would have $130 between us to spend on wine every two days (based on our consumption). I wouldn't be spending that much off the wine list, so the package is still no good for us. If I had the Plus, I'd have to factor in additional cost every glass of wine as I wouldn't be interested in the no-name Plus wine offerings. Never say never, but as the packages increase in cost beyond what decent wine costs me, it makes them less attractive. At $40 (not so long ago, but with less frills admittedly), the decision was near borderline. The subsequent price increases just rocketed it out of range.

And if do not BYOW on the cruise.

Here is an example of how the math varies by individual. I would view a discount on a GC as cash in my pocket and not a discount on on-board spending. You look at it differently - and it works for you. NP there. I evaluate the value of a package to us based on its merits alone - even if I might have $1,000 OBC (that amount has never happened to me for a single voyage).

No, remember the $15 is for prix fixe meals consisting of 1 App, 1 Main, and 1 Dessert. All items are offered a la carte so a pizza is $8.50. Although they don't have an expanded menu, PCL did come up with a single App (forget what it is) and a single Dessert (Tiramisu thing) in order to provide a "full meal" for the $15 prix fixe and to satisfy the new package feature. There are more choices at Gigi's and at a "full" Alfredo's. There are indeed two different Alfredo menus. On Royal Class there are more choices for all courses, including alternatives to pizza. (It just irks me no end that they came up with a stupid $14.99 figure when other charges are even dollars. Who are they fooling?).

Has anyone asked any employees on a ship in these positions if they are actually going to charge Suite guests $5 for RS if they are not on Plus/Premier?

Don't recall and really don't want to hunt for it. I don't think it is important as the menus are going to be the same elsewhere for the same location type. Alfredo's has two types and that is why I was looking/waiting to see if the full-service locations would be the same price. By "full-service", I mean the full menu with more than one App and more mains than pizza and generally larger locales (Royal Class).

I think you are both right because I don't think one of you is suggesting a C-level exec reads all incoming and I don't the other is suggesting they see none of them. In the case of Princess, I can attest that they do see at least some correspondence because I wrote a number of executives (including Jan S.) not long after Medallion App was launched (Jun 7, 2021) and it was a serious and detailed email at the time. I went so far as to suggest the CIO (JP at the time) ought to be fired (instead they promoted him). Anyway, it was mostly about the App issues at the time and I did hear back from a Director level person and my email had been shared around the exec team. I was not just venting - I had some recommendations as well, But I was shocked at the shoddy work in some areas and it was certainly rushed into production at the time. Some things were attended to. I have not done it again per se, but some of the latest shenanigans would warrant it IMO.

Another reason to wait I suppose as an extra $10 is nothing to sniff at.

That was an initial draft menu and not the same as appeared on the ships.

You are correct and I do count that for sure. I don't spend a ton but get far better value than the mid range offerings on ship.

This is a Rip Van Winkle thread. Hey.. new acronym = RVW Thread.

Guests who only want a day here or there are lucky IMO that PCL did not increase that fee for some reason. It used to be double the daily rate and now only $5 more.

Perhaps in 6 mths or so the website will be in sync in all the various areas where Princess has information. And then the cycle will have to start all over again because something else will have changed. It has been obvious for years that they have poor reviewing of all their website information to make sure it is accurate and matching other pages.

Nope and this has been one of my main beefs with Ocean Now since it's launch. There is also no OTHER option for drinks not on the default menu.

I am thinking the bar photos are like the ones of QSR burgers that look amazing and at least double the true size. Is the above a realistic single pour? I am thinking not likely.

Android version 3.0.108214 dated 8/11/23. Same generic statements about the update.

I thought they ran those options in the buffet area, so they could potentially do them anywhere.

No one can remove or adjust CA, nor the 18% bar tab grats, included in the Plus/Premier packages. And a pox on anyone who would consider it (I know YOU would never just so folks reading realize this).

Following up, here is a math example for someone like us who don't spend much on bar and other things. Another big factor for us is that we get a free mini-bar in the cabin due to being Elite and that gives me 10 beers and 10 Perrier (after swapping items). So, you can see this is a beverage supply at no cost. Crew Appreciation (CA) = $32 x 10 = $320 Internet = $15 x 10 = $150 (this is because we get is at half price being Elite level - your cost is double) Ocean Now = $0 (We would get our own things from bar of food venue and not wait for it to come and them to find us) Room Service = $0 (Never used it before and wouldn't now) Casual Dining = $34 (we would typically go to Alfredo's/Gigi's a couple of times. I suppose I might have a special burger if it was available on my ship and I would certainly try O'Malley's once. But we would never order a 3-course meal for lunch). If a ship we were on had all of these, bump this up to $50 to be safe. Juice Bar = $18 (guessing - might try it if a drink appealed) Ice Cream Sundaes = $0 Gelato = $8 Bar Drinks = $20 max Total for a 10-night voyage = ~$550. Plus for 10-night voyage = $1,200. Balance for bar tab = $1,200 - $550 = ~$650. Per day = $65. We would not spend $65/day on wine and drinks. If I was buying wine on board, I would purchase bottles and one bottle last us two days certainly. This is us - not anyone else necessarily. That said, I do bring on a supply of wine whenever possible for me to do so. There is a $20 corkage fee beyond the first two bottles (1/pp) and I am aware of what Princess menu prices are compared to retail plus the corkage. I have also found I am not always charged corkage. So, this is one example and you can do your own figuring based on what you guys like to drink.

There are at least as many opinions in this Forum about the value of Plus and Premier as there are opinions on what clothing to wear to dinner. You know Crew Appreciation is at least $32/day for the cabin (2 occupants). You know MedallionNet Internet is $30/day for two to have access with max 1-device each active at any one time. You might decide to share one package for $15 and not both be able to be on at same time. This would be of course not going package. And perhaps you are one of the no-Internet folks. So, at this point, your "fixed" costs are $32/day, or $47/day, or $62/day. Princess Plus costs $120/day for 2 in the cabin. All you need do is take $120, less whichever of the above three amounts applies to you, and the difference is what you have left for beverages (both alcohol and non-alcohol). The equation has just changed, because Princess is now charging to use their Ocean Now app function which facilitates you ordering food items and drinks to wherever you are on the ship. If you are planning to use that, it costs $15 for the voyage. So, divide the number of days of your voyage into $15 and take that daily average cost off your net dollars for beverages from above. Next, Princess has a number of Casual Dining locations that cost a relatively small amount, depending on how much you order. With the Package you get two visits per person over the course of your voyage. Would you be using any of these locations were they not included? How much would you spend? Once you have a handle on the above, you are left with a bucket of funds per day on average. All you need do is figure out if you and cabinmate combined are going to spend that much on beverages each day. Think about port days versus sea days and if you tend to be off the ship in ports and not drinking as much. Some folks figure it to the dollar and others have a general idea and just want the relative freedom to consume and not worry about additional costs. ETA: Another new one is the juice bar (unlimited) and over-the-top ice cream sundaes. Most people seem to just ignore the sundaes in their analysis.

Yes, they have the wines. All ships have the same wine lists. Some wines are poured by the glass and some are by the bottle. Some are offered both ways. WBTG covered by Plus is generically listed by varietal only on menus. You might catch a look at the bottle they pour from, but otherwise it is sold like plonk and I understand at least some of it is. The Premier list is named by producer, geographic country at the least, and varietal. You would have to see a bottle to see what vintage they have. You can always be on Plus and order a more expensive glass and pay the difference only (plus 18% grat on the difference). Some folks get better value this way than paying for Premier. You just need to know your own habits and such.