Steelers36

Please don't even think about not paying CA. I see you decided on a Plus package, so CA is included and not removable.

I only made the remark because the PCL sales team just doesn't understand why all us guests are not booking the packages. And yet, they do still have the Standard. I acknowledge that of course and am grateful that it is there to choose still. But we all know they push the packages no end as the better values, regardless of individual situations.

Hear ya and much like us. Wasn't sure if you used Alfredo's now and again. We tend to have a sea day lunch there once or twice and we share a pizza and one other item maybe, so we can deal with the a la carte pricing and would never be ordering a full meal at $15/pp there. I just posted similar on @Jeter02's poll for what people will now choose. We never use RS. Only time I ever ordered using Ocean Now was when you got first drink free. My bar drink - on the rare occasion I get one - is not even on the list of drinks and no way to enter own choice, so I just go to the bar and order. With Elite mini-bar swap we have beers and Perrier, so no need for a package. Wasn't asking for research, but would be interesting to know the situation if you did happen to go to Alfredo's next week.

Hey everyone. This was clarified in the seminar from a question. Things you order for the cabin as supplies like hangers, towels, glasses, etc, do not incur a RS charge. That new RS charge is for food and drinks.

Huh??? NO!! Casual Dining locales include both free and for-fee food. This has been the case for a long time now. Slices and the Grill on Lido were free and remain free. O'Malley's and Salty Dog have fees for food. The change is that Alfredo's/Gigi's used to be free and will now incur fees for food. Plus/Premier guests will have casual dining fees waived. 2X per voyage for Plus and unlimited for Premier.

The older posts have since been corrected/retracted. What you posted is correct. It did seem at first that cabin would not be an Ocean Now location due to the separate fees, but not true. Okay. This should be clear now since Post #576 and several clarifications and retractions.

I checked off Standard without really thinking much about it. I don't see us changing. It comes down to drinks for the most part. We get Elite mini-bar which gives us 10 beers and 10 Perrier (after swapping). We get the starter water package for ~$7 (last price I knew). I BYOW and accept that I can be charged $20/bottle after the first two. CA is $16/pp for us. Medallion Net is $15 total (we get 50% off). $47 per day in "fixed costs" versus $120 for Plus, leaves $73/day to spend on beverages and such. I have never used the Ocean Now feature other than back when you got first drink free. Long gone. Also, in the rare occasion I might order a bar drink, my drink isn't on their menu and they don't (or didn't) have a custom order option to type in your own drink. So, useless to me. I just go to the bar and get what I want. We have never ordered room service that I can recall. I will accept that PCL is now going to charge us a nominal fee to eat at Alfredo's/Gigi's - not dissimilar to O'Malley's, Salty Dog. We typically go to Alfredo's on a Sea Day for lunch and share a pizza and perhaps one other item. So, we won't be spending $30 for two full meals anyway. That means Standard wins the day still for us. If PCL removes that, well then we have to reconsider.

Hmm. the cost of the packages is fixed per person per day. Does that not let you decide value? Or maybe you are borderline on package or not and might for a certain cruise length or with sea days, but not on a longer voyage or with ports?

Yes. See post #576.

I think your #2 makes sense. They weren't into the weeds much and not addressing Suites yesterday.

Any company I encounter that is selling me something likes to trumpet good news and say little or nothing about bad news. Its systemic IMO.

PCL hacks have always said the packages add value for guests out of the gate. This is not going to change and it presumes the guest consumes a certain amount of beverages. What they choose to ignore is that everyone is different and as many threads have discussed and debated on this forum, value of the packages is an individual thing for each guest based on their cruising habits. Next, if we accept the change that Alfredo's/Gigi's is now going to be a cost location to eat at, and the guest otherwise perceives value in the packages, then PCL has increased the value in the package by either eliminating costs for all fee-based casual dining (more places than Alfredo's) - or providing guests two free visits per voyage. I agree the latter is not worth so much especially on a long voyage, but it is something and no doubt PCL would love to see more guests take up the Premier rather than the Plus. Finally, I have read that other lines have service charges for RS and such - and higher amounts than PCL. So, new charges for RS and delivery to personal location is just another thing we have to accept, or take vacation dollars elsewhere. Again, with these new charges in place - and removed for package buyers, PCL has made cruising better for them as they are unaffected by implementation of new fees.

I have modified my initial thinking that it likely did not, but wasn't totally sure. We have clarity from Princess on that now. It did seem at first these were separate things, but not the case as the $15 Ocean Now is sufficient to cover delivery to cabin. See Post #576

Surprised we have not heard from the "phone goes into the safe" crowd. They will only be able to use TV to order or do what they used to do. But if they were used to picking up cabin phone to order from RS each day, they will now have $5/event additional charge to cabin account. This is why I think extra tipping is going to do down. I'd like to know if any of the $15 and $5 is going to crew appreciation pool.

Yes.. see Post #576

That will be like using Ocean Now. The $5 RS fee is when you pick up the phone and order from RS.

Has been clarified via a post above that the $15 Ocean Now fee does cover delivery to cabin. The RS charge is only if you order by phone.

Could be private info as it might be useful to competitors.

It's per guest using the service. An interesting thing is that MANY posters here report ordering two drinks - one for each partner in the cabin - and NP with that. If you always have the same person ordering and the other never does, it might dodge a second $15 charge as long as the drinks are sorted out and not hitting 15 limit on one person. This will be something to be observed as this rolls out and folks report back here.

It certainly appears though you are repriced to the $60 Plus now. Look at your Travel Summary and see what is included. That will tell you.

I get you. However, when we go to Alfredo's for lunch, we typically share a pizza and maybe one other item. So, a la carte is fine since we won't be having full meals at $15/pp. ETA: The other rub for guests is that if you have the package and only eat as I described above, you don't get the $15/pp value and you won't be carrying a credit balance to use the next visit.

Okay. Your post has made it quite clear that guest can elect the one-time $15 service fee and it will cover all Ocean Now deliveries to any location, including the cabin. Just don't pick up the phone to order anything or they will hit you for another $5. IMO, ordering via TV for delivery equates to Ocean Now and is not using the phone, so no $5 per usage fee - falls under the $15 ON fee.

Why do you think that ship will be different, regardless of the menus? For casual dining venues we know of, aren't the menus consistent across the fleet? I think so.

Well, let's be honest. Some of the casual dining locations already have charges for food and some were free. The only change is Alfredo's/Gigi's where it was free and now incurs a fee for all food items (menu pricing TBA). The second impact is they will give free food to Plus package twice per voyage (a bad way to do it since quite unfair for longer voyages versus short ones). And Premier gets unlimited. So, both Standard and Plus are impacted by the new policy to charge for Alfredo's and Gigi's. That is essentially what this boils down to.

Well maybe not so much. Could be open to being clarified further I suppose.