Steelers36

Crew Appreciation - yes. But not MedallionNet. I think you are a bit confused here.

We always get the discount, no matter what MedallionNet service is purchased and no matter when/where it is purchased. You don't get OBC - you are just charged the net cost. At least on board. The Princess App is SUPPOSED to apply the 50% discount, but many guests have found that the App doesn't have their correct Captain's Circle level, so they end up with the OBC. I am not sure what the current functionality of the App is right today for a guest ordering MedallionNet and the App does have their correct Member Level.

The App, but you can also purchase it on board day 1 for the same price. Then your OBC can help pay for it as well.

Better read the announcement - and don't be holding a drink in your hand as it might spill from the shock.

I wouldn't count on that one remaining at $120/pp. But even at the same $140, it does offer the guest more.

I am fine with MR to M temp, but like it more to the MR side, so I ask in between a lot. Aren't I a PITA? Anyway, I could not eat a MW steak - that is approaching shoe leather for me and just ruins a filet mignon.

One WMD we went to several years ago had a real kitchen disaster as at least half the steaks that came to the table were not cooked to order. It is long enough ago that IDK if plates were mixed up, but it seemed too many were just wrong and they replaced them all. I felt bad for the host MD, but what could he do.

Already posted in another thread. I also don't think this is "excellent" at $140/pp.

I don't see any reason to expect this new WMD is anything much different than the old WMD - other than it looks to be available on the older ships as well as Royal Class and newer. What was ridiculous was the old cover of $40 - a complete steal-of-a-deal from the guest perspective. However, I don't see it as worth more than a CTL experience. It won't be something we will do. We have never done the CT/CTL either. I think the best value is the $100 UBD (for two). I suppose that will go up any day now as well. We are rarely in a balcony, but when we are I will be doing that one at only $22 more than two CG covers (assuming today's known pricing of $78 versus $100). I really doubt they can keep that $100 price tag based on all the other increases.

The CB was first of Princess' larger ships (larger meaning relative to 2004 timeframe). It's homeport was Port Everglades and was originally dedicated to the very busy Caribbean sector with additional cabins. Similarly, Majestic was built for Asia market and has since been found in many other parts of the World.

No excuse for it, but I wonder if you got booked under the general public fare code (which never includes promotional perks) versus the B.S.E. fare code. That would be pretty incompetent move for a PVP. If you just made your own booking at Princess.com, you would have had the B.S.E. because Princess.com is supposed to be showing the best deal. I also wonder when you booked if there was the Canadian At Par promo going on and you got booked on that one (I don't recall if it had other promo perks).

My main thought is how does an experienced cruiser not seem to realize at all that Princess has no toys like slides and coasters? Did he not do a little bit of research? He was quite pleasantly surprised overall and quite complimentary.

I will say that we too had less than acceptable quality beef in CG last Fall (by that I mean for what it used to be and what we ought to expect with the cover charge and the marketing). However, I would consider my experience (and anyone else who last cruised several months ago) to be at least partly irrelevant and would defer to reports of guests attending CG in the past month. You are asking about this coming Fall which is some months away yet and who knows what might change? I'd just keep monitoring when members report here or ask any friends on ships in the interim. You can always book and cancel after trying once.

I am seeing this at lot if I am shopping various voyages. Seems happening to some and not all and I don't see a pattern. I did clear Princess.com cookies and start anew and still the issue. I also am aware many if not all of them are bogus messages, because I can access the same voyages by using a third-party agency booking engine/webpage. One example of this is the Emerald voyage out of LA next April that has now added a special eclipse opportunity.

There are a number of cards available in Canada that do not add the surcharge. Still, for a traveling Canadian, it is best to have a USD bank account, and USD credit card. Those who don't have steady supply of USD can elect when to purchase in bulk and keep in the USD account. Better yet, would be to have US investments as there are plenty of organizations and ETF's available to us in Canada that Canadian markets just don't have. There is also at least one Canadian online bank that pays 2% for USD savings accounts.

AARP Rewards is just a seller agent for the Princess GC's. They have the same T&C as if you bought them directly from the Princess supplier.

If you purchase travel insurance, the additional amount paid in premium, might almost offset discount savings with the higher cruise fare. In my case, I have outside annual TI policy (for medical and other issues while traveling) and not looking for CFAR or cancel-before-cruise, so I would save more with my TA discount level than paying full price on board.

Is $130/pp the new correct price for CT Lumiere? The WMD is now re-fashioned (somewhat) and jacked up to $140/pp. By comparison, CTL becomes a better value experience due to extras that WMD does not have.

Very good points about the small bottles. Never kept any of those - always swapped for beers and Perrier. Your idea of a digital bar credit makes sense - although IDK if they could separate that from other OBC. Whatever they do, I am resigned to the fact that it won't likely cover 10 beers and 10 Perrier from the menu pricing.

Aside: My "Since when..." comment was directed at Princess as in "What are they doing to us now?" with $10 extra, so I looked it up to see (not that Princess.com is accurate all the time). So, I do agree with you, although to compare one of these dinners with a CG cover is (hopefully) not quite fair. Many folks, including myself, have posted about decline in beef cut quality in CG over past year or so. I would think the CT and WMD would continue to serve a better cut of beef than the CG norm. Days are gone that a CG filet matched a WMD filet. But still, your point is very valid in that the cost is well above what would be reasonable. At least the expensive CT Lumiere at $120 offers additional perks beyond the meal and the wine. It always offered more for the guest than a WMD. Like you, my first reaction is to contrast the new WMD to a CG dinner because that's what I used to do and for $11 more, the old WMD was a bargain over CG $29 (now $39).

Perhaps easier for them to undertake a change such that the coffee count is also by the day. However, if we talk about a mini-bar exchange for X coffee per day, then the value of the mini-bar can vary by a LOT (5-night cruise versus 15-night cruise, versus 50-night cruise).

I won't argue the fairness of pricing beverage packages, as they are probably pretty fair still for those who have enough drinks. For us, would not want to lose mini-bar completely as it is useful to us (and I should think anyone else who books Standard fares). In other situations, Princess has T&C that indicate nothing due to guest who doesn't use everything available to them (para-phrasing in general here). IDK whether they will come up with a new substitute for Elite/Suite guests who have a beverage package. Right now, I gather some of those excess beverages are being gifted to others or to staff. Otherwise, I can see some convenience to pop open a drink while in cabin without having to wait for an order to arrive. Maybe they could offer some of those new fancy dessert items in exchange. Kind of like "Let them eat cake!".

IDK what current menu pricing is for bar drinks - and there is quite a variety of those. Sometimes, some menus get posted in "live from" reports. Bar prices have gone up, but I don't know them. Depending what you order, you could drop $31 (+ 18%) on two glasses of wine or you could get a 5-beer special likely, or maybe three mixed drinks that aren't overly fancy. Just a guess, though. And then you have the whole range of non-alcoholic drinks, including virgin versions of many mixed drinks.

Yes, it sure does. With discounted MedallionNet in the picture, the bar menu pricing is virtually $31/day.

Since when is this? The menu on Princess.com indicates the new $39 cover, but the $10 upcharge is for Surf & Turf, or for an extra main protein.