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15 hours ago, Senga said:

Current prices:

Virgin drinks - $7.

Fresh squeezed o.j. - $2.50

Soda - fountain $2, can $2.50

Hot chocolate - $3.

Americano - $3.

Espresso - $2.50

Double espresso - $3.

plus 18% gratuity.

We had the "old" soda price which was still expensive but worked out okay.  We are sailing Enchanted September and, with the "new" soda prices it is WAY cheaper to pay as we go plus, for the first time, we are carrying on 24 cans of soda.  Surprisingly, we enjoyed the fountain Diet Coke more than the canned.  The U.K. canned was way better than the Netherlands cans.

Thank you so much!

This isn't meant to open another thread on the value of Princess Plus. I just would like to know the current price of a soda onboard, either a can, a fountain soda, or both. I've looked at the drink menus and do not see prices listed for them. I realize it could vary, but what have been your recent experiences. Thanks!

They're definitely open today - I just got off the phone with them.

When I log in to my CC account, the 90 minutes no longer shows as an Elite benefit along with the 30% off. If you click on Show All Tiers (something like that), it's still listed in the chart of all tiers, but it concerns me that it's not listed when all the benefits are line by line where the system recognizes the tier you are on along with the next one. It was listed within the last few weeks when I looked, but it's not there now. Can anyone confirm very recent usage of this benefit?

13 hours ago, GetToLivin said:

I had a great conversation with my TA today, she was able to hold my room for 10 days so I can continue to price shop before placing the deposit. She confirmed that I will still be eligible to bid on RoyalUp, and the best part, she will be able to make sure my AMEX perk is applied to my booking. Very happy 😀

The only way the price should vary from TA to TA is if one is holding group space. If that's the case, if you are booked into group space, you cannot apply the Amex Plat benefits. I am 100% positive on this. Royal used to let it slide, but they've become very strict on it over at least the last year. So if the Plat Amex benefits are important to you, look at your confirmation to see if you have a Group ID on it (at the top following your confirmation/reservation number). If you do, Royal will not add the Amex benefits. If anyone says yes they will, that person got lucky and got an inexperienced cruise line res agent who didn't know policy or simply made a mistake. This is specific to Royal, not other cruise lines. On Celebrity, for ex, you can combine it with group rates. 

The Amex CPP is not combinable with a number of different fares including groups with Royal. It has always been combinable with the CAS Balcony discount; however, if you're taking that discount within a group, then it's not combinable. You should not be finding a lower price directly with Royal versus either Amex travel or a local TA if you're comparing apples to apples - both NRD vs refundable, both using the same criteria when searching for best price, quoting with your CAS number as opposed to just quoting it without that. 

I thought I'd love using my phone to show my Set Sail pass. I do as much as I can digitally, but honestly I found it a pain to juggle the phone during the check-in process. I just did this process in Baltimore.  I had to show it no fewer than 6 times to embark, and each time involved simultaneously juggling my luggage, the phone, swiping to show that we each had a Set Sail pass, keeping my passport open to the photo page, and not dropping anything. So much easier to just show the printed one. #firstworldproblems

We saw a lot of people in shorts in the dining room including several on formal nights (we were seated near the entrance). I"m totally fine with whatever others choose to wear; it does not affect my choices, nor does it affect my cruise. 

8 hours ago, mets123 said:

The two face masks and purel have been in staterooms since the relaunching last year

 

We had 2 face masks but no hand sanitizer in our cabin (got off the ship yesterday). We brought our own, and there were Purell stations everywhere. 

On 11/11/2022 at 1:12 PM, HicksRA said:

Once on the elevator, there was a lady getting on and another lady in the back coughed. The lady getting on literally ran back off the elevator before the door could close. 😁

Lol, that was me. No, I was on a different Royal ship, but I did dart out of a few elevators over the course of the week! 

4 hours ago, Grandma Petania said:

My daughter has gotten 2-3 alcoholic drinks a day this week, and has been presented with a receipt to sign only once - on the pool deck.  Never in the MDR.

It'll probably take a little time to implement across the fleet. We heard about it first from several bartenders. Another diamond showed me the email that she received, but neither my husband or I got an email about it. We got off a ship yesterday and didn't sign for anything all week. 

22 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Yes, each Diamond member definitely get free 24 hours

There are a lot of variables on whether surf will be enough for video conference calling.    

depends on the ship, location, weather, etc.      

Personally, if I plan on doing any type of work, video calls, etc. I get surf n stream.

Check with your phone carrier too - we have Verizon, and it's only $10 a day to add an international plan for once on land. We only pay for the days that we activate it - if we miss a port or decide not to use our phones, there's no charge. 

On 11/10/2022 at 12:53 AM, Merion_Mom said:

Ships are more out of cachaca than not.  Very disappointing, because the caipirinha is my go-to drink.

Wow, I'm just agreeing with you on thread after thread, lol! Total coincidence, but made me laugh. That is our go-to drink as well. They were completely out of cachaca on our cruise last week, including in Boleros. They offered to make it with rum, but it's not the same. We also could've done a caipirosca (with vodka) but again, not the same. We switched over to pain killers for the cruise. Waaaaaay more calories but equally delish. 

18 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

No, there is a fourth question now.  (at least, there is one on my cruise which is leaving tomorrow)

 

"Have you experienced any of these symptoms within the past 24 hours:  Fever, chills, muscle aches, body aches, fatigue, sore throat, nasal congestion, runny nose, cough, difficulty breathing, new loss of taste or smell, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea?"

Yes that question was on our cruise last week as well. 

As of last Saturday, they went back to having to print out a receipt and have you sign for each drink. Saturday was in the middle of our cruise, so we were still in the old system, but supposedly across the fleet, if you embark today or later, you'll have to sign now.

I was once pulled for no apparent reason, completely random. We hadn't spent anywhere near the limit on the ship or onshore. I was told it was random. It was no big deal. Customs was friendly and polite, as was I. Oddly, it was just me, not my husband that had to meet with them.

19 hours ago, DairyCreamer said:

 

Well that's certainly not something I had considered. That's certainly a plausible explanation though. Damn though... That itinerary really floated our boat. 😕

 

Thanks for the insight!

Sorry - my mistake in replying. I missed that you were looking for quad cabins.

🙃    

2 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

No problem for me.  All correct answers the first time.  Just a little attention to detail.

No, it was not "a little attention to detail". Attention to detail would mean spelling out the number in the final question, as that was the way the material was presented - you would be picking up on the detail of when the numeral was used and when it was written out and following that format. You had to go AGAINST the formatting and use a numeral rather than the written out number. So, no, it was not that the rest of us did not have attention to detail. If anything, it was that we were too precise in our answers.

Same issue. The first time I thought I mistyped or misspelled something, so I did it a second time. It still said I was wrong. So I did it a third time - the only change I made was using the number for the last question rather than writing out the number. That doesn't make sense to me as the number is written out in the article. I tried to follow the format of the article (I.e. if the article said two, I wrote two. If the article said 2, I wrote 2), but clearly that's not what it wanted. So the 3rd time it appeared to accept it, but I got a screen that said congrats, you appear to have entered all questions. If you had the right answers, you will get 10 Power Up Points. So who knows? I know my answers were correct. They were easy questions.

Cases on the rise here in PA according to what I hear on the news. We're vaccinated, boostered, wear masks, social distance, and do our best to be vigilant. Lately, "add to cart" has become my super power since I try to avoid going out and being around unmasked people spewing opinions about it being a hoax. We have 3 cruises on the books. I'm probably going to back out of the first one as that involves flying. I'm looking forward to one on Royal and one on Celeb. We have an immunocompromised parent living with us, so we are super cautious. If/When we do cruise, we will definitely quarantine from her. DH has had to fly a couple times for business - he quarantines when he comes home. I don't want to bring this home to my Mom, and we're not all that young either, lol. 

Edited - the reason I don't want to fly, but I'm ok with my husband flying is that, pre-covid, I got a sinus infection almost every time I flew. I have allergy/sinus issues and flying just seems to bring out the worst in me. So, I'm leery about resuming it.

1 minute ago, Flying is for Planes said:

Actually NO. The cruise line wrote me and avised that because I am a Doctor and will have been in contact with coronavirus patients in the 14 day period prior to the cruise that I am automatically denied boarding. They also advised of a 100% REFUND. Accordingly I am within my rights to charge back.


 

First, thank you for your work as a doctor to help people who are sick. Second, I hope you stay healthy. If the cruise line has written to you offering you a full refund under your specific circumstances, why would you initiate a charge back? Also, again, unless your circumstances are unique, your travel agent probably did not directly charge your card - the cruise line did. So, again, why would you initiate a chargeback against your travel agent?

3 hours ago, Flying is for Planes said:

My lawyer advises initiate credit card chargeback against travel agent immediately. The risk is that of either agent or cruise line goes bankrupt then you will be out of pocket. His legal view was that supplier can not provide the product or deliver goods - ie. The cruise line is unable to provide the cruise in a  safe and sanitary environment.

His words to me "Many cruise companies survive on the cash flow from forward bookings and that if a protracted downturn occurs, which it will, there is a real risk that some may fail financially and this would make any FCC your loss"

 

Typically travel agents do not charge your card directly. Normally it is the cruise line who charged your card. To initiate a chargeback for a charge which you authorized while the cruise line is still offering to provide the booked service to you is ethically questionable at best. 

40 minutes ago, jat1977 said:

But now the decision becomes whether to get back the remaining 25% or risk losing it to see if Princess modifies its policies.  Because if we take the 25% now, and Princess subsequently decides to allow modifications or cancellations but only for those who have not yet cancelled, then we are in a worse position than if we had waited. 

Personally, unless you're in a suite and that 25% is a significant number, if it were me, I'd hold out. That's my personal opinion on what I'd personally do. If I were in 50% penalty or could perhaps get 75% back now, the decision might be different, but 25% isn't that much unless your cruise fare is high. I'm facing a similar decision, and that's how I'm leaning. In some ways, I feel like we're playing a game of chicken with the cruise line; however, I think there is nothing nefarious or reckless either on their part - I think they're trying to make the best possible decisions with the least possible losses in an impossible situation.

So I know the answer to this can highly vary as weather is crazy and unpredictable, but in general, would you expect June 1st to be warm enough to plan a beach day? I'm not asking will it rain, lol, just more along the lines of is it reasonable to think that June 1st is the right season for the beach or is that still too early in the season. Yes, I've checked the average weather forecasts and history, but I was hoping for insight from someone who lives there. Where I live, for example, June 1st would absolutely be a beach day but it would most likely be too cold to swim unless you are really determined. If it's out of the question for a beach day, I'll plan something else, but I can't seem to look away from those beautiful beach photos I'm coming across.