DnD_Cruisin

We love the sea days. We enjoy everything being open and tend to use those days to relax, read, shop and gamble.

However more than 2 or 3 in a row gets repetitive as we found out on a HI cruise with 5 x2.

While the AIBP was actually unlimited I always turned down free drinks from the casino host - with the 15 drink limit now I will accept them especially late at night when I might be coming near the limit.

I don't know about Princess but on Carnival the free casino drinks also counted against the Cheers limit.

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I agree. In fact, they reward play with free drinks but you technically already get them "free" with AIBP so what's the incentive. Something they didn't think about. Mentioned that to the Carnival host and he gave us a free steak dinner. So always talk to the host if you think you've earned something.

We had the same happen for us on Carnival for our last few cruises. Steak upgrade, bottle of wine or both. We won't have our 1st Princess cruise until Mar so I was unaware of how Princess handled this situation.

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OP - Thank you for this review!

I am glad to see that Grandma got at least some GM on the cruise!!

My wife and I will be trying Princess (and Ruby specifically) for the 1st time in Mar. We are with you in that a very significant portion of our enjoyment on any cruise is interacting with the crew. I hope by Mar, things change on the Ruby. This does seem to be a trend in reviews lately. I had chalked some of those reviews up to the reviewer as having what I perceived as a "you got what you gave" kind of an attitude. By this I mean some folks treat the crew as servants or somehow beneath them. But in your case I do not sense that.

IMO "boredom levels" are as subjective as food critiques. Stretching from constant activities all day all night to just wanting relaxation and quiet serenity. Thank you for including the level of your groups expectations in this regard. This allows each of us to make an informed decision as to the impact to our own unique expectations.

Regardless we will be (as always) be going with an open mind but very much appreciate the learnings of others.

@iamchrisstone: Fantastic shots! Thank you for posting!

LMAO @Thorncroft! Great observation!

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I miss the days when people went on vacation to get away from their electronics. Whatever happened to going on vacation and just enjoying the environment (use your mental pictures to remember things by)

For many hobbyists taking their drones to be able to create stunning videos in the beautiful locations we cruise to is as exciting as a zip line or other excursions. Everyone vacations for different reasons some like just to lay on a beach while others want to do extreme adventures. The key word there ... different.

I do not own a drone. I have no inkling to ever own 1. But I admire the videos I have viewed from drone enthusiasts.

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Not allowed.

I am amazed at how often you post and are completely wrong.

We should create a drinking game where everyone takes a shot when you post invalid or outright wrong answers.

I'm guessing we will exceed the Cheers 15 pd limit on a daily basis.

If you carefully read my post, I did not call anyone an alcoholic....but simply quoted a government report (and included the link).

I believe everyone's bad reactions in this thread were over misinterpreting lolane's attempt at humor. She has since stated this and I for one am accepting this and dropping it.

Sarcasm and/or dry humor can be missed in the written form. The use of emoticons helps readers see this and reduces occurrences like this.

For my part I apologise for my reactions and wish you all happy cruising.

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No one will develop an alcoholic disorder in a week on vacation. Many people drink more on vacation than they do in their daily lives. It takes a pattern of behavior (occurring over months) to develop a disorder. I’ve never come close to 15 drinks in a day myself, but no need to call someone an alcoholic for doing it once or twice a year on vacation.

 

 

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Thank you. You made my point much more succinctly than I could have.

If the shoe fits! But seriously, you might want to read a report by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (part of the National Institute of Health).

https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/moderate-binge-drinking

 

To keep at a low risk of developing an alcoholic disorder they recommend a man consume no more then 4 drinks a day or 14 drinks a week :). I will sheepishly admit to exceeding those limits on more then a few cruises. But 15 a day?

 

Hank

Having been raised by 2 alcoholics I feel somewhat in the know about alcoholism. Having had doctors get me addicted to pain medication while hospitalized for 6 months following a motorcycle accident..I understand addiction first hand.

I have never hit the drink limit personally but know many who have and none are alcoholics. Making the assumption that anyone who drinks 15 in a day is an alcoholic while on vacation is wrong. By making a broad statement diminishes the struggles of actual addicts and changes the perceptions over time to these myopic viewpoints.

Are some who do? Of course. There are addicts of all kinds. But to make the blanket assumption as the poster above did is nothing more than self righteous and wrong.

Thank you for your review I look forward to reading the rest of your review. My wife and I will be doing the same cruise in March. We love Cabo and are really looking forward to it.

Wow, New package = 15 alcoholic drinks a day plus a lifetime membership in AA. Just sayin"

So someone who has 15 drinks in a day while on vacation is automatically an alcoholic?

Myopic much? Just sayin ...

We look at it this way... It's a cost certainty thing for us. It takes 6 drinks a day to break even because we also have multiple lattes in the morning and after dinner. We will lose money on some port days but make it up on sea days. So at the end we usually break even or slightly ahead. But knowing when we leave that it's all paid for is a fantastic way for us to budget and just enjoy the cruise.

And as Florida said it affords us the option of trying new things and if we don't like it..pour it out and try another. No $ lost.

Kind of what I was inferring. ;p

I understood. I just have less tact than you! ;p

Like being in the casino when you told your spouse you'd be at the lecture on the mating habits of the blue footed booby?

Or worse .. A cabin not your own ........:evilsmile:

Yes, this!! DH and I just had this discussion last night. It seems to us that the biggest beneficiary of this technology is Princess. Plus, neither of us want to be tracked by Princess as we move around the ship. And they will charge for the special holders? More money making for something we don't need. We are fine with using the key card and using that to get drinks, etc. Seems easier for us to keep track of things with the key card but some of that remains to be seen.

 

I do have to say that I'm not surprised Princess had to back off their complete rollout. The one thing companies should have learned by now is to gradually introduce new tech into their operations. As some previous posters noted, this never goes as well as expected. In fact, it is more likely to not go as expected, so a more conservative approach is warranted.

 

If people booked a cruise to be the first to experience this they should have allowed for the risk of it not working as expected, which was reasonably predictable. Could have experienced it after the first few cruises were completed and reduced their risk and disappointment. I'm not sure it was false advertising as much as optimistic thinking by Princess, since it will be offered but not to all pax.

 

ML

There is no doubt that Princess will be the bigger beneficiary of the technology. One example is it will allow for exponentially more streamlined service reducing costs in the long run. Another, as so many have pointed out it, will create more sales opportunities. As a shareholder in CCL I applaud their efforts to reduce costs and increase sales while providing potentially much better service options. As an IT geek of 30+ years experience I can see a lot of additional functions this system will be capable of performing in future. As a passenger I applaud their efforts because it will avail to me a more heightened experience that will make my vacation more comfortable.

As others have said that yes we could go to the bar to get a drink, or we can wait for a waiter..or we can just order it on our phone/tablet. I too left my smart phone in my room on my 1st few cruises but stopped after Carnival released the HUB app. It was more convenient for me to carry the phone than it was to carry the daily Fun Times.

It hearkens me back to the advent of VCR. I had a lot of friends that said "Why would I want to watch a movie in my home? I would prefer to go to the theater". Within 3 years they all had a VCR........

The point I'm trying to make is a lot of people scoff and find issues with new tech until they try it. Then usually, if done right, it catches on and people become proponents.

Thanks everyone for answering why a TA might be a good alternative to direct booking. I consider myself a nice guy, but to be honest, I am very anal and controlling when I travel. I love traveling and really get into it when planning a trip and because of that I would probably drive a TA crazy. I kinda think I might earn my way into heaven by leaving all the TA's of this world in peace.

 

LOL!

 

You have described me to a tee. I did however put those same anal qualities into selecting a TA. She has been fantastic to work with and assures me I'm not a PITA. 😀

 

So there is hope out there for you!

This inspired me to contact Princess UK to try and get moved or even pay to upgrade to a Medallion cabin but the rep stuck to a script and added us to a spreadsheet. Yet to exceed my expectations....

 

Sandra

I do find it somewhat condescending that they try to say this failure in execution is not a failure but that they are doing it to exceed our expectations!

Seriously that's one on the stupidest press releases I have ever seen. It's like come try our new steak dinner but then only delivering chopped liver.....

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Very Well said.

 

I am a loyal Celebrity cruiser, who loves their S class ships, but feels that they are slipping a bit in quality.

 

So I looked around and considered a few other cruise lines. I have sailed on Princess 2 times previously but was not super impressed. It was due to the 'new' Medallion technology that I decided to settle on trying Princess again on the Regal (advertised the medallion being available In November) .

 

I'm disappointed to hear now that the rollout will be phased in until spring 2018.

 

I hope that any quirks are ironed out quickly and that a ship wide medallion experience is available soon.

 

Looking forward to following the threads about this, hoping everyone has a positive experience with this new technology, which I think is fascinating.

We are virtually in the same boat.

We had been looking for an upgraded experience in cruising. For me as a CCL shareholder the considerations were between HAL and Princess. Because of the new technology we chose Princess.

While I am very disappointed in their performance to date, I am hopeful that they pull it together. This is very intriguing tech and the potential is exponentially expandable.

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149 days till 1st Princess cruise on the Ruby

413 days till the Crown Princess

and off topic 24 days till a quickie on the CCL Imagination

Also to be more succinct... by doomed I meant the initial roll out as promised. Not the overall program.

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D n D, I apologize that I misconstrued some of your comments.

 

Otherwise, I do believe we are, pretty much, on the same page regarding the planning and execution of this project. I'm not prepared to declare that this project is doomed, but, from what little I know, and, let's face it, I know very little, it sure looks like the project manager was not as thorough as he should have been.

No apologies needed. I was guilty of the same sins 😀 Sometimes my speed reading causes me to lack in reading comprehension.

Yes I do think we are saying the same thing. I definitely believe the program will ultimately be a huge success. I am just disappointed in their progress to date.

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I'm not sure that any of your IT colleagues would actually disagree with you.

 

If you are saying that you have never experienced a roll-out that has not been delayed, then I am impressed, and I have to agree that you work for a truly excellent organization. The fact is, however, it does happen. When, suddenly, the realization hits that disaster may be approaching, there are only two courses that can be taken: avoidance or mitigation. It appears to me that Princess is taking the mitigation approach. I agree that penalties should be paid by incompetent management. With that feeling of superiority and a few bucks, I can buy myself a coffee.

 

Completely off-topic: I heard that the CCL stock dividend was increased by 12%, today--from $.40 to $.45 per share. As a stockholder, news like that makes me happy.

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/carnival-raises-quarterly-dividend-12-2017-10-19

Firstly I never said that my company has had flawless execution. Yes we have experienced delays. Yes people have been fired. Yes we recovered. I could only wish for flawless execution..the holy grail 😀

This Medalion program appears to have been doomed from the start. IMO due to poor planning. As I outlined above, pieces should have been rolled out far in advance of the advertised debut. Limited end user trials should have been initiated 8 weeks ago. Without doing that, an all in roll out was foolhardy at best.

Because the are taking the mitigation steps that they are now, makes perfect sense. But it doesn't change what I am saying in that this is still a planning and execution mistake that lead to this decision.

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I have to respectively disagree with my IT colleagues who have previously posted. This last minute announcement of a phased approach is a complete and utter failure in both planning and execution.

Princess announces this program with pomp and circumstance about complete rollout 1 ship at a time. Followed up with multiple videos 2 months later about how great they are and that they completely installed the hardware in a single 8 day dry dock.

If this had been planned correctly the limited trials would have been running for the past 60 days. Ocean Compass would have been released 2 months ago.

If this would have happened at my company (a Fortune 50 company) the Program Director and a few dept heads would looking for new employment. Of course the VP in charge would be promoted <sic> but that's a whole other story LOL.

This is a simple case of alligator mouth overloading mockingbird @ss.

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I was always told that the FCC had to be applied at the time of booking but as you state that may not be correct. I can see them letting you use an FCC on a re-book since it's just like cancelling & booking a new cruise.

 

We choose our cabin & never switch around so unless they would be any extreme drop in price.

Anyone else have an experience applying an FCC after booking? (keeping the same cabin) :confused:

In our case it's doubtful we'll rebook because the Dec cruise was a Sip n Sail promo buy. With the new prices for bev packages up to $689.90 pp for a 10 day I don't see it droppin enough to cover that benefit. But who knows ....

We are looking at two 2019 cruises so we will still be getting at least 4 FCCs in Mar.

Thanks to everyone for a lot of great information.

Happy cruisin!

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