JimmyVWine

To be fair, they are doing much more than saying "Sorry." Full refund. 50% FCC. Financial consideration for airfare. That is more than saying "sorry." If one paid $5,000 for two people to sail, then they get all that money back and can book a similar cruise for $2,500. Assuming that the timing and logistics work for people, getting a cruise on a new ship at half price is a good deal. These delays are costing Princess a fortune. It's not like they are taking this lightly. Would better communication delivered in a more timely manner be better? Absolutely. But it is what it is. We've all stewed in an airport waiting area, or on a plane sitting on a tarmac waiting to take off because the airplane has a red warning light that won't go off, and maintenance is needed. We get mad. We get frustrated. But what would we want them to do? Take off with a mechanical problem? I doubt that these sailings are getting canceled simply because one of the magicians can't seem to get that card trick perfected just right. Or because Rudy isn't satisfied with the quality of the halibut that has been delivered.

$12.50

I changed cabins using Chat a few weeks ago. Same category. Same deck. Same side of the ship. Just wanted to move ten cabins closer to the middle. As mentioned in an earlier post, I made it very clear that I had an excellent fare with the 3rd Person Sails Free promo and I did not want to move if it was going to cost me any money or if I was going to lose any perks. I gave the agent the exact cabin number that I wanted (the only cabin left on that deck so that was easy). The agent said that it shouldn’t be a problem and asked me to bear with her for a few minutes. About 7 minutes later she returned and recited back to me exactly what I wanted: New cabin numb. No re-faring. No price increase and I agreed. A minute later I had my new cabin. When the chat ended I elected to have a transcript of it emailed to me. In another minute I looked at my Personalizer and everything appeared perfect. Total time invested by me was about 15 minutes. I know that my small sample size doesn’t negate the difficulties that others have had, but I am 4 for 4 in using Chat for FAST and ACCURATE results. Way better than calling.

Prices were raised last week. Bottom line is that EVERYTHING that is purchased a la carte has or will go up to the point where it simply does not make sense to sail without a package. That is, as long as the price of the packages does not go up. But for now, they haven't so the packages become the obvious choice for most. There are always exceptions, but those people are now going to pay a lot more for their cruises, unless they forego things like the internet.

I find the original premise interesting. I was going to say that I have not really noticed a marked difference in formality on any ship or in any region...except the Caribbean. Those tend to be the least formal. But honestly, the difference from ship to ship and itinerary to itinerary can be measured in micrograms.

When Princess introduced its first app I couldn’t sign in to save my life. I spent a long time on the phone with tech support and they couldn’t figure out the problem so they suggested that I set up my app account using a username (not my email) and a password that differed from my web login, but when creating my profile, use the same email address associated with the web account. I did that and never had another problem and the two systems interface perfectly. I can log on to the web and open the (old) app and everything shows up fine in both places. Today when I downloaded the app I first tried to log in with my web credentials thinking that the old app information was probably obsolete but I got an error message. So I tried my app credentials and got right in.

Just downloaded the new app on I-Phone. Seamless login with my prior app credentials (which are NOT the same as my website credentials.) No timeouts. My upcoming cruise shows up with all the correct information and packages. I am green and ready to board without ever having provided a Shoreside payment method (cruise is in Europe if that matters) as are the rest of my family members. The only “issue” is that very little ship (Sun) information is included and no Dining options can be booked. But my cruise is 250+ days away so I guess that will come.

Yes. But you said that booking a 2 and 3 is not advised, when in fact it is the best way to reserve the space needed.

But there IS a reason. To get 5 people seated. Upon arrival on boarding day, a 30 second conversation with the host will result in the two reservations being combined, and when the staff sets up the tables on the evening in question, a table for 5 will be set. It's not as if the two reservations will actually block 2 tables. That's not how reservations work. When one makes a reservation, the system counts heads. It doesn't block specific tables.

Rule #1. Wear what you feel comfortable wearing. Some people would feel awkward being the least dressed up person in a room and others might feel uncomfortable being the most dressed up person in a room. You be you. Rule #2. Only rule # 1. matters. That said, do not believe the people who tell you that only 4 or 5 men will wear a tux. Or that no one dresses up any more. Here are some random photos that I took with my phone not intending to prove or disprove anything. These were just random crowd shots taken on formal night several months ago to capture the overall vibe and feel of the Piazza before dinner and in the Vista Lounge after dinner. Were one to believe that only a handful of men wear tuxes, then that handful all found their way into the viewing angle of my camera lens all at the same time. I am not pushing an agenda. There were very casually dressed people as well as those dressed to the nines. But the notion that the ship did not take on a much more formal atmosphere is simply denying the truth. I am certain that if I had taken pictures in the buffet area, they would have told a different story. But that different story does not negate the story that unfolded on decks 5-7.

Every week or so there are between 40,000 and 50,000 people cruising on Princess ships. Over the course of a year, that is around 1.5 million unique people who board the ships after accounting for longer cruises and repeat guests. There is simply no way to get 1.5 million people to act in concert and join some sort of "I'll show them" boycott. Princess only needs a small fraction of those people to pay the fee to get 100% of its expected and desired revenue increase. Quite simply, Princess does not care if 90% of the guests refuse to pay as long as the other 10% do. And there is a flaw in your logic when you use the word "continue". That implies that all of the guests have a history with Princess when in fact all of the Blue Medallions you see on board do not. And it also implies that the guests have a choice available to them that affords them a lower cost option among competitor mass market lines. I am not aware of what that option is.

It's honestly difficult to assess whether the ship is starting to look her age when 10 of the other 14 ships in the fleet are older than Regal. She is still viewed as a "newer" ship and presents that way. We were on Regal in October, 2022 and again in May, 2023 and we couldn't find a single thing wrong with her. A vessel made of metal that spends 100% of its time in a salt water environment is always going to exhibit signs of that reality. We call that "character" as long as it does not devolve to the point of disrepair. We saw character, not disrepair. I'd get on that ship again tomorrow if I could.

Make a 2 and a 3, and then when you get on board, speak to the host at the restaurant. There should be someone with an i-Pad standing outside the venue as people board. We could make a reservation for 3, but the app told us that "one of our party would be seated at a separate table." As if. When I met with the host, in two seconds she confirmed that we would all be at the same table. It's not like the venue sells out. They will be able to arrange your table.

I would argue the opposite. They know that few people will hit 15 drinks per day and the majority probably don’t hit half of that. Which is exactly why they don’t care about what goes where or to whom. They don’t need to raise the prices as drink volume increases. A typical bottle of liquor (for example Tito’s vodka) costs them $15-$18 per bottle. That bottle will make 12-13 drinks each with a 2 ounce pour. So essentially a single $15 bottle will supply a heavy-ish drinker with all their alcohol for the day. That guest is paying way more than $15 for their package. It’s not as if people who hit the 15 drink limit are costing the ship money. There is profit all the way from 0 through 15 drinks per day. No need to raise prices, and no reason to gnash teeth over where the drinks go. As for the problem with placing your wife’s drinks on your account, when she turns in for the night and you are ordering more at 1am, can’t you just swap medallions?

I suppose it depends on what percentage of people on board have a package, (which the bean counters on the ship know.) If 80% of 3,000 people have a drink package, that's 36,000 drinks per day that are "allowed". I suppose they really don't care who is ordering what for whom as long as the day's total stays under 36,000. If I buy a round for 12 people in a lounge, and then the person next to me does the same thing 15 minutes later, and then the person next to him does the same thing, and so on, such that all 12 people in the bar has had 6 drinks, it comes out the same as if each person ordered their own 6. The only difference is if one of the 12 people doesn't have a package. When it is his turn to buy a round, he is going to get a $200 bar tab, and the ship actually comes out ahead. If the person without a package never buys a round, he ends up with 6 free drinks. But if 80% of the people have a package, the odds do not favor that.

Not a chance. Base fares will go up. But no major cruise line will ever transparently charge for basic food options. That would be the death of that cruise line.

When you look at the update information in the existing app it says that the new app will arrive in “early December.” It’s not available yet.

That explains the marble topped counter in the photo with the welcome gifts. That looked like a suite to me, and not a typical Mini.

Maybe I missed it, but what determines the qualification for accessing the Reserve Collection Dining Room? I thought that it was only for Suites and Reserve Collection Mini-Suites and an earlier post stated that you were forward on Riviera. Was there a cabin switch or upgrade that I missed?

Or excursions will be added later as the dates get closer and plans firm up. It is still a long ways off.

Yes. My point exactly! And I should have taken a photo of it. He used enough tape to block out one of those Hollywood Premier Opening Flood Lights.

The first time we experienced this we were not aware of the issue, so we did not have any tape with us. But we always travel with Band-Aids (or "plasters" for our UK friends). So on Day Two we put one of those over the sensor. It looked like our light had a boo-boo. The steward saw it when he did up our room that evening and he replaced the bandage with painter's tape. So obviously this had become routine for him. Painters tape has now been added to my "Cruise Packing List" as a required item.

Purely a matter of personal preference. Riviera Deck is all cabins, sandwiched in between two other decks that are all cabins with no Public Space. This is usually considered ideal. But that feature is also found on Decks 9, 10, 11 and 12 as well. So Deck 14 is no better or no worse in that regard. The real preference will come in terms of whether your party will tend to take the stairs more often then they take the elevators, and in which direction are they likely to go more often. We tend to spend far more time on decks 5-7 than we do on 16-17, so we prefer decks 9 and 10 as they are closer to where we tend to go, and we tend to take the stairs more often than the elevators. If that describes you, then it is a hefty walk down to deck 5 and then back up again to deck 14. If you think you will spend more time in the buffet area and pool areas, then deck 14 is perfect. Personally, I like to feel a bit more connected to the ocean so decks 9 and 10 are more to my liking, but that isn't critical.

In a pretty direct line, actually. The Original Post contains the following statements and question: Guests are also prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages on board that are packaged in bottles. A small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, juice, milk) packaged in cans or cartons may be brought on board on embarkation day, only if carried on in Guests’ hand luggage (not in checked luggage). A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less per person. Guests will be asked to discard open beverages in plastic containers prior to boarding. ....How staunch is Princess security about this? Are they going to cause a stink? The discussion as to whether the Passage Contract limitation of "12 sealed unopened cans/cartons per person" is strictly enforced follows directly from the OP's question. Not really much of a drift at all. Now, drifting off into Dress Code land seems to be a bit of a detour, as the Passage Contract does not mention that at all.

Yes. The rules that apply to Travel Agents (if you book through one, you must use them for all future issues) does not apply to CVPs. You can book through a CVP and still chat with or call the 800 number for help.