JimmyVWine

I have been able to keep my Wordle streak going, even with slow speeds!!

Reasons for choosing a cruise: 1. Itinerary 2.. Compatibility of the cruise line's lifestyle to my lifestyle. . . 1,003-Color of socks worn by the waitstaff 1,004-Brand of sheets on the bed 1,005-Number of links on the chain connecting the main anchor 1,006-WiFi speed 1,007-Quality of viewing of the Perseid meteor shower . .

I was going to say that now they can use Ocean Now to order remotely. But if I do, I am sure that I will be told that children should not be allowed to do that because they will be taking up valuable delivery time from the servers who should be working on adult drinks to be delivered to people who want to talk about sexual conquests. 😎

And at a poolside bar in the afternoon, you will get a different reaction.

First: The question was about lounges, which I interpret to be the Wheelhouse, Crooners, etc. The answer to that question is not in doubt. Children are allowed in those venues to listen to music and drink the soft drinks that are included in whatever Package they may have. Second: The statement quoted above is not true, at least not true categorically. Many children have beverage packages. When my daughter was a minor, she always had the Soda and More Package complete with the reusable plastic cup. Children can go to any bar, walk up or sit, and ask the bartender to fill their cup with a non-alcoholic beverage that comes with their package. They (or their parent) has paid for that privilege. I've never seen a bartender at the Mermaid's Tail at 2:00 p.m. say: "Here you go. But you have to leave. You can't drink that here." I know of no such rule. Now, would the result be the same at the Wheelhouse Bar at 11:00 p.m.? I don't know. In this latter scenario, I would think that common sense would prevail over rules. My minor child would not be hanging out on a Wheelhouse Bar barstool at 11:00 p.m. but not because the ship says so.

Thanks for the info. We usually use rubberized wristbands that hold AirTags. But if they are going to give me a clip, I'll look it over and see if it is of any use.

C 414 is our favorite cabin on these ships, and R414 would be the same cabin, only higher up. This is how far the 414 balcony extends.

Question: How does one acquire the Medallion Accessory that comes With the Premier Package? Do you order it in advance, or pick it up at the Ocean Front shop once on board? I ran the math every which way, making assumptions as to what our shipboard life will be like, and concluded that all in, Premier would probably cost us $13 more per person over the course of a 9 day cruise as compared to getting Plus and then paying out of pocket for the things that Premier provides. So I went with Premier thinking that my assumptions are likely conservative and even if they are not, the freedom to add in an extra Casual Dining Meal, get reserved seats in the theater, maybe take home a photo or two, and the corny fun of thinking that we might win a prize were collectively worth the extra $13 which comes out to $1.44 pp/pd.

But don't forget that in order to be entitled to that discount, you have to pay $60/$80 per person per day, and if traveling as a couple, that is &120/$160 per day for the right to secure the discount. After factoring out the value of those packages that are not beverage related, it comes to around $70-$90 per day per couple to be entitled to save $25 on a $100 bottle (depending on how much monetary value one places on things like "prizes" and photos.) Of course, if that $70-$90 per day is eroded by ordering other beverages such as coffee or cocktails, then one might be able to make it work. If each person consumes $10 in coffee, and has two cocktails priced at $12 each during the day, and then orders the bottle of wine, then the couple will have used up $68 of that $60-$90 and the 25% off of a $100 bottle is a true savings. Saving 25% off of a $50 bottle would not be close to a break-even. And of course, if the couple does very little drinking other than consuming the purchased bottle, then the 25% discount is illusory as the cost to save $25 on a $100 bottle will be $70-$90.

I think the S stands for this guy, and they built out a lecture hall for the teaching of the Dark Arts.

As I suggested, I'm not at all sure that nationwide consumption trends hold serve (pun intended) on a cruise ship where people carry medallions in their pockets in the space that car keys would normally occupy.

U.S. Wine consumption (per capita) has been on a constant curve both pre and post Covid. No noticeable change. Granted, that curve is a downward one, but it is a slow downward curve and has been constant, really since 2010. The drop is about .3 liters per person per year, or the equivalent of 2 fewer glasses per person...per year. And I'm not at all sure how that translates to consumption on a cruise ship. Do people follow the overall trend outcome when on vacation? And how do the drink packages factor in? When a package covers a guest for both a $15 glass of wine and a $7 beer, might they "splurge" and get the wine instead? Paying out of pocket at a bar, one might opt for the cheaper option. When the drinks are pre-paid, human nature is to opt for the higher priced option to maximize package value. All of this is known to Princess and unknown to us.

The outward and obvious physical manifestation of changes to the wine program that they probably hoped were taking place invisibly behind the scenes.

It's not your imagination. For a while there, Princess had a very credible wine program with a savvy department head stocking ships with a nice variety of wines at prices that were far better than at any shoreside restaurant. Wines ranged from "slightly more than I pay at Total" to maybe a 1.5x markup, and there were labels like Two Hands and Rombauer that might not be household names but were welcomed by those in the know, and enjoyed by people who were trying them for the first time. Now, the quality of the wines has decreased while the prices have increased. Princess seems to have regressed to the mean in terms of mass market lines. When we first started cruising as a family, Princess' wine program (both onboard selections and generous corkage policy) was a huge factor in getting us to choose the brand over its competitors. Not 100% sure I would arrive at the same conclusion if I were starting from scratch today.

It all depends on whether there is a corkage collection table at the port of embarkation. I haven’t seen one in a while, (but it’s been a while since I sailed out it Port Everglades.). If there is a collection table, you should be able to show the staff your itineraries and get two bottles per person free of charge. But if there isn’t a collection table, just take all of your wine on board and don’t worry about it. In such a circumstance, all bottles that you consume in your cabin will be free and the bottles that you take to a dining venue will be charged a fee. And even then there is a chance that the corkage will be overlooked.

Formal nights are an opportunity for people to dust off their finest duds and play dress-up, pretending that they are Astors or Vanderbilts on an ocean liner from days gone by…if they wish. But playing along is not a requirement. They do turn the ship into a different atmosphere, no doubt about it. But it is up to you whether you want to be an observer or a participant.

True, but a large percentage of people on any given cruise are Blue Medallion Cruisers. They don't know what they don't know, so the difference in the quality and condition of the ships is not a factor in driving their demand. Only itinerary is. And based on the pricing and booking capacity of the Alaska season this year, I'd say that we are starting to see an impact.

I do too. Or, at least, I did. But it is crystal clear that Princess is neglecting these older ships while it builds and updates its newer ships. Just looking at the tile, grout, fixtures and mirrors of the Grand Class ships reveals how little Princess cares about them. Every non-suite bathroom on these ships needs to be gutted and remodeled. But that will never happen.

While I love the design and features of the Grand/Gem Class ships, Princess really does need to retire all of the ships built prior to Ruby and Emerald. And even those are suspect. The difference in design and condition of the Royal Class ships and soon to be Sphere Class is just way too stark for Princess to charge the same fares to sail on 20+ year old ships. And I have no idea whether top tier crew members like head chefs and MDR managers have any say in where they are deployed, but if they do, it is logical to expect that the best of the best choose to work on the newer ships leaving a talent gap on the older ships. It’s naive to think that crew quality does not impact the overall cruise experience.

Or…the money back in the 70’s and 80’s wasn’t all that great when concert tickets cost $12 and she actually makes more money now. I guarantee that Bruce Springsteen and the Eagles are making more money now on their respective tours than they ever made between 1975-1990.

That’s all sorts of crazy. If a ship moves West and sets its time back one hour, and the airplane toss event is scheduled to take place at 11:00 a.m. in the Piazza, does the event take place the first time it is 11:00, the second time it is 11:00 or does it take place twice?? You’d be on a ship but would feel more like you’re in a DeLorean.

To that point... Steve Wozniak is 73 year old Paul Allen would have been 70. Steve Jobs would have been 68. Bill Gates is 67. And if you went to Woodstock when you were 20 years old, you are now 74. And if you were in high school when you rushed out to the record store to buy Led Zeppelin IV (ZOSO) when it when it came out so that you could blast "Stairway" and play air guitar to the solo at the end, you are now around 69 years old. So the ideas that high tech and pop music are for 22 year-olds is pretty much over.

9 Day European Explorer on Sun Princess departing Barcelona on 9/14/24 which is the back end of the Athens to Southampton cruise mentioned above.

The itinerary is Cadiz Sea Day Sea Day Sea Day Southampton (overnight) Southampton Disembark. No Lisbon or any port in Portugal despite sailing just west of that country.

Yes, this question can seem completely irrelevant, but humor me. We have a cruise booked that includes three straight Sea Days between Cadiz, Spain and Southampton, UK. (It's a one-off repo itinerary, so not much out there in the way of Patters to look at.) There is a one hour difference between the two ports, so at some point we will be changing our clocks. Does anyone know (or have an educated guess) as to when we will make that change? We booked a port-side cabin intentionally so that our Sea Days would position us with a nice sunset view for drinks on our Cabana/Balcony. If we stay on Spain's time, sunset would be around 8:25 for these days. If we change to UK time, sunset would be around 7:25. So for purposes of planning our dinner reservations, it actually does make a difference. (Dinner then sunset cocktails, or sunset cocktails and then dinner). Anyone have a guess?