JimmyVWine

Sorry for getting back to you late. If you haven't already found it, here is my Athens to Barcelona Journal. I was using a Canon T3i for this trip with slightly upgraded lenses. For some trips I rent one or more "L" Series lenses, but did not for this trip.

For the life of me I cannot understand why people take cruises to Hawaii spending 10 days at sea and just mere hours at each island/port. But that is a topic for a different thread.

What would Cruise Critic be without it?

And I still maintain that people are underestimating the true out of pocket cost of drinks after prices were raised. A $10 drink is $11.80. And while there are plenty of cocktails offered at that price, there are no wines being poured at that price and no decent Scotch, Bourbon or Whisk(e)y either. And after adding in the gratuity, I think that people should be calculating $13-$14 per drink (minimum) when doing their “break even” math. On our recent cruise using Plus, our average was a bit more than $14 (using the out of pocket equivalent which adds gratuity) which equates to a menu price of $12 per drink before gratuity.

This. On board the ship the preference can be meted out discreetly. On shore, it would be open and obvious. I know that it’s not the same thing, but once when we were in the hour-long line to board the cable car to go down the cliff in Santorini, a private guide took her 4 customers straight to the boarding area, bypassing thousands of people. When the expected shouts of protest started, the guide kept saying: “They paid for a private licensed guide!” as if that was supposed to mean something. There was pushing and shoving and nearly a brawl. Princess does not need that aggravation. The priority boarding is functionally a limited need perk—needed only at the earliest stages of disembarking. After the first 90 minutes or so the pace has slowed down such that tickets are no longer dispensed and people just walk down to deck 4. There is rarely a need for priority at that time. Returning to the ship tends to be similar. People return at a staggered pace such that priority isn’t really needed. Every single time I have returned to the ship I have either boarded the tender that was currently loading or the one that followed that. I don’t think that anyone needs a privilege that betters that outcome.

All true. The problem with all of these dress code threads is that they conflate 4 different questions, each with their own answer. * What should I wear? (Totally up to you.) * What can I wear? (There don’t seem to be any rules being enforced.) *What do other people wear? (Runs the full spectrum of casual to formal on every cruise.) * What is the overall atmosphere on the ship like on Formal Nights? (And to this I would say “A bit more formal than many here would let on, and certainly more formal than Princess’ price point competitors.” But that doesn’t negate the answers to questions 1 or 2.)

It’s actually $51.92 after adding in the 18% gratuity. Four drinks plus daily crew appreciation and one is way ahead with Plus.

I’m not at all sure how this is a removal of a benefit if the Elites are ushered in to the next tender to depart. I’d much rather wait in a nice room, seated, and taken down to Deck 4 when a tender is ready for boarding than simply walk down to Deck 4 only to stand in line in the bowels of the ship waiting for the next tender to be ready for boarding. The perk is only removed if non-Elites can cut in front of you and nothing in your post suggests that this is the new procedure.

Correct. IF there is a collection table in the boarding terminal (and I have only seen one in PE), you provide your cabin number and the charge goes straight on to your on board account. No cash or credit card transactions take place at that table.

See, now you've gone and made my easy peasy simple little formula way too complex. Now it is: If anticipated EG + WC + ADBC + ACBI + JBC +PDI +FCC + FBW is greater than or equal to $60 then the customer saves money with Plus, where EG = Expected Gratuity; ADBC = Average Daily Beverage Cost; ACBI = Average Caffeinated Beverage Intake; JBC = Juice Bar Consumption; PDI = Premium Dessert Indulgence; FCC = Fitness Classes Completed and FBW = Fancy Bottled Waters. 😁

This is the standard. But maybe one can weigh in on what the configuration is for an Accessible Cabin. I doubt that those have the standard tub/shower combo. Could be that the video you saw was for one of those. Did the video supply a cabin number? That would answer everything.

Nice catch.

This was the WBTG list at Vines, though as has been noted a number of times, the bar at Vines usually has many more bottles opened at any given time that are not listed on the published list. I remember seeing Rodney Strong on the ship but can't recall if it was being poured by the glass. Silverado was found around the ship at $18 per glass and is worth the $3 upcharge over the other Cabs we were finding by the glass.

In the past I have used a Travel Insurance comparison website that allows you to filter in what sort of coverage you want and the amounts. Such as Cancel for any reason, or Pre-existing conditions, or Medical only. All of the companies that people are naming here are included in the tool. Just do an internet search for a comparison website and I'm sure it will hit you right in the mouth. Not sure I can share the name here.

A little lower. From what I saw, bottles that would sell for $18 retail were priced out around $13-$15 on the ship. So a bit lower than $18 with no extra cost incurred.

It's actually only 7.2 beers because a $7 beer will actually cost $8.26. Under the worst case scenario you developed, the hypothetical customer is going to pay $0 in gratuities. But even that penny-pincher cannot avoid the mandatory gratuity added to drinks!

Love this idea. There are some great “mile by mile” guidebooks and fold-out maps that are great, even in this digital age. We used ours every day.

Lots of people. (Seared, not “cooked”). Just do an internet search for “seared steak tartare” or “Tartare Aller-Retour”. You will find lots of hits and recipes. It may not be the most common preparation but it certainly isn’t a one-off. 90% of the protein is still raw/rare.

I guess it depends on who the “they” is. Whereas Princess is charging $35-$39, other cruise lines are charging $45-60. So maybe “they” have exceeded the limit, but the “other they” has not.

I made a few edits. The matrix changes considerably depending on whether one drinks primarily cocktails or wine. The increase in the wine prices since the introduction of Premier makes them no longer fungible with cocktails. A typical "vacation cocktail" (think "Captain's Bounty" or "Dirty Banana" or "Mai Tai") is $10. A typical glass of wine included in Plus is $12-$15 so let's average that out to $13.50. 5 cocktails paid for our-of-pocket comes to $59 after tip. 3 to 4 glasses of wine paid for out of pocket comes to $47.79-$63.7. So when doing the math, cocktails no longer equal glasses of wine. (If you tried to equate the two, then 5 glasses of wine paid for out-of-pocket comes to $79.65 which is considerably more than $59). Reliable math now requires one to estimate how many of each one will have each day.

Thanks. I have only purchased WiFi as a standalone product twice. Once before I was eligible for a discount and once when I paid $5 per day up front instead of $10.

I do not know if the half-price discount comes on the front end with you charged the price of $7.50 or on the back end as a $7.50 per day credit after paying $15. Sorry.

Fair point. But that usually covers the cost of using the gym, the pool, towels, and bottles of water. (Man, I HATE “resort fees.). For the cruise I add in the cover charge to see the band in the lounge, the ticket price to see the comedian, the ticket to see the production show, and stuff like that. My number is probably high, but the entertainment provided as part of the basic fare covers more than Marriott’s resort fee. And I agree that one of the reasons why we like to cruise is because of the economics of it all. Which is precisely why I don’t try to add the $39 on to any already sunk cost. My cruise is fully funded when I board. And is a relative bargain compared to the sum of the component parts. So the $39 is just that. $39.

I've always had a hard time trying to do that math. If I do math in one direction, I can convince myself that dinner is free. If I do it in the other direction, then my lodging is really cheap. For example, If I pay $1,600 for a 7 day cruise, I am paying $228 per day. For two people that is $456. My nicely appointed "hotel room" Mini-Suite located in a variety of top resort areas has a value (to me) of about $300 per night. That leaves $156 for food and entertainment. Assume a "resort and entertainment" flat fee of $40 per person per day, and that takes the total down to $76 for food. Breakfast for two with tax and tip would be $30. Lunch for two with tax and tip easily eats up the remaining $46. So by the time I figure out what my sunk cost for dinner is, it is $0. So my $39 upcharge is being added to $0. As I said, I can do the math in reverse order and assign a cost to the meals first, and then the entertainment, leaving me with a "hotel room" that costs less than any accredited hotel in a nice resort area. Bottom line is that I don't see the upcharge as being on top of the price of what an MDR meal would cost if purchased on land, because the math never comes out that way. And if you book an inside cabin, you can do that math such that ALL of your meals are "free".

Still no idea what a ro-ro ship is. Not to make light of things, but I thought that the original reference was suggesting that it is a ship with lots of problems, as in...