JimmyVWine

Exactly!! If it were only that easy!. "But your honor. I wrote right on my first monthly installment check that this was "Final Payment-Paid in Full."

This. Stuff written on checks doesn't always have the legal significance that people think it does.

We are partial to Fever Tree.

My wife echoes that sentiment. Not my first choice, but definitely hers.

As to the first statement, I doubt that you are the only human on the planet that was kept in the dark. So, so, so many people were aware of the deadlines and they were discussed here at some length. And you cannot pretend that you did not know about CC as a source of information and a place to ask questions, because you certainly found the site easily enough to let us all know that you are leaving, (with the giant assumption that anyone here cares.) As to the second statement, I'd say that if a company is holding your money, that is reason enough to stay on top of the press releases and statements that it is making regarding the restart and rebookings, and the easiest place to find that information is on the website. "I had no reason to find out what the company was doing in terms of refunds and extensions while they were holding my money" is simply not credible.

And why is this difference so material? If Princess, in its promotional material, suggests that people dress for dinner the way they would for a nice restaurant back home, and 30% of diners show up in gym shorts and tank tops, then the other 70% are not dining in the atmosphere that was sold to them in the promotional material. Princess is saying, subtly, that when you choose Princess you are choosing a slightly different atmosphere than you would find on Carnival or NCL. Is that wrong? I do not understand at all how that expectation changes whether one calls the language regarding attire a "rule" or a "suggestion". I know that when I book a cruise on Princess, I have an expectation that the atmosphere of the cruise will differ from that of Carnival and NCL. If I wanted Carnival, I would book Carnival. The implication of you statement is that "suggestions" are meaningless and that is not the case when it comes to setting expectations. Were it otherwise, the suggestion would not have been made in the first place. Princess could choose to publish any one of the following: Pants and collared shirts are required for entry into the MDR; For dinner in the MDR, pants and collared shirts are appropriate; Dinners in the MDR are "come as you are"; [Intentionally left blank with no comment made in any direction] Princess has opted for something that most closely aligns with the second statement. Whether or not one calls that statement a "rule" or a "suggestion" does not change the fact that it sends a message that is different from the third and fourth. Suggestion or not, the second statement does not impart the same information or set the same expectation as the third.

Neither is true. Princess does not hold itself out as Restaurant DANIEL, nor does it present as a Cheesesteak Factory. I've never had a waiter remove lobster tails tableside at a CF. Rather than exaggerate, let's look at the source material that comes directly from the website and really is an accurate description of the MDR environment on non-Formal nights: For evening dining, keep with what you would wear to a nice restaurant at home: skirts/dresses, slacks, and sweaters for ladies, pants and open-neck shirts for men. There is nothing "caviar and Krug" stodgy about this description. Nor is it "anything goes."

Impossible to know. But at some level, it is a matter of perspective. When you are on cruise that has two tender ports, and both use local craft, then it seems like 100%. 😁

Yes. And the balconies on Caribe Deck are downright huge, as are the ones that come with Dolphin Deck Mini-Suites. Practically a squash court compared to the standard balconies on Royal Class. There are some larger extended balconies on Royal Class ships mid-ship and those are a nice upgrade.

Wrong thread. This isn't about Formal or Elegant Nights. It is about shorts in the MDR for dinner.

Sorry. I missed the word "fall" in your post.

1. It's already out. (Or at least partially so). Go to the Princess website and select Plan a Cruise and enter "Caribbean" and you will see the calendar for 2024. 2. One can only hope! Edit to add: An April, 2024 6 day cruise shows Nassau as a port, so no, it has not been eliminated. But more seem to go to Turks and Caicos than Nassau.

Perhaps it is the introduction of the Royal Class ships that forced the change. But in all the ports I mentioned, local vessels supplemented the ship's tenders. Below are some enlargements of photos I took in October. Kotor and Santorini. In Kotor you can see the local crafts next to the ship's tender. And in Santorini you can see many local vessels coming/going from the ship.

I really don't know why this is so difficult. As consumers, we ALL make purchasing decisions based on past experience and present expectations. When I choose a restaurant, I do so because I expect it to be a certain way, with a certain menu and a certain atmosphere. If I want casual, I choose casual. If I want a $250 Chef's Tasting Menu, I choose accordingly. But I don't want all restaurants to homogenize and move toward some casual standard just because the "majority" of restaurants are casual. I know they are. But sometimes, when I feel like it, I want to move off of the casual. And sometimes I want to wear shorts and a t-shirt and eat off of picnic tables with my hands. But I know going in which is which. The same is true for cruise lines. If you want an "adult only" cruise, those exist. But imagine showing up for a Virgin cruise only to see 200 kids getting ready to board. You ask an employee what going on, and they tell you that "family travel is the way of the future and there is no turning back." Well that's fine. But that's not what I bought. When one chooses a Princess cruise, one purchases what Princess is selling, and one must understand that the other 3,499 people who bought that cruise did so with expectations as to what that cruise would be like. It will mirror cruises on most other cruise lines in many respects, but will differ in a few, perhaps subtle respects. But those subtle differences are what drive the purchasing decision. If those differences will cause you to not enjoy yourself as much, then choose another cruise line. Princess offers a certain level of elegance, for lack of a better word, that some other cruise lines offer, but others eschew. If that level of elegance is incompatible with your achievement of a good time, there are other options. The customer should try to match their expectations with the product instead of wanting the product to adjust to the customer. If the latter happens, then you will have a complete homogenization of the cruise industry landing in "the middle", and who really wants that? Why do we want every cruise line to be identical?

What am I? Chopped liver?

While I can agree that the lessening of standards on Formal Night is the way of the future and there's no turning back, I wholeheartedly disagree with the idea that wearing shorts to dinner on a Princess cruise has arrived in full measure and that there is no turning back. The sign shown in Post #30 supports that, as does the fact that out of 400 people in an MDR at any given time, you might see 1% of the men wearing shorts. The fact that this (and many other threads) on the topic exist belies your conclusion.

Except those words were applied to Didi and Gogo and they definitely apply.

Pretty much sums it up. Shorts in the MDR will be rare and attention-grabbing. People will notice. Comments will be exchanged amongst dinner companions. Heads will turn, and some heads will shake ever so slightly in disapproval. Whether any of this concerns you is up to you.

There is "healthy optimism" and then there is "debilitating irrationalism." Waiting for a cruise line to spend millions of dollars to remove cabins and create non-revenue generating open space sounds like the type of paralyzing futility made famous by Didi and Gogo.

Unfortunately inventories change far too frequently for there to be a definitive "wine list" on any ship right now. Quite frequently you will pick out a wine only to be told: "We don't have that in stock, but we have something similar." That said, ask at Vines if they have Caymus "Conundrum" White. (There is both a Red and a White). It is a wine that Princess has commonly carried and if they have it, it may very be what your wife is looking for. It is a blend of Chardonnay, Muscadet, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier and is usually vinted with a hint of residual sugar making it slightly sweet, but not to the level of a Sweet Wine (the proper term as opposed to "Dessert Wine.")

Kotor as well for sure. And Santorini. And Mykonos. And Cozumel.

That’s a hard question to answer. So many factors such as whether the ship must use its own vessels (which must be lowered and deployed) or whether the port has its own ready to go. If you don’t have any level of priority, it could take a couple of hours.

OBC or FCC? There are reports of a Promotions Department making calls to people offering them a package that includes the fare of a future cruise, plus a weeklong stay at a land-based resort. You pay up front and have a year to book your cruise and your land vacation. Not sure if OBC is part of that. With so many people buying all-inclusive packages, you'd either have to be a gambler or a jewelry hound to use up $3,000 of OBC on a cruise. Edit to add: And yes, there are a number of threads that address this. Probably don't need another one. Search and you will find. Here is just one of many:

The reason why you won’t find an answer is because there is no set policy. Often times you will receive a simple slip of paper upon checking in that will give you a sense of how things will operate on your particular cruise. And often times that is a conservative estimate. Sometimes hallways are restricted and sometimes you can walk to your cabin to assess the situation. You won’t know until you know. But assume that by 1:00 the coast will be clear.

Thanks. That’s what I figured/feared. Out of curiosity, does your itinerary show that? Mine shows that Guernsey is a tender port but no such designation for Holyhead.