JimmyVWine

The $14.50-$16.50 is a separate line item. The Plus package also includes the gratuity on drinks which would have been 18% of your order if you didn't buy the Package. In other words, someone who does not buy a package and orders three drinks at $10 per drink pays $16.50 plus another $5.40 for a total of $21.90 in tips for that day. The person who buys Plus contributes a similar amount, only it is baked in to the $60.

There doesn't have to be. Not everyone on the ship desires that result. Some prefer spontaneity and many prefer the buffet. Others eat at specialty restaurants and some order room service. But there does seem to be the ability to accommodate most everyone who desires this feature as evidenced by the fact that you never see anyone post here that they tried to achieve this result sufficiently far in advance of their cruise and got shut out. You did indeed make my point by revealing that by waiting until a few weeks before one cruise you failed to secure a reserved time, and when you tried well in advance, you succeeded. The system works. Just not for people who wait until the last minute, relatively speaking.

So in essence, you just made my point. As long as one is diligent, it is easy to do. And to the people for whom this is an important feature of the cruise, there is little reason not to be diligent, unless one books a "Drop and Go" cruise, at which point, you get what you get.

Out of curiosity, at what price point does Plus have to soar before we all agree that we have kicked in a sufficient sum such that additional payment is no longer required, regardless what hour the server arrives or how harried they appear to be behind the bar? Plus has gone from $40 to $60 in a matter of a year and a half. If they raise the fee to $200 per day, would that do it? $150? $75? Isn't there a point where the term "Gratuities Are Included" has real meaning?

Often stated. Never correct. First, grammatically, the words "insure" and "ensure" mean two different things. Were the word derived from an acronym, it would most assuredly would have been TEP and not TIP. Second, acronyms are very much a 20th Century convention, and the word "tip" has roots back centuries before that. It appears in some forms as early as the early 1600s, well before acronyms were ever a thing. The word has a number of uses, and developed from the same slang that led one to ask for a "hot tip" on a good horse in the seventh race. Surely its usage in that sense has no correlation to "insuring promptness", though one might like to believe that the horse one bet on arrived at the finish line promptly. It is also the same word that gives us the phrase "tipped off", as in, "the informant tipped off the police." Again, there is no relationship to "promptness" here. Rather, the word refers to giving the police a leg up, or an advantage, or something for free. Tipping off the police and tipping the bartender are two horses of the same color, only the former is done with cash and the latter with information. Both are getting something extra and are better off because of it. You're welcome.

I don't really see that discussed here as being an issue. Seems pretty easy to do. I suppose those who are late to the game might miss out, but you rarely see people post here that they couldn't make a same-time reservation, and people here are known to complain about every little nit. Yet this is hardly ever mentioned.

I'm not weighing in on the early v. late debate, but I did want to point out that getting the same table and servers is not a function of eating early. On our last cruise we dined at 7:30 and achieved the same result. At some point people are going to come to the realization that DMW is very similar to TD with "seatings". There is a 5:00-6:00 "seating" where early diners fill the dining room and occupy their tables until 6:30-7:30. Then the tables get reset and a second wave gets seated around 7:15-8:00. Early seating and late seating. And this means that people who arrive between 6:15-7:00 are often stuck in a line waiting for an early table to empty out. But in the end, the dining experience at 7:30 is very much the same as it is at 5:30, only two hours later. Getting the same table and servers is not hard to achieve. Everyone within eyeshot of us had the same table for the whole cruise. Our area of the MDR looked just like TD. Saw the same people at the same tables night after night.

They didn't. The third party gets your information only after you initiate the process by navigating to the third party website. Princess is the one notifying you of your opportunity to bid for an upgrade. The third party merely acts as the "auctioneer".

An "appropriate" tip would be $0. You have already paid for it. $60 per day per person is a sizeable sum. Any amount over $0 would fall into the category of "generous" as opposed to "appropriate." When it comes to being "generous", only you can answer that.

With one exception. The Plus Package includes drinks up to a cost of $15. You can order drinks that cost more than that and if you do, you will be charged the price difference plus tip. So if you order a $16 drink, a charge of $1.18 will show up on your portfolio. A $17 drink would cost you $2.36. And so on.

Well then...To many here, perhaps this is a match made in heaven.

My vote is that they should keep all of the current offerings but reduce the price back to $50 and then do what some other cruise line (NCL??) did which is to allow the guest to pick the three options that they valued most. Drinks/Gratuities/Desserts; or Drinks/Gratuities/WiFi; or Gratuities/WiFi/Fitness Classes. That way people get what they are going to use and Princess gets some valuable market research at no cost by simply tallying up which options were the most popular.

Coming Soon: PRINCESS PLUS Gratuities WiFi Drinks up to $15 2 Special Dessert Monstrosities 2 Smoothies 2 Fitness Classes 2 Whataburgers with the works PRINCESS PREMIER All of the above plus 2 stents.

The only upsell/upgrade I have ever taken was from an MA to an M1 (Club Class) because I knew that I would stay Mid-Ship. And the price was insanely low, like $10 pp/pd. We ended up with a slightly extended balcony on Regal. Not the exact cabin I would have chose were I picking, but the move to CC for the price we paid was well worth it.

"I am not sure what the reason is behind so many different accounts. But Princess is being true to thine self....inconsistent." Each kitchen has its own Head Chef, and that can certainly make a difference. But I wonder if the true culprit right now is the location of each ships' provisioning such that the quality of the ingredients varies more than ever before. A ship based in Southampton is not getting the same beef as a ship based in San Pedro, which are both different from a ship based in Sydney. It is impossible to serve a great steak out if the kitchen of the quality of the beef that got loaded into the galley larder is subpar. Maybe some ports are just not getting good stuff right now.

Pros: Higher level of cabin assuming that the upgrade moves you from one class to another. For example, Inside to Balcony; or Balcony to MiniSuite. Cons: You might not think that the location change is in fact an upgrade. Is a mid-ship Balcony to a Forward Mini-Suite a good thing? For some, yes and for others no. So if you take the upgrade you risk losing a coveted location. Also, on Grand Class ships, an upgrade to a MiniSuite likely means a move to an uncovered balcony from a covered Balcony. For many that is no bueno.

Based on my observation, both for U.S. and European departures, is that it is significantly earlier than that. I would say the peak time when most tables are filled and there is little hope of getting in without a wait is 6:15-7:00. Around 7:00 the Early Birds have left and the tables are re-set and ready for the next wave. Arriving at 7:20-7:40 usually results in little wait. After 7:45, absolutely no wait.

You won't find one if you are looking to stay in Central Athens. And you don't need one. Taxis are fine. Mostly Mercedes Benz or other large vehicles. Taxi drivers are professional, kind and speak English. You can also take the Metro, but I don't advise it if you have a lot of luggage or aren't familiar with the system. There are times when you need to get off at one station and transfer to a different train (though at the same station, so it is just a matter of getting off and waiting for the next train to arrive). But the metro system, though great in its own right, isn't so great if you aren't familiar with names written in Greek. Also, depending on where your hotel in Athens is, you could have a decent walk from the nearest station. Some hotels sit on top of stations such as those at Syntagma Square, while other hotels could be a 10 minute walk from the nearest stop, and with luggage that can be a pain. Just take a taxi. And as is the case in all major cities, there are driver services that will pre-arrange a pickup. I have done that many tines when we had more than 2 people and more than a "normal" amount of luggage. The cost for a pre-arranged van was very comparable to what taxis charge, so it's not as if you are paying for a limo.

I am not aware that it can be done. And frankly, it would be a bit complicated. If you called Princess and had all of their booking information and wanted to make a reservation, Princess would want to know at which restaurant, on which day and at what time. Those are all likely to be unknowns to you as your friends may have plans that might change, or might not fit with what you choose. The easier option, and one that Princess can accommodate, is to purchase OBC and then let your friends know that you have purchased a dinner for them to enjoy on their cruise. Ask them to make a reservation at a date, time and place of their choosing and enjoy the credit that you have provided to them. I think that Travel Agents are able to add a dinner onto a cruise, but I am not aware of members of the public being able to do so.

If those were the only entrees offered that night, you would have a valid point, but they aren't. A current "Live From" thread has posted operative menus. On the night when Beer Battered Cod Fish and Chips is being served, other entrée choices include Seared Sea Scallops and Chorizo as well as Allspice Rubbed Beef Short Ribs. The evening with Fried Chicken likewise has 5 other options including Mahi-Mahi, Pot Roast and Pork Tenderloin among them. I think that this is what most people would expect for dinner offerings on a mass-market cruise line.

You are ignoring the cardinal rules of Cruise Critic: If I do it, everyone does it. If I saw it once, it happens all the time. If it happened to me, it happens to everyone, If it didn't happen to me, it doesn't happen at all. if I didn't see it, it never happens. 😁😎

I could have sworn that if you click on a radio button in your Cruise Personalizer stating that you are celebrating an event, it triggers a place to insert a date so that they can put some "Party City" decorations on your door. Maybe that has gone away. Either way, I don't need the decorations or candle in my crème brulee that badly.

So how are they filling the orders from all the people who now have that super-duper, high in demand, can't believe we ever lived without it, feature of Plus and Premium?

Wasn't me, but that is our fix as well. Always have Band-Aids (plasters) when we travel. On our last cruise our steward notice the fix and he removed our Band-Aid and replaced it with about 4 layers of duct tape. Even though we didn't put it there, we removed it when we departed.

I am unfamiliar with this concept...