JimmyVWine

What people are reporting is the use of out of date menus and individual crew members making mistakes. There is no ambiguity as to what is supposed to happen. Now it is up to us as consumers to confront the people who make mistakes and get them to understand what is going on. We often forget that the rank and file crew members live in a bubble and are largely cut off from outside news and corporate changes for 9 months at a time. They don’t read the industry newsletters, watch the YouTube channels run by cruise enthusiasts or read CruiseCritic. Most (all) of what I have read suggests that when mistakes are made they are being corrected. But we all need to be vigilant until the new normal becomes normal. The new price rules are very clear. No matter when you bought Plus or what you paid for it, you are entitled to drinks up to $15.

Respectively disagree. In all of my travels I have found that it is always best to try to achieve a resolution on the spot and only if that fails, then try to get relief using documentation after the fact.

I thought that maybe this thread was about asking for “Escargot, Animal Style”? Or “Fettuccine Alfredo 4x4”. 😆

Food is subjective. I would not make a decision based on what others say about the food. On any given cruise there are 3,000+ people on the ship. At best, a half dozen of them come here to post their opinions about that specific cruise. As for food temperature in the buffet , I have seen many, many instances of the kitchen staff and supervisors temping the food with electronic thermal probes. It is their job and a requirement. Princess does not serve dangerously tepid food. Don’t go on a cruise expecting Thomas Keller to be in the galley. And don’t go expecting hospital food. Set your expectations between those two points and you’ll be fine.

See post #54.

I think that’s what Jack would have done.

We are treading perilously close to this:

Here is a cut and paste of a review of Lighthouse Beach posted on Google Maps (One Star). I suspect that when all is said and done, the road to the actual lighthouse will remain a public access road, (it sort of has to), but everything to the north and east of that will be Mickey Beach. “When we visited January 2nd, 2023 the road to the lighthouse was closed by Disney construction. Beach access was open but had a 2 mile walk to the lighthouse. History was cool and the scenery was beautiful. But, not worth the 2 hour drive we made and the 2 mile walk. There are more beautiful, easier to access areas of the island.”

Thanks for your thoughts. As for the comment above, I guess I see it inverted. I have never thought that a meal on a cruise ship would be exceptional and I have never expected it. When dishes come out of the galley stacked 5 high covered with plastic domes, that is a sign of mass-produced food that cannot rise to the level of culinary greatness and can barely achieve mediocrity. I go on cruises in spite of the food, not because of it. Denny’s is pretty much what I anticipate. If it exceeds that, I come out ahead. And the desserts always exceed that level as does the service. I look at it this way, price wise. If two people in a cabin each pay $1,500 for a 7 day cruise, that comes to $3,000, or $428 per day. While the cabin is not on par with a Ritz Carlton, it is a nice room attended by a steward and that room moves from place to place taking you on an adventure. I put the land-equivalent value of that at $200 plus tax. So let’s call it $228. That means the balance of the cost is $200 per day, split two ways, or $100 per person. Take out an amount that accounts for entertainment, resort fee (pool, gym, Zumba classes, sports court, movies, concerts). This is very subjective but I will call it $30 per day per person. Now I take out an amount for food that is not within the scope of B, L and D. That would be food by the pool, ice cream, snacks at the IC, etc. I put a value of $10 per day per person on that. So subtracting out the “resort fee” and “extra food” from the $100 and I am left with $60 per day per person for B, L and D. Assign a cost of $10 for breakfast (food, tax and tip if paying on land); and $18 for lunch, and my MDR dinner has a remaining value of $32. Assume an $8 appetizer and a $7 dessert and I am left with $17 for my entree and that includes tax and tip. So the daily value of my entree is just under $14. For that amount I certainly wouldn’t expect anything beyond Denny’s and if it exceeds that level, I win. So far on my cruises, I have won every time.

Maybe one is in the works but I doubt it. Such a plan would work out only for people who exclusively drink coffee. Can’t imagine that is a big demographic. If one drinks coffee plus non- alcoholic drinks, there is now a package for that. If one drinks coffee and alcoholic beverages, there are multiple packages for that. The only thing that would truly make sense would be a punch card type of system just for coffee and they had that but retired it.

You are experiencing the exact same thing as me. Hours and hours on the phone with tech support all to no avail. There is clearly something wrong with my account and not my computer. No matter which computer I use, when I log in as me, I get an error. When I log out and log in with my wife’s account, works every time. The only problem is that I can then only buy things using one of her credit cards so that is a pain. Can’t surprise her. (But I also can’t buy anything sketchy either!).

There is a trail that people could walk to get to Lighthouse Point from the Princess resort area. I assume that this trail will now dead-end at a fence where the Disney resort area begins. People certainly are not going to be allowed to just wander onto Disney property. With HAL and sometimes Carnival ships already using it, is there room for PCL? Seems a bit crowded.

It certainly makes no financial sense for a two-cups-a-day drinker. Especially one who just drinks regular coffee and not the more elaborate concoctions.

Having a hard time imagining first responders not knowing where they were going. Oh wait…

Lots or reports that it is working as planned. Plus $50 don't get the "New" items and Plus $60 do.

It is definitely the case that one must do the math. The $35 card was for the entire cruise, not per day. And if you were a heavy coffee drinker, maybe you went through two cards during a 7 day cruise. That came to $70. The Plus Package may be "only" $25 more, but that is PER DAY. Instead of two coffee cards that provided 30 coffee drinks over the course of 7 days (more than 4 per day) at a price of $70, going with the Plus Package will cost you $420. $112-$126 of that is eaten up by Crew Appreciation, and $52.50-$105 is eaten up by WiFi. Assuming that someone is in an Interior or Balcony, and isn't P/E, that comes to $217. That leaves $203 for beverages, divided over 7 days = $29 per day. If you go back to the premise that someone is going to have 4 coffees a day, they would spend $16 per day out of pocket versus $29 for the Package. So Plus only works if the person is going to also consume $13 per day in non-coffee beverages. Since we are analyzing the Zero Proof Package, we can assume that the hypothetical cruiser does not drink alcohol. So spending an additional $13 per day on non-alcoholic beverages is certainly not a sure thing. For some it will work. For others it won't.

Princess is most often compared here to Celebrity. Here are the Drink Packages and prices for X. Classic Package Enjoy the drink you want, when you want it, morning, noon, and night, with a fantastic array of liquors, wines for any palate, beers from light and crisp to dark and robust, plus alcoholic drinks up to $10. Wines by the bottle are discounted by 15%. $89 per person per day* Premium Package This versatile drinks package lets you start your morning with fresh squeezed orange juice and a premium coffee, enjoy a frozen cocktail by the pool, and then a glass of wine with dinner. Enjoy all the spirits listed in our Classic Package, plus drinks up to $17. Wines by the bottle are discounted by 20%. $109 per person per day* Zero Proof Package Refresh with premium bottled water from Evian, Perrier, San Pellegrino, & Panna. Specialty Coffees & Organic Teas, Red Bull Energy Drink, Frozen Smoothies, Zero Proof Cocktails, Coca-Cola selections, offerings from Vitamin Water, Aqua Spa Fresh Juice, and Bottled Iced Teas. $30 per person per day * A 20% service charge will be added to Classic, Premium, and Zero Proof Package prices at checkout. Go ahead and jump ship if you wish. The water won't be bluer on the other side of the railing.

Long thread discussing it here:

I agree with this for sure. So many places in the Gothic Quarter to explore and roam around that are better than the main tourist street.

Depending on where your interests lie, (and how much luggage you have) I would just get in the taxi line (it can be very, very long, but it moves quickly) and then just head to the area or sites you want to see. La Sagrada Familia books visitors in advance so you could have a pre-set time to enter, or take an organized tour (recommended) if that is something you want to see. Or head to a museum. Or stroll de Gracia to gaze at the amazing architecture and Gaudi buildings. You really don't need an organized tour to experience Barcelona. Just a little bit of research and reading. But if you have too much luggage to make that work, you might try contacting a major hotel chain, preferably one with which you have some status, and ask if you can check you luggage there for a few hours. (Tip well). It is harder to do that now, with security issues, but it doesn't hurt to ask. This reads as if it was written by someone with an axe to grind. We were there in October and this could not have been further from the truth. Well, I can't speak to the part about it going downhill, as I don't have a frame of reference of what it was like several years ago. But I can say that in no way, shape or form are "most of the shops closed down", "untidy" or "unsafe."

Maybe a dollop of the now-retired Fettuccini Alfredo? 🤣

Or do the reverse, which is what I do. Use up your already-accumulated loyalty points for a stay at an overpriced hotel that you really aren't using for anything other than a night's sleep between the time the plane touches down and the time you depart for the Port.

Thank you for sharing. I am really enjoying your perspective as a younger cruiser and as someone who hasn’t been jaded by their prior 53 cruises which were all “so much better!”

I am usually a Ribeye guy as is the rest of my family. The last 4 times we dined in the Crown Gill (all pre-pause) we all ordered Ribeyes. Since the resumption of operations we have only dined at Sabatini’s for our Specialty Dining experiences. For our next cruise I booked one night in each. This and other threads has pretty much convinced me that ordering Ribeye is a losing bet. (Especially the photo above.). So….how is the quality of the Filet Mignon? If that is also subpar, I think I am going to cancel my CG reservation so your opinions will dictate my next move. What say you? Is the Filet (plus the other courses) worth a trip to the CG?