JimmyVWine

Well, obviously! Duhhh. 🤸‍♀️

And if they publish in the Patter that "We kindly request that you observe our White and Gold Theme this evening," is wearing White and Gold "required" or merely a "suggestion." And...If I wear a White t-shirt and Gold gym shorts, does the wearing of the White and Gold cancel out the fact that I am wearing a t-shirt and shorts, or will I be sent to the buffet? 😜

Sorry, but no.

And worse than that...the discount only kicks in after you have spent an additional $60 per day. A "free" bump up from Plus to Premier would be a non-starter from the customer's standpoint, and the provision of the Plus Package for free is a non-starter from Princess' standpoint.

And I would submit that after several drinks, a patron would likely benefit from a light pour.

Maybe it varies by ship or cabin level, but on Regal in October in a Mini-Suite, we got the old-school round bars of soap wrapped in paper. A new one every day.

But in your example there is an actual "switch." If you fill out your sentence a bit more, here is what you get: Advertising a low price on one product that is not available with the intent of attracting potential customers to lure them to purchase a substitute product at a higher price is also bait and switch. Without the "switch" the definition does not apply. If Princess has an unintentional, accidental, no harm intended glitch with its website that shows a BA level cabin available for $500 for a weeklong cruise, and the would-be purchase is unable to lock that cabin in at that price on the web, and calls Princess and is told over the phone that the price on the web is wrong and that the actual price is $1,100, that is not a bait and "switch." It is a web-based error. What WOULD be a bait and switch is if the CSR on the phone said: "Yes, that was the right price, but those cabins are all sold out. I don't know why one is showing up as available. But we DO have a BB level cabin that we can put you in for $900." THAT would be a bait and switch. It contains the necessary elements of deceit, intent and upselling to a different product than the one originally advertised.

I think this entire discussion has veered off into Never-Never-Land. Correct me if I am wrong, (I often am, and am not Elite (in the Princess sense) so I am not well-versed in the way the perks work), but if one eschews the mini-bar setup they can exchange that for two "coffee cards/packages". If I am right about that then Princess has concluded that the cash value of this perk is around $80. Now, someone who is Elite (in the Princess sense) and who does routinely accept the minibar can weigh in here and let us know what they think the equivalent cash value is of the minibar setup. Not in the "retail" sense, but in the "equivalent cost had I purchased drinks at a bar that equal the volume that I receive in my cabin" sense. In other words, if the minibar setup provides the equivalent volume of alcohol to make 8 cocktails (making this up here as I have no idea), and the cost of the equivalent number of cocktails at a bar would be $64 (8 x $8) and then you add in some waters and sodas, maybe you are still getting into the $80 range. Maybe it is more. Perhaps less. But the point is that the cash equivalent value of the minibar setup is under $100. So the whole notion of giving Elites the Plus package as an included perk on a 7 or 10 day cruise simply isn't going to fly. The cash equivalent of Plus is now $60 per day or $420 for a 7 day cruise. The value of the minibar (or two coffee packages) doesn't even equate to a day and a half of the Plus Package. The true cash equivalent of the minibar would be to give each Elite person (if each person gets their own minibar setup) around $80 in OBC to be used only at the bars and fresh brewed/specialty coffee stations. And if each cabin is only entitled to a single minibar setup instead of one per person, then the OBC would be reduced to $40 per person assuming two people per cabin. The idea of swapping out the minibar for hundreds and hundreds of dollars of Plus Packages or upgrades to Premier is unthinkable.

Not in my experience. I had several mixed drinks from the specialty drinks menus that actually needed to be diluted even further as they were too strong.

The minibar setup isn’t long for this world. Those “nip” bottles are an environmental disaster. I expect that their appearance on ships will go the way of plastic straws sooner rather than later. So Elites might as well start thinking about what they’d like instead and start stuffing the suggestion box now.

Correct. And yet the published material rounds up in a rather aggressive way to make them 6 ounces. But 150ml = 5.07 ounces where I come from.

Not sure even a shot or two of your favorite spirit could rescue these selections from the trash heap:

I found the following Terms And Conditions on the Princess website. Perhaps this points to the direction of the Juice Bar: ^General Princess Plus Terms: The original Princess Plus package consists of Plus Beverage Package and Wi-Fi, the upgraded Princess Plus package includes all of the foregoing original package items plus Medallion shipping, Premium Desserts, Juice Bar, and Fitness Classes. These full terms apply to both packages, except for language set off with a *, which only apply to the upgraded Princess Plus package. .....Plus Beverage Package is valid only for guests who are 21 years or older. Guests under 21 booked under Princess Plus will receive the Zero-Alcohol Drink Package and will not receive any refund for the difference. The Plus Beverage Package includes all beverages priced up to $15.00 each as listed on Princess’ menu(s). Any bottle of wine, one-liter bottles of water and canned soda package and is paid on behalf of the guest for qualifying beverages included in the Plus Beverage Package. Exclusions apply, see full terms & conditions for Plus Beverage Package for Plus Beverage Package. Wi-Fi included for one device per guest. All internet usage subject to standard Wi-Fi policies, which may limit browsing of sites due to network security and bandwidth usage and is subject to change with or without notice. Crew Appreciation paid on behalf of the guest varies based on stateroom type (up to 4 guests per stateroom). Princess Plus does not include other service charges. *Premium Desserts is limited to 2 desserts per guest per day during the voyage. Excludes SMiZE premium ice creams. Gratuities included; not valid using OceanNow feature within the MedallionClass app. Only available during open hours of the venue at which dessert is available. *Juice Bar: Only available at breakfast and lunch during the opening hours of the World Fresh Market place/other adjacent location at which juice is served; not valid using OceanNow feature within the MedallionClass app. *Fitness Classes is limited to 2 classes per guest during the entire voyage. Applies to in-person classes, must sign up for class on-board by visiting the fitness center. Exact class type, length, timing, schedule, availability, and other details will be determined by the ship type and by Princess in its sole discretion.

And slightly off topic, but I have noticed another issue with booking using the app. For my upcoming cruise I used the app to book (and pay) for a Dinner at Sabatini's. Party of 3. Booked in August for a cruise in May, so in other words, way, way in advance. No matter which day I selected, and no matter what time I selected, I was ALWAYS able to find a slot for us, but in so doing, received a notice that my "Party would be broken into separate tables." As in what? A two and a one? Or three ones? Of course they aren't going to do this. There is no way that when I booked the restaurant was not so full that I could not get three people seated together at the same table. Most people can't even book until after they make their final payment, and I booked 10 months in advance. So I went ahead and made the booking and I will sort it out once we are on the ship. But this has to be an issue with the app or the booking system. I would go ahead and cancel and re-book now, but the price has gone up and I would be charged the new, higher fee if I did this.

And I was one of the many people who booked under the Best Sale Ever (February/March 2022 Edition) for a cruise we took this past October. We got Plus for $40 per day and a Specialty Dinner added in. For the longest time I was seeing that I would be charged for making the reservation. Then at some point there was an upgrade to the app, so I deleted the app and reinstalled it, and after I did that, when I used the app to book our dinner, it recognized my vouchers and allowed me to book without paying.

We had an uncovered balcony in Alaska and it was amazing. You get a full, clear view without obstruction. There is little chance of needing to slather on sunscreen. A hat would be sufficient on the sunniest days. But as you noted, on port days you will not be on your balcony between 10:00-4:00. Ever. On a scenic cruising sea day and at night stargazing, you will be thankful for your open-air balcony.

Maybe the Gym, or nearby?

The free SD promotion bundled with Plus was done after the restart, so this isn’t a four year thing. Sorry if that was not clear. I thought that I had explained that the supply/demand issue has only been present during the past year and will soon go away as all of the cruises booked under those terms wind down.

A. If the restaurant holds tables open for casino players, then those tables are not available to the rest of the passengers, meaning that they are just as "booked" as any other table. That the casino has dinner table privileges heightens the need for pre-booking. It doesn't lessen it. B. Small sample size. Falls under the fallacy of "I did it, therefore everyone can do it."

It depends on the promotion under which people booked. When "Plus" was first rolled out, there were promotions that offered Plus for a slightly reduced rate and added in a free Specialty Dinner. That type of deal was very popular and so many people booked under those promotions that getting reservations on board was very difficult. Supply was way, way below demand. Now that Premier is rolling out and includes Specialty Dinners, I doubt very much that Princess will offer free Specialty Dinners to anyone who isn't buying that package as that would be a disincentive to people booking the more expensive Premier package. So I think that the number of people boarding the ship with a free Specialty Dinner in their arsenal will go down. Unless, of course, the Premier package is wildly popular, which I tend to doubt, but who knows? So to sum it up, I think that from the restart until a few weeks from now, there was a window of time when free SD was added in to many bookings and pre-booking was rather important. In three weeks' time, I think we will see that subside.

Yes and yes. It has both a covered pool and a number of uncovered pools.

We too have a daughter who caught the history/archaeology bug at a young age and she is now 24 with a Bachelors Double Major in Classical Art/Archaeology and Anthropology and a Master Degree in Classical Archaeology. She lived in Athens for a year and traveled extensively in that region. When she was a Freshman in college we did our first trip to Athens coupled with a cruise much like yours. The big differences were that we started in Athens with four days there and our cruise was much more "Greek Island" concentrated. (Princess doesn't really offer this itinerary at the moment). But we did a second Med Cruise this past October as an overdue graduation present to our daughter after she completed her Masters. She served as our very able tour guide, so we did not need to book private tours. I asked her if she wanted to do any private tours to get another perspective and she reminded me how much her education cost me and told me that if she couldn't fill the role as a private guide, all that money would have been wasted. Anywhooooo, I just have a couple of thoughts about your itinerary having done most of what you have planned, save for the Turkey portion which I have not been to. My perspective is as someone who traveled with an aspiring archaeology major on one trip, and as someone who traveled with a successful Masters candidate in archaeology on the other trip. It was mentioned above and I will reiterate it here. Your Naples Day is too busy. I tried to convince my daughter to guide us through both Pompeii and Herculaneum in one day and she said that it had to be "either/or" and we would do the other on another visit. She voted for Pompeii and that is what we did. To beat the crowds we hired a driver to take us straight to Pompeii with our tickets already bought and printed. We arrived around park opening and stayed until 3:00. From there we crossed the street to the train station and took a train back to Naples, assuming that we would walk to the ship from there. It was pouring rain, so we took a cab. Trust me when I tell you that we only saw about a fifth of what we could have. This was a "greatest hits" tour of Pompeii as selected by my daughter and the idea that we could have squeezed in Herculaneum on top of this would have been laughable. And to add in Vesuvius? Not in a million years. Yes, I know that there are excursions and private tours that will do all three. But every single second that you spend elsewhere is time that is cut from Pompeii. There is simply no way around it. If you are satisfied with your "chance of a lifetime" trip to Pompeii being a two hour visit, then perhaps this would work for you. For my archeologist daughter, this was out of the question. Second: Don't doubt your decision to go to Delos for a second. That was a "must see" stop for our daughter on our first trip when she was in college. I had never heard of it. Boy was she right. We hired a private guide (if you watch the Rick Steves show when he visits Delos, it turns out the he and I hired the same guide. Didn't intend it that way, but it just happened.) Even with a full visit to Delos we had ample time to roam the streets of Mykonos before it was time to leave. Third: While in Athens, (and hopefully the Greek Holiday won't mess this up), you must, and I say this as loudly and firmly as possible, MUST find time to go to the National Archaeology Museum. It may be the single best museum I have ever been to, (and I have now been 4 times). When my daughter was studying in Athens she had a UNESCO/Museum Student pass that allowed her unlimited free visits to pretty much everything in Athens and she practically wore that museum out. The Acropolis Museum is absolutely worth the visit, but its content is "limited" to just the Acropolis. The National Archaeology Museum has everything else. When you combine the Acropolis Museum and the the National Archaeology Museum, and then throw in the museum at Olympia, you have pretty much checked all the boxes. You don't need a private guide for that. Just do some reading ahead of time. Beyond those few tips, what you have planned sounds like my kind of trip. Just understand that you will need a vacation from your vacation when you are done!

I have seem lots of women wearing stretch pants. Whether or not they are ladies is unknown to me. 😉

Also keep in mind that most bars have transitioned to QR code “menus”. The printed ones may not be accurate. As for Princess’ specialty drinks like Chocolate Banana or Blue Hawaiian and things like that, they were never “out” of anything. But specific brands of spirits were hit or miss. We found that the best strategy was to simply go to the bar and observe. No bars were bare. They were all fully stocked. And also keep in mind that the bars are not fungible. They were offering different things in different places. On Regal, the best stocked bar by far was the Wheelhouse. They had rums and single malts that other bars did not have. And the Princess Live bar also seemed to have things not found at other bars. So if a bartender says “We don’t have that”, he might be referring only to his bar. Or it could be ship-wide. You just don’t know. It is both frustrating and fun to explore all the bars on board to find what each one has.

Sorry. But intentionality is the sine qua non of a “Bait and Switch” tactic. It cannot be done accidentally. The definition you cited to reinforces that through the use of the verbs “attracted” and “encouraged”. Princess’ erroneous website pricing is not encouraging the purchase of something different at a higher cost. The thing for sale is the very same thing. A “Bait and Switch” requires the insertion into the transaction of a substituted item at a higher price.