JimmyVWine

Not in the least. Taking two scoops of ice cream that is free in the MDR and sticking a huge pinwheel lollipop into it does not a "special, upcharge dessert" make. When Princess rolled out the Norman Love Chocolate program, the desserts introduced were way more impressive and they were included in the price of the cruise. These cringeworthy concoctions wouldn't interest me even if they were included in the fare. But to charge more for them?? Positively laughable.

And this is the issue I have with the Packages. It really is all about the alcohol. If a person averages 4+ drinks per day, every day, the Packages are a value. But not everyone does that. And it is hard to make the Packages pay off for anyone who doesn't drink, drinks lightly, or already gets a minibar setup. Princess, if you are listening...what I would like to see is Princess list all of its offerings, (All Inclusive Bev Package; wi-fi; Gratuities; Desserts; Fitness Classes; Private Yoga Instruction; Photo Packages; Two Specialty Dining Reservations; a Meet and Greet with a Pirate and Fortuna Luck; and whatever else they can think of) and then have a program where guests can choose any three items, bundle them together, and get 40% off the list price. That way EVERYONE gets to see a benefit from bundling the "extras" and not just people who consume alcohol at a rate of 4 drinks per day. Rant over.

Great opportunity for the crew to practice their "Man Overboard" drills.

Here's why. If unused, the FCC is refunded to the CC on file. If you purchase with a Gift Card, they would have to refund the unused amount back to the Gift Card, and Princess has no way of knowing if that Gift Card will still be viable at the time of the refund. (Isn't it 2 years)? If the purchaser uses the remaining balance of the Gift Card in between purchasing the FCC and the time of the refund, there is no card left to credit the refund to. Yes, there are workarounds to this problem (like issuing a check) but I doubt that Princess is interested in working through that maze.

No. You get drinks up to $15. In the "fine print" the word "New" is capitalized and in quotes. That is significant. That means that you get everything that is not preceded with the word "New" and you do not get anything that is preceded with the word "New". So you get the first 5 bulleted items and you do not get the last three bulleted items It really isn't that confusing. They have spelled it out as clearly as possible.

Don't know the answer to that one, but the placement of the Club and the infinity pool is a bit odd if the Dining room has an aft-facing view. "Sir. Can you check to see if there is a table available toward the aft? One with a view of the old wrinkly guy in the pool while we dine?"

Barely big enough to Hold Houdini's Escape Box!!

Never happen. That implies that for the base fare you would be getting food of substance that requires a knife. For that level of dining, you will already be paying a premium. The Base Fare will come with porridge and gruel, and no sharp implements will be necessary.

Perhaps. Not a guarantee. I have tried and been told that "We no longer do that." Of course, every time that phrase is uttered, it is wrought with inconsistency fleetwide. But I have found that "But I read it on CruiseCritic" doesn't get me very far.

The Princess website lists Crown Grill as a Specialty Restaurant. Not sure why CruiseMapper shows Sterling. A couple other observations (assuming that the CruiseMapper diagram is at least close to being accurate. --Placing the IC next to the Buffet is silly. On the Royal Class ships, there is quite a bit of overlap between what is served in the IC and what is served in the Pastry Shop up at the buffet. Why have them next to each other? --If drawn to scale, the Explorers Lounge on Deck looks to be juuuuust big enough to host a Duplicate Bridge game, and that's about it. Certainly not big enough to host live entertainment and still have room for people to sit. And no bar. Likewise, the oddly shaped "Inclusive Restaurant" on 7 seems very, very small given the number of cabins they have set aside as having special privileges, assuming that this restaurant is intended to be a perk for such cabins.

It appears that there is a notched area in the middle of the cabin (looking at Mini-Suites). If the notch in the cabin bows outward in the middle, that would be the headboard so the bed is in the middle and the sofa is near the balcony. If the notch cuts into the cabin, that is where the sofa would be and the bed would be next to the balcony.

That is how it will work when Sun begins to operate. Certain cabin classes will have upgraded dining options that are unavailable to people in lower category cabins.

I think that the overall strategy makes sense on a macro level. But some of the micro level decisions are quizzical. In the home office, they are intent on making Princess-2023 move forward and onward from Princess-2017. I get it. It is a sound business strategy. But with every change comes the risk that the change will go over like a lead balloon. Some will hit and some will miss. Growing pains.

Yes. I haven't been able to access my booking through he web page for a week now. But I can do so on the app, and if I use the web-based version of Ocean Ready on the website. But the basic web access for Booked Passengers is a no go for me.

That's an odd one to eliminate. Easy to make and at very little overhead.

From what Princess has published about the Sun Class ships, it’s already here.

No worse off in some respects. Let’s look at an absurd example to demonstrate the point. Let’s say that when you purchased Plus it cost $50, included wines up to $12 but the only Cabernet offered for $12 was a generic glass that was unidentified on the wine list, but you came to learn that it was from a $4 bottle produced in Bolivia. They later raise the price of Plus to $200 a day, include wines priced up to $50 per glass, and grandfather you in so that you are allowed to order $50 glasses of wine. Then, they raise the price of the Bolivian Cabernet to $50. Yes, you are no worse off because you still get to order the same wine. But they are now charging $50 per glass for undrinkable plonk! There is a frog in the pot of water affect going on here. Raise the price of the package…raise the per glass allowance…and raise the price of the low end wine correspondingly. If you buy a package, none of this matters (other than new bookers having to pay more per day for their package). But if you don’t buy a package you have to pay $50 for a terrible glass of wine. There is no way to justify charging $14-$15 per glass for entry level low end horrible wines. But that is where they are headed by raising the price of Plus, and then raising the per glass allowance to $15 and then raising the price of the generic wines that are included in Plus. (Assuming that they are in fact planning to raise the price of wines available by the glass.). People with packages see everything move in synch. People without packages are seeing price whiplash.

I hope so too. It pays (literally) to be a more typical wine consumer. I am meeting up with my wine group for our holiday lunch this week where we bring out the big guns and I am stressing (needlessly) over what to pull from my cellar! The woes of a wine geek.

I think that the analogy is more nuanced. It’s not the specific dish that counts but rather the style of the dish. If at the time you do your research the MDR is serving New York Strip and Halibut, but when you dine you are offered Filet Mignon and Sea Bass, I don’t think you have any basis to complain. The style of the menu is comparable. But if at the time you cruise the menu you are presented has Hamburger and Fish Sticks included, and New York Strip and Halibut for a $10 upcharge, your complaint would be justified. With wine, you may not have an inalienable right to Rombauer Chardonnay, but if that was the $12 wine included in Plus at the time you booked, something comparable should be offered. Beringer. Silverado. Chalk Hill. Sterling. To get on board and be told: “We have no idea what you will be getting but for $3 more you can have Rombauer, Silverado, Chalk Hill or Sterling” is, to me, unfair. Your MDR analogy assumes that dishes change and over time drop off the menu completely, and you are of course correct. But the situation here is that the dish (or wine) is in fact available. But instead of it being part of your package as it appeared to be when you booked, it is now an upcharge item. Those are very different situations.

If you are driving to the departure port, why not just bring your own nice glasses and have them available to you 24/7? Or pick up a pair from a home goods store in Southampton. For 5£ each you can buy stems that are way better than what you can get in the ship. Even the Riedels that I have been provided in Vines are smaller Sauvignon Blanc glasses and not really what you want for a nice Rioja.

This is probably something that will be driven by the metrics of Package buying. If 90% of passengers start buying Packages, I doubt that there will ever be any prohibition of carrying on wine at ports. Why should Princess care, since it already has your alcohol consumption revenue in its pocket? If you have done the math and are paying Princess for 3 or so glasses of wine a day in advance, why should they care if you do not consume Princess' wine and drink your own instead? If you drink it in your cabin, then there is no loss of revenue, and if you drink it in a dining venue and they charge corkage, even better as they rake in even more revenue. So in the end, if Packages sell well, there is absolutely no reason for them to discourage bringing on your own wine, and perhaps even an incentive for you to do so. (Less work for servers and bartenders but with the same revenue generated.) Yes, there will be people who don't have Packages who bring on wines at ports who drink it in their cabins resulting in no revenue to Princess, but that won't matter if the bigger picture view is that 90% of the passengers have Packages.

Your cruise begins on 3/9 and the new program takes affect on 2/20. During that 17 day lag, there will be lots of people posting here in real time what their experiences are on board. If I were on a 2/20 cruise, yes, I would bring with me a screenshot. Otherwise, I would wait to see what people are reporting from their "canary in a coal mine" cruises. If they say that they ran into resistance that was only quelled when they puled out a screenshot, then there's your answer. If they say that all the servers on board (and the Guest Services folks) all understood the new paradigm and honored the "Drinks up to $15" aspect, then don't bother.

From my small sample set, I can tell you that in response to EVERY question in the post-cruise survey, regardless of the question's focus, I managed to slip in a comment about how embarrassing and unacceptable it was to serve people paying for a beverage package generically marketed wine. I hope that your prediction is true.

My "under the plane" carrier holds 8 bottles. Used to be enough (barely) for a 7 day cruise. But not since my daughter turned 21.

...unless there is another price hike raising it above the limit. Also, this reinforces my earlier point about forcing people into packages. If they don't raise the price and the wine is inside the Plus limit, we are left to say "Whew. Glad that I can still get that wine in my Package." But we are overlooking the fact that under no circumstances is this wine a $14 glass selection. But they now having us feeling "good" about it. It's a $17 bottle that Carnival Corp pays around $10-$11 for.