JimmyVWine

Agree 100%. The jumping off point though was someone complaining that sharing drinks cause the implementation of the 15 drink maximum which ruined things for the rest of us. I still maintain that the maximum is not unreasonable and frankly out of reach for the vast majority of cruisers. 8 to 10 is only half way to two-thirds the way there!

It’s not a question of holding one’s liquor. It’s a question of how many hours there are in a day coupled with one’s itinerary. If one goes ashore from 8:00-4:00, that leaves 8 hours on the ship. Hard to pound 15 drinks in that time. Heck. It’s hard to be served 15 drinks in that time let alone drink them.

But this actually proves the point. That is an ambitious day of drinking (8:00 am start), and it just gets one to 15 drinks. Where someone is going to slide in a 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th drink (without giving any away to others without a Plan) is hard to fathom.

Your server was right on the mark. Those are all the same wines that I would recommend to a friend if asked.

I don’t necessarily think that rest of us are “paying for it”. The only change that was implemented was the 15 drink cap. So the “right” that we lost was the ability to order and consume a 16th or 17th (or more) alcoholic drink in a day. The percentage of people who would have done so is certainly measured in single digits and that hardly equates to “the rest of us”. And if that 16th drink is so crucial, the option to purchase it still exists. I think that if someone consumes 17 drinks in a day at a cost of $16, (or $41 if you factor in the weighted daily value of Plus), that is still a pretty good deal.

I sent an email to the address provided by euro cruiser and received a response that there are no in and out privileges allowed with the single day ticket. To leave and return you must have an annual pass or purchase a second ticket. So I guess we will be having lunch on site.

Not sure what it is like for bookings with 2 people but I priced out a future cruise I have booked under the “Kids (Third Person) Sails Free” promo and the current Love Boat sale comes out to be $600 more than I paid. When I booked, I sensed that I had found a very good deal and I think this is proving to be true.

Thank you both for your thoughts. I will send an email and report back.

You're welcome! 😁

We are planning a self-guided trip to Pompeii and for planning purposes, I'd like to know if the tickets allow in and out access. I am trying to figure out if we can visit, leave the park for lunch, and then return. I understand that Pompeii can be visited all before lunch if one gets there early enough, but I will be accompanied by my "Masters Degree in Classical Archaeology" daughter on this trip and I know that she will want to spend waaaaaaay more time at Pompeii than the typical visitor. I have searched and searched and cannot find the answer. Hoping that one of you knowledgeable folks might know that answer or have a contact who might know. Thanks.

Yes, that is it. The site I saw it on had a slightly higher price, so you are ahead of the game. You will have inconsiderate chair hogs at your house in no time!!

Correct. Once our daughter turned 21, we have been sailing with three free bottles per cruise.

I suppose I am looking bigger picture and logistics. If I wait until the midpoint of my B2B to get my cheaper bottle, then on the first half of my B2B I did not have the benefit of that bottle and had to purchase drinks from the bar. I am guessing that: (7 days of bar drinks + 7 days of self-made drinks from Gift Shop bottle) > (14 days of self-made drinks from room service bottles) Of course, if one has a drinks package, then neither the bar drinks nor the self-made drinks matter.

If the goal is to have the alcohol delivered to your cabin for immediate consumption, you can just order a bottle from room service and have it delivered. You can order online in advance of the cruise and a gift card will be delivered to your cabin and you can call room service to have it delivered before sailaway. Conversely, if the goal isn’t to have the bottle delivered for immediate consumption, then it doesn’t matter when in the cruise the bottle is delivered. Incidentally, are the prices in the gift shop low enough to make it worthwhile to buy bottles there to take home as compared to duty free shops in ports? I’ve never compared but I’ve always assumed that there are no bargains or unique offerings on board.

No. Sealed cans only. 12 per person max.

In relation to what they have delivered so far, there is not doubt about it. That said, IF, (and that is the world's biggest IF) they can get the functionality up to the point where it really does what it is hyped to do, it will be transformative.

Interesting. Still shows up for me.

I don't think that there is a set time, and no one has been able to detect a pattern. But the option seems to become active around 50 days out.

I'm going to show up at Rick's house at 5:30 a.m. and drag the lounge chairs from one side of his patio to the other. And at 7:00 a.m. I am going to put a towel and a book on a lounge chair and then return at noon to claim my chair!

Maybe it is my laptop, but it looks like your Captain's Circle level is Chartreuse. How many cruises is that?? 😉

You mean that people getting off the ship that day won't be greeted with this?

I doubt that the exact model would be available on the open market, but this chair will be very similar, with the exception that it has arms on the side whereas the Princess models do not. https://www.gxtstore.com/?product_id=244413419_57

Thanks so much for this. We have booked a similar cruise on Regal for April. With respect to the wine service, it seems as if the crew is now in tune with the fact that Princess is failing here. Did you get the sense from anyone with whom you spoke that they are working on improving the situation? While I am resigned to the fact that I will not drink any of the wines that are included within the Plus package price on my next cruise in a month, I was pretty much banking (literally) on the fact that my OBC would be used to upgrade to better quality wines. But it sounds like even this can be a dead end? Are the frustrated crew members offering any insight as to what is going to be done to change the currently dreadful situation?

Medallion usage is not a systemic "change" in Princess cruising. It is an option of perceived convenience. If it is not convenient for you, you can continue to cruise as you always have. Ignore the medallion and pretend it is 2017. Shoreside medallion use is not a systemic "change" in Princess cruising. It is an option of perceived convenience. If it is not convenient for you, you can continue to shop as you always have. The medallion is fully operational by simply supplying your credit card to Princess, same as you always have. You do not need to do anything special with your cc in order for your medallion to open your cabin door. I booked the same dining room for the same time for every night of my cruise months before I left home. Took me about 18 seconds, max. Sports betting is not a systemic "change" in Princess cruising. It is an entertainment option offered to those who are interested, same as bingo, art auctions and trivia. If it is not something you are interested in, you can refrain from partaking. I have never stepped foot into a bingo session or art auction. But it's nice that these things exist for people who enjoy them. They can be crowd eaters, freeing up other spaces around the ship that interest me more. In-room gambling is not a systemic "change" in Princess cruising. It is an entertainment option of convenience offered to those who are interested, same as bingo, art auctions and trivia. If it is not something you are interested in, you can refrain from partaking. This is a TV show that will air on CBS in October. Not sure what you are referencing here. Price out a Princess cruise in a Balcony or MiniSuite cabin complete with the Plus Package, and then compare that price to what a comparable square foot cabin will cost on Viking, and then report back. You can get the "all-inclusive" experience on Princess for a fairly modest cost increase. If I could afford to take all of my cruises on Viking, Oceania, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But trying to compare those cruise lines to Princess is like trying to compare a Ritz Carlton to a Homewood Suites.

That is the goal. "I bid $50" is useless information unless one knows if that bid was successful. The biggest unknown as this kicks off is going to be "I wonder how much I will need to bid to jump from a Balcony to a MiniSuite?" While past performance is no guarantee of future success, (I heard that somewhere...😄), people will be able to have a better, educated guess when they see how others have fared. But that only works after people's bids are final and they know if they won the cabin or not.