Princess AIBP - stretching the friendship?

[OzKiwiJJ]

I tried a few Virgins lat cruise that I wouldn't have gone near at $5 a pop, a couple I even liked.

 

I assume you mean mocktails :eek: :p :D

[jim_in_nyc]

My wife and I both enjoy sparkling water with meals. Can you confirm the price of a large bottle of sparkling water at one of the restaurants (or pool if available.) I assume that the waiters would allow 2 people to share a bottle if "purchased" with the AIBP.

 

We have purchased the AIBP on both Princess and Celebrity and for us it worked out to be worthwhile. We both enjoy a drink but rarely have anything alcoholic before the evening. So with the beverage package we did have the odd light beer with lunch or a mojito by the pool but the main difference for us was that we had espresso coffees a couple of times a day, a few diet cokes, bottle water, fresh juice at breakfast. In fact what we would not have spent the money on normally, we enjoyed because we had the beverage package.

 

Yes I know, you can say it is false economy because without the package you wouldn't have had those items so therefore wouldn't have spent the money, but what I like about it is that you don't even question whether you should spend that extra couple of dollars on the juice or the coke or whatever. You have paid up front so you can do what you like and one of the great things about cruising is that, pretty much, it is about doing whatever you like.

 

cheers

 

Stu

[Stuartm]

My wife and I both enjoy sparkling water with meals. Can you confirm the price of a large bottle of sparkling water at one of the restaurants (or pool if available.) I assume that the waiters would allow 2 people to share a bottle if "purchased" with the AIBP.

 

I have no idea of the price but because we had the AIBP we enjoyed a large bottle of sparkling water at dinner every evening. Even if only one of you has the package, you can share the bottle with your table mates.

 

On both cruises where we had the AIBP the only issue I had was with how slow the drink service was in the restaurants. I don't expect the wine waiter to arrive immediately once we are seated but I think having your appetizer arrive and still no sign of the wine list is poor service. We did end up complaining and things improved greatly. Others we spoke to had had the same experience and as this was a ship where many on board had received the package as part of the 123 promotion, we wondered whether Celebrity had told the drink staff to go on a 'go slow' . I know, just another conspiracy theory.

 

cheers

 

Stu

[OzKiwiJJ]

I'm boarding Celebrity Solstice next Wednesday. I hope I don't experience slow drinks service in the MDR. If I do I will be seriously annoyed and so will DH. We like to choose wines to match the food we have chosen and get extremely irritated when the wine for a course arrives after we have finished the food.

[Stuartm]

I'm boarding Celebrity Solstice next Wednesday. I hope I don't experience slow drinks service in the MDR. If I do I will be seriously annoyed and so will DH. We like to choose wines to match the food we have chosen and get extremely irritated when the wine for a course arrives after we have finished the food.

 

There wasn't a great deal to choose from in the wine by the glass section but we managed to find one we liked. This was back in 2013 so things may have changed. We were on anytime/freestyle/ (can't remember what Celebrity called it) dining and once we got the wine service sorted we always asked to be seated in the same area so the staff knew us. We also eat late so it tended to be a little less busy.

 

Enjoy the Solstice. She is a beautiful ship. I can recommend both the French and the Italian restaurants. Excellent food and service although, now that I'm typing this, I remember we did have to wait in both venues for what seemed like an awfully long time before the wine list was produced. Maybe my partner and I look like a couple of old drunks so they were reluctant to let us loose with the alcohol.:o

 

Have a great cruise.

 

cheers

 

Stu

[OzKiwiJJ]

Thanks, Stu.

 

Hope there is more than one decent wine by the glass though. :eek: ;) We've chosen late traditional dining so hopefully we will have great waiters who will figure out our wine requirements quickly.

 

I've already bought sufficient OBC to try the speciality restaurants. :)