Princess cruise "hacks"

[MissP22]

Or for that matter, carry on additional bottles of wine at every port without paying any corkage fee. 😉

[MissP22]

12 hours ago, 4cats4me said:

 

We showed up at 6:15 without a reservation to the Crown Grill on the Crown  Princess last October and were seated promotly.  On other occasions onboard the Regal and Royal , we’ve had 7:30 reservations and decided much earlier that we were hungry then, like 5:45-6:15 and were able to change the time.  

These occasions were all on non-formal nights, however. 

Since they don't open until 5:30, there's not much they could have done with those seats prior anyway. 

You did them a favor by showing up early to ease the service rush.

[Ofmyheart]

Neverbeenhere...

 

Princess has the worst coffee on the high seas...favored creamer helps or as you suggested Starbucks VIA.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

12 minutes ago, Ofmyheart said:

Neverbeenhere...

 

Princess has the worst coffee on the high seas...favored creamer helps or as you suggested Starbucks VIA.

Not Regal or Royal Princess, though.

I have recently found RCI's Allure of the Seas coffee to be absolutely undrinkable, while I can more or less stomach Princess coffee.

[Ofmyheart]

I can get the Regal's down but it sometimes is still hard.

[SargassoPirate]

1 hour ago, Ofmyheart said:

Neverbeenhere...

 

Princess has the worst coffee on the high seas...favored creamer helps or as you suggested Starbucks VIA.

Agree... it's swill.  I either switch to tea or bring a tin or two of International Foods instant cafe mocha along with my own convenience store thermal cup.  Of course, if everyone starts bringing their own cafe mocha tins, the cruise line may ban it since it cuts into their chi chi coffee sales.

[Mapu]

35 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Agree... it's swill.  I either switch to tea or bring a tin or two of International Foods instant cafe mocha along with my own convenience store thermal cup.  Of course, if everyone starts bringing their own cafe mocha tins, the cruise line may ban it since it cuts into their chi chi coffee sales.

I have a pack of Starbucks Via ready to bring on a short cruise next week. Since Coffee Cards no longer are able to be used on multiple cruises I guess Via is the best alternative to Princess's regular coffee.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Ofmyheart said:

I can get the Regal's down but it sometimes is still hard.

I just switch to drinking juice or soda instead of their coffee. 

It probably costs them more in the long run instead of them providing a decent cup of coffee. 

[Ombud]

55 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Agree... it's swill.  I either switch to tea or bring a tin or two of International Foods instant cafe mocha along with my own convenience store thermal cup.  Of course, if everyone starts bringing their own cafe mocha tins, the cruise line may ban it since it cuts into their chi chi coffee sales.

The long blacks on Regal / Royal are correctly made (2 shots expresso + water) on the Star it wasn't drinkable (syrup + 1 shot). Had to order lattes NO sugar

 

Via is a good tip. I bring a box of my favorite herb tea onboard. I burn thru my coffee card otherwise and although they have a selection in the buffet mine isn't there

Edited May 6, 2019 by Ombud

[figmentdj]

On 5/5/2019 at 9:15 AM, happy cruzer said:

Ok, trying to stay on topic.

 

Room service breakfast on the door hanger is continental.  However there are some nice sandwiches on the 24 hour room service menu.  So we select the continental items we want and write in the choice from the 24 hour menu such as club sandwich.

Love this idea. Question: On the breakfast door hanger, how do they know the item is from RS, or rather how do you specify? Thanks!

[Ombud]

Elite / Suite Vegetarians did you know that you can modify the formal night appetizers? I learned that on my last cruise. Plus they tell you which wines you can trade your minibar set up for .... you don't have to try to figure out which ones (and there's a dz) are within the price point

[happy cruzer]

2 hours ago, figmentdj said:

Love this idea. Question: On the breakfast door hanger, how do they know the item is from RS, or rather how do you specify? Thanks!

There is a 24 hour room service menu in a notebook in your cabin.  Just note which have a charge and which don't if you want the room service to be included.  Then just write on the door hanger the same name as in the menu (they know that menu very well and all items typically are made by room service people).  Some people have luck writing in simple items like a boiled egg too.  Do a search here on cruise critic and you can find copies of the door hanger and of the room service menu.

 

Some people who don't mind a possible wait also just call in an order when they wake up.

[Thrak]

Caveat: If you want 4 pieces of bacon do not put x4 or any notation of that sort on the hang tag. You will get 4 orders of bacon. Been there, done that.

[GUT2407]

6 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Caveat: If you want 4 pieces of bacon do not put x4 or any notation of that sort on the hang tag. You will get 4 orders of bacon. Been there, done that.

One problem is you never know how much is in a serve until after you’ve ordered.

[aussiebossyboots]

11 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Or for that matter, carry on additional bottles of wine at every port without paying any corkage fee. 😉

 

Good to know, however for our first Princess Cruise we are going to Papua New Guinea, pretty sure buying bottles of wine at ports will be impossible.  This is also the same policy with Cunard, but we don't pay corkage if we drink the wine in our room.  Seems like Princess' policy is to pay corkage regardless of where you drink the wine.  Is this correct?

 

We will carry a few extra when we embark in Brisbane and pay the corkage which is all OK by us.  Cheers

[AZ Ocean Lover]

6 minutes ago, aussiebossyboots said:

 

Good to know, however for our first Princess Cruise we are going to Papua New Guinea, pretty sure buying bottles of wine at ports will be impossible.  This is also the same policy with Cunard, but we don't pay corkage if we drink the wine in our room.  Seems like Princess' policy is to pay corkage regardless of where you drink the wine.  Is this correct?

 

We will carry a few extra when we embark in Brisbane and pay the corkage which is all OK by us.  Cheers

You can bring one bottle of wine per person for consumption in your room and technically you have to pay a corkage fee for anything over the two you would consume in other spots but we have frequently brought our bottle that we were going to drink in the room to the MDR and have never had to pay an additional fee.

 

One other thing regarding wine.  If you buy a bottle and don’t finish it you can take it back to your room or they will hold it for you for later in the cruise.  We’ve done this in the MDR and at Vines.

[aussiebossyboots]

Thanks AZ Ocean Lover

[elliair]

On 5/5/2019 at 5:52 AM, skynight said:

I don't understand your post. If you want to take any drinks back to your cabin you are free to do so. If you want other non-alcoholic beverages for mixers you can bring them on board. No problem, no restrictions. Passengers can carry on as much non-alcoholic beverage as they want and can consume them in their cabin, or any place else on board.

The example you gave infers that the poster is bringing on alcoholic beverages to mix their in cabin drinks. Princess does not allow you to bring on alcoholic beverages, except wine. If you do bring it on it is contraband, subject to be confiscated and destroyed. It appears to me that the poster you are quoting is not acting in accordance with the cruise line's policy or "legally" as you state.

I bring sugar-free Margarita Mix to mix with our FREE minibar we get when we board.  There's not much in the way of juices for people who are diabetic or on a restricted low sugar diet.  I get lemons from the buffet and make my own sugar-free lemonade.  One has to be resourceful in doing what's best for you.

[polmcs]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

Caveat: If you want 4 pieces of bacon do not put x4 or any notation of that sort on the hang tag. You will get 4 orders of bacon. Been there, done that.

One can never have too much bacon! 😉

[VaCruzers]

 

5 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

One problem is you never know how much is in a serve until after you’ve ordered.

This is one side order of bacon.  We made the mistake of ordering two side orders earlier in the week and were so shocked we forgot to take a photo! 

[GUT2407]

2 hours ago, polmcs said:

One can never have too much bacon! 😉

Yes you actually can, it takes a lot, but it can be too much.

 

[Times Prince]

On ‎5‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 8:56 AM, Mapu said:

Juices are only served at breakfast and that is the reason to request extra and take it back to your room. I like cranberry juice (never had guava juice) and like to have cranberry juice and vodka. We are elite and have a mini-bar but only soft drinks, beer and water in addition to the alcohol are provided. It would be nice if there was an option for bottled juice.

For a long time cranberry juice was free and freely available at breakfast in the buffet.  Because of people taking large glasses of cranberry, Princess made it so that one has to request it specially then wait for them to bring it (as opposed to already having other juices in hand,),  We've had a couple of occasions onboard in the morning where cranberry juice came with a bar charge.

It was also about the same time that the charge for cranberry juice for room service came into being.  

 

Not saying y'all are doing anything wrong (assuming the vodka is from the minibar), but anything which potentially lowers bar sales will have an impact on us all.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Times Prince said:

For a long time cranberry juice was free and freely available at breakfast in the buffet.  Because of people taking large glasses of cranberry, Princess made it so that one has to request it specially then wait for them to bring it (as opposed to already having other juices in hand,),  We've had a couple of occasions onboard in the morning where cranberry juice came with a bar charge.

It was also about the same time that the charge for cranberry juice for room service came into being.  

 

Not saying y'all are doing anything wrong (assuming the vodka is from the minibar), but anything which potentially lowers bar sales will have an impact on us all.

Maybe that's why they've reduced the size of the juice glasses to around 4 ounces?

If you want anything larger they'll sill give it to you, but you do have to ask.

[kate59]

On 5/6/2019 at 12:58 PM, aussiebossyboots said:

Really interested in this topic.  We are cruising Princess for the first time in January 2020 so any insights, whether we call them 'hacks' or not will be appreciated.

 

We will be on the Sea Princess to Papua New Guinea in a balcony cabin which I found out after booking is mostly covered.  All Ok by us - not complaining.

 

Prior to booking we also didn't know that you could bring 1 bottle of wine per person on board.  And, pay the corkage on additional bottles - bonus.

Hi Aussie Bossy Boots (love the name)

The Sea Princess is an older ship but it is nicely set out and New Guinea is good - we did 2 cruises in a row to there. Kiriwina and Katava are nice and the locals are very friendly - take lots of $5 and $10 notes. If you get approached by locals to change any currency - please try to help them, it has always helped to get Aussie money back if we still had local currency left over but they will work in Aussie $. Just know the exchange rate.

Have a great trip.

[kate59]

11 hours ago, aussiebossyboots said:

 

Good to know, however for our first Princess Cruise we are going to Papua New Guinea, pretty sure buying bottles of wine at ports will be impossible.  This is also the same policy with Cunard, but we don't pay corkage if we drink the wine in our room.  Seems like Princess' policy is to pay corkage regardless of where you drink the wine.  Is this correct?

 

We will carry a few extra when we embark in Brisbane and pay the corkage which is all OK by us.  Cheers

Alotau do have a supermarket but I can't remember if they had wines, otherwise no hope of getting wines on shore.