Using Ocean Now with Princess Plus

[Jimmys Chippy]

13 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Our last cruise we noticed there was some massive inefficiency with OceanNow.

 

Could be on a table near a bar the ocean now order would come from a different bar/bar pantry  rather than the nearest bar that had table servers.

 

Often easier to just order through the servers.

When it works it’s fantastic, but when it doesn’t you’re just hanging around not sure when your order is going to turn up, sometimes it never does. We’ve just decided to go back to servers or going to the bar ourselves. In a nutshell, it’s a complete waste of time.

[insidecabin]

38 minutes ago, Jimmys Chippy said:

When it works it’s fantastic, but when it doesn’t you’re just hanging around not sure when your order is going to turn up, sometimes it never does. We’ve just decided to go back to servers or going to the bar ourselves. In a nutshell, it’s a complete waste of time.

We have had the can't wait any longer ,get the drink  then it turns up.

 

We have a strategy on all cruises to make sure we can get prompt service in venues when not sitting at the bar.

 

Watch the delivery routes the servers take and make sure you sit on a return route so more  servers pass you.

[Thrak]

On a cruise last year I went up to Lido deck and found it really cold and unpleasant. I ordered a drink, drank it, and then said "To heck with this!" and went back to my room. About 20 minutes or so after I was back in the room there was a knock at the door. It was someone delivering my drink! Like I said above, I had already received and consumed the drink but, as we had booked with Plus, I just thanked the guy and accepted the drink. (No, I didn't tip him for delivering the drink I had already consumed and "paid" for.) Soooooo.... I didn't actually "use" Ocean Now but had it kind of "forced" on me. I thought it was a bit odd. We did actually use Ocean Now on two other cruises in order to get food or drinks or food & drinks delivered to the cabin. It mostly worked but one order was messed up and we ended up repeating part of it as a new order so as to actually get what we originally asked for. Fortunately we were using Ocean Now to get stuff delivered to the room while we were watching a movie during a "do the laundry" break in our cruise. I would guess the crew may not be nearly as enamored of this "perk" as many of the passengers are. For the vast majority of the time we just go to the bar or IC or wherever and do the order ourselves. It doesn't seem like much of a hassle to us.

 

Edit: Sigh... It's 3:23 AM and I'm not asleep. It's been a very "bad back night" for me. Fortunately I'm getting epidural injections next Wednesday. Yay!

 

I apologize for the rude post I made earlier but it's far too late now to be able to revise it. Old people can be so crabby sometimes. ☹️ I could really use Ocean Now at this moment but it's just not available.

Edited February 22 by Thrak

[MissP22]

12 hours ago, memoak said:

It can’t look like slice of it is a full pie   You cannot go to Slice and have them hand you full pies

I don't eat pizza but how many slices can you get at a time from Slices? 

[Jimmys Chippy]

2 hours ago, MissP22 said:

I don't eat pizza but how many slices can you get at a time from Slices? 

As many as you like.

[RNRcruisers]

I used Ocean Now for drinks last week on the Regal, probably an average of once a day. I loved it and found it quite handy. Some times it took a little while to get to me but it always did, and I wasn't getting around very easily with my broken foot.

 

PS -  it gives a price when you add to the cart but then zeros it back out again before you order. I would suggest always double checking that total before hitting order.

 

PPS - I did not tip extra.

 

[karatemom2]

4 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Edit: Sigh... It's 3:23 AM and I'm not asleep. It's been a very "bad back night" for me. Fortunately I'm getting epidural injections next Wednesday. Yay!

 

I apologize for the rude post I made earlier but it's far too late now to be able to revise it. Old people can be so crabby sometimes. ☹️ I could really use Ocean Now at this moment but it's just not available.

It takes a very big person with a good heart to apologize. We all get “crabby” sometimes and as much as these boards are designed for fun and camaraderie, they can certainly elicit some strong emotions at times. You are such a kind person - don’t beat yourself up over a momentary lapse. I hope you get some relief for your pain and feel better! 

[karatemom2]

21 minutes ago, Jimmys Chippy said:

As many as you like.

 
My daughter and I were “waitressing” for the extended family one cruise and carrying back three plates each with three slices of pizza, which I imagine was more than a whole pie. The servers didn’t even blink - just happily dished out the slices. So I guess the answer to how much pizza you can take is basically however much they have ready to go and that you can carry!

[suekel]

16 hours ago, memoak said:

It can’t look like slice of it is a full pie   You cannot go to Slice and have them hand you full pies

You can if it's gluten free

[MacMadame]

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

But I will acknowledge that Princess makes it more confusing than needs be, especially for those not familiar with Princess.  Thank goodness for helpful CC members. 

Yes, it's way too complicated. Think about trying to explain it all to a newbie.

 

"So room service is $5 an order but not for breakfast where it's free if you use the door tag, but you are limited to the items on the tag except you can write things in and sometimes you will get them but sometimes you will not. Oh and if you order stuff using OceanNow but you are in the room, that's not room service so there is no charge once you pay the $14.95 for OceanNow."

 

"Pizza is free if you go to Slices on the Lido deck but not if you go to Alfredos and if you order it from Room Service, it comes from Alfredos so it costs and also there is a $5 fee but if you order it via OceanNow, it costs but there isn't an additional fee for delivery. And if you do go to Alfredos and you have the Plus package, you can get the fixe prix meal two times but it's a lot of food so if you and your SO both go and split a meal, some cruises will charge you each for a "free" casual dining but some won't."

 

I mean really, who came up with all these different ways to do the same thing? 🤣🤣

 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Jimmys Chippy said:

As many as you like.

So if I walk up with a big tray and say give me all the pizza you have cooked and everyone behind me can just wait that is ok ?

[RocknRoll22]

14 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

Yes, it's way too complicated. Think about trying to explain it all to a newbie.

And there it is!!!

 

14 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

I mean really, who came up with all these different ways to do the same thing?

Exactly my point, thank you.

 

As a first time cruiser on Princess (we've been on about 12 others on other lines), you helped make my point. It's not clear in many areas, and you're learning as you go. It's was never about the cost of the food, but the implementation and the way things are advertised/marketed.

[Ride-The-Waves]

14 hours ago, MacMadame said:

Not an engineering degree. But maybe a PhD in Maths. 😉

 

Nope. It's all "marketing."  The activity of taking something from you with slight of hand costing more than you understand.  Its the new Princess way of vacationing.

Edited February 22 by Ride-The-Waves

[insidecabin]

Plenty of lines have separate sections for each type of package with the PAYG costs

 

Some clearly Mark the items with their cost and inclusions.

 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, MacMadame said:

Yes, it's way too complicated. Think about trying to explain it all to a newbie.

 

"So room service is $5 an order but not for breakfast where it's free if you use the door tag, but you are limited to the items on the tag except you can write things in and sometimes you will get them but sometimes you will not. Oh and if you order stuff using OceanNow but you are in the room, that's not room service so there is no charge once you pay the $14.95 for OceanNow."

 

"Pizza is free if you go to Slices on the Lido deck but not if you go to Alfredos and if you order it from Room Service, it comes from Alfredos so it costs and also there is a $5 fee but if you order it via OceanNow, it costs but there isn't an additional fee for delivery. And if you do go to Alfredos and you have the Plus package, you can get the fixe prix meal two times but it's a lot of food so if you and your SO both go and split a meal, some cruises will charge you each for a "free" casual dining but some won't."

 

I mean really, who came up with all these different ways to do the same thing? 🤣🤣

 

Isn't it wonderful. 🤪 

Without having to study all the nuances before you cruise, be prepared for a surprise when you receive the final bill.

I think they actually planned things that way. 

[Jimmys Chippy]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

So if I walk up with a big tray and say give me all the pizza you have cooked and everyone behind me can just wait that is ok ?

I’ve taken four slices in one go, they never mentioned there was a maximum amount you could take. They normally have one pizza ready to go and one in the oven at any one time so you’d essentially be able to walk off with one full pizza at best.

 

On a question of quality I’d say Slice is better than Alfredo’s, even more so  now that you have to pay for the privilege of Alfredo’s/Gigi’s.

[karatemom2]

3 minutes ago, Jimmys Chippy said:

I’ve taken four slices in one go, they never mentioned there was a maximum amount you could take. They normally have one pizza ready to go and one in the oven at any one time so you’d essentially be able to walk off with one full pizza at best.

 

On a question of quality I’d say Slice is better than Alfredo’s, even more so  now that you have to pay for the privilege of Alfredo’s/Gigi’s.

Agree with this - the pizzas are constantly coming out of the oven so it’s really not an issue. And we much prefer the great thin crust pizza at Slice. I’ve never been a huge fan of the restaurant pizza at either venue. 

Edited February 22 by karatemom2

[Jimmys Chippy]

14 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

Agree with this - the pizzas are constantly coming out of the oven so it’s really not an issue. And we much prefer the great thin crust pizza at Slice. I’ve never been a huge fan of the restaurant pizza at either venue. 

Before the cover charge was introduced, Alfredo’s/Gigi’s, for me, was just an alternative venue for lunch, and that’s probably about as far as I’d go with endorsing it. We had the option to dine there on our last cruise as part of the Plus Package but we didn’t bother, we’ve never been able to see what all the fuss was all about.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

6 hours ago, MissP22 said:

I don't eat pizza but how many slices can you get at a time from Slices? 

2 but you can go back as often as you like

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

So if I walk up with a big tray and say give me all the pizza you have cooked and everyone behind me can just wait that is ok ?

It is meant to be 2 slices at a time but as often as you want but if there is no line or if the server is being kind you may get more. Just ask 🙂 

Edited February 22 by Snaxmuppet

[MissP22]

3 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

2 but you can go back as often as you like

Seems reasonable at busy times so the line doesn't get out of hand making people wait 30 minutes for one slice. 

[MacMadame]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

Isn't it wonderful. 🤪 

Without having to study all the nuances before you cruise, be prepared for a surprise when you receive the final bill.

I think they actually planned things that way. 

I'm not so sure about that based on a few other things, I think maybe they make a lot of decisions by tacking things on to existing things instead of working the whole thing. Or maybe they do it based on ROI only and not looking at the big picture.

 

So the breakfast room service benefits them enough that they don't feel like charging for it but delivering things to people's rooms at random times does not so they tack on a $5 charge to discourage it. OceanNow is something that distinguishes them from other lines so they make that cheap to encourage people to use it (and tell others how great it is) but not free because charging makes packages more attractive and/or helps to recoup some of the costs.

 

I'm probably overthinking it. But I am an engineer so I like to figure out how things work. 😄 

[suekel]

9 hours ago, Jimmys Chippy said:

Before the cover charge was introduced, Alfredo’s/Gigi’s, for me, was just an alternative venue for lunch, and that’s probably about as far as I’d go with endorsing it. We had the option to dine there on our last cruise as part of the Plus Package but we didn’t bother, we’ve never been able to see what all the fuss was all about.

The eggplant is good