XBGuy

I have posted many times here on Cruise Critic that the Ultimate Balcony Dinner is the best dining experience on Princess. The thing that wins me over is the superior level of service. Two servers are dedicated to your enjoyment and satisfaction. That is so pleasant compared to reading posts about people getting indifferent service in the restaurants and the dining rooms. Before our first UBD I was a bit concerned about having two servers hovering over us as we were trying to enjoy a somewhat intimate evening, but I had nothing to fear. Once you have settled down to the table the servers disappear. When you have finished one course and are ready to move on to the next, they reappear. Used tableware is removed, and the next course is presented. One of the above photos shows the Chocolate Mousse Raspberry dessert. It is awesome. On our first UBD I was quite surprised that more came after that. After the servers pick up the dessert plates and any other table items that are not being used, they wish you a good evening, but they also leave a platter of more sweets--sometimes it is cookies and sometimes it is petit fours. Believe me when I tell you, you have no room for those. The good news is that you can nosh on them as you wish over the next few days. @karatemom2, you have a specific evening in mind for your UBD. That sounds great. I tell people who are planning for their first UBD that if they do not have a particular date in mind, then try to schedule it early in the cruise. That way you have a few days to enjoy the platter of sweets, and, also, you have a few days to enjoy the floral centerpiece that is on your table.

Here you go, @alwalaska. Reading across the sheet, you can see that my methodology was to items costs for the three pricing scenarios: Standard Pricing (with not package), Princess Plus addon pricing and Princess Premier addon pricing. The reason, neither plan seem to work for me is that we order wine by the bottle, and the 25% discount that the plans offer on bottle purchases do not cover the cost of the packages. While this spreadsheet demonstrates that the addon packages would cost rather than save me money, anybody can modify it to better reflect their cruising preferences, and I would not be at all surprised if it showed that the packages work out to their benefit. I know that some of the amounts that I have entered for some of the items have to be updated. Specifically, Gratuities. I really don't recall where I found that number. Wi-Fi -- We are Captain's Circle Elite Level. We also, really don't use internet access very much when we cruise. So, a single-device plan works fine for us. However, I know that Princess has increased the rate since I built this. I think it doubled. Specialty Dining -- I know there was an increase (18%?) recently. That would have to be added in. The pricing that I used for the "Wines" line item in the "Standard Pricing" column was based on the final folio from a previous cruise--that was our actual consumption. The Plus/Premier entries for that line reflect the 25% discount on bottles of wine. You can see that I created a second version of my spreadsheet starting in row 25. The only difference here was that I inflated the price of the wines in the "Standard" scenario figuring that Princess had increased their prices since my last cruise. I do not expect people to cruise the same way I do. Anybody can take these sheets and plug in the numbers that they typically spend. I like my coffee hot and black. The standard hot-and-black coffee offered in the various rooms is fine for me. Mrs. XBGuy does not drink coffee. If you like custom coffees, then enter a line for that. In addition to not drinking wines by the glass, we do not drink cocktails. If you do, then put in a line for that. We do not attend fitness classes. If you do, . . . . If you require multi-device connectivity, then you would would have to update the Wi-Fi line. We have a domestic situation that precludes us from cruising in the immediate future, When that situation is resolved, I will look at this comparison again, and see whether or not it works for me.

Are all wines on the various Princess lists are available by the glass?

A fun thing that may or may not work out for anybody, is to walk around Vines seating area and check the bottles that they have on display on the shelves. For the most part, these bottles are the same that appear on their printed list. However, I have occasionally found older bottles that have fallen off the list. One one cruise I found a Chappellet Merlot with a few years on it. I asked the server about it, and it turned out he was happy to open it up for me. Now, of course ordering a bottle of wine that has been standing on a shelf for, possibly, years, has some risk. However, I was more than pleased with that Merlot. Subsequently, on that cruise I found a single bottle of Seghesio Dry Creek Valley "Old Vines" Zinfandel. It was equally good. Like I say, it may or may not work out for anybody, but you can look for free.

@Drew B 58, your new approach is completely reasonable. Go for it. I am also an analytical guy. Some time ago I posted a comparison spreadsheet that pretty convincingly demonstrated that neither of the package plans "pencil out" for me. However, what works for me has nothing to do with what works for somebody else. I agree that a cruise should be a "splurge." Don't deny yourself.

This story does not really address the OP's question, but I love telling it. In the early 1980s (This was, definitely, another era.) we took our second cruise--a Western Caribbean itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale. As we pulled away from the dock, we joined other passengers, throwing streamers off the ship--again, a different era. As the ship was motoring out the channel we did some exploring. At the forward portion of the ship we found some stairs that led up. There was nothing indicating that we could not walk up. So, we did. We were on a flying bridge right next to the command bridge. As we neared the exit of the channel leading to open ocean, the door to the bridge opened and out came a white uniformed officer. I was a bit nervous expecting to be told that passengers were not allowed. I was wrong. "Would madame like to blow the horn?" Mrs, XBGuy was pretty stunned, "Me?" He pointed to a button. Mrs. XBGuy is not the most confident person in the world. She hesitantly pushed the button, and the horn sounded for about a tenth of a second. The officer, who I subsequently learned was the captain, covered her hand with his, and together they gave the horn a proper "We're leaving port" blast.

OP, I had the same goal mentioned by @Flatbush Flyer. I wanted to to fly in a DeHavilland Beaver. On our fourth AK cruise I booked an flightseeing excursion in Ketchikan on a Beaver through the cruise line, (My coffee shop buddy did not understand this, "Let me see if I have this straight. You're going to fly in a plane that was designed and engineered in the 1940s?") When we arrived in Ketchikan, it was pretty drizzly. (No real surprise there, Ketchikan is in a rain forest.) We walked off the ship to the dock looking our tour. We found a lady with a clipboard, and she told us that all floatplane excursions were cancelled that day because of the weather, OK, I guess I understand that. Within a day our onboard account was credited to reflect the fare that we had prepaid for the excursion, So, as far as I was concerned that all worked out seamlessly. The next year on our fifth AK cruise, I booked the same excursion prior to departure, It was bright and sunny in Ketchikan when we arrived. Our little trip in the Beaver was great. I don't see any reason not to pre-book your excursion. The weather is going to be whatever it is going to be regardless of when you book. My opinion has nothing to do with a choice of booking through the cruise line or making your own private arrangements. As you can see from my story, there is no downside when booking through the cruise line. I know many people prefer to book their own excursions. That is fine. If the weather prohibits flying on the day you arrive, the private providers will also not be able to fly. They will then refund your money to your credit card account.

There was an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times, the other day, regarding beavers. It seems that aerial photographs of recent burn areas found a number of green "oases" in the middle of larger areas that were totally ravaged by fire. You guessed it--ponds made by beavers. It seems that not only do beavers create ponds by constructing dams, they also dig tunnels under and around these ponds. Water seeps into these tunnels, and, so the area around the pond becomes quite damp and is able to resist the flames of a brush fire,

And they thought they were safe in New Jersey.

I have been on AK cruises (not HAL) where one of the port excursions (Ketchikan?) was on a salmon fishing boat. If you caught a salmon, the fisherman had a choice of having it frozen and shipped to his home or taking on the ship and having the dining room galley prepare it to enjoy for that evening's dinner. On our very first AK cruise in 1992, there was a party of eight at the table next to us. One of their members caught one and had the galley prepare it for their dinner. They offered a taste to us. and it was excellent. This is a good way to be confident of freshness--pull it out of the sea and eat it a few hours later. I have read recently of somebody doing this on Princess. I assume it would be available on HAL, but I do not know for sure.

At the risk of being unreal. We only buy wine by the bottle. Some time ago I did a spreadsheet comparison of my cruise costs Standard Pricing vs, Plus Pricing vs. Premier Pricing. I found that the packages do not pencil out when I bought by the bottle. The 25% per bottle discount that is offered with both the packages did not offset the price of the packages. Because of a domestic situation, we have been unable to cruise for the past couple years. We hope that this situation is resolved at some time in the future. When we do resume cruising, I will rework my spreadsheet. Returning to the thread topic, I did think of something that I do not believe has been mentioned. There used to be a fun event offered in Vines called Stammtisch. One of the Vines servers would facilitate a conversation comparing multiple wines. Attendance was limited to 10 or 12--however many chairs there are around that big table. After the session was over, the server would open up one more bottle--typically, one of the wines in that day's program--and participants were able to sit around, enjoy that last bottle and chat. I always enjoyed it because it was a small group, the participants were, generally, more than casual wine drinkers and conversation was encouraged. This program ended quite a few years ago, much to my disappointment. I would love for Princess to restart Stammtisch or something similar.

OP, I have raved about Tracy’s King Crab Shack in Juneau for years. Then, on an excursion in Ketchikan, we had a Dungeness Crab lunch. Awesome. I would not say that one is better than the other. Similarly, I wouldn’t say that Snow Crab is better or worse than any other crab, Here is what I will say. Whatever crab you try on the ship will not be as good as you can get on shore. More than likely whatever you can get onboard will be overcooked (especially, if it has been sitting under a heat lamp) and, so, will be chewy.’

It's interesting that there have been several references to the Costa Riviera. That was the ship on which we took our second cruise--Western Caribbean--in the early 1980s.

The one time I was in a similar situation, the headwaiter was able to move us to another table. I agree that the best action to take is to summon the room manager and advise him. I understand that the answer might very well be, "There is nothing I can do." However, if incidences like these are consistently reported, it may trickle up. I disagree with the opinion that a Face Time conversation is the same as an in-person conversation. I have observed that even when an ordinary telephone conversation is put on "speaker," not only is the volume of the speaker set to a higher level than normal conversation--especially, in a busy dining room--but when somebody puts their phone on speaker, they tend to talk louder. Perfectly understandable. When holding the phone to the ear, but microphone is quite close to the mouth. The person holding the phone is subconsciously aware that there is no need to raise his/her voice. When switching the audio to speaker, the user tends to hold the instrument away from his/her mouth and talks louder in order for the now distant microphone to pick up his/her wisdom. I see (and hear) this regularly on my morning visits to the local coffee shop. I loved the idea that somebody suggested using a jammer to foil the signal in the dining areas. Since, as another poster has mentioned, we are talking about a wi-fi signal rather than a cellular signal, such a jammer would not work. I am not an expert in these things, but I am going to wonder out loud. It seems to me that wi-fi reception relies on some strategic placement of devices (routers? repeaters?) throughout the ship in order to provide shipwide coverage. What if they did not deploy those devices in the dining areas? I have no sympathy for people who feel they must check their email during dinner.

October 30, 1976 — NCL Southward — Honeymoon