OzKiwiJJ

I never actually got to cruise in one. I had one booked on Sea Princess after swearing I would never do another cruise in an inside cabin on a Sun class ship again, then Covid came along, cruising got cancelled, then they sold the ship.😪

It doesn't matter. Pinot Grigio is usually a wine that is very drinkable. Anyway anything would be better than that ghastly overoaked de Bortoli Chardonnay. Internet, one espresso, one cocktail and some bottled water will get us to the break even point.

That's good to hear. I was a bit nervous of trying it due to the region it comes from. Not a typical Pinot Grigio growing region. I don't know why Princess isn't offering more variety of wines by the glass. It's just crazy. And I won't say any more about the poor quality, I think I've raved about that enough. We only paid $30pp for the Plus package on our upcoming cruise so we'll still get value for money even if we buy wines for dinner.

@Tripmode33 Thank you so much. I can now budget for some wines by the bottle to make up for the pathetic selection of wines by the glass under the Plus package. Our next cruise departs from Melbourne. We can't be bothered chasing around buying wines before we embark as we won't have a car there.

From what I recall of the deck plans the o/v cabins are no larger and there are two types of o/v - ones with the bed under the window and some on a higher deck that is the same layout as a balcony cabin with the bed facing fore/aft. I liked the balcony cabins on Sun Princess. The metal railings certainly didn't give as good a view as the more modern glass ones but there was better shade from the hot sun.

OK. Your health and how you are feeling are top priority. Take care, mate.

OK, thanks anyway.

We'll be in Eden 30th March on Grand Princess. If it coincides with your trip there we'd love to catch up with you for a coffee or lunch.

@arxcards Geoff, Would you be so kind as to post a photo of the white wines by the bottle on the MDR wine list. I need to do some budgeting for extra wine purchases as I don't like any of the whites available under the Plus package - I can't drink Sauvignon Blanc and the Chardonnays have too much oak for me.

Not many I suspect.

I'm waiting until I see the full prices lists before deciding what we will do in the future. I used to enjoy a small fresh orange juice at breakfast but they stopped allowing that under the Plus package last year. We tend to have a cocktail before dinner (not the creamy variety - there are plenty of other interesting options), wine with dinner, sometimes wine/beer with lunch, and a digestive after dinner. Plus coffees but we only drink espressos onboard. I like to have internet as I enjoy doing puzzles on my phone and most of the puzzle apps I have need internet. Definitely not interesting in sickly ice cream sundaes, fitness classes or fancy juices! But at $65 pp per day it's still borderline I think. $10 for internet, as we're Elite, which leaves $55 for drinks. Until I see the full new prices lists I can't work out whether it's still a reasonable deal. We have three cruises booked: - Grand next month where we got the Plus package for $30pp. - Japan in November, recently booked so the Plus package cost $65pp. That one will be interesting as it will be a USD cruise and the wine list will be different. I think the package will be good value on that cruise. - the World Cruise next year. We got the package at $40pp but I need to decide how much extra it's going to cost to get some extra decent wines, especially white wines as the current ones don't suit me.

No, that's an expensive cocktail. I think most of the ones I've seen have been $16 or less.

Yes. Totally crazy! Princess will end up being known as the heart attack cruise line!

The Premium Dessert list. I wonder how many people will actually try these once let alone have two a day.

Thanks Geoff. So the more expensive Plus package now includes three things I don't want: - two super-sized ice cream sundaes a day. Hmmmm what are they providing for people who are diabetic or who prefer not to stuff themselves with ice cream. My idea of a nice ice cream is a single scoop in a cone and it's not something I'd have every day either let alone twice a day. - unlimited juices, most of which have high natural sugars. - but, hey, we'll give you two fitness classes a cruise to counteract all that sugar and ice cream. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

@arxcards have you discovered what the Speciality Desserts are that they have included in the new Plus package? I'm curious. Are they just super-sized ice cream sundaes from Swirls or are there new extra-cost or package-only desserts in the MDR?

Thanks. It looks like 12 wines under the Plus package now but still not great. Both the Chardonnays have too much oak for me. We mostly drink lightly oaked or unoaked Chardonnay these days and, from what I've read from various wine writers, that is the current trend in Australia. Unfortunately the only other whites are Sauvignon Blancs which I can't drink. Where are the Pinot Grigios and the dry Rieslings? The Rosè is a decent drop, as are both the Pinot Noirs and the Merlot. That's it for me though as I can't drink Cabernet Sauvigon either. I'd love to see a Sangiovese or Tempranillo, or even just a straight unblended Shiraz Tonight with dinner at home we had a very nice Tempus Two Chardonnay. They have a great selection of wines all very well priced at Dan's. Cheaper then the Masterpeace wines I think and far, far better than those De Bortoli wines.

That's a fairly standard pour in most restaurants these days. Some places use very small glasses so 150ml fills them to the brim. Decent restaurants use decent glasses which often makes it look like you're only getting half a glass but allows you to appreciate the wine better.

So far I've only seen them on FB forums, screenshots of the Medallion App drinks section. I might try to cobble together a spreadsheet during the week showing old and new prices. If so I'll post it here.

1. The speciality restaurant prices have gone up. 2. You will get the new $22 limit for your drinks package but won't get the extras of the new package - speciality desserts ( which appear to be ridiculously large ice-cream sundaes), juice bar whatever that is, and fitness classes. 3. From what I've seen so far it appears they are still only offering the same nine wines by the glass instead of the 25 promised. The prices of some (most?) have gone up e.g. the De Bortoli Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc is now $14 a glass. It retails for $5.99 a bottle if/when you can buy it that way rather than in the 4 litre casks. That makes their markup on that wine over 1100%!!!!!!🤬🤬🤬

Me too!

It sounds amazing, Jo. Have a wonderful cruise.

Poor dog. I hope she recovers. Give her a big pat from me!

I'm not sure Princess is offering great value for the price any more judging by what I'm seeing on forums elsewhere. The new drinks prices are kicking in and people aren't happy. Apparently if you don't drink alcohol you can no longer buy soda packages or coffee packages, just a combined soda/coffee package at $65pp per day. There is plenty of confusion over the new inclusions in the Plus fare - the speciality desserts appear to be huge ice cream sundaes and you'd need to have two of those a day to get your money's worth. I wouldn't even have one per cruise - my idea of a nice ice cream treat is a single scoop in a cone, I can't handle any more that that at one time.

I think "with the last dose being administered at least 14 days prior to the beginning of the cruise" means exactly that whether the last dose was a booster or not.