I could almost agree with your thinking except for the fact that they want to keep the base price down as low as possible to attract future customers. That's the first thing most people consider what shopping around.
Once they've made a decision on the cruise line, adding the extra packages is easy.
Changing the input into their TV certainly wouldn't affect it. If the TV was bad, that's another story altogether.
If there so concerned about electronic devices causing the problem then they should ban people from bringing on board ANY devices.
I believe the reason for Princess's lack of enforcement is based upon profits. They want to compete with all the other cruise lines & still make money selling themselves as an upscale cruise line by not enforcing any specific dress code.
I suppose there are some of the formalists that might be disappointed in the lack of strict enforcement, but that's the way it is right now.
The Europeans can do whatever make them selves feel right about the situation.
On formal evenings that's pretty much as you described.
On casual nights, shorts & T shirts seem to be very common these days and other than no swim suits & workout clothing, I can't see much objection to them.
The most important thing is, did you enjoy yourself and not feel that those people who didn't care to join in with the formal attire affect your cruise?
You've got that turned around. The formalists can dress up every night if they care to. No one has ever degraded them for dressing up.
It's their choice.
Actually if they made every night formal, we all could expect better food in the DR. 😀
Last time we were on the CB they had to be told every day at the buffet to warm up the bread pudding.
Their idea of warming it up was to put it out ice cold on the warming tray.
I'd like to know what happens to the gratuities for drinks not purchased under the plan? Is it kept by the cruise line or does it go into the pool to be distributed to all the crew?
With the way they're pushing their packages, it's obvious to see that it's a hugh money maker for them.
There are very few people who can actually enjoy numerous numbers of drinks daily, not to speak of their silly desserts or exercise classes that most people don't even want. 😉
They have to plan out every detail of the cruise including what they'll be eating, drinking, what clothes to wear and what shows to attend on any particular night. 😄
So why do you insist on reading about them?
Actually, the DR dress codes are very tolerant lately. They just don't require that formal clothing be worn, that was once mandated, in order to enjoy the better meal selections. It now allows everyone to determine (within reason) what is proper for a particular evening.
All I was saying is that Princess is just playing around with their pricing in order to make people think it's a bargain when in fact it's just another gimmick to convince people to spend extra for the package.
It's sort of like my local cable company who bundles their poplar channels with junk channels that no one cares about.
I'm still looking for the cheapest price without any package added in, which only confuses the issue. Their bottom line is to convince people that they need the plus package which I have found is totally unnecessary.