rheathslc

From someone onboard Ruby now with an in-transit day in SFO

Thank you! I am totally fine paying for tax. I HOPE that's how it ends up working.

Hooray!

What Princess really ought to do is charge folios for the drinks on days they have to per whatever laws are in effect, but then comp each folio that has a package for that amount after the fact. They're already getting the package money. If they don't do this then imo they're just using the new laws as an excuse to squeeze more money from guests.

That's what I thought! I told him that in my reply but have not heard back yet.

Since we get the package I don't bother bringing wine but I'm thinking I'll bring a bottle on my next cruise even though I'm flying in late the night before so I will have to buy the bottle in Utah where it is more expensive. Unless I can get bottle of wine somewhere in the San Francisco financial district after midnight or before 9am.

Are the Carnival packages drinks only or do they include the other things the Plus and Premier do as well? My CVP told me the Plus and Premier package cannot be pro-rated because they include so many other things. Which I get. But in that case a discount on days that drinks cannot be include would be better than nothing.

Not to mention I can imagine that if Plus and Old Premier guests get package drinks covered in CA embarkation ports but new Premier guests do not that's gonna lead to some seriously angry folks.

I noticed that. But the page also says that the terms apply to both the old and new Premier unless otherwise noted. So what about the "old" Premier. That's what I have for my upcoming cruise.

@theliterateleprechaunthere is much consternation in various quarters about some language about the packages that people have noticed in the last day or so. Since your next leg is out of San Francisco would you mind checking on this and reporting back? People want to know (me, I'm people) if we really are going to have to pay for drinks while the ship is in San Francisco.

Oh good point! I am Elite now. My next cruise will be my 2nd at Elite so I didn't think about the minibar. 🙂 But we also had it in a suite before and yes, it was there when we were first allowed in the rooms. If you try to get into your cabin before the announcement that they are all ready it MIGHT not be there yet.

I don't actually know either. 😬 I just know others have done it. Don't worry about it. I'm sure that if this is actually happening on CA sailings we'll know about it soon.

But that's not including the time after you board and before the ship leaves port. I'm often on board before 11:30 and usually have several drinks before the ship casts off. So it's more like 5 hours. And the new language says that Princess will not offer any refund or comp for times the package is not in effect.

One more reason I won't sail on Discovery again. She's a beautiful ship but the spaces I love most across the fleet are either missing, being removed, or are substantially less appealing than on other ships. Even other Royal class ships. This is off topic but another big reason is that the Adults only Retreat Pool is barely deeper than a kiddie wading pool. I love the Retreat on Royal and Regal and the Hollywood Pool on Majestic. And the Lotus Pools on the older shops. The one on Discovery is pointless.

Would you be willing to change the name of this thread so that people who are sailing out of ports in the other states listed in the policy will also see it? We might get better info that way.

I saw your video review of that whole debacle. Truly ridiculous that Princess can't figure this out.

This just came up on a group for my Nov 27th sailing out of San Francisco for 5 days with a LONG day in San Diego. Which would mean we would be paying for a package AND drinks on two out of 5 days. That is ridiculous. Does anyone have any experience with this since the new Premier package took effect? I will cancel my packages if that's the case.

I don't see any movies under the stars listings on the Patter. Are they showing anything on this leg?

Ohhh! That's right! I forgot this was a B2B and thought it sad that they wouldn't have one on the 16 day. In that case a very nice gesture from Princess!

A free specialty dining meal is nice but how sad to not be able to have the event. Especially as one of the top MTGs. Congrats and Enjoy your meal!

Good to know! The first time was Labor Day weekend with 3 ships in port. The border crossing was bad to start off so we were delayed even getting to the terminal. Then the line to get through customs took about 2 hours. And the line got even longer after we got in. It was horrible. I don't know how they got everyone on board in time. I know better now but I can't help that my birthday is around Labor Day. 😁 We were actually supposed to be on the Diamond for a B2B for her first two cruises back in service after the restart. They canceled those less than a month out. We had to scramble to find a replacement and I was adamant about cruising for my birthday which left us with limited options. So it was the Royal out of Vancouver to Alaska on Labor Day Saturday. We flew into Seattle on the morning of (also a mistake I won't be repeating) and took the Princess transfer to Vancouver.

I'll be in an inside on Baja deck in Nov! Looks so clean and not worn out at all. Bummer about the lack of USB ports but I have my plug with multiple outlets and ports so I'll survive. 🙂

Yay! So glad you had that experience. Our first time embarking in Vancouver was a nightmare. Mostly due to getting through the border and then again having to go through U.S. Customs before boarding which I did NOT expect and I swore never to sail out of Vancouver again. Of course I DID and the 2nd time was much better. But that was mostly because we didn't have to go through Customs that time.

I feel like a lot of those passionate complaints I read are due to people not reading the cruise documents carefully or availing themselves of the copious additional information the cruise lines provide. I read every official document I can get my hands on. And while YT videos and social media reviews can be helpful and enjoyable they are not a substitute for reading the fine print. I personally have very little patience with people who cannot be bothered to do basic research when they are spending so much money on a trip. And of course they are still entitled to their opinion. What is actually upsetting is when those people mistreat the hard-working crew over their own ignorance/laziness or misunderstanding.

I know probably very few people, if any, care that much about this but.. I have not had a chance to confirm the validity of my theory until today. Just checked at 12:39pm Mountain Time and the days had changed from the 51 that was showing this morning to 50. So I think it's safe to say that my app countdown is changing over at 12:30pm local time. What's still confusing is that 12:39 Mountain Time is 11:39 Pacific Time which is the time at Embarkation port for my cruise. So did it change at 12:30 local time or 11:30 port time? The app also showed 10:39 as the current Ship Time. I find the Ship Time especially odd given that this ship, the Ruby, is actually in port in Vancouver right now for day 1 of a new cruise and should be on Pacific Time. 🤷‍♀️ The mystery continues. I'm going to try setting my phone's time zone to Central time and see how that affects the process.