CruizinSusan70

There is a difference comparing cost versus value. Cost wise, after including the new 18%, Princess is still cheaper with the Crown Grill compared to comparable locations on Celebrity, Carnival, Royal and MSC. Only you can determine whether the additional 18% cost wise still brings you value with what you're paying and that is totally subjective as opposed to the dollar amount which is not.

No, if you upgrade to the 60 per day plus, you get two credits of 14.99 pp to visit a casual dining venue. If you visit a third time and get the 14.99 3 course meal or go another day and split an 8.50 pizza, then those would be subject to the 18% gratuity. The first two visits of 14.99 have the gratuity already included.

Even with a basic 7 day it would pay for itself. 40.00 x 7 = 280.00, love is 298.00.

There was a recent live thread from one of the ships and the shows were 630, 830, 1030.

The Excel Class ships of Carnival, of which the Sun is based off of have both smoking and non smoking casinos on them. Maybe there's a possibility the Sun and Star will have the same.

Comparing the drinks packages included is no comparison. You're getting the premier package on Princess. If you were only getting the Plus package, it's a major upgrade over the classic package on Celebrity. The classic package on X covers up to 10.00 per drink. It covers none of the specialty drinks at Eden, World Class Bar or their Martini Bar, except basic drinks you can get anywhere. Zero specialty drinks are covered. Even beers such as Stella, Blue Moon, Guinness or even Michelob Ultra are not covered since they are all 11.00. We've been on nine cruises on X and have zero booked. Been on 4 with Princess and have 7 booked.

Well, we stay in an inside cabin and pay extra for the plus package. You stay in a balcony or deluxe balcony cabin and spend zero on packages. When you factor everything together, you should be enjoying your more expensive cruises since you're paying more for your type of cabin compared to our basic inside cabin, which we are very happy with, combined with the Plus package, which we're even more happy with. So, unless you're getting your cabins comped by the casino, you're paying more for your vacation. Happy cruising.

They're not. Especially if you purchase the Plus package. But teetotalers have a different view of things.

Looks like you throwing a hissy fit when Alchemy runs out of your favorite bottle and now you need to come up with a substitute.

Cheaper than Celebrity, Royal, Carnival and MSC.

Take the blinders off. All of the various mainstream lines are increasing prices and coming up with new ways to increase the bottom line. We just got off of an 18 day B2B on the Celebrity Beyond. Their steakhouse is 65 pp plus 20% gratuity, so it's 156 for two. The Crown Grill is 92 for two after the 18% added in. That's a big difference. The new Star of the Seas has just opened for bookings. A basic inside cabin for two with port charges and gratuities is 4K for 7 days.

We have sailed on MSC twice, with the first time being in the YC on the Seaside in 2018 and again in a Fantastica cabin on the Meraviglia in 2023. Our experience with the YC food was that the lunch options were better than Princess but the dinners were sub par. Overcooked filets and meats covered in gravy. Too European skewed with the dining options consisting of a lot of fish as well as no comedy and no piano bar. We gave them another shot out of Brooklyn this summer, but MSC is permanently in our rear view mirror. On the other hand, Princess is our new line of choice, having sailed them four times on the Discovery and Majestic and currently have 7 more booked. MSC has very deep pockets since they were not affected by the shutdown like their competition since the container division was still bringing in money.

Is it me or does that toilet look awfully wide?

As Greg mentioned, the mass market lines are more similar than different, but there are still aspects that some do better than others. Carnival does comedy and lunch time options better than any line. Have cruised on Carnival 27 times and also have another 30+ between Princess, Celebrity, Royal, NCL and MSC. Our new favorite is Princess, having cruised on them 4 times and currently have 7 booked.

Every cruise that I have ever taken has had more than one bathroom on it. 😉

Their financial department is real creative when it comes to mysterious charges out of left field. It took 4 months for us to get our refundable OBC back and we still got screwed out of some of it.

Have cruised on Carnival, NCL, MSC, RCI, Celebrity and Princess. There is no comparison whatsoever between RCI and Princess. Two different animals. I will infer you prefer a younger crowd and the four entry level lines are all skewed younger than Princess and Celebrity. But MSC is European skewed, even with their ships based in the US. Happy cruising.

After 28 days on two different Princess ships, never had to announce our cabin number, only had to put the medallion on the plate at the International Cafe for coffee and just be close enough at the bars for the system to pick up our medallion. When this happened, our picture and cabin # would pop up on the bartenders tablet.

Having 28 days of Princess experience with the special menu, it's available starting at 530 pm until last call, which is usually around 1145 pm. They have a special group of bartenders that make them, similar to the mixologists at Alchemy. And yes, they would deny you one at 400 pm.

That nighttime menu is what differentiates Good Spirits from the other bars. Between two shows, a shower and dinner each evening, I will infer that SG never made it to GS between 530-1145.

The expanded menu is good from 530 pm to closing only at every Good Spirits in the fleet.

You do have to soak up your 15 drinks plus any others from your stash.

And Izod or Docker shorts will work the other nights.

If this same story happened to Greg on Princess, he would have been given a case of wine for his troubles

He obviously could never cross your line. Gotta respect that.