EclipseChaser9

I only drink about two alcoholic beverages a day, but I ordered (usually) 3 or 4 specialty coffees a day, enjoyed the speciality desserts and the unlimited juice bar. Juice would have been $8 per glass, smoothies $12, coffees $4, and my alcoholic beverages were $12 or $14 each. With the WiFi and paid gratuities Plus was a good value even though I only drank a few alcoholic beverages a day.

So here is my update after my 15 day cruise. I’m glad that I purchased the Plus upgrade. Every morning we enjoyed having speciality coffees delivered to our cabin. It was fun to try the different speciality coffee varieties. I don’t drink many alcoholic beverages, at most two a day. I enjoyed trying different drinks that I hadn’t ever had before. My cabin mate likes to drink Bailey’s before bed, so we had Bailey’s delivered to our cabin at night. We drank a lot of Perrier and bottled water, and some sodas. We enjoyed sampling speciality desserts, although there were plenty of baked goods and sweets available without a Plus upgrade. After the eclipse servers walked around the deck serving a special eclipse drink (alcoholic) which was quite good. Available at no charge with Plus upgrade, and it was fun to celebrate the eclipse with others in our area. We could order Mimosas with breakfast too. I really enjoyed the juice bar, but wouldn’t have paid $8 for freshly squeezed juice or $12 for a smoothie if it wasn’t included with the package. I had two juices every day and my cabin mate had smoothies. When I figure in the cost of WiFi and gratuities I think the Plus package was a good value. The WiFi was actually very good, and while I realize many or most people want to go offline during cruises I needed to connect my laptop for a few minutes every day to check my work emails. The price I had to pay for taking 17 days off during a busy time at work. Besides my work laptop, it was nice to be able to send pictures to friends and family so I did like using WiFi. So did it make sense financially? I didn’t count, and don’t intend to go back and add it up. I was on vacation, and having the Plus package made my vacation more enjoyable. Besides, if looked too closely into the financial aspect I might question whether I should actually spend the money to take a cruise at all, instead of using the money to pay down my mortgage or pay off my vehicle 🙂

We are halfway through our 15 day cruise, and I’m happy to have the Plus package. We have tried new drinks, all the speciality coffees, premium desserts, and we visit the juice bar a few times every day. The poolside delivery is excellent and we have made good use of delivery to our stateroom. We order speciality coffees as soon as we wake up and Bailey’s late night for a before bed drink. Even when we were just at a random place on the deck before the eclipse we were able to get water, drinks, and snacks delivered directly to us. The medallion is wonderful as we can be located wherever we are on the ship.

We visit the juice bar frequently, which I would skip if it wasn’t included in the Plus package. It’s very good, they use fresh fruit and make it in front of you. But I wouldn’t pay $8 or $12 for fresh juice if it wasn’t included. We also get bottled water and some canned sodas so we always have some available in our refrigerator.

It is my first cruise, and I had read so many opinions pro and con that I was torn. But I bought the Plus package and I’m very happy that I did. I’m on vacation, and it is nice not to have to worry about how much I am charging up to pay at the end of the cruise. And I can’t put a price on the convenience of having drinks and snacks delivered poolside, or while we are watching movies under the stars, or just relaxing in our room. it will be interesting to compare with our two friends who are on the same cruise, and who we hang out with almost all day. They opted NOT to do the Plus package, and the four of us are ordering nearly identical food, drinks, room service, pizzas, casual dining, etc.

Yes, I actually live in the 100% totality area in Indiana. But historically we had a 70% chance of overcast skies. Indiana is a very cloudy state! My dog sitter watched the eclipse from my backyard! It turned out to be a perfect day in central Indiana. My friends in northern Indiana saw nothing but clouds.

I am on the Emerald Princess Eclipse cruise, and the reason is picked this cruise was to see the eclipse. I traveled to Casper Wyoming to observe the 2017 eclipse. Our captain did an excellent job of parking us in a perfect place to observe the eclipse. I had gone up early on deck 16 to set up my tripod next to the railing, but there was plenty of space available for even those who came up at the last minute. After Totality the crew members walked around serving a special Eclipse alcoholic beverage which was delicious. I would definitely book a Princess Eclipse cruise again for future eclipses.