ONT-CA

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

 

On 11/10/2018 at 12:38 PM, Tom Baker said:

It would have been fixed very quickly if the toilet had broken in my cabin for days on end, once I started using the sink or the shower or the bin or the vase or reception (which cabin was it so we can all avoid it in the future)

🤮

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Thanks for the laugh.

Laugh not, thanks for the idea

Non US citizens do keep an eye on the exchange rate of currency.  When the US dollar is low or our home currency is high it is to our advantage to pay up some if not all of the cruise.  We have at times saved a portion of the originally calculated price by watching and pre paying. 

2 hours ago, daiB said:

 

I would hope they do listen to their staff as the viability of the scheme depends on them and therefore the profit.

 

Upsetting the  majority who will not take the deal by having poor service with staff being tied up with those with the deal is going to hit the bottom line.

There is a domino effect with a package system as you mention. There aren't more people in a full  bar just more orders.  I wouldn't categorize it as poor service for I have seen waiters run off their feet.  No matter who they serve, the cash sale or the package holder, someone shall come last.  And I'll add another little hiccup in all this, and we too are guilty, offering a cash tip to the waiter to prompt return service which does offend some on both sides of the house.   I don't see pando's incentive to increase the number of waiters only to have to lay out more 'package' drinks.  And as I have covered in other postings, there could never be a fear of not making a handsome profit at the mark-up applied to their duty and tax free spirit costs.

We Canadians also found the price variants vs time a little shocking.  But as now warened, we did request a specific cabin well in advance.  We then began to watch the price decrease.  When approaching those who handle P&O's booking here, they were also a little surprised and sent a request to the UK for clarification.  But a deal is a deal they say so a lesson well learned.

As an item aside, our final fare is calculated in the pounds's value at point of payment. As converting pounds to dollars is a rarity,  one's point of reference tends to mentally go back to one's youth when the pound was equal to about $4.00 CDN.  The conversion under those  rates shocks one back into reality for sure.  Not much question that the folks in the UK get a better deal than we do but if we want to sail P&O, and we do, pardon us if we hope for a weaker pound on payment day.

I see that you are fairly new to CC by virtue of the number of postings.  CC is a wonderful site for us to ask questions and share information. It also functions as a venue for personal communication.  As such you will find from time to time comments made in jest.  The site is monitored and postings that do not meet the site's standard can be removed and a warning given to the author.   It is unfortunate that you found offence to my posting, the point of which I have explained.  However, offence can be found in almost any posting if coveted.

4 hours ago, gamajr said:

Thanks again to 2 mains for the helpful reply and for Kaylacool as back up for how enjoyable you found the breakfast.

 

As for the two cynical replies, why bother yourselves? 

 

I’m more than happy with my cruise ‘deal’. If I can be in a mini suite for 7 days for $350 then yay for me. If it happens to come with a breakfast as well, I’m not going to turn it down. I’m perfectly capable of doing my own math on cruise ‘discounts’. I did however ask a question regarding the delivery of the breakfast which neither of you answered. Not just unhelpful but really quite rude. 

 

My mind also boggles.

Unfortunately the humour escapes you.  We were just making light of the contractions of service, each and every one as impossible as the one you were originally presented with   The posting was directed solely at those who prepaid it for you.  

Sort of fits in with:

Priority disembarkation on all sea days

50% off all Duty Free Items on port days

Reserved 10:00 am pool lounge chair

Reserved table for all Buffet meals

Yours plus additional two seats held for all shows

15 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

Those who are Platinum and Elite passengers are rewarded for their loyalty and one of the perks is priority boarding.  If your socialist theory were enacted the benefits of early boarding would be eliminated.  I suggest you cruise more and then you can line up and be the first onboard and race around making your reservations.

The Platinum and Elite passengers have most probably "been there done that", so little contest.  When on a cruise and awaking in the morning, I make a mental list of all the things I do not have to do today... running about making reservations is on the top of the list.

Not to commandeer the thread but I have to ask of those who receive hors d’ oeuvres on formal night or every night for that matter for Suite :  how many are just left there or missing the trial one?  The gesture is much appreciated but the quality leaves much to be desired.  And as they are served pre turndown service they will be removed then and so no need to place them in the corridor 

Sorry, still trying to master this new system.  My comment above was in answer to Post #131, by The English Lady:

On 10/21/2018 at 5:12 PM, FiftyOnePlus said:

 

Quote

 

Perhaps you do not understand that there is a principle here.  I pay the listed prices but I don't have to be happy about it.  And thanks to  CC for being here to allow me to vent my displeasure.  We would hope that Pando (took me two days to decipher that) reads these comments and takes them into consideration when developing business practices. 

 

 

 

On 10/21/2018 at 5:12 PM, FiftyOnePlus said:

When you fly to a destination, and stay in a hotel, if the prices are too high, or they dont sell what you like, you can leave and wander around until you do find the bar you like with the prices you like.  Anyone who has had a land based holiday can tell you that prices vary considerably from bar to bar, hotel to hotel.

The last hotel I was at, for example, wanted the equivalent of £9 per glass  (small) of wine which I found to be totally unacceptable.  The bar next door was selling a large glass for £2.

 

On  a cruise ship that option does not exist. We are reliant upon their prices and their choices. These prices on P&O may well be near the same as English pub prices but still arent as cheap as some people might want to pay on a holiday.

 

Now there isnt a hotel that I have ever stayed in that has forbidden me from taking my own alcohol to have a nightcap. I have never had my bag searched in entering a hotel. 

The only reason why a cruise line does any of this is money........they want our money.   They have reduced prices so much, that they cant now allow passengers the freedom of chosing how and what they drink. 

They used to allow it......but not anymore. Not now they rely on that revenue.

 

And for some people, it kind of spoils it a little.  Stopping me from taking my own nightcap doesnt make me want to buy it from the cruiseline. It doesnt make me drink more in an evening. All it does it stop me from having that one drink a night that is satisfying for me on my holiday.

 

 I refuse to pay £5 a shot when I can get it here for free.

 

 

Unlike a hotel where one can openly bring in personal alcohol but also leave and frequent any local bar in the area, a passenger on a ship is for the most part a captive customer to the house.  There is no going ashore at the very times that alcohol beverages are customarily served.  To exploit that is one thing but to do so with products that have been purchased at such lavishly favourable costs and mark them up in a tenfold price range is a little devious to my eye.  I pay the price for I must but that is not to say I enjoy being exploited in this manner.  And if there is a manner in which passengers may avoid being so treated, more power to them 

 

 

 

On 6/3/2018 at 3:02 AM, FraserK said:

My husband works for the customs and his reply is yes and no. Depending where the ship is, depending if you are cruising within the EU or not.

 

Kat

Very true.  But when we are cruising out to sea in no man's land there are no taxes, there are no duties.  I previously worked for a distillery and if people only knew how little a bottle of alcohol beverage is sold for before these additions.  The ships that docked in port placed their orders and as long as the sailing course and itinerary met the conditions  a twelve bottle case could be loaded as ship's stores for as little as £30 in todays currency.  Knowing this and watching the drink prices continue to rise allows me to understand and concur with finding a way of bringing ones own alcohol aboard.  There is a difference between profit and gouging 

Isn't the single payment to a married couple of common name considered discrimination if two individuals who marry but retain their individual family names or even two individuals who are joined in common law each receiving the OBC?

Thank you for including D304 as we did have questions, now answered .  Great photography 

...Again - you will NOT be charged for electricity in your room on a Princess ship!

Yet?;p

When we began cruising Cuba with Luis Crystal a few years ago they began to charge $15. for use of the cabin safe for the 7 day cruise. That lasted only a year when we began to understand that the combination was returned to 0000 after a guest departed. It was a matter of opening the safe with the zeros and setting up our own code. Plus those who did not know about the 0000 were advised about this by the cabin steward who would earn an improved tip for having done so. Fun but by year three the safes were free.

I always for for the real deal, the fried eggs. I leave the scrambled eggs which are sometimes watery and have ingredients added that's iffy for me - like salmon.

Standing before the "egg man" with his handy skillet I ask for two fried eggs. At the right moment I tell him to scramble them. He smiles and folds them onto a plate.

It is interesting that we have now come full circle. Initially people who enjoyed their cruise and the service offered a gratuity for service rendered. Then a figure was produce telling us what was considered an appropriate amount for a gratuity and then rather than present it to the individuals we could have it put onto our account, daily. Then when booking a new cruise we were offered the convenience of paying our gratuity "in advance" of boarding followed by having our gratuities just added to the price the cruise. And now and finally we complete the circle by returning gratuity presentation and their amounts back to the passengers themselves where it belonged in the first place.

Yes and I take my own coffee bags as I don't like instant. Although we usually have 3-4 costa Coffees on a 19 nighter.

On our one and only P&O cruise our suite had a single cup coffee pod machine which when finally mastered didn't produce the best of coffee. And I agree instant is not our favourite. So if our now Balcony cabin has a kettle, I think a french press might be the answer. Can't start the day without a good cup of coffee.

... Again, P&O have tea coffee making equipment in the cabin and in a self service base on board, so you only have to pay for hot drinks ordered in a bar. ...

Do all cabins on P&O have tea and coffee making units ?

Please re read my previous post for you are just doing exactly what I said there yet again focusing on uptake being a decision to increase consumption of alcohol. Getting my moneys worth will not be based on making sure I drink 15 alcoholic drinks rather it will cover what i usually buy when on board and by that I mean a good number of costa coffees, a lot of soda and yes wine at lunch, dinner and maybe a mocktail or cocktail or two. I am sure I am not alone in this we will buy the package based on it being worthwhile against what we pay on board now or as some have said knowing what you will spend on board. .

Then please re read my entry. The purpose of the "plan" is to increaser revenue not increase consumption. Increased consumption is the possible end result. I understand this does not apply to you but surely you can understand the human nature of wanting something that has been paid for.

It is only that I have been aboard ships where the rowdiness, the vomiting the fights have occurred. When comparing these conditions to other cruises I have taken the analysis result was clearly the "drink" package.

I am an advocate of having and paying for a drink if, when and as the occasion arrises not because the day is young and we have 15 to go...

... As has been endlessly said if the package is not for you for whatever reason then do not buy it but do not start accusing people who do of being alcohol dependent or having diminished sensibility.

As with all drugs it is not the user with whom I find fault but the supplier. This "deal" encourages over consumption with all its possible negative results by virtue of the price. For one to "get their moneys worth" moderation becomes secondary. True, how many passengers purchase the plan and how many suffer negative results is none of my business. But the consequential negative effects that we the passengers are subjected to as a result of over consumption is our business and that is why we voice our displeasure of the plan to the cruise company.

We have confirmation that he is currently and will be aboard the Crown for the 10+10 day Caribbean cruise commencing November 17th. So he is bound to be aboard for the crossing as well as anything up to that date.

We have been served both O'Doul's as well as Buckler. But that was a few cruises ago.