dreaminofcruisin

It's always surprising that there actually are lots of people who apparantly can afford it--or think they can. Just off the Ruby and she was headed for Hawaii. Our California coastal cruise last week was 50% full. We heard Hawaii this week was going to be at capacity. So....the bean counters win.

I am just off the Ruby last week and I was really surprised to see that the Ruby doesn't have sinks for hand washing like the other ships I have been on over the last few years. The Emerald had them in August and I am pretty sure even the old Sun Princess had them in 2019. Since I started seeing sinks on the Sky, I am assuming the Royal class has them? Is the Ruby alone in not having sinks, or are there other ships also? Since the Emerald has them which is a pretty similar design, it just seemed odd to me. It was also interesting that nobody, ever, requested anyone to use the hand sanitizers on the Ruby. On the Emerald (Southampton), the entire cruise they requested people to wash every time you walked into the buffet. Longer cruise? Different country? Or just different staff?

Just off the Ruby and I thought I would give my 2 cents worth. I am a white wine (only) drinker. I was on the Emerald in August (out of Southampton). The 'house' wine was Tini! and I thought the Chardonnay was pretty awful. The Pinot Grigio was a bit better, so I went with that for the cruise. I tried a couple of times to 'upgrade' using the menus, but it seemed they never had what was listed. On the Ruby, the "house" wine was Canyon Road. My opinion again was that the Chardonnay was awful. However, I found that not all bars had the same Chardonnays and Pinot Grigios. In Skywalkers, I asked the server what brand of Chardonnay they had and he told me they had 3 different ones included in the Plus package (not listed on the menu as being by the glass). One of them was Decoy, so that was my 'go to' if it was available. I found that Decoy was available in Skywalkers, Explorers and the Calypso Bar. In the dining room and Good Spirits I think they only had Canyon Road for a Chardonnay, but they had other brands (don't recall the names) for Pinot Grigio that were palatable. It's a head spin to try and keep track since they aren't listed on the menus, but I found asking the bartender or a knowledgeable server would often find me something drinkable that was included in Plus. My advice--ignore the menus. And Vines is dead as far as I could tell. Their 'menu' was the same wines as Good Spirits and the servers were the same servers so they didn't know anything other than what Good Spirits had. Really a shame, as several wines that I now drink at home I first tasted in Vines experiences. So sad. There was hardly anyone sitting there and I can see why. You do need to be sure the bartender/ server is knowledgeable. We had one experience where on the menu we saw there was a Prosecco Sparkling Wine available, but we preter a Brut. Since that was listed as an upcharge of $4 / glass, we thought we'd try that. Fortunately, DH was at the bar when the bartender started pouring the Prosecco. He said, but we wanted Brut. The bartender said, we don't have that. UM.....felt like saying...so if I ordered a Stella, but you were out, would you just give me a Bud Light???? I guess wine is just pretty mis-understood.... Hope that is helpful and I really hope Princess gets their act together about their wines....

We had to 'burn' some OBC on the Ruby last week. We discovered that we were allowed to use it for alcohol and snacks in the Princess Shops. Good thing I brought that extra roll-a-board and was able to check 2 suitcases each for free..... 🥂

Very interesting. I assume this is on the "Disembarkation Information" page they gave you? I just checked mine (off the Ruby yesterday) and under "Account Settlement" it doesn't even mention the ability to get cash at all (so no dollar amount available), though Customer Service told me it was $25.

Interesting. Just off the Ruby and they told me it was $25. If I had known it was $250, I'd have spent less onboard. 😒 It was enough work convincing them that the port charge credit should be "Refundable". They had it marked "Non-Refundable". I had to politely get a supervisor involved. Also, be careful if you and a spouse have different amounts of OBC available. They used DH for one thing we bought and he had already used up his non-refundable credits, so it was taken from his refundable credits even though I still had non-refundable available.

I do think there are people who have a need to print something/use a desktop computer. However, what I don't understand is why is there BOTH an Internet Cafe and an Ocean Front....which one do you go to with questions about the internet? It seems like it would be either. Just off the Ruby and there is an Ocean Front on both 7 and 15 (15 is just a display case). We had some OBC to use so bought some Medallion accessories. We discussed them with the guy in Ocean Front (on 7), but "paid?" for them in the Photo Gallery. So, it seems those 4 things could be combined: Internet Cafe, Ocean Front on 7, Ocean Front on 15 and Photo Gallery. Perhaps optionally the Library also, depending on if the main purpose people use that for is to check out books?

Just off the Ruby. Twice daily service without requesting it.

You could get 2 per person. We had no problem with each getting a bloody Mary and a beer for a "chaser".😊

Princess allows you to get 2 drinks at a time also. We often did it on the Emerald in August.

I'm pretty much a Princess cruiser, but did take a Carnival cruise with family in March. I found there are things better on each line. I think the biggest 'pro' on Princess is a higher level of service. Servers come to your table in the buffet and offer you beverages (alcoholic or not). It just 'feels' like the crew is a higher level. I also found on Carnival, drinks were more specific to the bar. On Princess, any bar is able to make any drink, pretty much and they will even make things not on the menu. The Medallion app, though it has a lot of glitches still, does offer some nice options. There are MANY more TV / Movie options in your stateroom on Princess. I agree that Princess is quieter and less crowded / less lines to stand in. Princess doesn't require you to sign a piece of paper every time you get a beverage, especially with the drinks package. The 'cons' on Princess are that Carnival has a much better beer selection, balcony cabins all have a loveseat/couch, more fast food options other than the buffet (thinking of Blue Iguana and the sandwich place in the buffet). Also, I keep hoping Princess will upgrade their music selections to more options that are songs written in my lifetime (and I am in my 60s!). I would go on Carnival again, but still perfer Princess if given the choice.

I can see why you want to explore them. We have found on some ships for whatever reason, the service is better than another. Usually we just stop once we are happy with the service, but if you want to try all or them....go for it. 😊

Here's the post:

It looks like the website is a bit wonky right now. I'm not sure that $100 deposit is correctly listed. If you click on it, you get the 'Something went wrong message.....' There is supposed to be a $1 deposit starting soon...maybe the 1st? Someone posted about it. You might want to look for that post...

You should see the charge on the app and as long as it is working correctly, you should see the $2 charge. Otherwise, it would be $0.

"It" knows. However, it is a good idea to periodically check your folio to be sure you didn't get charged for a drink in error. You can check your folio on the app, on your tv and at a kiosk by Customer Service.

@HaveDogWillTravelWow! Bar Menus! Real actual menus, not just the result of scanning a code which may or may not work!! How exciting! Was it hard to find them? We were on the Emerald in August and real menus were non-existant. Interesting to see especially there actually is a Vines menu!

Not quite sure what you are asking.... but... Alcholic beverages have a limit of 15 / day Non-alcoholic beverages are unlimited. Is that what you are asking?

Print off your Travel Summary. Print off your Luggage Tags (and attach just before you get to the pier). Then you should be good! Have a great cruise!

When you go into Dine My Way on the app, does a line show up at the top that indicates you have a dining credit? If so, I "think" you should be good to book it. If you don't see that it might be that it doesn't show up until you are onboard. Then....I don't know... In my case, it came with the booking so it showed on the app that I had a credit....not sure if the TA is 'giving ' it to you, or really sometimes they say that, but it's really just part of the booking.

I think you will always get the emails for the upcoming cruises you have booked. However, I think these are called Marketing emails and you have to specifically allow them. Check in your personalizer under My Profile. See the section called "Receive Offers and News". There you must specifically say "Yes" to Email. It will also result in them sending you other marketing emails about cruises that you haven't booked. Hope that helps.

Also, logon to your Cruise Personalizer and be sure you have Accept Emails set to "Yes". I was quite surprised when I logged into my account when all this started and saw that Emails were set to "No" even though they have always been set to "Yes" in the past. So, good to check. I received the bidding offer within 24 hours after I changed it to "Yes".

@HaveDogWillTravel Thanks for the Patters. We board on Saturday, though totally different cruise since it's a California Coastal. It appears that there was NO "party band" on board for your cruise....or did I miss that? Also, it looks like the Outrigger Bar at the aft of the ship was never open. 😒 I guess I'll be trying to use my App for drinks since that's our favorite area of the ship.

These concern me as with the word "Club" it 'feels' like an upcharge. I'm seeing a real lack of outdoor spaces front and aft for us 'commoners'. 😳

We were on the Emerald Princess in August. Of course, that was in the British Isles, so may not be the same. We made a small number of calls deal with a small issue at home. The first one we used WiFi Calling successfully, though a bit choppy. The 2nd call using WiFi Calling just didn't work, so we gave up and used WhatsApp, which seemed to be a bit better. Another tip is to stay in one spot when calling. DH has a tendancy to wander while talking and I think that made it harder to keep the connection. 🙄 I also think the 2nd call was on a Sea Day, so it may have impacted how good the WiFi was? Bottom line would be to have multiple options available.