Steelers36

Let me put it this way - which may what some of the posters had in mind. When booking a cruise vacation, include the day before in the vacation request or booking (whatever required to mgmt). That way, you have the travel day to arrive ahead of time. If you cannot pre-book the necessary time, I'd find another vacation option.

The OP was writing about dinner. Sounds like your lunch after boarding.

I believe there has to be three levels of seating areas in order to handle the passenger load.

DR. Like you described.

For me, I see it as a nice change of pace and would go on the ship just for that experience and not expecting to reach any exotic destinations.

My fave was the Sea Bass and I have been unable to find recipe. I even tried writing his website and nada. The pot pie was pretty good too.

Okay. I see what you mean. From that initial photo, I was thinking it was the exclusive DR which is on a higher deck aft (forget which deck and it is not identified on Princess.com deck plan).

For certain, your package statement is correct per the known information. However, the increase from $12 to $15 is a 25% increase.

Seems odd. Are you aware of the deck plans on Princess.com? Presuming you know where to find them, when you look at a deck, you will see to the left you can adjust the default occupancy from ANY to 2,3,4. There is also a check-box to select connecting rooms. Same for all ships in the fleet.

Not sure about that, but the ones for steerage come with oars.

Doesn't look like a restaurant we folks in steerage will get into. Looks like the one exclusive for Suites/Reserve.

Is this necessary to get through them all?

You should have asked him to join you for dinner one evening when you planned to have that bottle.

I am one to admit ANYTHING can happen in relatively one-off situations on any ship at any given moment. Doesn't mean it's right. Reads like an over-zealous waiter. Even if it was your own wine, there is no policy to charge corkage every time you bring bottle to dinner until it is empty. It is a one-time charge.

I don't see why it would be out any sooner than the rest of the 24/25 Winter season.

My initial impression is intrigued with the new direction of this ship and interested in trying it out as a ship-within-a-ship and mostly just stay on board. However, I am thinking we wouldn't be booking one of those reserve staterooms with the indoor/outdoor seating area that seems cool to me. It certainly seems a brave new world for Princess.

Nope - not happening. If you take an unopened bottle to the DR and waiter opens it and charges you corkage, there is no sticker. Where ever you go next with the bottle, it is open with cork half stuck in and no charge will ensue (regardless of whether said label is on their menu or not). Yes, they used to sticker paid bottles at the wine table near security and check-in. I have not seen table manned in recent cruises - probably because we arrive early for check-in. No issues with an opened bottle whether same label as sold on ship or not. I have found more often than not, our waiter is not charging us, but I am mostly bringing opened bottles with me.

Not if it is already open and partly consumed. They don't double dip you.

The most I have carried on for a cruise is two cases and that was for our longest voyage to-date - 60 nights around South America. Don't recall if I bought any additional in ports, but perhaps a small amount. If we were a bottle-a-day folks, IDK how I would manage 5 cases. LOL. Anyway, it is often possible to supplement the initial haul with additional bottles at port stops. But it can be a burden to get a significant amount onto the ship. And with 5 cases, I'd need to bring a wine cooler as well. 😉

Yes, you can be a Walk-Up guest. They may suggest one or other DR is best for that. You may have a wait at prime time (say, 6p to 7pm). You will wait less if willing to sit at any table (sharing) versus private. Since you were looking at DMW, see the option where you can book for the entire voyage. That implies same DR and same time each night. It books all nights the same (subject to availability) and saves you doing it 20 times. If you want different times each night, then you have to do it 1-by-1. You might just want to book at 20 at once and then go in and make override changes if a few nights are an exception. All DR's have same service level and menu. Two are at mid-ship off the Piazza area and one is aft and accessible from Deck 7 (down one level) or from the aft elevators. Some folks don't care, but we prefer one of the mid-ship DR's since we don't tend to stay in rear cabin sections. You should no be told to go elsewhere if you have a res for a time in a particular DR. You might be advised as a Walk-Up that if you go to one of the other DR's, the wait it less. Check the deck plans on Princess.com and see where the DR's are located and where you cabin is relative to that, or consider what you might be doing just before and after dining.

Quite true - and your price hike prediction may well come true in time. With all the price increases, I have not seen anyone mention any new increases in bottle prices on the wine menu. I do consider the $20 fee, but I so rarely end up with it that it is almost a non-factor. And let's remember that any bottle on the menu actually costs 18% more than listed. BYOW is a no-brainer if guest can deal with the logistics of acquiring and transporting to ship. PS - I am thinking a lot of waiters who returned to Princess forget about the new price and do $15 by habit?

On our voyages this Fall, the photo department was out there every evening for photo posing. I didn't pay enough attention to see if more folks were partaking on the Formal and DTI nights, but I suspect so. TBH, a lot of times I passed by the photo locations, the photographers were standing around looking bored. I was thankful they were not sending the photogs around the DR's for individual and table photos.

I bring my own wine in lieu of drinking Princess Plonk. That eliminates glasses of wine from the equation. And we don't drink a lot of wine each evening, so purchasing Princess bottles would be my route if not taking on my own. We would have $75/day between us to spend on wine or bars after deducting $30 for CI and $15 for MN (50% discount applied). Even if we were to buy a $75 bottle of wine each day, it would not be emptied. I realize everyone has their own take on this, but I just see it as Princess has moved the goal post even further away from me considering the package.

It may be difficult to find a voyage priced 35% off under the sale. But there only needs to be one or two. I think they are just trying to get guests to book the Plus. Sure the 7 perks are included - if you book the right fare. They just don't get specific on what you need to book to get the perks - at the marketing high-level come-on. (I have not read it all in detail, but they don't seem anymore deceptive than a lot of retailers in how they hype a sale promotion).

I was half-joking. The real problem are the many mis-informed reps that tell people things on the phone that are incomplete or incorrect.