luv2kroooz

The current policy with princess Plus from their website, 15 per day limit on drinks with alcohol. I will keep checking for updates cutbacks etc "The package has a daily limit on alcoholic beverages of 15 beverages over a 24-hour period (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.)."

Thank you for this. I was not aware.

Oh no. I hope our Princess ship doesn't fall apart while we are onboard. Hopefully the life boats are in good working order. If not, I'm going down drunk. Lol. I particularly enjoy Woodford and Talisker. The recent change to Grey Goose on NCL doesn't bother me. I prefer Belvedere which I am told is phasing out on NCL. Both Goose and Belvedere listed on Princess menus. SO prefers Bailey's and Chambord which are up charges on NCL.

We are US based booked for an upcoming 10 day on Princess. By way of example, we are paying $600 (60*10) each for our plus package. We are booking onboard on Day 1 because between SH credit, Princess OBC, and TA OBC we each have $300 OBC per person to burn. So our net out of pocket is going to be $300 per person, or $30 per person per day for the Princess plus package. For $30 per person per day, included is our daily service charge to dining room and room steward, which is $16 per day on Princess. Then, we get unlimited internet and the plus beverage package which includes many of the high end liquors that NCL charges for plus everything I mentioned above. There are other inclusions like fitness classes and sundaes but they are of no value to us. Plus, we don't have to worry about buying coffees and bottles of water, or port regulations, bar closures, upcharges etc. Our exposure is that Princess decides to raise the $60 package price prior to sailing. As mentioned above, everyone should do what makes the most sense for them. We don't believe NCL has the cheapest package in the industry is the point I was trying to make. They do have very creative marketing and have developed a strong perception of Free offerings, but there are a lot of upcharges and restrictions in their Free program. It may make sense to shop around. In full disclosure, NCL does not limit consumption of alcohol. Princess has a 15 drink per day limit on alcohol.

If you open to a Princess cruise and have not looked at the Princess Plus and Premier bundled offerings, I would softly encourage you to do so. I used to share your feelings, but when I looked at those packages, I found out I was wrong. Those packages are truly all inclusive. There is, however, a 15 per drink limit per day on alcohol, so not unlimited. Nonalcohol is all inclusive. If you drink liquor, no upcharges for Grey Goose, Hendricks, Woodford, Bailey's, Chambord, Talisker. No $21.80 per person per day service charges, either. Specialty coffee tea, bottled water, milkshakes, fresh juice all included. Might be worth a look.

We looked and then booked. We are giving it a try this fall. One other positive, Princess sells the packages onboard on Day 1 for the same price as in advance. This allows you to buy on Day 1 and use onboard credit to offset the cost of something we value. You can't do this on NCL because you have to pre buy free at sea. With NCL, we seem to find ourselves in the position of dumping OBC on stuff we don't really value. You are exposed to any Princess price increase if you wait to buy onboard. We find the Princess beverage package is much more inclusive on the top shelf liquors, but also includes bottled water, milkshakes, specialty coffee and tea, fresh squeezed juices, etc.

I will just add that it could depend on your arrival time. Our recent call in Lisbon was one of the ports where NCL shortened the time in port. Our times were shortened to 1030 to 400, with all aboard 330. Due to the shortened time, everyone was trying to get off the ship at 1030. Long lines had formed throughout the ship and there were long delays. In this example, unless you were at the front of the line, you were not off the ship within 20 minutes of arrival time. Also, everyone came back to reboard at 330, so again long lines to reboard. We waited over an hour and we ended up leaving after 500. Of course, this was not the case in ports were the ship arrived at say 7am, as there was low demand to disembark at 700. Things were much smoother in this case.

No problem. Here you go. 40% discount compared to NCL. Goose, Woodford, Talisker, Chambord, Bailey's, Hendricks, Blantons all included. Plus their package offers bottled water, specialty coffees and teas, fresh squeezed juices, milkshakes, and even more. No service charge on their plus or premier bundled offering. Check it out. https://profcruise.com/new-princess-drink-prices-2023/

For those sailing soon, here is recent menu showing Grey Goose is now premium plus as I shared previously. In the interest of full disclosure, this was taken from birdtravels recent Escape posts. Glad we are sailing Princess in the fall. We don't have to deal with these laughable menu prices or the sales taxes associated with the same. his was

This is a good idea if you are willing to make the time investment. In my opinion, it is a lot easier to just make a pro-rata adjustment of the gratuities for services paid for but not provided. It's a ten minute wait at guest services and a one page form. You'll have the credit on your onboard account before you disembark and the matter is closed. I don't believe the full $20 per day charge in US goes directly to the crew anyway. Every other cruise line can fairly compensate crew at $16.50 per day. For some reason, NCL thinks it needs $20.00 per person per day.

Looks like 2023 is the same as 2022. This was discussed on MSC thread in May 2022. Since this is only happening to NCL over multiple years, one could conclude that NCL has made a business decision to market an unlimited open bar package without disclosing the restrictions associated with certain ports.

I can only speak to Livorno. We were there three weeks ago. Yes, only beer and wine served while in port from 7am til 7pm. Even after we left port, NCL did not serve anything but beer and wine for the remainder of the evening. The sign posted above was prominently displayed at each bar.

I wouldn't expect anything from Miami. Based on past examples, they'll send you a nice letter via email telling you how much they strive to deliver great vacations, how much they appreciate your business, and thank you for your understanding in the matter. They will be very anxious to welcome you back onboard and will thank you for giving them a final opportunity to reiterate their firm position in the matter, which will be you are owed nothing. Good luck to you.

Yes, this is the only recourse available for anyone who feels economically harmed. Taking it to Miami won't help. They are the ones driving the chaos. It is too bad, because the crew work very hard, but it is the logical, and quite frankly, understandable action. We regularly donate money to 501c3 charities, not for profit companies. Given the way NCL treats its passengers, it scares me to think how they must treat their crew members.

Agree. I am wondering if their financial liquidity situation is significantly worse than they've previously communicated. Maybe they don't have available cash. I have no proof of this, but something just doesn't make sense here. The "two day lack of notice" theory has blown up, as has the "oops someone made an honest mistake theory".

No Complimentary Lobster No Complimentary Liquor ....love the post above Norwegian Screws Lines. What a sad, sad situation from a large cruise company.

So, so true. When we have to compliment NCL for delivering a service it has been charging for, we have reached a new low.

...yeah, great job NCL for getting this fixed and for delivering the service folks are paying for. 🥱🥱

Any thoughts on a strategy? We have a decent amount of OBC to use. Any way to pre buy and use OBC? Embarking from US port. Do sales taxes apply if purchased at embarkation port on Day 1? Thank you.

TA offer additional amenities such as OBC or fare discounts not available through princess. However, you are giving up some degree of control over your booking because the TA owns the booking. Want to upgrade or refare? Need to use TA. Etc. At the end of the day, seems like personal preference.

Hi everyone. I am coming over from NCL board. We are platinum on Princess but haven't sailed since pre Medallion experience. We have a family cruise in Emerald coming up this fall. My booking is separate from my parents. I have downloaded Medallion app and registered. My dad, however, is a dinosaur. No smart phone. No app, etc. I see I can get him registered for online checkin on princess.com. do you think he will be ok onboard with the medallion but no app? Is the on board experience diminished significantly if you don't have an app? Can you still order drinks from a bar server? Make dinner reservations, etc? Thank you so much in advance.

What a poor choice of words. Intentional to create confusion and misinterpretation? Who knows. Do they mean guests may be served or they may not be served? Orrrr... Do they mean guests may be served as in guests are definitely permitted to be served?

One would think so. I wouldn't wager money on that happening. Hopefully I'll be proven wrong, though.

Strange post. See post 877.

They'll get it fixed now that the negative publicity is coming. They always do.