lone_stranger

Hi Kelly,

Thank you for your efforts in putting this together and making it as accurate as possible. I was just wondering when your next iteration of the Beverage Package Evaluator will be coming out.

Hello, "lone_stranger."

We noticed that, and we were concerned that Kelly might make the same mistake that you made (and therefore might use a capital "B" in the Excel file). That is why, when we listed our suggested corrections, we did two things:

1. We spelled Ira's word, "Sambuca," and --

2. We gave both the wrong spellings and the right spellings of the other beverages -- without using (potentially misleading) capital letters for emphasis.

 

(Thanks, Kelly, for not taking offense.)

.

Point well taken. Thank you. Your method of indicating incorrect and correct spellings is a superior way to address the issue.

Thanks Kell,

 

Appreciate your hard work.

 

Ira

PS: It's "SamBuca" :)

When did they start capitalizing the 'B'? :eek: All of the references I have found spell it Sambuca.

Lulu thank you for this reply.

I'm in Australia & doing a full transit in Oct/Nov on Island Princess. Ports are Aruba, Cartagena, Puntarenas, San Juan Del Sur & Cabo San Lucas.

My GP suggested vaccinations for Typhoid, Hepatitis A & Malaria but she is not familiar with that part of the world, or the nature of cruising where we only visit each place for 8 hours or so.

Most people don't get vaccinations for the trip. I am going on the Island Princess Sept/Oct, same ports. Basically you are playing the odds. What are the odds that you will be infected by a malaria carrying mosquito or come into contact with other disease vectors? I don't know and I dare say that no one else does either. The best advice is do what will make you comfortable so fears of disease don't spoil your vacation. For me that will be pre-shore tour "baths" in insect repellents containing high doses of DEET and in high SPF sunscreens both of which are more available now than later in the season here in the states. The situation is probably the reverse in Australia.

I heard back from a Princess Representative last week. She assured me that they had received my comments and were evaluating the concerns. Especially the lack of AEDs. She had a comment from another guest who noticed that there were none in the gym.

 

She also told me that she would be in contact with more information as this goes forward.

Thank you for continuing to follow up with this. It is very much appreciated.

It appears that the prices of the beverages have increased, but without hard numbers it is difficult to use the beverage package evaluator to learn whether the Ultimate Package is a worthwhile expense. Would someone who is going on a cruise in the near future please capture the new prices for us? If the prices go up, is the price of the Ultimate package going up too?

I think that's why many have gone by the wayside. Everytime the AHA changes something, the AED's have to be updated, which is an additional expense. [Does that mean they won't save someone's life, if they aren't the latest and greatest?] There's also period maintenance and testing that need to be done. [Fire extinguishers have to be maintained periodically also. If they can maintain one, why not the other?] All of which I imagine are a logistical nightmare on a fleet of cruise ships traveling the globe. Not to mention that with medical staff always on duty and able to get anywhere on the ship within a few minutes, there's less need to need have them everywhere as opposed to a college campus or shopping mall. [Wouldn't they be just as valuable to the medical team?] Obviously that didn't happen in the OP's case but I imagine this is an isolated incident and delays in response happen all the time. It's an unfortunate reality. And just because there are AED's available doesn't mean they'll be used. There was a recent case at an airport where a bystander did CPR while waiting for EMS. An airport police officer that showed up didn't know what it was or where one was located.

Just my two cents. I would rather that they be available, if needed. There is no guarantee that someone with CPR knowledge will be available when needed. Unfortunately, excuses do not save lives.

We used Macau tours in San Juan del Sur in March. We had a fabulous day for a fraction of the ships prices (and we saw a lot more). The owner is Edwin...he was great to work with. Our guide that day was David and he was fantastic! :)

 

In Costa Rica we have have used Odyssey Tours many times. Brothers Diego and Alvaro run the business. Fun tours...everything from Zip lining to sight seeing.

Macau Tours has a fabulous tour, but the time seemed dicey in that there was little forgiveness for the unexpected event that might cause a delay in returning to the ship. Having experienced this in Italy and not wanting a repeat, I am hesitant about going on such a tour. Did your tour take the entire time the ship was in port? How did you handle the tendering considering the length of the tour?

Thanks for you take on the AI Package. :)

 

I do have one question though, did your AI Package include the Wine package for Princess? :confused: If not, then the AIP would be a waste of our time.

 

We seem to be like you and enjoy a few drinks now and then. ;) We enjoy a bottle of wine in the evenings with dinner and a couple of drinks during the afternoon and evening. So I guess that I will continue to work on the cost comparison before accepting or declining the AI Package. :D

 

Again Thanks for posting!

Given that the new AI card includes alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks found on some of the other packages/cards and also water, the calculation has become more complicated. If you are interested, one poster has created a spreadsheet that encompasses all of the drinks in the package. By properly entering your daily drinking habits in the spreadsheet, it will be able to calculate the value of the AI package/card for your individual circumstance. A link to the spreadsheet can be found on the thread Princess Beverage Package Evaluator.

As there is no IC, the Horizon Court buffet will be open longer hours for full service.

All off the coffee concoctions are available at the Patisserie and the Lido Bar.

A full-services Vines Wine Bar is only on four (soon to be five with the new Regal) Princess ships; others have a retro-fitted smaller version not isolated from the noise and traffic of the Piazza and lacking the full sushi and tapas menu. Plenty of other places (such as Wheelhouse Bar) for a pleasant before or after dinner drink.

 

Like every other cruise line, the Princess ships that can sail through the Panama Canal will not have every single feature of the mega-ships too large to. But should you follow the above advice and check out the Princess board you will find plenty reasons that many people name the Island and Coral Princess as their favorite ships: less crowded, lots of viewing areas on deck, the Universe Lounge being the best showroom in the fleet. I'm sure you will enjoy the Island.

I understand the limitations of a smaller ship in terms of venues that is why I mentioned other places where one can obtain the food and drink items. Thank you for your answers to my question. I now have a much clearer idea of what I might expect on the Island and where I might find what I am seeking. If I understand your responses correctly, better wines by the glass, tapas and sushi are not available on any but the largest ships.

I would think this is addressed on the Princess board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197

If it is, I couldn't find it.

I wouldn't use as strong a term as "lacking" as there are more than sufficient other venues--but the answer to your question is yes, for now. Coral Princess has the IC, located next to the casino on Deck 6 rather than on Deck 5 on the Grand-class Princess ships. No Vines on either ship. But Island Princess is scheduled for a month-long drydock before she is repositioned to Europe in Summer 2015, so expect and IC and other new features then (unfortunately after you sail).

If there are other venues that offer the same foods and drinks, then you are correct that lacking is too strong a term. However, if there are no such venues, then lacking is appropriate in my opinion.

Which cruiselines do 'automatic' upgrades?

 

Carnival does not.

HAL does not.

Princess does.

I have been upgraded on both Carnival (once) and HAL (twice). :D

I have read a number of Princess threads about the wonderful foods and drinks that they have enjoyed in places like Vines, International Cafe, Alfredos, Crown Grill, etc. However when I looked for places like that on the Island Princess deck plans, I was unable to find them. Are these places present under another name on the Island Princess? :confused: Is the Island Princess lacking these venues altogether? :mad:

Now that I have all of this information, I can use the Princess Beverage Package Evaluator to see whether it would be cheaper for me to get one of these cards for non-alcoholic drinks and pay individually for my alcohol or just forgo the cards entirely. A well thought out spreadsheet with sufficient information makes a great decision support system.

I, too, like the Fettuccini Alfredo. But I miss the times when the dead waiter prepared it table size.

Has anyone seen this done on a recent cruise?

 

P.S. The last time I ordered it was on Caribbean Princess. It arrived lukewarm and stuck together. A dog wouldn't have eaten It!:eek:

That must have been quite a sight. Really? A dead waiter? Prepared a table size Fettuccini Alfredo? No wonder the waiter was dead. Probably died of exhaustion. :D

Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate your candor and observations.

We are hijacking this thread, but I will say one more thing. You should move around the ship during the transit to see the sights all around the ship. During at least one of the three sets of locks, go down to the Plaza deck and look out the windows. You will get up close and personal with the canal wall as the Plaza deck drops two decks below the top of the canal.

 

 

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I don't want to hijack the thread, but I do want to find out about the drinking aboard. I have only gone on cruises that are at least 12 days to avoid the party crowd, who usually book the shorter cruises. However, a friend of mine who always sails with Princess indicated that there is quite a lot of drinking that occurs on Princess voyages. From the comments about the results of using the Princess Beverage Package Evaluator that does not seem to be the case. Based on your long experience as a cruiser on Princess would you expect more people to drink enough to find the Princess Beverage Package Evaluator showing that the Package is a deal for them?

Using the CC app on my iPad, signatures are not displayed. We did a westbound full transit on the Island last year. It was a great cruise. There are also a few pastries in the morning at La Patisserie and from lunch on the small finger sandwiches and desserts like served for afternoon tea. Not an IC but it is something. That is also the main location for getting specialty coffees on the Island.

 

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We are doing an Eastbound full transit. Thank you for the tips about where to get things on the Island. Any more that you have to give will be welcome. :)

On the five ships we have been on with Vines, the wine list has been the same and wines by the bottle are available at Vines or in the DRs. (That may be different on the Royal and Regal because they have a wide selection of Super Tuscans at Vines that are not on the DR Wine List Astro Flyer posted.). It is the wines by the glass that vary. Vines wines by the glass are only available there, not the DRs. On the Island and the Coral there are wines by the glass and wine flights available at the bar at La Patisserie on Plaza deck. I didn't take a picture of the wines by the glass list to compare with Vines though.

 

 

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Thank you IECalCruiser, particularly for addressing the situation on the Island Princess because we will be sailing on her in September as you might have noticed.

Does anyone know whether the wines served at Vines can also be obtained in the dining room? What happens if the ship doesn't have Vines?

14 glasses of wine, 396.00 ??

I don't know what numbers you entered, but one glass of the most expensive wine ($7.95) on the list per port day and 1 glass per sea day (15 glasses total) = $119.25 according to the spreadsheet. :confused:

The prices you've listed I don't think include the 15% gratuity which is added extra at the till. But, the Drink Package price you've listed is the price inclusive of the 15% gratuity. So unless I'm mistaken the price comparison isn't correct.

There is minor correction that should be made too and that is the column headed "Price per Week" should really be labeled "Price for Cruise." The correction for the tax can be easily made by changing the formula in cell E2 from SUM(F6:F232) to SUM(F6:F232)*1.15.

I don't know what the situation is at Princess, but I do know what it is like at Carnival and although they are different companies they are part of the same organization so they may operate similarly. I used my Carnival experience to book with Viking and had the same experience. The vacation planner did everything in his power to make the booking process easy and even forwarded our information to senior management when we had a problem on the cruise. It resulted in a heavy discount on a subsequent cruise, which was excellent.

The vacation planners get paid a commission and so their income is directly tied to the service they provide. A lot of things that people are talking about going through CSRs to get are things that vacation planners would be handling (unless you booked through a T/A) and it is personalized service. The vacation planners build their business through repeat customers and often 'go the extra mile' to make sure their customers have a good booking experience. A bad booking experience means that they have lost a customer and a source of income that isn't easy to acquire. The vacation planners live on repeat business. The next time you book give a vacation planner a chance to make your life easier. They should provide you with their extension when you call so you will always be dealing with the same person. In the signature information of their e-mails there should be an e-mail address and phone number with extension to provide you with a way to contact them directly.

I hope that my experience is of value to you.

I learned more about maritime law and why cruise ships have what I previously thought were bizarre itineraries than I ever expected. I thank the OP for the question that triggered all the discussion and all the other posters who provided background and legal information.