JimmyVWine

No. They can sail with no package at all, a drink package that covers-non-alcohol drinks, or get Plus or Premier. When securing a reservation with Packages, the first two guests will get those attached to their account and guests 3 (and 4 if applicable) get charged the "Cruise Only" fare and you will have to contact Princess or your Travel Agent to add whatever package or plan you want for the additional passengers. And they do not have to be the same. For example, you could add a package or drinks plan to the 7 year-olds account and nothing to the 5 year old. Or Plus for the 7 year old and a drink package for the 5 year old. If you book direct with Princess, you can do this through the Chat function on the website. I have done this three times and it took me less than 10 minutes each time. Calling can take much longer. And if you use a TA, you should have them do it. You can also add packages and Plans once on board. There is usually no saving for doing so, and it does involve waiting in a Customer Service Line on Day One which may not be how you want to start your cruise. Also, they frequently have a table set up somewhere in the Piazza on Day One for signing people up for drink plans. Not sure if they also handle adding full Packages like Plus and Premier.

Hermie! If we don't get Spellbound finished on time, the children will be so upset!

I would certainly hope so. But just imagine the uproar if they weren't? A transatlantic on a tramp steamer. 🤣 I am on the cruise before that that goes from BCL to Southampton before it heads across the Atlantic. Four Sea Days and an overnight in Southampton before disembarking.

I’m holding off until September!

I figured that the pub offerings would appear either there or in the buffet (or both). But a stand alone Pub Lunch in a dedicated venue seems highly unlikely when O’Malley’s is selling its menu.

Funny (not funny) story. Back in 1997 my sister-in-law was a Disney TA. She urged me to book a cruise on their brand new Disney Magic scheduled to set sail in April, 1998. I figured that I would throw her some business, but I didn’t want anything to do with the first several cruises of a brand new ship on a brand new line. (I’m not counting the Big Red Boat as being a predecessor.). So I booked for the first week of August thinking that this would be enough time to for shakedown issues. After a lengthy delay in launching, our cruise proved to be the second for that ship. Not saying that Sun needed 4 extra month’s lead time. But certainly one would have been a good idea.

No chance. The Pub Lunch was an included option for all guests. O’Malley’s is a paid-for casual venue. Princess is not going to give away its Fish-n-Chips when it can sell them. I suspect that the introduction of O’Malley’s spells the end of the free Pub Lunch.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, let’s see what the early reviews here on CC are after the first wave of guests gets off. IMO, Princess took a big gamble sailing with much of its new “groundbreaking, spectacular, never-before-seen” features non-operational. It had a choice of cancelling more cruises (probably no fewer than 2) or sailing with apologies. A no win situation. If early reviews are devastating, they chose wrong as first impressions last forever. If early reviews are largely forgiving, they chose right. We will know soon.

Why install drink holders when you can sell these in the Princess Shop?

I seem to recall that there was a poll conducted here several years ago (pre-pandemic) and the runaway winner was: "We got the category we paid for." The responses so far in this thread are very encouraging. I wonder if Captain's Circle status level plays a role. Will Platinum and Elite fare better than Blue, Ruby and Gold? If you are willing to share your status at the time of boarding, maybe that might add some insight to the data.

Our order as well, only as a pod of three people, we add on a second pizza. Or an eggplant rotini if that is available.

$5 per ride, or a one time payment of $14.99 for unlimited use. Also included with Plus, Premium and Signature privileges. . . . j/k

There is no single answer. As for timing, the recipient only cares that they were recognized. Not when they were recognized. Don't stress over it. As for amount, that is entirely up to you.

My prediction is that there is going to be a sea-change (pun intended) with the current iteration of the Sanctuary at the first drydock refurb, if not sooner. While P.T. Barnum has never been proven wrong about suckers being born every minute, there is a limit to their gullibility. Raise prices and provide only rows of unpadded vinyl lounge chairs with no shade? Even Mr. Barnum could not have anticipated people being so foolish. And this is especially true when we see pictures and videos of the Dome and Sea View Terrace offered to everyone at no charge. People who book cruises on Sun Princess are going to fall over themselves to experience the new features and when they try out the bow-based lounge areas for free, there is nothing that would compel anyone to pay for the lesser, stern-based lounge area. Add in the new Cabanas (which afford solitude), the Reserve Cabana deck area, (which is capacity-limited), the Signature Sun Deck (which is also capacity-limited) and generally larger balconies throughout the ship for people to hang out in, and the need to pay for the Fortress of Solitude that the Sanctuary typically provides evaporates. Maybe I will eat these words, but I can't imagine the current iteration of the Sanctuary being anything other than crickets for the foreseeable future.

Thanks. I suppose his beef could be loaded on in both Barcelona and Rome.

Not unless you add alcohol to them! The 15 is for adult beverages only. Everything else is "drink until your bladder bursts."

Not complaining! I would expect it to be excellent. Just confused as to why it is so important to associate with this Tuscan dude when the meat hails from Spain. Now, if Butcher's Block could just load up on some Salamancan Jamon Iberico and a selection of Mencia wines, I'd be there every night!

I've seen what some people have done to get beads tossed their way at Mardi Gras. I do NOT want to see that on a Princess ship! 😲 Sounds a bit cannibalistic if you ask me. Birds eating seeds from a feeder shaped like a bird.

I'm [more than] a bit confused. The chef (or is he a butcher?) who is heading up this partnership is Italian, with a famous butcher shop in Tuscany. The Crown Grill is going to get a Chef's Dinner featuring a Florentine Steak from said chef/butcher. But the Butcher's Block menu says at the bottom that all of the meat sourced for that restaurant comes from Spain. So is Princess tapping into this butcher's famous offerings at Butcher's Block, or is the chef/butcher merely adding his name to the operation?

Let that be a lesson to you, kids. Punctuation matters! 👨‍🏫

We took two cruises using Plus and never ordered a single glass of wine that was a "Plus Selection" other than an undrinkable glass of red at Alfredo's. Every glass we ordered was above that allotment, and we paid the difference. Our final tally had us a few dollars to the better compared to what our cruise would have cost with Premier. But now that they have placed a limit on Casual Dining visits we booked our next cruise with Premier. If you are a wine lover, you are rarely going to order the Plus wines, as they are sold as generic wines with no producer or vintage noted on the list. You just order "Pinot Noir" and you have no idea if it will be a wine from Sonoma, Oregon, Burgundy, New Zealand or Uzbekistan. No thank you.

Sorry, but I could not disagree more. Sun Princess is the first ship to roll out cabins with the following designations: Mini-Suites Reserve Mini-Suites Cabana Mini-Suites Reserve Cabana Mini-Suites Signature Suites (that are shaped like Mini-Suites) As well as being the first ship to roll out cabins that have: Reserve Cabana Deck Privileges Reserve Dining Privileges Signature Sun Deck Privileges Signature Dining Privileges. And is the first ship to have a newly configured Sanctuary that is partially a Sanctuary and partially not. I think that it is perfectly logical for people looking to figure out what they get for the price they are paying and what they do not get, to obtain that information in a thread with the title "Sun Princess." And now that the ship is operational and there are people on board, what were once assumptions can now be verified.

Totally get it. Just pointing out how the term "Full Suite" has lost its meaning when a cabin that is sold as a Suite is half the size of what we have come to know as a "Full Suite" and has no tub or upgraded bathroom. Princess just waved its wand and declared 11456 to be a Suite. Indeed, on any given cruise, it could declare that entire row of Mini-Suites from 11440 to 11458 to be Suites. Or declare them to be Reserve Mini-Suites. Or sell them as regular Mini-Suites. The point being that if a cabin can transform from a regular Mini-Suite to a Reserve Mini-Suite to a Signature Suite with a mere keystroke and color change based on demand for that particular cruise, is that cabin really a "Full" anything?

Well, that's the problem. There are regular Mini-Suites (11446). And then there are "upper type" Mini-Suites that have Reserve benefits, (11440) and then there are "upper, upper type" Mini-Suites that have Signature Suite status (11456). The cabins are all in a row with one another and are identical in all respects except for the benefits that are conferred upon the occupants of each. In other words, the cabins don't change. Only what comes with them.

And compare that to the description of a "regular" Mini-Suite: "Choose a luxurious Mini-Suite with balcony which is substantially larger than a Balcony stateroom. A Mini-Suite includes a separate sitting area with sofa bed, and premium bathroom amenities. For families or groups needing a little extra space, Mini-Suites offer an appealing and affordable option." The reference to a "balcony which is substantially larger than a Balcony stateroom" is a bit of a mystery. For example, looking at the Deck Plan, compare the balcony size of 11450 (MS) with 11466 (Balcony).