JimmyVWine

Before the recent changes, one could do the math and make a good argument either way. After the recent changes, I would say definitely yes, it is worth it. Can one come out “cheaper” by going with the Standard fare? Yes. But now, for the first time ever, in order to come out ahead, one must actively avoid features and offerings on the ship which, to me, is no way to spend a vacation, emotionally. You see other people dining in Casual restaurants and you think to yourself, “Gee, that looks like a good time.” But if the goal is to “win” financially, you have to refrain from partaking. You see other people using Ocean Now and room service to get what they order and you think to yourself: “That seems like a neat feature.” But if the goal is to “win” financially, you must forego that convenience. In order to come out ahead financially, you spend your vacation cutting out things that might make you feel more relaxed and luxuriated. Whereas for a few bucks more per day (on top of a vacation measured in the thousands) you can stop worrying about employing deprivation strategies. Maybe Plus comes out better financially and maybe it loses. But if it loses, it is going to be by a few bucks each day. Are those few bucks worth cutting yourself off from many of the features on the ship? That is the question.

$3 x 3. Three glasses of Silverado Cab at $18 (or 3 glasses of Belle Glos Pinot Noir at $19) will cost ($3 x 3) x 1.18 = $10.62; or ($4 x 3) x 1.18 = $14.16 Do that for 7 days and you are between $75 and $100 out of pocket. Moving up from Plus to Premier would cost $140 for the 7 days. So the question then becomes will you spend the other $40-$65 on other things that are included in Premier that are not included in Plus. The answer probably lies in how often one dines in Crown Grill and/or Sabatini's, and how many photos one buys. My guess is that over the course of 7 days, the usage of the casual restaurants from "twice" to "unlimited" isn't worth very much, especially on port intensive itineraries. As for the desserts, well...

I am hoping to do something in Scandinavia, leaving out of Southampton again so that S does not have to fly too far to join us. But it won't be until 2025 at the earliest. While I didn't include them in my Journal, I have entire "albums" of photos of doorways, flower boxes, cats and iron railings all taken in Greece and Kotor. Enjoy your travels!

Thanks for the report. AJ Clarke was on Regal in May and we enjoyed his performances and lectures. He's a keeper. And I agree with you on how far comedians should push things on a cruise ship. If I pay to see Andrew Dice Clay (and I don't), I know what I am in for. But in the theater or Vista Lounge, one needs to be much more mindful of a diverse audience and an even more diverse crew.

"Offered" and "Identified on the wine list" are two different things. It is entirely possible for organic wines to be offered, but not labeled as such. While I have not looked specifically, I would guess that there are organic wines on the ship. Whether the Old World heavy list at Sabatini's has any is another question. But with a bit or research, one might be able to find organic wine by talking to the manager at Vines and have a bottle sent over to Sabatini's for dinner. Any wine that contains greater than 10 ppm sulfites must be labeled as containing sulfites. Between 1 and 10 ppm can be labeled as "sulfite free" but that is really, really rare. As for "absolutely sulfite free"? That does not exist. Organic wines tend to clock in around 30-40 ppm. Some can be around 10. A "regular" wine will be around 80. The upper legal limit in the EU is 220 and in the US it is 350, but rarely will a wine ever get into that range.

This is where I landed on the change. I was prepared to light my torch and sharpen my pitchfork, but then I looked at it from a real-world experience scenario. Granted, none of this applies to 14 or 20 day cruises but for 7 and 8 day cruises (our norm), it works. We have never eaten more than twice at Alfredo's, and have never paid to dine at any other "casual for-fee venues" because the price/enjoyment ratio seemed off. Now, we can dine at Alfredo's twice, (same as before), or try different venues that used to cost money, all for the same $60 per day we were paying before. So our typical visits to Alfredo's will not increase out total cost, and we are actually getting something included in our fare that used to cost more. Seems like a win. None of the other changes will affect our bottom line or habits one bit.

Sorry for getting back to you late. If you haven't already found it, here is my Athens to Barcelona Journal. I was using a Canon T3i for this trip with slightly upgraded lenses. For some trips I rent one or more "L" Series lenses, but did not for this trip.

For the life of me I cannot understand why people take cruises to Hawaii spending 10 days at sea and just mere hours at each island/port. But that is a topic for a different thread.

What would Cruise Critic be without it?

And I still maintain that people are underestimating the true out of pocket cost of drinks after prices were raised. A $10 drink is $11.80. And while there are plenty of cocktails offered at that price, there are no wines being poured at that price and no decent Scotch, Bourbon or Whisk(e)y either. And after adding in the gratuity, I think that people should be calculating $13-$14 per drink (minimum) when doing their “break even” math. On our recent cruise using Plus, our average was a bit more than $14 (using the out of pocket equivalent which adds gratuity) which equates to a menu price of $12 per drink before gratuity.

This. On board the ship the preference can be meted out discreetly. On shore, it would be open and obvious. I know that it’s not the same thing, but once when we were in the hour-long line to board the cable car to go down the cliff in Santorini, a private guide took her 4 customers straight to the boarding area, bypassing thousands of people. When the expected shouts of protest started, the guide kept saying: “They paid for a private licensed guide!” as if that was supposed to mean something. There was pushing and shoving and nearly a brawl. Princess does not need that aggravation. The priority boarding is functionally a limited need perk—needed only at the earliest stages of disembarking. After the first 90 minutes or so the pace has slowed down such that tickets are no longer dispensed and people just walk down to deck 4. There is rarely a need for priority at that time. Returning to the ship tends to be similar. People return at a staggered pace such that priority isn’t really needed. Every single time I have returned to the ship I have either boarded the tender that was currently loading or the one that followed that. I don’t think that anyone needs a privilege that betters that outcome.

All true. The problem with all of these dress code threads is that they conflate 4 different questions, each with their own answer. * What should I wear? (Totally up to you.) * What can I wear? (There don’t seem to be any rules being enforced.) *What do other people wear? (Runs the full spectrum of casual to formal on every cruise.) * What is the overall atmosphere on the ship like on Formal Nights? (And to this I would say “A bit more formal than many here would let on, and certainly more formal than Princess’ price point competitors.” But that doesn’t negate the answers to questions 1 or 2.)

It’s actually $51.92 after adding in the 18% gratuity. Four drinks plus daily crew appreciation and one is way ahead with Plus.

I’m not at all sure how this is a removal of a benefit if the Elites are ushered in to the next tender to depart. I’d much rather wait in a nice room, seated, and taken down to Deck 4 when a tender is ready for boarding than simply walk down to Deck 4 only to stand in line in the bowels of the ship waiting for the next tender to be ready for boarding. The perk is only removed if non-Elites can cut in front of you and nothing in your post suggests that this is the new procedure.

Correct. IF there is a collection table in the boarding terminal (and I have only seen one in PE), you provide your cabin number and the charge goes straight on to your on board account. No cash or credit card transactions take place at that table.

See, now you've gone and made my easy peasy simple little formula way too complex. Now it is: If anticipated EG + WC + ADBC + ACBI + JBC +PDI +FCC + FBW is greater than or equal to $60 then the customer saves money with Plus, where EG = Expected Gratuity; ADBC = Average Daily Beverage Cost; ACBI = Average Caffeinated Beverage Intake; JBC = Juice Bar Consumption; PDI = Premium Dessert Indulgence; FCC = Fitness Classes Completed and FBW = Fancy Bottled Waters. 😁

This is the standard. But maybe one can weigh in on what the configuration is for an Accessible Cabin. I doubt that those have the standard tub/shower combo. Could be that the video you saw was for one of those. Did the video supply a cabin number? That would answer everything.

Nice catch.

This was the WBTG list at Vines, though as has been noted a number of times, the bar at Vines usually has many more bottles opened at any given time that are not listed on the published list. I remember seeing Rodney Strong on the ship but can't recall if it was being poured by the glass. Silverado was found around the ship at $18 per glass and is worth the $3 upcharge over the other Cabs we were finding by the glass.

In the past I have used a Travel Insurance comparison website that allows you to filter in what sort of coverage you want and the amounts. Such as Cancel for any reason, or Pre-existing conditions, or Medical only. All of the companies that people are naming here are included in the tool. Just do an internet search for a comparison website and I'm sure it will hit you right in the mouth. Not sure I can share the name here.

A little lower. From what I saw, bottles that would sell for $18 retail were priced out around $13-$15 on the ship. So a bit lower than $18 with no extra cost incurred.

It's actually only 7.2 beers because a $7 beer will actually cost $8.26. Under the worst case scenario you developed, the hypothetical customer is going to pay $0 in gratuities. But even that penny-pincher cannot avoid the mandatory gratuity added to drinks!

Love this idea. There are some great “mile by mile” guidebooks and fold-out maps that are great, even in this digital age. We used ours every day.

Lots of people. (Seared, not “cooked”). Just do an internet search for “seared steak tartare” or “Tartare Aller-Retour”. You will find lots of hits and recipes. It may not be the most common preparation but it certainly isn’t a one-off. 90% of the protein is still raw/rare.

I guess it depends on who the “they” is. Whereas Princess is charging $35-$39, other cruise lines are charging $45-60. So maybe “they” have exceeded the limit, but the “other they” has not.