JimmyVWine

I'll make sure to look for the pins on my next cruise. I haven't seen an MDR staff member with a pin in a long time.

I was reading through this thread thinking along the same lines and then landed on your post. This makes the most sense. The MDR galleys are not set up at all for one-off special orders. It just isn't the way the brigade operates. I can't even imagine what it would look like for a cook to step out of line to assemble special ingredients, pans, utensils and burner space. I assume that the special food comes from the crew mess or the buffet. I suppose it could be made to order in the buffet galley where all the ingredients are present and accounted for. But more likely it is ladled out of an already existing hotel pan.

Are you sure about this? There is a difference between "the crew member in the dining room who knows the most about wine" and a "sommelier." I haven't seen a real sommelier on a Princess ship in at least 8 years. But of course, I am not on all ships at all times, so maybe there has been a change.

When Princess first rolled them out, I was a skeptic. "Packages only help the cruise line and never benefit the customer" said I. But I have come to believe that even at current pricing, Princess' packages are a win-win (assuming that one partakes in alcohol to even a modest degree.)

It's the 10 page rule rearing its ugly head again. Nothing on topic or helpful is ever posted after page 10 (except on Trip Reports and Live Threads.)

Is this a common sense suggestion, or did you find a specific prohibition published by Princess somewhere? From a common sense prospective, I could see why a cruise line would prohibit them (as DCL clearly has done.) Pools are small and if lots of people used them, the pools would turn into noodle soup.

Except for the fact that Oregon Law exempts cruise ships from its enforcement purview. (1) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission may not require the owners, operators and employees of a cruise ship to have a license or permit issued under the provisions of this chapter for the purpose of possessing, transporting, storing, selling or serving alcoholic beverages that are described in subsection (3) of this section. (2) The provisions of ORS 471.740 (Exclusive right of commission to handle certain liquors) do not apply to alcoholic beverages that are described in subsection (3) of this section. (3) The provisions of this section apply only to alcoholic beverages that are served aboard a cruise ship and that are served solely for the purpose of onboard consumption by a cruise ship’s passengers, guests, officers and employees.

The operative word being "through". It has a different meaning than "remain".

Probably not. Most cruises that you have been on have been "Sold Out" by the time they throw lines. They just might not be sold out months in advance. So the total number of people on the ship shouldn't be changing. Just the timing by which people know that capacity has been reached. There are restrictions as to how many people are allowed on any given ship for safety reasons. So a sailing that sells our as a result of a last minute "Drop and Go" sale will have the same number of guests as a sailing that sells out a year ahead of time. Capacity is capacity.

Silly question. The Princess Policies clearly states: "Guests under the age of 18 will not be permitted in the Casino." So someone who is 18 (or 19, or 20) CAN sit at the Casino Bar. People who are under 18 cannot get into the Casino in the first instance, so it is metaphysically impossible for them to get to the bar.

Of course any establishment owner can implement whatever lawful restrictions they want. Princess, being the establishment owner, has chosen to allow all of its paying guests to enjoy the piano stylings of its onboard entertainers performing at Crooners or the Wheelhouse while sitting at tables or stools. This is hardly a novel, groundbreaking or controversial allowance. Out of curiosity, other than 20 inch rise in altitude, what is the difference between a bar stool and the seat at the table that is 2 feet away from the stool? Is there some sort of mysticism that is escaping me that makes one suitable only for people who are 21, but not for people who are 20 years and 364 days old? Is there some concern that proximity to a bartender is dangerous to a 17 year-old? Or that the person sitting at the next stool poses a greater danger than people who are seated at tables? My supposition is that Princess believes that its Public Venues (which is how it describes all the places you mention) are safe environments for all guests and that the ship is not replete with scofflaws, scoundrels, miscreants and ne'er-do-wells who hang out on bar stools intending to do harm to minors. My experience reflects that supposition.

While it says that the list is not exhaustive, pool noodles are not on the list of prohibited items. Archery equipment and catapults are on the list (not making that up). But pool noodles are not. https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise#prohibited-items

While I couldn't find any information on the Princess site, I found some interesting information on generic sites that provide information on cruising including several articles with titles such as "Surprising Items That You Cannot Bring On A Cruise Ship" and most of those articles included pool noodles on that list. And Disney Cruise Lines lists pool noodles specifically as a prohibited item. So I wouldn't be too sure. Might want to use the Chat feature on the Princess website to confirm. (I suggest Chat because no matter if you call or chat, the person you connect with won't know the answer and might need to inquire up the chain. When that happens, it is easier to be using Chat than being on hold on the phone.) The other option might be: "Better to do and ask for forgiveness than ask and be denied permission."

What an odd thing to say. No one, ever, anywhere has implemented such a rule. I have bar stools in my house. All are welcome to sit there. Even my cats. I've been to countless restaurants where we (and by that I mean my whole family) have been asked to wait at the bar (on stools or otherwise) until our table is ready. Of course, if the venue itself has an age restriction just to get in, that would not happen as the minor would never get past the front door. But if the venue lets minors in, it doesn't restrict where they can sit. Never, ever have I been told: "You are welcome to wait in the lounge and we will come get you when your table is ready. But do NOT sit at the bar. Those stools are just for adults." Now you're just making stuff up. On a Princess ship, when a minor has a No Alcohol Package and wants to get a soft drink or a mocktail, they go to a bar to get it. There is absolutely no rule (nor should there be) that the guest cannot then sit at that bar to drink it. If I had a dollar for every mocktail my kid sipped at the Mermaid Bar, or any of the other pool bars on Princess ships, I could pay for 10 more cruises.

It just depends if we can land on the proper definition of what a "child" is. The age to be able to drink alcohol on the ship is 21. But it would be pretty extreme to have a rule that 20 year-olds cannot enjoy the entertainment at Crooners, Skywalkers or the Wheelhouse after 10:00. Maybe there is a certain age range where most people could agree that minors are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Maybe 13-17. And beyond that, no rule. My daughter loved all of the venues I listed above when she was 14, but she was with us in the evenings when she visited them.

Given the average age and countries of origin of the crew, I doubt that many have seen that movie. Asking one of them to hold the brownie between their knees might invoke a rather odd reaction! A bit of movie trivia. The young woman sitting across from Jack in that scene is Toni Basil, the singer of the "Hey Mickey, He's So Fine" song.

The benefits are waning, but there is still value. First, the FCC is used to satisfy the entirety of your deposit. So if a deposit might otherwise cost $500, your $100 FCC is used to hold your reservation. Now, you will still owe the full balance of the cost of the cruise so you aren't getting $400 off the price. You are just committing less money up front. So if the total is $4,000 with a deposit of $500, others will put down $500 and owe $3,500 but you would put down your FCC and owe $3,900. Second, when using an FCC, you get a certain portion of that back in On Board Credit, depending on what level cabin you book. It used to be that the OBC was up to a dollar-for-dollar return, so a $100 FCC would be used to hold your reservation AND you would get that full amount back in OBC. So the FCC was essentially free money. Princess has since reduced the amount of the OBC. I think it is as low as $25. I actually haven't purchased an FCC since before COVID so I am not completely sure of what the value of OBC is any more, but I know it is less than before. Still, it is more than $0.

Funny how so many people are missing this point!

I get that. But if that is the case does it really matter what ports are on the itinerary? Wouldn't any itinerary that has mostly Sea Days be just as nice?

I'm on the other end of that scale. No interest whatsoever in a cruise to Bermuda. A couple days to get there and a couple days to get back to spend 36 hours in Bermuda. Much better to hop on a flight, get to Bermuda in 2.5 hours and then spend 5 days there before flying back. If one wants to go to Bermuda, then just GO to Bermuda.

$2.00 $3.00 if the server walks it out to you in a smoking area.

A couple of things to consider. 1. If you are being told that the cruise you are interested in is a lower price than anything offered elsewhere, when convenient, email or text someone back home and ask them to run a mock booking for you to see what price they are seeing. "Hey Judy; can you check the Princess website to see what the price of a balcony cabin is on Ruby Princess for the September 23 sailing out of Los Angeles"? If you have a friend or relative back home who can help you out, they will be able to give you an answer 5 minutes after accessing the Princess website. 2. It was noted above the Future Cruise Credits expire in a year and are refundable. But what that means is that you have a year to select a cruise and use the FCC as your deposit. But the cruise that you select can be as far out into the future as Princess is currently booking. So if you buy an FCC today, you have until April, 2025 to use it. And by then, you would probably be able to book a cruise in 2027. And if you don't use the FCC, the money gets refunded to the same credit card used to purchase it. So it is a no-risk option and easy to get your money back as long as you still have that credit card.

Getting in before the lock... Can you clarify (see what I did there?). Are you trumpeting the fact that the ship changed from unsalted butter to salted butter (booooo!!); or are you heralding the fact that the ship changed from some form of chemical reaction substitute spread to salted butter (better, but not perfect). Your first sentence uses the term "unsalted butter" but does so in the context of "white pellets". Did you really mean "butter", or did you mean artificial "spread"?

I was having an off day. What can I say. 😁 As for the persistent view that Princess has taken to nickel and diming its guests, I guess I don't see it that way. On my last three cruises, our combined folio charges were less than a total of $100. About $30 per cruise. Instead of nickel and diming, I am paying hundreds. Up front. For packages. And once I have my package in hand, I literally spend nothing else on board the ship. Maybe I am using a different definition of nickel and diming, but I take that term to mean paying for extras a little bit at a time once on board the ship. I don't find myself doing that. And as for changing cruise lines, I look at it like this... The people moving left to right are people who were loyal to Princess leaving for Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, etc., and the people moving right to left are people who were loyal to Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, etc. leaving for Princess.