JimmyVWine

Is that the minimum buy-in to play? I'm not much of a Bingo fan, but at that price I couldn't be convinced to play at gunpoint. I have to believe that they have run the numbers of "how much revenue will we lose by chasing people away with a price hike versus how much revenue will we gain from the people who stay?", but at that price, it seems that they have no chance of capturing the revenue of the "Bingo curious" and will be left with only the Bingo hard corps. And that latter group has to be demographically shrinking.

I see your point, but the truth is more nuanced than that. The opinions offered here are not from a random sampling of guests. Were that the case, you point would have infinitely greater validity. Rather, the opinions here are from dedicated customers who are experienced and concerned enough to make the time to share their stories. And in case there is any question about who is who, we can see the date that each poster joined the forum and how many posts they have made. Is the opinion of someone who has been a member here since 2010 and who has over 5k posts more valuable (to me) than the praise or criticism of someone who joined last month and who has 24 posts? That's a big "yes" for me. Perhaps it is not fair because a person on their first cruise could be served a shoe leather steak the same as someone who is on the 30th Princess Cruise. But the reality is that it is human nature to weigh and balance opinions and we all do it to some degree. And when you are here enough, you pick up pretty quickly whose opinions tend to align with yours. I'll use wine as an analogy because, why not? Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson, James Suckling and James Laube comprise an infinitesimally small percentage of wine drinkers/critics. But if I see their opinions on a particular wine, I can pretty much be assured of knowing what I will think of it, because I know how my palate aligns with theirs. And here on this Board I know who my functional equivalents are. I could pick out 3 people here who, were they on the same cruise of 3,000 people, would comprise 1/10th of 1% of people on that cruise. But their collective opinions would be close to gospel for me. I'll bet that is true for most people here.

Depends on the itinerary. Our only post-shutdown cruise was in the Med, so a good mix of US and European guests, with some Asia in there as well. And on Formal Nights we dined in the MDR, so I don't know what the people in the buffet or Specialty Restaurants were wearing. But in the MDR, the vast majority (and I mean that seriously) of men had some sort of jacket. There was a mix of tuxes, suits, blazers with ties and blazers without ties. And some long-sleeved collared shirts and some short-sleeved golf shirts. But I would by lying if I said that the jacketless men dominated. Far, far from it. If I had to estimate I would say the men were 10% tuxes, 20% suits, 25% blazers with ties, 30% blazers with no tie and the balance were jacketless. The women were mostly in dresses and pant suits. Yes, we did see a few (could count them on one hand) people who were sporting their finest t-shirts and well-worn jeans. But they stood out as outliers. All of this goes to show that there is a wide gap between what people can wear and what they do wear. Again, this was a European itinerary and not in the Caribbean or Mexican Coast.

On Regal, it was the latter with the bed made up so that the head of the bed was one end of the sofa and the foot was the other with no pulling out or unfolding of a mattress. I assume that Royal is the same but I admit that I am not 100% certain. On Grand Class ships the sofa is a pullout. With the bed extended and made up, you can still squeeze through and get to the balcony but it is tight.

How about bringing food (thinking cheese mostly) from a port onto the ship? We will be visiting the English Market in Cork and we’d love to bring back some local cheeses to enjoy on board with some wine. Will we be able to do that?

First, on what planet does 150ml = 6 Oz? That takes “rounding up” to a place it’s never been before. Second…$6 to $8 for a 5 ounce “cleanse drink”? Want to guess how many they will sell at that price? I’m thinking of a round number. 0. Third, where is the “Hangover Buster”, and the “I’m On Vacation and I’ve Just Given Up” options?

A+. I will transit the Panama Canal someday. Though I guess I better plan it soon before all the ships are so big that they will clog the canal and cause an international incident.

I think you are right. "One" assumes and understands, and it appears that you are the only ONE!

Either way, the people who are on ship excursions do not take the cable car up the mountain. So the morning line to board looks nothing like the afternoon line to return, as long as you get an early start to the day.

Absolutely allowed. Might want to board with it open and empty so that no one suspects you of smuggling on vodka or gin. But the container itself is absolutely allowed. We bring a couple every time.

I would think that the Princess excursions assemble and depart the ship on the early side. If you are up and ready that early, the line for the cable car won’t be terribly long so you might as well head there. All of the people on ship excursions are headed in a different direction. The morning lines for the cable car are nothing compared to the afternoon lines when even people who arrived via the excursion dock return via the cable car. I would save the money and just plan to get off the ship early.

You could delete the word “playing” and insert any number of things and the statement would be just as true, yet special rules do not apply. Smokers enjoy smoking when they’re: Dining Enjoying a comedy show Listening to a band Having sex Drinking at a bar Sitting on their balcony. There is no logic behind the idea that “pulling the handle of a slot machine” should be treated differently.

To me this isn’t even a close call. The casino is an indoor space, same as a gift shop, dining room or performance venue. The idea that it has a special rule applied to it because the people in there are engaging in one type of “vice” and therefore they should be able to engage in a second “vice” is ludicrous. All indoor spaces should have the same rules apply except if the ship wants to provide a very specific smoking lounge. Churchill’s can be a smoking venue. And if they want, Princess can put a poker table and some slot machines in there too. But the casino should be treated the same as Crooners, the Vista Lounge or Explorers.

I guess I have been lucky. I haven’t experienced any of the hiccups that others have. Granted, I don’t stream Netflix movies or post “Live From” threads filled with photos. But I have found the Wi-Fi and Medallion app to be functional and a nice enhancement.

Agree 100%. And yet things like this cause some people to write letters to the C-Suite and others to cancel bookings. It’s a vacation people. Maybe I’m easy to please but until you get to the level of sewage backing up in the toilet or brawling, drunken guests, I’m having a good time.

Seems about right. 17%-25% isn’t 50%-60%. But don’t confuse travel enthusiasm for inflation. Would-be travelers were kept on the shelf for the better part of two years and their travel budgets weren’t being depleted. As soon as they could get back out there they did, and price was no deterrent. This was especially true for resort areas. Price hikes were more the result of demand than economic inflation.

I haven’t found either of these statements to be true. In fact, I just checked out of a brand name hotel in Midtown Manhattan near Times Square at a rate of $185 per night. No way was that room ever $130. And I have taken three post-Covid round trip flights from JFK to European cities and paid no more than 20% more than I would have predicted. Definitely not 50%-60% more. $600 round trip on AA or BA is to be expected. None of our flights were $900-$1,000. They were all $550-$700 per person. That is what I was paying in 2018. Sure, I did score a cheap flight on Norwegian Air in 2019 for under $500. But my itinerary was roundabout, and that airline’s transcontinental division went belly up. A 50%-60% inflation rate isn’t what I am seeing, and I travel (for business) a lot.

In October they served all of the usual Pub Lunch offerings in the buffet at lunch on the first Sea Day. All of the offerings were consolidated in one area of the buffet. The ambience wasn’t what we were used to, but the “all you care to eat” option instead of ordering a plated meal was a bonus. And I don’t recall there being any mention of the Pub Lunch option in the Patter. Maybe it was published somewhere on a printed menu at the entrance to the buffet area but I never saw anything like that. We found it because we had read here on CC that it might be offered in this manner and our CC friends here were on the mark.

Serious question (to the extent that the subject matter itself can be considered serious). One of the gripes listed that has people heading for the exits is the elimination of the pillow chocolates. So…which of the following is true of Princess’ mass market competitors? 1—They provided pillow chocolates and still do; 2—The used to provide pillow chocolates and have now stopped; or 3—They never provided pillow chocolates and still don’t? If the answer is either 2 or 3, how is quitting Princess and moving to another cruise line where one has no loyalty level benefits a positive move?

We booked before the (second) price increase for Plus and it was an even $50 per day, no tax. $400 for an 8 day cruise. So her total fare under the promo was $555 ($400 for Plus and $155 for port fees). Since that time, they boosted the price of Plus and added some additional benefits.

This is correct. Our daughter is now over 21, but when we book a cabin for three, only the first 2 passengers have to have the package. Indeed, when booking under the “3rd and 4th passengers sail free” promo, only the paying passengers got the package. We had to call to add Plus to our daughter’s booking.

Reminds me of the old joke: Joe says to Sally: “There are two big problems with that restaurant. First, the food was so bad that I took only one forkful and didn’t want to eat another bite.” Sally says: “What’s the second problem?” Joe replies: “The portions are too small.”

Nice product. But twice the price of mass market lines and fewer than half a dozen ships.

If anyone knows of a mass market cruise line that is every bit today what it was in 2018, please let me know. But what I see is a whole bunch of people bumping into each other as they cross the proverbial street from their formerly favorite cruise line to the one they are about to change to because they assume it is better. Bye-bye Celebrity! I am headed over to Princess. Bye-bye Princess! I am headed over to Royal Caribbean. Bye-bye Royal Caribbean! I am headed over to MSC. Bye-bye MSC! I am headed over to Celebrity. And so it goes.

We view the newly added "benefits" of PLUS (lollipops and spin classes) to be a distraction, but do not figure them in to the overall price. Knowing that we will not be partaking, the math is simply: Are Gratuities, wi-fi and unlimited drinks at $15 per day worth the price of the package. (Yes, I know that the number of drinks is technically limited to 15 per day, but to us, that is the functional equivalent of "unlimited". We never hit half that number.) Before the lollipops and spin classes, the math was a true no brainer. Now that they have upped the price, it is still worth it to us for foreign cruises where we cannot tote along wine from our cellar that is already bought and paid for. But for cruises out of US ports, we will revert back to bringing our own wine and paying OOP for the rest. As to the question presented: Will alcohol consumption decrease? For us, yes. Without PLUS we won't have as many fruity drinks by the pool, or glasses of rum/scotch after dinner. With the package, these are a given. Paying out of pocket, we will think long and hard about whether we need that last drink at 10:30 at Bellini's, if you know what I mean.