New to Princess - please help

[Nicole&Pete]

11 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

See the Dressing Up thread

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2755426-dressing-up/

 

Well Tony tends to dress up

 

Thank you very much, very nice picture. That is similar to what my husband wears on formal nights.

[Nicole&Pete]

11 hours ago, skynight said:

Yes, You are correct regarding cat. BD cabins. Realize that the Regal does not have large balconies on the caribe deck like Grand Class ships. Most balconies on the Regal are 9ft. x 4ft. If you examine the deck plans you will be able to sport some cabins with larger balconies. Obstructed view balconies on deck 8 offer a nice value. A few have large balconies. 

Much of what I mentioned regarding food and drink on the Grand Princess also applies to the Regal. No Alfredo's. Regarding pools the Retreat Pool is the adult pool. The Terrace Pool, deck 17 aft, is very small, more like a double sized hot tub. There is also a smoking area by the Terrace Pool. The Regal does not have a walkable promenade deck. There are 4 patios with lounge chairs. No cover and no shade unless from the structure of the ship. The starboard aft patio has a smoking area.  

That is annoying that there is no Alfredo’s on Regal and the balcony size sounds very small to me. 

 

[Nicole&Pete]

9 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

Celebrity and Princess are very similar in most respects.  I will sail on either line whenever given a chance!  

 

I usually don’t turn the TV on at all during the cruise, but I understand that there is on-demand movies and television in your cabin.  There used to be some Love Boat episodes available, but I don’t think there were any on our last Princess cruise.  

 

The Sanctuary is not for me.  I am too restless to be interested in a reserved lounge or cabana.  Celebrity Edge had reserved cabanas, but I had no interest in them.  And this would be especially true on a less warm cruise.  I agree with ___ that many people don’t realize that the Lotus Pool is free, and it doesn’t get very crowded.  Let’s keep this a secret, OK?  

 

One of my major complaints about Celebrity last summer on the Edge was how often there was no dining available.  We would return to the ship from an excursion in the middle or late afternoon, and the buffet was closed.  I guess it was just a question of timing, but almost every day, there was no food available after our excursions.  Gelato was not what I was looking for.

 

On Princess, they tend to have the buffet open all the time.  The port side will be closed to transition from breakfast to lunch (or lunch to whatever they were calling the mid-afternoon, or from that to dinner), but the starboard side was still open until they opened the port side.  And on Princess, the pool-side grill (hot dogs, burgers, chicken, tacos) and pizza were open all day.  And the International Café is mostly open 24 hours as well.

 

Celebrity has a selection of drinks, including iced tea, lemonade and fruit punch available throughout the day.  Princess, not so much.  I always buy the Soda Only plan (both lines), so I am drinking soda all day long, and don’t pay much attention to the complimentary beverages.

 

I do not think the Grand has an Alfredo’s.  But it is a sit down restaurant. Very popular on formal night for those who don’t want to dress up.  I never tried to “book” this, it was always available on a walk-up and wait a bit basis.

 

Pub lunch is not at Crown Grill, but is at the Wheelhouse Bar once or twice per cruise.  

 

Both cruise lines can have crowded showrooms.  Both also do poor scheduling of the show times vis-a-vis the traditional dining hours.  I like to get to the shows early, to grab good seats.  I don’t think on either line, I needed to be more than 15 minutes early.  Although some of the non-production shows (comedians, sled dog puppies) were vastly crowded very early.  And the Voice of the Ocean was crowded early.

 

Movies Under The Stars, I hate.  They play concerts and sports events, as well as movies.  The loud noise from these is very disruptive to those trying to relax in quiet.  And the one time I tried to watch a movie, the sound was too distorted for me to make out the dialog.  I do know that they hand out a lot of blankets to the movie-goers, so I doubt this will be popular on colder cruises.

 

On the formal nights, Celebrity is more dressed up than Princess is.

 

We eat in our Traditional Dining Room every night except for the one (or sometimes two) nights we go to a Specialty Dining Room.  On our last Celebrity cruise, we rarely ate in our Blu Dining Room.  I preferred the other options, even though our Blu waiter had offered to get anything for us from the alternative dining room menus.  I just preferred the other dining venues.

 

I hope you enjoy Princess!
 

Thanks very much for the detail, yes I get the impression princess has more available food options throughout the day but not so many complimentary drinks. Are there any drinks packages where you can get non alcoholic cocktails, we enjoy those and would happily drink them all day long?

 

We usually like a late dinner seating with the show after dinner. I notice though that princesses late is 7:15 whilst celebrity is usually much later than that.

 

thanks so much for your help

 

 

 

 

[1025cruise]

6 hours ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Thanks very much for the detail, yes I get the impression princess has more available food options throughout the day but not so many complimentary drinks. Are there any drinks packages where you can get non alcoholic cocktails, we enjoy those and would happily drink them all day long?

 

We usually like a late dinner seating with the show after dinner. I notice though that princesses late is 7:15 whilst celebrity is usually much later than that.

 

thanks so much for your help

 

 

 

 

I've always found that the early show is timed for those with late dining and the late show timed for those with early dining. I've seen this across multiple lines.

[skynight]

8 hours ago, Nicole&Pete said:

That is annoying that there is no Alfredo’s on Regal and the balcony size sounds very small to me. 

 

Sorry for the incorrect information. The Regal does have Alfredo's, deck 6 mid ship. No charge with an expanded menu which includes salads, calzone, dessert, and some other items. You can search for the menu on line. It's open 11am until mid evening every day for lunch, dinner mid day snack. Good place to dine on boarding day.

Look up Princess Beverage packages and you can see the selections. In the U.S. there is "Plus" pricing which includes the premier beverage package, wi-fi, gratuities and if you book before August 6th one specialty dining meal/pp. I don't know if this promo is available in the UK. You are permitted to carry on as much non-alcoholic beverage as you like, no limits. 

Edited July 21, 2020 by skynight

[Mike45LC]

I always buy what Princess now calls "Soda and More" package.  It includes all FOUNTAIN sodas (not canned), plus "mocktails" [virgin cocktails].  I do not recall if juices are included, I think so, but I don't do juices.  Cost was about $10 to $15 per day, including a 15% gratuity automatically added onto the price.  It does not include the fancy coffees which are available for $ at International Cafe.  I don't think it includes bottled water either.

 

[Celebrity's soda package is for canned sodas, not fountain sodas.]

 

As to the coffees, Princess sells a coffee card good for multiple fancy coffees -- someone can tell you about these cards, but I don't drink any coffee.  Plain coffee is free at the buffet, but fancy coffee is an extra charge.  The coffee card is a punch card, and it USED TO BE transferrable from one cruise to the next, until you used all the punches.  I understand from what I've read on this Forum that they now expire at the end of the cruise on which they are purchased.  

 

There are also alcohol packages, but in my very judgmental opinion, these are only for the alcoholics amongst us.  You need to drink a LOT for these to be worthwhile. 

 

Don't plan on any complimentary drinks, beyond some really bad "champagne" at a few events (Champagne Waterfall, art auctions, other retail sales events), and cocktails at the Welcome Aboard (which I have not attended in many years).

 

[Mike45LC]

And the balconies on the Royal Class ships are tiny.  More like shelves.  

[voljeep]

5 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

There are also alcohol packages, but in my very judgmental opinion, these are only for the alcoholics amongst us.  You need to drink a LOT for these to be worthwhile. 

the so-called "alcohol package" is about $ 15.00 pp pd when bundled with the Princess Plus package of grats ( 15.00 ) and wifi 

( 10.00 ) for a total of $ 40.00 pp pd

 

$ 15.00 pp pd for NON-ALCOHOLIC unlimited beverages including bottled water, specialty coffees, juices, fountain soda, etc.

plus up to 15 alcoholic drinks valued at $ 12 and under ... hardly ALCOHOLIC in MY VERY NOT SO HUMBLE OPINION.

 

stay hydrated

stay safe

peace out

[skynight]

2 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

 

As to the coffees, Princess sells a coffee card good for multiple fancy coffees -- someone can tell you about these cards, but I don't drink any coffee.  Plain coffee is free at the buffet, but fancy coffee is an extra charge.  The coffee card is a punch card, and it USED TO BE transferrable from one cruise to the next, until you used all the punches.  I understand from what I've read on this Forum that they now expire at the end of the cruise on which they are purchased.  

 

The New Grounds Coffee Package costs US$36.58. It includes 15 specialty coffee drinks, plus unlimited brewed coffee and specialty teas (Mighty Leaf) during the voyage. The 15 specialty drinks can be shared. The unlimited brewed coffee and teas is for the holder named on the account. The package expires at the end of the specified voyage. If you book a b2b unused specialty coffee drinks carry over, at least they did for us, but the unlimited option disappears. 

[caribill]

9 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

 

As to the coffees, Princess sells a coffee card good for multiple fancy coffees -- someone can tell you about these cards, but I don't drink any coffee.  Plain coffee is free at the buffet, but fancy coffee is an extra charge.  The coffee card is a punch card, and it USED TO BE transferrable from one cruise to the next, until you used all the punches.  I understand from what I've read on this Forum that they now expire at the end of the cruise on which they are purchased.  

 

 

 

 

No longer a punch card. It is electronic and tied to your cruise card/Medallion.

[Nicole&Pete]

19 hours ago, skynight said:

Sorry for the incorrect information. The Regal does have Alfredo's, deck 6 mid ship. No charge with an expanded menu which includes salads, calzone, dessert, and some other items. You can search for the menu on line. It's open 11am until mid evening every day for lunch, dinner mid day snack. Good place to dine on boarding day.

Look up Princess Beverage packages and you can see the selections. In the U.S. there is "Plus" pricing which includes the premier beverage package, wi-fi, gratuities and if you book before August 6th one specialty dining meal/pp. I don't know if this promo is available in the UK. You are permitted to carry on as much non-alcoholic beverage as you like, no limits. 

 

thats great thanks, I will look into that promo. Nice to know Alfredos is on there I liked the sound of that.

[Nicole&Pete]

13 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I always buy what Princess now calls "Soda and More" package.  It includes all FOUNTAIN sodas (not canned), plus "mocktails" [virgin cocktails].  I do not recall if juices are included, I think so, but I don't do juices.  Cost was about $10 to $15 per day, including a 15% gratuity automatically added onto the price.  It does not include the fancy coffees which are available for $ at International Cafe.  I don't think it includes bottled water either.

 

[Celebrity's soda package is for canned sodas, not fountain sodas.]

 

As to the coffees, Princess sells a coffee card good for multiple fancy coffees -- someone can tell you about these cards, but I don't drink any coffee.  Plain coffee is free at the buffet, but fancy coffee is an extra charge.  The coffee card is a punch card, and it USED TO BE transferrable from one cruise to the next, until you used all the punches.  I understand from what I've read on this Forum that they now expire at the end of the cruise on which they are purchased.  

 

There are also alcohol packages, but in my very judgmental opinion, these are only for the alcoholics amongst us.  You need to drink a LOT for these to be worthwhile. 

 

Don't plan on any complimentary drinks, beyond some really bad "champagne" at a few events (Champagne Waterfall, art auctions, other retail sales events), and cocktails at the Welcome Aboard (which I have not attended in many years).

 

 

Thanks for the information I think for us the soda and more package sounds quite good because we love a good mocktail. Lets hope they are still offering it for that sort of price next year, I have a feeling up-selling onboard may increase after this pandemic. 

[Nicole&Pete]

17 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I always buy what Princess now calls "Soda and More" package.  It includes all FOUNTAIN sodas (not canned), plus "mocktails" [virgin cocktails].  I do not recall if juices are included, I think so, but I don't do juices.  Cost was about $10 to $15 per day, including a 15% gratuity automatically added onto the price.  It does not include the fancy coffees which are available for $ at International Cafe.  I don't think it includes bottled water either.

 

[Celebrity's soda package is for canned sodas, not fountain sodas.]

 

As to the coffees, Princess sells a coffee card good for multiple fancy coffees -- someone can tell you about these cards, but I don't drink any coffee.  Plain coffee is free at the buffet, but fancy coffee is an extra charge.  The coffee card is a punch card, and it USED TO BE transferrable from one cruise to the next, until you used all the punches.  I understand from what I've read on this Forum that they now expire at the end of the cruise on which they are purchased.  

 

There are also alcohol packages, but in my very judgmental opinion, these are only for the alcoholics amongst us.  You need to drink a LOT for these to be worthwhile. 

 

Don't plan on any complimentary drinks, beyond some really bad "champagne" at a few events (Champagne Waterfall, art auctions, other retail sales events), and cocktails at the Welcome Aboard (which I have not attended in many years).

 

Can I also please ask what is classified as a cocktail/virgin cocktail? On celebrity you can pretty much ask for any cocktail virgin, is this what princess mean or do they have a selection of what they classify as cocktails under this package?

 

Thanks

[Mike45LC]

Princess has about 5 or 6 mocktails listed on their drink menu.  I have not asked for any mocktails beyond the ones listed on the drink menu (except for a Shirley Temple).  The only one from the menu that I really enjoy is a Virgin Mojito -- they have two slightly different versions of this, one called a No-Jito, which in a noisy bar can be misunderstood, so I use the Virgin word.  My understanding is that you can get most cocktails as a virgin for free under the Plan.  

 

I sometimes order a soda called "ginger beer" -- because it is not from the bartender's gun, it costs a few dollars (I am willing to pay for it).   If I order a virgin "Moscow Mule", I am pretty sure that they will still charge me for the bottle or can of ginger beer.   I've never tried this work-around -- never occurred to me before this instant!

 

[caribill]

22 hours ago, Nicole&Pete said:

 

Thanks for the information I think for us the soda and more package sounds quite good because we love a good mocktail. Lets hope they are still offering it for that sort of price next year, I have a feeling up-selling onboard may increase after this pandemic. 

 

Once you have a booking, you can order (and pre-pay) for the package at current pricing. It would be refundable if you or Princess cancels the cruise.

[Nicole&Pete]

All, thanks for your help on here. It looks like this cruise will be on regal, we are waiting until they release the cruise for sale with this ship before we decide on anything but we may wait altogether to see what happens first with Covid etc. 

 

I just have have one question about the regal, has anyone done this ship and what do they think? I’m a little disappointed that this cruise has switched to the regal because looking at the deck plans it looks like it is less suited to a cold weather cruise in terms of pools etc, I also notice people’s comments about the size of the balconies. Does anyone know how covered the sanctuary is on this ship at all?

 

thanks

 

Nicole

[Ombud]

On 7/19/2020 at 6:55 AM, Nicole&Pete said:

We would like a balcony but notice the premium balconies on the Caribe deck have a larger balcony with better furniture. Is this right and is it worth paying a little extra for a premium balcony? 

All Caribe balconies are a little larger 

On 7/19/2020 at 6:55 AM, Nicole&Pete said:

Is there interactive TV in your room with a choice of films for example?

Yes

On 7/19/2020 at 6:55 AM, Nicole&Pete said:

Are there complimentary drinks stations on board the ship and what do they serve

It's a medallion ship so just order from wherever you are .... they'll find you. No need for 'stations'

On 7/19/2020 at 6:55 AM, Nicole&Pete said:

Alfredos pizzeria, can you book this or do you have to queue up if you want lunch here?

Love their other items too (if they are still like Alfredos on other ships. Last on Grand in 2015). Eggplant parmesan / Minestrone  / apple tart.  Had dinner there a few times. Soup / salad / main course / dessert = NC. I book dinner time but I'm on a restricted diet so they need to know what I will have

On 7/19/2020 at 6:55 AM, Nicole&Pete said:

Do they also serve the pub lunch in the crown grill and are you able to book that? 

Yes but 1st come 1st serve

Edited July 27, 2020 by Ombud

[skynight]

15 hours ago, Ombud said:

All Caribe balconies are a little larger 

Yes

 

OP corrected the posting and is planning to sail on the Regal Princess which does not have larger balconies on the Caribe deck. 

[Nicole&Pete]

11 hours ago, Ombud said:

All Caribe balconies are a little larger 

Yes

It's a medallion ship so just order from wherever you are .... they'll find you. No need for 'stations'

Love their other items too (if they are still like Alfredos on other ships. Last on Grand in 2015). Eggplant parmesan / Minestrone  / apple tart.  Had dinner there a few times. Soup / salad / main course / dessert = NC. I book dinner time but I'm on a restricted diet so they need to know what I will have

Yes but 1st come 1st serve

Thanks for your help, 

 

How does the medallion work then, is it a replacement for your key card?

 

thanks

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, skynight said:

OP corrected the posting and is planning to sail on the Regal Princess which does not have larger balconies on the Caribe deck. 

Thanks I’ve had a look at the balconies on regal they are tiny! 

[voljeep]

50 minutes ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Thanks for your help, 

 

How does the medallion work then, is it a replacement for your key card?

 

thanks

yes

[skynight]

1 hour ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Thanks for your help, 

 

How does the medallion work then, is it a replacement for your key card?

 

thanks

Yes. The door to your cabin opens automatically as you approach. You can also use it to purchase anything on the ship, just like the cruise card. Separate from the medallion itself are the medallion class options pre-cruise and while on the ship. If you want you can access these options with the app on your phone or smart device.

[RoperDK]

On 7/21/2020 at 12:46 AM, Nicole&Pete said:

That is annoying that there is no Alfredo’s on Regal and the balcony size sounds very small to me. 

 

I have been on the Regal and they definitely have Alfredo's.  It is a free sit down restaurant right off the Piazza on Fiesta Deck.  There is no charge and they have salads, pizzas, pasta dishes, calzones and wonderful tiramisu.  There is also a traditional walk up pizza place on lido deck. The interactive TV is great. So much to choose from. Yes, the balconies are too small.  We get around that by booking a mid-ship mini-suite with angled balcony.  Don't know why Princess thought that 4 foot deep balconies were a good idea.     

[caribill]

8 hours ago, RoperDK said:

Don't know why Princess thought that 4 foot deep balconies were a good idea.     

 

Good idea or not, pre Covid-19 the ships sailed full.

[Nicole&Pete]

On 7/23/2020 at 12:29 AM, Mike45LC said:

Princess has about 5 or 6 mocktails listed on their drink menu.  I have not asked for any mocktails beyond the ones listed on the drink menu (except for a Shirley Temple).  The only one from the menu that I really enjoy is a Virgin Mojito -- they have two slightly different versions of this, one called a No-Jito, which in a noisy bar can be misunderstood, so I use the Virgin word.  My understanding is that you can get most cocktails as a virgin for free under the Plan.  

 

I sometimes order a soda called "ginger beer" -- because it is not from the bartender's gun, it costs a few dollars (I am willing to pay for it).   If I order a virgin "Moscow Mule", I am pretty sure that they will still charge me for the bottle or can of ginger beer.   I've never tried this work-around -- never occurred to me before this instant!

 

Thanks for your help,

 

One last question on this. Do you know if in order for the soda package to work you have to have a soda cup that you carry around with you or can you get a new cup each time? And I guess with the medallion and the app you can just get the drink delivered to wherever you are?

 

thanks very much