1st World Problem Vent :) Non-Vines customers camping out in Vines

[Mike45LC]

6 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

You can enjoy Piazza activities at many seating areas without dining tables.  Why should you take up a dining table to sit and listen to music?  Maybe I'm just more self-aware of my fellow cruisers or diners in general.  Much the same as I would not sit and talk after a meal at a restaurant where I could see people waiting for a table.  It's called consideration for others.  

Yes,, I can stand while enjoying the Piazza activities, just as the people wanting to snack/enjoy wine/whatever can stand as they enjoy their activities.  It is not a question of consideration.  It is a question of limited seating.  The people snacking can sit and enjoy their snacks elsewhere, whereas I can enjoy the Piazza only in the immediate area of the Piazza.

[roadster08]

1 minute ago, SCX22 said:

 

That's the exact reason why I don't give up my seat on Princess cruises anymore.  Too many passengers faking it or thinking that they are entitled because they are old.  I'm younger and am outnumbered by passengers who are older than than me (read, seniors).  Some will literally come up to me and lecture me on how impolite I am.  Now, I just let them flap their gums and don't stand up.

Sorry, I guess I should start adding a disclaimer for my dry humor for those who are not brits nor native New Yorkers born before 1985.

 

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

On Ruby there was only one table by a window and it seated two people.

The same on the Emerald as I am sure you know after spending 28 days on her.  The overall area is not very large.  

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Paula_MacFan said:

You can enjoy Piazza activities at many seating areas without dining tables.  Why should you take up a dining table to sit and listen to music?  Maybe I'm just more self-aware of my fellow cruisers or diners in general.  Much the same as I would not sit and talk after a meal at a restaurant where I could see people waiting for a table.  It's called consideration for others.  

Not when all of the other seats are taken. Princessmade the Piazza an entertainment venue. The most of the seating is split between multiple areas, including the IC, the bar, and Vines. All of which are open to the Piazza and are most of the available seats. The entire area seating is multi use until Princess chooses to change it. Which, considering the passenger load and the number of total available seats will not be anytime soon.

 

Now we all prefer that seating would only be how we would like to see it used, but not likely to happen with many passengers, entertainment venue, low number of seats including all of the secondary areas.

[waltd]

I think some of you need to direct your anger toward Princess for not designing areas with enough seating.   My feeling is as long as Princess has a venue that is charging for a product then leave the tables for those customers.   When the venue is closed then use the table area all you like.

[Guest ldtr]

15 minutes ago, waltd said:

I think some of you need to direct your anger toward Princess for not designing areas with enough seating.   My feeling is as long as Princess has a venue that is charging for a product then leave the tables for those customers.   When the venue is closed then use the table area all you like.

Let's see the bar charges for product, the IC charges for product, vines charges for product. Following your view that leaves maybe 20 seats in the center. I doubt that was the intent of Princess when they designed the spaces and chose not the wall off the seating. Actually the bar seating has a low barrier, but Vines is totally open with a view of the main entertainment area of the Piazza. Even when open Vines usually does not have many buyers actually using the space.

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, waltd said:

I think some of you need to direct your anger toward Princess for not designing areas with enough seating.   My feeling is as long as Princess has a venue that is charging for a product then leave the tables for those customers.   When the venue is closed then use the table area all you like.

 

I'm not sure the OP rises to the level of "anger" although I might be wrong. (It has actually happened before...) In my case it rises to the level of an "annoyance" but nothing to really impact my enjoyment of the cruise. I would "like" to have the venue available for wine drinkers (especially the window table) but, if that isn't the case on some days, we just roll with it without getting upset. We are on a cruise. We are able to cruise where many aren't. (No, we don't cruise in suites but, compared to the vast multitude of folks who can't cruise at all, we feel we are doing okay.) It's a small thing that I would "like" to change but, like I said, it really is a small thing. We somehow manage to enjoy ourselves anyway. (I wish I was on a cruise right now so I could, maybe, have this "problem".)

[caribill]

1 hour ago, waltd said:

I think some of you need to direct your anger toward Princess for not designing areas with enough seating.   My feeling is as long as Princess has a venue that is charging for a product then leave the tables for those customers.   When the venue is closed then use the table area all you like.

 

So if people are getting "free" food at the International Cafe, they are not entitled to sit at the tables near the IC because they are not being charged for a product?

 

But if you buy a beverage at the bar next to the IC, it is OK to sit at those tables.

[ldubs]

Get up early and put a beach towel on the chair you want at Vines.  Problem solved.   

 

   

[DallasGuy75219]

My bigger pet peeve is actually people camping out at tables at the buffet on scenic cruise days, like the Panana Canal or Glacier Bay. 

 

It's not just the inconvenience of not being able to drink your wine at your preferred table at Vines but the fact that sometimes you can't find any empty table to eat at because the campers are taking up so many tables with their sightseeing, card games, and 3-hour coffees.  On the Grand class at least, the buffet seating areas are not that wide, and the campers can easily fill 1/3 of the tables when they camp out at all the tables with the best views.

[DallasGuy75219]

28 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Get up early and put a beach towel on the chair you want at Vines.  Problem solved.   

Complete with towel clips and a paperback on the seat.

[ldubs]

4 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

Where is this "seating only be open to people who are actively making use of the amenities of the Vines Bar" written?  This thread is the only suggestion of this "rule" I've ever seen.  Did I miss a FAQ or Guideline from Princess? 

 

There is no such rule that I'm aware of.  I was never given any indication by crew or other passengers that I wan't supposed to sit there if I wasn't drinking wine.   If some other passenger was bad mannered enough to hint I should move I would tell them to get lost.    

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

There is no such rule that I'm aware of.  I was never given any indication by crew or other passengers that I wan't supposed to sit there if I wasn't drinking wine.   If some other passenger was bad mannered enough to hint I should move I would tell them to get lost.    

But would you go into a bar or pub, sit at a table,  and not buy a drink ? Not sure how long it would be before you were asked to leave.  Vines is a wine bar,  selling wine. It is not therefore unreasonable that if you are not buying a drink, you should not occupy a table. 

Do you sit at a table in the Crown Grill, but not eat a meal ?

[ldubs]

21 minutes ago, wowzz said:

But would you go into a bar or pub, sit at a table,  and not buy a drink ? Not sure how long it would be before you were asked to leave.  Vines is a wine bar,  selling wine. It is not therefore unreasonable that if you are not buying a drink, you should not occupy a table. 

Do you sit at a table in the Crown Grill, but not eat a meal ?

 

This isn't the corner bar or pub.  It is a cruise ship with public seating areas open to anyone divided up amongst all kinds of lounges.  Making a purchase at those places is not a requirement to occupy the space.  What I'm hearing is someone's nose getting bent out of shape because they feel they deserve someone else's seat.  The unpleasant reality for them is it doesn't work that way.  

 

The only time I've been in the Crown Grill without eating was for a muster meeting. 

BTW, last time I was at Vines they sold other than wine.   

 

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by ldubs

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

What I'm hearing is someone's nose getting bent out of shape because they feel they deserve someone else's seat.

What I am hearing is that Vines is a profit making venue, that exists to generate revenue by offering paid for beverages.  If potential customers are being dissuaded from spending money, because seats are being occupied by people who have not paid for a drink, then Princess staff should respectfully suggest that the non-drinkers should either purchase a beverage, or leave. 

[Bobbiegentry]

7 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

We the passengers need to recognize that we are all equally entitled.

This gets my vote for the best post of this (and all similar) thread(s)!!!!

 

Spot on, Sir.  🤙🏻

[Izzziee]

Seems like if you don’t drink there would be very few places to sit in the evening, if some of these “rules” were real! 😛😁

[hunt182644]

Wow alot of opinions on this subject. I feel that those who are taking up seats that others feel they are entitled to are more than likely people with interior cabins. Those who do not have a balcony to relax on will just up and grab any available seats. Perhaps there should be a clause that people with interior cabins can onle occupy certain seats for a maximum of perhaps fifteen minute before moving on.😉 Most certainly if you are cruising on the cheap you should not expect premium seating.😁 Our next cruise is in an interior cabin, guess I will have to check out the window seat at Vines.😉😄 Well time to pop some popcorn and wait for more opinions.😄

[Deisemum]

I'm going on my first Princess cruise in just over 3 weeks time and have the plus package, is Vines included in that package?

[wowzz]

47 minutes ago, Deisemum said:

I'm going on my first Princess cruise in just over 3 weeks time and have the plus package, is Vines included in that package?

Yes, but the price cap restrictions will obviously still apply. So any drink under $15 is included, anything over,  you pay the difference plus 18%. So a $17 drink will cost you $2.36. 

Edited March 14, 2023 by wowzz

[capriccio]

7 hours ago, waltd said:

I think some of you need to direct your anger toward Princess for not designing areas with enough seating.   My feeling is as long as Princess has a venue that is charging for a product then leave the tables for those customers.   When the venue is closed then use the table area all you like.

I agree especially when Vines offers wines that cannot be found anywhere else on the ship.

[Deisemum]

12 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, but the price cap restrictions will obviously still apply. So any drink under $15 is included, anything over,  you pay the difference plus 18%. So a $17 drink will cost you $2.36. 

 

 

Thanks, I cannot wait now.

[Knickearth]

My friends and I for so many years have gone to the vines before going to dinner.  We order a bottle of wine and have the sushi or tapas.  When we noticed about five or six years ago many non drinkers sitting in the vines at a high useage time we spoke to the staff.  We suggested they put out signs saying “seating for cruisers enjoying wine from 4 to 7 pm”

 

we were told they couldn’t that.  My reply was this is where princess could make money but chooses not to.  Makes no sense.  All of us stopped going that year to the vines.  

[RNRcruisers]

As has been said, the main problem is that the area is too small with too little seating for the activities that are happening there. Same as the pool decks. Now maybe if people didn't camp out that would help but they are probably afraid that they won't ever find a seat again if they leave it. I generally avoid the piazza because I don't find standing to watch the activities very enjoyable.

[Bobbiegentry]

23 minutes ago, Knickearth said:

 All of us stopped going that year to the vines.  

Excellent choice!

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Bobbiegentry