? for Regular "Old" Cruisers Like Me!

[JimmyVWine]

12 hours ago, dog said:

There is a new cancellation fee to be announced I hear.  Saw a few posts about $10 cancellation fee or no show fee re: SD.  Also saw post of fb that CA is going up.

 

I’m pretty sure that the fee is assessed if the cancellation is not made an hour or more beforehand. This shouldn’t deter people from making and paying for reservations in order to secure times. Plans typically change well in advance of that. For example if a guest doesn’t know when the Formal Nights will be on their cruise and later learns on the first day of their cruise that they are booked in SD on a Formal Night and want to cancel the SD, they could do that on Day One and get a full refund. But all of my cancellations have been done weeks in advance and usually result from itinerary changes. 

[Mara4166]

1 hour ago, dog said:

Are all ships including the Premier packages in the suite fare, or is it just the Sun & Star?

I have not seen it on Sky.  We have 3 cruises booked over the next 3 years (all in suites), when I do mock bookings to check prices premier is not included, you have to pay extra for it.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, 555 said:

 

 

It would surprise me if they do eliminate the room setup as it wouldn't be missed by the large numbers of people with packages.

I don't think anything with Princess can surprise me anymore.  

[dog]

39 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I’m pretty sure that the fee is assessed if the cancellation is not made an hour or more beforehand. This shouldn’t deter people from making and paying for reservations in order to secure times. Plans typically change well in advance of that. For example if a guest doesn’t know when the Formal Nights will be on their cruise and later learns on the first day of their cruise that they are booked in SD on a Formal Night and want to cancel the SD, they could do that on Day One and get a full refund. But all of my cancellations have been done weeks in advance and usually result from itinerary changes. 

we will see....

[Cruisemeister2002]

42 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I’m pretty sure that the fee is assessed if the cancellation is not made an hour or more beforehand. This shouldn’t deter people from making and paying for reservations in order to secure times. Plans typically change well in advance of that. For example if a guest doesn’t know when the Formal Nights will be on their cruise and later learns on the first day of their cruise that they are booked in SD on a Formal Night and want to cancel the SD, they could do that on Day One and get a full refund. But all of my cancellations have been done weeks in advance and usually result from itinerary changes. 

Not sure this is standard but on the App you can access all of your dining bookings and when you go through every night it also says on certain nights don't formal your formal photo's and gives times when the photographer is available. Now unless it's some sort of wind up, which I doubt, these would be your formal nights throughout the cruise. It also has times and types of entertainment for a majority of the nights, although I am sure there will be other entertainment listed in the Patter once aboard. We have booked the traditional form of dining, set time at 7.50 p.m. throughout the cruise. With exception being one night when we will be in the Crown grill and another when we are on an evening excursion. We also have two casual dining times to plan so we will then cancel our MDR bookings.

[PescadoAmarillo]

12 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

It is quite likely if I were booking Suites, I'd probably be able to swing the cost of Premier add-on.  Mere rounding error.  LOL.

 

Perish the thought on the Elite minibar perk going away.  That is part of the reason we don't need Plus.  I would surely miss our 10 beer and 10 Perrier.

Welcome back. Boards aren’t the same without you!

[Thunderbird19]

On 8/16/2024 at 7:23 AM, susancruzs said:

I may find out Plus isn't worth it for me, we'll see.  I like Vines, trying different wines with my lunch snack in the IC. 

 With Plus, I was able to get 1 or 2 hot coffees or teas from the International Cafe, bottles of water whenever I walked by a bar (often brought back to the room to stash in fridge), a little bottle of Pelegríno at dinner, and usually a couple of cocktails or wine a day.  I would typically also pay the daily customer appreciation fee and get WiFi for one device for entire cruise or at least a couple days worth, so overall Plus package worked out to be about a break even for me.

 

Typically don’t do shorter cruises, but when I have done 7 days or less, the basic Standard package was my choice for a fun, quick cruise.

[memoak]

4 hours ago, Mara4166 said:

I have not seen it on Sky.  We have 3 cruises booked over the next 3 years (all in suites), when I do mock bookings to check prices premier is not included, you have to pay extra for it.

If a package is included in your booking I will guarantee you that you are paying more than someone booking without a package 

[Mara4166]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

If a package is included in your booking I will guarantee you that you are paying more than someone booking without a package 

 

I think you misunderstood the comment.  On the Sun and Star, when you book a full suite, the Premier package is automatically included and there is not an option to select either Plus or Premier when booking since it is included.  

 

Dog asked if this was true on all ships of Just the Sun and Star. 

 

I then commented that on the Sky, the Premier is not included in the base fare of a full suite since when I do mock bookings to check the price of booked cruises the options come up.

[memoak]

7 minutes ago, Mara4166 said:

 

I think you misunderstood the comment.  On the Sun and Star, when you book a full suite, the Premier package is automatically included and there is not an option to select either Plus or Premier when booking since it is included.  

 

Dog asked if this was true on all ships of Just the Sun and Star. 

 

I then commented that on the Sky, the Premier is not included in the base fare of a full suite since when I do mock bookings to check the price of booked cruises the options come up.

My comment was to say that you are paying far more for those suites on the Sun than suites on other ships. I sail in Penthouse suites with plus package and I know I don’t pay as much as those suites would be and there is teally nothing on the premier package that would warrant extra monies

[dog]

12 hours ago, Mara4166 said:

I have not seen it on Sky.  We have 3 cruises booked over the next 3 years (all in suites), when I do mock bookings to check prices premier is not included, you have to pay extra for it.

Thanks, I understood your response.

I have a Sky & a Enchanted booking and only see the Plus package offered, this was a recent change in my personalizer & app.

[Thrak]

23 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Perish the thought on the Elite minibar perk going away.  That is part of the reason we don't need Plus.  I would surely miss our 10 beer and 10 Perrier.

 

While many here have disparaged the minibar perk as useless and redundant when booking with Plus I, for one, love that perk. That, the laundry, and the priority tendering are the Elite perks that actually have any value for me.

 

It was a bit funny last year when we sailed 63 days on Grand Princess. We had a 31 day segment followed by a 2 day segment followed by a 5 day segment, followed by a 14 day segment, followed by a 4 day segment, and finally anothe4 14 day segment. For each segment - whether 31 days or  2 days - we got a new minibar setup. A couple of the short segments were actually booked at standard fare and the minibar collection came in quite handy. 😁

[DUCHESSRN]

We swop the mini bar for Diet Coke , works well for us.

[karatemom2]

33 minutes ago, DUCHESSRN said:

We swop the mini bar for Diet Coke , works well for us.

Same!

[susancruzs]

On the mini bar, I'll probably get Sprite or Ginger Ale if they have it, before it was the much mentioned coffee cards!   

 

I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments (seeing some names I haven't seen around in awhile).

[memoak]

1 hour ago, DUCHESSRN said:

We swop the mini bar for Diet Coke , works well for us.

For us all vodka !!!

[555]

23 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I’m pretty sure that the fee is assessed if the cancellation is not made an hour or more beforehand. This shouldn’t deter people from making and paying for reservations in order to secure times. Plans typically change well in advance of that. For example if a guest doesn’t know when the Formal Nights will be on their cruise and later learns on the first day of their cruise that they are booked in SD on a Formal Night and want to cancel the SD, they could do that on Day One and get a full refund. But all of my cancellations have been done weeks in advance and usually result from itinerary changes. 

I would hope it well before hand. I couldn't see people standing at the door waiting for an open spot. 😉

[voljeep]

8 hours ago, memoak said:

For us all vodka !!!

all Rum - if they have/had rum ... and maybe a few swaps for the canned cokes just because

[kywildcatfanone]

10 hours ago, DUCHESSRN said:

We swop the mini bar for Diet Coke , works well for us.

I really wish they had coke zero across all ships all the time.  

[memoak]

On 8/16/2024 at 3:40 PM, asctony said:

SORRY, NOT OK WITH ME!

I personally believe that you should be able to order one pizza and split it. You paid for your meal and are not consuming 2 pizzas! 

It's totally different when you are a solo and booking a cabin that holds 2 people. It's also totally different when you buy a beverage package and should not share.

Why should they dictate that you must each order a pizza?

If we accept that and then agree that what we don't eat is trashed, we are being Wasteful! 

If we only eat 1 pizza and never order the other one, Princess is ahead. We paid for 2, Princess only made us one.

Why don't we stand up and be counted? If this was a discussion on Formal wear, shirts in MDR, would we be so acceptance of Princess suggestion? NO! 

HAPPY CRUISING!

 

On the Grand last month never asked to share just ordered one pizza never charged extra and the even split it on 2 plates. We have never had any issue on any ship either sharing a Vines charcuterie 

[memoak]

On 8/16/2024 at 3:47 PM, dog said:

The New Premier Packages are more than Specialty dining. They include Unlimited drinks.

 

 

How many people go over 15 alcoholic drinks a day ?  I would venture very few so this is not something that hurts Princess

[JimmyVWine]

9 hours ago, 555 said:

I would hope it well before hand. I couldn't see people standing at the door waiting for an open spot. 😉

I double-checked.  It is one day, not one hour.  Still gives people plenty of wiggle room.

[dreaminofcruisin]

7 hours ago, memoak said:

On the Grand last month never asked to share just ordered one pizza never charged extra and the even split it on 2 plates. We have never had any issue on any ship either sharing a Vines charcuterie 

 

On the Royal, the server suggested to us that we would want to share one charcuterie in Vines. I like hearing that some ships are allowing sharing in Alfredo's also!

[pink845]

I like the Princess product but and I agree with JimmyW Vines comments about the morbid side of things. Princess wants the 35 year old with a healthy income as he or she and their families will be around for 40 plus years.  It is all about the money honey and those who want to pay up front for all the bells and whistles. A lot of these young ones with kids cruise maybe once per while us older ones who Re their bread and butter for eons are not as important in terms of the lines Princess included catering to. As I say, I like their product  their itineraries and will continue to cruise them along with Rccl and Celebrity. I am an equal opportunity cruiser, whichever line offers best deal on balcony I will do with no added frills or  packages and try to avoid holidays and vacation times for my 4 to 6 cruises per year.  

[JF - retired RRT]

On 8/17/2024 at 7:15 PM, PescadoAmarillo said:

As for predictions, I CAN see the Elite minibar perk disappearing for the same reason. The times they are a-changing. 

The mini-bar became useless to us when they took away the ability to exchange for coffee cards. We don't drink alcohol or bottled water or soda.

We bring home the tiny bottles and offer them to friends.