caribill

Since cruise companies purchase their alcohol beverages without any federal or state taxes being paid, the cost is amazingly low to them. The price a passenger pays for just one pour will usually more than cover the cost of an entire bottle of liquor.

We will not know until the new package starts to be usable on board. However one poster pointed out that several beverages currently priced at $12 are featured as being available with the new package.

But think how much goodwill Princess would generate if they had said any customer who booked the PlusPackage (with the currently named"premier beverage package") by May 24 would get an automatic upgrade to the new "premier beverage package." The actual cost to Princess for this would likely be relatively small since any repricing of bookings after that date would result in a loss of this free upgrade and thus discourage repricing to get a lower cruise fare. Instead, many people will be surprised (and thus upset at Princess) when they find the beverages they expected to be included in their PrincessPlus package are now extra cost. Wait until early July to start seeing a thread about this by unhappy passengers..

Once you do get it and it shows in the Personalizer, take a screen shot.

Please post what you find out then.

No. Must be requested before a cruise.

For voyages ending in Canada, Princess had the following slide about testing in a webinar Thursday. Note that it says the passengers are responsible for the cost of the testing.

A friend who is on this voyage said when he checked on the Internet last week that this cruise and the next segment are both listed as sold out.

So that they are now in the Premier package means the prices did increase even though during the webinar they said no individual drink price increases were currently anticipated.

What was the pricing for those drinks when you were at GS? $12 or less?

Some of those in the tipping pool who serve you directly include those at the hamburger counter and pizza counter and ice cream counter on the Lido deck. Also those at the International Cafe. I assume you reward those people also with your cash payments.

No. The last point was saying that about 100 TAs who had booked cruises for themselves with the current package would get the free upgrade. It did not apply toiany of their customers.

No.

Loyalty benefits such as the OBC are a marketing tool to incentivize people to cruise more often on Princess. In the total picture, some people would be drawn to Princess instead of a competitor because of loyalty benefits. As Princess marches on to be less and less different than its competitors, not having loyalty OBC (which for many of those eligible was only $25 or $50) can influence someone to not book a cruise on Princess. Cabin prices often fluctuate before a cruise much more than by $25, $50 or even $100. So, no, I do not understand the marketing case for eliminating loyalty OBC. Someone, for example, can be loyal to RCI and get free alcohol beverages for an hour or so every night of the cruise. That can be worth far more than the $25 OBC that Princess has chosen not to give anymore to loyal customers.

Yet actually very little of the "autotip" is now dedicated to the people give you that great service on board. The tip pool is now shared among all the Princess ships. So of the $14.50/day autotip, a dollar or less each day actually goes to staff on your ship.

Not anymore: o Highly vaccinated threshold is now 90%, not 95% o Children under 5 years of age (not eligible to be vaccinated) are not subject to this limit of 10% not vaccinated.

And how many new customers will switch to Princess because only Princess has a lottery that entering (and winning) depends on an adult opening the cabin door while at sea?

The webinar said there were over 60 drinks (spirits, wines, new cocktails) unique to the Premier package. This is many more drinks than what currently cost over $12.

Sorry for the repeat parts. I did too much copy/paste obviously.

No idea if the web site info is accurate or inaccurate. But this slide definitely says (rightly or wrongly) the test cost is the responsibility of the passenger. Treatment cost will be reimbursed by Princess.

That is exactly the definition of Princess Plus package. For 2 people have 2 current beverage packages, 2 WIFI and 2 gratuities.

Some points from the Princess webinar yesterday. o The Princess Plus package at $40/day/person has been extremely popular. That is how we know it will be popular at $50/person/day. o The unlimited digital photos is "in the MedallionClass App." No mention made of how to get this benefit if you do not have a device that is supported by the app. o For the door portal promotion, the winnings are available in the MedallionClass App. No mention made of how to access your winnings (one in 5 spins wins) if you do not have a device that is supported by the app. o The current "Princess Savers" fare will be renamed "Princess Standard." (My guess is that having the word "savers" encourages people to not book the higher fares that include a package. The word "standard" may evoke an impression of not as good a product as it could be and thus encourage booking with a package.) o PrincessPlus name remains the same, but the tag line will change from "Best. Value. Ever." to "Our 'Better' Value." o The Plus beverage package name does change to "Plus Beverage Package," but it is a name change only. What is included does not change. o TAs who set up groups with PrincessPlus by May 24 can sell their bookings in that group with the Plus Package cost of $40/day/person past the May 25th date when the regular price changes to $50/day/person. o Anyone who has the Plus package at $40/day/person needs to know that that price is not protected if the booking is refared after May 24th. o At $75/day/person, for a seven day cruise the cost is $525/person but has a "value" of $1092. o One who has booked a cruise can later upgrade to either Plus or Premier packages. This can be done either via a TA or by the customer using the App (and the upcharge will be commissionable even if done via the App). o The current "Princess Savers" fare will be renamed "Princess Standard." (My guess is that having the word "savers" encourages people to not book the higher fares that include a package. The word "standard" may evoke an impression of not as good a product as it could be and thus encourage booking with a package.) o PrincessPlus name remains the same, but the tag line will change from "Best. Value. Ever." to "Our 'Better' Value." o The Plus beverage package name does change to "Plus Beverage Package," but it is a name change only. What is included does not change. o TAs who set up groups with PrincessPlus by May 24 can sell their bookings in that group with the Plus Package cost of $40/day/person past the May 25th date when the price changes to $50/day/person. o Anyone who has the Plus package at $40/day/person needs to know that that price is not protected if the booking is refared after May 24th. o At $75/day/person, for a seven day cruise the cost is $525/person but has a "value" of $1092. o One can book a cruise later upgrade to either Plus or Premier packages. This can be done either via aTA or by the customer using the App (and the upcharge will be commissionable even if done via the App). o Package upgrades can be done for all passengers in a cabin, the first two passengers, or the 3rd and 4th passengers. o To reward for their loyalty to Princess about 100 TAs who recently booked a cruise at TA rates and had included the current Plus package, Princess will upgrade that package to the Premier Package at no additional cost. (No such reward for loyalty for regular Princess passengers.)

Following is from a Princess webinar yesterday:

I do not know, but it is usually well attended and is fun as your team tries to figure out what the most popular answer will be.

When I need to book excursions in advance and have OBC in both accounts to use, I call Primcess and I have always had success (at least pre-pandemic) in having the agent book the excursions for me and utilize OBC as I want it to be used. Were you turned down when calling Princess or were you just unable to do this online?