rheathslc

46 minutes ago, Trabadeer said:

I just made final payment on my August 22 European cruise. My receipt lists a "premier beverage package" for each guest, (booked through crown cruise) so is this the higher level drink package then? 

43 minutes ago, prmssk said:

No, the Princess Plus drink package used to be called Premier Beverage Package as well.  The new higher level package is not yet available for purchase (until May 25).  I'm not sure what Princess was thinking naming the new package the same as the old.

No. But since you are sailing after June 25th (when the new package goes into effect) you CAN upgrade to it for $25pp/day if you want to. You would be able to upgrade starting on May 25th when the package will become available for purchase as @prmssksaid above. 🙂 

11 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

When I was younger (under 30 YOA) a Princess cruise would have been very boring for me.  Kids don't appreciate good food or the shows, they're looking for excitement at that age, not relaxing sea days with excursions to learn about faraway lands.  At this point in my life, Princess fits like well-worn slippers and if I want excitement, there would be other vacations I would choose.

Well I first fell in love with cruising on Princess at 25 but I've always preferred way less partying and excitement than my peers. When I was a kid I planned at home read-a-thons on the weekends because I loved them so much at school. So yeah. I'm kinda lame. Haha! Princess has exactly what I want. Although it does include things I would rather NOT have, like kiddos (nothing against them, but would rather vacation without a lot of kids around) and a casino and smoking. But I can't quite afford Viking yet. 🙂

22 minutes ago, MommyOTwins said:

That’s a good point.  We booked it despite having kids in our group because at $40 the savings for the adults would roughly offset the overcharge for the kids and it seemed nice to have the freedom to order whatever we want. At $50 that is definitely not the case any more.  I’m afraid princess shot themselves in the foot because close cases like us will just leave off the plus package next time, and if I am paying a la carte for everything, somehow it just seems harder to justify paying for a fancy coffee or another poolside drink and my sales will likely be lower than what they got from me with the plus package.

I think they make these decisions without really considering the folks who cruise with kids. I love Princess and I don't have kids but if I ever decide to take my nieces and nephews on a cruise it for sure wouldn't be with Princess.

3 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Adding or deleting someone from the booking does not trigger a refare.  I do it all the time.   

TY!

2 hours ago, ktembwr said:

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! Do you have to play any rounds on the slot machine before you can cash out, or just load and go? Not that this is our case this time, but can someone “launder” their nonrefundable OBC using this strategy?

I beleive so....

You can but if you do it more than once they will catch on to you and not let you do that anymore. At least that's what I've read on some of the other "live from" threads. I've never spent time in the on board casino so this as all second hand info. 🙂

1 hour ago, caribill said:

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.

This is important to know! I'm currently booked solo and paying the double occupancy fare for a 5-day in September. If I add someone after the 24th I wonder that will also bump my per day cost for Plus to $50? I'm already trying to confirm if my friend can join me before the 25th but this adds new urgency. 

2 minutes ago, Phantom of the Seas said:

So....in my Cruise Personalizer show for 10 day cruise Premier Beverage Pkg $685.10 x 2....WiFi $99.70 x 2...plus crew appreciation included...I’m assuming it is Princess Plus....almost seems like in between the New Premier and Plus????

Yeah, I noticed that discrepancy too. I have a 5 day cruise booked with Princess Plus and it shows the included "Premier Drink with Service Charge" which will have the name Plus Drinks going forward has a price of $342.55 which is only $68.51 per person per day, not the $70.79 per person per day that shows when you go to book the stand-alone drinks package. Maybe Princess gives a different value to the package in Princess Plus than it does in the stand-alone package for some reason. I mean, it's only $2.28 difference. But still strange. I seem to remember that the drinks package was a slightly different price a few years ago when I first booked it but I can't remember for sure. Maybe they just didn't make that change in the internal pricing. Unless someone else can shed light on this.

That all means that you did in fact book Princess Plus though. 🙂

1 hour ago, memoak said:

That is the same verbiage they have used in the past no change 

Right. I'm aware of that. This was an expansion of my previous post with screenshots showing that my cruise personalizer AND new bookings on the website are showing the new "Plus" wording but that my travel summary for a September cruise is still showing the old. I'm not confused about which package I'm getting. A lot of people seem to be. I also plan on upgrading to Premier when it becomes available for our two 5-day B2Bs because I think the math makes sense for a shorter cruise. I think Premier becomes considerably less attractive at anything over 6 days or so unless someone plans on drinking a TON of $18 drinks.

8 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I find it interesting to read how many people want to get a free upgrade to their drink package.  When you purchased the plan, did it include drinks over $12?  Of course not.  Why do people think they are now entitled to get drinks up to $18 when they didn't pay for the new higher tier beverage package?  I understand that some people are claiming to be confused because of the rebranding of the product they purchased.  It's very easy to clear up the confusion...when you purchased your beverage package, what terms were being offered at that time?  That will most likely be what you will get.  🙄

I also find it interesting how many people are complaining that the new package isn't a value to them. Then don't buy it. Simple solution. But I also think a lot of the frustration is coming from people who are assuming that Princess will use this opportunity to raise prices and make the original package less valuable thereby making people feel like they have to upgrade to get the same value. I really don't think that's their intention and they said as much in the webinar for TAs. But we'll just have to wait and see I guess. Personally, I'm not going to spend energy being mad about a hypothetical situation. 🙂 

43 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

I checked my Summary yesterday for my September cruise and it shows the same thing, Premier Drinks with Service Charge but at the Plus price so I'm confused which one it'll actually be.

It will be the original package with the $12 limit unless you are sailing on or after June 25th and choose to pay $25pp/day to upgrade. It's just going to take a while for Princess to change all the text that exists everywhere for what has been called "Premier" and will now be called "Plus". The name isn't what's really important. It's the price.

4 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

The only package anybody has at his time is the "Princess Plus" fare option (with wifi, tips, and the original beverage package included) or the stand-alone drinks package which was formerly called "Premier Beverage Package" but is already showing in my cruise personalizer and when you go in to make a new booking as "Plus Beverage Package". It's the one with the $12 limit on beverages. So no matter what your booking summary or the website says it's still the original package. The new Princess Premier won't be available to purchase until May 25th for cruises sailing on June 25th or later. 

My travel summary for a Sept cruise still shows "Premier Beverage Package" though. 🙂

4 minutes ago, rabin1 said:

when on the list of items purchased should it say Premier Plus Package or Premier Beverage Package Including Service Charge. I can't tell what I have How do you know which is which?

Thank you

The only package anybody has at his time is the "Princess Plus" fare option (with wifi, tips, and the original beverage package included) or the stand-alone drinks package which was formerly called "Premier Beverage Package" but is already showing in my cruise personalizer and when you go in to make a new booking as "Plus Beverage Package". It's the one with the $12 limit on beverages. So no matter what your booking summary or the website says it's still the original package. The new Princess Premier won't be available to purchase until May 25th for cruises sailing on June 25th or later. 

1 minute ago, NRWPA said:

Ok, thanks! I misunderstood. I thought you were talking about the elite benefit as well as being in a suite.

Oh, yeah, I won't be elite until after our two 5-day B2Bs in a suite in Sept.

6 minutes ago, NRWPA said:

I hadn't heard this about the mini-bar before and just checked the benefits page on Princess - there isn't anything about not receiving the mini-bar if you're on a cruise for less than 6 days. The only footnote for it says For guests 21 and over. Complimentary mini-bar setup is one time only, per Elite stateroom  There is nothing about the length of the cruise. Just curious since although I don't have anything shorter than 7 days booked right now I've taken 5 day cruises in the past.

3 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

It's in the fine print of the suite flyer PDF. Attached here:

PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf 683.57 kB · 0 downloads

1 minute ago, NRWPA said:

I hadn't heard this about the mini-bar before and just checked the benefits page on Princess - there isn't anything about not receiving the mini-bar if you're on a cruise for less than 6 days. The only footnote for it says For guests 21 and over. Complimentary mini-bar setup is one time only, per Elite stateroom  There is nothing about the length of the cruise. Just curious since although I don't have anything shorter than 7 days booked right now I've taken 5 day cruises in the past.

It's in the fine print of the suite flyer PDF. Attached here:

PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf

20 hours ago, jimmieg said:

As they price the package at $75, I wonder if the they will change $25 or $35 for upgrading old package? As so much is unclear, remains to be seen what they will do.

I asked and was told it would be available at $25pp/day extra for those of us who have already booked Princess Plus at $40pp/day on cruises leaving on or after June 25th. It's an answer to my question on their official Facebook page announcement of the new plans.

3 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

I viewed the webinar today and they said they aren’t planning to raise drink prices to  eliminate them from Princess Plus  beverage package so you should see the same beverages as before  (I know.. time will tell… just repeating what TAs were told don’t kill the messenger 😂). They said their plan isn’t to devalue Princess Plus beverage package - Premier package is intended to include more of the higher priced wines and higher priced spirits that aren’t currently covered by the Princess Plus. 

This is what I've been saying. Of course they reserve the right to increase prices later and they might do it now even though they're saying they won't but we won't know until the first cruises with new system sail and we hear back from people on board. 

I DO understand why a lot of people are worried though. In the last year Princess has changed benefits at the different Captain's Circle levels, specifically turning the free wi-fi minutes based on cruise length into a 50% discount instead (in my option most likely to make the Princess Plus more attractive to their loyal guests since that's one of the things that's included) and they very recently changed the Full Suite benefits and took away some things. That did ruffle my feathers because we had already booked a suite on two B2B 5-Day cruises for my 40th bday in September and now it appears we won't get the mini-bar set up (now only on voyages 6 days or longer) and some other benefits went away completely like the Platinum Studios portrait session.

3 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

The comparison chart earlier in this thread said there are over 60 additional alcohol beverages available with the new package than available now with the original package.

 

Since there were very beverages over $12 with the original package, either Princess is adding a large number of new liquors, wines, beers and cocktails on board or they are raising prices.

 

Which do you think is more likely?

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I agree that it's possible they will raise prices but I'm not gonna spend time and energy complaining about something that hasn't happened yet. I like the new tier and plan on upgrading when it becomes available. Maybe I'm a sucker and I'll be getting ripped off. But I guess we won't know for sure until after June 25th.

10 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

It would be a NTH, but Princess seems determined to collect the full amount.  It becomes really questionable with the new price of $50 for PLUS Fare.  Do kids really need $50 worth of non-alcoholic bar drinks every day?

I mean, the $50 also includes the wifi which some kids other than the really young ones might use now that even young kids seem to have phones or tablets. And the daily crew gratuity. So that takes the total they would need to spend on drinks to $30 to make it worthwhile. For most kids that's probably more than they would use but for older teens it might still be a good deal.

10 minutes ago, Doug R. said:

I may be confused here but my cruise on the Enchanted in October still only offers the two options, Saver and Plus. Maybe I got lost in all the speculation and conjecture.

Exactly what @HBCcruiser said. It won't show up as an option until the 25th. And if you've already booked Plus at the $40 per person per day you'll get the Plus benefits without any extra cost. If you want to upgrade to Premier on or after May 25th you can do so for an extra $25 per person per day. 

16 minutes ago, MommyOTwins said:

Wow, ugh, I really wish I hadn't purchased plus.  I went with it because I'd red almost every drink and wine is included, I don't want to drink two-buck chuck and bottom-shelf liquor and wake up with a headache every day.   Seems like the solution is just to keep plus since I'm past my pay in full date, and pay the price difference for the good drinks.  This trip gets more expensive by the day.... inflation on everything, flights, hotel, transportation, and now this.  I've almost stopped looking forward to it.

 

I will say, one thing kind of amused me about their raffle thingie.  You get an entry every time you enter the stateroom with your medallian?  Now I'm wondering if we're going to see masses of people opening and shutting their doors all day and night, playing it like a slot machine.  Lol.

Many of the decent wines and liquors ARE included so you shouldn't have to resign yourself to cheap stuff. There is no evidence so far that Princess is limiting the number of options available at the $12 level. It's all speculation. It's a lot of worst-case scenario assumptions that people are making. That's not to say they won't do that. But so far they have not. Just my two cents. 🙂 

59 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Were you comparing the cabin you would normally pick on Princess?

I was comparing a mini-suite which is comparable in size and features to a Viking Deluxe Verandah. These costs are based on how I like to sail. On Princess we reserve the Sanctuary for the whole cruise if we can get it in time and the Thermal Suite. On Viking there are no kids so the whole ship is a Sanctuary. 😉These also both included some OBC based on promotions I was seeing at the time (this was about a month ago) Right now Viking has a great promotion with $500 OBC per couple and included drinks upgrade.

2 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

I've always wanted to try Cunard, maybe this will push me to finally do it. 

I also want to try Viking. I compared the prices for comparable cabins and all the things that Viking includes and it was only about $10pp/day more than a Princess cruise and I love that they have no smoking, no art auctions, no people under 18 , no casino and very few shops with none of the big sales events. The one drawback for us right now is that with Viking you basically have to pay in full upon booking. We like that we can book well in advance with Princess and then make monthly payments up until the final payment date.

Just now, Tedferg said:

I responded to the post referring to NCL

Got it! Sorry for unnecessarily over explaining. 🙂 

Just now, Tedferg said:

Plus package? If so then both pax had Plus and so no need to sweat sharing.

Right, and the complaint of the person I was responding to was that they are required to purchase Plus for both people even though their husband doesn't drink.