so the AIBP is now the premier package

[NSWP]

'Premier AIBP' as they now call it is US$59.99 plus 15% gratuity on the 'American Princess Ships,' (those not based in Australia.) :evilsmile:

 

To quote an American poster on Princess section of CC..'I would have to drink 12 Vodkas to break even.' :p Fair comment.:p

[NSWP]

Thanks for that. Some food for thought. I'd have to drink 12 Vodka/sodas to break even, any less in 24hrs and I'll be paying more.

 

But you could add a couple of glasses of wine in the MDR to that and you will have a real good day. :p Make it 3 glasses plus 12 Vodkas, there is your daily 15 drink limit on the AIBP.:hearteyes: But don't forget the Berocca.:halo:

[Womble99]

'Premier AIBP' as they now call it is US$59.99 plus 15% gratuity on the 'American Princess Ships,' (those not based in Australia.) :evilsmile:

 

To quote an American poster on Princess section of CC..'I would have to drink 12 Vodkas to break even.' :p Fair comment.:p

 

Though if you convert the $59.99USD to AUD it doesn't come to $86.99, but if you convert the $68.99USD (gratuities added) you get the $86.99AUD. I guess Princess wants us Aussies to pay our gratuities twice now? Now if they had just charged us the price of the package without gratuities (as we have already paid them in our fare) the price would have only gone up to approx $75AUD, still a pretty big rise but not a huge slap in the face!

[NSWP]

Though if you convert the $59.99USD to AUD it doesn't come to $86.99, but if you convert the $68.99USD (gratuities added) you get the $86.99AUD. I guess Princess wants us Aussies to pay our gratuities twice now? Now if they had just charged us the price of the package without gratuities (as we have already paid them in our fare) the price would have only gone up to approx $75AUD, still a pretty big rise but not a huge slap in the face!

 

I agree, big rise and unacceptable. We have a little Sapphire Princess cruise booked from/to Southampton next May, and I just checked the 'Premier AIBP' price and it said US$59.99 plus 15% gratuity. The Carnival bean counters sure do their sums before they fix prices.:evilsmile:

[cheznandy]

The package is actually $86.99 here onboard the Golden just checked a Patter.

People are getting reimbursed the difference as no one was notified and there are many complaints.

 

 

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[NSWP]

The package is actually $86.99 here onboard the Golden just checked a Patter.

People are getting reimbursed the difference as no one was notified and there are many complaints.

 

 

Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks Chez, AU$89 was getting quoted for AIBP on Australian based Princess ships.

They have a $2 discount now.:halo: At the end of the day same as US Princess.

 

But as Womble says, there is that matter of auto gratuities being 'hidden in the fare, locally on Princess.'

[cheznandy]

And by the way.....no more buy one get one for $1 Happy Hour.......and we have had 2 seadays and no pub lunch.....cost cutting is happening!!!!

We have 1000 new cruisers onboard who want to do everything apparently......specialty restaurants booked out and dont ask about Anytime dining!!!

They say call the dine line and book but no one answers and when you finally get through they say there are no more reservations just turn up and line is out into the Atrium, me thinks traditional diners are doing Anytime as I have never seen this before......good news is the footy is on tonight so pizza and burgers it may be!!!!

 

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[Womble99]

Thanks Chez, AU$89 was getting quoted for AIBP on Australian based Princess ships.

They have a $2 discount now.:halo: At the end of the day same as US Princess.

 

But as Womble says, there is that matter of auto gratuities being 'hidden in the fare, locally on Princess.'

 

I don't think Princess hides the fact that gratuities are included in local fares Uncle Les, but I am pretty sure they have hidden the extras in the new pricing for the Premier drinks package most likely through sheer laziness. Similar to how they couldn't be bothered to fix the pricing problems on the AU site for how long now? Oh and its still wrong btw ;)

[NSWP]

And by the way.....no more buy one get one for $1 Happy Hour.......and we have had 2 seadays and no pub lunch.....cost cutting is happening!!!!

We have 1000 new cruisers onboard who want to do everything apparently......specialty restaurants booked out and dont ask about Anytime dining!!!

They say call the dine line and book but no one answers and when you finally get through they say there are no more reservations just turn up and line is out into the Atrium, me thinks traditional diners are doing Anytime as I have never seen this before......good news is the footy is on tonight so pizza and burgers it may be!!!!

 

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And no Elite/Suite lounge on Sea and Sun Princesses right? But you have it on the Golden, right? Getting ripped off, but whats new? :evilsmile: The Americans would not cop it.:loudcry:

[NSWP]

I don't think Princess hides the fact that gratuities are included in local fares Uncle Les, but I am pretty sure they have hidden the extras in the new pricing for the Premier drinks package most likely through sheer laziness. Similar to how they couldn't be bothered to fix the pricing problems on the AU site for how long now? Oh and its still wrong btw ;)

 

Thanks, they just made the price same as on the American ships on currency conversion. Easy for them.:evilsmile:

 

Geez hot down here today in Batemans Bay...34C, all this beverage package talk is making me thirsty, got to wait until 1700 hr, wine'oclock.

[Womble99]

And no Elite/Suite lounge on Sea and Sun Princesses right? But you have it on the Golden, right? Getting ripped off, but whats new? :evilsmile: The Americans would not cop it.:loudcry:

 

But the American market is good for somethings. Our webpage got updated a while back and some things were broken, room categories left off the page all together etc. For two months nothing was done no matter how many complaints from Australian customers they got. Within 24 hours of the new site hitting the US servers the problems were fixed after complaints for the same issues, our site was updated the next day go figure......

[NSWP]

But the American market is good for somethings. Our webpage got updated a while back and some things were broken, room categories left off the page all together etc. For two months nothing was done no matter how many complaints from Australian customers they got. Within 24 hours of the new site hitting the US servers the problems were fixed after complaints for the same issues, our site was updated the next day go figure......

 

Yes, the Princess site is very good now. I do all our Princess bookings on it.:halo:

[Womble99]

Thanks, they just made the price same as on the American ships on currency conversion. Easy for them.:evilsmile:

 

Geez hot down here today in Batemans Bay...34C, all this beverage package talk is making me thirsty, got to wait until 1700 hr, wine'oclock.

 

Lol you would think that would have made it easy for them, pity none of the cruises I have booked actually list the drinks package at $86.99 :eek: 3 cruises booked and 3 different prices :rolleyes:

 

I am sure it is 1700 somewhere Uncle Les :halo:

[OzKiwiJJ]

Roll on August 2018 - you are so going to enjoy All Inclusive on Crystal....and yes you can have more than 15 alcoholic drinks a day (although that sounds an awful lot!)

These extras charges and gratuities are starting to make a Crystal per diem quite reasonable - certainly on v.8218 anyway

Only on v.8218 I suspect.

 

I compared the 2019 Auckland to Sydney cruise with the similar Celebrity cruise we currently have booked (taking into account drinks and speciality restaurants) and Crystal came in at more than double the Celebrity price for a comparable cabin. :(

[OzKiwiJJ]

Though if you convert the $59.99USD to AUD it doesn't come to $86.99, but if you convert the $68.99USD (gratuities added) you get the $86.99AUD. I guess Princess wants us Aussies to pay our gratuities twice now? Now if they had just charged us the price of the package without gratuities (as we have already paid them in our fare) the price would have only gone up to approx $75AUD, still a pretty big rise but not a huge slap in the face!

 

The gratuities built into the fare have never included drink gratuities. Those were built into the individual drinks prices and the package prices.

[jcruizer]

Still wish we had the US Sip and Sail. Reading their pages gives me the ...... as thats what they keep going on about having.....

 

 

 

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[martin jenkins]

Still wish we had the US Sip and Sail. Reading their pages gives me the ...... as thats what they keep going on about having.....

 

 

i think 70% of the main page is going on about there sip & sail typical yanks don't want to pay for anything, want cheaper cruises.

[dstables]

I think what most Aussies are missing on this price increase is that in fact they were getting a hack of a deal with their old price! We are from Canada and our CDN dollar is worth about the same as AUS dollar but both are much less the US dollar. We sailed this past February in Australia and if we had bought the Drink package on board it was 59.00 AUS which would have been the same in CDN funds. But if we were sailing in the Caribbean at the same time the package would have been 59.00 USD which would have been 76.70 CDN. Princess is an American company and sets their prices in US dollars and then converts to the countries currency. It is not Princess's fault that CDN dollar or AUS dollar is less than the American dollar and us Canadians or Aussies have to pay more than the American price. I'm not saying that Aussies drink more than American or Canadians but what we did see on our February cruise was that a lot more passengers on the Australia cruise had purchased the drink package than we had ever seen on our Caribbean cruises. I thought this was due to the great price it was on the Aussie ship. If I look to purchase the drink package today on either a Caribbean cruise or Australian cruise the price is the same to me in Canadian funds. This was not the case last February. The Australia price was much cheaper. Princess has not penalized the Aussies they have just aligned the price for everyone.

[MicCanberra]

I am onboard the Golden now.....yes the AIBP is $86 AUD.per day....cocktails $13.95 and the drinks in Skywalkers elite/suite etc are $8.50.

 

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Well, that seems like the loyalty perk is being eroded.

[MicCanberra]

I think what most Aussies are missing on this price increase is that in fact they were getting a hack of a deal with their old price! We are from Canada and our CDN dollar is worth about the same as AUS dollar but both are much less the US dollar. We sailed this past February in Australia and if we had bought the Drink package on board it was 59.00 AUS which would have been the same in CDN funds. But if we were sailing in the Caribbean at the same time the package would have been 59.00 USD which would have been 76.70 CDN. Princess is an American company and sets their prices in US dollars and then converts to the countries currency. It is not Princess's fault that CDN dollar or AUS dollar is less than the American dollar and us Canadians or Aussies have to pay more than the American price. I'm not saying that Aussies drink more than American or Canadians but what we did see on our February cruise was that a lot more passengers on the Australia cruise had purchased the drink package than we had ever seen on our Caribbean cruises. I thought this was due to the great price it was on the Aussie ship. If I look to purchase the drink package today on either a Caribbean cruise or Australian cruise the price is the same to me in Canadian funds. This was not the case last February. The Australia price was much cheaper. Princess has not penalized the Aussies they have just aligned the price for everyone.

Great post, except for one point. IMO, Aussie cruisers are more likely to be drinkers than the US cruisers. People need to realise that if they continue to give us great cruise fares (cheaper per day than even 15 years ago), the money has to come from somewhere and drinks is a great revenue stream for them.

[Jani49]

I am an Aussie and I never buy the package. I would be off my head. What a waste of money

 

 

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[martin jenkins]

I think what most Aussies are missing on this price increase is that in fact they were getting a hack of a deal with their old price! We are from Canada and our CDN dollar is worth about the same as AUS dollar but both are much less the US dollar. We sailed this past February in Australia and if we had bought the Drink package on board it was 59.00 AUS which would have been the same in CDN funds. But if we were sailing in the Caribbean at the same time the package would have been 59.00 USD which would have been 76.70 CDN. Princess is an American company and sets their prices in US dollars and then converts to the countries currency. It is not Princess's fault that CDN dollar or AUS dollar is less than the American dollar and us Canadians or Aussies have to pay more than the American price. I'm not saying that Aussies drink more than American or Canadians but what we did see on our February cruise was that a lot more passengers on the Australia cruise had purchased the drink package than we had ever seen on our Caribbean cruises. I thought this was due to the great price it was on the Aussie ship. If I look to purchase the drink package today on either a Caribbean cruise or Australian cruise the price is the same to me in Canadian funds. This was not the case last February. The Australia price was much cheaper. Princess has not penalized the Aussies they have just aligned the price for everyone.

 

so the've aligned the price, so now we will see the sip and sail promo's and packages available on cruises 2 days or more in australia ??? i think not. agreed $59 was a great price but $86 people just won't pay it.

[MMDown Under]

Great post, except for one point. IMO, Aussie cruisers are more likely to be drinkers than the US cruisers. People need to realise that if they continue to give us great cruise fares (cheaper per day than even 15 years ago), the money has to come from somewhere and drinks is a great revenue stream for them.

 

Do you think the fares could be cheaper because there are more passengers on board than there used to be?

 

I must admit I was shocked when I learnt that ships had a alcohol target to try to meet.

[NSWP]

Do you think the fares could be cheaper because there are more passengers on board than there used to be?

 

I must admit I was shocked when I learnt that ships had a alcohol target to try to meet.

 

Oh yes, the Food and Beverage Managers on the ships have corporate targets to achieve. Security does not give a hoot what booze you bring on, the F&B guys on Princess, sitting at the table as you exit the gangway are the 'BYO Alcohol Police on Princess.:evilsmile:

[NSWP]

Still wish we had the US Sip and Sail. Reading their pages gives me the ...... as thats what they keep going on about having.....

 

 

 

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Yep, they really rub it in, Sip and sail, price reductions, mammoth OBC.:evilsmile: