MAJESTIC PRINCESS DRINK PACKAGE

[robdog55]

We have just bought the premium beverage package for March 13th -13 day cruise Sydney -New Zealand & paid $86.39 per day  other passengers on different days are paying $79.99 or $83.15 per day and sent screen shots on the Majestic Princess Forum on Facebook .

I have called princess today and they couldn't explain , so i  have sent them an email with screen shots , interesting to see what they say.

[GUT2407]

A regular problem with the Princess web site, it’s why they stopped selling it online.

[NSWP]

9 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

A regular problem with the Princess web site, it’s why they stopped selling it online.

Only stopped the package on the Australian based cruises, still available on cruises from overseas.

[GUT2407]

52 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Only stopped the package on the Australian based cruises, still available on cruises from overseas.

But it’s an Aus/NZ cruise they’re asking about

[Brisbane41]

Its best to keep away from those packages. They are a waste of money and only benefit the cruise line. Only a severe alcoholic would find financial benefit from that price, probably someone extremely overweight with a damaged liver already and if male a damaged prostate. No normal human can drink that much.

 

I love to drink beer and wine on a cruise, love the soft drinks and go to have fun. I know my limits. I purchase wines by the bottle no matter what the cost and in all my years cruising my budget has always been better than what the beverage package costs. I have always come out better.

 

What people do not factor in when the cost per day is calculated is that there are port days where you are likely to be off the ship for some time. This is where the cruise line makes their money on the package because the passengers who have the package are off the ship from 6 to 8 hours and not drinking.

 

It is seriously a total rip-off. I cannot fathom why people keep buying it when all you have to do is purchase an amount of on board credit before you go and you are set.

[Toryhere]

3 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

Its best to keep away from those packages. They are a waste of money and only benefit the cruise line. Only a severe alcoholic would find financial benefit from that price, probably someone extremely overweight with a damaged liver already and if male a damaged prostate. No normal human can drink that much.

 

I love to drink beer and wine on a cruise, love the soft drinks and go to have fun. I know my limits. I purchase wines by the bottle no matter what the cost and in all my years cruising my budget has always been better than what the beverage package costs. I have always come out better.

 

What people do not factor in when the cost per day is calculated is that there are port days where you are likely to be off the ship for some time. This is where the cruise line makes their money on the package because the passengers who have the package are off the ship from 6 to 8 hours and not drinking.

 

It is seriously a total rip-off. I cannot fathom why people keep buying it when all you have to do is purchase an amount of on board credit before you go and you are set.

Well said.

I often wonder if when you add in all the extra charges, it isn’t really that more expensive to cruise on one of the all inclusive lines.

there is something rather pleasing about being able to order a drink without the need to flash cards or worry about proving you have the drink package.

[GUT2407]

1 minute ago, Toryhere said:

Well said.

I often wonder if when you add in all the extra charges, it isn’t really that more expensive to cruise on one of the all inclusive lines.

there is something rather pleasing about being able to order a drink without the need to flash cards or worry about proving you have the drink package.

Sometimes all inclusive lines are better by way of comparison one cruise I looked at 

 

$15,000 fare

$6,000 drinks packages

$5,000 excursions

 

so about 26,000 all up

 

all inclusive Line was about 30,000 flat and included flights.

 

However, we don’t drink, don’t fly (it was from Sydney anyway but if you were coming fromUSA for example flights would be a few thousand) and rarely do organised excursions, so for us it wasn’t really a great deal but for others it could be.

 

i always say do the sums on what you’d pay withou the package.

 

as to value of drinks packages some get great value out of them, others don’t, I always get a soft drink package, Diet Coke is my poison, I don’t drink, I don’t drink coffee or tea, I have to avoid most fruit juices, so it’s a no brainer for me, Mrs G would never get value out of it.

 

Horses for courses.

[GUT2407]

When I did drink a package would have made perfect sense,

 

Bloody Mary or Pineapple Screwdriver with breakfast

 

a beer or two with lunch

 

pre dinner drink

 

couple of wines with dinner

a port after

 

cocktail during show

 

a shot or sherry before bed

 

a few others during the afternoon or at trivia

 

even on a Port day I would at the worst break even.

 

But again just because it would work for me doesn’t mean it would work for everyone.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Toryhere said:

Well said.

I often wonder if when you add in all the extra charges, it isn’t really that more expensive to cruise on one of the all inclusive lines.

there is something rather pleasing about being able to order a drink without the need to flash cards or worry about proving you have the drink package.

It depends. Some of the all inclusive itineraries in our region are very expensive. I priced a March Crystal NZ cruise as an alternative to the Celebrity one we are booked on and the Crystal cruise was slightly more than double the price of Celebrity. 

[NSWP]

17 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

When I did drink a package would have made perfect sense,

 

Bloody Mary or Pineapple Screwdriver with breakfast

 

a beer or two with lunch

 

pre dinner drink

 

couple of wines with dinner

a port after

 

cocktail during show

 

a shot or sherry before bed

 

a few others during the afternoon or at trivia

 

even on a Port day I would at the worst break even.

 

But again just because it would work for me doesn’t mean it would work for everyone.

Good to see you had some variety in your diet, the tomato juice in the bloody mary would be good for you.  You were an A grader Mr Gut.🍷🍻

Edited February 4, 2019 by NSWP

[GUT2407]

25 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Good to see you had some variety in your diet, the tomato juice in the bloody mary would be good for you.  You were an A grader Mr Gut.🍷🍻

A looooooong time ago Uncle Les But really is was good old Black (tooheys or tooths) and Vodka with some sort of juice.

[Toryhere]

On 2/3/2019 at 8:32 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

It depends. Some of the all inclusive itineraries in our region are very expensive. I priced a March Crystal NZ cruise as an alternative to the Celebrity one we are booked on and the Crystal cruise was slightly more than double the price of Celebrity. 

Was that double the price once the drinks package and all other extras were thrown in?

If it was, I suppose the question is whether the Crystal cruise would have been twice as good and whether it was the sort of thing you were after on a trip to NZ.

[Toryhere]

On 2/3/2019 at 6:50 PM, GUT2407 said:

Sometimes all inclusive lines are better by way of comparison one cruise I looked at 

 

$15,000 fare

$6,000 drinks packages

$5,000 excursions

 

so about 26,000 all up

 

all inclusive Line was about 30,000 flat and included flights.

 

However, we don’t drink, don’t fly (it was from Sydney anyway but if you were coming fromUSA for example flights would be a few thousand) and rarely do organised excursions, so for us it wasn’t really a great deal but for others it could be.

 

i always say do the sums on what you’d pay withou the package.

 

as to value of drinks packages some get great value out of them, others don’t, I always get a soft drink package, Diet Coke is my poison, I don’t drink, I don’t drink coffee or tea, I have to avoid most fruit juices, so it’s a no brainer for me, Mrs G would never get value out of it.

 

Horses for courses.

Interesting.

Regent is the line that has the included airfares. They remove that for Australian cruisers. So that would have brought the price down in your example. 

And it’s not just about the raw numbers, but about the service and space. Your getting a five star product rather than a three or four star, with a much better crew to passenger ratio. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

18 minutes ago, Toryhere said:

Was that double the price once the drinks package and all other extras were thrown in?

If it was, I suppose the question is whether the Crystal cruise would have been twice as good and whether it was the sort of thing you were after on a trip to NZ.

Yes, it was. I always do apple to apple comparisons, costing in the equivalent of the included extras.

 

I really loved the Crystal cruise we did last year but I don't think it was twice as good. It didn't include one of the ports that is a must have for us - we cruise NZ to catch up with friends and family at various ports rather than to just see NZ. I lived in NZ for over 40 years, and have taken my DH on several road trips there. Although it would have been lovely to do an NZ cruise on Crystal it really wasn't cost effective for us. Unfortunately our cruise budget is not unlimited,

 

We do have another Crystal cruise booked, a 26 night Western Europe one, which has a fabulous itinerary and was an excellent price when we booked. Apparently it has gone up in price since then. I'm hoping Crystal will offer a decent selection of excursions. We were very happy with the ones we did on the Panama Canal cruise and we had sufficient OBC to cover all the costs.

Edited February 5, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[Toryhere]

4 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, it was. I always do apple to apple comparisons, costing in the equivalent of the included extras.

 

I really loved the Crystal cruise we did last year but I don't think it was twice as good. It didn't include one of the ports that is a must have for us - we cruise NZ to catch up with friends and family at various ports rather than to just see NZ. I lived in NZ for over 40 years, and have taken my DH on several road trips there. Although it would have been lovely to do an NZ cruise on Crystal it really wasn't cost effective for us. Unfortunately our cruise budget is not unlimited,

 

We do have another Crystal cruise booked, a 26 night Western Europe one, which has a fabulous itinerary and was and excellent price wen we booked. Apparently it has gone up in price since then. I'm hoping Crystal will offer a decent selection of excursions. We were very happy with the ones we did on the Panama Canal cruise.

I agree that it’s a question of what it is you want out of a holiday. 

My wife doesn’t like the big ships and claims we can get better value on land in Australia for the sort of holiday we like doing. We like to take a sea voyage as part of a holiday abroad. It’s then that all inclusive 5 star lines come into their own.

[Suzbluz]

I think sometimes they are worth it and sometimes not. For our recent royal Caribbean cruise we paid $63 AUD grats included. Compared to paying on boardboard per drink in US dollars plus grats it was a bargain as I let my hair down on holidays and it didn't take much to get value. I'm certainly not an alcoholic and I think its pretty judgmental to say anyone who gets a package must be.