Australia and Pacific Wine Packages

[lhsail]

Can anyone tell me if the wine packages are available on Australia and Pacific Cruises? We are cruising 4 weeks in Australia/New Zealand, then the Pacific back to LA. We currently have the Sip & Sail for the Pacific cruise, but are thinking of dropping it for a lower price. Also, can someone tell me if onboard charges will be in USD or Australian?  Thanks to all in advance. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Unfortunately (annoyingly) the wine packages aren't available on Australian cruises. Onboard charges will be in AUD for the Australia/NZ cruises. I'm not sure about the Pacific cruise though. Some repositioning cruises to the US have reverted back to USD immediately but ones up to Asia often stay in AUD.

 

This thread has the current Australian wine and drinks lists. Prices are in AUD and what you see is what you pay, there are no added gratuities. https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2694836-princess-cruise-drinks-price-australia/

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, lhsail said:

Can anyone tell me if the wine packages are available on Australia and Pacific Cruises? We are cruising 4 weeks in Australia/New Zealand, then the Pacific back to LA. We currently have the Sip & Sail for the Pacific cruise, but are thinking of dropping it for a lower price. Also, can someone tell me if onboard charges will be in USD or Australian?  Thanks to all in advance. 

On cruises in and out of Aust & NZ ports, the on-board currency is AUD, but on the trans-Pacific it is likely to be USD. Your Personalizer should show which currency is used. 

[lhsail]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Unfortunately (annoyingly) the wine packages aren't available on Australian cruises. Onboard charges will be in AUD for the Australia/NZ cruises. I'm not sure about the Pacific cruise though. Some repositioning cruises to the US have reverted back to USD immediately but ones up to Asia often stay in AUD.

 

This thread has the current Australian wine and drinks lists. Prices are in AUD and what you see is what you pay, there are no added gratuities. https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2694836-princess-cruise-drinks-price-australia/

Thank you for the quick response. Bummer on the wine packages, but I was prepared for that result. Thanks for the great information, lots to review. 

[lhsail]

26 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

On cruises in and out of Aust & NZ ports, the on-board currency is AUD, but on the trans-Pacific it is likely to be USD. Your Personalizer should show which currency is used. 

Thanks!  Looks like we’ll be on USD for the Trans-Pacific. 

[getting older slowly]

Enjoy your cruise......  we have found on Australian based cruises it is cheaper to pay as you go...

 

Only 17 days til our cruise round New Zealand

 

Cheers Don

[Aus Traveller]

3 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

Enjoy your cruise......  we have found on Australian based cruises it is cheaper to pay as you go...

 

Only 17 days til our cruise round New Zealand

 

Cheers Don

I depends how much the person drinks. 😁 For us, it is definitely cheaper to just buy the drinks as we want them.

[lhsail]

In reviewing the information in the link provided above I saw a couple references to Dan Murphy’s. Is this a shop where we could purchase wine if we decided to bring our own on board and pay corkage?  Three of our cruises depart from Melbourne and one from Sydney. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

12 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I depends how much the person drinks. 😁 For us, it is definitely cheaper to just buy the drinks as we want them.

Ditto for us. On our last cruise we finished with a daily pp average of over $30 less than the package price and we indulged in some ouf the more expensive wines at times.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, lhsail said:

In reviewing the information in the link provided above I saw a couple references to Dan Murphy’s. Is this a shop where we could purchase wine if we decided to bring our own on board and pay corkage?  Three of our cruises depart from Melbourne and one from Sydney. 

Yes, Dan Murphy's is a major liquor store chain which have very good prices. Most of their stores tend to be in the suburbs although Melbourne has a few closer to the main part of the city.

[Aus Traveller]

51 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, Dan Murphy's is a major liquor store chain which have very good prices. Most of their stores tend to be in the suburbs although Melbourne has a few closer to the main part of the city.

On one of our cruises we hired a van to take a group from USA on a sightseeing tour around Brisbane. Before going back to the ship we stopped at the Dan Murphy's shop near the Portside Cruise terminal. Our friends were gobsmacked by the range of wine available and the prices. They were all grinning ear to ear.

[Bizziecruzer]

If you are sailing on the Majestic the wine prices are extremely overpriced. We were just on her and a glass of house red wine was $15 per glass. Bottle of ordinary Moscato was $47 aud. Would have cost no more than $7 ashore. 

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Bizziecruzer said:

If you are sailing on the Majestic the wine prices are extremely overpriced. We were just on her and a glass of house red wine was $15 per glass. Bottle of ordinary Moscato was $47 aud. Would have cost no more than $7 ashore. 

Not just the Majestic - it's the same on all Princess Australian cruises. I am going to take my own and pay the corkage.😊

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, Bizziecruzer said:

If you are sailing on the Majestic the wine prices are extremely overpriced. We were just on her and a glass of house red wine was $15 per glass. Bottle of ordinary Moscato was $47 aud. Would have cost no more than $7 ashore. 

Not in a restaurant. You  can't compare the onboard prices with bottleshop prices, it's unfair. Compared with restaurant prices, in Sydney at least and I'm not talking about high-end restaurants, Princess is very comparable. And I did find one wine that is cheaper on Princess than in Dan Murphys - a Barolo, which is megabucks in restaurants when you can find it.

 

Also buying by the glass is more expensive than by the bottle.

Edited November 8, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[lhsail]

Sounds like we’ll be researching Australian wines. 

[lhsail]

Just wanted to come back and say thank you for all the good information. We repriced yesterday dropping the Sip and Sail. Saved over $3000. Even for 29 days we can buy a lot of wine and pay a lot of $15 corkage with the savings. Looks like Dan Murphy’s is going to be fairly easy for us to access. 
 

Appreciate you all!

[Ombud]

On 11/6/2019 at 3:33 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

This thread has the current Australian wine and drinks lists. Prices are in AUD and what you see is what you pay, there are no added gratuities. https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2694836-princess-cruise-drinks-price-australia/

Really high prices. Is it $15AUD per bottle brought on ship? If so I might bring a few

[Aus Traveller]

16 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Really high prices. Is it $15AUD per bottle brought on ship? If so I might bring a few

Yes. AUD$15 corkage. You can buy reasonable wine in Australia for $10-$12 and even cheaper if you buy six. Look for the wine stores Dan Murphy's, or BWS.