New Princess packages - worth it or not?

[PaperSniper4]

4 hours ago, AZjohn said:

We are not financially rich and appreciate getting the best deals we can.

 

But, after finding the best price on a bucket list cruise and business class flights for $20K, I am not going to freak out and penny pinch on that trip. 

 

Yes, $100 here and there starts adding up but, looking at the overall cost of the whole trip I think the plus fares is a reasonable deal.

 

We don't drink alcohol but, I'm sure we will have plenty of espresso drinks, water, virgin cocktails, sodas,  milk shakes, etc. to come out good. The best part for me is I won't be shelled shocked with the invoice at the end of the cruise. This in itself is a great thing for us. Others might feel different 🙂

 

I do not fault your reasoning at all. The second to last sentence says it all. Who cares what others think, right?😎

 

Doug

[PaperSniper4]

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I recently purchased Medallion WiFi for a short upcoming cruise.  

...

Step 2:  First agent was able to sign me up, but I couldn't pay for it (later found out she attached. payment to Final Payment....duh).

....

I guess I don't understand. Why would you want to actually pay for it now, and not with your final payment? In either case you would have purchased it prior to boarding the ship.

 

I usually do insurance that way: I buy and pay for it early so I can get through the "pre-existing" clause that many policies have; such that you are NOT covered for many reasons <usually your medical condition> for usually 2 months. Once I pay, that 2 month counter starts. I try to stay REALLY healthy for those two months.........😉

 

Doug

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

I guess I don't understand. Why would you want to actually pay for it now, and not with your final payment? In either case you would have purchased it prior to boarding the ship.

 

I usually do insurance that way: I buy and pay for it early so I can get through the "pre-existing" clause that many policies have; such that you are NOT covered for many reasons <usually your medical condition> for usually 2 months. Once I pay, that 2 month counter starts. I try to stay REALLY healthy for those two months.........😉

 

Doug

so, basically pay for insurance at final - 60 days prior to sail ?

[PaperSniper4]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

I will find out if my PVP is correct on 8/15/21

................

I will be looking for your post soon after 8/15/2021!😎

 

Doug

[PaperSniper4]

1 minute ago, voljeep said:

so, basically pay for insurance at final - 60 days prior to sail ?

Depends. If I have paid a large deposit when I booked, which can be a year or more in advance of the sail date, I'll likely get the insurance even earlier than your 60 days above.  Depends on how we're feeling! Ha, ain't getting old grand! Our daughter went to the ER about 2 years ago and thankfully I had gotten insurance that covered our canceling two Princess cruises. Neither were Princess insurance but another carrier. We learned a lot about insurance!

 

Doug

[cr8tiv1]

25 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

I guess I don't understand. Why would you want to actually pay for it now, and not with your final payment? In either case you would have purchased it prior to boarding the ship.

 

I usually do insurance that way: I buy and pay for it early so I can get through the "pre-existing" clause that many policies have; such that you are NOT covered for many reasons <usually your medical condition> for usually 2 months. Once I pay, that 2 month counter starts. I try to stay REALLY healthy for those two months.........😉

 

Doug

 

As I mentioned (in this thread???).  I don't trust Princess.  Without the option to purchase it on line or with the APP,  Princess "may" decide on a different price closer to my cruise.  It is refundable up to 72 hours prior to cruising.  By then, I hope they have a more definitive policy.  

 

If I did not have so much "invested" in Princess (and it was some other kind of company), I would probably walk away instead of being subjected to so much stress.

[Ombud]

It's becoming sort of like nails on a chalkboard with all the uncertainty and yet it's still my preferred travel choice. 

 

I need a vacation!!

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, pompeii said:

There was a discussion on the Elite Facebook page recently where the poster was a TA who had spoken to a Polar Online rep.  The rep said for internet packages purchased pre-cruise, the discount would be applied to the onboard folio and would be refunded to the original form of payment if not used.  She also said that if you wait to purchase until you are onboard, you will be charged the 50% discounted amount, not the full amount with a credit back.  

 

I'm not sure "discount" and "refund credit" mean the same thing in the fine print above.  I read that to mean that if you don't purchase an internet package, then that benefit (ie, the discount) has no cash value to you.  I don't interpret it to mean that the refund credit has no cash value.  But I am not in the legal profession so take it for what it's worth.

 

I guess we will find out shortly once passengers board for Alaska.  

Yes, OBC for pre-purchase, but I am quite sure just charged the net amount to stateroom account if purchase on board.  Keep in mind the on-board pricing is more expensive, so I would not advise waiting.

 

Another consideration are Internet packages for the particular voyage length.  These are supposed to be offered and should be less than the per-day rate.  However, they may be > $10/day (pre-cruise pricing) and less < $15/day (on-board pricing).  We have to wait and see, but the best option for now appears to be the $10/day pre-cruise, with the 50% OBC.

 

[Steelers36]

58 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

I guess I don't understand. Why would you want to actually pay for it now, and not with your final payment? In either case you would have purchased it prior to boarding the ship.

 

I usually do insurance that way: I buy and pay for it early so I can get through the "pre-existing" clause that many policies have; such that you are NOT covered for many reasons <usually your medical condition> for usually 2 months. Once I pay, that 2 month counter starts. I try to stay REALLY healthy for those two months.........😉

 

Doug

For Internet, yes, there is no reason to pay for it way ahead of time.  You wouldn't even need to pay for it by FP Date.  You could order it a week before sailing.  Similar to ordering the water package, or other on-board items like Crew Incentive if not on PLUS plan.  I normally don't pre-pay Crew Incentive and let it chew up OBC. 

 

One note is that if you want to order Casino Credits in the Personalizer, I would do it TWO weeks ahead of sail date at least to be safe.  I got caught once by a shorter cut-off date than was used to.  You can phone in and ask the current policy, but might be as early as 10 days ahead.  Two weeks should be safe.  

 

[Ombud]

Same here BUT there's so much unknown here that I bought it twice with gift cards. No extra $$s out at this point. Holding off on adding it to 2022 cruise until a week before embarkation 

[Glaciers]

We’re not big drinkers but our TA got us a good rate on the drink/internet package. 15 drinks per day seems like a lot although I do like sitting with a double whiskey neat and enjoying the view. Is there a way to get a double?  I did see you need to wait 5 minutes between drinks.

[dog]

On 7/19/2021 at 7:51 AM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Just a note about the comment regarding premium brands of drinks not being covered. Any cocktail $12 and under are covered.  Many of these are made with Grey Goose, Bombay Sapphire, Makers Mark and the like which I consider to be premium. I have always gotten anything I have asked for (within reason of course!) at any bar on any Princess ship and almost always it has been covered.  If a drink costs over $12 you just pay the difference.  This is brand new and I am pretty excited about it!

I am wondering if room service drinks are Now included in this plus package?

when I booked it said room service drinks were excluded. 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

11 hours ago, Glaciers said:

We’re not big drinkers but our TA got us a good rate on the drink/internet package. 15 drinks per day seems like a lot although I do like sitting with a double whiskey neat and enjoying the view. Is there a way to get a double?  I did see you need to wait 5 minutes between drinks.

I wondered this too... if I get a single whisky... do I have to finish that before getting another or is there a time period (as suggested) after which I can order up another?

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I wondered this too... if I get a single whisky... do I have to finish that before getting another or is there a time period (as suggested) after which I can order up another?

@Thrak often comments that he gets doubles with no problem - barman ticks two drinks. The usual  problem with getting two drinks is that ordering two G&T would lead to sharing with a person not on the package, this is not the case with a double.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

This is more a theoretical question as there won't be many times I will ever get to the 15 drink limit but... If I did, and my wife also has the package and has a few drinks remaining, would they frown upon her getting a drink for me?

Edited July 29, 2021 by Snaxmuppet

[Kamloops50]

On 7/18/2021 at 6:14 PM, rdsqrl said:

It's $40 per person per day.  Of that $40, $14.50 is the crew incentive, so that leaves $25.50.  Figuring a cocktail or glass of wine at about $11 and a mocha or latte at about $4, are you planning to have more than two drinks/one coffee per day?  Or a bottle of water (small) is about $2, same for soda.  How many of those would you drink per day?  And then, if it weren't in the package, would you buy an internet plan -- gotta add that in.  In short, I think for most people, the plan works out to save them money.  But there are also those who never go online and who don't drink anything other than the free plain coffee, tea, iced tea, and tap water, in which case, it doesn't make sense. 

I can easily have five lattes , two cups of fancy tea, a beer at lunch and a glass of wine at supper. 

[scott4020]

8 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

This is more a theoretical question as there won't be many times I will ever get to the 15 drink limit but... If I did, and my wife also has the package and has a few drinks remaining, would they frown upon her getting a drink for me?

yup, not allowed. 

 

[caribill]

14 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

This is more a theoretical question as there won't be many times I will ever get to the 15 drink limit but... If I did, and my wife also has the package and has a few drinks remaining, would they frown upon her getting a drink for me?

 

Unless she handed it to you in front of them, they would not know.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

Unless she handed it to you in front of them, they would not know.

Now there's a thought 😉 

[PaperSniper4]

10 hours ago, Kamloops50 said:

I can easily have five lattes , two cups of fancy tea, a beer at lunch and a glass of wine at supper. 

You need that beer and wine to calm your nerves after all that caffeine!😉

 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

12 hours ago, Kamloops50 said:

I can easily have five lattes , two cups of fancy tea, a beer at lunch and a glass of wine at supper. 

And don''t forget... non-alcoholic drinks are unlimited 🙂 

[Kamloops50]

Caffeine isn’t an issue. A good cup of Coffee or Latte will put me to sleep like a baby. I’m also usually up at 4AM each day.

[PaperSniper4]

1 hour ago, Kamloops50 said:

Caffeine isn’t an issue. A good cup of Coffee or Latte will put me to sleep like a baby. I’m also usually up at 4AM each day.

I thought I was an early riser.....up NLT 0530 daily. I'm retired, but still have things I want to get done. Lately it's been fooling around on CC! 😎

[Kamloops50]

4 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

I thought I was an early riser.....up NLT 0530 daily. I'm retired, but still have things I want to get done. Lately it's been fooling around on CC! 😎

My work day (before retiring) started at 7:00AM . Had about an hour commute to pick up my work truck and then up 60 minutes to be on the work site by 7AM. Just break my schedule since retirement.

[geoherb]

It would have been worth it to me if I could have gotten it for that price. I found out when speaking with a Princess rep that it was not really available for "Drop & Go" fares. The difference in price between my not having the package and getting it was way too much. She explained that even though it was showing up as Princess Plus on the website was $724, it really was just pricing the benefits out individually and adding them without a discount. It was actually more than purchasing the drink package at $70.79 a day, gratuities at $14.50 a day, and internet at $9.99 a day separately.

 

I'll skip getting the drink package. I'll buy one or two drinks a day for a whole lot less. It's going to be better for my liver and my weight. I could see starting with mimosas in the morning, having wine at lunch, a beer in the afternoon, a cocktail before dinner, wine with dinner, and a cocktail after dinner.