How does wine work on Princess?

[FlaMariner]

First time Princess cruise coming up soon......

 

Can I buy a "wine package" of several bottles and then enjoy them, one bottle at the time, in the MDR and other venues?

 

If not, how does one without a beverage package enjoy wine by the bottle at dinner?

[skynight]

Basically no wine packages except on longer cruises. You purchase by the bottle or glass. DR will store unused portion of bottle for future meal.

You can carry on 1 x 750ml per person at no charge for use in your cabin. If brought to a DR or other public area it is subject to a $20 per bottle corkage. Additional bottles can be brought on board and are subject to the corkage charge when boarding. These bottles can be used anywhere on the ship.

[FlaMariner]

gotcha...thanks!

[skynight]

You may want to reconsider the plus fare. Covers internet, gratuities, unlimited non alcoholic beverages like specialty coffee drinks, water, fountain soda, and up to 15 alcoholic beverages menu priced $12 and under. Around 95% of all drinks are covered. Some wines exceed the $12/glass price. For these you are charged the difference plus 18%  of the difference. It takes around two alcoholic beverages a day plus a few non alcoholic to break even. 18% beverage gratuity is included. No per drink charges.

[Ombud]

I know the general advice is to book Princess Plus but take into account how much OBC you were granted for multiple cancelations and do the math. For me:

 

April 7 days 350 OBC

Summer 15 days 1100 OBC

March 2023 18 days 1150 OBC

Elite pax who DIYs in ports, $20 to carry on 2nd bottle that's way over $12 glass

 

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Ombud

[MissP22]

52 minutes ago, skynight said:

You may want to reconsider the plus fare. Covers internet, gratuities, unlimited non alcoholic beverages like specialty coffee drinks, water, fountain soda, and up to 15 alcoholic beverages menu priced $12 and under. Around 95% of all drinks are covered. Some wines exceed the $12/glass price. For these you are charged the difference plus 18%  of the difference. It takes around two alcoholic beverages a day plus a few non alcoholic to break even. 18% beverage gratuity is included. No per drink charges.

I may be wrong but it seems that it would take many more drinks to just break even considering the cost of the package.

 

[skynight]

36 minutes ago, Ombud said:

I know the general advice is to book Princess Plus but take into account how much OBC you were granted for multiple cancelations and do the math. For me:

 

April 7 days 350 OBC

Summer 15 days 1100 OBC

March 2023 18 days 1150 OBC

Elite pax who DIYs in ports, $20 to carry on 2nd bottle that's way over $12 glass

 

 

OP is 1st time Princess cruise. Doubtful they have tons of OBC.

[skynight]

22 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I may be wrong but it seems that it would take many more drinks to just break even considering the cost of the package.

 

Plus fare was $40/pp/day extra. Believe it is now $43. Grats and wifi cost about $19/pp/day. That leaves $24/pp for beverages. Two drinks is indeed break even.

[MissP22]

20 minutes ago, skynight said:

Plus fare was $40/pp/day extra. Believe it is now $43. Grats and wifi cost about $19/pp/day. That leaves $24/pp for beverages. Two drinks is indeed break even.

I might possibly drink 4, maybe 5 drinks per day but my husband will probably come close to the daily limit. (at least on sea days) 

[Ombud]

14.50 Balcony Gratuities

9.95 Wifi

-43.00 Plus

18.85 = 1 latte & 1 glass wine for OP

 

But i was responding "in general" do the math

[skynight]

MissP22. Then lacking excessive OBC the plus fare makes sense, especially if you chew up OBC with casino play.

Edited January 18, 2022 by skynight

[MissP22]

7 minutes ago, Ombud said:

14.50 Balcony Gratuities

9.95 Wifi

-43.00 Plus

18.85 = 1 latte & 1 glass wine for OP

 

But i was responding "in general" do the math

I keep forgetting to take those Gratuities into account.😉

[Tedferg]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

Plus fare was $40/pp/day extra. Believe it is now $43. 

I think Plus is still $40 however, the no-frills fare can be discounted and so the difference between No-Frills and Plus can come out differently from $40.

[nini]

It sounds like the OP enjoys wine. Then the Princess Plus is the way to go when you figure out the math. For us, it is a no brainer... Special Latte' in the morning, glass or two of wine at night, gratuities, wifi. 

[caribill]

14 hours ago, Ombud said:

I know the general advice is to book Princess Plus but take into account how much OBC you were granted for multiple cancellations and do the math. For me:

 

April 7 days 350 OBC

Summer 15 days 1100 OBC

March 2023 18 days 1150 OBC

Elite pax who DIYs in ports, $20 to carry on 2nd bottle that's way over $12 glass

 

 

 

I never received any OBC for the cancelled cruises, just FCCs.

[2BACRUISER]

When we go out or on holiday we have two bottles wine at dinner, a red for DH and a white for me every night, we will have the all inclusive package but I don't fancy the chances of the wine waiter keeping up with us serving by the glass??  There's roughly 6 glasses of wine in a bottle so why can't you have a bottle and get 6 drinks took off your 15 quota?? 

[caribill]

14 minutes ago, 2BACRUISER said:

When we go out or on holiday we have two bottles wine at dinner, a red for DH and a white for me every night, we will have the all inclusive package but I don't fancy the chances of the wine waiter keeping up with us serving by the glass??  There's roughly 6 glasses of wine in a bottle so why can't you have a bottle and get 6 drinks took off your 15 quota?? 

 

That's just not the way it works. One reason is that you cannot share your 15 drinks with others, but if you purchase a bottle it can be shared. And it will not count against your daily 15 limit.

 

And with the package you can get a discount on the purchase of a bottle.

[2BACRUISER]

10 minutes ago, caribill said:

But with the package you can get a discount on the purchase of a bottle.

But why should I buy a bottle when I can get same wine from that bottle by the glass? Doesn't make sense 🙄🤔🤔

I don't think Princess understand how Europeans drink wine and I don't think MDR waiters enjoy running round with glasses of wine alongside their other waiting duties  lots of cruiselines have done away with dedicated drinks staff in the MDR.  

Edited January 19, 2022 by 2BACRUISER
Additional thoughts

[Ombud]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

I never received any OBC for the cancelled cruises, just FCCs.

I can't be the only one who got OBC for canceled cruises in 2020 not canceled by a pause (mine were canceled TAs on Enchanted Princess). And people get extra OBC for all kinds of reasons from their PVPs and TAs. But we digress ....

 

Princess has decided that the drink portion of plus program be by the glass. Everyone is free to buy a bottle if they want (to share or not). If you only want bottles, then perhaps Princess Saver is a better option

 

 

Edited January 19, 2022 by Ombud

[bowsertoo]

Was on Princess Caribbean last sail before covid shut down. i had a wine package for a number of bottles of wine in a certain price range. There was two amount of bottles option. These packages were not posted anywhere. I had asked at MDR about it a waiter took me to close bar to purchase package. They would save a bottle for next meal. Had three bottles left last night ordered three for table. 

[FlaMariner]

Thanks for all the info...I'm the OP

 

I remain confused but working hard to figure all this out. 

 

How does one find out more about "Plus" and how does one sign up for such service?

 

(I've logged in, viewed all the beverage packages and other stuff I can buy but nothing about adding "Plus")

Edited January 19, 2022 by FlaMariner

[MissP22]

3 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

Thanks for all the info...I'm the OP

 

I remain confused but working hard to figure all this out. 

 

How does one find out more about "Plus" and how does one sign up for such service?

 

(I've logged in, viewed all the beverage packages and other stuff I can buy but nothing about adding "Plus")

It was a selection that was presented when you first booked the cruise.

Perhaps your travel agent can get it added for you or call Princess direct. 

[FlaMariner]

Thanks again MissP,

 

Just looked it up for a new booking and the price difference from the very low rate I paid and what the current rate is (at least on the Princess site) for the "drink package and other stuff" is way more than we'd ever drink in several years of cruising (15 drinks a day, seriously?).  And none of the other benefits are of any value to us.....even free tips is not a driver as we are loaded up with OBC.  We drink the free coffee.  Don't use the internet.  Don't go to pay restaurants.  Thinking that is not for us.

 

I'm back to figuring out how to get one of those secret wine packages when I arrive for dinner at a reservation that I think I made on my medallion app.

 

(Holland America Line passenger trying Princess for first time  is feeling like a fish out of water but he is up to the challenge ahead....Never thought getting a decent bottle of wine at a decent price at dinner was so complicated)

 

All good and thanks to all for the continued help/feedback!

[reedprincess]

26 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

Thanks again MissP,

 

Just looked it up for a new booking and the price difference from the very low rate I paid and what the current rate is (at least on the Princess site) for the "drink package and other stuff" is way more than we'd ever drink in several years of cruising (15 drinks a day, seriously?).  And none of the other benefits are of any value to us.....even free tips is not a driver as we are loaded up with OBC.  We drink the free coffee.  Don't use the internet.  Don't go to pay restaurants.  Thinking that is not for us.

 

I'm back to figuring out how to get one of those secret wine packages when I arrive for dinner at a reservation that I think I made on my medallion app.

 

(Holland America Line passenger trying Princess for first time  is feeling like a fish out of water but he is up to the challenge ahead....Never thought getting a decent bottle of wine at a decent price at dinner was so complicated)

 

All good and thanks to all for the continued help/feedback!

The Wine packages as mentioned by a couple posters are generally only available on longer cruises (more than 10 nights at a minimum).

Ans this was pre-covid, pre Princess Plus pricing, etc.  Nowadays, with only mainly shorter cruises available, the Plus pricing options, etc - I wouldn't expect to see them offered - and when they were in the past, it was a bit of one of those insider tips and tricks to even know they were available.

Up until recently, you could buy some bottles pre-cruise via the Personalizer.  

There's carrying aboard as many as you like as an option, as detailed above and in the Passenger contract.

Or just buy the bottles as you go aboard. The savings with the formerly available wine packages were maybe 15-30% over the price of an individual bottle, and you bought the gold or silver package (or whatever the name wast, 10 or 20 bottles, with a just if the options per level if package - it wasn't anything aboard or even the majority of options). Wines by the bottle range $30-5000 or so.  Lol. 

As other posters have noted, it's up to each cruiser to do the math. For us, Plus pricing is a no brainer, even though we almost have at least a couple hundred OBC to use aboard. We do use internet, we have a couple drinks a day (you in no way need to drink all 15 alcoholic drinks to break even - even buying the package straight out, and average of 5 or so s day is even, and that goes down the more non-alcoholic drinks you consume in a day. Doesn't have to be every day either, a sea day with 7 or 8 and a part day with one or two and you're averaging out, but I digress).

If it's not for you, it's not for you .

 

For those worrying about long waits for wine by the glass - just let your waiters know you'll be drinking that brand throughout the meal and you like a full glass throughout - they'll keep a bottle right nearby to too you up as needed. If it's taking too long, a word with the Maitre'd clesrs it up. No, they won't leave the bottle for you to oiur yourself, but a fresh glass will be ready when you are.  Interesting take with the one poster's comment:  "I don't think Princess understands how Europeans drink wine", that covers a lot of generalities - including lumping multiple very diverse nationalities together, overlapping cultures and a presumption that even after 50+ years of cruising around the world and 7+ of having a beverage package at all,  Princess must not have done any market research at all, but again, I digress.  

 

OP - you have options. Hope you find one that's suitable for you. Safe travels!

 

 

 

[FlaMariner]

Yep, all good info.....and yes, lots of options.

 

Our cruise is 16 days (March TA) so I'm thinking the "only offered on longer cruises" wine bottle packages will work......again, if available.