What are Plus Fares

[swdke]

What are Plus fares?

[Tak8]

Plus fares includes drinks, tips and wifi in the price of the cruise.  

[Steelers36]

8 minutes ago, swdke said:

What are Plus fares?

You can read about it on Princess.com.

[JF - retired RRT]

Generally, $20/pp/day.

[msmoger]

30 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Generally, $20/pp/day.

 

Isn't it $40/pp/day?

[memoak]

50 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Generally, $20/pp/day.

More like $40 pp per day. If you like some cocktails bit is a great deal 

[kywildcatfanone]

3 hours ago, swdke said:

What are Plus fares?

It's overall a good deal if you take advantage of all it offers (alcoholic drinks and wifi particularly), but if not, it's cheaper to pay for the items you use.

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

More like $40 pp per day. If you like some cocktails bit is a great deal 

Oh, my bad. I blame it on my aging brain.🤣

[JF - retired RRT]

2 hours ago, msmoger said:

 

Isn't it $40/pp/day?

Yes, I'm brain dead today.

[tonit964]

32 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Oh, my bad. I blame it on my aging brain.🤣

No, you just a cruise, that'll cure anything. 😊

[voljeep]

53 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Yes, I'm brain dead today.

nah, you were actually thinking ahead and answered how much the beverage portion would work out to after discounting 15 for grats and 5 for wifi, right ?😎

[JimmyVWine]

3 hours ago, swdke said:

What are Plus fares?

Like many here, I detest upsells, and am a firm believer that the seller NEVER does anything that actually benefits the buyer.  They are just really good at making the buyer believe that they are getting a really good deal.  So I went into this with a closed mind, until I did the math. We usually book Mini-Suites, so right there, you are in for $31 per day in Crew Appreciation for the two of us.  And I can't imagine not having wifi (at least until after I retire), so when they changed the Platinum benefit from free minutes to half-priced wifi, there was another $10 per day or so as a fixed cost for the both of us.  So on top of the basic fare, I was already in for around $41 per day for two people.  And even though we usually bring our own wine with us (if sailing from a U.S. port), there is the $20 corkage fee to factor in.  So my per day fixed costs are now up to $61.  And the DW is not going anywhere without the ability to get brewed coffee and espresso.  So we would usually burn through 2 Coffee Cards (in the old days, "New Grounds" packages now) which comes out to around $5-$7 per day depending on how long we would make each card/package last.  So now we are up to $68 per day in fixed costs.  And finally, here comes the afternoon frozen drink and/or cocktails in Crooners after dinner.  The former has never been an everyday thing, but the latter is as sure as the sun rising in the East.  So add in another $25 per day for discretionary beverages. (Some days more, some less, depending on the ports, but this is a fair average estimate.)  That comes to $93 per day for the two of us.  So the price of $80 per day for the two of us is a savings, no doubt about it, albeit not huge. 

 

You can do your own calculation factoring in what your Crew Appreciation daily amount is, what your wifi expectations are, and what your daily drinking habits are.

 

Pros and Cons:  What do we gain?  The loss of guilt or penny-pinching in Crooners when the server asks if we want one more round.  The indulgence of a poolside cocktail in the afternoon whereas I might otherwise have said "Do we really need to spend another $16?"  What do we lose?  Well, I would much rather pull bottles of wine from my cellar and pay $20 corkage, but with Princess+, we will stick to drinking wines by the glass, which will be a quality downgrade. But it makes packing that much easier since I don't have to use up my checked bag allotment with a carrying case of wine.  Leaving from a foreign port, getting P+ is a no-brainer as taking my own wine simply isn't practical.  Leaving from FLL, it's a closer call, and I could see going a la carte sometimes, with my own wine.  

 

 

[JF - retired RRT]

18 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

You can do your own calculation factoring in what your Crew Appreciation daily amount is, what your wifi expectations are, and what your daily drinking habits are.

 

That says it in a nutshell...so to speak.

[john watson]

Be warned that the alcoholic drinks element is limited to fifteen drinks per person per day.

 

Regards John

[brisalta]

You can find details here:

https://www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions/princess-plus/

[cjpj]

7 hours ago, swdke said:

What are Plus fares?

More money! 🤑 Sorry couldn't help it!

[WAvoyager]

3 hours ago, john watson said:

Be warned that the alcoholic drinks element is limited to fifteen drinks per person per day.

 

Regards John

You could also say “be warned that the alcoholic drinks element will allow you to drink fifteen drinks per day”. (Or liver be warned!  😐)

[leck57]

The Plus fare benefits when purchased in Australia do not include the daily gratuities, just drinks and wi-fi. Still worth it for us.

[john watson]

8 hours ago, swdke said:

What are Plus fares?

 

Are they for people of an above average size, to put it politely?

 

Lol John

[Steelers36]

43 minutes ago, leck57 said:

The Plus fare benefits when purchased in Australia do not include the daily gratuities, just drinks and wi-fi. Still worth it for us.

That is because the grats have been baked into the fare.

[uspearls]

4 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

 but with Princess+, we will stick to drinking wines by the glass, which will be a quality downgrade. 

Jimmy, my wife the wine drinker was pleasantly surprised on a recent cruise.  If your ship has a Vines, the wines by the glass can be very good and remember, even if they exceed the allotted maximum $12 per drink, you only pay the difference.  And the kicker (YMMV) for us was the sommelier was fabulous and gave us a VERY special deal on the bottles based on us having Princess+.  He even sent them to the dining room along with their special glasses (although we had to swear we'd bring them back as he didn't trust the wait staff!). 

[JimmyVWine]

12 minutes ago, uspearls said:

Jimmy, my wife the wine drinker was pleasantly surprised on a recent cruise.  If your ship has a Vines, the wines by the glass can be very good and remember, even if they exceed the allotted maximum $12 per drink, you only pay the difference.  

Good to know. Thanks. To be honest, we use cruises as an opportunity to open bottles that we are saving for special occasions. Cruises ARE our special occasions. I don’t expect a cruise ship to stock that level of wine, especially ones with 15-20 years of age on them. So I cast no blame. The P+ experience will be different, but one I am perfectly open to. We have explored the offerings at Vines before and will definitely visit them on the plan. And it is not uncommon for us to make friends with the Somm. They can detect a wine geek from a mile away and love to chat up a fellow afficianado!  

 

 

 

 

 

[Tedferg]

1 hour ago, WAvoyager said:

You could also say “be warned that the alcoholic drinks element will allow you to drink fifteen drinks per day”. (Or liver be warned!  😐)

🙂 I was going to say, 'Be aware', ' Be warned ' sounded like a lament.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, uspearls said:

Jimmy, my wife the wine drinker was pleasantly surprised on a recent cruise.  If your ship has a Vines, the wines by the glass can be very good and remember, even if they exceed the allotted maximum $12 per drink, you only pay the difference.  And the kicker (YMMV) for us was the sommelier was fabulous and gave us a VERY special deal on the bottles based on us having Princess+.  He even sent them to the dining room along with their special glasses (although we had to swear we'd bring them back as he didn't trust the wait staff!). 

There aren't true sommeliers on Princess AFAIK.  Also, you didn't mention your special deal details, but everyone on the PLUS can purchase bottles of wine at 25% off the listed price. 

 

I know it can be a bit of challenge to get the Riedel glasses, but it has always worked for me.  The waiter kept two at his station and had them on the table each evening.

 

[WAvoyager]

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

🙂 I was going to say, 'Be aware', ' Be warned ' sounded like a lament.

I know what happens to me when I get more than 8-9 drinks in me (from many… MANY years ago), so from my perspective, it’s definitely a warning!  🤢