New higher onboard drink prices coming

[srpilo]

The drink price limits on the Plus and Premium packages just went up to $15.00 Plus and $20.00 Premium, so this can only mean that onboard prices for current drinks are going up accordingly.  Funny how Princess kept that little nugget of info a secret til after the Dec 14th deadline. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited December 14, 2022 by srpilo

[justafem]

I expect the price of specialty coffees, nonalcoholic beverages, bottles of water, soda, etc will all increase Dec 14 as well.  

 

I'm expecting specialty dining to increase too. 

 

Everything IRW has increased, I can't see cruise lines not. 

[Cruisindad]

1 hour ago, justafem said:

 

 

I'm expecting specialty dining to increase too. 

Indeed  they are. I just did a mock specialty dining reservation for my May 2023 cruise and it shows $35 for Sabatini’s and $39 for Crown Grill.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Why would *anybody* be surprised at increases?  That's just the way of life with the US economy these days.  I don't have hard facts to quote...but I would bet that cruise fares in the 1970's were less than half what they are now.  Even groceries are going up.

[cruisequeen4ever]

14 minutes ago, Cruisindad said:

Indeed  they are. I just did a mock specialty dining reservation for my May 2023 cruise and it shows $35 for Sabatini’s and $39 for Crown Grill.

Boy am I glad I booked ours last week!!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

MSC has just raised their AI package price overnight, no warning.

[VibeGuy]

Oh my god, no, cruise prices in the 70s are about the same as today *in 1970s dollars*.  I’ve got an ad for the 1978 Princess season out of LA, and per-night in an outside (no balconies) was more than you’d pay for a January MexRiv sailing today.   
 

Drinks were definitely cheaper.  I distinctly remember a Manhattan made with Canadian blended rye being like 75 cents because one of them and a Shirley Temple for the lad, with tip, was $1.  Being a five year old that could sign for drinks was some heady stuff.  

[Yowman]

4 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

Boy am I glad I booked ours last week!!

 

I booked specialty dining last week for a Sep 2023 sailing.  $40 saved even if I did book waaaaay in advance.

 

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

MSC has just raised their AI package price overnight, no warning.

They had to in order to cover Captain Tuvo's salary. 😉

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

10 hours ago, Cruisindad said:

Indeed  they are. I just did a mock specialty dining reservation for my May 2023 cruise and it shows $35 for Sabatini’s and $39 for Crown Grill.

This a a large increase.  I did a screenshot when I read your post.

 

[Astro Flyer]

Just returned from our first Celebrity cruise & their Italian specialty restaurant Tuscan Grille is $55 + 18% tip = $65. Sabatini’s is still a bargain at $35 and is nearly half the price. Their steakhouse Murano is $71 including tip so $39 for Crown Grill is a good price.

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by Astro Flyer

[SargassoPirate]

16 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Why would *anybody* be surprised at increases?  That's just the way of life with the US economy these days.  I don't have hard facts to quote...but I would bet that cruise fares in the 1970's were less than half what they are now.  Even groceries are going up.

It's transitory and there is no recession.  😀

[AlibearNS]

9 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Just returned from our first Celebrity cruise & their Italian specialty restaurant Tuscan Grille is $55 + 18% tip = $65. Sabatini’s is still a bargain at $35 and is nearly half the price. Their steakhouse Murano is $71 including tip so $39 for Crown Grill is a good price.

 

 

Celebrity specialty dining is much more expensive, but they sell them at discount onboard; often there's a set up outside the buffet during the day. If you haggle, you can get the price right down on a quiet night.

[MissP22]

22 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

It's transitory and there is no recession.  😀

Thank goodness, I was getting concerned.

You wouldn't lie to us, would you?

[JimmyVWine]

On 12/14/2022 at 3:31 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Why would *anybody* be surprised at increases?  That's just the way of life with the US economy these days.

I actually don't think that this is the reason.  PCL already did a significant price increase in 2022 when Premier was introduced.  Wines that were $11 jumped to $16 or more.  I think that there are two other factors at play here.  

 

1.  As to drink prices, Princess wants 100% of all passengers to buy Packages.  The best way to get them to do that is to have them do the math and realize that when a below average glass of wine costs $14, you might as well buy a package that includes that glass, and also causes the consumer to strongly consider levelling up to Premier to unlock the good stuff.  I know the wine industry inside and out and can tell you that wine prices have not moved nearly as much as Princess' price increases.  Even those who want to interject "the current economy" and "record inflation" into the conversation have to admit that the inflation percentage at its worst is/was in the high single digits.  That would bring a $10 glass of wine up to $11 with rounding.  You don't go from $10 to $14, and then from $14 to $16 due to "inflation".  $10 to $16 is a 60% increase in less than a year.  And again, the low-end wines that are being poured have not gone up in price and if they have, it is by pennies. (Or maybe $0.50 is more accurate.)   The customer base that buys those wines would be chased away.  The wine producers have largely kept pricing relatively steady and are simply making less money until this blows over.  I think what we are really seeing is a movement to drive customers into a different mindset--one that makes purchasing profitable packages a "no brainer."

 

2.  Aside from drink prices, the bigger picture price increases (Packages and Specialty dining) are designed to level-set with the rest of the industry.  As pointed out in this thread and in many others, Princess has been well below market on its AI Packages and SD prices for years.  Somebody finally woke up and said that there is no advantage to being the lowest price at sea.  Sure, it makes Princess attractive, but it results in leaving money on the table and that can't be tolerated right now.  The "huge" jump in SD pricing STILL leaves Princess $10-$25 below what other mass market cruise lines are charging.     

[PacnGoNow]

4 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I actually don't think that this is the reason.  PCL already did a significant price increase in 2022 when Premier was introduced.  Wines that were $11 jumped to $16 or more.  I think that there are two other factors at play here.  

 

1.  As to drink prices, Princess wants 100% of all passengers to buy Packages.  The best way to get them to do that is to have them do the math and realize that when a below average glass of wine costs $14, you might as well buy a package that includes that glass, and also causes the consumer to strongly consider levelling up to Premier to unlock the good stuff.  I know the wine industry inside and out and can tell you that wine prices have not moved nearly as much as Princess' price increases.  Even those who want to interject "the current economy" and "record inflation" into the conversation have to admit that the inflation percentage at its worst is/was in the high single digits.  That would bring a $10 glass of wine up to $11 with rounding.  You don't go from $10 to $14, and then from $14 to $16 due to "inflation".  $10 to $16 is a 60% increase in less than a year.  And again, the low-end wines that are being poured have not gone up in price and if they have, it is by pennies. (Or maybe $0.50 is more accurate.)   The customer base that buys those wines would be chased away.  The wine producers have largely kept pricing relatively steady and are simply making less money until this blows over.  I think what we are really seeing is a movement to drive customers into a different mindset--one that makes purchasing profitable packages a "no brainer."

 

2.  Aside from drink prices, the bigger picture price increases (Packages and Specialty dining) are designed to level-set with the rest of the industry.  As pointed out in this thread and in many others, Princess has been well below market on its AI Packages and SD prices for years.  Somebody finally woke up and said that there is no advantage to being the lowest price at sea.  Sure, it makes Princess attractive, but it results in leaving money on the table and that can't be tolerated right now.  The "huge" jump in SD pricing STILL leaves Princess $10-$25 below what other mass market cruise lines are charging.     

I think you are spot on.  They have to do this in order to survive.

 

[MissP22]

10 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

1.  As to drink prices, Princess wants 100% of all passengers to buy Packages. 

I think they'll be seeing a significant number of people deciding otherwise.

We has to think long and hard to justify the Plus package before the price increase but now it's not even a consideration any longer.

[JimmyVWine]

17 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I think they'll be seeing a significant number of people deciding otherwise.

We has to think long and hard to justify the Plus package before the price increase but now it's not even a consideration any longer.

I think you will see a binary division.  People who consume alcohol will almost be forced into a package unless they are really, really light drinkers.  People who have 2+ drinks per day on average will buy packages if the bottom level drinks are $14.

[MissP22]

24 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

People who have 2+ drinks per day on average will buy packages if the bottom level drinks are $14.

That's a very optimistic viewpoint. 

We aren't what you would consider big drinkers, but to justify the cost of a Plus package I feel that you would need more than 2 and any cost.

We'll be returning to using our RumRunners after our booked trips don't include their package any longer. 

I will say that the internet was a definite advantage at times. 

[JimmyVWine]

13 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

That's a very optimistic viewpoint. 

We aren't what you would consider big drinkers, but to justify the cost of a Plus package I feel that you would need more than 2 and any cost.

With price increases, 2 glasses of wine + wifi +Gratuities = $54.  Add in coffee and $60 is the number.  At 3 glasses of wine, (with price increases), $60 is a no brainer.

These numbers shrink a bit if one's choice of alcohol is a spirit-based drink, and yes, 3 drinks is probably needed to make the math work.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

With price increases, 2 glasses of wine + wifi +Gratuities = $54.  Add in coffee and $60 is the number.  At 3 glasses of wine, (with price increases), $60 is a no brainer.

These numbers shrink a bit if one's choice of alcohol is a spirit-based drink, and yes, 3 drinks is probably needed to make the math work.

The maths work for us,  and, I suspect most others as well, assuming you like a glass (or three) of wine each day.

[Steelers36]

6 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

With price increases, 2 glasses of wine + wifi +Gratuities = $54.  Add in coffee and $60 is the number.  At 3 glasses of wine, (with price increases), $60 is a no brainer.

These numbers shrink a bit if one's choice of alcohol is a spirit-based drink, and yes, 3 drinks is probably needed to make the math work.

 

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

The maths work for us,  and, I suspect most others as well, assuming you like a glass (or three) of wine each day.

I bring my own wine in lieu of drinking Princess Plonk.  That eliminates glasses of wine from the equation.  And we don't drink a lot of wine each evening, so purchasing Princess bottles would be my route if not taking on my own.  We would have $75/day between us to spend on wine or bars after deducting $30 for CI and $15 for MN (50% discount applied).  Even if we were to buy a $75 bottle of wine each day, it would not be emptied.

 

I realize everyone has their own take on this, but I just see it as Princess has moved the goal post even further away from me considering the package.

 

[JimmyVWine]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

 

I bring my own wine in lieu of drinking Princess Plonk.  That eliminates glasses of wine from the equation.  And we don't drink a lot of wine each evening, so purchasing Princess bottles would be my route if not taking on my own.  We would have $75/day between us to spend on wine or bars after deducting $30 for CI and $15 for MN (50% discount applied).  Even if we were to buy a $75 bottle of wine each day, it would not be emptied.

 

I realize everyone has their own take on this, but I just see it as Princess has moved the goal post even further away from me considering the package.

 

Don't forget to add in the price of corkage into your assumptions.  That would eat into your $75 by anywhere from $15 (old, but seemingly still honored price) to $20 (currently stated price) or $25 (where I see it headed.).

[Steelers36]

Just now, JimmyVWine said:

Don't forget to add in the price of corkage into your assumptions.  That would eat into your $75 by anywhere from $15 (old, but seemingly still honored price) to $20 (currently stated price) or $25 (where I see it headed.).

Quite true - and your price hike prediction may well come true in time.  With all the price increases, I have not seen anyone mention any new increases in bottle prices on the wine menu. 

 

I do consider the $20 fee, but I so rarely end up with it that it is almost a non-factor.  And let's remember that any bottle on the menu actually costs 18% more than listed.  BYOW is a no-brainer if guest can deal with the logistics of acquiring and transporting to ship.

 

PS - I am thinking a lot of waiters who returned to Princess forget about the new price and do $15 by habit?

[wowzz]

I can see that byob might work for light drinkers, but we would need around twenty bottles of wine on a 14 night cruise, plus of course beer and spirits, so for us it is a non-starter.