New higher onboard drink prices coming

[rj59]

It's too bad, but as with all price increases, it will encourage people to adapt. They want people to view plus and above as a deal, to avoid the pain of paying higher drink prices/wifi/gratuities. Being a cheapskate contrarian, though, I confront inflation largely to simply choosing cheaper options. I'll use my minibottles on board, instead of bringing them home and using my OBC for cocktail or beer sampling, as I currently do. I'll spend my money on alcohol and espresso in ports instead, supporting and meeting locals. I'll make use of the free wine allowed on board. I'll drink less onboard and use wifi or roaming data in ports. More importantly, if overall cruise prices more expensive in comparison to land travel, I'll simply switch to land travel or cruise less. That's even more tempting now when I'm comparing the experience of full ships, with lines and stress and buffet zoos, to last year, with the pure bliss of 800 people on the Majestic for a week in Mexico. That's the risk of price rises for businesses---people will simply choose not to eat out, or go to movies, or travel as much, or switch to cheaper brands. It's not an enviable position for Princess and CCL, with a ton of debt, rising interest rates, rising costs, and with a winter season of multiple viral risks. 

 

That said, I've tried the other lines, and I think Princess has done the best job of dealing with all those issues. Celebrity actively punishes you in order to persuade you to get a package and then to upgrade---most of their beers are over $10, and the cheapest espresso drink is $5. I just got off HAL, and it was a nightmare of cutbacks---no lobster, no creme brulee, a single lunch MDR menu, none of the 5 Dutch beers were available in their Dutch cafe, and only sparkling wine was served at a loyalty reception. I've liked NCL in the past, but suddenly raising gratuities to a minimum of $20/day is a bit much, as is their sneaky practice of giving 'free' drinks packages that come with a $20/day automatic gratuity. Princess has also been the best of all lines in giving discounts to solo travelers like me, which I value immensely. 

[suzyed]

13 hours ago, pppatpc2 said:

There are budget wines 😀 and there are budget wines 😝.  The ones Princess is serving are of the 😝 category.  I’d be perfectly happy with 3 buck chuck.  If the wineries can supply the entire Publix chain so that they can sell Petit Petite for $8.50 a bottle on the BOGO, I think wineries like Sterling, Chateau Ste Michelle, or even Bogle could arrange something with Princess. Not my first choices, but better than what the current offerings are.

 

We spoke to one of the Food and Beverage officers who indicated that they are working on it.  Keep filling out those surveys!  (She said naively)

I have to admit there was a red blend on the "plus" wine list that wasn't half bad.  But most times we ordered from the regular wine list and paid the small upcharge.

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by suzyed

[pppatpc2]

9 hours ago, suzyed said:

I have to admit there was a red blend on the "plus" wine list that wasn't half bad.  But most times we ordered from the regular wine list and paid the small upcharge.

 

You may be thinking of the Nikiari Bourdeaux blend which was our go-to wine on our last cruise, at a one dollar upcharge.  More like this would be perfectly acceptable.  It did make our stateroom account comical with $1.13 charges (dollar plus gratuity) appearing quite frequently.  The most annoying thing was we were also charged tax in the Hawaiian islands.

[memoak]

5 minutes ago, pppatpc2 said:

You may be thinking of the Nikiari Bourdeaux blend which was our go-to wine on our last cruise, at a one dollar upcharge.  More like this would be perfectly acceptable.  It did make our stateroom account comical with $1.13 charges (dollar plus gratuity) appearing quite frequently.  The most annoying thing was we were also charged tax in the Hawaiian islands.

Many states have laws concerning alcohol. We have been charged tax in various ports. Sailing from Texas they can only serve booze from Texas until reaching International waters 

[wowzz]

12 minutes ago, pppatpc2 said:

1.13 charges (dollar plus gratuity

I thought the gratuity was 18 % ?

[pppatpc2]

Just now, wowzz said:

I thought the gratuity was 18 % ?

My bad. Typo.

 

[suzyed]

9 hours ago, memoak said:

Many states have laws concerning alcohol. We have been charged tax in various ports. Sailing from Texas they can only serve booze from Texas until reaching International waters 

yes! We experienced that. Which would not have been a big deal except we were on the ship in port when the fog rolled in and we had to wait until the next day to sail.

Edited December 19, 2022 by suzyed

[LMADAMS91]

On 12/16/2022 at 11:18 AM, JimmyVWine said:

We were BYO only cruisers for a long time, but when our daughter turned 21, the number of bottles that we would have needed to take on board became too cumbersome.  

Times 3-4 depending on how many of our kids/significant others come with us!  🤣

[memoak]

4 hours ago, suzyed said:

yes! We experienced that. Which would not have been a big deal except we were on the ship in port when the fog rolled in and we had to wait until the next day to sail.

I hear tha happens alot

[brisalta]

On 12/14/2022 at 11:13 AM, justafem said:

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. 

 

At least the "Stateroom Bottled Water Package $7.08 for 12 (500 ml) bottles" has not changed.

[justafem]

11 minutes ago, brisalta said:

 

At least the "Stateroom Bottled Water Package $7.08 for 12 (500 ml) bottles" has not changed.

Not yet.  The price almost tripled on carnival though.  

 

I see it coming.

[chubbypiggy]

On 12/14/2022 at 12:40 PM, cruisequeen4ever said:

Boy am I glad I booked ours last week!!

I know if I book my specialty dinners after I am on board, the charges will be deducted from the OBC from my account. If I book my specialty dinners now for my April 2023 cruise, will the charges be deducted automatically from the OBC in my account for that booking or I need to pay with my credit card now?

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

I know if I book my specialty dinners after I am on board, the charges will be deducted from the OBC from my account. If I book my specialty dinners now for my April 2023 cruise, will the charges be deducted automatically from the OBC in my account for that booking or I need to pay with my credit card now?

Payment will be taken immediately from the credit card information that you previously supplied.

[chubbypiggy]

11 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Payment will be taken immediately from the credit card information that you previously supplied.

Thank you.

[Tedferg]

On 12/17/2022 at 3:52 AM, SargassoPirate said:

Speaking of the quality of wines, we did a blind taste test of wines at Pirate Manor several years ago.  Whites, blush, and reds.  She Who Must Be Obeyed did the pours and was the only one who knew what was what.  

 

Low and behold, the budget wines won out across the board.  Even our wine snob friends were flummoxed and somewhat embarrassed that their palates betrayed them. But it was quite a fun party.

 

I am reminded of the words of our town wino "wine is not wine unless you drink it from a brown paper bag behind the store where you bought it"

We had a similar party; one bottle of Hess Chardonay came first in blind test. Another Hess Chardonnay, same year, came last!

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 12/18/2022 at 11:32 PM, justafem said:

Not yet.  The price almost tripled on carnival though.  

 

I see it coming.

Shhh… don’t let them hear you.  Lol

[luv2kroooz]

On 12/17/2022 at 9:36 PM, rj59 said:

I've liked NCL in the past, but suddenly raising gratuities to a minimum of $20/day is a bit much, as is their sneaky practice of giving 'free' drinks packages that come with a $20/day automatic gratuity.

Us too. Beware it gets better....in addition to their industry leading DSC of $20 per person per day, NCL recently raised the price of the most restrictive drink package at sea to $109 per person per day. When you apply their industry leading 20% beverage service charge, the daily per person rate for the beverage package service charge is now $21.80 per person per day for their "free at sea" beverage package. No thanks. 

Edited December 21, 2022 by luv2kroooz