Princess wine only package

[cruisermsoon]

They say you can't sell a secret, and Princess seem to have made their wine packages very hard to find information on.

On a recent cruise, mention was made in one of the daily newsletters of a 3 or 5 or 7 wine bottle package at "substantial savings", but no easy way to get information about it.

There is absolutely nothing on the Princess site about wine packages.

I guess they would be similar to the Holland America wine packages one can purchase on board, but HAL at least have the decency to give the details and prices on their website. 

 If anyone has information regarding these illusive packages, which could be a good alternative to the high priced drinks packages on offer, I would be very interested to hear about them.

Thanks in advance.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

In the past these wine packages weren't available on cruises in this region. We did manage to get them twice, once on a Med cruise and once on a repositioning cruise. You could choose how big a package you wanted and the savings were greater the more bottles it contained. With the package you could choose any wine up to a $ limit, but if you wanted a more expensive wine you only paid the difference between the limit and the price.

 

Princess never mentioned them online. I only found out about them through reading posts here on Cruise Critic. You just ask your waiter in the MDR but sometimes even they don't know about the packages. It's a bit strange. 

 

What cruise were you on when you saw them mentioned?

[Ozwoody]

The last time I seen these specials was on the 2014 WC, they may have been around since then, if they have been, their been very elusive in popping up.

[OzKiwiJJ]

The cruises we had them on were in 2016 and 2017.

[cruisermsoon]

I was on the Coral Princess 14 night Christmas/New Year cruise ex Brisbane, with a Plus package, and the notice appeared near the end of the cruise, as I recall just after Auckland when a bunch of New Zealanders boarded. 

I'd be grateful for any information you could find out.

[OzKiwiJJ]

29 minutes ago, cruisermsoon said:

I was on the Coral Princess 14 night Christmas/New Year cruise ex Brisbane, with a Plus package, and the notice appeared near the end of the cruise, as I recall just after Auckland when a bunch of New Zealanders boarded. 

I'd be grateful for any information you could find out.

Interesting. I don't recall seeing it mentioned on any of the Coral cruises we did last year but I wasn't looking out for it as we had the Plus package for all of those. I kept all the Patters so when I get some free time I'll have a look through them.

 

However you seem to have already seen the latest info on them. There isn't much more to it. You buy the package that suits you. There is some method of keeping track of it - probably via the medallion now, in the past it was a small card. You order the wine from your waiter as you require it and unfinished bottles are stored for you until the next day. When the package runs out you either buy another one or just buy individual bottles or glasses. It is similar to the HAL packages from what I saw on our recent Westerdam cruise.

[MicCanberra]

I think they got rid of the wine packages when they brought in the Princess Plus and Princess Premier drink packages 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, MicCanberra said:

I think they got rid of the wine packages when they brought in the Princess Plus and Princess Premier drink packages 

Cruisermsoon saw an ad for it in a Patter on a very recent cruise. Maybe they are finding that people don't want the Plus and Premier drinks packages if they are primarily wine drinkers as the wines by the glass are limited and mostly poor quality, so they are trying to entice those people with wine package options. 

[MicCanberra]

Perhaps only on select sailings

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

Perhaps only on select sailings

Possibly or they've just decided to start offering it again. 

[MicCanberra]

21 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Possibly or they've just decided to start offering it again. 

Certainly  didn't see it on my two Coral cruises or in the cruise planners, currently not offered for my next 2 Princess cruises either.

[cruisermsoon]

Yes, OzKiwiJJ, with the new higher pricing for the Plus package, wine drinkers would be more interested in a discounted wine package [and you can always buy the odd beer or morning coffee without the package].

[OzKiwiJJ]

9 minutes ago, cruisermsoon said:

Yes, OzKiwiJJ, with the new higher pricing for the Plus package, wine drinkers would be more interested in a discounted wine package [and you can always buy the odd beer or morning coffee without the package].

Exactly. 

 

For us it also depends on how high our favourite cocktail prices go as we enjoy a predinner cocktail and they have been very reasonably priced so far.

[subaru94]

On 1/7/2023 at 5:02 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Cruisermsoon saw an ad for it in a Patter on a very recent cruise. Maybe they are finding that people don't want the Plus and Premier drinks packages if they are primarily wine drinkers as the wines by the glass are limited and mostly poor quality, so they are trying to entice those people with wine package options. 

When we were on Sapphire Princess 2018 we got a wine package, they are good value, so I hope they bring them back as the drink packages are not worth it for us.

[Laika1989]

I’m on the Grand Princess at the moment sailing around NZ and they offered the wine packages the first night. I got the 5 bottles (2 red, 1 rose and 2 whites) for AU $179. I don’t have any other beverage package other than the coffee card.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Laika1989

[MicCanberra]

47 minutes ago, Laika1989 said:

I’m on the Grand Princess at the moment sailing around NZ and they offered the wine packages the first night. I got the 5 bottles (2 red, 1 rose and 2 whites) for AU $179. I don’t have any other beverage package other than the coffee card.

Good stuff and welcome to Cruise Critic 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Laika1989 said:

I’m on the Grand Princess at the moment sailing around NZ and they offered the wine packages the first night. I got the 5 bottles (2 red, 1 rose and 2 whites) for AU $179. I don’t have any other beverage package other than the coffee card.

Were you restricted to specific wines or just a maximum price per bottle? If specific wines which ones were they? 

[Laika1989]

31 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Were you restricted to specific wines or just a maximum price per bottle? If specific wines which ones were they? 

Yeah I was restricted to the specific 5 wines in my package, I didn’t get to choose but I don’t mind, I’ll drink all wine 😁

 

I’ve only had 2 bottles of the 5 so far so I don’t quite remember the exact details of the of the ones I haven’t had yet but I think of the whites it was a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc (I don’t remember the brands or regions). The reds were a Merlot (Decoy by Duckhorn) and a Pinot Noir (Brand was Meiomi) both from California. Also not sure about the rose sorry, but so far the reds have been nice, bit on the sweet side but easy to drink and better than buying the drinks package when I only really drink wine.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Laika1989 said:

Yeah I was restricted to the specific 5 wines in my package, I didn’t get to choose but I don’t mind, I’ll drink all wine 😁

 

I’ve only had 2 bottles of the 5 so far so I don’t quite remember the exact details of the of the ones I haven’t had yet but I think of the whites it was a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc (I don’t remember the brands or regions). The reds were a Merlot (Decoy by Duckhorn) and a Pinot Noir (Brand was Meiomi) both from California. Also not sure about the rose sorry, but so far the reds have been nice, bit on the sweet side but easy to drink and better than buying the drinks package when I only really drink wine.

That's quite different from the original wine packages which allowed you to choose any wines off the wine list up to a certain price point. Plus you could pay the difference if you wanted a more expensive wine. 

 

I would not buy a wine package that dictates what wines I have to drink. It would be a waste as I can't drink most Sauvignon Blancs (reflux) or Cabernet Sauvignons (headaches), and I dislike heavily oaked chardonnays.

[subaru94]

6 hours ago, Laika1989 said:

I’m on the Grand Princess at the moment sailing around NZ and they offered the wine packages the first night. I got the 5 bottles (2 red, 1 rose and 2 whites) for AU $179. I don’t have any other beverage package other than the coffee card.

Pleased to hear that Princess are doing the wine package, we will definitely take it up.

[Tripmode33]

On 1/17/2023 at 3:37 PM, Laika1989 said:

I’m on the Grand Princess at the moment sailing around NZ and they offered the wine packages the first night. I got the 5 bottles (2 red, 1 rose and 2 whites) for AU $179. I don’t have any other beverage package other than the coffee card.

That's great to know. Thanks. We didn't see that on our recent NZ Grand Princess cruise. Can you tell me how you found it? In the patter or advice from staff member???

[Laika1989]

7 hours ago, Tripmode33 said:

That's great to know. Thanks. We didn't see that on our recent NZ Grand Princess cruise. Can you tell me how you found it? In the patter or advice from staff member???

I asked to look at the wine list the first night thinking I would be ordering a couple of bottles for dinner throughout the cruise and the junior waiter suggested the wine package at the point, before then I didn’t know it was an option (I’ve been on 8 cruises and have never been offered it so I assumed it was a new thing!).

 

Since the first night I noticed it in the patter once but it wasn’t very obvious (I don’t have a picture sorry, I throw away the old patters each day) and just assumed that because I had just purchased the package I was now noticing the advertising.

 

I would just suggest to anyone wanting to drink wine to just ask the table staff in the dining room the first night if they have any deals on the wine - it could be a cruise specific thing (maybe they want to get rid of older stock who knows 🤷‍♀️) but it feels like unless you ask, you may miss out on seeing it advertised like I have previously.

[Tripmode33]

41 minutes ago, Laika1989 said:

I asked to look at the wine list the first night thinking I would be ordering a couple of bottles for dinner throughout the cruise and the junior waiter suggested the wine package at the point, before then I didn’t know it was an option (I’ve been on 8 cruises and have never been offered it so I assumed it was a new thing!).

 

Since the first night I noticed it in the patter once but it wasn’t very obvious (I don’t have a picture sorry, I throw away the old patters each day) and just assumed that because I had just purchased the package I was now noticing the advertising.

 

I would just suggest to anyone wanting to drink wine to just ask the table staff in the dining room the first night if they have any deals on the wine - it could be a cruise specific thing (maybe they want to get rid of older stock who knows 🤷‍♀️) but it feels like unless you ask, you may miss out on seeing it advertised like I have previously.

Thanks. Really appreciate that advice. Will ask on an upcoming cruise.

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 hours ago, Laika1989 said:

it could be a cruise specific thing (maybe they want to get rid of older stock who knows 🤷‍♀️) but it feels like unless you ask, you may miss out on seeing it advertised like I have previously.

With the new Plus and Premier price per glass limits coming in to play in mid-Feb, which also may signify an increase in the prices by the glass, they may be trying to get rid of some of the bottom of the range wines in stock. I'm hoping we will see a much better selection of wines by the glass once that occurs - both in quality, and in the number and range of wines available for each package.