Is Princess Plus Really Worth It?

[BamaVol]

One advantage I hadn’t thought about that was mentioned above - I did receive an absolutely awful gin and tonic.  I’m certain that the order was miscommunicated and not the gin I specified.  Also left out the lime.  I had no problem leaving it on the table and ordering something different.  I imagine I’m in the majority when I say 15 drinks is way more than I can handle.

[wowzz]

21 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

 I imagine I’m in the majority when I say 15 drinks is way more than I can handle.

I'm sure you are right,  but even five alcoholic drinks,  plus assorted juices, mocktails,  coffees etc more than makes the Plus  package pay for itself. 

[BamaVol]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I'm sure you are right,  but even five alcoholic drinks,  plus assorted juices, mocktails,  coffees etc more than makes the Plus  package pay for itself. 

Oh yeah.  With waters and coffees and 2-3 drinks, we’d have been in the black on Plus.  My best/worst count was 6 adult beverages.  The 6th was due to a bartender mistake.  I ordered a Manhattan.  He made me an old fashioned instead.  He owned up to the mistake as soon as I took the first sip, and made me a Manhattan. Since he didn’t take the old fashioned away, I drank it. I survived.

[WAvoyager]

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

We don't "count" calories when on vacation but they sure do add up quickly especially when having 3 or 4 dirty bananas each day. 

That's +1000 calories which is almost half of a normal diet. Add in all the food you don't normally consume & you're why over the top. Seeing that we cruise multiple times a year we would look like ( I'm not going to say it) but just take a look at some of the people sailing these days. 

 

Yeah, but all of those extra calories are of course being offset by the new fitness classes, right?

 

🤣

 

I keep meaning to use the gym while we’re cruising, but….

[BamaVol]

11 minutes ago, WAvoyager said:

Yeah, but all of those extra calories are of course being offset by the new fitness classes, right?

 

🤣

 

I keep meaning to use the gym while we’re cruising, but….

Mrs BV took several yoga classes.  She is a rank amateur and said she could have led a better class. All were sparsely attended. 

[FrankieJayIII]

I bought the premier- I see the value... I am not going on a vacation and then not have my wine named.  Simple as that.   2 glasses a night is $35 for "named" wine. 

 

I don't even drink but I might on the cruise; and if I do, I want the luxury of naming the drink.   I also want the photo package that ill never see again, I want the reserved seating in case we are late, I want the non-working wifi in case it works, I want the dessert just for the photo opp and to taste the better cakes, espressos?  SURE.   princes prizes?  Why not.   tips included... thanks.   breakfast martini? never had one... bloody mary?  Don't know... but i might.   calories?  What are those... special dining?  yes ill do both. .. why becase we can.   not because we see a price tag associated. 

 

There really is no value in the package... but does it matter?  No- I want all the things.  thats why ive already paid and now I don't have to think about anything while having a great vacation. 

 

everyone either does what im doing, or complain about seeing the value.   if money was an issue, i wouldn't go on a cruise anyway,... and i definitely wouldnt be on princess.. hello carnival . 

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, WAvoyager said:

Yeah, but all of those extra calories are of course being offset by the new fitness classes, right?

They'll never sell me that exorbitant package. I can hardly break even on the original package no less those crazy desserts designed for kids.

btw- Where is the gym on the Enchanted? Do they even have one?😉

[Princessfan20]

We do not find it worth it and are happy to pay as we go.  We do not do all-inclusive vacations either because we do not want to pay for others' drinks and food.  I am sure the prices will just keep going up too which frequently happens at many all-inclusive vacation spots.

[phatlad]

For me, it definitely seems worth it. I always prepay gratuities anyway, and I'll always get the internet package. I usually get a soda package and bring two rumrunners in my luggage.

 

Now, I can leave the rumrunners at home and just enjoy the cruise.

 

I've always wanted the drink package on a cruise, but I never would drink enough to justify the high price of it, because I just can't put back 15 drinks a day. Doing the math, this is like four alcoholic drinks a day. That's definitely doable and about what I'd like to drink a day. Now, I can add a mimosa or two at breakfast on sea days, specialty coffees in the afternoon with extra espresso shots in the afternoon if I need a pickmeup and an after-dinner drink if I want, and two drinks at any show I go to.

 

For me, the price is right about in the sweet spot.

Edited March 14, 2023 by phatlad

[WAvoyager]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

They'll never sell me that exorbitant package. I can hardly break even on the original package no less those crazy desserts designed for kids.

btw- Where is the gym on the Enchanted? Do they even have one?😉

I only know where the gym is on the ships I’ve been on because you had to route through them to get to other things.

[Stosh68]

My wife and I bought the Plus package.  We're not large drinkers generally, a six pack of beer lasts me a couple of months.  But if I'm going to have a dozen bars within feet of me, and an app that can be utilized to have drinks delivered nearly everywhere I go, then I'm going to drink a lot, particularly if it's hot and there are blender drinks available that are too much effort to make at home.

 

I watched them make many of the drinks, and they didn't skimp on the alcohol and for whatever reason I never got tipsy even after 10+ drinks a day.   A drink at lunch, one or two in the afternoon, another at trivia.  Then a couple of glasses of wine at dinner, and an Irish Coffee with dessert, plus a few after dinner drinks at the movies, show, casino etc. and it was not even a stretch to get to 10 drinks without even making much of an effort.

 

Plus the freedom to experiment by ordering cocktails I would never try, otherwise.

 

One thing I did learn was the need to alternate between my wife and I making the drink orders.  The person who makes the order on the app, or has their medallion scanned by the waiter is the person who gets credit for the drinks on their account.

 

 

 

 

[BamaVol]

On 3/14/2023 at 5:09 PM, WAvoyager said:

I only know where the gym is on the ships I’ve been on because you had to route through them to get to other things.

You’ve not been on Caribbean Princess.  Deck 16 dead ends with the fitness center. It was always busy when we visited but there was enough equipment to handle those who wanted to use it. Out of 3,140 passengers, it wasn’t but a small fraction.

Edited March 17, 2023 by BamaVol

[PMGS247]

I mean you did the math and asked the question that only you can answer for you. 

 

We could probably fine tune / nitpick the math and tweak this slightly but you reached the conclusion that you need 3-4 beverages per day to justify it and that's got to be close enough to be a good rule of thumb.  My take....If you even feel like you're going to hit 2-3 per day, you're probably close enough to justify it.

 

It's a pretty good deal...historically beverage packages usually took more like 6-8 drinks to break even.

[Sea Hag]

On 3/14/2023 at 12:59 PM, Princessfan20 said:

We do not find it worth it and are happy to pay as we go.  We do not do all-inclusive vacations either because we do not want to pay for others' drinks and food.  I am sure the prices will just keep going up too which frequently happens at many all-inclusive vacation spots.

That's pretty much been my attitude. We only got the drinks package on Princess once, after the restart when we had a truckload of future cruise credit and weren't sure what was going to happen with cruising in the future.

 

I always run the math, and a package has never worked out for us on Princess. But, oddly, this week I booked a cruise with HAL, and the lower level package worked out for us very well. It was all things that we would actually use! Fifteen drinks of any kind per day translates out to unlimited for us and will be used for specialty coffees and sparkling water. Internet package - yep, we'll use that. One specialty dining - you bet. $100 each shore excursion credit - I've already booked that. $100 each obc, which will go to tips. They had a promo running where you selected an obstructed ov and got an upgrade to a balcony if you got the package. We got that. We ended up spending only $32 more for that balcony with the package than we would have spent on the balcony without the promo and package. That looks like a deal to me!

[billco]

On 3/14/2023 at 10:15 AM, BamaVol said:

Mrs BV took several yoga classes.  She is a rank amateur and said she could have led a better class. All were sparsely attended. 

I have been on the Discovery Princess for 5 B2B cruises with the Plus package on each cruise. The yoga class on the first day of each cruise was well attended and then decreased in attendance. It was a 30 minute class that began with a few minutes of Child’s Pose and ended with a few minutes of Corpse Pose as do most yoga classes. It was a basic class and I think the most strenuous pose might have been Plank Pose for about 30 seconds. I doubt I burnt more than 150 calories, but then yoga isn’t about burning calories. Though I was eligible for two fitness classes on each cruise I only took three yoga classes, instead opting for my personal practice of yoga and the rowing machines.

[startedwithamouse]

3 minutes ago, billco said:

I have been on the Discovery Princess for 5 B2B cruises with the Plus package on each cruise. The yoga class on the first day of each cruise was well attended and then decreased in attendance. It was a 30 minute class that began with a few minutes of Child’s Pose and ended with a few minutes of Corpse Pose as do most yoga classes. It was a basic class and I think the most strenuous pose might have been Plank Pose for about 30 seconds. I doubt I burnt more than 150 calories, but then yoga isn’t about burning calories. Though I was eligible for two fitness classes on each cruise I only took three yoga classes, instead opting for my personal practice of yoga and the rowing machines.

Did they have different yoga classes as the cruise progressed other than the beginner one you mentioned?  I'd be off doing my own thing too, that's pretty disappointing.  

[BamaVol]

4 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Did they have different yoga classes as the cruise progressed other than the beginner one you mentioned?  I'd be off doing my own thing too, that's pretty disappointing.  

There was only the one.  And it was never well attended when I saw it.  My wife brought her mat and exercised on her own when she felt like it.  I noticed a number of other yogis doing the same.

 

OTOH, Zumba was huge anytime I observed. It didn’t matter whether it was on deck by the pool or in the dimly lit Fusion nightclub. So if you were looking to burn calories, that was an option.  And a free one at that.

[startedwithamouse]

11 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

There was only the one.  And it was never well attended when I saw it.  My wife brought her mat and exercised on her own when she felt like it.  I noticed a number of other yogis doing the same.

 

OTOH, Zumba was huge anytime I observed. It didn’t matter whether it was on deck by the pool or in the dimly lit Fusion nightclub. So if you were looking to burn calories, that was an option.  And a free one at that.

Zumba is too loud and the opposite of the zen yoga atmosphere I desire. Maybe in the future they can add different levels of classes.

[BamaVol]

25 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Zumba is too loud and the opposite of the zen yoga atmosphere I desire. Maybe in the future they can add different levels of classes.

I didn’t mean to equate the two.  I do know better. @billco mentioned burning calories so I thought I’d mention one of the better options I encountered for that.

Edited March 17, 2023 by BamaVol

[billco]

59 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Did they have different yoga classes as the cruise progressed other than the beginner one you mentioned?  I'd be off doing my own thing too, that's pretty disappointing.  

No, same class each time. They also offered TRX, Pure Barre, and Tour de Cycle, but I didn’t try them. They were probably more strenuous, but the gym is well stocked.

[WAvoyager]

6 hours ago, BamaVol said:

You’ve not been on Caribbean Princess.  Deck 16 dead ends with the fitness center. It was always busy when we visited but there was enough equipment to handle those who wanted to use it. Out of 3,140 passengers, it wasn’t but a small fraction.

You’re correct - and from the sound of it, even if we do go on the Caribbean Princess, it’s likely I’ll never find out where it is!  😄

[Kineticoh20]

We leave on the Discovery in a week for a 7 day. Plus was $1000 more pp of course we passed. Really depends on what you get it for. Some cruises it’s a bargain it just depends.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Kineticoh20 said:

We leave on the Discovery in a week for a 7 day. Plus was $1000 more pp of course we passed. Really depends on what you get it for. Some cruises it’s a bargain it just depends.

Interested in your maths. Assuming you are on a regular fare, Plus would cost you $60x7=$420 pp.

[startedwithamouse]

20 hours ago, Kineticoh20 said:

We leave on the Discovery in a week for a 7 day. Plus was $1000 more pp of course we passed. Really depends on what you get it for. Some cruises it’s a bargain it just depends.

How does that equate to $60 a day? 

[JGmf]

On 3/14/2023 at 8:15 AM, wowzz said:

If we did not have the package we would have to drastically reduce our drinking - what's the fun in that on holiday ?

 

Amen to that.  The package is definitely worth it for us too.