Our experience with the Princess Premier Package

[Boiler Cruiser]

31 minutes ago, SuzieQ521 said:

 

Great, thanks! Do you know if you can still order some breakfast items the night before ? (you used to be able to leave the paper with your continental breakfast order outside).

 

It would be great to keep my son entertained with a danish/muffin, etc. while we are getting ready in the morning.😀

There is a limited breakfast room service menu.  You can place a request card outside your door and it will be delivered the next morning.

[nini]

5 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

Can you upgrade when onboard from Plus to Premium when onboard?

Remember, that if you order a drink which costs more than $15.00 then you will just  be charged the difference. So, you might just want to keep the Plus package.

[trbarton]

21 hours ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

My wife and I bought the Princess Premier Package on our recent 15-day cruise to Hawaii on the Royal Princess.  Before our cruise we heard much about the Premier Package, and I wanted to share my experiences and thoughts about it.

 

Overall, it had many benefits for my wife and I, and, in the end, we saved a lot more money than the added cost of the Package.

 

Here are my observations & experiences:

 

 

MedallionClass Experience

 

When we first got on the ship, the Medallion app had issues on each of phones.  Not the same issues, however.  We went to the Internet Café, and the personnel there were very helpful, and got the app on each of our phones running like clockwork. 

We were advised that the tech’s in the Internet Café, were finding that many of the issues guests were having with their Medallion app when they first got on the ship happened because they did not update their app after their last cruise.  Running the update on my wife’s phone was all she needed.

 

So, before our next cruise, we will run an update of our app’s and I expect all will be well.

 

 

Premier Beverage Package

 

This is the part of the Premier Package that everyone is interested in and seems to talk about most.

My wife and I appreciated having the Premier Beverage Package very much.  She and I each drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day, not including the Café Mocha or Cappuccino we enjoy from time to time.  We also drink a couple of beers with lunch, or a soda.

 

Where the Premier Beverage Package really paid off for us was for liquor and wine.  We enjoy a couple of drinks before dinner, and usually, we had a glass of wine with dinner.  We also had a drink of two during the evening, as well.

 

The Premier Beverage Package allowed us to get premium brands of bourbon, scotch and gin that we would not be able to get, even at home, otherwise.  The $20 and under allowance per drink helped with this very much.

 

This all worked for us, but if you are not a person who is looking to drink high-end cocktails, more than the average amount of coffee each day, specialty drinks from Good Spirits at Sea, the Premier Beverage Package may deserve a second thought.

 

By the way, the bar waiters and those at the International Cage and in the restaurants, all knew were had the Premier Package, just from “reading” our medallions.

 

 

Wifi

 

The Wifi allowance with the Premier Package was well worth it.  While we did not have 4 devices each, we did have 4 between us.  Having Wifi available 24 hours a day, was a convenience that paid for itself handsomely.

 

If you have more than 1 device each, or if you are a family traveling with kids, the Wifi portion will pay for itself.

 

 

Crew Appreciation

 

It goes without saying, I think, that not having to pay the per diem gratuity out of pocket is a definite plus.

 

 

2 Specialty Meals

 

We really enjoyed this feature.  My wife and I enjoy going to the Crown Grill or Sabatini’s (especially now with the new menu), so having 2 included was very nice.

 

By the way, on this last cruise (March, 2023), we learned that Sabatini’s had just rolled out it’s new menu.  It was a very nice improvement over the prior menu…a nice variety of entrees and choices for salads, sides and desserts.

 

 

The Photo Package

 

To be honest, the Photo Package was not anything to get excited about.  True, you were able to get 3 prints (we got 3 8x10’s), but the only plus was that we were able to download all the portrait photos of us taken on the cruise, which we will get printed ourselves (no need to wait for the photo staff to get around to doing it for us).

 

 

Princess Prizes

 

Princess Prizes was a bit of fun, but seemed gimmicky.  For me, it was like someone bought a number of lottery tickets for me, with the same long odds of winning anything.

 

 

Premium Desserts

 

It was nice to be able to get a dish of ice cream, or an ice cream sundae at Gelato’s, but the so-called Premium desserts where oversized, over decorated (with sugary décor), and over the top.  I saw one or two people get the big elaborate sundaes, but other than that, regular dishes of ice cream seemed most popular.

 

 

Reserved Theater Seating

 

In the “fine print”, they note that Reserved Theater Seating in the Princess Theater is only available for what they call production shows.  Since on our 15 day cruise, there were only 3 shows that fell into this category, Reserved Theater Seating was not the perk that Princess makes it out to be, IMHO.

 

 

Unlimited Juice Bar

 

I felt taken in by the Unlimited Juice Bar on the Princess Premier Package.  The juices offered were veggie juices and fruit/ grasses juices, which I would have only had an interest in if it were a dietary necessity.  I was expecting some premium juices, such as papaya, guava, or some special fruit blends, but no such luck.  I was very disappointed.

 

 

Fitness Classes

 

My wife and I did not participate in the fitness classes.

 

 

Final Thought

 

I do a spreadsheet budget for each cruise we go on.  So, knowing what we usually would spend on liquor, beer, coffee and other drinks, as well as knowing what we would have spent on the crew gratuity and Wifi, this plan was ideal for us.  On this cruise, we saved easily a few thousand dollars.

 

 

Do your own calculations, and see if it is right for you.

Thanks for your experiences. 
 

How do I update my app?

 

Tom😀

[curious_st]

Awesome review!  This is extremely helpful.

[CruizinSusan70]

7 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

Can you upgrade when onboard from Plus to Premium when onboard?

 

6 hours ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

I'm not sure if you can, but if it is like other on-board packages, if they let you, it will cost you a WHOLE LOT MORE to do so.

From what I read, yes you can.  It will cost you the difference in price from what you paid for the Plus package (40, 50 or 60) to what the Premier is (80 per day).  It's the same price whether you do it now or then.  The positive is that you can use OBC to pay for it.  The negative is that if your reservation is through a travel agent, then the discount or OBC from them would be less since your dollar volume paid for the cruise would be less.

[Boiler Cruiser]

21 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

 

Are you saying we now have to book to go to the production shows?  When did that start?

No.  Just show up no less than 15 minutes before the start of the show and you will find a section with special blue covers on the seats.  Those seats, usually stage center and lower level, are for Premium Package holders.

[UpcountryTravelers]

17 hours ago, nini said:

Remember, that if you order a drink which costs more than $15.00 then you will just  be charged the difference. So, you might just want to keep the Plus package.

THAT.... depends on the ship.  I got a double scotch on the Discovery last summer, first day aboard.  It came to $16, $1 over the $15 limit, and I was charged the full $16.  From that moment on, just ordered two drinks, one on the rocks and one not.  Problem solved.

Edited April 21, 2023 by UpcountryTravelers

[memoak]

16 minutes ago, UpcountryTravelers said:

THAT.... depends on the ship.  I got a double scotch on the Discovery last summer, first day aboard.  It came to $16, $1 over the $15 limit, and I was charged the full $16.  From that moment on, just ordered two drinks, one on the rocks and one not.  Problem solved.

I have been on 4 different ships since last spring and have only been charged the difference plus 18%

[toofewcruises]

On 4/20/2023 at 1:08 PM, Boiler Cruiser said:

I'm not sure if you can, but if it is like other on-board packages, if they let you, it will cost you a WHOLE LOT MORE to do so.

This is wrong! Yes, you can upgrade onboard. It will cost the same as if you had upgraded the package before the cruise 

[cr8tiv1]

Not the same locations on all ships.  On the Diamond, Port Side.

I would not have chosen that location for myself,

 

10 hours ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

No.  Just show up no less than 15 minutes before the start of the show and you will find a section with special blue covers on the seats.  Those seats, usually stage center and lower level, are for Premium Package holders.

 

[nini]

7 hours ago, UpcountryTravelers said:

THAT.... depends on the ship.  I got a double scotch on the Discovery last summer, first day aboard.  It came to $16, $1 over the $15 limit, and I was charged the full $16.  From that moment on, just ordered two drinks, one on the rocks and one not.  Problem solved.

That is very odd. I would take it to guest services and contest.  Virtually everyone else on CC has said they we're just charged the difference. That is ridiculous and plain inadequate math.

[c-boy]

29 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Not the same locations on all ships.  On the Diamond, Port Side.

I would not have chosen that location for myself,

 

 

is that John Padgett  in the upper right  ?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   😆

[Boiler Cruiser]

14 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Not the same locations on all ships.  On the Diamond, Port Side.

I would not have chosen that location for myself,

 

 

This looks similar to what I saw on the Royal Princess last month.  The only difference was that the seats that were set aside with the blue covers were closer to the front, some about 6-8 rows from the front of the stage, and others in the first row of the upper section, just behind the floor-level seats.

[PJ Apple]

Thanks for the review!