To Plus or not to Plus.., our experience

[kywildcatfanone]

I think my biggest issue, which I haven't really articulated well in my comments here, is just the sheer cost.  I understand that if Princess charges $10 for a $1 shot of Jim Beam, but because you are on a ship or at a bar, and not at home, the price doesn't seem too far out of line for what someone might pay.  To me, that is a to each their own kind of thing.  If you pay the package fee, and are okay with it, then it's okay with me that you do that.  I don't really care, and in fact, it helps keep the cruise fare down for everyone, and therefore can add value to those who don't partake. If I were a drinker, I would probably view it differently.

But I also rarely eat out without it being takeout because I want to avoid large required tips, and the exurbanite  cost of even soft drinks or team.

For me, I look at it this way, for a 7 day cruise, the cost for two of the plus package is $840.  Tips cost about $210, wifi (with elite, which has doubled in price) is $140, so that is $350.  I can buy a morning coffee in the IC, and bring soft drinks on board that I want (i.e. something different than just coke, diet coke and sprite - another beef I have with Princess, offer more options) for $15, so now I'm at $365, and can either hold onto or spend on other things the difference is $475, which can easily get me another cruise fare booked most times I'm booking anymore.  Right or wrong, that is how I look at it. 

I do not mean to say that people paying for a package aren't getting their money's worth for them, that is for each person to decide.  I just can't justify it myself, but everyone does vacation the way they want to do vacation and that is fine with me.  Like I said, it sort of helps me if I really think about it.

 

 

 

[BamaVol]

59 minutes ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Regarding a lower priced package: I have no idea how many alcoholic beverages the average package purchaser drinks.  It’s surely below 15.  But, any prospective package for light drinkers would have a limit well below the average and might not cost much less given the other benefits. It is possible, after all, to exceed break even with as few as two $15 drinks.

Edited May 23, 2023 by BamaVol

[memoak]

5 hours ago, MissP22 said:

I use to think the same way but have come to realize it's just not that urgent to be in contact every minute of the day. The maximum length of time between free internet access is 2 days in most cases. If anything is that important, they can call me. 

That just depends on the cruise. We often cruise to Hawaii and back which means at least 5 days at a time at see. Same with TransAtlantics

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, Buckeye10640 said:

My thoughts exactly, at $40  it was a given, at $50 it was a convenience although pretty sure we did not come out ahead money-wise. At $60 its a no.  I cruised last week w/o it, bought drinks when I wanted them, and came out ahead. For me personally, they have priced me out. Obviously its still of value to many others. My wish is they would have lower priced pkg with less than 15 max drinks for light drinkers. But that is likely not financially beneficial to Princess. 

That describes us as well. 

If they had a smaller package, say with only 5 drinks, it would be worth it for us.

 

 

35 minutes ago, memoak said:

That just depends on the cruise. We often cruise to Hawaii and back which means at least 5 days at a time at see. Same with TransAtlantics

We've done Hawaii a number of times and I suppose if we lives on the west coast we might do it more often.

Since we're in Florida, it's mostly the Caribbean where T-Mobile covers almost every port with free phone service & text.

[voljeep]

We make adult choices when to spend and when to save.  Our cruises are not the time to try to save.  We'll try to do that the rest of the year somewhat.

 

You can book a cruise at the 'get-on' price - let Princess pick your inside cabin.  Then get on board, wait until the last night to remove grats, never drink in bars, carry on your one bottle of wine each, carry on your soda's, drink ship water and coffee, etc , attend events where free drinks may be offered,  and exit the cruise with a zero balance on your folio.  You (generic) can - we don't try.

[Tedferg]

53 minutes ago, voljeep said:

We make adult choices when to spend and when to save.  Our cruises are not the time to try to save.  We'll try to do that the rest of the year somewhat.

 

You can book a cruise at the 'get-on' price - let Princess pick your inside cabin.  Then get on board, wait until the last night to remove grats, never drink in bars, carry on your one bottle of wine each, carry on your soda's, drink ship water and coffee, etc , attend events where free drinks may be offered,  and exit the cruise with a zero balance on your folio.  You (generic) can - we don't try.

Good points, I sometimes think I overanalyze.  

[BamaVol]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

That describes us as well. 

If they had a smaller package, say with only 5 drinks, it would be worth it for us.

 

But 5 drinks takes most folks to the break even point at $60, even without wifi.

 

        60

-      16 gratuities

=     44

/       5

=      8.80 average drink price w/18% gratuity

=.     7.45 average drink price w/o gratuity

 

Since the cheapest beer is probably $7.50, that’s a non-starter.  Especially if you also want canned soda, bottled water, specialty coffee.

 

I’m thinking the cheap package, if they ever chose to offer one is $45 for 2 drinks, plus wifi, gratuities, coffee, bottled water.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

That describes us as well. 

If they had a smaller package, say with only 5 drinks, it would be worth it for us.

My thought is they would have to set the price at virtually the same level as it is now with 15 because virtually everyone would consume the max at the 5 level.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

wait until the last night to remove grats

I think you could have left out this phrase and still got point across.  We don't run up a bill on board much at all, but certainly contribute to the Crew Appreciation.

[voljeep]

43 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I think you could have left out this phrase and still got point across.  We don't run up a bill on board much at all, but certainly contribute to the Crew Appreciation.

too late to edit - just trying to point out the extreme ... and we have NEVER removed the grats and prolly overtip during the cruise ...

 

as long as my wife has 2-3 'drinks' per day on the cruise (and that's sometimes a month's worth at home, sometimes a day) we will continue to PLUS - and may even PREMIER on a short 5 dayer with the 2 specialty dinners and higher wine allowance price.

[KatRangoon]

For us, what killed it was that we would BOTH have to have it, and it would be Every Day. If it could just be me, it might be worth it, but my hubby only drinks water and the occasional soda. The other issues is we still have to pay on the days we are off the boat all day at the ports. 

 

If they had a day pass you could purchase on sea days, or some sort of 20 drink pack tied to the medallion, I'd get those in a heartbeat. As it is, they're losing money on us by not offering a lower tier option.

[BamaVol]

2 hours ago, KatRangoon said:

For us, what killed it was that we would BOTH have to have it, and it would be Every Day. If it could just be me, it might be worth it, but my hubby only drinks water and the occasional soda. The other issues is we still have to pay on the days we are off the boat all day at the ports. 

 

If they had a day pass you could purchase on sea days, or some sort of 20 drink pack tied to the medallion, I'd get those in a heartbeat. As it is, they're losing money on us by not offering a lower tier option.

Of course the other side of the coin is all those who currently buy a package and would gladly downgrade if something less was offered at a lower price.

[remydiva]

4 hours ago, KatRangoon said:

For us, what killed it was that we would BOTH have to have it, and it would be Every Day. If it could just be me, it might be worth it, but my hubby only drinks water and the occasional soda. The other issues is we still have to pay on the days we are off the boat all day at the ports. 

 

If they had a day pass you could purchase on sea days, or some sort of 20 drink pack tied to the medallion, I'd get those in a heartbeat. As it is, they're losing money on us by not offering a lower tier option.

Good point re getting off ship days. Also my hubby non drinker yet he’d have to pay too. I’m a cheap date /light weight so it just didn’t make sense for us. 

[Happiest when cruising]

15 hours ago, memoak said:

That just depends on the cruise. We often cruise to Hawaii and back which means at least 5 days at a time at see. Same with TransAtlantics

We also found it difficult to find wifi right at the ports in Hawaii. I assumed it would be like the Caribbean, where it’s pretty easy. 

[memoak]

13 hours ago, remydiva said:

Good point re getting off ship days. Also my hubby non drinker yet he’d have to pay too. I’m a cheap date /light weight so it just didn’t make sense for us. 

And that is why these packages are not meant for everyone. Just like some pay what I consider a ridiculous amount for the sanctuary which I would not. So each to their own

[Tedferg]

15 hours ago, BamaVol said:

Of course the other side of the coin is all those who currently buy a package and would gladly downgrade if something less was offered at a lower price.

Exactly, Princess has all the data # Pax buying package # drinks each person has, saw what happened at $40 the $50, then $60. I bet the majority of Pax would go for a cheaper with fewer drink maximum.

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Exactly, Princess has all the data # Pax buying package # drinks each person has, saw what happened at $40 the $50, then $60. I bet the majority of Pax would go for a cheaper with fewer drink maximum.

with PLUS at $60 with 15 ... how much would the price drop for a limit of 5?  and could 1 person in the cabin be at 15 and the other at 5?  theoretically speaking

 

I'd like the option of keeping PLUS 40 (not happening) or PLUS 50 at $15 per drink and foregoing the ice creams and fitness classes 

[Tedferg]

The interesting dynamic is allowing OBC to be applied against package on first day. You would think that would upset the calculation.

[memoak]

3 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

The interesting dynamic is allowing OBC to be applied against package on first day. You would think that would upset the calculation.

 I because those folks would then have to pay to have their medallion shipped. $10 more per person to Princess 

[BamaVol]

10 minutes ago, voljeep said:

with PLUS at $60 with 15 ... how much would the price drop for a limit of 5?  and could 1 person in the cabin be at 15 and the other at 5?  theoretically speaking

 

I'd like the option of keeping PLUS 40 (not happening) or PLUS 50 at $15 per drink and foregoing the ice creams and fitness classes 

The fancy desserts and fitness classes are window dressing. I saw little interest in either while aboard CB in March.  I’d guess based on 75% of 3200 passengers X 10 days X $10 less revenue, you’re talking about Princess cutting revenue by $240,000 for that cruise.  The cost of the ice cream and classes can’t be more than 20% of that. And I’m being generous. So, reduce profits for a single cruise by almost $200,000?  Sixteen ships. 365 days a year. That’s $100 million. Not happening. Keep dreaming.

[voljeep]

3 minutes ago, memoak said:

 I because those folks would then have to pay to have their medallion shipped. $10 more per person to Princess 

$10 per 'person' or $10 to ship to a household?

[memoak]

11 minutes ago, voljeep said:

$10 per 'person' or $10 to ship to a household?

When you order medallions they are priced per medallion as far as I know. Our medallions came yesterday in separate packaging   I must note that we each order our own medallions so I would want to hear from someone who ordered for an entire family on one sign in

Edited May 24, 2023 by memoak

[Steelers36]

My interpretation was a couple sailing in a cabin orders Medallions and they package and come together for $10.  Makes no sense to be charging $20.  Nor to only include on in a package.

[memoak]

34 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

My interpretation was a couple sailing in a cabin orders Medallions and they package and come together for $10.  Makes no sense to be charging $20.  Nor to only include on in a package.

Except if you are like us and send separate orders under our own accounts. The came separately and there was no charge to either of our cards and yes we pay for plus package up front

Edited May 24, 2023 by memoak

[JimmyVWine]

On 5/22/2023 at 2:05 PM, Jersey42 said:

Here are our typical per day numbers for a seven day cruise.

Plus - $120
Staff Appreciation - $32
WiFi - $7.50 (We don’t use it a lot, so we share.  We also get the platinum/elite discount)

Non refundable onboard credit - $39.50 (Varies, but usually enough to cover Staff Appreciation and WiFi)

 

So we need to drink $120 per day just to break even with Plus over Standard.

I'm not following this math.  If you are going to spend $32 per day on Staff Appreciation and $7.50 per day for WiFi, that equals $39.50.  So you need to drink $120-$39.50 (or $80.50) per day to break even.  And while that may sound like a lot, at the raised price of dinks, it can get absorbed quickly.  And this assumes no coffee consumption.  Or any other beverage whatsoever that is included in Plus but must be paid for under Standard. 

 

If one is not a wine drinker, then it is definitely possible to come out ahead under Standard.  And obviously, if one does not drink any alcohol, then Standard is a no-brainer.  But if there is any sort of wine consumption whatsoever, $80 goes very quickly these days.  Add in coffee and BAM!  It is gone before dinner.  We ARE wine drinkers, and even though we never, ever approached our 15 drink limit, (I think our highest number of drinks per day per person was 6 on a Sea Day, but usually hovered closer to 4), three of us averaged $77.88 per person, per day of drink consumption had we paid out-of-pocket.  Add in coffee, espressos and Cappuccinos and that would have been around $85 person per day.  Of course one has to do their own math based on their own habits.  But I think what a lot of people are underestimating is that the drinkable glasses of wine on the ship these days cost $15-18.  With gratuity (which is included in Plus), that comes out to $17.70-$21.24 per glass.  Two glasses per person per day at an average cost of $20 gets you to the $80 that I calculated above.  The days of doing the math and using $8-$10 as the estimated cost of a glass of wine are long gone.  If you want to drink good wine, you have to double that.