POLL: How Will You Sail Now, With All of the Upcoming Package Changes?

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, TiredTrucker said:

 

What is the $15 charge actually for? I haven't sailed Princess and your post has me confused.  Isn't Ocean Ready the name of the app? And they charge for the app? Or only the use of Ocean Now via the app, which is like room service for drinks?

Only for use of the App to order things on board.  Do not use the App to order no charge.

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, TiredTrucker said:

What is the $15 charge actually for? I haven't sailed Princess and your post has me confused.  Isn't Ocean Ready the name of the app? And they charge for the app? Or only the use of Ocean Now via the app, which is like room service for drinks?

The $15 charge is to activate OCEAN NOW not Ocean Ready. 2 different parts to the app. 

Ocean Ready = precruise register for voyage 

Ocean Now = ordering app onboard, similar to buying online at home.  It's more than just food & beverages. Also amenities 

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by Ombud

[adventurenerd]

On 7/30/2023 at 9:55 AM, sunviking90 said:

And some of us even less. We rarely get the ship wifi and if we do we only get one device between the 2 of us. 

We also.  We like to order few drinks here and there a la cart ( that will end up way less than $70 per day for us).  Thinking to add one time OceanNow delivering fee on just one phone at the beginning of our cruis.  That way, for our upcoming 9days cruise will end up costing us less than $1 pppd to add the OceanNow delivery.

[adventurenerd]

On 8/1/2023 at 4:00 PM, fpsphil said:

Same. Its quick to burn through it too when you start getting things like double baileys on the rocks

That is another 400 calories to burn.....1.5hours of fast walking......

[roxievegas]

5 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I have never tried dipping my cookies in ketchup.

ketchup was for the french fries with the sandwich.

cookies were for dessert

you are trying to make me out to be crazy

[startedwithamouse]

We always book Plus since it was introduced and looking forward to the new menus. 

 

[fpsphil]

3 hours ago, adventurenerd said:

That is another 400 calories to burn.....1.5hours of fast walking......

Calories are the last thing I count onboard

[photomikey]

I am new to Princess, I booked the day of or perhaps the day after the announcement.  We're on a 13 night cruise out of Sydney to New Zealand.  We booked a mini-suite with myself, my wife, and my daughter.  $5033, no perks.  Princess Plus would have been $6900 or so.  I told my wife, who loves a good fancy coffee, and hates keeping track of how much she's spent, that I'd order her one every few hours and just dump them out if she doesn't drink them, and I'd still save a thousand dollars over the course of a week.

I don't know what the fascination with the pizza place is, if it looks unbelievable, I guess I'll cough up $15.  

 

My feeling on room service has always been, well, I could run up to the Lido and get a couple sandwiches and an ice cream and be back on my balcony in 10 minutes, or I could order from room service and wait 45 minutes.

Edited August 3, 2023 by photomikey

[CruizinSusan70]

We will continue to get the Plus package for each of our cruises.  We have loved our previous cruises of 14 days on the Discovery in 2022 and 14 days on the Majestic this year.  We paid 40 pppd for the Plus package.  Currently have 28 days booked on the Enchanted and 28 days booked on the Sun, all with the Plus package at 60 pppd.  After factoring out the 16 for grats, the remaining 44 pppd is cheaper than any other competing cruise lines drink package and then the wifi becomes gravy.

Am perturbed about the changes with Alfredo's, but we will make do.   It really should not be two visits per cruise, it should be two per every 7 days.  Those that book 14+ day cruises are discriminated against.

[downtheback]

14 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Am perturbed about the changes with Alfredo's, but we will make do.   It really should not be two visits per cruise, it should be two per every 7 days.  Those that book 14+ day cruises are discriminated against.

If I book a 21 day Med Cruise, which can also be booked at 3x7 Days (and so will have 3 separate cruise codes), will it reset every Saturday or will I only get 2 for the entire 21 days.....Questions, Questions.

[Mary loves to travel]

3 hours ago, roxievegas said:

ketchup was for the french fries with the sandwich.

cookies were for dessert

you are trying to make me out to be crazy

I think the poster was just being silly.   

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, roxievegas said:

ketchup was for the french fries with the sandwich.

cookies were for dessert

you are trying to make me out to be crazy

No.  It waa jusr some light humor based on exaggeration.   I never for a moment thought you actually dipped cookies in ketchup and I am sure no one else did either.  Or, am I taking you too seriously here in the reply?

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, downtheback said:

If I book a 21 day Med Cruise, which can also be booked at 3x7 Days (and so will have 3 separate cruise codes), will it reset every Saturday or will I only get 2 for the entire 21 days.....Questions, Questions.

IMO, you should get total of 6 visits as you would if booked separately.  And both ways pay about the same dollars anyway.  Other things do reset, but I don't think there is a definitive answer yet. 

 

They did say you pay one $15 Ocean Now fee, whereas the guest booking 3 X 7-night voyages B2B2B would have to pay the $15 each week.  That rubs me the wrong way and who knows if ot will stick in practice?  I kind of suspect an IT shortcoming because the reset to a new booking probably means too hard for them to stop the 2nd and 3rd charge.  I imagine some guests will complain and we will find out if they get the charge reversed.

Edited August 3, 2023 by Steelers36

[leck57]

28 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

IMO, you should get total of 6 visits as you would if booked separately.  And both ways pay about the same dollars anyway.  Other things do reset, but I don't think there is a definitive answer yet. 

 

They did say you pay one $15 Ocean Now fee, whereas the guest booking 3 X 7-night voyages B2B2B would have to pay the $15 each week.  That rubs me the wrong way and who knows if ot will stick in practice?  I kind of suspect an IT shortcoming because the reset to a new booking probably means too hard for them to stop the 2nd and 3rd charge.  I imagine some guests will complain and we will find out if they get the charge reversed.

 

Interesting. If a person books a 21 day cruise that can be booked as 3 x 7 nighters, the Cruise Personaliser will show that you have three cruises sailed so I agree that each leg should entitle you to two visits, total 6. 

It's quite strange in a way. I've been following and commenting on this subject for a few days and can barely keep up with the postings. Yet, today I still booked another Princess cruise, so I guess that even though I don't like the changes, they are small fry for me in the overall picture. (plus we did a HAL cruise recently that wasn't as good as Princess, and Celebrity prices have gone through the funnel).

[roxievegas]

6 hours ago, Mary loves to travel said:

I think the poster was just being silly.   

i know

[CanadianCruiser21]

On 7/29/2023 at 3:18 PM, ExploringTheGlobe said:

What do you mean by alcohol portion?  The drink portion of the fare also includes soda, water, fancy coffee, etc.  It is not just alcohol.  My San Pelegrino consumption alone more than covers the value of it.

Hi, have you ever ordered multiple bottles of San Pelegrino to your cabin at once? 
I have the premier package and drink carbonated water exclusively, so I will need at least 4 bottles a day. Is this also available at any bar? 

[dreaminofcruisin]

We haven't used the app to order beverages to our room, so can't speak to using that. However, I would think you could order at least 2 at a time.

I would say just pick up 2 at most bars each time you go back to your room and stock up. If you are traveling with someone, have them pick up 2 at the same time.

It might depend on the ship, but we have found San Pellegrino at all bars we have visited. Certainly as the cruise progresses, it is possible for one or more to run out, at least temporarily.

(Ask for them to be unopened.)

Edited September 18, 2023 by dreaminofcruisin

[kamelia]

On 7/29/2023 at 7:46 AM, EllieinNJ said:

We were disappointed when they did away with the coffee card in February.  It was nice to have specialty coffees but not totally necessary but we do so need to have the fresh brewed coffee.

Great news from this fellow brewed-coffee drinker:  I had grounds in the bottom of my first cup in Horizon Court on the Sapphire Princess this past cruise!  I too was grossly disappointed that Princess had done away with the coffee cards as I relied on International Café for daily brewed coffee.  I'd read that Princess has contracted with Lavazza Coffee - much to my surprise that seems to be the source for ALL coffee on board, including Horizon Court!  Hooray!  I don't know how quickly it is being offered on ships fleetwide, but as of August 16th, it is definitely on the Sapphire Princess!

 

[MissP22]

11 minutes ago, kamelia said:

Great news from this fellow brewed-coffee drinker:  I had grounds in the bottom of my first cup in Horizon Court on the Sapphire Princess this past cruise!  I too was grossly disappointed that Princess had done away with the coffee cards as I relied on International Café for daily brewed coffee.  I'd read that Princess has contracted with Lavazza Coffee - much to my surprise that seems to be the source for ALL coffee on board, including Horizon Court!  Hooray!  I don't know how quickly it is being offered on ships fleetwide, but as of August 16th, it is definitely on the Sapphire Princess!

 

It's about time they offered a decent cup of coffee without having to pay extra. 

[Princessfan20]

On 7/31/2023 at 8:15 PM, Therese S. said:

More take aways makes me more determined than ever to stay with Princess Standard and pay as I go.  We prepay our tips before we board.  We order those small 375 ml bottles of alcohol to make drinks in our room with the sodas we purchased before we boarded.   I have a princess tumbler that I carry mixed drinks in outside the cabin.  I'm looking out for my bottom line not Princess and always have a great time with out the packages.  Husband buys a few beers here and there. 

 

Us too.  We never do all inclusive vacations because we do not want to pay for someone else's alcohol consumption.  We do long cruises and are Elite so we are able to make everything much more cost effective than the upsell packages and still have a great time.  Not sure how popular the packages are anyway because the reserved seats we have seen in the theaters are usually never full, unless everyone is in the bar getting their drink quotas in for the day.  Stock price does not reflect CCL is out fo the woods yet either with all the new costs being added to the passenger experience.

[katmigordon]

On 7/30/2023 at 7:05 AM, CruisingWalter said:

 

When I see a statement like "for many of us" is it really "many of us" or primarily you and those you know. I'm not saying this to be mean or offensive, but just as someone who sees how wildly popular the Plus package has been for Princess. The fact that they've made these changes means they've had tremendous traction with the program.

 

Now if you're in the upper echelon of the Princess loyalty you're going to get some added perks so the Plus/Premier is not necessary. But if you're not, then you're paying $15/day per device for WiFi with the MedallionNet package + $16/day for Gratuities or $31/day. So that makes the drinks and all the extras $29/day pp or $58/day per couple and $406 for a 7 day cruise.

 

If you're not going to get WiFi at all, then the Plus/Premier packages would most likely not work in your favor. 

 

TLDR: There are a lot of things involved in the packages that may or may not work for you, and even without one, you may use enough of the others to make it a good plan for you.  Sit down and figure out what you will actually do, then give yourself a little room for what you WANT to do (You're on vacation - treat yourself). Figure out what it would cost you to purchase all of it without the package and see what costs you the least money  - then do THAT.

 

Actually I've done the math and even though we wont use the internet section, Premiere still works for us. First we will use the full digital photo package, there's the obvious tips, we will eat at least 3 meals in casuals since we can't leave the ship and mdrs aren't open on port days... but we'll probably grab sushi here and there outside of that.  We would have done both specialty restaurant dinners anyway, we'll eat at least 1 dessert a day, if not both (We hear tell of some cake slices to be had as well as the crazy ice creams). Will take full advantage of the ocean now food delivery because it's hard to carry drinks and snacks while steering a scooter, and all of that is before we start drinking - at minimum there are specialty coffees for wake up, fancy juices for breakfast, cocktails for lunch, wines for dinner, the fact that I go through a ton of ice tea,  which from what I hear means ordering a lot of hot teas to pour over ice.  And of course there is probably going to be other cocktails/Mocktails here and there thorough the cruise. And I fully intend to do a self directed bar crawl at least one night of the cruise.