Just Upgraded Our Bookings from Plus to Premier…….Please Share Your Experience With Premier

[Lady Arwen]

Since my DH loves his top shelf Scotch and I enjoy a good vodka and a nice Rose wine. (all of which are priced over the offerings with Plus) we decided to just go for it.  The other inclusions in Premier may or may not be utilized very much.  The specialty dining and unlimited casual dining will certainly be appreciated.  

 

So, what did you think?  Was it all you hoped for?  Did having  Premier exceed your expectations?  Was it a one and done…not worth the extra money?  I’d really appreciate your feedback.   Just to be clear, we’re not concerned at all about the difference in price from Plus to Premier.  We just want to make sure it’s good value.  Thanks in advance!

[jwattle]

1 hour ago, Lady Arwen said:

Since my DH loves his top shelf Scotch and I enjoy a good vodka and a nice Rose wine. (all of which are priced over the offerings with Plus) we decided to just go for it.  The other inclusions in Premier may or may not be utilized very much.  The specialty dining and unlimited casual dining will certainly be appreciated.  

 

So, what did you think?  Was it all you hoped for?  Did having  Premier exceed your expectations?  Was it a one and done…not worth the extra money?  I’d really appreciate your feedback.   Just to be clear, we’re not concerned at all about the difference in price from Plus to Premier.  We just want to make sure it’s good value.  Thanks in advance!

We enjoyed it and feel that we got great value for our money. We really loved getting the photos (no, we are not first time cruisers, but we have several digital frames, and sometimes it's nice to throw a cruise thumb drive in and watch). We both enjoy the finer wines and ports, so that absolutely helps out; Princess Prizes paid for itself in OBC (I won a total of $750 IIRC, and DH won an additional $500, not to mention the casino and I had a lovely time :D). We also enjoy our cocktails, so having the higher end liquors in those is helpful. We tried the desserts, they were nice; attended a couple of the yoga sessions...

I think that the only thing that we DIDN'T do was use the medallion accessory because we already had ours.

Have a great time and live your best life!

[Lady Arwen]

44 minutes ago, jwattle said:

We enjoyed it and feel that we got great value for our money. We really loved getting the photos (no, we are not first time cruisers, but we have several digital frames, and sometimes it's nice to throw a cruise thumb drive in and watch). We both enjoy the finer wines and ports, so that absolutely helps out; Princess Prizes paid for itself in OBC (I won a total of $750 IIRC, and DH won an additional $500, not to mention the casino and I had a lovely time :D). We also enjoy our cocktails, so having the higher end liquors in those is helpful. We tried the desserts, they were nice; attended a couple of the yoga sessions...

I think that the only thing that we DIDN'T do was use the medallion accessory because we already had ours.

Have a great time and live your best life!

Thank you!  Exactly what I wanted to hear.  It seems you fully enjoyed having Premier and that extra OBC is very nice.  I’m hoping our experience equals yours.

[jwattle]

1 minute ago, Lady Arwen said:

Thank you!  Exactly what I wanted to hear.  It seems you fully enjoyed having Premier and that extra OBC is very nice.  I’m hoping our experience equals yours.

Hoping for the same in November 😄 🥂

[Rick&Jeannie]

We and our traveling friends just got off the Caribbean Princess today where we experienced Premier for the first time. We had already invested in Plus, so bumping up to Premier wasn't that bad. We especially liked the reserved theater seating, to my surprise. The ship was very full, if not actually maxed out so you can imagine the normal problems of trying to get seating together for 4. I honestly didn't think that it would have been such an influence on me...but we've had our share of walking the aisles trying to find seats that were not being "saved" for (possibly) non-existent people! That drives me nuts.  It sure was nice just waltzing in at about 15 minutes before curtain and having seats waiting for us!

 

The other nice thing was the 2 included SD dining reservations. I guess I had forgotten about that.

 

Would we do it again? Well, we (along with the same friends) will be doing another cruise on the Sky next month...we all agreed that it was pretty nice so yes, we have upgraded *that* cruise.

 

I'm not saying that we are now committed to going Premier from now on but we liked it enough to take another swing at it right away!

[Sprocket]

I upgraded as soon as I boarded because I wanted to use my OBC and had purchased the insurance.  Enjoyed the Crown Grill and Sabatinis, Salty Dog Gastropub and Vines were excellent.  I was on the Crown and tried a few cocktails over the $15 limit the Salted Watermelon Margarita was very good.

A little disappointed the Rose I’d seen posted was not available at Vines but the regular one was fine. I am still not comfortable going to packed shows in the theatre so skipped it this cruise as well.  Bonus no Covid during or after 100 + days since last February.  I did not win anything on Princess Prizes but the host in the casino took very good care of me so no complaints there.

I am booked again on the Crown end of October and have already upgraded and made my specialty dining reservations,  On the prior cruise I called the dine line very soon after embarking and was able to get the days and times I requested with no issues.

Salty Dog was very busy the night I went so had a bit of a wait going forward I will probably make a reservation.

I thought it was good value especially on my shorter cruises.  

.

[memoak]

For longer cruises like the 20 day we are on now the $40 per day would have been too expensive. We can suffer through with the Plus and enjoy Grey Goose vodka and  Woodford Reserve bourbon. Vines has sn excellent Zinfandel within the Plus package

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

Just a warning.  We figured we would use obc to upgrade onboard and save a few insurance bucks.  

Not available.  Capacity controlled!

If we want it, we book it that way.

 

[NukeTim]

I won $25 on-board credit in Premier Prizes.  I did drink the better wines at dinner, but thought that if I wanted them I would only be charged a few dollars a glass extra over the Plus limit.  Didn't sit in the Premier seating for the production show.  Specialty restaurants wer  nice, but two dinners worth about $75.  I ate half of a premium desert during the whole cruise & that was too much.   For me, Premium not worth it.

[kemarie13]

2 hours ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Just a warning.  We figured we would use obc to upgrade onboard and save a few insurance bucks.  

Not available.  Capacity controlled!

If we want it, we book it that way.

 

They wouldn't let you upgrade to premier?? 😱 did you board early? was the cruise full? Now I'm scared to wait for my cruise in november lol 

[Sprocket]

2 hours ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Just a warning.  We figured we would use obc to upgrade onboard and save a few insurance bucks.  

Not available.  Capacity controlled!

If we want it, we book it that way.

 

What ship was that?  I had no problem beginning of September on the Crown but I was the first to upgrade.  

[Lady Arwen]

10 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

We and our traveling friends just got off the Caribbean Princess today where we experienced Premier for the first time. We had already invested in Plus, so bumping up to Premier wasn't that bad. We especially liked the reserved theater seating, to my surprise. The ship was very full, if not actually maxed out so you can imagine the normal problems of trying to get seating together for 4. I honestly didn't think that it would have been such an influence on me...but we've had our share of walking the aisles trying to find seats that were not being "saved" for (possibly) non-existent people! That drives me nuts.  It sure was nice just waltzing in at about 15 minutes before curtain and having seats waiting for us!

 

The other nice thing was the 2 included SD dining reservations. I guess I had forgotten about that.

 

Would we do it again? Well, we (along with the same friends) will be doing another cruise on the Sky next month...we all agreed that it was pretty nice so yes, we have upgraded *that* cruise.

 

I'm not saying that we are now committed to going Premier from now on but we liked it enough to take another swing at it right away!

Did you prebook your specialty dining or did you book on onboard?  CG usually books up very quickly for the best times

[Lady Arwen]

9 hours ago, NukeTim said:

I won $25 on-board credit in Premier Prizes.  I did drink the better wines at dinner, but thought that if I wanted them I would only be charged a few dollars a glass extra over the Plus limit.  Didn't sit in the Premier seating for the production show.  Specialty restaurants wer  nice, but two dinners worth about $75.  I ate half of a premium desert during the whole cruise & that was too much.   For me, Premium not worth it.

Thank you for your honest opinion.  It’s certainly not for everyone.

[Rick&Jeannie]

2 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Did you prebook your specialty dining or did you book on onboard?  CG usually books up very quickly for the best times

Well, funny you should ask. Given that I had forgotten about the SD included, I had not booked anything. When we got to our cabin there were 2 reservation cards there showing that they had automatically booked us into Sabatini's and Crown Grill! We were happy with those but had to adjust the time on one due to a conflict with an excursion. That was a bit of a surprise for me. 

[Lady Arwen]

5 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Well, funny you should ask. Given that I had forgotten about the SD included, I had not booked anything. When we got to our cabin there were 2 reservation cards there showing that they had automatically booked us into Sabatini's and Crown Grill! We were happy with those but had to adjust the time on one due to a conflict with an excursion. That was a bit of a surprise for me. 

That would work for us, too.  We prefer 7:30ish, but that time tends to book up really fast.  I’m going to try to prebook as long as the app accepts the reservations as complimentary.  Good to know that at least they’ve got you covered in case you don’t prebook.  Thanks!

[Lady Arwen]

10 hours ago, memoak said:

For longer cruises like the 20 day we are on now the $40 per day would have been too expensive. We can suffer through with the Plus and enjoy Grey Goose vodka and  Woodford Reserve bourbon. Vines has sn excellent Zinfandel within the Plus package

Yes, I wouldn’t mind “suffering” with  nice Grey Goose and tonic.  lol🫠

[Lady Arwen]

7 hours ago, kemarie13 said:

They wouldn't let you upgrade to premier?? 😱 did you board early? was the cruise full? Now I'm scared to wait for my cruise in november lol 

Wow!  I’m glad we pre booked!

[Lady Arwen]

11 hours ago, Sprocket said:

I upgraded as soon as I boarded because I wanted to use my OBC and had purchased the insurance.  Enjoyed the Crown Grill and Sabatinis, Salty Dog Gastropub and Vines were excellent.  I was on the Crown and tried a few cocktails over the $15 limit the Salted Watermelon Margarita was very good.

A little disappointed the Rose I’d seen posted was not available at Vines but the regular one was fine. I am still not comfortable going to packed shows in the theatre so skipped it this cruise as well.  Bonus no Covid during or after 100 + days since last February.  I did not win anything on Princess Prizes but the host in the casino took very good care of me so no complaints there.

I am booked again on the Crown end of October and have already upgraded and made my specialty dining reservations,  On the prior cruise I called the dine line very soon after embarking and was able to get the days and times I requested with no issues.

Salty Dog was very busy the night I went so had a bit of a wait going forward I will probably make a reservation.

I thought it was good value especially on my shorter cruises.  

.

Hoping that the ships carry a good stock of Whispering Angel Rose, especially at Vines, our go to place for pre dinner cocktails. 

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

9 hours ago, kemarie13 said:

They wouldn't let you upgrade to premier?? 😱 did you board early? was the cruise full? Now I'm scared to wait for my cruise in november lol 

Correct.  They said the specialty restaurants were all full.  And the prizes program not available.  3 day cruise on the Royal.  We were on about11am.   I would guess it's more prevalent on shorter cruises.  The plus plan was fine given no access to those benefits.  

[Meekos7]

I booked the premier package for my upcoming 7 days because we like better wines and most of all want the 2 nights included in the  specialty restaurants. Figured it was good value to have it all prepaid.

We booked only the Plus package for our 14 night cruise because they only give us the same 2 night  specialty  package for Premier no matter how long the length of our cruise. I figure we will just pay the difference for the wine on our 14 night cruise and book(pay) for the specialty restaurants.

[memoak]

46 minutes ago, Meekos7 said:

I booked the premier package for my upcoming 7 days because we like better wines and most of all want the 2 nights included in the  specialty restaurants. Figured it was good value to have it all prepaid.

We booked only the Plus package for our 14 night cruise because they only give us the same 2 night  specialty  package for Premier no matter how long the length of our cruise. I figure we will just pay the difference for the wine on our 14 night cruise and book(pay) for the specialty restaurants.

On the Crown right now Vines has some really nice wines including a Zinfandel within Plus package

[PammyMouse]

I booked premier since I wanted one device on the wifi 100% of the time.  It was a no brainer - $170 for the wifi upgrade or $140 for the package upgrade since my fare was Plus already.  I saw that the specialty restaurants were filling up so I just pulled the trigger.  Cruising solo, I can see using several of the benefits like the fitness classes, the theatre seating, and the better wines (and rum 🍹).  The desserts don't appeal at all...

PM

[amypete]

We do Premier as well. Had it last February thru the Panama Canal and I swear the Vines waiter would send us “home” every night with a fresh opened and corked bottle of good wine. As people who love a good wine, it was also nice to take their recommendations what to try and what we may like. Am looking forward to the upgraded tapas there as well, as I remember the excellent ones in 2019. I don’t think there is the same variety as there was back then but thats OK. We also like the margaritas with the better tequila and the fun martini option at Crooners. Won about $100 for the door prizes which was fun. Hope to do better this next time! We also had the reservation cards for the Crown Grille and Sabatinis and switched times easily. This time I have them preselected via the app. I won’t get the desserts but for us the upgraded dining and wines, etc are just what we enjoy doing. Prefer creme brulee and decadent chocolate desserts instead!! 

 

Cheers and see you at Vines!

[Lady Arwen]

2 minutes ago, amypete said:

We do Premier as well. Had it last February thru the Panama Canal and I swear the Vines waiter would send us “home” every night with a fresh opened and corked bottle of good wine. As people who love a good wine, it was also nice to take their recommendations what to try and what we may like. Am looking forward to the upgraded tapas there as well, as I remember the excellent ones in 2019. I don’t think there is the same variety as there was back then but thats OK. We also like the margaritas with the better tequila and the fun martini option at Crooners. Won about $100 for the door prizes which was fun. Hope to do better this next time! We also had the reservation cards for the Crown Grille and Sabatinis and switched times easily. This time I have them preselected via the app. I won’t get the desserts but for us the upgraded dining and wines, etc are just what we enjoy doing. Prefer creme brulee and decadent chocolate desserts instead!! 

 

Cheers and see you at Vines!

Yes, it will be delightful!

[Host CJSKIDS]

14 hours ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Just a warning.  We figured we would use obc to upgrade onboard and save a few insurance bucks.  

Not available.  Capacity controlled!

If we want it, we book it that way.

 

 

That's interesting to note, I was wondering if it was capacity controlled.  I booked as standard and upgraded to Premier shortly after final payment because I was wondering it would be and there is a large group on our sailing that I know got Plus as part of their promotion so I'm glad I didn't wait. 

 

I just looked over at the Princess website to read about it and @AnyMajorCruiseDude is correct. "This promotion is subject to capacity control and is not transferable." is there.