Princess Plus/Premier Experiences

[dreaminofcruisin]

We are just off the Sky and had a wonderful time. However, there were a few glitches that I thought might be helpful for others to know about and perhaps others would like to add to it. We all had the Plus package in our group of 8 in 3 cabins (included 2 little kids).

 

It can't be repeated often enough. Check your folio daily! We had a random $4+  bar charge show up even though we had the Plus package. Guest services removed it no problem. I believe it was for a large bottle of water since those aren't included. (I had gotten a small bottle of water.). The most random thing is that on the Sky last summer, we had a bar charge for around $16+ something. They told us it was for 4 large bottles of water.  (We had gotten 4 small bottles of water).

 

Keep an eye on your beverage count. 2 of the 3 cabins went over 15 on the 1st sea day. In both cases, it was because 1 of the couple in a cabin always went and got the alcoholic beverages and got charged for 2 drinks. This meant they would go over with 8 drinks. With a scolding, guest services corrected it and told them to be sure and ask the bartender to charge 1 to each person in the cabin. I have read on CC in the past that bartenders alerted you to the fact that you were at 15. No such notification to our group. 

 

Beverages over $15. I have no problem with paying the amount over $15 + tip if I buy an $18 glass of wine, for example. However, in the past, the bartender always informed me that it was over $15. Usually, since it was wine and I was ordering from the menu, I knew it anyway, so no big deal. DS likes Gin and Tonics and decided to each time he got one, to try a different brand of gin. At one point, he had a bar charge which turned out to be a premium gin. I've never heard anyone mention this and since gin isn't listed on the menu by brand (I don't think?), how would one know? He didn't mind paying it. It just would be nice if the bartender had told him there was an upcharge, which he didn't.

 

Just thought I would share some of our experiences.

Like I said, we had a great time and these were just things others might want to know about.

 

The next time we sail, will be our first "Plus 60" instead of the Plus 50. I would love to hear if there are experiences with casual dining of which we should be aware?

🙂

[cruisepest]

Since the roll out of the beverage packages and the Medallion's I think we had one false charge for a drink show up on our account. You are right about checking you account daily.  It is very easy to check your account with the machines by the purser's desk just scan your Medallion and print out your statement. We have always done this daily. We have had more false charges show up with the old paper system that Princess used to use. I remember standing at the purser's desk when they had to go through all the paper tags and check the signatures on the tags.  As for the beverage count, we just ask the bartender or waiter for the count and they will tell you. We have had the drinks put on just one of our accounts (usually at the MDR) so we just use each others to balance the count out. 

[Muffinz]

so are you saying it's up to the passengers to know the cost of each drink?

we have the plus package on our Crown cruise in December and the last thing we want is to find out we've been charged extra for a drink(s)

Surely the barperson serving you should be able to tell if you have a plus or premier package and if you order a drink that's abuve the plus package $$ limit they should tell you

 

also I assume the 15 drinks a day applies to each person - e.g.wife and I both have the plus package, so we could get 15 drinks each?

Edited February 22 by Muffinz
spelling

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

30 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

also I assume the 15 drinks a day applies to each person - e.g.wife and I both have the plus package, so we could get 15 drinks each?

Yes, 15 each but if just one person orders for both then they often charge both drinks to the one account. It is very annoying.

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, cruisepest said:

Since the roll out of the beverage packages and the Medallion's I think we had one false charge for a drink show up on our account. You are right about checking you account daily.  It is very easy to check your account with the machines by the purser's desk just scan your Medallion and print out your statement. We have always done this daily. We have had more false charges show up with the old paper system that Princess used to use. I remember standing at the purser's desk when they had to go through all the paper tags and check the signatures on the tags.  As for the beverage count, we just ask the bartender or waiter for the count and they will tell you. We have had the drinks put on just one of our accounts (usually at the MDR) so we just use each others to balance the count out. 

 

I just check my folio in the app on my phone. Quick, easy, and no need to use a machine to print out the info. The app shows me if I have any charges and keeps track of how many drinks have been charged to my account. I did visit the machine at the end of my last batch of cruises so I had a hard copy of the amount Princess owed me from leftover refundable OBC ($657 AUD). Turns out they sent me email with the same information but I was glad I had a hard copy when we disembarked.

 

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Yes, 15 each but if just one person orders for both then they often charge both drinks to the one account. It is very annoying.

Many times even if you tell them to charge 1 drink to each account, they won't. So by the time that person reached 15 drinks they'll be charging you for every order. 

This, in addition to mistakes can be very aggravating having to correct the account constantly. 

[Yehootu]

12 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

I have read on CC in the past that bartenders alerted you to the fact that you were at 15. No such notification to our group. 

 

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

I just check my folio in the app on my phone.

If you go to Packages on the app, there is a bar graph which shows how many drinks you've been charged for the period. I also check my folio daily in the app, this one feature has made it easy to track your account. I just wait for ones that will outwardly affect me, then go to GS to get it fixed.

Edited February 22 by Yehootu

[insidecabin]

This false allocation of drinks goes back to to the introduction of drink limits.

 

At least now you can monitor in the app.

 

The allocation of drinks by crew to one card is against Princess own policies of no sharing.

 

Why are passengers being asked to remind bar crew of their obligations to the company to monitor for sharing when they happily allow sharing.

 

(I understand some may consider sharing with another passenger with the same package does not count.)

 

Another form of sharing would be plus<->premier.

If hanging out with someone with the different package you could swap drinks.

 

I have suggested before Since it is easy for couples  to manage their allocation to save extras for the drinker  they should just combine the cabin allowance.

[Host CJSKIDS]

They kept putting my husband's drinks on my account this past December.  I even went up to a bar with both of our medallions and asked them to please place one drink on mine and one on his and they still added them both to mine.  

 

 

[memoak]

33 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

This false allocation of drinks goes back to to the introduction of drink limits.

 

At least now you can monitor in the app.

 

The allocation of drinks by crew to one card is against Princess own policies of no sharing.

 

Why are passengers being asked to remind bar crew of their obligations to the company to monitor for sharing when they happily allow sharing.

 

(I understand some may consider sharing with another passenger with the same package does not count.)

 

Another form of sharing would be plus<->premier.

If hanging out with someone with the different package you could swap drinks.

 

I have suggested before Since it is easy for couples  to manage their allocation to save extras for the drinker  they should just combine the cabin allowance.

If you combine the amounts and my wife is sick one day do you really want to be around me after I have had 30 shots ?

 

They put them on one tab simply because it is faster and easier for them. We usually tell them to charge one to each and after awhile they catch on

 

 

 

 

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, insidecabin said:

This false allocation of drinks goes back to to the introduction of drink limits.

 

At least now you can monitor in the app.

 

The allocation of drinks by crew to one card is against Princess own policies of no sharing.

 

Why are passengers being asked to remind bar crew of their obligations to the company to monitor for sharing when they happily allow sharing.

 

(I understand some may consider sharing with another passenger with the same package does not count.)

 

Another form of sharing would be plus<->premier.

If hanging out with someone with the different package you could swap drinks.

 

I have suggested before Since it is easy for couples  to manage their allocation to save extras for the drinker  they should just combine the cabin allowance.

When were sailing with the same group during Trivia, sharing didn't see to be of any concern to any on the servers. Drinks were being shared with anyone without any concern. 

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

They kept putting my husband's drinks on my account this past December.  I even went up to a bar with both of our medallions and asked them to please place one drink on mine and one on his and they still added them both to mine.  

 

 

It's just easier at busy times to do it that way. 

It happens to us all the time when we sail with a package.

[Muffinz]

2 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

They kept putting my husband's drinks on my account this past December.  I even went up to a bar with both of our medallions and asked them to please place one drink on mine and one on his and they still added them both to mine.  

 

 

I think the solution here is to order 2 drinks using your medallion.... then when you order the next 2 drinks use your hubby's medallion?

 

of course the easiest is for Princess to do put 1 drink on each medallion... but if they don't then try the above 

[Host CJSKIDS]

36 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

It's just easier at busy times to do it that way. 

It happens to us all the time when we sail with a package.

I get that but when I then go to get a drink on my own and it shows that I have had 15 already because they have all gone on mine,  that doesn't work for me. And a few times there was no one else at the bar but me so it was a bit of laziness n their part. 

[happythoughts]

Is the 15 drink limit only applicable to alcoholic drinks?  So unlimited sodas smoothies, and coffees?

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

15 minutes ago, happythoughts said:

Is the 15 drink limit only applicable to alcoholic drinks?  So unlimited sodas smoothies, and coffees?

15 alcoholic drinks... everything else that is included is unlimited 

[rjp50]

Can you order two drinks with one medallion?  Quite often I will go to the bar and bring drinks back to the cabin for both of us.  On other lines I have to remember to take both key cards to do this.   Other than the issue of potentially going over the 15 drink max, it would be more convenient to just bring my medallion.

[dreaminofcruisin]

Much of the time, they don't even use the medallion.

They ask your cabin number. So, bringing another medallion is pretty meaningless. 

I do think it's a training issue. It 'feels' like the bartenders used to do a better job of allocating drinks than they have been lately. Or maybe it's the system? If they are using my cabin number, when they bring it up, they see both me and DH.....sure seems like it should be simple to click on one for each of us...but then sometimes it seems like there is a whole lot of clicking they need to do even for just one drink...

[Thrak]

10 minutes ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

Much of the time, they don't even use the medallion.

They ask your cabin number. So, bringing another medallion is pretty meaningless. 

I do think it's a training issue. It 'feels' like the bartenders used to do a better job of allocating drinks than they have been lately. Or maybe it's the system? If they are using my cabin number, when they bring it up, they see both me and DH.....sure seems like it should be simple to click on one for each of us...but then sometimes it seems like there is a whole lot of clicking they need to do even for just one drink...

 

Yes, I'm sure it's quicker and easier to do a poor job but that's no reason to actually do so. Accounts should be charged correctly every time.

[memoak]

2 hours ago, rjp50 said:

Can you order two drinks with one medallion?  Quite often I will go to the bar and bring drinks back to the cabin for both of us.  On other lines I have to remember to take both key cards to do this.   Other than the issue of potentially going over the 15 drink max, it would be more convenient to just bring my medallion.

With the cabin number they can see both accounts. 

[tserface]

Even if they charged one of us for both we probably wouldn't notice since 7 or 8 drinks each would be way too much for us to handle in a single day.  I can understand the frustration if you're a heavier drinker.  I bet there are lots of people like us and it's, most of the time, not a big deal since we never go over the limits.

 

It's still a great idea to check your folio often to make sure your charges are correct.

[tserface]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Yes, I'm sure it's quicker and easier to do a poor job but that's no reason to actually do so. Accounts should be charged correctly every time.

Maybe it would be more fair to just combine the drinks for the cabin rather than by each.  For example, 30 drinks per cabin instead of 15 per person.  Then the cruise line could have an easier task and it would likely still work out OK.  I think the 15 limit is as much logistical as it is economical.  They don't want a bunch of drunk people running around the ship.  It's a reasonable limit, but they should still make it a fair limit.

[memoak]

1 minute ago, tserface said:

Maybe it would be more fair to just combine the drinks for the cabin rather than by each.  For example, 30 drinks per cabin instead of 15 per person.  Then the cruise line could have an easier task and it would likely still work out OK.  I think the 15 limit is as much logistical as it is economical.  They don't want a bunch of drunk people running around the ship.  It's a reasonable limit, but they should still make it a fair limit.

You really don’t want to see me after 30 shots

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

6 hours ago, memoak said:

You really don’t want to see me after 30 shots

Me neither! 😄

 

But let's face it... even though we are not meant to, how many people do as we do and combine and share anyway? If I hit my limit by wife orders for me and all is good! So in reality they are combined if unofficially 🙂 

 

Same with doubles... before going back to the cabin we generally stop off at Bellini's and pick up a nightcap... she will get a double whiskey and so will I... she doesn't drink whiskey so of course I have to help her out when we get back to the room! 

[DallasGuy75219]

14 hours ago, MissP22 said:

When were sailing with the same group during Trivia, sharing didn't see to be of any concern to any on the servers. Drinks were being shared with anyone without any concern. 

I was traveling with a group on Sky and ordered a round of maybe 12 shots (one per person), pointing to the group of us sitting next to next to each other at the bar. I was expecting the bartender to charge one (mine) to my package and charge me separately for the other 11, which I we ould have been okay with. But instead he rang up however many shots got me up to 15 drinks for the day on my package and only charged the remainder directly to my account.  So no, the crew often don't care about or try to enforce the no sharing rule.