A complex princess drink package question

[Joe Denver]

We are five on an upcoming cruise. Consists of 3 yr old, 6 yr old, adult, adult in one room and one adult in the other room. Once onboard we will split us between the rooms. Much cheaper to book this way. Of the adults in the four berth, one cant drink for health reasons, and myself, I'm a 1-2 drink a night kind of person. I also have shareholder onboard credits to use. None of us will get a package. Booked my wife for the solo room so we can get her premier since we will get plenty of photos this way and can share the 4 Internet connections. Since she is solo, only need one package.

 

Here are my questions:

1) Is she allowed to order more than one drink to her room or is that frowned upon? Will they insist on billing half the drinks to the second adult in the room?

2) If she gets a premium drink and I have a regular drink (that I am paying for) , can we share and take sips if I want to try hers? (Not talking about having her get me whole drinks through the package)

3) Also she has onboard credit that she might not use? Can she buy a drink for me using her onboard credit? As in say "please put his drink on my medallion"?

 

Thanks!

 

[JimmyVWine]

28 minutes ago, Joe Denver said:

Here are my questions:

1) Is she allowed to order more than one drink to her room or is that frowned upon? Will they insist on billing half the drinks to the second adult in the room?

2) If she gets a premium drink and I have a regular drink (that I am paying for) , can we share and take sips if I want to try hers? (Not talking about having her get me whole drinks through the package)

3) Also she has onboard credit that she might not use? Can she buy a drink for me using her onboard credit? As in say "please put his drink on my medallion"?

I’m confused about #1. You ask if half the drinks have to be billed to the second adult in the cabin, but you said that she is booked as the solo. Who is the second adult?  Yes, as a solo, she can order two drinks at a time, provided that she intends to drink them. She cannot order two drinks and then give one to someone who doesn’t have a package. In practice, can she get away with doing this? Yes, especially if the drinks are delivered to her cabin and the the old switcheroo is done after the server leaves. But this is cheating. Let your conscience be your guide. 
 

2.  Sipping each other’s drinks for tasting purposes is fine. The drink police are not and cannot be so strict as to prevent this. 
 

3.  A person with a package can ask that a drink be charged against the shipboard account and not be deducted from the daily allowance, but don’t be surprised if this gets messed up and not done correctly. Complicated transactions are not always handled properly. The crew is very busy and sometimes flustered. They will always seek out the path of least resistance to move on to the next customer. 

[hamrag]

6 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

 Quoted wrong post, cannot delete the name, sorry JVW

 

Dear Joe

We fully understand what you are about with those questions! 😉

Edited May 18 by hamrag

[NavyVeteran]

9 hours ago, Joe Denver said:

We are five on an upcoming cruise. Consists of 3 yr old, 6 yr old, adult, adult in one room and one adult in the other room. Once onboard we will split us between the rooms. Much cheaper to book this way. Of the adults in the four berth, one cant drink for health reasons, and myself, I'm a 1-2 drink a night kind of person. I also have shareholder onboard credits to use. None of us will get a package. Booked my wife for the solo room so we can get her premier since we will get plenty of photos this way and can share the 4 Internet connections. Since she is solo, only need one package.

 

Here are my questions:

1) Is she allowed to order more than one drink to her room or is that frowned upon? Will they insist on billing half the drinks to the second adult in the room?

2) If she gets a premium drink and I have a regular drink (that I am paying for) , can we share and take sips if I want to try hers? (Not talking about having her get me whole drinks through the package)

3) Also she has onboard credit that she might not use? Can she buy a drink for me using her onboard credit? As in say "please put his drink on my medallion"?

 

Thanks!

 

For billing purposes, there is not a second adult in her room. She is solo. You will not be changing the room assignments onboard. You can go to Guest Services and have the system programmed so that any or all of your medallions open both rooms, but they will not change their records on who is in which room. They don't care who sleeps where, but you will need to remember your original room assignment for dealing with Guest Services or for charging drinks. You will also each need to go to the muster station assigned to your original booking if the two cabins have different muster stations.

 

She may purchase a drink (using her onboard account - not her package) for anyone she wishes. She just needs to tell them to charge the drink to her account. If it looks as if she will have unused nonrefundable OBC, I suggest you talk with Guest Services to see how many of your charges can be transferred to her account.

 

 

[dog]

Joe- why don’t you ask Princess directly?

Your cabin steward knows everything you are trying to pull off.

 

Read the terms for purchasing packages.

 

Edited May 18 by dog

[HotRoot]

In our experience, if you order drinks via the app, they charge all drinks to the person who ordered them.  We always ordered 4 alcoholic drinks and 4 to 6 nonalcoholic drinks at a time delivered to our room.  We both had the package but the charge went on the count for the person who placed the order.

[memoak]

Does this ignore that one person in a cabin will pay double for cruise fare ?

[Joe Denver]

Interestingly, it was not double in this case. And in many cases, the fare is not double for one person. In this case, a solo person pays just $160 more than a double. 

 

Here is the pricing for 2 people: 

Guest 1 Cruise Fare$399.00
Guest 2 Cruise Fare$399.00

$798.00
$399 avg/person
Taxes, Fees, & Port Expenses
$537.98
Total (USD)  
$1,335.98

 

Here is the pricing for one person: 

Guest 1 Cruise Fare$559.00

Taxes, Fees, & Port Expenses
$268.99
Total (USD)  
$827.99

 

So here is the math (assuming passengers 3 and 4 are free and we are traveling with five people, going to ignore the taxes and port fees for passenger 3 and 4 for a moment since it won't impact the final math)

1 room with 4 people and 1 room with 1 person = $1336 + $828 = $2164

1 room with 3 people and 1 room with 2 people = $2,672

 

So it saves five hundred dollars to assign 4 to one and 1 to the other. 

 

But it gets even better, given that 1 adult can't drink, 1 adult drinks minimally, and 2 are young kids, you put all of those people into one room. No one gets the drink package. Then you put the one person who actually might drink more into the solo room. You get that person the premium package and suddenly you get to share 4 internet devices without two people needing to buy a package. You also benefit from the photos (yes, the solo passenger will need to be in all the photos, understood).  And since both rooms have shareholder onboard credit, those can be better applied towards drinks for the one adult who might need it from the 4 pax berth. 

 

In terms of actual sleeping, obviously we will split that up on board. 

 

 

 

 

[dog]

6 hours ago, Joe Denver said:

Interestingly, it was not double in this case. And in many cases, the fare is not double for one person. In this case, a solo person pays just $160 more than a double. 

 

Here is the pricing for 2 people: 

Guest 1 Cruise Fare$399.00
Guest 2 Cruise Fare$399.00

$798.00
$399 avg/person
Taxes, Fees, & Port Expenses
$537.98
Total (USD)  
$1,335.98

 

Here is the pricing for one person: 

Guest 1 Cruise Fare$559.00

Taxes, Fees, & Port Expenses
$268.99
Total (USD)  
$827.99

 

So here is the math (assuming passengers 3 and 4 are free and we are traveling with five people, going to ignore the taxes and port fees for passenger 3 and 4 for a moment since it won't impact the final math)

1 room with 4 people and 1 room with 1 person = $1336 + $828 = $2164

1 room with 3 people and 1 room with 2 people = $2,672

 

So it saves five hundred dollars to assign 4 to one and 1 to the other. 

 

But it gets even better, given that 1 adult can't drink, 1 adult drinks minimally, and 2 are young kids, you put all of those people into one room. No one gets the drink package. Then you put the one person who actually might drink more into the solo room. You get that person the premium package and suddenly you get to share 4 internet devices without two people needing to buy a package. You also benefit from the photos (yes, the solo passenger will need to be in all the photos, understood).  And since both rooms have shareholder onboard credit, those can be better applied towards drinks for the one adult who might need it from the 4 pax berth. 

 

In terms of actual sleeping, obviously we will split that up on board. 

 

 

 

 

You should really clarify with Princess on this.

Don’t forget crew appreciation fees per person, including kids, for those on standard fare.

[dog]

And the photo package- passengers in same cabin can be in them.

Those booked in a different cabin may not be.  Ask to get this clarified, and see if Princess will allow you to book this way.

 

I can see our fares going up if families resort to this. Obviously, the drinks will be shared.

[Joe Denver]

My understanding is that its based on the person with photo package, i.e. any photos that she is tagged in are available to her regardless of who else is in them. It would be an almost impossible exercise to eliminate photos with other people based on their packages. Obviously this means she has to be in any photo we want to keep (or not pay for), but that's a small price to pay.

 

We are not going to share drinks - that would be cheating. Anyone else will bill those individually, but as I said because of our group (one can't drink, one drinks minimally, two kids), that will be limited. 

[Joe Denver]

1 hour ago, dog said:

You should really clarify with Princess on this.

Don’t forget crew appreciation fees per person, including kids, for those on standard fare.

I did clarify this. Irrespective of the gratuity and fees, it is definitely $500 cheaper to book 4 + 1 instead of 2 + 3. YMMV depending on the cruise and cabin. 

[NavyVeteran]

15 minutes ago, Joe Denver said:

My understanding is that its based on the person with photo package, i.e. any photos that she is tagged in are available to her regardless of who else is in them. It would be an almost impossible exercise to eliminate photos with other people based on their packages. Obviously this means she has to be in any photo we want to keep (or not pay for), but that's a small price to pay.

That is correct. DW and I were on a cruise last fall with Premier, and a couple of friends were on the same cruise with Standard. We got digital copies of all of the photos that had either DW or me in them - no matter how many other people were in them. We also received six printed copies (three each) - three of which we gave to our friends on Standard. We had no problems requesting photographers to take pictures of the four of us, and you will have no problem getting pictures of the five of you.

 

You need to check your pictures on her app during the cruise to make sure they're all there. We had one picture where a face was obscured that wasn't recognized. We noticed it was missing and talked to the people in the photo area. Since we knew approximately when it was taken, they found it and added it to our selection. Don't wait until the last day to do this.

 

You will also have no problem sharing the four-device Internet package. As long as no more than four of you log on at the same time, you can all share the package. We shared the Internet package with friends in another cabin with no issues.

[NavyVeteran]

27 minutes ago, Joe Denver said:

We are not going to share drinks - that would be cheating. Anyone else will bill those individually, but as I said because of our group (one can't drink, one drinks minimally, two kids), that will be limited. 

I appreciate your taking advantage of the rules without violating them. Princess allows you to share the photos (as long as the Premier passenger is in them) and the four-device Internet plan. I understand that you don't plan to share any of the items that are not allowed, even though you could certainly get away with it.

 

I hope your wife enjoys the production shows, since she will have reserve seats. This is one thing that cannot be shared. According to the Princess rules, it can be shared with non-Premier passengers in the same cabin - but not with passengers in other cabins. She can go enjoy her reserved seating and leave you with the kids.🙂

 

She may also be able to share her two specialty restaurant meals. Last fall, DW and I were able to share two of our meals with friends who joined us one night in a specialty restaurant. She will not be able to share her casual dining meals however.

Edited May 19 by NavyVeteran

[carohs]

9 hours ago, Joe Denver said:

1 room with 4 people and 1 room with 1 person = $1336 + $828 = $2164

1 room with 3 people and 1 room with 2 people = $2,672

 

This math is off. 

 

Scenario one includes t/f/p for 3 out of 5 passengers.

 

Scenario two includes t/f/p expenses for 4 out of 5 passengers. 

 

If you ignore the t/f/p for all passengers in both scenarios, assume 3&4 are free you see that:

 

(399 + 399 + 0+ 0) + 559 = 1357

VS

(399 + 399 + 0) + (399 + 399) = 1596

 

The difference is 239. 

Edited May 19 by carohs

[Joe Denver]

Good catch on the math Carohs! I was mixing apples and oranges by applying taxes and fees in one case and not the other. 

 

Still, its clearly the way to book this. $239 + the ability to have only one person on premium is the winning combination.

 

Great info Navy Veteran on the photos!

[dog]

1 hour ago, Joe Denver said:

Good catch on the math Carohs! I was mixing apples and oranges by applying taxes and fees in one case and not the other. 

 

Still, its clearly the way to book this. $239 + the ability to have only one person on premium is the winning combination.

 

Great info Navy Veteran on the photos!

Princess is known for moving from cabin booked- sometimes called an upgrade- may even be on a different deck.  You ok with that?

Your TA can request no upgrade, if you ask them to.

[dog]

On 5/17/2024 at 10:23 PM, Joe Denver said:

We are five on an upcoming cruise. Consists of 3 yr old, 6 yr old, adult, adult in one room and one adult in the other room. Once onboard we will split us between the rooms. Much cheaper to book this way. Of the adults in the four berth, one cant drink for health reasons, and myself, I'm a 1-2 drink a night kind of person. I also have shareholder onboard credits to use. None of us will get a package. Booked my wife for the solo room so we can get her premier since we will get plenty of photos this way and can share the 4 Internet connections. Since she is solo, only need one package.

 

Here are my questions:

1) Is she allowed to order more than one drink to her room or is that frowned upon? Will they insist on billing half the drinks to the second adult in the room?

2) If she gets a premium drink and I have a regular drink (that I am paying for) , can we share and take sips if I want to try hers? (Not talking about having her get me whole drinks through the package)

3) Also she has onboard credit that she might not use? Can she buy a drink for me using her onboard credit? As in say "please put his drink on my medallion"?

 

Thanks!

 

1. I have heard of them charging the second drink to the person with the package account. One drink at a time.  Yes, it is done like you want, but I have had them say to me we can get you one drink at a time.

2.

sounds like sharing

3. OBC- yes, however, you need to keep a constant watch of your accounts- many errors are made.

[Cruisemeister2002]

I do feel sometimes there's more concern as to whether a passenger is maybe bending the rules to suit themselves than there is to what a cruise line charges against what a customer pays for a package and doesn't use their full entitlement. I know it's up to an individual to decide whether to pay the extra for a package as to whether the upside is better than the downside or in other words they are getting their monies worth. I for instance have taken out a Plus package for an up and coming cruise. I know I won't use the two gym sessions, I know neither I or my wife will consume two of the desserts per day. That's my choice and i accept the cost. What I cannot understand is how some would deem it a no,no, to take advantage of the system if they could get away with it as with someone getting drinks on their package and then giving them to someone not on the package. I am aware that those in the same cabin, like myself and wife both have to be on the package therefore there's no way of bending rules. Does anyone for one moment think Princess or any cruise line thinks about the poor passengers who pay for their $15 x 15 drinks or those paying for their $20 drinks that if they only have two drinks in a day that they would be concerned that the passenger hasn't used their allowance. Of course they wouldn't. The bottom line is all that matters. 

[memoak]

If the person with Premier orders multiple drinks and there is no one else in the cabin the bartender can see that and might question who to charge the others to. This could also trigger loss of package. You have not purchased a package of 15 drinks a day but the ability of 1 person to drink up to 15

[dog]

I cannot imagine enjoying myself trying to pull off this situation. I would be looking over my shoulder with guilt as I took a sip of wifey’s drink or had my kids get free smoothies and sodas.  Also, the run around from one cabin to another with the wrong assigned medallion, on a different deck would wear me out.

enjoy!

[cr8tiv1]

16 hours ago, Joe Denver said:

We are not going to share drinks - that would be cheating. Anyone else will bill those individually, but as I said because of our group (one can't drink, one drinks minimally, two kids), that will be limited. 

 

OP stated that only the passenger with the Premier bundle would be using the benefits.  

 

@Joe Denver Person with Premier is NOT FORCED to sit in reserve seats in the theater.  They can join the rest of the family.  

 

Glad the numbers worked out for you.  Enjoy your voyage.

 

[reedprincess]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

If the person with Premier orders multiple drinks and there is no one else in the cabin the bartender can see that and might question who to charge the others to. This could also trigger loss of package. You have not purchased a package of 15 drinks a day but the ability of 1 person to drink up to 15

I've sailed solo multiple times since the restart, buth as part of a larger group and strictly solo.  Never once has a delivery person questioned who the drinks are for or who the food is for, etc. when ordered for room delivery.   

And I order 2 or 3 glasses of wine at a time rather than 1 at time for room delivery - easier that way.  It's a complete non-issue. The delivery person couldn't care less. They're in and out as quickly as possible .. A bartender isn't coming to the cabin and mixing your drinks there, counting noses, etc. . The drinks are made /poured at the room service bar and a runner delivers them. 

SMH...

 

 

[memoak]

Just now, reedprincess said:

I've sailed solo multiple times since the restart, buth as part of a larger group and strictly solo.  Never once has a delivery person questioned who the drinks are for or who the food is for, etc. when ordered for room delivery.   

And I order 2 or 3 glasses of wine at a time rather than 1 at time for room delivery - easier that way.  It's a complete non-issue. The delivery person couldn't care less. They're in and out as quickly as possible .. A bartender isn't coming to the cabin and mixing your drinks there, counting noses, etc. . The drinks are made /poured at the room service bar and a runner delivers them. 

SMH...

 

 

Try ordering 3 different cocktails at one time as a solo and your experience may be different. Many people included will order a”double” pours of wine 

[memoak]

17 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

I've sailed solo multiple times since the restart, buth as part of a larger group and strictly solo.  Never once has a delivery person questioned who the drinks are for or who the food is for, etc. when ordered for room delivery.   

And I order 2 or 3 glasses of wine at a time rather than 1 at time for room delivery - easier that way.  It's a complete non-issue. The delivery person couldn't care less. They're in and out as quickly as possible .. A bartender isn't coming to the cabin and mixing your drinks there, counting noses, etc. . The drinks are made /poured at the room service bar and a runner delivers them. 

SMH...

 

 

We never use the app since we always order at the bar or MDR. I have often seen bartenders question who the drinks are for if one person is ordering multiple types of drinks. Also if you were to do this in the MDR there would be questions since they can see who has packages and who doesn’t. Your suggestion only really works on the app not out in public