Buying Princess Plus for Seattle to Vancouver cruise

[ccheng6401]

I booked a two night cruise from Seattle to Vancouver this October. I plan to buy Princess Plus for the first time. I have read that you can only use that unlimited alcoholic drink benefit when the ship is in international waters.  This ship will stay on the inside passage the entire time. The water either belongs to U.S. or Canada. Does that mean the unlimited alcoholic drink benefit will be unavailable the entire time?

[Arizona Wildcat]

No.  Drink up once you leave the pier.  Do not know Vancouver laws - likely you can start when you board.

Some ports have restrictions limiting the opening, number of bars that can open, charging sales tax in port and a bunch of other strange rules.

[oregonN]

Drink as soon as you board from Seattle to Vancouver. We did.

[voljeep]

is PLUS even offered on a 2 day cruise??

[oregonN]

It is for us this coming Oct. Seattle to Vancouver.

[wallyj]

3 minutes ago, ccheng6401 said:

I booked a two night cruise from Seattle to Vancouver this October. I plan to buy Princess Plus for the first time. I have read that you can only use that unlimited alcoholic drink benefit when the ship is in international waters.  This ship will stay on the inside passage the entire time. The water either belongs to U.S. or Canada. Does that mean the unlimited alcoholic drink benefit will be unavailable the entire time?

?, unlimited alcohol? NO, The Plus and Premier packages allow for 15 alcohol drinks in a 24 hour period, 6am-6am, there is unlimited NON alcohol drinks(Specialty coffees, juices, soft drinks, teas, bottle water).

 

You should be able to order an alcoholic drink as soon as you board in SEA. 
 

I believe if you were departing from Galveston, TX, law requires only liquor bought where the ship paid TX taxes can be sold and is NOT covered by your packages. Your package will be active once in international waters. Word is Princess will give $25 OBC to use to purchase drinks till in international waters. Selection is very limited.

[ceilidh1]

I do this quick trip every year (including this one - see you on the ship). You can drink the second you set foot on the ship. I actually buy Premium on this short one as it includes two specialty dining and unlimited casual so I never have to go to the buffet or MDR...lol.

 

[voljeep]

nice - 2 day cruise - 2 specialty dinners each

not so nice - 21 day cruise - 2 specialty dinners each

[ceilidh1]

18 minutes ago, voljeep said:

nice - 2 day cruise - 2 specialty dinners each

not so nice - 21 day cruise - 2 specialty dinners each

Exactly! I only do the upgrade on the short sailings...

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

1 minute ago, ceilidh1 said:

Exactly! I only do the upgrade on the short sailings...

That's what we did too.  See you all onboard!

[startedwithamouse]

42 minutes ago, ccheng6401 said:

I booked a two night cruise from Seattle to Vancouver this October. I plan to buy Princess Plus for the first time. I have read that you can only use that unlimited alcoholic drink benefit when the ship is in international waters.  This ship will stay on the inside passage the entire time. The water either belongs to U.S. or Canada. Does that mean the unlimited alcoholic drink benefit will be unavailable the entire time?

You can drink as soon as you board. 

[ccheng6401]

Thank you everyone for your quick response.  

 

I was reading a post about the cruise leaving from Galveston and they can't use the alcoholic drink benefit at port. I am glad Seattle doesn't have the same restriction. 

 

I probably will choose the $80 Princess Premier since it includes two specialty dining. Not a bad deal. 

 

I do think Princess needs to offer more specialty dining on longer cruises. They should at least give out 2 per week. 

[BDevilCruiser]

IIRC, you will pay the local (Vancouver) sales tax for drinks while in port.  This is becoming more common.  While I didn't get a drink on board while in Vancouver in May, I did pay the tax while in Juneau.  I have also paid it in NYC and Bayonne NJ.

[ceilidh1]

9 minutes ago, BDevilCruiser said:

IIRC, you will pay the local (Vancouver) sales tax for drinks while in port.  This is becoming more common.  While I didn't get a drink on board while in Vancouver in May, I did pay the tax while in Juneau.  I have also paid it in NYC and Bayonne NJ.

Interesting! I have NEVER been charged this tax while on Princess, but ALWAYS while on NCL...

[dns65]

I did a Vancouver-Seattle repositioning in 2023.  The biggest issue was there is some weird law in BC that only allowed them to have one bar open per deck of the ship.  I am assuming this isn't an issue with the Alaska sailings as it's a brief 3 hour stop.  But the repo had us in Victoria til 11pm which caused long bar lines in the evening.   

[memoak]

3 hours ago, dns65 said:

I did a Vancouver-Seattle repositioning in 2023.  The biggest issue was there is some weird law in BC that only allowed them to have one bar open per deck of the ship.  I am assuming this isn't an issue with the Alaska sailings as it's a brief 3 hour stop.  But the repo had us in Victoria til 11pm which caused long bar lines in the evening.   

That law has been around for several years

[memoak]

4 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Interesting! I have NEVER been charged this tax while on Princess, but ALWAYS while on NCL...

Some ships wait to release sale’s until at sea which sops the sales tax 

[HotRoot]

13 hours ago, memoak said:

That law has been around for several years

And it is a Canadian law, not BC.  Any time a ship is in Canadian water, there is only one bar open on each deck.  

[BamaVol]

18 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

I do this quick trip every year (including this one - see you on the ship). You can drink the second you set foot on the ship. I actually buy Premium on this short one as it includes two specialty dining and unlimited casual so I never have to go to the buffet or MDR...lol.

 

I’m guessing you’ll want to make those reservations early.  You may not be the only one who figured this out.