New Princess Money Grabber Water Package Now $24.00

[LACruiser88]

Just now, Bollycats said:

I'd collect more through the day.

FWIW, if you have the Plus or Premier package you can call Room Service every morning and order 6 bottles of water.  We do this almost every morning.  No need to collect water bottles to take back to your cabin. 

[nbsjcruiser]

Guess I'm going back to bringing my own water on board. $32 is obscene for a case of water.

[Boku]

1 hour ago, rosevew said:

Do you not have a package?

Yes, I normally have the Plus package but I have been to a bar more than once without my medallion and the staff just gave me the water.

[Cruise Raider]

It seems like they increased their pre-cruise price to what it costs to buy it once onboard.  $2 a bottle now pre-cruise or onboard.  I don’t really see other items that are sold at such a discount if you buy it before your cruise.  
I have it on good authority that Princess is trying to make their product a more all inclusive experience.  I believe Celebrity tried that years ago with their ‘all in pricing’ and only those last minute Celebrity selects pricing could go with the standard fare. That strategy failed.  

Seeing that a great percentage of passengers refuse the packages, it may or may not work for Princess any better than it worked for Celebrity.  But, I can see where it would save them, not only on their workforce, but also on people sharing their packages with those that don’t have it.  They may be trying to attract a different clientele now that some of the higher tier passengers are aging out.  It may work in some demographics, definitely not with all.  We had a lot of passengers with a package while onboard a short Alaska cruise last month.  For cruises out of San Francisco, they’d be lucky to get even a fraction on that number of cruisers with the package.  
 

[startedwithamouse]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

Princess will continue to have bottled water onboard for sale. This is not about the environment. They are going to continue to sell bottled water. This is pure price gauging. 

 

 

Then this is nothing new. Would you also call a $12 martini price gouging? How about a $12 Mojito? When you price out the limes, mint, shot and splash of juice it's not $12. They're just simply doing this with water. How about spa treatments? Items in the gift shops. Again, nothing new. They're looking to increase profits. Cruises are a luxury item. 

Edited yesterday at 03:48 PM by startedwithamouse

[SCX22]

2 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

 

Then this is nothing new. Would you also call a $12 martini price gouging? How about a $12 Mojito? When you price out the limes, mint, shot and splash of juice it's not $12. They're just simply doing this with water. How about spa treatments? Items in the gift shops. Again, nothing new. 

 

Except, that's the price of a martini/mojito on land, probably cheaper.  At a bar in a major city, a martini will run you around $15.  Bottled water on land is cents.  In Northern California Costcos, you can buy a Crystal Geyer, the brand that I've seen most often carried on Princess ships sailing from the US, 35 pack for $4.99 which is right around $0.14 per bottle ($0.19 with CRV).

 

Would be less of a blow if Princess didn't start pricing at $7.08.  At $24, that's close to a 400% increase to what they were charging.

 

Gift shops and spas are a little different because it's the trickle down vendor model where too many parties have to take a cut of the sale which causes the price to increase.

[Munday]

54 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

Guess I'm going back to bringing my own water on board. $32 is obscene for a case of water.

$32 CAD for a case of 12….

[startedwithamouse]

14 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Except, that's the price of a martini/mojito on land, probably cheaper.  At a bar in a major city, a martini will run you around $15.  Bottled water on land is cents.  In Northern California Costcos, you can buy a Crystal Geyer, the brand that I've seen most often carried on Princess ships sailing from the US, 35 pack for $4.99 which is right around $0.14 per bottle ($0.19 with CRV).

 

Would be less of a blow if Princess didn't start pricing at $7.08.  At $24, that's close to a 400% increase to what they were charging.

 

Gift shops and spas are a little different because it's the trickle down vendor model where too many parties have to take a cut of the sale which causes the price to increase.

 

Apples to oranges. No one is comparing wholesale warehouse pricing to what's sold at retail.

 

Have you ever purchased bottled water at a movie theater? Restaurant? Fast food/counter service venue?  Amusement park?  Princess at $2 a bottle is much less. 

 

We get Plus or Premier and always will. This doesn't affect us at all. 

 

As a CCL shareholder, good on Princess for increasing profits.

 

The gift shop $10 sale items cost pennies. They were doing this long before an outside vendor took over.

 

Edited yesterday at 04:19 PM by startedwithamouse

[Abercrombie2019]

Casual Dining (Alfredo's & Gigi's) went from free to $14.99 + 18% gratuity.

Specialty Dining recently went up ($39 to $45 + 18% gratuity).

Crew Appreciation recently went up ($1 a day).

Premier Package recently went up ($80 to $90).

I'm sensing a trend. 🧐

The increase in the water is only shocking because it is a very large increase. At some point this is all going to result in making cruising too expensive for some people (myself included).  We've already given up on the land vacations that we used to take (the resort in Hawaii that we used to go to went from $250 a night to $850). 

Edited yesterday at 04:19 PM by Abercrombie2019

[whitecap]

I think that it is amazing that this thread started as a "be aware" of a 300% increase in the cost of bottled water to which cruise lines recycle and what items they recycle, among other topics.  Fact of the matter is, Princess has raised their price 300% and in my opinion, like several of their other price increases, it is in an effort to push passengers to buying one of the drink packages, plain and simple.  Princess has increased their fares, the cost of specialty dinning, wi-fi, gratuities, excursions and now water.  I believe that in the near future they will stop accepting soda and water at the ports on embarkation and the corkage fee for wine will increase two or three fold.  All of this simply to push everyone to the beverage packages.  

Every cruiser will have to decide for themselves what is right for them.  DW and I don't drink enough alcohol or fancy coffees to justify a beverage package but we do drink lots of the bottled water.  Our choice now, for our Nov 2025 cruise is, buy it at the inflated price or search for another solution.  Decisions decisions.  

[PMGS247]

Kind of surprised it took this long.  I feel like it's been $7 forever. They're for-profit business...What do you want? If it's priced too high not enough people will buy it and they'll make less.  If people continue to buy it up like hotcakes they'll raise it again at some point.

 

I always get a drinks package but have historically bought the bottled water because it was so cheap the $7 was worth the convenience of starting with our own private stash in the room but I'll have to revisit this concept the next time I'm ordering this stuff for an upcoming cruise. 

 

Even $24 seems pretty much pennies in the grand scheme of the cruise but I'm really paying to not have to bother with room service and not having to be really diligent about picking up and bringing back bottles from bars. I'm lazy when I'm on vacation...a few bucks was worth getting away with that level of laziness but when I look at it objectively $24 is probably a bit steep just to avoid that little bit of work.

[kirtihk]

2 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Check Viking...water is included (as well as coffee, tea, beer and wine) Fares are essentially the same if you compare a balcony (only balconies on V) and the Plus pkg. WiFi is also included.

Only during lunch and dinner.

[Cruise Raider]

44 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

Kind of surprised it took this long.  I feel like it's been $7 forever. They're for-profit business...What do you want? If it's priced too high not enough people will buy it and they'll make less.  If people continue to buy it up like hotcakes they'll raise it again at some point.

 

I always get a drinks package but have historically bought the bottled water because it was so cheap the $7 was worth the convenience of starting with our own private stash in the room but I'll have to revisit this concept the next time I'm ordering this stuff for an upcoming cruise. 

 

Even $24 seems pretty much pennies in the grand scheme of the cruise but I'm really paying to not have to bother with room service and not having to be really diligent about picking up and bringing back bottles from bars. I'm lazy when I'm on vacation...a few bucks was worth getting away with that level of laziness but when I look at it objectively $24 is probably a bit steep just to avoid that little bit of work.

I am surprised it took that long, too.  I remember buying it for that price over a decade ago.  I believe the lack of incremental increases is what has everyone so passionate about this.  We always buy a package, too and when we order room service, we just have them bring an extra 6 bottles of water for the room.  
Of note, when we were on the Emerald Princess, everyone that had a package could find six bottle of water in their cabin.  There was no note on it saying it was included due to your package so, during our CC meet and greet, one of the officers noted it was complimentary for those with the package.  They were trying something, probably in an effort to keep down the room service calls.  That experiment was short lived, though.  I’ve not seen it gain since then.

 

[donaldsc]

REI water purifier bottle.  Can make 65 GALLONS of water.  Cost $95.  Replacement cartridge $30 for another 65. gallons.  https://www.rei.com/product/150116/grayl-geopress-water-filter-and-purifier-bottle-24-fl-oz

 

DON

[deultgen]

$2.00 for bottled water does not seem like a "money grab" to me especially when there is plenty of free purified water water on board to drink and/or fill your own container and take with you.  

[TomBaker]

2 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

FWIW, if you have the Plus or Premier package you can call Room Service every morning and order 6 bottles of water.  We do this almost every morning.  No need to collect water bottles to take back to your cabin. 

Can you do the same with cans of Diet Coke?

[LACruiser88]

8 minutes ago, TomBaker said:

Can you do the same with cans of Diet Coke?

I don’t know, we don’t drink sodas.  🤷‍♂️   Call Room Service when you are onboard and ask...

 

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 06:17 PM by LACruiser88

[OccasionalSanta]

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

2 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

Except, that's the price of a martini/mojito on land, probably cheaper.  At a bar in a major city, a martini will run you around $15.  Bottled water on land is cents.  In Northern California Costcos, you can buy a Crystal Geyer, the brand that I've seen most often carried on Princess ships sailing from the US, 35 pack for $4.99 which is right around $0.14 per bottle ($0.19 with CRV).

 

Would be less of a blow if Princess didn't start pricing at $7.08.  At $24, that's close to a 400% increase to what they were charging.

 

Gift shops and spas are a little different because it's the trickle down vendor model where too many parties have to take a cut of the sale which causes the price to increase.

 

Apples to oranges. No one is comparing wholesale warehouse pricing to what's sold at retail.

 

I recall being on a Princess Cruise a few years ago where the bottled water package that they delivered was Kirkland (Costco) brand 

[TRLD]

7 hours ago, Ideb said:

I contacted them by chat last night and let them know my frustration that there weren't any emails and it wasn't mentioned on the website that prices would be increasing by that much without any notice. Of course, the person on chat is just an employee there, so there's nothing he could do about it. It probably won't ever be seen by anyone higher up.

Most price increases are without warning. Main reason why buy early is a good practice.

[memoak]

8 minutes ago, OccasionalSanta said:

 

I recall being on a Princess Cruise a few years ago where the bottled water package that they delivered was Kirkland (Costco) brand 

We have seen many different brands from many different embarkation ports

[coo359a2]

4 hours ago, rosevew said:

Point 5 on mine states

 

The link I follow to the Passage Contract is at the bottom of the main (first)  page for each cruise listed under "My Account".  See Legal, Privacy and Cookies for the link.

 

I noticed in a previous post you were comparing the cost of water to GB pounds vs USD. I am from the  U.S. which might make a difference in layout of the Passage Contract.   Point 5 on my  Passage Contract is   5. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS; DRINKING; TOBACCO; GAMING; RECREATIONAL FACILITIES; ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.  

 

[TRLD]

6 hours ago, Coral said:

Thanks for your report. I would suggest emailing!

 

They tried to do this a few years ago and it did get quickly changed within 24 hours! We did make an impact!

 

I am a stockholder and I find this horrible. 

 

There are ports that make it really difficult to bring water onboard. It may be easy in FLL but when in Europe, it is not as easy for non-Europeans. 

 

 

We have taken advantage of the low price in the past. This does not have any real difference in the price of a cruise. For us just means converting more of the minibar to water and less to sofr drinks. Also to pack one of the reuseable metal water bottles that we were given by another cruise line and refill it daily.

[Ombud]

16 hours ago, SCX22 said:

reduce plastic use

I prefer my own water bottle with a tube down the middle that I fill with citrus fruit for a better tasting water option and less plastic waste

[cruzrbachoua]

We had the aluminum bottles of water in Alaska last year and sadly they do not seal well after opening them and they leaked all over our backpack if tipped over.  I can't drink the ships water as it is not desalinated enough for me.  Every time I have drank it in the past I immediately swell up and makes for an uncomfortable trip.  We used to bring our own refillable water bottle but after a couple of cruises it finally dawned on me why I was swelling up after only a couple of hours on the ship...because I right away went and filled up my bottle with water. It was the only thing I did since boarding and swelling up as normally we wandered the ship taking photos, dropping our bags in the room..we usually ate before boarding so didn't eat right away once on board just the water. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

4 hours ago, TRLD said:

I expect the refill stations will become the norm in the future. Have been given reuseable metal  waterbottles on 3 different cruise lines this year.

Have to laugh as the water from the refill stations or all the taps is distilled water.  Do not get the fixation with "bottled" water.  In at least 2 major metro areas bottled water companies were found to be using municipal water instead of spring water.