First-Time Princess Cruiser with Questions

Hello all,

First post on Cruise Critic and of course it comes with questions. :p Been Googling around but can't find satisfactory answers to my questions, so here I am!

Wife and I are going on the Regal Princess on March 12. Yay! I have selected the All-Inclusive Beverage Package because I would rather not worry about the bar tab at the end of cruise. On the other hand, the wife doesn't drink alcohol much and we are considering the Soda & More package. Does the Unlimited Soda & More package include specialty coffee? If not, we might just get the coffee card for her.

For the All-Inclusive Beverage Package, I guess the bar staff will only give 1 drink per visit, correct? Don't think Princess will like one passenger getting drinks for everyone else.

Next question is on the cruise boarding pass. On my boarding pass under Internal Use, it shows two icons. One with a bus and another with a star. On wife's boarding pass there is also a bus icon. I guess that's for the Princess transfers we purchased. But instead of showing a star icon on her pass, that icon location is showing a globe. Not sure why there's a difference. Can someone share insights on this?

Many thanks in advance!

Your wife would need a coffee card with the soda package. If she likes bottled vs tap water pre order it or bring it on board.

You are correct. You should not get free drinks for anyone else with your AIB. However, your AIB allows you to purchase bottles of wine at 40% off making the cost quite reasonable. These may be shared. You may do this in the bars and diining room. You can't order it through room service with the discount but can bring the bottle to your room. Since I only drink wine and my husband drinks cocktails this what we do. The AIB packages gets spendy on longer cruises. While he can drink $57 a day in water, coffee, slushes, and cocktails I can't. It makes sense for him but not me.

Sorry I can't answer your last question.

Also, when we have both had the card our bartenders sometimes will and sometimes wont give me two glasses of wine to take up to my room. The rule is that they are not allowed to.

Correct on the bus.

The star used to mean you are a U.S. Citizen. Is your wife a non-US citizen?

I found this thread from 2009 that speaks to the symbols.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=990634

Enjoy your cruise.

That's interesting. Both DW and I have the star, but we don't have a bus on our boarding pass, yet we purchased the transfers. I never noticed that before. Counting down the days!

Your wife would need a coffee card with the soda package. If she likes bottled vs tap water pre order it or bring it on board.

 

You are correct. You should not get free drinks for anyone else with your AIB. However, your AIB allows you to purchase bottles of wine at 40% off making the cost quite reasonable. These may be shared. You may do this in the bars and diining room. You can't order it through room service with the discount but can bring the bottle to your room. Since I only drink wine and my husband drinks cocktails this what we do. The AIB packages gets spendy on longer cruises. While he can drink $57 a day in water, coffee, slushes, and cocktails I can't. It makes sense for him but not me.

Sorry I can't answer your last question.

I thought if one person gets the AIB both have to get it?

I also thought that both people were required to get the same package, but that may not be correct. However, if your wife is required to do so; then she may partake in coffee and other specialty drinks from the espresso bar, fresh squeezed juice, etc.:cool:

I thought if one person gets the AIB both have to get it?

NO! Some lines have that restriction but not Princess. When Princess first introduced their AIBP that was the case - if one person over 21 in a cabin purchased the package then all persons over 21 had to do the same. That only lasted for a very brief time.

Unfortunately no, the Ultimate Soda and More does not include specialty coffees. I love it for the mocktails, though! You could always buy her a coffee card for around $32. Between that and the USM, she'd be covered.

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If sitting at a bar, and you have the AIBP, you may purchase all the drinks you like. One at a time. Happy drinking !

Thank you all for your responses! Definitely cleared up the questions I had.

On the topic of citizenship, I'm a US citizen and the wife is a permanent resident (green card). I didn't Google hard enough otherwise I'd find that answer easily enough.

AIB - I purchased the AIB through Cruise Personalizer. It allowed me to purchase AIB just for myself. For us this is great since my wife doesn't drink much alcohol. On a related note, I might cancel the Unlimited Soda & More package for her, since she's not a big soda drinker either. Still debating about the Coffee Card, because AIB covers specialty coffee and we usually share a Starbucks venti drink anyway.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. :)

I thought if one person gets the AIB both have to get it?

Not on princess. some of the other lines have this rule.