Increased drinks package prices ????

They might have to start offering Sip & Sale to Aussies, otherwise there could be some pretty empty ships leaving port.

They definitely read these boards. What they do not do is implement all the suggestions, respond to rants, etc.. If they did they'd have been out of business long ago. Bear in mind that CC members are a small percentage of the cruising community. As well-informed (and sometimes mis-informed) as we are, Princess depends more on market surveys, focus groups and post-cruise surveys to understand the ins and outs of their customers desires.

 

 

There is even a verified Princess account here on Cruise Critic. They don't respond often. IIRC the last response had to do with announcing upgraded tables on balconies after many CC members complained.

 

There have also been reports that some CC members have been "outed" at Princess as they were approached by staff on a cruise for a discussion regarding concerns they'd posted. I suppose if you put your past and future sailings in your signature along with your home town, it probably isn't very difficult for someone at Princess to identify you.

One example where Princess did pay attention was the policy change that we have to pay when pre-reserving excursions. They did not reverse the policy, but they did change it to allow us to use OBC when pre-reserving excursions.

I would not expect them to reverse the changes in the beverage package, but I could see them including cans of soda - but possibly requiring the bartenders to open the cans instead of letting us take unopened ones in order to curb some of the abuse. I also could see them allowing large bottles of water in other restaurants - since the main advantage would be saving effort on the servers - but not allowing us to take unopened large bottles.

Several people have stated that soda is less expensive than alcoholic beverages, but I'm not sure that's true. If you look at the cost to Princess of a can of soda and compare it to the cost of a glass of wine poured from a bottle or of a shot of liquor poured from a bottle, I suspect they may pay more for the can of soda. Also the can of soda certainly costs Princess more in shipping cost and storage space.

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Several people have stated that soda is less expensive than alcoholic beverages, but I'm not sure that's true. If you look at the cost to Princess of a can of soda and compare it to the cost of a glass of wine poured from a bottle or of a shot of liquor poured from a bottle, I suspect they may pay more for the can of soda. Also the can of soda certainly costs Princess more in shipping cost and storage space.

I agree with you here. I recall paying more for a soft-drink in both Denmark and Spain than I paid for beer. People would be astounded if they knew what the restaurants and bars actually pay for their liquor.

They might have to start offering Sip & Sale to Aussies, otherwise there could be some pretty empty ships leaving port.

I think what most Aussies are missing on this price increase is that in fact they were getting a hack of a deal with their old price! We are from Canada and our CDN dollar is worth about the same as AUS dollar but both are much less the US dollar. We sailed this past February in Australia and if we had bought the Drink package on board it was 59.00 AUS which would have been the same in CDN funds. But if we were sailing in the Caribbean at the same time the package would have been 59.00 USD which would have been 76.70 CDN. Princess is an American company and sets their prices in US dollars and then converts to the countries currency. It is not Princess's fault that CDN dollar or AUS dollar is less than the American dollar and us Canadians or Aussies have to pay more than the American price. I'm not saying that Aussies drink more than American or Canadians but what we did see on our February cruise was that a lot more passengers on the Australia cruise had purchased the drink package than we had ever seen on our Caribbean cruises. I thought this was due to the great price it was on the Aussie ship. If I look to purchase the drink package today on either a Caribbean cruise or Australian cruise the price is the same to me in Canadian funds. This was not the case last February. The Australia price was much cheaper. Princess has not penalized the Aussies they have just aligned the price for everyone.

I think what most Aussies are missing on this price increase is that in fact they were getting a hack of a deal with their old price! We are from Canada and our CDN dollar is worth about the same as AUS dollar but both are much less the US dollar. We sailed this past February in Australia and if we had bought the Drink package on board it was 59.00 AUS which would have been the same in CDN funds. But if we were sailing in the Caribbean at the same time the package would have been 59.00 USD which would have been 76.70 CDN. Princess is an American company and sets their prices in US dollars and then converts to the countries currency. It is not Princess's fault that CDN dollar or AUS dollar is less than the American dollar and us Canadians or Aussies have to pay more than the American price. I'm not saying that Aussies drink more than American or Canadians but what we did see on our February cruise was that a lot more passengers on the Australia cruise had purchased the drink package than we had ever seen on our Caribbean cruises. I thought this was due to the great price it was on the Aussie ship. If I look to purchase the drink package today on either a Caribbean cruise or Australian cruise the price is the same to me in Canadian funds. This was not the case last February. The Australia price was much cheaper. Princess has not penalized the Aussies they have just aligned the price for everyone.

I think I'll just stick to Royal Caribbean, problem solved!

They might have to start offering Sip & Sale to Aussies, otherwise there could be some pretty empty ships leaving port.

If they did that, the cruise ship would have to tow another boat behind it, just to carry the booze :D (well that might have been the case before the 15 drink limit was implemented!).

I think I'll just stick to Royal Caribbean, problem solved!

Out of interest, how much is their Drinks Package?

As well-informed (and sometimes mis-informed) as we are, Princess depends more on market surveys, focus groups and post-cruise surveys to understand the ins and outs of their customers desires.

 

So, just so I get this straight. Are you suggesting that they asked via market surveys, focus groups and post-cruise surveys "If we increase the price of our drinks package by 20+%, reduce the discount on wines, remove cans of soda, limit the number of alcoholic drinks that you can have on the package, do you think that this will be an improvement?".

And the majority of people said "Yes"?

Out of interest, how much is their Drinks Package?

US$55

Toast to all-inclusive options*• Cocktails / Spirits / Liqueurs / Beer• Bottled still and sparkling water• Wines by the glass• Fresh squeezed juices / Non-alcoholic cocktails• Premium coffees and teas• Fountain sodas / Coca-Cola Freestyle® beverages• Coca-Cola® souvenir cup included*Package includes any single beverage item witha value up to $12. Plus, receive a 40% discount onbottled wines priced up to $100, and 20% discounton wines priced above $100.

Royal Caribbean will be rubbing their hands together here in Australia. Two similar size ships for the 2018 Summer with Sydney as their home port. "Ovation of the Seas" and "Majestic Princess". Royal Caribbean would be silly to change anything considering the backlash Princess is receiving.

Ovation of the Seas is better for families with all the activities on board plus they have the Unlimited drinks package too keep the parents happy. I guarantee Ovation will be more popular.

US$55

 

Toast to all-inclusive options*• Cocktails / Spirits / Liqueurs / Beer• Bottled still and sparkling water• Wines by the glass• Fresh squeezed juices / Non-alcoholic cocktails• Premium coffees and teas• Fountain sodas / Coca-Cola Freestyle® beverages• Coca-Cola® souvenir cup included*Package includes any single beverage item witha value up to $12. Plus, receive a 40% discount onbottled wines priced up to $100, and 20% discounton wines priced above $100.

 

Royal Caribbean will be rubbing their hands together here in Australia. Two similar size ships for the 2018 Summer with Sydney as their home port. "Ovation of the Seas" and "Majestic Princess". Royal Caribbean would be silly to change anything considering the backlash Princess is receiving.

 

Ovation of the Seas is better for families with all the activities on board plus they have the Unlimited drinks package too keep the parents happy. I guarantee Ovation will be more popular.

Cheaper price in Australia?

UK website is quoting USD 65

Annie

Cheaper price in Australia?

 

UK website is quoting USD 65

 

Annie

Mine could be wrong as I just googled the price. But there is no limit on the amount of drinks in a 24 hour period.

Mine could be wrong as I just googled the price. But there is no limit on the amount of drinks in a 24 hour period.

Agree there is no max

Annie

So, just so I get this straight. Are you suggesting that they asked via market surveys, focus groups and post-cruise surveys "If we increase the price of our drinks package by 20+%, reduce the discount on wines, remove cans of soda, limit the number of alcoholic drinks that you can have on the package, do you think that this will be an improvement?".

 

And the majority of people said "Yes"?

Not at all. Surveys and focus groups come in all shapes and sizes. They are used to determine people's preferences by various methods.

Questions on a survey can take all sorts of forms. They might ask people to rank order multiple potential complete packages in various combinations of features, they might ask about preferences of individual features, they might ask about pricing or they might not.

Focus groups are led by a moderator and try to get a group discussion going. These can get all sorts of unexpected results providing lots of insight into what would work and what would not.

They certainly can't ask they question you posed in a post-cruise survey however free-form comments on the surveys are read and routed to the appropriate areas for further action (or no action) as appropriate. Comments may be categorized and tallys kept as to whether a particular experience was favorable or not, they might go into a "good idea worthy of discussion at our next meeting on future products" and so on.

Inputs from the bean counters at Princess are also heavily used to determine new offerings. For instance, some newly-minted MBA may have done an analysis that shows while increasing the price of the package will reduce the number of people purchasing it, the overall increase in profit significantly overcomes the money lost from less purchases.

It goes on and on. There is quite a bit of science in all this but IMHO, even more of it is an art form.

That makes a lot of sense.

I had planned on buying a bottle or two of wine for cabin/dining room when it was 40% off even though I can "legally" bring on two bottles (one for me, one for DH) so I wouldn't have to haul the bottles in my luggage from home. Now, I'm thinking I will "haul" because what I pay for two bottles at the local whisky store would be less than 1 bottle with only 25% off. while they will make more of a profit only giving 25% off, they will make no profit from me if I bring my own.

I, too, am wondering if the individual price of drinks has gone up which could account for the raise of $10 to $14 limit. If they raised those prices above $10, all of us that have pre-purchased the plan thinking our drinks were covered would raise a huge stink since, if you exceed the limit, you have to pay for the whole drink since it would not be covered by the "old" package. and they do not let you pay for just the difference in price.

I have to wonder if these issues are being raised on the Princess Facebook page. I don't have a FB account but I have read numerous times here on CC that Princess responds pretty readily to input on their page. It seems that posting these issues in that forum might increase the exposure of the negative opinions to those at Princess.

Re: the current price of drinks, we just got off the Ruby Princess yesterday, and the mixed drinks were going for somewhere in the ballpark of $8 to $10, most glasses of wine under $10. They also had the buckets of beer on the Lido deck... I believe 5 for $25. We took advantage of the buy one get one for a dollar happy hour often.

Recently on Facebook there have been quite a few discussions about sharing beverage packages with many defending the practice. I can understand why Princess has increased the price. To limit alcoholic drinks to 15 per days they must have analyzed card swipes and seen way too many that showed over 15 per day, incompatible drinks and purchase times. Next will be a return to all adults in cabin needing to purchase the drinks package. It truly amazes me how willing people are to publicize their lack of integrity, proud of it too!

Sigh... It figures. Morons who cheat and then brag about it. It's just absolutely mind boggling. One would hope that Princess follows these folks online and identifies them in real life. It would be great to see them banned from the line. We don't cheat and we don't break the rules. If everybody would behave like civilized adults there likely wouldn't have been any reason to raise the prices.

Having said that, I still don't get the soda thing... :confused:

Mine could be wrong as I just googled the price. But there is no limit on the amount of drinks in a 24 hour period.

It is 15 drinks per 24 hrs for the AIBP, on the Australian Princess Ships (Sun/Sea/Golden) anyway, thought it was the same fleetwise.

Tell you what is you wanted to be served your 15th drink in Australia, you would be refused service.:')

We are sailing on the Sea Princess on 18th November.

Was looking at the AIBP last month and noticed the difference in price

between paying in GBP beforehand and in AUD on board.

Decided to wait and pay on board!!

Now that the price has gone up I don't think we will bother now.

Price differences are still there.

£55.10 per day works out (at today's exchange rates) additional AUD7 per day (compared to AUD86.99)

and additional USD5 per day (compared to USD68.99)

Soda cans and large bottles of water are easy to share so I'm not surprised they were removed from the PBP.

Soda cans and large bottles of water are easy to share so I'm not surprised they were removed from the PBP.

And bottles of beer?

Annie

And bottles of beer?

 

Annie

impossible to share as the person drinking it will never let it go

impossible to share as the person drinking it will never let it go

cultural differences - 1 bottle and 2 glasses??

Annie

And bottles of beer?

 

Annie

Excellent. I wonder if Princess will stop allowing us to open the beer ourselves, so we can put it in our min bar and drink it later?

That would not be good.

I have to wonder if these issues are being raised on the Princess Facebook page. I don't have a FB account but I have read numerous times here on CC that Princess responds pretty readily to input on their page. It seems that posting these issues in that forum might increase the exposure of the negative opinions to those at Princess.

There have been only a couple of replies that have been, imho, the scripted responses on how the PBP is an improvement over the AIBP.....