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Princess Beverage Package Evaluator

kelly94942

By kelly94942,
in Princess Cruises

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

Posted
Posted
Quick question. And my apologies, if this question has previously been asked and answered.

Does the AI package include drinks / cocktails in the specialty restaurants?

Thanks.

 

 

Yes, it does. I ordered wine by the glass and a cocktail in the Crown Grill the two nights I ate there this weekend. We also ordered a large bottle of water.

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rdsqrl

rdsqrl

Posted
Posted
Do you need to purchase prior to disembarkation or can you purchase as part of boarding process?

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

I think you meant, prior to embarkation, not disembarkation. I'd definitely recommend purchasing prior to disembarkation -- you know, to maximize use of the package!

 

Seriously, the answer to your question is "either." You can pre-purchase before the cruise by calling or faxing Princess (look on the website under "Booked Guests" and click on Gifts and Services for more information/instructions). Or purchase it once onboard at any bar or at one of the many tables you'll see set up around the ship where they're selling all the various beverage packages.

 

If you're getting onboard credit through one of the many promos Princess has been offering lately, you might want to wait til you board, so that way you can spend credit versus paying for it out-of-pocket.

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wishfulone

wishfulone

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know what happens to unused bottles of wine when one cruise ends and the next one starts? For example, if you're doing two cruises back to back (same cabin) can you carry over unused portions of the drinks package, coffee card, etc from one cruise to the next or do you lose any unused credits?

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DaveinWhales

DaveinWhales

Posted
Posted
If you're getting onboard credit through one of the many promos Princess has been offering lately, you might want to wait til you board, so that way you can spend credit versus paying for it out-of-pocket.

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Oh, great idea!

 

Credit ? What credit !

The cash is all travelling one direction for me, and it's heading towards Princess.

Maybe next time eh !

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roadking436

roadking436

Posted
Posted

I've been going back and forth on this and finally decided to take the plunge. It will definitely be a savings for me and my better half should break even. We're on the Regal in January and we have 3 days at sea plus the day on Princess Cay. We just rebooked for a lower rate plus got free gratuities :D:D for our mini-suite, so that definitely entered into the decision. Thanks again for all the effort that went in to this evaluator tool. I don't think we would of tried the package without using the tool 1st. :)

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nanwel

nanwel

Posted
Posted

Doing Canary Islands 11 nights 4 sea days so could have a couple drinks of the day.

Can you get specialty coffee the day you doc and end cruise - or just the canteen stuff?

Can you take special coffee off ship at ports in your travel mug< Or just bottled water juice?

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CROSBY

CROSBY

Posted
Posted

Just came off a cruise with Princess. My husband and I went for the 'full drinks package' as we both like coffees, drinks before dinner, soft drinks and water, occaisonal cocktail etc. However we are (and I didn't realize til then) quite fussy about wine. We only drink red wine. With the Ultimate Package you can have glasses of wine up to 10 dollars. So we thought instead of having a botle of wine with dinner we would stick to glasses (the 40% off a bottle doesn't seem like great value to me). Anyway first 3 days of cruise, in 2 bars and in the dining room, 'glasses of red wine' I picked were unavailable. Then the others we picked we thought were pretty poor quality. N.B. Just our opinion. By day 7 we found we only liked 1 of the wines by the glass from about 6 choices. We went to customer services asked if we could swap for rest of the cruise (we were on a 14 day) , they asked why - took a statement and said they had to refer to the Beverages manager but would let us know. Anyway a day or so later, they said they would take us off the Package and re-imburse us for the last 7 days - though re-charged us obviously for what we actually consumed. You sign for everything so they could track it. this meant new cruise cards as they have to take the drinks sticker off. We thought this more than fair as we would have been happy to just switch back to pay as you go. So well done Princess for Customer Service. We then bought bottles of wine in the restaurant and felt the quality to be far better. Just my story and my viewpoint.

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vinoblanco

vinoblanco

Posted
Posted

Thank you to all who have contributed to this very informative thread. I have followed it with great interest and swung from hot to cold re booking the all inclusive package for our up coming Christmas/New Year cruise. The idea of having our drinks pre paid is attractive I must confess, especially as it's the Festive Season.

 

However, have decided to pay as we go. We drink mostly wine and champagne, with a liqueur and coffee after dinner and probably a coffee mid morning on sea days. I think we would prefer a bottle of wine or champagne instead of by the glass. We drink lots of water and the occasional diet cola, but not many spirits or cocktails.

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MGnut

MGnut

Posted
Posted
Just came off a cruise with Princess. My husband and I went for the 'full drinks package' as we both like coffees, drinks before dinner, soft drinks and water, occaisonal cocktail etc. However we are (and I didn't realize til then) quite fussy about wine. We only drink red wine. With the Ultimate Package you can have glasses of wine up to 10 dollars. So we thought instead of having a botle of wine with dinner we would stick to glasses (the 40% off a bottle doesn't seem like great value to me). Anyway first 3 days of cruise, in 2 bars and in the dining room, 'glasses of red wine' I picked were unavailable. Then the others we picked we thought were pretty poor quality. N.B. Just our opinion. By day 7 we found we only liked 1 of the wines by the glass from about 6 choices. We went to customer services asked if we could swap for rest of the cruise (we were on a 14 day) , they asked why - took a statement and said they had to refer to the Beverages manager but would let us know. Anyway a day or so later, they said they would take us off the Package and re-imburse us for the last 7 days - though re-charged us obviously for what we actually consumed. You sign for everything so they could track it. this meant new cruise cards as they have to take the drinks sticker off. We thought this more than fair as we would have been happy to just switch back to pay as you go. So well done Princess for Customer Service. We then bought bottles of wine in the restaurant and felt the quality to be far better. Just my story and my viewpoint.

 

Thanks for this information. I was thinking about using a lot of on-board credit to offset the price of the All Inclusive Drinks Package, thinking it might be a good way to get our wines served on-board. It sounds like the list of wines available by the glass is pretty limited and they are of low/medium quality. I'm sure now that we will just stick with a coffee card and a gold wine package. Save money, and get better wines too. And have OBC left over for other things. :)

 

Thanks for likely saving me some money (and disappointment in the wines).

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Mackenzie1

Mackenzie1

Posted
Posted

Ditto, Crosby. By the way, could you share whether you ended up spending less by paying individually? I know the ultimate answer as to value is how much is consumed over all, but good wine is very important to enjoyment of a cruise. Going cheapo on he wine is one way that Princess can profit even more from offering the beverage package. Also, did you try any other drinks, such as top shelf margaritas? It would be interesting to know what your experience was, if you did.

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CROSBY

CROSBY

Posted
Posted

Glad if this helped anyone making their mind up.We thought the package would be slightly cheaper or about the same when we initially decided after using the calculator - particularly as the cruise we were on was heavy on sea days. It did actually end up abot 300 dollars cheaper paying as you go for us. However, we both came down with colds, so for 2/3 days we were not drinking alcohol - but lots of soft drinks. We did not drink any specialist/top shelf drinks. Alcoholic drinks - we tended to have G&T pre dinner, beers, a few cocktails over the 14 days and wine with dinner - usually a bottle of red with dinner most days. We also had a lot of large bottles of water, cola, lemonade, speciality coffees on sea days (1-2 a day each) and light beers at lunch again on sea days. It was the quality of the wines by the glass that we really didn't like -again only our view - (not pretending to be an expert). Also the limited choice. So it spoiled our dining experience really, we enjoy trying diffferent wines and picking the wine is part of the experience. So perhaps the 'Package' was not really for us anyway.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thrak

Thrak

Posted
Posted

As this thread is obviously frequented by folks who drink alcohol, I'm hoping someone can tell me where I can find Pernod on the Star. I know I was able to get it on one Princess ship and it had to be either Sea Princess or Star Princess. I doubt that the smaller bars will stock Pernod but perhaps Vista Lounge or Explorers might have it?

 

I know it's not something that the majority of folks drink but I dearly love Pernod and OJ in the morning. Thanks in advance to anybody who can tell me where / if I can find Pernod onboard. (I notice it isn't listed in the spreadsheet...)

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coops14

coops14

Posted
Posted

Thanks so much for producing this, it has been very helpful, especially as this is our first cruise.

I have worked out, it will be better for me to purchase the package and my husband who does not drink much alcohol will purchase a coffee card and a soda and more card.

Thanks again

 

Now does anyone know how we purchase these cards before the cruise or are we better to wait until we board the ship. I dont fancy waiting in long queues once we have boarded to buy these cards.

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avcruz

avcruz

Posted
Posted
Thanks so much for producing this, it has been very helpful, especially as this is our first cruise.

I have worked out, it will be better for me to purchase the package and my husband who does not drink much alcohol will purchase a coffee card and a soda and more card.

Thanks again

 

Now does anyone know how we purchase these cards before the cruise or are we better to wait until we board the ship. I dont fancy waiting in long queues once we have boarded to buy these cards.

 

The cards can be purchased by calling or faxing Princess using the product code that you find on the Gifts & Services page of the Princess website. Or, if you booked through a TA, they can order them for you. A voucher will be left in your cabin when you board, which you can exchange for the card at the first venue you approach for a drink.

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