All Inclusive drink packages-Golden Princess

[GUT2407]

Have the Australian Princess ships ever quoted prices then added grats? Certainly on Sun last Christmas all the prices - drinks, excursions, speciality restauranst, were all price as quoted.

 

 

Not since at least 2006.

[OzKiwiJJ]

bearone is currently on Dawn Princess and has confirmed the drinks package price at $59. :D :D

[to_dee]

Awesome!!:D

 

shame about the noro eek

[cheznandy]

bearone is currently on Dawn Princess and has confirmed the drinks package price at $59. :D :D

 

Yay, thats great news for those of us with us coming Princess cruises!

We are on Dawn Princess too, now to work out if it is worth the cost for us.

At least they are charging what they have advertised:D

 

Chez

[MicCanberra]

Good news for you all.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Yay, thats great news for those of us with us coming Princess cruises!

We are on Dawn Princess too, now to work out if it is worth the cost for us.

At least they are charging what they have advertised:D

 

Chez

 

The only concern I have is over the variety and quality of the wines by the glass. From memory, on Sun at Christmas they were very average. We mostly chose wines by the bottle, and they were very reasonably priced.

 

I'm curious to see whether Princess have extended the selection of wines by the glass to include some of the premium wines. RCI had two wines lists - the main one which had some interesting wines by the glass at very high prices ($10 -$14) but which fitted into the Premium and Ultimate packages, and a separate wine list of Australian and NZ wines at $9 or less that fitted into the Classic package.

 

However I have calculated that the drinks package for each of us plus one bottle of wine with dinner (averaging what we paid on Sun) would still be cheaper than what we paid on RCI in March. And I'm sure there will be some nights when we are happy with the selections by the glass, depending on what we choose to eat.

 

It is borderline with us though. I'd actually be happy without the package but DH really liked the convenience of having a package on our RCI cruise.

Edited July 19, 2015 by OzKiwiJJ

[GUT2407]

The only concern I have is over the variety and quality of the wines by the glass. From memory, on Sun at Christmas they were very average. We mostly chose wines by the bottle, and they were very reasonably priced.

 

I'm curious to see whether Princess have extended the selection of wines by the glass to include some of the premium wines. RCI had two wines lists - the main one which had some interesting wines by the glass at very high prices ($10 -$14) but which fitted into the Premium and Ultimate packages, and a separate wine list of Australian and NZ wines at $9 or less that fitted into the Classic package.

 

However I have calculated that the drinks package for each of us plus one bottle of wine with dinner (averaging what we paid on Sun) would still be cheaper than what we paid on RCI in March. And I'm sure there will be some nights when we are happy with the selections by the glass, depending on what we choose to eat.

 

It is borderline with us though. I'd actually be happy without the package but DH really liked the convenience of having a package on our RCI cruise.

 

 

I love the convenience.

 

The freedom (not thinking do I really want to spend the extra if I feel like a drink)

 

And the certainty, what my bill will be.

 

But then I ALWAYS get value out of my package.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I love the convenience.

 

The freedom (not thinking do I really want to spend the extra if I feel like a drink)

 

And the certainty, what my bill will be.

 

But then I ALWAYS get value out of my package.

 

We certainly got value out of our RCI package.

 

My concern is getting too much value out of it. Wheee! :rolleyes: :eek: :p :D

[MicCanberra]

We certainly got value out of our RCI package.

 

My concern is getting too much value out of it. Wheee! :rolleyes: :eek: :p :D

 

That is always an issue for Aussies.:eek:

[madfisher]

I love the convenience.

 

The freedom (not thinking do I really want to spend the extra if I feel like a drink)

 

And the certainty, what my bill will be.

 

But then I ALWAYS get value out of my package.

 

I couldn't agree more. We had the package with Celebrity in 2013 Hawaii to Sydney. Feel like a drink, have one, no worrying about can I afford one more or what has it cost me so far. Just relax, have a drink, don't worry. We had a great cruise. So to see that Princess has introduced the pack is great news for our upcoming cruise on the Dawn Sept 6/15.

[OzKiwiJJ]

That is always an issue for Aussies.:eek:

 

I'm OK unless the bartenders start freepouring. :D

 

Besides my Kiwi heritage keeps me safe ;)

Edited July 19, 2015 by OzKiwiJJ

[MicCanberra]

I couldn't agree more. We had the package with Celebrity in 2013 Hawaii to Sydney. Feel like a drink, have one, no worrying about can I afford one more or what has it cost me so far. Just relax, have a drink, don't worry. We had a great cruise. So to see that Princess has introduced the pack is great news for our upcoming cruise on the Dawn Sept 6/15.

 

That was a fantastic cruise, and the drinks packages just make it so much better not having to worry about the bill.:D

[OzKiwiJJ]

That was a fantastic cruise, and the drinks packages just make it so much better not having to worry about the bill.:D

 

I'm very, very interested to see what happens to the Celebrity and Royal Caribbean drinks package pricing in our region now that Princess have bought out a package that is the equivalent of their top packages at a significantly lower price.

 

US $67 is AU $90.85 at today's exchange rate so Princess' AU $59 is roughly 35% cheaper.

 

Celebrity are moving more towards including drinks packages in their pricing for oceanview cabins and above, but only a Classic package so you still have to pay extra to get the full package.

[MicCanberra]

The USD based cruise lines will need to stay competitive, offering a X or RCI cruise experience alone will only fill a certain amount of cabins.:D

[OzKiwiJJ]

Very true, Mic. I have yet to experience the X factor, that's coming up at Christmas, but so far we prefer Princess to Royal Caribbean, by just a smidge.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

The USD based cruise lines will need to stay competitive, offering a X or RCI cruise experience alone will only fill a certain amount of cabins.:D

 

They dont need to worry...the lower the dollar drops , the cheaper it is for the Americans to cruise down here. just like a few years ago , they will fill the ships with Americans .

 

 

[to_dee]

I love the convenience.

 

The freedom (not thinking do I really want to spend the extra if I feel like a drink)

 

And the certainty, what my bill will be.

But then I ALWAYS get value out of my package.

 

I couldn't agree more. We had the package with Celebrity in 2013 Hawaii to Sydney. Feel like a drink, have one, no worrying about can I afford one more or what has it cost me so far. Just relax, have a drink, don't worry. We had a great cruise. So to see that Princess has introduced the pack is great news for our upcoming cruise on the Dawn Sept 6/15.

 

Could not have said it better. This is 100% how I feel. Knowing the cost upfront kind of falls into the whole way I want to feel on a cruise ...relaxed...ahhhh the bliss. I cannot wait for the next few months to pass I am busting to get cruising :D

[Beanb41]

I'm very, very interested to see what happens to the Celebrity and Royal Caribbean drinks package pricing in our region now that Princess have bought out a package that is the equivalent of their top packages at a significantly lower price.

 

US $67 is AU $90.85 at today's exchange rate so Princess' AU $59 is roughly 35% cheaper.

 

Celebrity are moving more towards including drinks packages in their pricing for oceanview cabins and above, but only a Classic package so you still have to pay extra to get the full package.

 

The inclusion of one or more of a drinks package, gratuities or OBC is now standard with all celebrity cruises booked after 6 July. When I do a comparison of Celebrity cruises versus its competitors price wise I find little difference but many of them become considerably more expensive if adding the "Celebrity 123 perks" to the cost. the new all inclusive packages now offered by Celebrity will take a little time to bed in and even now if you can get all three at no additional costs make Celebrity even more attractive. They have limited variation of cruises if staying down under which is a negative.

[GUT2407]

I love the convenience.

 

The freedom (not thinking do I really want to spend the extra if I feel like a drink)

 

And the certainty, what my bill will be.

 

But then I ALWAYS get value out of my package.

 

We certainly got value out of our RCI package.

 

My concern is getting too much value out of it. Wheee! :rolleyes: :eek: :p :D

 

 

Once I board you will be lucky to see me without a diet Coke in hand.

 

Last cruise I just broke even ... if they were charging 25c a can.

 

I don't think herself really gets full value but the convenience wins out and then w ejust look at it as her subsidising mine, so maybe between us we pay 40 cents a drink.

[Wastegirl]

I think we might be getting the drinks package for our trip on the Diamond as it is to the South Pacific so choice of wine is not so critical. But if the wine list is going to be limited and only average, I think on trips to cooler destinations we would bring on our own wine and just pay per drink, it works out a similar cost - just better wine if we do it ourselves.

 

I loved the freedom of having the package on Celebrity, we upgraded to Premium as the exchange rate via Celebrity was still good at that time - it no longer is so we'll most probably stay with our included Classic next time. But the thing I did not like was the strong drinks. I kept on telling them just one nip in my cocktails but I kept on getting drinks so strong I could not drink them, the alcohol overpowered the flavour. Fortunately at that time they still had the Molecular Bar which had gorgeous cocktails.

 

I therefore hope with Princess that they don't go down the same road as Celebrity and their bar staff start pouring doubles, I enjoy a drink but I don't want to be sloshed all the time.

[MicCanberra]

They dont need to worry...the lower the dollar drops , the cheaper it is for the Americans to cruise down here. just like a few years ago , they will fill the ships with Americans .

 

 

 

Having the ships stay here will keep me happy as well.:D

Edited July 20, 2015 by MicCanberra

[OzKiwiJJ]

The inclusion of one or more of a drinks package, gratuities or OBC is now standard with all celebrity cruises booked after 6 July. When I do a comparison of Celebrity cruises versus its competitors price wise I find little difference but many of them become considerably more expensive if adding the "Celebrity 123 perks" to the cost. the new all inclusive packages now offered by Celebrity will take a little time to bed in and even now if you can get all three at no additional costs make Celebrity even more attractive. They have limited variation of cruises if staying down under which is a negative.

 

Only oceanview cabins and above. No perks for people wanting inside cabins and that's where Princess will win out pricewise.

 

I think the upcoming season or two will be very interesting to watch from a pricing perspective. We might even see some irresistable bargains. ;)

[OzKiwiJJ]

They dont need to worry...the lower the dollar drops , the cheaper it is for the Americans to cruise down here. just like a few years ago , they will fill the ships with Americans .

 

 

 

Up to a certain point. Many Americans find the long (to them) flights down to Australia and New Zealand a major negative, and our peak cruising season competes with the Caribbean season which is much close to home for them.

[MicCanberra]

We might even see some irresistable bargains. ;)

 

Let us hope that there are some on offer for us.:D

[cheznandy]

Just bumping this one back up to see if anyone has been on a Australian based Princess cruise yet and got an All inclusive drink package.

 

Just checked our personaliser for our next two Princess cruises, Dawn and Emerald, both are offering the package for purchase online at $73.74AUD:eek:

bit of a jump from the $59 that is discussed here.

 

Still better value than our next cruises on the Voyager and Explorer.....at $87AUD, and Princess include everything, so wondering if anyone has experienced it first hand yet.

 

Chez