Beverage Package Purchase

[Lawingnutz]

Should I purchase the AIBP before I leave home or wait and buy it on the ship? Heard that it may cost less on the ship and no sales taxes on ship purchases.

[mds0424]

I believe that the actual price/day is the same. My understanding is that the no sales tax only applies after the ship has left port and is in open (international?) waters.

[skynight]

Should I purchase the AIBP before I leave home or wait and buy it on the ship? Heard that it may cost less on the ship and no sales taxes on ship purchases.

The prices are the same. Princess does not charge a sales tax on pre-purchases. If you pre-purchase you can start using the package as soon as you board. Assuming you are sailing from a U.S. port if you purchase the package on the ship on boarding day while the ship is still in port (State waters) you may be subject to State sales tax. You may be able to avoid the State sales tax if you purchase from one of the tables set up around the ship that manually writes up the sales slip. These slips are then processed in the evening after the ship sails. Also note the AIBP must be purchased for the total number of cruise nights.

[pablo222]

If you pre-purchase you can start using the package as soon as you board.

 

Assuming there isn't some problem with your card already having

the sticker when you get it. There have been several posts by

people who wasted a lot of time when then was a disconnect between

what they prepurchased, and what they received.

 

Additionally, if you have shipboard credit, you can only apply that

to purchases onboard, not to pre-purchase.

[TitanSMES]

I purchased the drink card on my Emerald Princess cruise out of Houston back in February and was very satisfied with the program. The only issue was this, on the departure day, the bars were very limited on the types of drinks they cold serve. Basically, it was drinks like screwdrivers, rum and Coke, etc. I was told that this was because of Texas state alcohol laws or something to that effect. Once we got out into the Gulf of Mexico, they could make anything you wanted, i.e. the 007 Martini! This was my first cruise from a US port and I am wondering if that is true of other US ports. We are sailing on a Princess Panama cruise this coming December out of Fort Lauderdale.

[Working 2 Cruise]

I purchased the drink card on my Emerald Princess cruise out of Houston back in February and was very satisfied with the program. The only issue was this, on the departure day, the bars were very limited on the types of drinks they cold serve. Basically, it was drinks like screwdrivers, rum and Coke, etc. I was told that this was because of Texas state alcohol laws or something to that effect. Once we got out into the Gulf of Mexico, they could make anything you wanted, i.e. the 007 Martini! This was my first cruise from a US port and I am wondering if that is true of other US ports. We are sailing on a Princess Panama cruise this coming December out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

That's only in Texas. Apparently, Texas laws are a bit different from anywhere else!

[Paula_MacFan]

I'm hesitant to book it in advance because I may not feel up to using it. I usually feel fine on cruises, but a few times I've felt a bit queasy from motion and/or rough seas. In those times the last thing I want to do is drink, so I would be afraid I wouldn't get my monies worth out of it. I know, I know, it's for more than alcohol, but I can buy a lot of soda and bottled water individually vs one day's fee for the all-inclusive.

 

Although that has nothing to do with your question about it being cheaper in advance -- but somebody already answered that!

Edited February 3, 2016 by Paula_MacFan

[TitanSMES]

Working to cruise:

Thanks. I kind of figured it was one of those more obscure Texas laws such as: it is illegal to have more than three different branding irons in the fire at the same time, you can't hang ladies and gentlemens unmentionables on the same close-line, or something like that.

Anyways, I found the drink card to be very economical for me. If you get a pre-dinner drink, a glass of wine, and a after-dinner drink, you would most likely spend at least $30 or so just about anywhere ashore. Plus bottle water and milk shakes, etc. are part of the deal. I live in Arizona and we (my wife and I) drink water like it is going out of style and a liter bottle of water on the cruise ship is something like $6 as I remember. So it all adds up.

 

Mike & Kathy

[Colo Cruiser]

Working to cruise:

Thanks. I kind of figured it was one of those more obscure Texas laws such as: it is illegal to have more than three different branding irons in the fire at the same time, you can't hang ladies and gentlemens unmentionables on the same close-line, or something like that.

Anyways, I found the drink card to be very economical for me. If you get a pre-dinner drink, a glass of wine, and a after-dinner drink, you would most likely spend at least $30 or so just about anywhere ashore. Plus bottle water and milk shakes, etc. are part of the deal. I live in Arizona and we (my wife and I) drink water like it is going out of style and a liter bottle of water on the cruise ship is something like $6 as I remember. So it all adds up.

 

Mike & Kathy

 

 

I would purchase onboard. ;)

[Logger1]

I have purchase a package with Celebrity on past cruise at a 10% discount a couple of months before departure. Does Princess ever put these on sale like Celebrity?

[Colo Cruiser]

I have purchase a package with Celebrity on past cruise at a 10% discount a couple of months before departure. Does Princess ever put these on sale like Celebrity?

 

 

Not that I have seen.

I thought that I saw a post here on CC that mentioned getting 1 day discount (first day) off the package but I have not seen anything further in it. I could be wrong though.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[DisneyMomof3Rs]

Just want to ask to clarify: so the beverage package is per night? So if you're going on a 4nt cruise you pay for 4nt and not 5 days, correct? I'm curious because if we have to pay for the day we disembark that's a deal breaker for me LOL I assume not.. but just making sure. Thanks!

[NavyVeteran]

Just want to ask to clarify: so the beverage package is per night? So if you're going on a 4nt cruise you pay for 4nt and not 5 days, correct? I'm curious because if we have to pay for the day we disembark that's a deal breaker for me LOL I assume not.. but just making sure. Thanks!

 

Princess always counts the number of nights for the length of the cruise - even though they call it the number of days. For example, you will see a cruise leaving on Sunday and returning on the next Sunday listed as a 7-day cruise. This count applies to hotel charges (gratuities) as well as to the cost of beverage packages. Take a look at the listing for any Princess itinerary listed on their website.

[MBandJSinUK]

For UK travellers:

 

Have a look at buying AIBP in advance as the exchange rate they use to calculate pre-orders means that it is about 10-20% cheaper than buying onboard. They put the sticker on your cruise card ready for when you check in.

[Pushka]

For UK travellers:

 

 

 

Have a look at buying AIBP in advance as the exchange rate they use to calculate pre-orders means that it is about 10-20% cheaper than buying onboard. They put the sticker on your cruise card ready for when you check in.

 

 

Same for Aussies too. An excellent exchange rate.

[Logger1]

Same for Aussies too. An excellent exchange rate.

 

Ok my New Zealand and Aussie friends. Explain to this dumb Canadian how it is cheaper for you to buy before cruise. Do you not have to pay in US funds with your Credit Card with all the exchange and fees extra? It would be cost prohibited for us in Canada. We have to pay in US funds.:confused:

[Cruise Junky]

Ok my New Zealand and Aussie friends. Explain to this dumb Canadian how it is cheaper for you to buy before cruise. Do you not have to pay in US funds with your Credit Card with all the exchange and fees extra? It would be cost prohibited for us in Canada. We have to pay in US funds.:confused:

 

If you booked in Canadian you can do your pre purchasing at the same exchange rate you got your cruise for. I booked when Princess was charging 1.35. When I log into my personalizer all the things I can buy before hand are converted at 1.35. So OBC, drink packages, bottles of booze, celebration packages they're all at 1.35. This only works if you booked in Canadian in the first place.

[Pushka]

Ok my New Zealand and Aussie friends. Explain to this dumb Canadian how it is cheaper for you to buy before cruise. Do you not have to pay in US funds with your Credit Card with all the exchange and fees extra? It would be cost prohibited for us in Canada. We have to pay in US funds.:confused:

 

 

Our Princess site has converted the drinks packages and tips into AUD in the personaliser even though its an Alaskan cruise. Currently pre purchasing it is $70 AUD which is approx $50USD. If we waited until we boarded we would pay the USD amount which is then converted to AUD along with the banks lousy conversion rate and/or bank fees. So it would be more like say $83. So per person a saving of $13 per day by prepaying.

 

I've also noted our overall cost for the landtour is much cheaper than if we were in the US. Try checking out the cost - I cant see the USD cost but if someone in the USA could check the cost of the KB6 landtour starting on May 25 on Island in a minisuite? For us in AUD it is $7200 AUD for 2. Which is about $5200 USD. When I last looked it was about $6400 USD in the US.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Pushka

[iriemon]

Can anyone tell me if you can get CANS of coke with the beverage card or can you only get fountain coke?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Ok my New Zealand and Aussie friends. Explain to this dumb Canadian how it is cheaper for you to buy before cruise. Do you not have to pay in US funds with your Credit Card with all the exchange and fees extra? It would be cost prohibited for us in Canada. We have to pay in US funds.:confused:

 

Our Princess site has converted the drinks packages and tips into AUD in the personaliser even though its an Alaskan cruise. Currently pre purchasing it is $70 AUD which is approx $50USD. If we waited until we boarded we would pay the USD amount which is then converted to AUD along with the banks lousy conversion rate and/or bank fees. So it would be more like say $83. So per person a saving of $13 per day by prepaying.

 

It appears that Princess apply whatever exchange rate they were offering at the time you book your cruise to all purchases for that cruise. At the time I booked Princess were offering OBC US $100 for AU $100, an exchange rate of .90 - the AUD has been hovering around .70 recently.

 

So I managed to score an even better deal than Pushka for our upcoming Sydney to Hong Kong repositioning cruise, which I booked last September. The AIPB cost me AU $61.99 pp per day. If I waited to buy it onboard it would probably cost around AU $79 (I use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees so no extra costs there) so I've saved around AU $17. It actually worked out a dollar or so cheaper to buy before the cruise than buying the OBC (at .90) to buy it onboard - which is the other way of getting a good deal.

 

Logger1, do check what exchange rate Princess are offering on OBC for your cruise. It will probably be much more favourable than the current rate. I believe the rate they are using on the AUD now is .80, so still much better than the actual rate. I've bought heaps of OBC for our cruise (at .90), hopefully enough to cover all our onboard spending with some left over.

[Pushka]

It appears that Princess apply whatever exchange rate they were offering at the time you book your cruise to all purchases for that cruise. At the time I booked Princess were offering OBC US $100 for AU $100, an exchange rate of .90 - the AUD has been hovering around .70 recently.

 

So I managed to score an even better deal than Pushka for our upcoming Sydney to Hong Kong repositioning cruise, which I booked last September. The AIPB cost me AU $61.99 pp per day. If I waited to buy it onboard it would probably cost around AU $79 (I use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees so no extra costs there) so I've saved around AU $17. It actually worked out a dollar or so cheaper to buy before the cruise than buying the OBC (at .90) to buy it onboard - which is the other way of getting a good deal.

 

Logger1, do check what exchange rate Princess are offering on OBC for your cruise. It will probably be much more favourable than the current rate. I believe the rate they are using on the AUD now is .80, so still much better than the actual rate. I've bought heaps of OBC for our cruise (at .90), hopefully enough to cover all our onboard spending with some left over.

 

My exchange rate didnt stick with my booking date as I booked back in August last year. .90 would be much better!

Edited February 5, 2016 by Pushka

[aaerobear]

yes, you can get cans of soda with the package.

[DisneyMomof3Rs]

Princess always counts the number of nights for the length of the cruise - even though they call it the number of days. For example, you will see a cruise leaving on Sunday and returning on the next Sunday listed as a 7-day cruise. This count applies to hotel charges (gratuities) as well as to the cost of beverage packages. Take a look at the listing for any Princess itinerary listed on their website.

 

Thank you! Calling it days was confusing me- I'm used to it being called nights lol thanks bunches!

[iriemon]

yes, you can get cans of soda with the package.

 

Thanks, don't like fountain drinks and like my diet coke first thing in the morning in my room - my coffee

[bconley351]

Can anyone tell me if you can get CANS of coke with the beverage card or can you only get fountain coke?

 

We were recently on a NZ cruise. Our friends who bought the AIBP always got cans of Coke. But then I wasn't on it, and my DH always bought my diet cokes at a pool bar and always got me cans. I don't know if it was because of the travel region or not.