Premier Beverage Package Questions

[land lover]

Easily.

You can only order one drink at a time.

You cannot show your spouse's cruise card to get yourself a drink under the PBP as the OP wishes to do.

If observed handing off a drink to someone else the possibility of having the package cancelled with no refund is real.

 

Princess has dropped canned sodas, tried to drop bottled water, and now instructs bar staff not to hand out unopened beers. All after raising the price by $10/day. So let's just put the sharing talk to bed.

 

Where did u see/hear they tried to drop bottle water? Cruise last month..large bottles are no longer included....no big...

[land lover]

Just returned from 28 days on Emerald Princess. We booked under the Sip and Sail about a year and a half ago so we both had the beverage package. Under the new rules we were limited to 15 alcoholic drinks per day. Not a problem. That's a lot of drinks.

 

Water: Small bottles of water were included. That includes small bottles of Perrier and San Pelligrino. I got one or the other most nights before bed. We go the regular plastic bottles of plain water when going ashore.

 

Liquor: They don't serve doubles. After a bit when the bartenders in Wheelhouse knew me well they would sometimes offer to pour me a double to take to the theater and then would charge for one drink right away and the other a little while later. (They knew my card number on the second day so it wasn't an issue for them to do the second charge after I had left for the theater.) This wasn't something offered to everybody.

 

Beer: During Happy Hour I saw them open the beers when giving them to people. Since we had the beverage package we couldn't participate in Happy Hour. My wife and I were able to ask (at other times) for an unopened beer and we were accommodated.

 

Champagne: A number of times we asked for the small bottle of champagne unopened and were accommodated. We took them to the cabin and had a number stashed in the refrigerator. Later on we would have Mimosas on the balcony. Very nice. We knew a number of other folks who did the same. By the end of the 28 days many bars were out of the little bottles of champagne...

 

On our Nov. 26...Mexican Rivera cruise on Emerald 7 day cruise only beer that was given unopened was Golsch....I asked at several bars and no go.... everything had to be opened..except sparkling & bottled water.

BTW...when were you recently on Emerald she headed to South American right after our cruise ended Dec. 3.

 

Policy changed first part of November....if I remember correctly.....

[jimdod]

When in port, do you have to pay the local "port tax? or is that included in the Bev package?

[darstamp]

As Canadians, our cost for the PBP for 10 days is $860 each. I doubt very much if we will drink enough to make it worthwhile but we don't want to even think about what we are spending so we went with it. In our opinion, the reason why the package is so pricey is because of the cheating. I have had packages on other lines that cost much less but both people in the room had to have it, thus avoiding the possibility of cheating.

[fishywood]

When in port, do you have to pay the local "port tax? or is that included in the Bev package?

 

Local beverage tax is only charged if an actual payment for a drink is executed while in the jurisdiction.

 

Since your PBP will be already paid for (whether pre-purchased or as part of Sip + Sail) no tax is collected.

[moki'smommy]

Local beverage tax is only charged if an actual payment for a drink is executed while in the jurisdiction.

 

Since your PBP will be already paid for (whether pre-purchased or as part of Sip + Sail) no tax is collected.

And even when ordered/purchased on board, the ship doesn't run the charge till it is in international waters, thus no local taxes are charged....or at least this was our experience when sailing out of Houston. Texas does impose a local tax, but we were able to purchase and use a beverage package without local tax being charged. Just of interest, Texas also restricts what can be served in the state, so only certain beverages were available until the ship was at a certain point. The others were locked up.

[Tedferg]

No cans. However, you can get a glass of the canned soda, just like with the Soda and More package. So, a glass of root beer was no problem. They open can, our glass and set aside for you. .

 

Not sure if this is apples to apples, but on a recent cruise with PBP we were charged for a soda that is not on the bar gun. It might have been Diet Tonic or Dry Ginger, don't remember which. However we were charged for the soda portion of a mixed drink because it was not on the gun so they had to open a can. We were also not given the opened can however this was moot because it was just one drink.

[memoak]

Not sure if this is apples to apples, but on a recent cruise with PBP we were charged for a soda that is not on the bar gun. It might have been Diet Tonic or Dry Ginger, don't remember which. However we were charged for the soda portion of a mixed drink because it was not on the gun so they had to open a can. We were also not given the opened can however this was moot because it was just one drink.

 

This is not a moot point - any alcohol drink under $12 is covered - you should not have been charged I would have gone to passenger services and had it removed

[moki'smommy]

This is not a moot point - any alcohol drink under $12 is covered - you should not have been charged I would have gone to passenger services and had it removed

Actually, sodas in cans are not included in the package. If you were charged $2 + grat for a can of soda, that would be correct. I don't know what they would have done/charged if you had ordered it as an alcoholic beverage, "hold the alcohol."

[Tedferg]

This is not a moot point - any alcohol drink under $12 is covered - you should not have been charged I would have gone to passenger services and had it removed

 

 

Thanks for your response - I said 'moot' referring to not receiving the remainder of the can. At the time it made sense to me e.g. Glass of Scotch and can of Dry Ginger. But you are correct - a 'scotch and dry ginger' should be seen as a single drink and under $12.

[fishywood]

And even when ordered/purchased on board' date=' the ship doesn't run the charge till it is in international waters, thus no local taxes are charged....or at least this was our experience when sailing out of Houston. Texas does impose a local tax, but we were able to purchase and use a beverage package without local tax being charged. [/quote']

 

This is correct if you buy the PBP between embarkation and sailaway. But for just buying individual drinks you will be charged the local sales tax.

 

Actually' date=' sodas in cans are not included in the package. If you were charged $2 + grat for a can of soda, that would be correct. I don't know what they would have done/charged if you had ordered it as an alcoholic beverage, "hold the alcohol."[/quote']

 

If they have the PBP the charge for a can soda should have been $2.00 - 20% + grat.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your response - I said 'moot' referring to not receiving the remainder of the can. At the time it made sense to me e.g. Glass of Scotch and can of Dry Ginger. But you are correct - a 'scotch and dry ginger' should be seen as a single drink and under $12.

 

 

If you had tp pay for the can you should have received the remainder.

[Thrak]

Champagne: A number of times we asked for the small bottle of champagne unopened and were accommodated. We took them to the cabin and had a number stashed in the refrigerator. Later on we would have Mimosas on the balcony. Very nice. We knew a number of other folks who did the same. By the end of the 28 days many bars were out of the little bottles of champagne...

 

Did one bottle = 1 drink?

 

For the purpose of the beverage package the answer is yes. It's only a 387 ml bottle of champagne. For the purpose of drinks the answer is that the little bottle made two mimosas in the cabin or two flutes of champagne.

[Thrak]

Not sure if this is apples to apples, but on a recent cruise with PBP we were charged for a soda that is not on the bar gun. It might have been Diet Tonic or Dry Ginger, don't remember which. However we were charged for the soda portion of a mixed drink because it was not on the gun so they had to open a can. We were also not given the opened can however this was moot because it was just one drink.

 

You were incorrectly charged. It's a mixed drink and it is covered by the package. I would have had the charge reversed and the bartender would have been instructed by the manager or, if necessary, by the beverage manager of the ship.

[Thrak]

I will revise my previous statement that they "don't serve doubles". We were told that last year on a 28 day cruise (although, as I said above, they actually did serve me doubles a few times and just charged for two drinks). However, on our 14 day cruise this past March the bartenders told me that it was entirely at their discretion. As I was drinking straight Talisker (Scotch) and they knew I wasn't "sharing" (and also that my wife had the package as well and couldn't even stand the smell of Talisker :p) they frequently poured me doubles. Most times without being asked. A good bartender will quickly figure out if you are "sharing" the package and will stop it.