New Princess Plus Fares Coming - Includes Bev Pkg, Grats, WiFi!

[idahospud]

It was only a matter of time! There aren’t many details out there yet. I’m guessing it’ll start sometime after BSE? 
 

Introducing Princess Plus – with drinks, wi-fi, and gratuities included

Because our Best. Sale. Ever. was so successful, we’ve created Princess Plus, a new fare type that includes our Premier Beverage Package, unlimited Wi-Fi and gratuities paid on guests’ behalf.

Disclaimer: 

General Terms (applicable to all portions of Princess Plus) – Available to legal residents of the 50 United States, DC, Canada, and Puerto Rico. One guest’s participation in Princess Plus may be dependent on the other guest in his/her stateroom’s participation in the Princess Plus, as determined by booking method. Princess Plus is contingent on ship capacity and only available on select voyages, while capacity lasts. Princess Plus and its parts are non-transferable, is not redeemable for cash at any point, and may not be combined with other offers or other onboard credits. Drinks, Wi-Fi, and Gratuities are only available on board the ship (not applicable to land portions of cruisetours), may only be used on a single voyage, and expire at the end of such voyage. Only available on cruises/voyages indicated as Princess Plus. Visit princess.com for additional terms, inclusions and restrictions.

 

Fares are per guest and apply to minimum lead-in categories on a space-available basis at time of booking. Fares are non-air, cruise- or cruisetour-only, based on double occupancy and apply to the first two guests in a stateroom. Fares and other values quoted in U.S. dollars.

 

 

†Premier Beverage Package applies to guests booked in an interior stateroom or above. It is valid only for guests 1 & 2 per stateroom who are 21 years or older. Guests who are under 21 years of age at the time of sailing can still book Princess Plus, but will receive the Premier Coffee & Soda Package and will not receive any refund or otherwise for that portion of the Offer. A daily limit on alcoholic beverages will apply. Bar tips are included in the package and value per day stated.

‡‡Wi-Fi included for one device per guest. Wi-Fi details will be delivered to the stateroom. All internet usage subject to Princess Cruises’ standard policies, which may limit browsing of sites due to network security and bandwidth usage. Applications that use high bandwidth may be blocked and offerings subject to change with or without notice.

 ‡Gratuities valid on select items only and are in U.S. dollar amounts. Amount of gratuities paid on behalf of guest may vary based on stateroom type. This amount is paid on the behalf of guests (up to 4) in a stateroom only. Princess Plus does not include gratuities added to bar charges, dining room wine accounts, or Lotus Spa services.

 

Available on select cruises sailing starting on April 1, 2020.

 

A deposit is required for guests 1 and 2 only and is refundable. The amount of deposit varies according to the cruise length and stateroom type.

 

Reference promotion code: NP*.

[hobbyfarmer2]

We really like this idea from Princess.  As Canadians, the PBP costs almost $90 CAD per day per person.  Grats and WiFi come to a little over $32 per day each.  The decision to buy will, of course, depend on what Princess charges.

Edited February 27, 2020 by hobbyfarmer2
Spellcheck

[ano]

But do they include the gratuities on the free drinks?  On a recent cruise, the gratuities on the "free" drinks cost us more than the drinks would have.

[tioalmsp]

15 minutes ago, ano said:

But do they include the gratuities on the free drinks?  On a recent cruise, the gratuities on the "free" drinks cost us more than the drinks would have.

Yes, on Princess the drink package includes the gratuities. No gratuitie fees like on NCL.

[dreaminofcruisin]

1 hour ago, idahospud said:

Princess Plus and its parts are non-transferable, is not redeemable for cash at any point, and may not be combined with other offers or other onboard credits.

This part is a little concerning....not sure what it means by may not be combined with other on board credits...thinking of Future Cruise Deposit and Stockholders. I hope that doesn't mean they are excluded? Also, might be nice to have an option available for 3 adults in a stateroom like the BSE has. Regardless....nice to see Princess finally having some more sales with perks!

[RocketMan275]

I certainly hope this is an optional add on package and not something added to all fares.  

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I had a strong feeling this wwas coming and that the BSE was just a trial run for the program.  This is a game changer for Princess - helps make them more competitive with attracting clients away from lines like Celebrity, NCL and MSC that offer some sort fo bundle pricing program.

 

I am sure as more details come out we will find out what it can be combined with, if additional guests in the cabin will be included, etc.  I am sure that there will be a fare option available without it - "Saver" fares both with Refundable and non-refundable deposits as is now the case most likely).  It will be interesting to see if it combines with agency group rates or not.  I know they are offering a webinar for travel agents on Monday to launch the program and I'm sure more details will be disbursed then.

 

WELL  DONE PRINCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mud_Shark]

I am on the other side.  This offer is of no value to us as non drinkers.  I am concerned this will spell the end of the traditional sales that were of value to us like the 3 for free.  If that disappears, likely we will too.  We have had some great cruises, but also don't mind other vacation plans, so cruising has to attract us with offers that have value.

 

Don

[EllieinNJ]

3 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

I am on the other side.  This offer is of no value to us as non drinkers.  I am concerned this will spell the end of the traditional sales that were of value to us like the 3 for free.  If that disappears, likely we will too.  We have had some great cruises, but also don't mind other vacation plans, so cruising has to attract us with offers that have value.

 

Don

I feel just like you.  We don't drink and usually book with the 3 for free but this past year NCL was having a big sale with 20% off for past guests plus free air and other amenities so we booked with them, thinking we will wait to book with Princess during the next 3 for free.  Really hope this happens in the fall.

[Potstech]

This also has no value for us.  Rarely us the wifi, drink very little so with the price increase of this over a standard price it would be a  waste of money for us at over $600.00 for a 7 day cruise for both.

[franktown]

I don't know if this has anything to do about the new sale and BSE ending but I just checked my fare for my next 2 sailings and they both have suddenly increased by almost 200 dollars per person.  First increase since BSE started.

[BrennerM]

Hopefully (like BSE) this will allow you to always choose between two fare levels: a basic fare (which could be reduced by other sales/specials) and a "Princess Plus" fare which will include these 3 perks.  That will be a win-win for everyone, and will allow Princess to better compete with other lines.

[richsea]

6 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

I am on the other side.  This offer is of no value to us as non drinkers.  I am concerned this will spell the end of the traditional sales that were of value to us like the 3 for free.  If that disappears, likely we will too.  We have had some great cruises, but also don't mind other vacation plans, so cruising has to attract us with offers that have value.

 

Don

I agree, the three for free sale suits us best. My wife may have one drink per cruise, & I certainly don’t drink enough to warrant the extra cost of two “free” drink packages. The pp tips, obc, & choice of room location fits us perfectly.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We noticed, on our most recent cruises, that all the guests with the Premium Beverage Package really affected our waiters, particularly the junior waiters.  They spent far more time fetching drinks from the dining room bar than they used to. I’m not opposed to these packages, or this type of all-inclusive promotion, and actually believe Princess needs to have offerings like this to compete with all-inclusive land-based vacations,  but still wish they would introduce bar waiters in the dining rooms. Celebrity used to have this position, and, while I don’t know if they still do, it really smoothed out dinner service in the dining rooms. 

[rocklinmom]

After the fiasco I had yesterday trying to refare my sister's booking with BSE (before it expires on Saturday) I won't be in a hurry to use these kinds of promos again anytime soon. What should have been a simple refare (refaring her current booking to BSE because the BSE fare dropped to just a bit more than she's booked at now, and yes there were still cabins available in her category) turned into a headache. The Princess rep, which became three different reps as it unraveled, said everything from "the BSE is for new bookings only" to "that is a residential area special only to the East Coast" to "I don't see the price you are seeing on the website in my system". It took over an hour and when they finally did the refare they also cancelled her original booking and rebooked her entirely.  New booking number and Poof! all of her prepaid shore excursions gone. Had to rebook those on the new booking with the (of course) now higher prices and now waiting for a refund to her credit card for the original shore excursions. A complete mess. Will seriously reconsider doing a refare again until Princess trains their reps and has consistency when you call in to do what used to be a simple 5 minute change. 

[MCC retired]

This new Princess Plus Sale has me concerned ?

I always counted on Princess  allowing Stacking of OBC's .

 

Princess Plus and its parts are non-transferable, is not redeemable for cash at any point, and may not be combined with other offers or other onboard credits. 

 

 

[PrincessLuver]

30 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

We noticed, on our most recent cruises, that all the guests with the Premium Beverage Package really affected our waiters, particularly the junior waiters.  They spent far more time fetching drinks from the dining room bar than they used to. I’m not opposed to these packages, or this type of all-inclusive promotion, and actually believe Princess needs to have offerings like this to compete with all-inclusive land-based vacations,  but still wish they would introduce bar waiters in the dining rooms. Celebrity used to have this position, and, while I don’t know if they still do, it really smoothed out dinner service in the dining rooms. 

 

Maybe Princess will start drawing a lot more of the Carnival crowd because they are starting to emphasize drinking in most of their new promos?

[AF-1]

For those who don't drink or drink very little;  you can swap out the beverage package for a coffee and soda package to include mocktails

[flamomo]

That "package" isn't a deal for us. 

We each get free Wi-Fi, for the little bit we each use it; I only have a couple of glasses of wine at dinner most days, and my cruise mate very rarely drinks anything alcoholic. And, we only have coffee each morning, and no soft drinks, so that other beverage package has no value to me either. 

The only thing in it that would benefit us if the free grats.

So I'm not impressed with this news, and wonder at the logic of whoever in Santa Clarita decided to do this long-term. I suspect, in the grand scheme of things, it has something to do with reaping bigger profits for PCL and Carnival Corp!!!

 

We prefer OBC promos so we can decide where/how we want to spend it. Plus we both have CCL stock and alternate turns stacking the shareholders benefit onto promo OBC.

I hope the concept of promos offering OBC won't disappear from Princess.

Edited February 27, 2020 by flamomo

[deliver42]

I couldn't care less about wifi. The first thing I do when we get in the cabin is lock the phones in the safe.

[Ombud]

4 hours ago, CruiseVA said:

But, this is a Princess Forum, why are you confusing people with info about NCL?

Chris, Because a lot of NCL'ers may be looking to jump lines. Unlike Princess, NCL did not have a comprehensive compensation pkg for cruises canceled until the Attny General's office got involved

 

Back to thread: this benefits us IF we can choose the benefits. I don't drink enough but the gratuities + WIFI has value. Staying tuned!!

 

[Tedferg]

I am sure 'Princess Plus' will apply to both pax in a cabin. I wondered during BSE, if Add On price for two would encourage more people to partake and thereby make more revenue than a smaller number of pax purchasing PBP.

 

Since profit on booze must be high it makes more sense to encourage more people to buy it. I suppose there is a fine point in these calculations and am sure Princess knows how to optimize it.

[Tedferg]

"Because our Best. Sale. Ever. was so successful, we’ve created Princess Plus, a new fare type that includes our Premier Beverage Package, unlimited Wi-Fi and gratuities paid on guests’ behalf."

 

Isn't this just the same as Basic or BSE pricing ? Perhaps this is just Princess making this permanent.

[greenie082756]

I am concerned that we would or could loose our OBC if we take the BSE.

Am I understanding that correctly?

It seems that getting the OBC as a stockholder and my husbands military OBC going away if we take this package would be a no brainer. 

[Anubi]

Just remember one very important thing about this.  If they weren't making money they wouldn't be doing it.  Its all about the bottom line...its never in your favour.