Upgrade from plus to premium on existing booking in July Princess said you have to rebook.

[MarkE]

Just got off phone with Princess about possibly upgrading my existing plus package to the new Premier package pm my previously booked July  cruise on the Carribean Princess.  Agent said I would have to cancel my existing booking and rebook entire cruise to a premium package.  I asked can I pay the difference between what I paid for plus ($40 a day pp) to the premium price of $75 per day or 

an additional $35 per day pp.  she said no it would cost me $1,000 additional to my existing cruise fare. I was in shock I said I can’t believe I could not buy up I was more than willing to pay the difference of plans, but losing my great price of cruise and plus package I have 1000 extra made no sense.   I would think they would want guests to try new package and offer it to those already booked at a fair upgrade pricing.. what are your thoughts, if I am wrong please explain why.  

[miagirl]

I looked into the pricing just because I was curious.  in comparing P-Plus to P-Premier it also looked to be to be about a $20-25 dollar difference.  So I looked at the current fares for my 7 day cruise.  Around $400 pp  more between Plus and Premier!  Then I read the "terms and conditions" of this door game they have included.  If I read it right,  only one person per enrolled stateroom is eligible to "win" so if they both purchased Premier, one loses out on one of the "benefits"  oh, and the door game only is played in international waters.  I don't mind splashing out on vacation, but that is ridiclous!

[prmssk]

Their FAQ say you can upgrade for $25/person/day.

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions/plus-premier-cruise-packages/

[Sunwanabe]

30 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Their FAQ say you can upgrade for $25/person/day.

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions/plus-premier-cruise-packages/

We have July 2022 cruise with plus and got notice today re upgrade. As per above additional $25/day/pp

[miagirl]

thanks!  I guess this is just the usual lack of communication to the customer service people and it's not available on-line.  

[bafinegan]

14 minutes ago, Sunwanabe said:

We have July 2022 cruise with plus and got notice today re upgrade. As per above additional $25/day/pp

Did the math and even if drink prices increased, we would have to each drink 8 alcoholic drinks a day each just to break even.  The literature states one pays the difference (+extra gratuities on the price increase).  Seeing as our go to drinks are mojitoes, margeritas  and bloody mary's, I think we will just keep the plus package and pay the difference for the few specialty drinks we order

[Eno]

Nothing seems to be correct.

FAQs - 

Are third and fourth guests required to purchase the same package (Princess Plus or Princess Premier)?
Third and fourth guests are not required or defaulted to the selected package of first and second guests in a stateroom. Should your 3rd and 4th guests want to opt in to receive the items you will need to contact Princess or your Travel Advisor to have it applied to the booking.

 

Yesterday if you booked Plus all three guests received WIFI, Crew Appreciation, Drink Pkg and OBC of 50.00.

Today if you book Plus all three guests receive WIFI and Drink Pkg no Crew Appreciation or OBC.

If you book Premium, third guest receives nothing.

[Dar & Bob]

9 minutes ago, Eno said:

Nothing seems to be correct.

FAQs - 

Are third and fourth guests required to purchase the same package (Princess Plus or Princess Premier)?
Third and fourth guests are not required or defaulted to the selected package of first and second guests in a stateroom. Should your 3rd and 4th guests want to opt in to receive the items you will need to contact Princess or your Travel Advisor to have it applied to the booking.

 

Yesterday if you booked Plus all three guests received WIFI, Crew Appreciation, Drink Pkg and OBC of 50.00.

Today if you book Plus all three guests receive WIFI and Drink Pkg no Crew Appreciation or OBC.

If you book Premium, third guest receives nothing.

Juat looked at a Caribbean cruise we have bee thinking about and the Plus package still includes the Crew Appreciation and the OBC.  I did not check for 3rd person

Plus vs Premier.pdf

[HBCcruiser]

My TA said if I had to re-book it would cost more than the $25 a day. Crazy! Princess needs to do what NCL does - allow pre-booked passengers to pay the upgrade fee online. It is not rocket science. 🙄

[Eno]

Yes, the changes they made are only for 3rd and 4th guests.  

 

[HBCcruiser]

My TA was able to reach a supervisor and they figured it out. Your TA just needs to enter a code and it will charge you and passenger #2 the extra $25 a day to upgrade. 

From my TA - 

"We can enter a code in for Passenger 1 & 2 or all 3 and it is $25 per person per day but has to be done for both passenger 1 & 2."

[brisalta]

https://www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions/plus-premier-cruise-packages/#terms-and-conditions

 shows that it is a $25 a day upgrade from Plus to Premium.

 

The following is from https://www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions/plus-premier-cruise-packages/#compare-packages  and compares the various fare programs:

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by brisalta

[HBCcruiser]

My TA upgraded us for our 10-day cruise in December. The cost was $25.00 per day per person. We drink high end wines so it’s worth it to us. This is what my new Summary states. Interesting when you see the value they give each add on. 😳

[cr8tiv1]

7 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

My TA said if I had to re-book it would cost more than the $25 a day. Crazy! Princess needs to do what NCL does - allow pre-booked passengers to pay the upgrade fee online. It is not rocket science. 🙄

 

Again, I wish there was some consistency.  

 

Before announced change, I asked my TA to add Princess Plus to my basic fare for next summer.  Seh went through hoops, but was able to add it for $40/day/pp.

 

After announcement but before increase on 5/25, I as asked my TA to do the same for another cruise  (actually almost identical itinerary as summer) in the fall.  She talked to everyone she could.  No can do.  I would have to rebook.  No thank you.  

 

You would think Princess would welcome the modifications if it increased their revenue.  

 

I enjoyed the one time I had Princess Plus, but for me, it isn't a deal breaker since I am not a drinker.  

 

How come we know more than Princess reps do?  Rhetorical question...no answer expected.

 

 

[MarkE]

I received a call from another Princess agent yesterday afternoon after I posted my concern about having to re book rather than upgrade.  She stated they had seen my post on CC and her supervisor asked her to call me, she said I could just upgrade the package for $35 per day per person.  That seems like a fair deal if you are interested.  I asked 2 additional questions , Do both guest in the same room get to participate in the prizes when door opens, she did not now If you pay for the upgrade both should be entered I would think.  I asked what are the free spins in the casino and are they unlimited, she did not kinow.  She said it was just the first day I know they told us about this 2 weeks ago, shouold have done better training in advance of kick off.  Well we are thinking of trying the premier just to try some better wines hope we dont get onboard and they tell us we dont have any due to supply chain problems, would not surprise me. 

[Eno]

So the upgrade is $25.00 per day per person and people are doing this now, but they want to charge you $35.00 per person.  Sounds like still confusion. 

[USCcruisecrazy]

18 hours ago, MarkE said:

Just got off phone with Princess about possibly upgrading my existing plus package to the new Premier package pm my previously booked July  cruise on the Carribean Princess.  Agent said I would have to cancel my existing booking and rebook entire cruise to a premium package.  I asked can I pay the difference between what I paid for plus ($40 a day pp) to the premium price of $75 per day or 

an additional $35 per day pp.  she said no it would cost me $1,000 additional to my existing cruise fare. I was in shock I said I can’t believe I could not buy up I was more than willing to pay the difference of plans, but losing my great price of cruise and plus package I have 1000 extra made no sense.   I would think they would want guests to try new package and offer it to those already booked at a fair upgrade pricing.. what are your thoughts, if I am wrong please explain why.  

Is the cruise a 14 day?  If so, your $35 PP per day comes out to the $1000 (roughly) that you were quoted.  I think the biggest issue I'd have in that case is by suggesting I need to re-book, I'd potentially lose my current location.  Of course, it seems like others have been quoted $25 (based on the current difference in the two choices...although it was $40 when we booked).  I'd definitely call Princess back and speak with someone else.

[USCcruisecrazy]

50 minutes ago, Eno said:

So the upgrade is $25.00 per day per person and people are doing this now, but they want to charge you $35.00 per person.  Sounds like still confusion. 

The current difference is $25 but the original Princess Plus was $40 not $50.  I think that's were the confusion arises.

[uspearls]

9 minutes ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

The current difference is $25 but the original Princess Plus was $40 not $50.  I think that's were the confusion arises.

..and looking at my upcoming Island 16 night cruise, if I did a new booking today it would only be $10/day pp  more for Premier (for either a balcony or mini suite)!  That's a good deal.

[prmssk]

13 minutes ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

The current difference is $25 but the original Princess Plus was $40 not $50.  I think that's were the confusion arises.

See my post #3 that screenshots the FAQ where Princess clearly says the cost to upgrade is $25. Additionally, all promotional materials released in the last few weeks have quoted a $25 upgrade cost. But if people would rather pay $35…..

 

That said, I do encourage checking prices on your specific cruise first. Princess Premium on my cruise for my room category is only about $19 per person per day over what I am currently paying for Princess Plus (and what Princess Plus is currently advertised for).  Others have shown examples where the spread between Plus and Premier  is $40 or more. It seems to vary a lot.  And in many cases base fares have gone up a lot since people booked. 

[USCcruisecrazy]

2 minutes ago, prmssk said:

See my post #3 that screenshots the FAQ where Princess clearly says the cost to upgrade is $25. Additionally, all promotional materials released in the last few weeks have quoted a $25 upgrade cost. But if people would rather pay $35…..

 

That said, I do encourage checking prices on your specific cruise first. Princess Premium on my cruise for my room category is only about $19 per person per day over what I am currently paying for Princess Plus (and what Princess Plus is currently advertised for).  Others have shown examples where the spread between Plus and Premier  is $40 or more. It seems to vary a lot.  And in many cases base fares have gone up a lot since people booked. 

Yeah, I got that.  I was trying to show how the Princess Rep on the phone may have been confused, because the cruise was purchased based on $40 per day and now the upgraded version is $74 a day...thus the $35 difference.  You make a great point, though, that based on the specific cruise, the actual cost may be less than the published difference.  Cheers!

[Cuedon]

21 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

My TA upgraded us for our 10-day cruise in December. The cost was $25.00 per day per person. We drink high end wines so it’s worth it to us. This is what my new Summary states. Interesting when you see the value they give each add on. 😳

Waitwaitwait-- MNet WiFi (1-DEVICE)? 

 

The new package is supposed to be 4-devices I thought? 

 

Edit: Never mind, that must be what the MNet device upgrade is... Conveniently NOT listed right next to the 1-device entry. 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Cuedon

[azbirdmom]

I listened to a Princess webinar today and among other things they discussed the changes to the packages.  Thought this slide with the codes might be helpful in case others run into agents unclear on how to upgrade.  (Standard = the old Saver as in fare only).

 

[cr8tiv1]

Thank you for posting the slide.  BUT...my TA was told she could not add Princess Plus to existing fare (before it switched from $40 to $50).  She is also a miracle worker and I know she tried hard.  I wish Princess would get their act together (oh, have I said this before???).

[chamima]

22 hours ago, MarkE said:

I received a call from another Princess agent yesterday afternoon after I posted my concern about having to re book rather than upgrade.  She stated they had seen my post on CC and her supervisor asked her to call me, she said I could just upgrade the package for $35 per day per person.  That seems like a fair deal if you are interested.  I asked 2 additional questions , Do both guest in the same room get to participate in the prizes when door opens, she did not now If you pay for the upgrade both should be entered I would think.  I asked what are the free spins in the casino and are they unlimited, she did not kinow.  She said it was just the first day I know they told us about this 2 weeks ago, shouold have done better training in advance of kick off.  Well we are thinking of trying the premier just to try some better wines hope we dont get onboard and they tell us we dont have any due to supply chain problems, would not surprise me. 

 

I also think the second agent is wrong and you should be able to to upgrade for $25/day.

 

But is no one concerned about how Princess was able to get the OP's real name and phone number when we're supposed to be semi-anonymous on here??????? 😮

(I know the CC administrators have our info but this was Princess, not CC)