Had a hunch this would happen…price increase for premium wines and liquor?

[dreaminofcruisin]

Really poor choices for Chardonnay lovers. ☹️

There haven't been any included Chardonnays by the glass in Vines since the last time they redid it.

Now it looks like only 1 on the Dining Room menu that will be in the Plus package. That's fine....I can drink that one. However, even pre-Covid, it seems like within a couple of days they would run out of one. So, now if there is only one and they run out within a couple days...there will be none without paying an upcharge. I thought I wouldn't have to carry on wine anymore with the Plus package, but I guess I will have to analyze the cost of carrying on a bottle vs the cost of the upcharges......🙄

 

Really disappointing....

 

[ceilidh1]

11 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

Drink packages are going up on other lines as well. It’s basic economics. As land prices rise so will cruise prices. Princess has one of the cheapest beverage packages Compared to RCI and NCL IMO. Prices below from NCL and RCI (with sale). 

For me, personally, it's less about "cost" and more about "value". I have no idea of the package on RCI but on NCL you have no limit on number of drinks and can get two per transaction (essentially allowing a double highball or a BIG glass of wine...). I recently upgraded to the NCL premium package and this included almost everything (top shelf liquor, Starbucks, bottles of wine at dinner, etc). I didn't have to think about what was included or what wasn't and wasn't hit with any surprise overage charges at the end - that, to me, was worth the cost of the package and upgrade. I would happily (well, maybe not happily) pay for the new Princess package if it had no limitations, but it seems with some of the new pricing that even the higher charged package won't cover it all and the original package is looking to cover much less. I guess we will find out soon once all this kicks in...

[dreaminofcruisin]

20 minutes ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

Really poor choices for Chardonnay lovers. ☹️

There haven't been any included Chardonnays by the glass in Vines since the last time they redid it.

Now it looks like only 1 on the Dining Room menu that will be in the Plus package. That's fine....I can drink that one. However, even pre-Covid, it seems like within a couple of days they would run out of one. So, now if there is only one and they run out within a couple days...there will be none without paying an upcharge. I thought I wouldn't have to carry on wine anymore with the Plus package, but I guess I will have to analyze the cost of carrying on a bottle vs the cost of the upcharges......🙄

 

Really disappointing....

 

 

Even Worse.....

I see that on the Crooners Menu (unless I missed something?), there are ZERO Chardonnays that are not an upcharge. So, I wonder if that is true in every bar? C'mon Princess....give us Chardonnay drinkers some love.....

🥴

 

[HBCcruiser]

48 minutes ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

Really disappointing....

Yeh my favorite Cab - Silverado - is no longer on any list that I see.😞. Guess it's Rodney for me! That and BYO. 

[HBCcruiser]

39 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

. I have no idea of the package on RCI

RCI is unlimited as well. 

[mvaldes140]

We have an Alaskan cruise coming up and are using it as a test to see if plus is worth it for us. We don't normally drink wines, but I'm really curious to see what the cocktails are increasing to. We never tried good spirits before and wanted to try it, but I don't like the principle of them just updating prices without announcing. I guess we always have the elite lounge, but I don't know if we'll do plus again if we have to worry about what's included or not. Thanks for updating us and please lmk if you can find out anything about good spirits or any cocktail increases

[MixerDave]

12 hours ago, c-boy said:

  🤔  so your saying a 40 % increase/glass for  a chardonnay that would cost me fifty dollars a bottle retail ? and by the way I'm on my third glass as we speak 🍷

I'm not sure where you live, but if you are paying $50 For Mer Soleil Chardonnay you are being ripped off.  I can purchase that wine for less than $20.

[Astro Flyer]

12 minutes ago, MixerDave said:

I'm not sure where you live, but if you are paying $50 For Mer Soleil Chardonnay you are being ripped off.  I can purchase that wine for less than $20.

If Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc that’s $27.97 at Total Wine.

[INeedAMaiTai]

3 hours ago, prmssk said:

In this Google Drive Folder, I have uploaded screenshots/photos of menus for Crooners, MDR, and Vines as they were earlier in the week on the Caribbean Princess (folders labeled "old") and then the "new" menus that are now displayed as of yesterday through the QR codes around the ship.  They have not started charging us these new prices that I can see but I understand this is what the menus will look like.

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12whWAkXXP7K8Al6zWXT09134H-8PwZdr?usp=sharing

This is the best!  Thank you!

[c-boy]

9 hours ago, caribill said:

 

And which costs Princess significantly less considering they buy it wholesale with no state or Federal taxes to pay.

we received notification in January of pending increases.  Bottles, corks, label's and shipping all would be increasing. Not only cost increase but, supply shortages.  

[MixerDave]

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

If Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc that’s $27.97 at Total Wine.

The poster referred to a chardonnay

[Astro Flyer]

3 minutes ago, MixerDave said:

The poster referred to a chardonnay

Opps…my bad! 🥴 I mistakenly looked up that one which was another example the author used.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

the excess plus tax

 

No tax.

 

The excess plus 18% gratuity.

[Alaskanb]

I will continue to do as usual -- purchase the basic cruise package, carry-on 1 or 2 bottles of a wine I enjoy to drink in our cabin pre dinner, and have a very occasional cocktail of some sort. Keeping it simple. 😀

[Astro Flyer]

20 minutes ago, Alaskanb said:

I will continue to do as usual -- purchase the basic cruise package, carry-on 1 or 2 bottles of a wine I enjoy to drink in our cabin pre dinner, and have a very occasional cocktail of some sort. Keeping it simple. 😀

Me too…also my 10 bottles of beer for each cruise as an elite benefit. 🍻

[JF - retired RRT]

33 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

No tax.

 

The excess plus 18% gratuity.

You're right. Brain fart

[Astro Flyer]

39 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Opps…my bad! 🥴 I mistakenly looked up that one which was another example the author used.

Mer Soleil Chardonnay is $19.99 at Total Wine.

[loge23]

Princess has eliminated the very popular Vines venue on all of their newest ships. As I'm fond of telling, the Vines was mentioned by then-President Jan Schwartz as her favorite venue onboard in one of those ill-fated Princess Live chats during the early days of the pandemic. So go figure...

For all the Cloudy Bay fans out there, may I suggest the Sancerre, still at $12 under the new pricing - a little different style for a Sauvignon Blanc than the citrusy New Zealand style, but very good all the same. Certainly well worth it compared to the more recognizable name of Cloudy Bay.

The Montagny, at $13 per glass, is a reasonable alternative for Mer Soleil as well - 100% chardonnay, albeit again in a different, more nuanced style. 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by loge23
addition

[MommyOTwins]

I think what makes this so frustrating is we paid in full for our cruise with plus before all this got announced.  To do the right thing here, they really should have grandfathered in guests who had already purchased plus to premier or provide an opportunity for us to downgrade to standard and get a refund.  With three out of six in out party who don’t drink alcohol, it originally squeaked by as a good overall value because it was such a good deal for the drinkers. With the extra cost per drink, the drinkers will order fewer drinks and it won’t be a good value any more. 

[toofewcruises]

18 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

I, too, suspected this would happen...I'm trying REALLY hard to stick with Princess, but they are making it tough!

Unfortunately, I think this is going to happen across all of the cruise lines.  I know that drink prices are already higher on Celebrity and RC...  

[toofewcruises]

3 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Me too…also my 10 bottles of beer for each cruise as an elite benefit. 🍻

No thanks, I hate beer!

[toofewcruises]

4 hours ago, INeedAMaiTai said:

This is the best!  Thank you!

This is great.  It looks like there will still be plenty to drink within the Plus package!