Getting Princess Plus on Ship

[PE Cruisers]

Going on Emerald 3/3 and still debating whether or not to upgrade to Princess Plus.I have $450 in OB credit,so I was wondering if it was possible to use that to purchase. We won't have any other use for the OB during cruise.

[wowzz]

17 minutes ago, PE Cruisers said:

Going on Emerald 3/3 and still debating whether or not to upgrade to Princess Plus.I have $450 in OB credit,so I was wondering if it was possible to use that to purchase. We won't have any other use for the OB during cruise.

This question has been asked previously,  and the answer is that no one knows !

It is only from today that it is possible to purchase PP onboard,  so we have to wait for reports back.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, PE Cruisers said:

Going on Emerald 3/3 and still debating whether or not to upgrade to Princess Plus.I have $450 in OB credit,so I was wondering if it was possible to use that to purchase. We won't have any other use for the OB during cruise.

 

54 minutes ago, wowzz said:

This question has been asked previously,  and the answer is that no one knows !

It is only from today that it is possible to purchase PP onboard,  so we have to wait for reports back.

 

That said, it does make 99.9% sense that such a purchase on board will be charged to the stateroom account and hence be offset by any OBC just like are other charges to the cabin.

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

That said, it does make 99.9% sense that such a purchase on board will be charged to the stateroom account and hence be offset by any OBC just like are other charges to the cabin.

I agree, but financially,  from a Princess perspective,  it would be better if obc could not be used. 

[justafem]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I agree, but financially,  from a Princess perspective,  it would be better if obc could not be used. 

But that onboard credit might be the reason some buy plus or premier.  

 

I know on a kinda planned 2024, we should have about a grand in onboard.  If we can utilize that for plus instead of prepurchase, it'll cost us less, without being able to purchase, we might not get it.  We'd be paying about $800 after onboard (16 day cruise).  Then again, we've never had a problem using the onboard and would have more though and online TA if we prepurchase.  Decisions decisions.  

 

We should find out soon. 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, PE Cruisers said:

Going on Emerald 3/3 and still debating whether or not to upgrade to Princess Plus.I have $450 in OB credit, so I was wondering if it was possible to use that to purchase. We won't have any other use for the OB during cruise.

Personally, I doubt you can book it once you're onboard. What would be the advantage for Princess to allow you to purchase the Princess Plus package once you're onboard? If you have done the math and the $60 pp/day was worth it, then my suggestion would be to purchase it prior to the cruise.

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[t&atravel]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Personally, I doubt you can book it once you're onboard. What would be the advantage for Princess to allow you to purchase the Princess Plus package once you're onboard? If you have done the math and the $60 pp/day was worth it, then my suggestion would be to purchase it prior to the cruise.

 

Sorry, but you can purchase onboard starting today.  See FAQ #8

 

1. Can I purchase Princess Plus or Princess Premier when I’m on board?
   Yes. Princess Plus and Princess Premier will be available to purchase on board beginning with voyages sailing 2/20/23 and beyond. You may purchase a package on the first day of your voyage.

[Ken the cruiser]

See next post.

Edited February 20, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, t&atravel said:

Sorry, but you can purchase onboard starting today.  See FAQ #8

 

1. Can I purchase Princess Plus or Princess Premier when I’m on board?
   Yes. Princess Plus and Princess Premier will be available to purchase on board beginning with voyages sailing 2/20/23 and beyond. You may purchase a package on the first day of your voyage.

 

There you go. I stand corrected. I guess they're having trouble selling this package, especially to those that are Platinum and above and aren't really heavy drinkers.🙂

Edited February 20, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 

There you go. I stand corrected. I guess they're having trouble selling this package, especially to those that are Platinum and above and aren't really heavy drinkers.🙂

Actually, I think the reverse is the case. Certainly on European cruises the majority of Brits buy the package because it is such good value.

[Ken the cruiser]

Just now, wowzz said:

Actually, I think the reverse is the case. Certainly on European cruises the majority of Brits buy the package because it is such good value.

Interesting. We're Platinum and get 50% off of an unlimited internet package, which is $7.50 pp/day. Then effective December 14th, for voyages sailing on or after February 20, 2023, daily gratuities for crew will increase to the following amounts:

 

Interior, oceanview, and balcony cabins: $16 per person (is currently $14.50)

Mini Suites and Club Class: $17 per person (is currently $15.50)

Suites: $18 per person (is currently $16.50)

 

Added together, $18 + $7.50 = $25.50 pp/day, which leaves $34.50 pp/day for drinks.

 

When the Plus package was $40 pp/day, that was a no brainer. When it jumped last year to $50 pp/day, it got us thinking, but we still purchased it. However, when it went to $60 pp/day, the math definitely didn't work for us as the likelihood we would drink a minimum of $69 each and every day was not feasible. But then that's us.

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Interesting. We're Platinum and get 50% off of an unlimited internet package, which is $7.50 pp/day. Then effective December 14th, for voyages sailing on or after February 20, 2023, daily gratuities for crew will increase to the following amounts:

 

Interior, oceanview, and balcony cabins: $16 per person (is currently $14.50)

Mini Suites and Club Class: $17 per person (is currently $15.50)

Suites: $18 per person (is currently $16.50)

 

Added together, $18 + $7.50 = $25.50 pp/day, which leaves $34.50 pp/day for drinks.

 

When the Plus package was $40 pp/day, that was a no brainer. When it jumped last year to $50 pp/day, it got us thinking, but we still purchased it. However, when it went to $60 pp/day, the math definitely didn't work for us as the likelihood we would drink a minimum of $69 each and every day was not feasible. But then that's us.

You need to take the fx rate into account for us Brits.  A single glass of wine on Princess, even at the old prices, is the equivalent of £12, when you take the 18% service charge into account. 

Princess Plus costs £50 pppd, so once you have factored in the gratuities, "break even" is only  around three glasses of wine a day. I would drink that number at lunch time ! Plus of course, soft drinks, coffee etc.

And the wifi is to all intents and purposes free.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

You need to take the fx rate into account for us Brits.  A single glass of wine on Princess, even at the old prices, is the equivalent of £12, when you take the 18% service charge into account. 

Princess Plus costs £50 pppd, so once you have factored in the gratuities, "break even" is only  around three glasses of wine a day. I would drink that number at lunch time ! Plus of course, soft drinks, coffee etc.

And the wifi is to all intents and purposes free.

There you go then. For us OTOH I might drink 2 glasses of wine at dinner, a triple Baileys while watching the evening show (only if I have an unlimited drink package), and my DW only drinks water.

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

There you go then. For us OTOH I might drink 2 glasses of wine at dinner, a triple Baileys while watching the evening show (only if I have an unlimited drink package), and my DW only drinks water.

That's the difference ! My wife and I will probably drink 6 or 7 alcoholic drinks each, every night. And the wine pours on Princess are very mean !  

Edited February 20, 2023 by wowzz

[billco]

Currently on the Discovery Princess getting ready to sail the second cruise of our B2B2B2B2B. We had previously purchased the new plus package. But apparently they are having trouble implementing it, so they refunded $10/day/person-$108.00. Yet, we still get the two fitness classes, but none of the other new features. Pretty sure she said it could be purchased with OBC, but I’ll wait until I can actually do it before confirming.

 

By the time we get to the 4th cruise we will have enough OBC to purchase plus packages for the remaining cruises and a history of how much drinking we actually are doing.

Edited February 20, 2023 by billco

[wowzz]

18 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

There you go then. For us OTOH I might drink 2 glasses of wine at dinner, a triple Baileys while watching the evening show (only if I have an unlimited drink package), and my DW only drinks water.

Two other reasons why Brits like the Plus Package.  Many Brits will previously have cruised with P&O (UK) and drinks are roughly twice as expensive on Princess as P&O,  and, of course, P&O long ago did away with autogratuitues. 

[Steelers36]

45 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Added together, $18 + $7.50 = $25.50 pp/day, which leaves $34.50 pp/day for drinks.

For us in steerage, the drinks portion bumps to $36.50/pp/day or $73 combined.   We don't even approach that with Elite mini-bar and especially with BYOW.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

I agree, but financially,  from a Princess perspective,  it would be better if obc could not be used. 

The only item directly charged to a CC on board is the FCD program.  I find it a stretch they will do this with Plus & Premier. 

 

I am sure some/many folks will see it as a way to burn OBC - and that is fine.  I will continue to look at the packages as of no value to us, no matter how they get paid for.  I have better uses for our OBC than burn it on Plus/Premier that don't have value to us personally (don't drink anywhere near enough to justify $73/day combined).

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

The only item directly charged to a CC on board is the FCD program.  I find it a stretch they will do this with Plus & Premier. 

 

I am sure some/many folks will see it as a way to burn OBC - and that is fine.  I will continue to look at the packages as of no value to us, no matter how they get paid for.  I have better uses for our OBC than burn it on Plus/Premier that don't have value to us personally (don't drink anywhere near enough to justify $73/day combined).

Agreed - it all basically depends on drink consumption, be that coffee, soft drinks or alcohol. 

For us the Plus package is a no brainer. 

[justafem]

For us, we frequently have more nonrefundable OBC than we know what to do with (not a bad problem to have).

 

So I'm looking from a purely out of pocket financial decision. On our Jan 31, 2023 cruise we had $800 in onboard, spent $1000 on plus.  Now if we could have used that onboard to offset the cost, that would have dropped our out of pocket to less than gratuities.

 

We would have still do our specialty dining, I would have still ridden a camel (advice, don't go camel riding).  We would have done chefs table, but probably would have not done wine makers (which was crap and I did tell them).  I ended up having to do the casino trick for the last couple hundred.  Yeah, I gambled and was prepared to lose, but it ended up I didn't.  Talk about a happy ending. 

 

And yeah, I drink when on the ship, but rarely in the real world.  Hubs does too.  In fact he broke his own personal record *land and sea* and had 3 booze drinks in one day.  I hit 14 a couple of days.  

 

We get our value.  So looking forward to being able to use the OBC for something we're going to buy either way.