6 weeks into new PLUS/PREMIER- Reviews Please

[warren buffet]

Just now, startedwithamouse said:

Just finishing a B2B on Discovery. Our account statement is a few dollars. We had OBC for both and missed port refund for the first voyage and we ate at Salty Dog and Crown Grill. We like the food at the Bistro, but the location is like a mall. 

 

We have Plus, and didn't try the new desserts. They just didn't look good at all, and I'm saving carbs and calories for alcohol. The juice bar offerings are delicious and a welcome reset/refuel. We each had three to four each per day, early morning, after workout (class or treadmill) and with breakfast. Booster and rejuvenator are the best, with little sugar. The classes, there didn't seem to be a lot of "im trying the class just because I have the package" cruisers. Maybe a couple were new to the Barre workout and Yoga was Yoga 101, very basic. Premier seats for the shows, we probably saw 10 or so each night go to the premier seats before they opened up to other passengers.  

the thing is a juice bar with the same stuff is included with celebrity with the base cruise fare. i believe basic yoga and basic arobics classes used to be included free (before 2020) once a day on the main pool deck in the early morning right?    They basically raised the price 20 percent of plus. raised it over inflation and having these previously included in the basic fare things to justify it. They are still less price than other cruise lines all included packages but i highly suspect princess and holland america customers drink less than cruisers on most other lines. older crowd for most princess cruises as a whole. right? 

[DUCHESSRN]

I saw some of the deserts on Discover ,we do not get the Plus as I am Insulin Dependant Diabetic . 
The poor server at the gelato bar was taking several minutes to make each desert , each one had 2 huge lollipops sticking out of the top . 
I did get the Old Soda package that no longer exists .

 

[startedwithamouse]

40 minutes ago, warren buffet said:

the thing is a juice bar with the same stuff is included with celebrity with the base cruise fare. i believe basic yoga and basic arobics classes used to be included free (before 2020) once a day on the main pool deck in the early morning right?    They basically raised the price 20 percent of plus. raised it over inflation and having these previously included in the basic fare things to justify it. They are still less price than other cruise lines all included packages but i highly suspect princess and holland america customers drink less than cruisers on most other lines. older crowd for most princess cruises as a whole. right? 

We've always paid for fitness classes in the gym on Princess. No idea about drinking, we have fun and drink and don't see many not drinking. 

[startedwithamouse]

42 minutes ago, warren buffet said:

the thing is a juice bar with the same stuff is included with celebrity with the base cruise fare. i believe basic yoga and basic arobics classes used to be included free (before 2020) once a day on the main pool deck in the early morning right?    They basically raised the price 20 percent of plus. raised it over inflation and having these previously included in the basic fare things to justify it. They are still less price than other cruise lines all included packages but i highly suspect princess and holland america customers drink less than cruisers on most other lines. older crowd for most princess cruises as a whole. right? 

Is celebrity higher priced standard fare than princess?

[warren buffet]

Just now, startedwithamouse said:

Is celebrity higher priced standard fare than princess?

for a short period, celebrity was quoting fares only with tips and drinks included. they received blowback on that, so after a few months they went back to pricing on their website similar to princess. there is a base fare and then if you hit all included it adds approx 70 to 80 dollars a day for tips and drinks up to 15 dollars and basic wi-fi. basically princess plus but its 70-80 dollars a day(changes based on sailing) instead of 60 a day.       they may lower that on occasion if the sailing has a low amount of cabins sold, but not that often.                              

[warren buffet]

Just now, startedwithamouse said:

We've always paid for fitness classes in the gym on Princess. No idea about drinking, we have fun and drink and don't see many not drinking. 

people on princess drink but do they drink as much as on carnival and royal carribean ships? for those 21 and over probably not. 

[kinca]

Has there been any promotions where the Plus package was thrown in for free?

[caribill]

3 hours ago, warren buffet said:

do you think only people who get at least plus get to use the medallian? everyone gets once and can order from it even if on a base cruise fare.  

 

And everyone gets the opportunity to order a beverage and never have it delivered.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

On 4/7/2023 at 8:29 PM, FrankieJayIII said:

It's been 6 weeks since the new plus and premier packages have been released and there are cruisers who have had experiences with Plus VS. Premier...

 

Including differences.   Account charges at the end... etc.

 

What are your thoughts now that you have had a chance to EXPERIENCE the levels of service?

 

I’ve sailed with Standard, Plus and Premier.  
 

All my future bookings are now Standard. I always have enough OBC to pay for grats, corkage for the wine I bring onboard and the odd cocktail or two. Also my phone works in all ports so I don’t need WiFi but my OBC usually covers it if I do. The wine offerings, for my tastebuds and preferences, are awful and just getting worse since last fall.  
 

The ships have maybe one or 2 white wine by the glass at any price in stock that I like. Not love, just will drink. Occasionally I hunt down a random bottle left over from before the decimation of their wine offerings. But those will be non existent soon if not already.  I love red wine but it does not agree with me. I have tasted many of the reds and those offerings on premier are pretty good. If I could stick to red (or cocktails) I’d be fine with the Premier reds.   But the reds on Plus are plonk in my opinion for my tastes. 
 

I also like my wine in a glass without a rolled lip. It’s a struggle on princess to get a “good” glass outside of MDR or vines. I really get tired of begging for a good glass and “can you please see if you have anything else?”
 

Wine is just as subjective as food. There are some who think the included wines at Plus  are just fine. The Cattier Champagne on premier is good but I got so very tired of it after a week and I had 3 more days to go. 
 

It has been getting harder and harder to book specialty dining once on board at my preferred time of 6:30. With all those Premium packages including 2 nights, it’s bound to stay that way.  For me one night in specialty dining at most is enough and I really don’t miss it when I don’t get it included. I used to do the chef table or winemaker dinner but it’s all just too much food and wine. 

 

Having the included photos was fun. I took pictures with other passengers and crew and then gave the pictures away to the people who didn’t have the package as I had the digital. Normally you can’t get pictures with crew included but we got permission.  But I absolutely would not have paid for this nor missed it if I didn’t have premier. 

Premier was nice as it gave me a sense of “all access” on that sailing. Plus is nice because it gives a worry free end of cruise bill. Standard is nice because it saves so much money especially if you sail a lot like I do. 
 

Just my 2 cents. 
 

 

 

[Buckeye10640]

On 4/8/2023 at 9:14 AM, drk said:

We are just off the Regal and had the Plus package.  Went to the Gelato place and asked if I could get a 2 scoop gelato ($4) instead of the big $10 included dessert and was politely told know.  Makes no sense.

Now thats ridiculous. Just order the fancy premium gelato 'dessert'  with the topping, sauce, lolipops, and candy on the side!

[toeloop]

15 hours ago, kinca said:

Has there been any promotions where the Plus package was thrown in for free?

Yes.  Our Med sailing this summer included the Plus  package for free.

 

[LAX-HKG]

Just sailed on the Discovery last week and had the “Plus” package.

 

Loved the fact that gratuity was included.

 

Wifi was terrible. Could not even download my emails.

 

Gelato was good.  I was allowed to get the gelato “only” without all of the extra toppings.  Although I did “share” a couple of those premium desserts with my 10 years old daughter.  Even with her help we couldn’t finish it on one setting.  Like a couple other people mentioned the Gelato counter was grossly understaffed.  The line for gelato would often grow to 10-15 people.

 

I am a huge fan of coffee and wine.  Those beverages were the primary reasons for getting the plus package.  Almost every day my wife and I would get a couple drinks from the juice bar in the morning.  We would order a couple cocktails when we were lounging by the pool.  A couple glasses of wine to pair with the food during dinner.  I would also get a nightcap whenever I was at the Take Five jazz lounge.  As for coffee I would get 4-5 cappuccino throughout the day.

 

The quality of the drinks in general were disappointing.  The best cappuccino I had was the one I got while I was touring Mazatlan; the espresso drinks tasted “bland” even when I ordered double shots.  The concoctions from the juice bar were actually quite good.  The wines, though, were disappointing on the “plus” package.  I did pay the up charge several times to get wines from the premier list.  A couple whites were pretty good but the reds were mostly “meh”.  Most of the cocktails we got were average at best.  The ones ordered through the app were literally “water down” from the melting of the ice because it would take 20-30 minutes for delivery.  Even the ones we got directly from the bar weren’t that much better.  There were a couple good ones from the Good Spirits and the bar by the retreat pool but that’s about it.

 

I certainly got my money’s worth.  Just wish that the quality of the beverages would be better.

[GetGlowing]

If you have Plus or Premier, is there anything in your cabin when you board explaining of your inclusions? I sailed last year with that Plus package included but don't remember anything in my cabin. However now there are all the extra inclusions like the desserts and reserved seating. Thanks. 

[cr8tiv1]

13 minutes ago, GetGlowing said:

If you have Plus or Premier, is there anything in your cabin when you board explaining of your inclusions? I sailed last year with that Plus package included but don't remember anything in my cabin. However now there are all the extra inclusions like the desserts and reserved seating. Thanks. 

 

There is nothing in your cabin stating what is included in your beverage package.  Too many variables.  Plus/Premier : before or after increase in price.  Best to take a hard copy of what you ordered.

 

Definitely wifi and crew appreciation is in each package.

[xamsx]

On 4/8/2023 at 11:45 PM, startedwithamouse said:

Is celebrity higher priced standard fare than princess?

IMO, yes. We cruise mainly on Celebrity, but they made some major (negative) changes on Jan 1, and our December cruise vs our March cruise was a noticeable difference.  My husband and I have decided that Celebrity is no longer worth the upcharge. While we do have an X cruise booked (and a Princess cruise booked), we are branching out further to see if we want to pay up for a better room on Princess or Royal Caribbean (if they cut things on X, I am afraid of what RCCL may have done to Royal Caribbean), or simply go to Sebourn or Oceania.
 

[gah_cruise]

On 4/11/2023 at 9:12 AM, GetGlowing said:

If you have Plus or Premier, is there anything in your cabin when you board explaining of your inclusions? 

On the App

OceanReady>Folio, Pacakges & Prizes>Packages
Will show what you have available and the beverage allowances

 

[Jadn13]

I’m curious if the included classes in the pkg are these that I see on my Journey view or others? These are marked, fee applies? 
30 min yoga class, in the past they were an hour. I wouldn’t pay for a 30 min class as that’s just a warm up.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Jadn13

[tonit964]

On 4/8/2023 at 3:05 PM, Ellipooh said:

Does someone have a picture of one of these monster desserts? I’m really curious after reading this thread…

[travelin.sisters]

1 hour ago, tonit964 said:

[PMGS247]

Just got off Discovery Princess, had Plus.

 

TLDR: Definitely got my money's worth, but that's not without some small gripes.

 

Gratuities - once you take this out of the cost the package it doesn't take a whole lot of alcohol/coffee/juices to cover the remainder.

 

Wifi - This is a great inclusion in the package because I'd definitely buy it separately if it weren't included.  Having said that, it is downright atrocious.  I figured out a couple days into the cruise that the network was losing track of my phone, which is to say it would suddenly not recognize my phone and treat it as an additional device.  Since I only had 1 device included the wifi wouldn't work other than the medallion app.  To fix this I just had to go into the app, go to medallionnet, and click the "swap" button to take over as the active device.  I say all this to point out that even at it's absolute best when 2/3 of the pax are not on board because you're at a port, it still runs VERY slow...it's almost insulting to jump through hoops just to scrape out what was really really slow internet even at its fastest.  It's still a good inclusion in the package though.....I would buy it again even knowing its bad.  Good for anyone who can disconnect for the entire week or live entirely on wifi found at ports, but that's not me.

 

Drink quality - My wife is the coffee drinker and more regular wine drinker.  She was underwhelmed by both.  Not terrible, checked the box for the occasion, but "meh" is a good word, especially the coffee.  I laughed when she was so thrilled with the iced latte she got at the coffee shop in LAX before our flight home...it was clearly a huge relief after mediocre versions all week.  Described the Princess ones as too sweet.  She did enjoy the wine on board more than the coffee.  For me the Americano I got each morning was quite enjoyable....I'm sure compared to a legit coffee house making a real Americano it was underwhelming but compared to my usual K-cup and powdered creamer, it was a nice upgrade every morning.  As for alcohol the cocktails did always feel very weak.  I must have a strong hand at home...just about knocked my own socks off first drink I made after the cruise after drinking theirs all week.  I also enjoy a good beer but that's a never ending cruise gripe; it's just not a good vacation style if you're looking for interesting beers.  The weak drinks and lack of good beer choices are problems as old as time, but as true as ever.  Most frustrating part was the one or two semi-interesting beers were usually out of stock at whatever bar you were at.

 

We did have a couple drinks charged to the room...I do wonder if we got screwed a little by overusing one or the other of our phones to put in drink orders resulting in a lopsided drink count for one of us.  There's no way either of us hit 15 on any given day but whenever we ordered drinks we would do it on one phone to be efficient.

 

Premium Desserts - we were able to just get two scoops of Gelato and they didn't show up on our room charges.  The premium desserts looked completely over the top...we knew we were risking getting charged but it wasn't worth worrying too much about.

[CruisinFinsUp]

I found these photos someone posted on another site. 

 

We always got the old Plus fare ... for years now ...  I enjoy lots of coffees, we both enjoy trying different drinks throughout the day, add wifi and tips and its a no brainer.   So based on the Princess prices of all the individual things we definitely came out ahead.  

 

I'm not looking forward to the new wine list for Plus - they can't even tell us what wines anymore???    We noticed last year March 2022  when we cruised last that the wine selection was very thin.   At least half of the menu was "not available" and they blamed suppliers.   Maybe this is a way to deal with the supply chain fluctuations.    I understand if they get different supplies each ship and need to change out the brand for the "Pinot" or whatever but don't want to print new menus.   

But if its really crap or "Princess" brand, I'm going to be really disappointed.    Have to see next month when we cruise again. 

 

The juices look interesting. Maybe too sweet depending. 

 

The desserts look overwhelming.   We used to get one little scoop of gelato each cruise and that was plenty.   Not sure if we'll bother with these, even with "hold the toppings" !   We'll see.   

 

[dreaminofcruisin]

18 hours ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

 

 

 

If these are signs posted onboard,that is concerning.

In both cases, they indicate that they are included with Plus and Premier. That is only true if you have purchased the packages under the most recent price increases....to my knowledge. There are going to be some annoyed people if they bought them pre-price increase, buy them and get charged for them. Princess really ought to just grandfather the old priced plans into the new benefits.

Otherwise....just another mess by Princess....

 

[FrankieJayIII]

this will all run out and to avoid that those people should either be automatically upgraded at no charge and princess eat it

 

or force the charge to the account backed by OBC

 

or keep dealing with the fall out 

[PensFan1028]

Just got off of the Regal two weeks ago, we tried Premier mainly because some of the drinks we wanted on our previous cruise were just out of range and we like to have a little better wine choices.

 

Drink prices have gone up from last year to this year $3 each across the board. When it comes to ordering through the app there is an absolute obvious difference between the new ships that had this technology built in vs. the ones that didn't. We were on the Enchanted last year and received our drinks within 5 - 10 minutes tops once the server knew where you were. On the Regal upwards of 30 minutes or more, almost consistently, had several very warm beers or drinks that the ice had nearly all melted. An earlier post said it seemed like every passenger had a package, I have to agree with that. The pool bars couldn't keep up. The rude people that could clearly see 10 other people waiting that would walk up and bark their order was a constant. The old days of sliding a card seemed to be faster (again, different experience on Enchanted). 

 

Didn't get a single fancy dessert, wasn't really interested.

 

Did use our two specialty dining's, Crown Grill was disappointing. Had we not eaten Sabatini's until the last night I may have paid to eat there every night. 

 

Did order soda (canned and not) and bottled water with every drink order, no problem.

 

Did order two drinks at a time on one medallion, no problem. Issues came with where you were and what you could order. If you were at the retreat pool lets say and ordered something that may only be made at the wheelhouse bar, they would tell you they couldn't make it. I'm fine with this but there is nowhere in the menu that says what is available in your location at the time.

 

Bars other than pool did seem well stocked and with premier, I tried a few of the higher shelf items.

 

Only hit our 15 drink max twice, Princess Cays day and 1st sea day but still feel the package is worth it. Sticking to the Plus package in September because we plan to be off the ship most of the time in New England/Canada.

 

 

 

[xamsx]

21 hours ago, PMGS247 said:

Just got off Discovery Princess, had Plus.

 

Wifi - This is a great inclusion in the package because I'd definitely buy it separately if it weren't included.  Having said that, it is downright atrocious.  I figured out a couple days into the cruise that the network was losing track of my phone, which is to say it would suddenly not recognize my phone and treat it as an additional device.  Since I only had 1 device included the wifi wouldn't work other than the medallion app.  To fix this I just had to go into the app, go to medallionnet, and click the "swap" button to take over as the active device.  I say all this to point out that even at it's absolute best when 2/3 of the pax are not on board because you're at a port, it still runs VERY slow...it's almost insulting to jump through hoops just to scrape out what was really really slow internet even at its fastest.  It's still a good inclusion in the package though.....I would buy it again even knowing its bad.  Good for anyone who can disconnect for the entire week or live entirely on wifi found at ports, but that's not me.

Does Princess offer a way to upgrade to faster internet?