To Plus or not to Plus.., our experience

[Mary loves to travel]

2 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

We do not drink alcohol drinks. Wife does drink coffee, and we have soft drinks. But even if we did drink, the packages are nothing but a money making option for the cruise line.  If you look at all the time off the ship in port, it makes it even more to that you should not fall for purchasing the packages. 

 

For many people, what you say is very true.   We always pay the tips, must have internet, and are light drinkers.   At $40 pp/day, it was a break even situation.    Now that we qualify for half price internet, and they've dramatically raised the package prices ($40 to $60 is a 50% increase), it no longer makes sense for us.    Oh, sure the "convenience" of ordering what we like without worrying is nice and all, but not worth $10-25/day for each of us.   Yes, we "did the math" 🙂

[Coral]

6 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

For many people, what you say is very true.   We always pay the tips, must have internet, and are light drinkers.   At $40 pp/day, it was a break even situation.    Now that we qualify for half price internet, and they've dramatically raised the package prices ($40 to $60 is a 50% increase), it no longer makes sense for us.    Oh, sure the "convenience" of ordering what we like without worrying is nice and all, but not worth $10-25/day for each of us.   Yes, we "did the math" 🙂

I am in your situation. I don't drink alcohol and hate the price increase but may do it next week for the convenience. Still debating..... I have a ton of OBC, otherwise, I probably wouldn't even be thinking of it. My thought was that if I don't do it - I just won't order any drinks (mocktails, fresh squeezed OJ, etc...) and will stick with water... So it is difficult for me to do the math.

[wowzz]

I do think that the packages are not for everyone. 

But just to blithely say that they are not worth buying, even for drinkers, is plain wrong.

[mtnesterz]

If you just look at the math, it overlooks that, in a nutshell, Princess wants to sell you a vacation which visits ports, but the ship becomes the destination for your money. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

If you buy Plus or Premium and you drink and you go ashore. You create a problem for yourself because always in the back of your mind, your drinks are pre-paid for on the ship.  So if you go ashore, you don't eat and drink, or shop, as you might when you are, after all, paying to vacation at that port of call.

 

Princess says this exactly on their website: "Cruise Packages: Save on the Things You're Gonna Do Anyway." In other words, spend your money with us. So when you buy Premier, you pre-pay your specialty dining onboard rather than enjoying ashore. You have specialty desserts onboard, instead of those treats you might run into ashore, and so on...

Look at the math if you want to, but I think more relevent to ask yourself if the ship is a conveyance to your vacation or is the ship itself your vacation. A package could work for us on a repositioning cruise, a TA or the TP we're on in April.  But a port intensive cruise, we'll keep our money and spend it ashore.

 

[Mary loves to travel]

Just now, Coral said:

I am in your situation. I don't drink alcohol and hate the price increase but may do it next week for the convenience. Still debating..... I have a ton of OBC, otherwise, I probably wouldn't even be thinking of it. My thought was that if I don't do it - I just won't order any drinks (mocktails, fresh squeezed OJ, etc...) and will stick with water... So it is difficult for me to do the math.

Yes, it can take a few minutes to do the math.

the Platinum 4-device internet is $10 per person per day.

Tips are $16 per person per day.

So, with the basic package @ $60 per day, we'd each have to drink $34 in bottled water, coffees, mixed drinks, wine, soda, etc.   Every single day.   We just don't drink that much!

Pre-paid for a couple of the 12-packs of water at $7 each.

 

For people who drink a lot of bottled water, coffees, sodas, alcoholic beverages, the package can make sense.    For us, not.    Seeing the daily spend needed to break even convinced me.

 

Best,

Mary

 

[Coral]

6 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

Yes, it can take a few minutes to do the math.

the Platinum 4-device internet is $10 per person per day.

Tips are $16 per person per day.

So, with the basic package @ $60 per day, we'd each have to drink $34 in bottled water, coffees, mixed drinks, wine, soda, etc.   Every single day.   We just don't drink that much!

Pre-paid for a couple of the 12-packs of water at $7 each.

 

For people who drink a lot of bottled water, coffees, sodas, alcoholic beverages, the package can make sense.    For us, not.    Seeing the daily spend needed to break even convinced me.

 

Best,

Mary

 

I can do the math and I know it won't come out in my favor.

 

Though - if I don't buy the plus, I will end up being cheap and just drink water all the time which is what I normally drink in real life.

 

I don't drink alcohol or coffee products. I do like hot chocolate (and will be in Alaska), mocktails and fresh squeezed OJ (a treat). And I am on vacation, right?

 

If I don't get the plus, I will probably feel guilty ordering a drink as I think they are overpriced and stick with water.

 

I know it is a mind thing. The only reason I am considering it is that I have $600 OBC.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Coral

[wowzz]

18 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

If you buy Plus or Premium and you drink and you go ashore. You create a problem for yourself because always in the back of your mind, your drinks are pre-paid for on the ship.  So if you go ashore, you don't eat and drink, or shop, as you might when you are, after all, paying to vacation at that port of call.

Whole lot of assumptions there, none of which apply to us.

When we go ashore, we eat and drink as we wish, regardless of the package.

Still have 6 or 7 alcoholic drinks each,  during the evening.

 

 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, MTNest93 said:

I’m just happy our Plus packages are included at no additional cost as a gift from our TA.  No math required 😀

I'm sure if you priced out the cruise with another TA, you would find that your TA's price was very high. No TA can afford to give their customers a gift of that size. There just isn't that much profit to be made in booking cruises.

 

[memoak]

29 minutes ago, Coral said:

I am in your situation. I don't drink alcohol and hate the price increase but may do it next week for the convenience. Still debating..... I have a ton of OBC, otherwise, I probably wouldn't even be thinking of it. My thought was that if I don't do it - I just won't order any drinks (mocktails, fresh squeezed OJ, etc...) and will stick with water... So it is difficult for me to do the math.

If all you drink is water then the plus package really doesn’t make any sense. The tips and Wi-Fi alone won’t make it worth it. 

[Mary loves to travel]

16 minutes ago, Coral said:

I can do the math and I know it won't come out in my favor.

 

Though - if I don't buy the plus, I will end up being cheap and just drink water all the time which is what I normally drink in real life.

 

I don't drink alcohol or coffee products. I do like hot chocolate (and will be in Alaska), mocktails and fresh squeezed OJ (a treat). And I am on vacation, right?

 

If I don't get the plus, I will probably feel guilty ordering a drink as I think they are overpriced and stick with water.

 

I know it is a mind thing. The only reason I am considering it is that I have $600 OBC.

Yeah, I figured you could do the math 🙂

 

Mind things are funny.   Give yourself a daily budget (for us, $34), and as long as you're under that, you win.    So what if the drinks are overpriced?

OTOH, if you list out what you'd realistically enjoy each day, and it's close enough to the daily break even, then go for the package & enjoy!!

 

Best,

Mary

[Coral]

1 minute ago, memoak said:

If all you drink is water then the plus package really doesn’t make any sense. The tips and Wi-Fi alone won’t make it worth it. 

At home, all I drink is water. On the ship - I will drink mocktails, hot chocolate, and fresh squeezed OJ as I am on vacation if I have the Plus. If I don't have the Plus, I will probably stick with water.

[Coral]

4 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

Yeah, I figured you could do the math 🙂

 

Mind things are funny.   Give yourself a daily budget (for us, $34), and as long as you're under that, you win.    So what if the drinks are overpriced?

OTOH, if you list out what you'd realistically enjoy each day, and it's close enough to the daily break even, then go for the package & enjoy!!

 

Best,

Mary

If I didn't have $600 OBC, I wouldn't even be considering this. I was thinking if they give me OBC for my Elite bar setup (ask about trading it in for coffee cards as I know they won't) - then the Plus package is almost covered for the 11 night cruise.

 

Yep - mind thing. I am cheap. I do like the convenience.

 

I have long port days and all day excursions on those days but we do have enough sea days....I guess I will find out next Friday which way I go. The past 2 cruises I have done Plus but it was cheaper and I didn't think twice. Lots of sea days.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Coral

[mtnesterz]

19 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Whole lot of assumptions there, none of which apply to us.

When we go ashore, we eat and drink as we wish, regardless of the package.

Still have 6 or 7 alcoholic drinks each,  during the evening.

Each must weigh the worth. Simply using math doesn't work was my point. To make my point more succinctly, here's a comment I thought was well put:

41 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I do think that the packages are not for everyone. 

But just to blithely say that they are not worth buying, even for drinkers, is plain wrong.

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by mtnesterz

[Jareds_mommytoo]

So for us this was my shipboard math 😜😉, when I compared the base price of just the cruise, to the cruise with plus it worked out plus is $52 US  or $72 canadian a day for my cruise…..I subtract my gratuities ($16 US or $21.50 canadian) and we would buy internet because we have older teens staying home alone for the first time ($15 us or $21 canadian), the rest of the package doesn’t interest me so that means i am paying $22 us or $30 Canadian for the drink package after I subtract what I feel are fixed fees for me. I do not drink but if i was to buy the zero alcohol package it is $29 a day US or $39 Canadian. If I was to buy a bottle or 2 of water a mocktail, maybe a specialty coffee, a sparkling water with dinner i would probably hit that $22 US a day easily. Now if i did drink, looking at the menu 2 glasses of wine or a cocktail or two i would break even before i even ordered any non alcoholic drinks. My US to Canadian conversations were more estimations.  The advantage for me to add the plus in canada and pay in canadian, if i ordered as I go on the ship and being charged in US my credit card adds a service fee for U.S. transactions so that would have added about an extra 3% plus they charge one or 2 percent exchange rate then the posted, so it could be an extra 5% on top of the ballpark 30% exchange. 
 

[Steelers36]

On 5/6/2023 at 10:25 AM, remydiva said:

I did buy a ‘Till end of cruise’ wifi package to be able to check in and print boarding passes for last 3 days so as Elite it was $22.50.

Interesting number there.  Indicates the regular price was $45 total, or $15/day.  That is quite odd to me because prior to the last MedallionNet price increase, single day charge was $20.  It looks like they gave you the multi-day rate of $15.  Perhaps they only charge the $20 if a single day is booked, or non-consecutive days.

[remydiva]

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Interesting number there.  Indicates the regular price was $45 total, or $15/day.  That is quite odd to me because prior to the last MedallionNet price increase, single day charge was $20.  It looks like they gave you the multi-day rate of $15.  Perhaps they only charge the $20 if a single day is booked, or non-consecutive days.

I agree …I thought it was odd number given my 50% discount.

 

I checked on Weds nite and clicked ‘till end of cruise’ ( cruise ended Sunday morning) and it was $30.

 

I checked next morning Thurs and it was $22.50 and lasted till we got off ship Sunday.

 

I think you’re right that a multi day rate seems lower than per diem.

[Lady Arwen]

There is no right or wrong decision.  We’re all adults capable of doing what fits our budget and lifestyle.  If you want any of the packages just for convenience sake alone, and you can afford it, then by all means do so.  If you’ve done your homework and know you’ll be saving a few dollars, then by all means do so.  
If it doesn’t work out to your advantage or you just don’t want to spend the money, then by all means don’t buy it.  It’s really very simple.

 

 I just don’t like it when people decide that what works or doesn’t work for them personally is what’s best for everybody else.  It’s nobody’s business if you want to drink just water or if you drink 4+ glasses of wine and 3+ cocktails and 2 specialty coffees per day.  It’s your vacation and your money and you should enjoy it exactly as you choose.

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

There is no right or wrong decision.  We’re all adults capable of doing what fits our budget and lifestyle.  If you want any of the packages just for convenience sake alone, and you can afford it, then by all means do so.  If you’ve done your homework and know you’ll be saving a few dollars, then by all means do so.  
If it doesn’t work out to your advantage or you just don’t want to spend the money, then by all means don’t buy it.  It’s really very simple.

 

 I just don’t like it when people decide that what works or doesn’t work for them personally is what’s best for everybody else.  It’s nobody’s business if you want to drink just water or if you drink 4+ glasses of wine and 3+ cocktails and 2 specialty coffees per day.  It’s your vacation and your money and you should enjoy it exactly as you choose.

Well put.

The package works for us,  but it won't for others. End of story.

But, I do object to being told that I am "falling " for some sort of scam, (see @Expat Cruise post) when that is blatantly not the case.

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, Mary loves to travel said:

Yes, it can take a few minutes to do the math.

the Platinum 4-device internet is $10 per person per day.

Tips are $16 per person per day.

So, with the basic package @ $60 per day, we'd each have to drink $34 in bottled water, coffees, mixed drinks, wine, soda, etc.   Every single day.   We just don't drink that much!

Pre-paid for a couple of the 12-packs of water at $7 each.

 

For people who drink a lot of bottled water, coffees, sodas, alcoholic beverages, the package can make sense.    For us, not.    Seeing the daily spend needed to break even convinced me.

 

Best,

Mary

 

 

What do you consider A LOT?  Is the below scenario "for people who drink a lot"?

 

Hitting $34 per day per person is a juice, a latte and two cocktails, that's actually MORE.  

 

$12 Juice

$6 Latte

$12 Cocktail

$12 Cocktail

 

SUB TOTAL $42

SERVICE CHARGE: $9.56

 

TOTAL $49.56 

 

 

[BamaVol]

26 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

There is no right or wrong decision.  We’re all adults capable of doing what fits our budget and lifestyle.  If you want any of the packages just for convenience sake alone, and you can afford it, then by all means do so.  If you’ve done your homework and know you’ll be saving a few dollars, then by all means do so.  
If it doesn’t work out to your advantage or you just don’t want to spend the money, then by all means don’t buy it.  It’s really very simple.

 

 I just don’t like it when people decide that what works or doesn’t work for them personally is what’s best for everybody else.  It’s nobody’s business if you want to drink just water or if you drink 4+ glasses of wine and 3+ cocktails and 2 specialty coffees per day.  It’s your vacation and your money and you should enjoy it exactly as you choose.

Thank God I found a doctor who insists that I must consume 5 alcoholic beverages a day.  I don’t know how many quacks I had to see before I found one who knows his stuff. It makes my math simple,

 

I don't get the no-alcohol no-caffeine people who want to do the math for themselves and tell me I’m a sucker if I don’t come up with the same answer.

 

I am laying out my moccasins for those folks. Please step into them and we can talk after you’ve walked a mile.

[sirclean]

Is Juice really $12?

(Orange juice is free in the buffet in the mornings, so I ve never asked for anything else)

[Lady Arwen]

1 minute ago, BamaVol said:

Thank God I found a doctor who insists that I must consume 5 alcoholic beverages a day.  I don’t know how many quacks I had to see before I found one who knows his stuff. It makes my math simple,

 

I don't get the no-alcohol no-caffeine people who want to do the math for themselves and tell me I’m a sucker if I don’t come up with the same answer.

 

I am laying out my moccasins for those folks. Please step into them and we can talk after you’ve walked a mile.

Well said and so true.

[startedwithamouse]

Just now, sirclean said:

Is Juice really $12?

(Orange juice is free in the buffet in the mornings, so I ve never asked for anything else)

 

Juice bar

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, MTNest93 said:

I’m just happy our Plus packages are included at no additional cost as a gift from our TA.  No math required 😀

One way to look at it.  Another way - or option - is TA could give it as a cash back discount off the fare or OBC.  I say it still should come down to a math analysis and what each guest beverage habits are and whether the drink portion of the Plus/Premier package makes sense.  For example, for us it would be useless for our TA to offer to do this when we could be much better place with that money in our pockets. 

[Lady Arwen]

1 minute ago, sirclean said:

Is Juice really $12?

(Orange juice is free in the buffet in the mornings, so I ve never asked for anything else)

I believe they’re referring to the juice bar where you get custom made blends.  Yes, they are expensive, but so good.