Plus and Premium Package threads merged

[HotRoot]

6 hours ago, dream54ing said:

thanks for the clarification. I’m new to the cruising scene and wont travel till feb, so trying to absorb as much info as possible. We have the premier package so searching for tips to utilize it 🙂 

We liked to have appetizers at Vines before going to the MDR for dinner.  They call it a meal.  We skipped the salad.  The dessert was the best one on the ship.  And on premier, it is free.

[GonzoWCS]

Can't wait for the next on in December.  To each there own.  Happy Sailing!

 

Cheers

[Esprit]

For us the ship and all it has to offer are a huge part of our holiday. We don't care if we repeat itineraries so for us having alcoholic drinks included without having to think of how much I've spent is great.

[roxievegas]

13 hours ago, traceytd said:

I’m always on the fence(do I get it or not) 

We drink lots of coffee and tones of water. 
😊forgot to mention, don’t you have to have plus or premium to get free room service?
 

If you want water, order the case of water to be delivered to your room.  You have to order prior to the cruise.  There are 12 16 oz bottles per case for $7.05.  I purchase packets of powdered lemonade, or gatorade and add to the water bottle.  Some people are happy to bring their own container and fill it with the bathroom sink water.

We normally get one coffee each at the international cafe in the morning, then have more coffee in the MDR or buffet for breakfast.

Even when we had free room service delivery, we only used room service once during the cruise.  So not getting room service is not a problem for us.

[dream54ing]

50 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Can't wait for the next on in December.  To each there own.  Happy Sailing!

 

Cheers

Exactly, the great thing about cruising is we have options for different people. Its not a debate on whether having a package is better than not. Math is fairly straight forward, if it fits the fits the bill, add the package. Threads should focus on taking advantage of benefits and how to maximize value (I'm cheap 🙂 )

 

I surprised i waited this long to do our first cruise, it fairly inexpensive, compared to our other vacations, so this might be our norm 🙂 Cant wait for our February cruise on Discovery!

[Steelers36]

10 hours ago, Tkhalaska said:

We are sailing on the Crown Princess to Hawaii in a couple of weeks and have the Plus package.  We decided since it is a cruise with a lot of sea days it might be worth it.  This is also my test case as we want to do the 33 day Tahiti/Hawaii cruise next year, which is another heavy sea day cruise.  My math looks like this so far:

Crew appreciation $16 a day x 2 people x 16 days = $512

Wi-fi $15 a day x 2 people x 16 days = $480 (we are not eligible for 1/2 price wi-fi on this cruise but will be eligible on the next one.  We each will have 1 device)

Plus package $60 a day x 2 people x 16 days = $1920

 

1920 package cost - 512 to the crew - 480 wi-fi = 928

 

$928 coffee+alcohol budget/ 16 days / 2 people = $29pp/per day

Which works out to essentially 2 alcoholic drinks per day per person to break even.  While we may not do that every day, I do like my morning latte and we also would be getting bottled water and an occasional smoothie.

 

Our consumption of premium deserts ( 2/day/pp allowed) will not significantly factor in, we may each have 2 or 3 the entire cruise

I will probably utilize the 2 fitness classes/cruise, DH will not.  Not a cost buster.

We only use room service occasionally for breakfast, I believe only meals other than breakfast incur a charge, so room service fees are not a factor either.

 

Having our usual costs taken care of, I used our $1100 OBC to book excursions, with a little left over in my account for the spa.  In 2 of the ports we have shore activities planned not involving Princess.

 

So in our case we will likely be slightly better than even with the Plus.  I will see what our actual usage is to determine if it will be worth it for next time, taking into consideration lower internet costs!

 

A similar scenario to yours could be a couple who prefers booking independent third-party small-group tours and use the $1,100 to cover bar tab and Special Dining.  There are almost an infinite number of combinations for value with and without a package.

[PMGS247]

4 hours ago, MissP22 said:

The tip is included automatically. Actually it's included for all the drinks, even for those you didn't order and no way to remove them. 

Keep on ordering. 😄

I mean I guess that's technically true?  It's a weird statement.  Difficult to even calculate that.  If the package were JUST drinks and included 15 that would be $4 per drink including tip.  You can barely get water for this without a package.  What is it when you consider the other inclusions and then try to calculate how much drink gratuity you're paying?  It gets real silly real quick.  This is simply not a valid way to slice it up given the nature of the package and inclusions, but keep twisting the wording around to try to make the packages sound bad.

[jwattle]

16 hours ago, c-boy said:

 $85.16 🤣, we did do the math and we are unable to meet that level of consumption. 

I think that we meet it by lunch. Let's see...two mimosas or Bailey's and Coffee, and two waters, then a Bloody Mary at Bingo with another water then...oh...oh no! This was for SEVEN DAYS! Oh no! I'm out!  😂

(Before y'all send me to a meeting, this was all in fun, folks...or was it 😄 )

[MissP22]

22 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

I mean I guess that's technically true?  It's a weird statement.  Difficult to even calculate that.  If the package were JUST drinks and included 15 that would be $4 per drink including tip.  You can barely get water for this without a package.  What is it when you consider the other inclusions and then try to calculate how much drink gratuity you're paying?  It gets real silly real quick.  This is simply not a valid way to slice it up given the nature of the package and inclusions, but keep twisting the wording around to try to make the packages sound bad.

Just keep drinking until you hit the 15 mark and you'll be even. At least you won't be leaving anything behind.

[kywildcatfanone]

21 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

If the package were JUST drinks and included 15 that would be $4 per drink including tip. 

I've read many posts of people simply stating the drink portion after Wifi and Tips for the $60 plus would be $29.  If you drank all 15, that makes each drink less than $2.  It just goes to show you the massive profit packages bring in and why they are now pushed so hard.

 

I also read that Celebrity has recently changed so that tips are not part of their AI, not sure if they still call it AI, but wouldn't surprise me if that shows up on Princess soon.  

 

If they are selling 75-80% packages as I have also read, wouldn't surprise me either a change like the above is coming, or simply another price increase soon.  If the last price increases didn't impact sales, no reason not to do another and see how that sells.

[PMGS247]

2 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Just keep drinking until you hit the 15 mark and you'll be even. At least you won't be leaving anything behind.

lol this is just not even close to anything resembling true. Demonstrating the math would be a waste of proverbial breath, though.

Edited October 25, 2023 by PMGS247

[PMGS247]

2 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I've read many posts of people simply stating the drink portion after Wifi and Tips for the $60 plus would be $29.  If you drank all 15, that makes each drink less than $2.  It just goes to show you the massive profit packages bring in and why they are now pushed so hard.

 

I also read that Celebrity has recently changed so that tips are not part of their AI, not sure if they still call it AI, but wouldn't surprise me if that shows up on Princess soon.  

 

If they are selling 75-80% packages as I have also read, wouldn't surprise me either a change like the above is coming, or simply another price increase soon.  If the last price increases didn't impact sales, no reason not to do another and see how that sells.

 

I think it goes to show what a massive profit margin there is in the original drink prices if they can risk people actually taking them up on all those drinks for such a low price.

[MissP22]

1 minute ago, PMGS247 said:

lol this is just not even close to anything resembling true

So you don't mind paring for drinks and tips and then not receiving them?

[PMGS247]

3 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

So you don't mind paring for drinks and tips and then not receiving them?

No. Not when I pay less that way vs the alternative.  This is just not a valid way to analyze the cost.  You're just trolling though.  I only engage because it's more fun than working LOL 

 

I'm also hopefully saving someone from reading these out of whack statements and making an ill-informed decision.  I'm literally a professional financial analyst spending 40 hours a week assessing cost & profit margin for the last 20 years.  I'm guessing you do.....something else.

[kywildcatfanone]

20 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

 

I think it goes to show what a massive profit margin there is in the original drink prices if they can risk people actually taking them up on all those drinks for such a low price.

Yeah.  It's been a while, but I did the math once with Jim Beam, and a pour from a bottle was around $1, and that is if you bought it at a grocery store, and I'm sure the cruise lines are getting better discounts for their volume purchases.  And a bottle had about 16 pours, so cost would be about $16 plus the bartender time, so if they are selling each one at $10 (maybe higher now, not sure), then even if you say it cost them $1 to the Bartender, which I'm sure it doesn't, that's $128 profit per bottle, and Jim Beam is relatively cheap.  I'm sure other alcohol choice are higher, but the profits are likely also higher.

 

It's why they push packages so hard.  It's probably paying all their bills above the hotel and food charges you pay for your stateroom.

[MissP22]

27 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

No. Not when I pay less that way vs the alternative.  This is just not a valid way to analyze the cost.  You're just trolling though.  I only engage because it's more fun than working LOL 

 

I'm also hopefully saving someone from reading these out of whack statements and making an ill-informed decision.  I'm literally a professional financial analyst spending 40 hours a week assessing cost & profit margin for the last 20 years.  I'm guessing you do.....something else.

I invested in real estate in one of the wealthiest parts of my state & now I'm enjoying my profits by not spending it on high profit margin items on a cruise ship.

[MissP22]

19 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

It's why they push packages so hard.  It's probably paying all their bills above the hotel and food charges you pay for your stateroom.

Considering that they pay less than $20 per person per day for food. 

[Lady Arwen]

30 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

No. Not when I pay less that way vs the alternative.  This is just not a valid way to analyze the cost.  You're just trolling though.  I only engage because it's more fun than working LOL 

 

I'm also hopefully saving someone from reading these out of whack statements and making an ill-informed decision.  I'm literally a professional financial analyst spending 40 hours a week assessing cost & profit margin for the last 20 years.  I'm guessing you do.....something else.

Very, very well said.  Although, I believe we are hitting our heads on a brick wall trying to reason with some people.  When we say “do the math” not everyone is capable.  They actually believe you have to consume 15 alcoholic beverages per day to break even!  Somebody’s not doing the math!  lol

[PMGS247]

3 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I invested in real estate in one of the wealthiest parts of my state & now I'm enjoying my profits by not spending it on high profit margin items on a cruise ship.

That sounds about right. Happy Sailing. 

[Lady Arwen]

23 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Yeah.  It's been a while, but I did the math once with Jim Beam, and a pour from a bottle was around $1, and that is if you bought it at a grocery store, and I'm sure the cruise lines are getting better discounts for their volume purchases.  And a bottle had about 16 pours, so cost would be about $16 plus the bartender time, so if they are selling each one at $10 (maybe higher now, not sure), then even if you say it cost them $1 to the Bartender, which I'm sure it doesn't, that's $128 profit per bottle, and Jim Beam is relatively cheap.  I'm sure other alcohol choice are higher, but the profits are likely also higher.

 

It's why they push packages so hard.  It's probably paying all their bills above the hotel and food charges you pay for your stateroom.

In Toronto a nice cocktail is over $20.00 per drink.  If you want really fancy with a show then you double that.  My point is that all establishments selling alcoholic beverages make loads of profit.  If Princess were giving it away any less expensive, then cruise fares would go through the roof.  Non drinkers should appreciate that the rest of us are keeping your cruise fares affordable.  You’re welcome.  

[hllwdcruiser]

2 hours ago, roxievegas said:

If you want water, order the case of water to be delivered to your room.  You have to order prior to the cruise.  There are 12 16 oz bottles per case for $7.05.  I purchase packets of powdered lemonade, or gatorade and add to the water bottle.  Some people are happy to bring their own container and fill it with the bathroom sink water.

We normally get one coffee each at the international cafe in the morning, then have more coffee in the MDR or buffet for breakfast.

Even when we had free room service delivery, we only used room service once during the cruise.  So not getting room service is not a problem for us.

We used to do things like that. We would bring our own water, sodas and wine on board and then have those small bottles of alcohol delivered to our cabin. We would then mix our own drinks, G&T, Cuba Libre etc and be so proud that we were beating the system. I used to bring flavored creamer on board to make the old coffee syrup drinkable on the grand class ships.
Of course, we didn't get to sit at the bars too often to try new concoctions because then we would put ourselves in the negative column. We limited ourselves to one or two alcoholic beverages a day from the bars. Forget ordering a drink poolside on a whim or grabbing a coffee at the IC when returning from an exhausting day at port. We had to watch our pennies! 
Once the alcohol package moved to the all inclusive, we started to purchase it and we couldn't believe what a huge difference it made to our entire, overall experience. To give you an example, I have to drink a lot of water during the day and I love a non alcoholic spritzer. I now had the freedom to go up to any bar and order as many cranberry juice spritzers as I like without worrying about the charge.
If you think about it, in the same vein, we always choose a balcony over an ocean view or inside cabin simply because of the experience. We never sit and do the math as to whether it makes financial sense for us to do so. 
On the other hand, I do understand that if you don't drink much alcohol and you don't use wifi, then the all inclusive packages don't make sense. If you don't mind bringing your own soft drinks onboard or it is cheaper for you to order water onboard, then the all inclusive packages might not make sense.
We are about to go on our 11th Princess cruise, so basically we are still newbies in comparison to most on this board. I have learned to pack lighter and love the fact that we don't have to bring anything but ourselves and a small suitcase each on sail away days!

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by hllwdcruiser

[MissP22]

2 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

In Toronto a nice cocktail is over $20.00 per drink.  If you want really fancy with a show then you double that.  My point is that all establishments selling alcoholic beverages make loads of profit.  If Princess were giving it away any less expensive, then cruise fares would go through the roof.  Non drinkers should appreciate that the rest of us are keeping your cruise fares affordable.  You’re welcome.  

Absolutely ......... and don't forget those over prices tours & casino profits. 

[kywildcatfanone]

5 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

In Toronto a nice cocktail is over $20.00 per drink.  If you want really fancy with a show then you double that.  My point is that all establishments selling alcoholic beverages make loads of profit.  If Princess were giving it away any less expensive, then cruise fares would go through the roof.  Non drinkers should appreciate that the rest of us are keeping your cruise fares affordable.  You’re welcome.  

If you read any of my posts about packages I always mention it's a win/win/win.  Person who gets the package is happy, Princess is happy, and us not buying them are happy for it keeping prices at least somewhat lower. I encourage the packages for those who can justify it and are happy with it.

[New2cruise2022]

58 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I've read many posts of people simply stating the drink portion after Wifi and Tips for the $60 plus would be $29.  If you drank all 15, that makes each drink less than $2.  It just goes to show you the massive profit packages bring in and why they are now pushed so hard.

 

I also read that Celebrity has recently changed so that tips are not part of their AI, not sure if they still call it AI, but wouldn't surprise me if that shows up on Princess soon.  

 

If they are selling 75-80% packages as I have also read, wouldn't surprise me either a change like the above is coming, or simply another price increase soon.  If the last price increases didn't impact sales, no reason not to do another and see how that sells.

Only alcohol is limited to 15 drinks per day. With coffees, bottled water, labor intensive mocktails, and soda all being unlimited, it isn’t a surefire profit win for Princess. 

[jwattle]

Our first cruise was with my parents LONG ago. It was pre-package and counting the pennies. Fast forward to now...I'm retired from my 9-5 with the county and own my travel agency. we enjoy the package; it works for Princess and for us; we enjoy the upper end room; it works for Princess and for us (we like the perks, they like the revenue). To each their own. Isn't it wonderful? There's a way to cruise for everyone! 💞