Please help! Princess Plus package perks does not apply to our daughter. We booked using a TA.

[GoodHope]

Hi,

My family and I decided to book a cruise to celebrate various milestones this year (our daughter HS graduation, her college acceptance, our 20th anniversary, birthdays). We used a TA for our booking. We settled on Princess cruises and our TA priced out various options for us and we decided on the Princess Plus package and realized none of the perks that comes with that package applied to our daughter (wifi & drinks mainly. I am talking juice, water, soda). She is a teenager and the world ends without a little bit of scrolling. The perks only applied to my husband and I (we do not drink alcohol). We leave for our cruise in 8 days. I reached out to our TA and I am still at a lost as she does not suggest something other than should i add it to the card. I am also annoyed and stressed, because when that package as chosen it was for a reason so we did not have to worry about certain things. We never book something and not have it include out daughter and our TA knows this. This is not our first time booking with her. We do not have unlimited funds to toss around truth be told. We are by no means cheap, but when it was booked, I did not think I would be on a Forum asking for advice.

 

Can you all please shed some light and what are some alternatives? Thank you

[JF - retired RRT]

It sounds like you would have been better off with one of the soda packages and purchase WiFi separately.

Your daughter can access your WiFi. All she has to do is log in with your cabin # and DOB (IIRC). One computer/tablet on the internet at a time for each account. As long as she uses your log in info, there's no problem.

If you feel the need, you can purchase a soda pkg on the ship or pay as you go...meaning for your daughter.

 

It may be too late to cancel the "Plus" pkg now. You could contact your TA ASAP and try...if that is what you want to do.

Edited June 13 by JF - retired RRT

[BamaVol]

Plus will cover a host of non-alcoholic beverages (since none of you drink), crew appreciation (tips), wifi and some less necessary items. Most non-drinkers don’t see a financial advantage in the package. You will pay your daughter’s crew appreciation (assuming you want to) and drinks individually. The WiFi is a single device and interchangeable so she can use either of yours if you aren’t using it at the moment. All in all, this is not a deal killer. Relax.

[jennybenny]

We booked through our PVP and he could have added the package to the kids in our room but we chose to not add it for them because they don’t drink alcohol and gratuities and soda aren’t enough to make it worth paying for the package for them. I think it was going to be $1000 for both.

This will be the first cruise they don’t have a pacakage. We will see how it turns out but even if they drank a few sodas a day, I think we are fine. They are athletes, they aren’t going to eat/drink junk. I think worst case scenario is they spend the $500 each but I don’t see that happening. 

[wallyj]

35 minutes ago, GoodHope said:

Hi,

My family and I decided to book a cruise to celebrate various milestones this year (our daughter HS graduation, her college acceptance, our 20th anniversary, birthdays). We used a TA for our booking. We settled on Princess cruises and our TA priced out various options for us and we decided on the Princess Plus package and realized none of the perks that comes with that package applied to our daughter (wifi & drinks mainly. I am talking juice, water, soda). She is a teenager and the world ends without a little bit of scrolling. The perks only applied to my husband and I (we do not drink alcohol). We leave for our cruise in 8 days. I reached out to our TA and I am still at a lost as she does not suggest something other than should i add it to the card. I am also annoyed and stressed, because when that package as chosen it was for a reason so we did not have to worry about certain things. We never book something and not have it include out daughter and our TA knows this. This is not our first time booking with her. We do not have unlimited funds to toss around truth be told. We are by no means cheap, but when it was booked, I did not think I would be on a Forum asking for advice.

 

Can you all please shed some light and what are some alternatives? Thank you

When is your sailing? Sorry just reread and see it is in 8 days. Also assuming you booked a triple occupancy cabin? When you have more than 2 in a cabin, the default is Princess will only add the Plus or Premier ‘bundle’(drinks, WiFi, crew appreciation) to passengers1 and 2 and you are only charged for passenger1 and 2. Since your daughter is under 21, she would get the non alcoholic package if you decided to ‘add’ plus to her fare. It will increase your costs by $60/day, which I believe is still less than if your purchased each item separately. Maybe you do not need to add plus and you just buy her drinks as you go and then see if she needs her own internet plan or can share with one of yours?

 

Please go over your invoice with your TA. I do not think you were ‘shortchanged’. Your TA might not have explained when the plus package is added to a triple booking, it is added to only passengers 1 and 2. They have to manually ‘add’ and charge the additional fees if you want your daughter to have the plus package too. This sounds like what your TA has now suggested?

 

Am I on the right track or have I misunderstood your post?

Edited June 13 by wallyj

[Itchy&Scratchy]

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3013243-3-people-in-room-only-2-have-plus-package/

 

all of it has been thoroughly discussed over the last couple of days in this thread.

 

You can pay as you go or you can add a Plus package for your DD as well.

You can share your wifi plan with your DD.

Honestly, if you don't drink alcohol, I don't see the value in having Plus package. We don't drink, so we don't get Plus, and just buy a Soda package for our teen and maybe one wifi plan to share among all of us on some cruises.

[skynight]

Wallyj has it correct. Here is some additional information.

-Wifi really means internet connection. Everyone has wifi connection to the on board intranet to be able to see activities and such. Your daughter could use one of your internet sign ons and you two could share with one or the other being on line at a time.

-When you have the plus fare you automatically receive the ability to use the Ocean Now App. This allows you to order food and drink on line, some food items are no charge, some have a charge. Without the plus fare you will be charged $14.99 the first time you use this feature. You can avoid the charge by just going to the bar or a waiter.

-No charge beverages include coffee & tea in the buffet & DRs, morning juices, lemonade and ice tea in the buffet & DRs. Specialty coffees such as lattes have a charge, around $4/$5.

-Without the plus fare your daughter's account will be charged the daily housekeeping/food service gratuity of $16/day for most cabins, $17 for mini suites, $18 for full suites.

-Since you have the plus fare you can request unopened bottled water and cans of soda at any bar. Over time you can stock the cabin fridge.

 

As an opinion I don't think your T.A. did you wrong. I believe what they did was cost effective.  If you wish to include your daughter in the plus fare, $60/day, to purchase a stand alone non alcoholic beverage package, approx $42/day, or the stand alone classic soda package, approx $21/day you can do this when you board on boarding day. There will be crew around the ship selling these packages. If you do the math you will find that the stand alone packages don't make sense. The non alcoholic beverage package + the daily gratuity charge will be $58/day vs a plus fare of $60/day. For $2 extra $ you get unlimited internet.  

 

 

 

[dog]

I suggest calling your TA and adjusting your booking.

Standard fare. Wifi-4 device fare, individual CA for 3 and soda, etc as you pay/ drink. You can pre order bottle water in the personalizer on princess website pre cruise.

[BamaVol]

1 hour ago, dog said:

I suggest calling your TA and adjusting your booking.

Standard fare. Wifi-4 device fare, individual CA for 3 and soda, etc as you pay/ drink. You can pre order bottle water in the personalizer on princess website pre cruise.

Might be too late for that. OP sails in 8 days.

[dog]

14 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

Might be too late for that. OP sails in 8 days.

Missed that.

teen can pay for her drinks and use parents wifi.

[FLAlaska]

Do you and your husband plan to use the wi-fi? With your plus package two of you can use it at the same time (your daughter included).  If you can get away with that, get her the soda package and pay as you go. It might be cheaper.

 

 

[Torfamm]

4 hours ago, GoodHope said:

Hi,

My family and I decided to book a cruise to celebrate various milestones this year (our daughter HS graduation, her college acceptance, our 20th anniversary, birthdays). We used a TA for our booking. We settled on Princess cruises and our TA priced out various options for us and we decided on the Princess Plus package and realized none of the perks that comes with that package applied to our daughter (wifi & drinks mainly. I am talking juice, water, soda). She is a teenager and the world ends without a little bit of scrolling. The perks only applied to my husband and I (we do not drink alcohol). We leave for our cruise in 8 days. I reached out to our TA and I am still at a lost as she does not suggest something other than should i add it to the card. I am also annoyed and stressed, because when that package as chosen it was for a reason so we did not have to worry about certain things. We never book something and not have it include out daughter and our TA knows this. This is not our first time booking with her. We do not have unlimited funds to toss around truth be told. We are by no means cheap, but when it was booked, I did not think I would be on a Forum asking for advice.

 

Can you all please shed some light and what are some alternatives? Thank you

The only way all three of you would have the Plus fare package is to purchase it for all three.
 

She can use your sign in to access wi-fi if you don’t want to get her the Plus Package. You and your husband can each be logged in to one device at a time.

 

If you don’t want to share your wi-fi access or want her to have a non-alcoholic beverage package, the $60 per day Plus Package is a better deal than buying separate wi-fi at $25 per day, no alcohol beverage package at $35, and paying $16 per day for crew appreciation.

[totz808]

How much soda does she actually drink?  If it's only a couple a day, and the rest of the time she's okay with juice and water, then I'd just suggest having her buy soda a la cart on board.  It'd probably be like $10 a day for 3 sodas, and she can get some juices and water for free on the lido deck.

 

As far as wifi goes, as people have said, it's not bound to any person.  Your family will be able to connect 2 devices at once, and the devices can change.  I suggest letting her have the wifi for one of those devices full time, and you and your husband can alternate the other wifi connection.

[voljeep]

let her have access to your internet log-in and save the full $60 per day😈

[Rick&Jeannie]

@GoodHope...you've gotten some good advice above, welcome to Cruise Critic!

[GoodHope]

5 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

It sounds like you would have been better off with one of the soda packages and purchase WiFi separately.

Your daughter can access your WiFi. All she has to do is log in with your cabin # and DOB (IIRC). One computer/tablet on the internet at a time for each account. As long as she uses your log in info, there's no problem.

If you feel the need, you can purchase a soda pkg on the ship or pay as you go...meaning for your daughter.

 

It may be too late to cancel the "Plus" pkg now. You could contact your TA ASAP and try...if that is what you want to do.

This is very helpful. Thank you! Yes, I will go ahead and contact the TA to see if we can cancel the plus package, but as you mentioned it may be too late. This is not how I envisioned this go. Now I am filled with anxiety and I am not an anxious person lol. 

Edited June 13 by GoodHope

[GoodHope]

5 hours ago, wallyj said:

When is your sailing? Sorry just reread and see it is in 8 days. Also assuming you booked a triple occupancy cabin? When you have more than 2 in a cabin, the default is Princess will only add the Plus or Premier ‘bundle’(drinks, WiFi, crew appreciation) to passengers1 and 2 and you are only charged for passenger1 and 2. Since your daughter is under 21, she would get the non alcoholic package if you decided to ‘add’ plus to her fare. It will increase your costs by $60/day, which I believe is still less than if your purchased each item separately. Maybe you do not need to add plus and you just buy her drinks as you go and then see if she needs her own internet plan or can share with one of yours?

 

Please go over your invoice with your TA. I do not think you were ‘shortchanged’. Your TA might not have explained when the plus package is added to a triple booking, it is added to only passengers 1 and 2. They have to manually ‘add’ and charge the additional fees if you want your daughter to have the plus package too. This sounds like what your TA has now suggested?

 

Am I on the right track or have I misunderstood your post?

Yes, we booked a triple occupancy cabin. I do not think she short changed me, I am frustrated that I laid out what I wanted from the beginning and yet some how, we are hit with more cost is what annoys me. When I plan for us to travel, I always ensure that it is to the letter and our budget is set aside plus a little extra. After all we have college to pay for coming up. This is suppose to be a fun time, not for more charges to be tact on. I assumed my TA would have gotten all of what i laid out and why we paid in full and not on a payment plan. When the options were sent to me, I made a choice assuming it was for all 3. We are not cruisers by any means. We have only done 1 cruise each (her with her grandparents and hubby and I by ourselves). We are land lovers lol. So I was surprised when I noticed that none of what applied to us did not apply to her.

[GoodHope]

4 hours ago, skynight said:

Wallyj has it correct. Here is some additional information.

-Wifi really means internet connection. Everyone has wifi connection to the on board intranet to be able to see activities and such. Your daughter could use one of your internet sign ons and you two could share with one or the other being on line at a time.

-When you have the plus fare you automatically receive the ability to use the Ocean Now App. This allows you to order food and drink on line, some food items are no charge, some have a charge. Without the plus fare you will be charged $14.99 the first time you use this feature. You can avoid the charge by just going to the bar or a waiter.

-No charge beverages include coffee & tea in the buffet & DRs, morning juices, lemonade and ice tea in the buffet & DRs. Specialty coffees such as lattes have a charge, around $4/$5.

-Without the plus fare your daughter's account will be charged the daily housekeeping/food service gratuity of $16/day for most cabins, $17 for mini suites, $18 for full suites.

-Since you have the plus fare you can request unopened bottled water and cans of soda at any bar. Over time you can stock the cabin fridge.

 

As an opinion I don't think your T.A. did you wrong. I believe what they did was cost effective.  If you wish to include your daughter in the plus fare, $60/day, to purchase a stand alone non alcoholic beverage package, approx $42/day, or the stand alone classic soda package, approx $21/day you can do this when you board on boarding day. There will be crew around the ship selling these packages. If you do the math you will find that the stand alone packages don't make sense. The non alcoholic beverage package + the daily gratuity charge will be $58/day vs a plus fare of $60/day. For $2 extra $ you get unlimited internet.  

 

 

 

You have broken this down for me like no other. This was very helpful. I don't think she did me wrong, I assume when i told her what we wanted and I laid it all out, she knew it applied to all of us. It's like getting a first class ticket and sending her to the back of the plane. We roll as one when we travel is my point. When she sent over the options to me, there was no mention that it only applies to 2 ppl and not the 3rd. We would have not even bothered at that point. So I made the choice from the options and went with the plus package assuming again it will be for all 3. I agree with sharing of the wifi now that most of you have explained what can be done. That is the reason I came on this site (to talk to expert cruisers lol). Clearly we are NOT. You're absolutely right, the stand alone packages makes no sense at all. I already feel like a need a vacation from this cruise and we have not even set foot on the boat smh. I feel quite overwhelmed. Thank you for your explanation, it makes sense and it is very helpful. 

[KKB]

This is NO BIG DEAL.

You can add the Plus package to her at any time, even onboard.

But honestly, if you are willing to share wifi with her, it's probably cheaper to just pay her tips.

I'd order some sodas for the room from room service on YOUR app. to keep her set. 

 

Edited June 13 by KKB

[JF - retired RRT]

50 minutes ago, GoodHope said:

I assumed my TA would have gotten all of what i laid out and why we paid in full and not on a payment plan. 

Just noticed this. Not a good idea to pay in full BEFORE final payment date. If that's what you did. It's much harder to make changes, once you've paid in full. Of course, now you're past final anyway. Usually, it's best to pay the deposit, then either make small payments as time passes OR pay just before final is due. Keep in mind that TA's need about 2 weeks before final to have enough time to process your payment.

[DebJ14]

2 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Just noticed this. Not a good idea to pay in full BEFORE final payment date. If that's what you did. It's much harder to make changes, once you've paid in full. Of course, now you're past final anyway. Usually, it's best to pay the deposit, then either make small payments as time passes OR pay just before final is due. Keep in mind that TA's need about 2 weeks before final to have enough time to process your payment.

If it is a credit card payment the TA needs about 5 minutes MAX to process a payment on the Princess TA site.  I always told my clients the date it was due, got the card info, and ascertained what  out what date they wanted me to process the payment, as long as it was prior to the due date/time.  Sometimes it mattered to them if a credit card was closing around final payment time, but  I rarely had to wait until the due date to process a CC payment.

[JF - retired RRT]

17 minutes ago, DebJ14 said:

If it is a credit card payment the TA needs about 5 minutes MAX to process a payment on the Princess TA site.  I always told my clients the date it was due, got the card info, and ascertained what  out what date they wanted me to process the payment, as long as it was prior to the due date/time.  Sometimes it mattered to them if a credit card was closing around final payment time, but  I rarely had to wait until the due date to process a CC payment.

That's interesting. The TAs I've dealt with required payment as much as 2 weeks ahead.

[DebJ14]

7 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

That's interesting. The TAs I've dealt with required payment as much as 2 weeks ahead.

They just don't want to have to chase you down to make a payment.  It makes sense to make it earlier than the due date in case the site goes down, or the CC is declined or the TA will be off.  I would arrange the specific payment date for final payment at the time of deposit. 

 

The agent can also have the Princess site automatically process the final payment as long as it is the same card as the deposit.

 

I have had the hassle of people paying with debit cards with small daily limits.  In that case it was arranged in advance that I would be processing a payment every 24 hours starting a certain date until it was paid in full. Talk about a huge PITA! 

Edited June 13 by DebJ14

[cr8tiv1]

10 hours ago, GoodHope said:

We settled on Princess cruises and our TA priced out various options for us and we decided on the Princess Plus package and realized none of the perks that comes with that package applied to our daughter (wifi & drinks mainly. I am talking juice, water, soda). She is a teenager and the world ends without a little bit of scrolling. The perks only applied to my husband and I (we do not drink alcohol). We leave for our cruise in 8 days. I reached out to our TA and I am still at a lost as she does not suggest something other than should i add it to the card. I am also annoyed and stressed, because when that package as chosen it was for a reason so we did not have to worry about certain things. We never book something and not have it include out daughter and our TA knows this. This is not our first time booking with her. We do not have unlimited funds to toss around truth be told. We are by no means cheap, but when it was booked,

 

I am sorry that the planning is not going as smoothly as you had anticipated.  I am also an over planner and not good with "surprises".  In all fairness, all the literature pre-cruise highlight applicable for first 2 passengers.

 

I am not a TA, nor an exert.  I leave that up to my wonderful TA.  I have cancelled Plus prior to cruise, but can't remember if it was ever done AFTER final payment.  It "may" depend if Plus was part of the fare or is considered an add on (I have done both ways).

 

You have several concerns here.  Here is my best recommendation.

 

If you can cancel Passenger 1 and 2 Plus, 

Then pre-pay crew appreciation for all 3 (just to get it out of the way).

Purchase 1, 2, or 4 device wifi/Starlink internet - Purposely left off 3 since it probably works out cheaper to buy the one 4 device plan.

 

That will leave you about $50-$60/day savings for beverages for all of you.  You would be missing out on the gym classes, casual dinners, specialty desserts, juice bar, and a few other incidentals like a charge to use the app for Room Service deliveries.  

 

The first step is to find out if this can be cancelled.  

 

Plan B.  If this can't be cancelled by your TA...try going to Customer Service once onboard and plead your case.  Explain that you tried to do it before boarding.  Let them know that you would be willing to take it as non-refundable On Board Credit...then tap those funds to pay for crew appreciation (auto) and wifi.  

 

I did a preliminary search.

 

Verbiage says is refundable within 3 days of sailing (double negatives???).

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/food-and-dining/beverages

 

• The package is NOT refundable or transferable once purchased on board, and for advance purchased packages, NOT refundable or transferable within three days of sailing.

 

I would pursue this adamantly.

[NavyVeteran]

4 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I am sorry that the planning is not going as smoothly as you had anticipated.  I am also an over planner and not good with "surprises".  In all fairness, all the literature pre-cruise highlight applicable for first 2 passengers.

 

I am not a TA, nor an exert.  I leave that up to my wonderful TA.  I have cancelled Plus prior to cruise, but can't remember if it was ever done AFTER final payment.  It "may" depend if Plus was part of the fare or is considered an add on (I have done both ways).

 

You have several concerns here.  Here is my best recommendation.

 

If you can cancel Passenger 1 and 2 Plus, 

Then pre-pay crew appreciation for all 3 (just to get it out of the way).

Purchase 1, 2, or 4 device wifi/Starlink internet - Purposely left off 3 since it probably works out cheaper to buy the one 4 device plan.

 

That will leave you about $50-$60/day savings for beverages for all of you.  You would be missing out on the gym classes, casual dinners, specialty desserts, juice bar, and a few other incidentals like a charge to use the app for Room Service deliveries.  

 

The first step is to find out if this can be cancelled.  

 

Plan B.  If this can't be cancelled by your TA...try going to Customer Service once onboard and plead your case.  Explain that you tried to do it before boarding.  Let them know that you would be willing to take it as non-refundable On Board Credit...then tap those funds to pay for crew appreciation (auto) and wifi.  

 

I did a preliminary search.

 

Verbiage says is refundable within 3 days of sailing (double negatives???).

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/food-and-dining/beverages

 

• The package is NOT refundable or transferable once purchased on board, and for advance purchased packages, NOT refundable or transferable within three days of sailing.

 

I would pursue this adamantly.

The Plus fare package cannot be cancelled. The reference above is to the overpriced Plus beverage package. The Plus fare is part of the fare and is subject to the same cancellation penalties as the rest of the fare.

 

I'm not going to address whether or not @GoodHopeshould or should not have purchased the Plus fare, since that is moot at this point and it wasn't the question asked. There was obviously a misunderstanding between them and their travel agent. With the cruise this close, I wouldn't recommend trying to add the Plus fare for the third person pre-cruise. If you still want to add it, you should be able to do it onboard with no problem. Keep in mind that you have two Internet logons with the two Plus fares you have and they can be shared - as long as you don't have more than two logging on at the same time.