Plus package vs Premier package

[canadarocks]

3 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

How did you do the upgrade?  Online?  Through a TA?  Through Princess chat/phone?

Through Chat. I have a TA, but decided to try it myself first. Not 100% complete yet, but the upgrade is showing in my Travel Summary and under Onboard Reservations, but not in my Booking Summary. Went back on Chat and have been assured it will be updated within 24 hours.

[grimace95120]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

So according to this unlimited is not unlimited. I can’t wait for the screaming to begin

its kind of like the "ride all day" passes at amusement parks. You pay an admittance fee at the park for the opportunity to ride all the rollercoasters, but there is no guarantee there will be capacity on the roller coasters to actually ride them. In theory its unlimited, but in practice, not so much. 

[Iamcruzin]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

One has to wonder about the vast majority of cruisers who don't read these forums and will be surprised when they can't get dinner reservations.

This statement  couldn't be more valid. To add insult to injury guest services are going to be stuck putting out the fire.

This is so typical of upper executives making poor marketing decisions without researching the logistics from those who work on the ship.  Crown grill filled up on it's own when you had to pay the up charge.

[memoak]

53 minutes ago, grimace95120 said:

its kind of like the "ride all day" passes at amusement parks. You pay an admittance fee at the park for the opportunity to ride all the rollercoasters, but there is no guarantee there will be capacity on the roller coasters to actually ride them. In theory its unlimited, but in practice, not so much. 

Yes but then you can pay more to skip the lines is that what Princess is now going to do next ?

[reedprincess]

31 minutes ago, memoak said:

Yes but then you can pay more to skip the lines is that what Princess is now going to do next ?

Do you remember this short lived option? 2018 or so? Where you could purchase priority boarding?  Very very short lived option. Maybe 2 weeks? I don't even think it lasted a month....

[555]

11 hours ago, memoak said:

So according to this unlimited is not unlimited. I can’t wait for the screaming to begin

If it's truly an unlimited option, then surely they must let people order more than on appetizer per sitting. 😄 

That is, provided you can get a seat to begin with. 

[Miss-Lizzie]

19 hours ago, grimace95120 said:

i believe that depends on your package ( if you have one)or are just booking. I know that before I upgraded to unlimited premier , yes the payment was expected at time of booking. I understand why they want a payment in advance, but it still stings a bit, especially if you are booking for a cruise that's a ways out . 

The 2 free ones on the premium I have now booked with zero amount. I decided to try another and it did charge. I called and they canceled and refunded me. Once I am able to get the new premium I will probably get it, but for now I have 2 days booked and the rest in MDR. That's all it would let me do. I need to figure out the other venues and how to book them. 

Thanks 

[IndyKid]

We did the Premier package on our first Princess cruise last December, and we enjoyed it but not sure it was worth the extra $280 it cost the two of us for the week. We've decided that for our next Princess cruise that we will just do the Plus, especially now that it's $420 more than the Plus. Yes, you get unlimited specialty and casual dining, but it was hard enough getting the 2 nights scheduled at Crown Grill and Sabatini's, and we don't really want to eat our dinners at oddball times. We don't need the 10,000-calorie desserts, reserved show  seating (we didn't attend any on that cruise), and so forth. The Plus gives us most of the important things (Wi-Fi, gratuities, drinks, Ocean Now, medallion shipping, etc.) that we would pay for anyway, and I figure I could use a little of the savings to do an Ultimate Balcony Dinner...

[555]

1 hour ago, IndyKid said:

Yes, you get unlimited specialty and casual dining, but it was hard enough getting the 2 nights scheduled at Crown Grill and Sabatini's,

We're considering getting the new Premium package next cruise, only because it does now include those Specialty restaurants but waiting to hear how well it's working before we spend the extra. 

I can't believe they would sell the package & not be able to fulfill the demand. (or would they?)

[memoak]

1 minute ago, 555 said:

We're considering getting the new Premium package next cruise, only because it does now include those Specialty restaurants but waiting to hear how well it's working before we spend the extra. 

I can't believe they would sell the package & not be able to fulfill the demand. (or would they?)

In order to fulfill he demand and the demands from suite passengers I would believe that they would have to limit the amount of those packages

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, memoak said:

In order to fulfill he demand and the demands from suite passengers I would believe that they would have to limit the amount of those packages

the demand from the suite passengers in only opening night, right?  after that ... i'm sure they might still get some kind of priority only if they prebook... and the premier passengers are gonna be out in force with the unlimited prebookings

[memoak]

1 minute ago, voljeep said:

the demand from the suite passengers in only opening night, right?  after that ... i'm sure they might still get some kind of priority only if they prebook... and the premier passengers are gonna be out in force with the unlimited prebookings

On all of my cruises since the pandemic every manager at the suite only breakfast venues has told me not to worry about reservations they would find a way to squeeze me in same for suite concierges on Royal class ships

[555]

1 minute ago, memoak said:

In order to fulfill he demand and the demands from suite passengers I would believe that they would have to limit the amount of those packages

I think you may be right about that or they may have a riot on their ships. 

Maybe I better call before any of the ships do start reporting the news.

[cruisinsince75]

18 hours ago, canadarocks said:

I upgraded from Plus to the new Premier today. Our final payment is not until November, and I was not charged for the upgraded package. 

It was added to your invoice that is payable at final payment.  I was waiting for them to charge our CC and it was a good thing I checked.  

[555]

6 minutes ago, voljeep said:

the demand from the suite passengers in only opening night, right?  after that ... i'm sure they might still get some kind of priority only if they prebook... and the premier passengers are gonna be out in force with the unlimited prebookings

Once I book, I'll be on the phone constantly making reservations and if they can't provide my choice of times, I should be able to cancel. 

[voljeep]

3 minutes ago, memoak said:

On all of my cruises since the pandemic every manager at the suite only breakfast venues has told me not to worry about reservations they would find a way to squeeze me in same for suite concierges on Royal class ships

yep ... see how unlimited pre-bookings go, fo sure ...

 

after your 1st day comp, you're pay as you go right?   If I'm P, I want to book you and your new money, not a prepaid package

[memoak]

8 minutes ago, voljeep said:

yep ... see how unlimited pre-bookings go, fo sure ...

 

after your 1st day comp, you're pay as you go right?   If I'm P, I want to book you and your new money, not a prepaid package

Not every table is actually reserved in advance. Yes it is pay as I go after embarkation day. We almost always go to Sabatini’s on embarkation day   The manager of suite breakfast also run the Crown Grille (at least on all Grand class ships I have been on since the restart). They generally tell me to see them if I need any help getting into Crown. Even when the dine line has nothing they can almost always find me a table as long as I am willing to eat a fry 7:30 or 8:00

[MacMadame]

On 8/22/2024 at 11:35 AM, memoak said:

Still unlimited is unlimited or is it not. Are they going to give me a refund every night ?

They aren't going to give you a refund on any night. (Which I'm pretty sure you know.) 😉

 

21 hours ago, Ellipooh said:

Is anyone else being driven nuts by P’s typo of “changes” instead of “charges,” in the repeatedly quoted section?

Now that you've mentioned it, I will never unsee it. Um, thanks?

 

19 hours ago, Josie201 said:

Not in my case.  It wants to charge me now. 

That happens. No one knows why. My advice is to just try again a few days later.

 

1 hour ago, memoak said:

In order to fulfill he demand and the demands from suite passengers I would believe that they would have to limit the amount of those packages

They already do. People have reported (a) that crew told them they do and (b) they tried to purchase a package once onboard and could not because they had all been sold. Granted the latter doesn't happen too often but does happen.

 

I am sure Princess has thought about all the things people are bringing up and came up with remedies for all of them. Whether those remedies work or not is something we'll see but to assume they haven't is to be overly negative IMO.

 

Most likely, they will limit Premier packages to an amount that is based on data predicting the number of reservations people will make based on the ship and itinerary. If their data models are accurate, it won't be a problem. If they aren't...

Edited August 23 by MacMadame

[PMGS247]

Feels like they should follow Royal's example here and only allow pre-booking if you pay in full, even if you have unlimited dining.  It would suck in many ways as it would create a rush to book dining as soon as everyone boards which would be the drama of the sanctuary x10....but it's definitely going to be a ***** show if you just let people make unlimited bookings. Damned if you do/if you don't situation I suppose.

Edited August 23 by PMGS247

[Miss-Lizzie]

10 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

Feels like they should follow Royal's example here and only allow pre-booking if you pay in full, even if you have unlimited dining.  It would suck in many ways as it would create a rush to book dining as soon as everyone boards which would be the drama of the sanctuary x10....but it's definitely going to be a ***** show if you just let people make unlimited bookings. Damned if you do/if you don't situation I suppose.

Yes Disney same way, even though they don't have unlimited, you can't book specialty until reservation is paid in full, plus they still charge you if you don't cancel 24 hours before sailing (it could be 48 hours). I think with Princess if you have unlimited and book and don't cancel 24 hours or a no show you should be charged a cancellation fee. They are doing that on Open Table for some restaurant. It might discourage people from booking just to take up space they aren't sure they are going to use. Now of course allowance for emergency. But hopefully no emergency on the ship. 

[Wishing on a star]

My problem with our two Reservations, is that we can not cancel and rebook...  there is ZERO availability online.   I am hoping upon hope that when we board, as early as possible, that we can reschedule one of these reservations at an earlier hour.

We know that we can have this refunded to us onboard.  (Hello time at customer service counter)

But this would be refunded as OBC.   

I am crossing my fingers and hoping that they actually give us REFUNDABLE onboard credit,  and do not try to use up the Refundable first, so that they get to keep any amount in their pocket.

 

I haven't heard any recent reports of people who say that their refundable OBC has been used before Non-Refundable

[Miss-Lizzie]

5 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

My problem with our two Reservations, is that we can not cancel and rebook...  there is ZERO availability online.   I am hoping upon hope that when we board, as early as possible, that we can reschedule one of these reservations at an earlier hour.

We know that we can have this refunded to us onboard.  (Hello time at customer service counter)

But this would be refunded as OBC.   

I am crossing my fingers and hoping that they actually give us REFUNDABLE onboard credit,  and do not try to use up the Refundable first, so that they get to keep any amount in their pocket.

 

I haven't heard any recent reports of people who say that their refundable OBC has been used before Non-Refundable

I wish you the best, let us know what happens when you get back so we know for our reference. 

[Wishing on a star]

I sure will !

[dog]

27 minutes ago, Miss-Lizzie said:

I wish you the best, let us know what happens when you get back so we know for our reference. 

And if incur a fee to cancel on ship.

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, Miss-Lizzie said:

Yes Disney same way, even though they don't have unlimited, you can't book specialty until reservation is paid in full, plus they still charge you if you don't cancel 24 hours before sailing (it could be 48 hours). I think with Princess if you have unlimited and book and don't cancel 24 hours or a no show you should be charged a cancellation fee. They are doing that on Open Table for some restaurant. It might discourage people from booking just to take up space they aren't sure they are going to use. Now of course allowance for emergency. But hopefully no emergency on the ship. 

If you purchased the Premium package and don't keep your reservation Princess makes out because you paid for something and didn't use it. It's unlimited and the more you don't use it the more they save. They can't penalize you for not using something you paid for.  Even with the plus package I'm not going to use the 2 casual meals or eat the 2 desserts and I won't be taking any exercise classes. I probably won't take advantage of room service either unless I can't get seated in the MDR.