New Unlimited Features Make Princess Cruises' Premier Package the Best Value in Cruising

[PacnGoNow]

54 minutes ago, dog said:

I have 2 bookings- none of them list the premier anymore. Only see Plus $60

Check again tmrw.  

[PacnGoNow]

Hope they program it correctly to not charge for SD if you have Premier.

Not even programmed correctly from the last App update, for some of the guests.  We’ll see….😳

 

 

[Abercrombie2019]

I would value the Specialty Dining over Reserve Dining, but I can see the potential for problems.  If the App does not recognize specialty dining credits for Premier packages with unlimited SD it will be difficult to make reservations in advance (unless you pay with a credit card and get it refunded on board - but that is not something that I'd want to deal with).  There is also the issue of capacity - which many people have pointed out already.

Edited August 15 by Abercrombie2019

[azbirdmom]

In reality I wonder if people will actually be able to get more than 2 nights at a specialty restaurant.  This will no doubt make it even more difficult to get reservations although it may drive more purchases of the package ahead of time.  And the unlimited drinks feature likely won't cost them much.

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, rhobbkf said:

How will they handle the fact that it's difficult enough to get SD reservations?  This will crush them.  Oddly enough though, even though the Crown Grill is hard to book, if you wander by it's 1/2 empty.  So maybe they'll ramp up staff? 

 

Good point. I have read one of the upscale lines handles this by prioritizing pre-booking reservations by cabin class. Not saying Princess will do this.  

[PacnGoNow]

29 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

May be in the minority, but I like unlimited specialty dining!

 

Does sound like the specialty restaurants will be harder to book with just having Plus though (which we usually get).

 

 

 

 

Agree, for those on the Premier packages.

 

If you’re not on a Premier package, I’d book those SD ones right away.

 

 

 

 

[JimmyVWine]

As the saying goes...time will tell.  For my September cruise on Sun, I can get any SD reservation I want for any night I want except for Umai Teppanyaki which appears to be fully booked every night.  Now, this new package for my cruise does not become available for sale until tomorrow, and when it does, I imagine that there may be people flooding the reservation system after upgrading.  I will check again tomorrow and see if reservations are still as easy to get and then make up my mind if I want to upgrade.  On most ships I would not do this given the limited selection of SD options.  But on Sun, this could be well worth the cost. 

Edited August 15 by JimmyVWine

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, Geoffa30 said:

To be fair, compared to some other cruise lines' package, this is incredible value.

Very good value compared to other lines - yes

Do they have the capacity to fully deliver that value - maybe

Are other passengers going to be effected by capacity issues - most likely

If there is a material increase in the number of passengers buying it will they run out of capacity - almost certainly.

 

[startedwithamouse]

Can we get rid of the Premium Desserts already?  

[voljeep]

we will pass on the $10 pp pd upgrade to Premier 90.   It would cost us $100 for the 5 days - which is for us 1 add'l specialty dinner.  We will take the 2 we've already got booked, eat our 1 meal in the mdr on 'formal night', have a balcony dinner, and the last night is open.

 

15 is plenty and we hardly use wifi as it is

 

stand pat here

[ceilidh1]

5 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

As the saying goes...time will tell.  For my September cruise on Sun, I can get any SD reservation I want for any night I want except for Umai Teppanyaki which appears to be fully booked every night.  Now, this new package for my cruise does not become available for sale until tomorrow, and when it does, I imagine that there may be people flooding the reservation system after upgrading.  I will check again tomorrow and see if reservations are still as easy to get and then make up my mind if I want to upgrade.  On most ships I would not do this given the limited selection of SD options.  But on Sun, this could be well worth the cost. 

I am sailing on RC next week (not very familiar with them at all) and they have a specialty dining unlimited package for purchase. I was considering buying it UNTIL I found out that you are not permitted to pre-reserve any of the restaurants - book onboard only. No way was I going to risk not getting the places I wanted after purchasing the package. I wonder if Princess would go that route - only allow paid reservations ahead of time and then take your chance with the packages? I also learned from the boards that RC doesn't allow you to pre-pay and then get the refund after the fact (which I believe Princess still does)....

[JimmyVWine]

While there is understandable hand-wringing over the ability to make SD reservations once this rolls out, there is a flip side to this, which is that it should no be easier to make reservations or walk in to the MDRs. 

[JimmyVWine]

1 minute ago, ceilidh1 said:

I wonder if Princess would go that route - only allow paid reservations ahead of time and then take your chance with the packages?

With all the work and angst involved in getting the app to function properly as it pertains to dining, I can't see this happening.  Now, I could see them capacity controlling the number of pre-sailing reservations and holding back 30% or so of the tables for walk-ins or on-board bookings. I think they already do this.  

[KKB]

Intriguing...will be interesting to see how pricing changes. 

Plus is currently the best value at sea.

MDR food on the Regal this April--had no need for specialty dining.

Probably not a great value on smaller ships w/ fewer specialty dining venues.

Pulled up a 2026 Sun sailing & it ONLY shows Plus as a possibility, no Premier, still at $60/day

 

Edited August 15 by KKB

[ceilidh1]

2 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

With all the work and angst involved in getting the app to function properly as it pertains to dining, I can't see this happening.  Now, I could see them capacity controlling the number of pre-sailing reservations and holding back 30% or so of the tables for walk-ins or on-board bookings. I think they already do this.  

Wait, what? The app is functioning properly?? I must have missed that press release....😜

[startedwithamouse]

We had premier for one 4 day voyage, was unable to get into any specialty dining, completely sold out.  We were given the OBC instead. 

[beltsbear]

Not grandfathering is weird when the package has the same name and is just an evolution of the package.  My cruise is actually cheaper now and I only have $200 down... so I am probably going to rebook with the new premier, unless they are not counting it yet as the new package.

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, JimmyVWine said:

With all the work and angst involved in getting the app to function properly as it pertains to dining, I can't see this happening.  Now, I could see them capacity controlling the number of pre-sailing reservations and holding back 30% or so of the tables for walk-ins or on-board bookings. I think they already do this.  

on our last cruise - 100%+ capacity - lots of OBC, we waited ... once onboard, went directly to Crown Grill to book - nope, nada, no nights, no times at all - but we can get you into Sabatini's tonight only at 7:30, but that's it - no other nights, no other times 

 

but feel free to walk up any night and see if that status has changed ... it hadn't

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, startedwithamouse said:

We had premier for one 4 day voyage, was unable to get into any specialty dining, completely sold out.  We were given the OBC instead. 

refundable?

[dog]

Just now, startedwithamouse said:

We had premier for one 4 day voyage, was unable to get into any specialty dining, completely sold out.  We were given the OBC instead. 

That has happened to us twice.

empty tables but could not accommodate us.

 

some on my Oct cruise cannot get any reservations for MDR niw.

[startedwithamouse]

Will this finally kill the elite lounge/ MTG luncheon?  

 

Our last few cruises, venues were understaffed. 

 

Seems they'd need to move those crew members to paying venues. 

[startedwithamouse]

1 minute ago, voljeep said:

refundable?

Yes, but we casino'ed it!

[startedwithamouse]

Just now, dog said:

That has happened to us twice.

empty tables but could not accommodate us.

 

some on my Oct cruise cannot get any reservations for MDR niw.

Empty tables has nothing to do with availability if they don't have the wait staff, or say you see an empty table at 5:00 pm, but it's being saved for a 6:00 pm reservation. 

[d9704011]

3 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Empty tables has nothing to do with availability if they don't have the wait staff, or say you see an empty table at 5:00 pm, but it's being saved for a 6:00 pm reservation. 

Just ask Serena Williams.

[JimmyVWine]

9 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Wait, what? The app is functioning properly?? I must have missed that press release....😜

 

Of course it is.  I have made dozens of reservations on the app, seamlessly.  And if it weren't function, then the situation recounted below could never have occurred.  Obviously the "filled to capacity" scenario could never have happened unless people were successfully pre-booking.

 

7 minutes ago, voljeep said:

on our last cruise - 100%+ capacity - lots of OBC, we waited ... once onboard, went directly to Crown Grill to book - nope, nada, no nights, no times at all - but we can get you into Sabatini's tonight only at 7:30, but that's it - no other nights, no other times 

 

but feel free to walk up any night and see if that status has changed ... it hadn't