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

[PacnGoNow]

9 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I imagine they have a good statistical database on package usage by now and know how many guests have been hitting the max 15.  A guest consuming 12/day now isn't likely to jump to 20 when the limit of 15 goes away.

Yes, they absolutely know the statistics.  We spoke with a Food and Beverage Director on one of our recent cruises.  (Cannot name names.)

But, very high statistical data on the Plus and believe that’s why the push for Premier.  More money!!  

Also, it is really dependent on the destination and duration of the cruise.  Of course, the highest package purchases are the shorter cruises, as well as Hawaii and the Caribbean.

They are aiming for 90% or higher of the guests to purchase some type of beverage package.  On our Hawaii cruise they had 75% who had purchased a package.  Surprised me.  

Also, they know on each

sailing the guests who reach 15 a day.  It does cut into their profits.  But, they are keeping stats fleet-wide, on every sailing.

 

Edited August 18 by PacnGoNow

[Josie201]

I’ve read the 15 pages and the FAQs but am still confused.  I have the Premier package already for a 15 day Hawaiian cruise next year.  I’ve booked my 2 SDs and my anytime dining.  We are mostly wine drinkers so wanted the increased selection of wine.  
 

so I believe we can upgrade for $10 pp/pd.  And this will give us unlimited SD, reserved theatre seats every night but not a lot else of interest to us.  Is that about right?  

[grimace95120]

7 minutes ago, Josie201 said:

I’ve read the 15 pages and the FAQs but am still confused.  I have the Premier package already for a 15 day Hawaiian cruise next year.  I’ve booked my 2 SDs and my anytime dining.  We are mostly wine drinkers so wanted the increased selection of wine.  
 

so I believe we can upgrade for $10 pp/pd.  And this will give us unlimited SD, reserved theatre seats every night but not a lot else of interest to us.  Is that about right?  

yes, in a nutshell. It does though give you unlimited alcoholic beverages, up to $20USD , no longer capped at 15 drinks. It is a $10 per person per day increase to your existing Premium fare to capture these enhancements 

[Josie201]

7 minutes ago, grimace95120 said:

yes, in a nutshell. It does though give you unlimited alcoholic beverages, up to $20USD , no longer capped at 15 drinks. It is a $10 per person per day increase to your existing Premium fare to capture these enhancements 

Thank you.  We’re on the Ruby so not a lot of SDs to sample and I think we’ll be ok with 15 alcoholic drinks per day.  As long as our water and coffees are outside the package.  

[grimace95120]

all non alcoholic drinks ( specialty coffees etc.) on the packages are exempt from any limit, 15 is for alcohol only. I haven't travelled princess before, so i will ask one of the more experienced travelers but my understanding is water, sparkling or flat , is included BUT at the smaller 500ML size. I believe the 1L sizes are not. Not sure why this is, maybe they are trying to control waste, but it seems odd that you can have  2 or 3 or 10  500ml bottles of Perrier, but not a 1L bottle

 

[MacMadame]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I don't think you have captured all the scenarios. 

Probably not. 😄 Though most are variations. 

 

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

On our Hawaii cruise they had 75% who had purchased a package.  Surprised me. 

Princess has publicly stated that 75% buy packages and another statement said 80% so that doesn't surprise me.

 

1 hour ago, Josie201 said:

so I believe we can upgrade for $10 pp/pd.  And this will give us unlimited SD, reserved theatre seats every night but not a lot else of interest to us.  Is that about right?  

You already have reserved theatre seats without upgrading. You will get unlimited SD and unlimited alcoholic drinks.

[PescadoAmarillo]

SD reservations are going to become the new Sanctuary lounger reservations. I can see us booking Premier for one cruise on B2B cruises where we can meet with the SD Restaurant  Managers ahead of time and lock in reservations for every night. We don’t have to order all the food or eat every course, but DH would love a filet every night for 7 nights. 

[Mara4166]

2 hours ago, Josie201 said:

so I believe we can upgrade for $10 pp/pd.  And this will give us unlimited SD, reserved theatre seats every night but not a lot else of interest to us.  Is that about right?  

I thought the old premier already had the reserved seats for production shows.  It is not actually reserved for you, it is just a section set aside for premier that they keep aside until 10 minutes prior to the show start.

[MacMadame]

On 8/17/2024 at 6:11 AM, Abercrombie2019 said:

Yesterday, my CVP said that there will be a $10 fee for no show at specialty dining and a 50% fee for no show at 360.  Oh, and daily gratuities are going up by a $1 a day soon.

Daily gratuities going up by $1 (which many have predicted happening for a few months now) makes the Plus package even more attractive to us.

 

21 hours ago, 555 said:

I didn't realize that.

I normally don't pay her much attention, but I won't post her video's any more. Sorry. 

She's not that bad as she is mostly reporting on the press releases Princess sends all the TAs. People here like to dunk on her because she's had a few doozies over the years, but I'd say she's only been wrong once since I started watching YouTube videos about cruising a year ago.

[memoak]

4 hours ago, 555 said:

What you say is true since you're eating at a late time of the evening.

With everything winding down there is no rush for the waiters in the galley making it easier for them to make sure everything is to your liking. 

It would hold true for any of the DR's.

Even at 8:00 on the Grand last week reserve dining was still 2/3 full as was the MDR

[memoak]

31 minutes ago, Mara4166 said:

I thought the old premier already had the reserved seats for production shows.  It is not actually reserved for you, it is just a section set aside for premier that they keep aside until 10 minutes prior to the show start.

Yes the old plan was just for the production shows the new one adds on things like guest singers, magicians and comedians etc

[kywildcatfanone]

On 8/16/2024 at 4:23 PM, Retired-N-Happy said:

Since we all know you are against packages, the doubling of the price shouldn't concern you at all since you prefer bareback bones, package free cruising.

I'm not against packages, anyone who wants may buy a package, their choice.  My issue is they are going closer and closer to forcing you into a package to actually book a cruise. 

[Thunderbird19]

Would be interesting to have some college student do a study on the health status of frequent Princess cruisers before and after the Premium Package changes! 😂

Unless one has an incredible metabolism rate, lots of willpower, or exercises daily, the extra calories from unlimited fancier dining options and empty calories from unlimited alcohol can’t be a very healthy thing for cruisers!

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, Thunderbird19 said:

Would be interesting to have some college student do a study on the health status of frequent Princess cruisers before and after the Premium Package changes! 😂

Unless one has an incredible metabolism rate, lots of willpower, or exercises daily, the extra calories from unlimited fancier dining options and empty calories from unlimited alcohol can’t be a very healthy thing for cruisers!

glad I don't have to clean my plate before I can have dessert ... 

 

a couple bites of this, a couple of that ... a few sips of this ... a few more sips ... OK, bring the next round and course

[memoak]

2 minutes ago, Thunderbird19 said:

Would be interesting to have some college student do a study on the health status of frequent Princess cruisers before and after the Premium Package changes! 😂

Unless one has an incredible metabolism rate, lots of willpower, or exercises daily, the extra calories from unlimited fancier dining options and empty calories from unlimited alcohol can’t be a very healthy thing for cruisers!

Our alcohol use has not changed since packages have come out. At home we always have around cocktails and wine daily. We have always had 8-10 drinks a day in cruises since 1990. The difference is that before packages we had to pay per drink the plus package saves us a ton. And yes our health is very good in our early 70’s

[Abercrombie2019]

2 minutes ago, Thunderbird19 said:

Would be interesting to have some college student do a study on the health status of frequent Princess cruisers before and after the Premium Package changes! 😂

Unless one has an incredible metabolism rate, lots of willpower, or exercises daily, the extra calories from unlimited fancier dining options and empty calories from unlimited alcohol can’t be a very healthy thing for cruisers!

On last three cruises we’ve had the Plus package and dined in specialty restaurants 3 or 4 times each cruise.  We’ve even enjoyed some of the premium deserts.  I’ve lost at least 5 pounds on each of the cruises because I’m so much more active than I am in my day to day working routine.  Specialty dining for us isn’t about quantity as much as quality.

[dog]

9 minutes ago, voljeep said:

glad I don't have to clean my plate before I can have dessert ... 

 

a couple bites of this, a couple of that ... a few sips of this ... a few more sips ... OK, bring the next round and course

Some people can tolerate more then others.

great to have a choice.

[PescadoAmarillo]

16 minutes ago, Thunderbird19 said:

Would be interesting to have some college student do a study on the health status of frequent Princess cruisers before and after the Premium Package changes! 😂

Unless one has an incredible metabolism rate, lots of willpower, or exercises daily, the extra calories from unlimited fancier dining options and empty calories from unlimited alcohol can’t be a very healthy thing for cruisers!

I just schedule my annual physical for right after I return from cruising. Same with my annual skin check by my dermatologist. It’s very effective. 

[memoak]

35 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I'm not against packages, anyone who wants may buy a package, their choice.  My issue is they are going closer and closer to forcing you into a package to actually book a cruise. 

I really don’t see standard cruise fare ever going away   We would probably not take it if we did not drink lots of coffee drinks and cocktails   We will probably never book with premier as long as the plus plan suits our style of cruising. 

[dog]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

SD reservations are going to become the new Sanctuary lounger reservations. I can see us booking Premier for one cruise on B2B cruises where we can meet with the SD Restaurant  Managers ahead of time and lock in reservations for every night. We don’t have to order all the food or eat every course, but DH would love a filet every night for 7 nights. 

The $10 pp/pd is worth it if you can get the reservations.

I had a bad experience once on the Star where I stopped by Crown Grill and M’D couldn’t offer me any reservation any day or time.  I called GS and was given date and time I wanted.  Snotty M’D came by our table, 1/2 empty restaurants and said ,”oh someone must have cancelled.”

 

only time I have ever experienced anything like this. Feb 2019- Star Princess.

[dog]

14 minutes ago, memoak said:

I really don’t see standard cruise fare ever going away   We would probably not take it if we did not drink lots of coffee drinks and cocktails   We will probably never book with premier as long as the plus plan suits our style of cruising. 

The Sun & Star have moved in that direction. The Sanctuary Collection include the premier package- no plus or Standard.

[memoak]

26 minutes ago, dog said:

The Sun & Star have moved in that direction. The Sanctuary Collection include the premier package- no plus or Standard.

But you are paying more than a full suite on Royal or Grand class ships would be my expectation. We regularly sail at casino rates in full suites and almost always pay les than $300 per person per day with plus package and insurance. There is very little that the premier package have that I would use

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, Thunderbird19 said:

Would be interesting to have some college student do a study on the health status of frequent Princess cruisers before and after the Premium Package changes! 😂

Unless one has an incredible metabolism rate, lots of willpower, or exercises daily, the extra calories from unlimited fancier dining options and empty calories from unlimited alcohol can’t be a very healthy thing for cruisers!

"unlimited fancier dining options" is definitely healthier than the carb loaded, deep fried, high sodium sauces, drowned in dressing salads, etc. at other locations.

 

Catch, Ocean Terrace, Crown Grill, etc., are by far healthier options. 

[startedwithamouse]

Will Princess just implement turn and burn restaurant table tactics to satisfy the number of guests going to unlimited specialty dining?  

 

Edited August 18 by startedwithamouse

[Teechur]

On 8/17/2024 at 7:43 AM, Retired-N-Happy said:

And of course there is the percentage of cruisers that are package less that could care less about the amount of gratuities since they pull them.

I hope that the percentage of cruisers who reduce their gratuities is a very low number.