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

[Astro Flyer]

The Plus & Premier Package’s FAQs has answers to some of the questions about them…hopefully they’re up to date.

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-deals-promotions/plus-premier-cruise-packages

[memoak]

1 minute ago, hobo1937 said:

This is my personal opinion, but I would not be surprised if Princess limits SD to Premier Package guests only, or only offers a small number of reservations to non Premier guests. It will depend on how this rolls out and if Premier guests can't get into the SD restaurants they want when they want. 

Add in all the full suites who have guaranteed SD dining on embarkation night and that could shut out premier packages on that night on ships with only a few venues

[hobo1937]

We are on the Grand at the end of Sept in a suite. I have prebooked our embarkation dinner(not charged) and one other SD dinner so we should be covered. It will be interesting to see how things are going in these venues as the Grand’s new Premier rollout is earlier in September. 

 

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

I see several comments about staffing levels and wonder where additional staff might sleep? Perhaps they could rotate through passenger cabins.

The same place they were sleeping before the pandemic when ships were fully staffed.

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

Another issue with more diners in the SD venues has to do with the ability of the galley to put out more meals.  This has been an issue in the past and cannot be remedied with more staff due to the smaller galleys in SD venues.  🤷‍♂️

Maybe they utilize another kitchen for starters, or anything chilled?

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, Teechur said:

Not necessarily. If Reserve Suites transition to "Sanctuary Suites", fleetwide, some people will choose both.

Pre-booking the Sanctuary is what lots of guests want.

 

Constant whining about having to run up to the upper deck to book sanctuary only to find out the B2B guests booked it out. 

 

Sanctuary suites fleet wide would solve this issue. 

[loge23]

21 minutes ago, memoak said:

$60 a day per person more than plus package is hard to find a value for me. My drinks all fit in the plus package sand if I eat more than a few specialty dinners per cruise would cause me to gain weight

We just get the Plus and pay the difference for the few ++ drinks we have out of the credits. No interest in the desserts, photos, or the specialty dining - particularly if we're in Reserve class dining. 

[azbirdmom]

2 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

The same place they were sleeping before the pandemic when ships were fully staffed.

Agree.  I haven't been on a Princess cruise yet that's been fully staffed since they started sailing full.  I remember when the waiters used to have assistants in the specialty dining venues.  Now they have to do it all and the hostess will typically pitch in to bus tables.  I know they have tried not to completely sell every table at the specialty venues when they don't have the staff to cover but when they've done that anyway the service is horrid and the waiters seem very stressed.  Unless they staff up this will only add to the stress for the staff and frustration for diners.

[startedwithamouse]

30 minutes ago, hobo1937 said:

This is my personal opinion, but I would not be surprised if Princess limits SD to Premier Package guests only, or only offers a small number of reservations to non Premier guests. It will depend on how this rolls out and if Premier guests can't get into the SD restaurants they want when they want. 

Another scenario: Premier and Full Suites will have access to SD reservations. All others wishing to book SD can pay on the app, then have an dining time assigned to them once onboard. This ensures the Premier and Full Suites still get priority for their desired dining times. It also gives the restaurant staff itself to fill in spots where there's room. 

Edited August 18 by startedwithamouse

[Thunderbird19]

2 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

"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. 

We typically stay away from the any deep fried items and do dressing on the side.  You can definitely eat tasty and healthy at Buffet or RMD if you choose well.  Based on what my uncle (chef in a very upscale restaurant) shares with me - there are LOTS of hidden calories in upscale meals and desserts you’d find in specialty dining places ( tho I’ve never found those ship restaurants to routinely meet the standards of my local favorite fine dining spots)  which is why they taste so good. 🤭   
 

Edited August 18 by Thunderbird19

[paddingtonbear]

53 minutes ago, memoak said:

Suites have nothing to do with specialty dining except for embarkation night dining and reserve minis have never had anything to do with SD. Can you explain your post

Cruising mark post #379 said if the new premier package works (SD dining is available and usable etc) he would consider it instead of a reserve mini as the price differential is better and maybe the inclusions would suit him better.

 

i thought that he probably won’t be alone in that decision. But subsequent posts about Sanctuary cabins are very valid. 
 

it will be interesting to see how it works. I don’t think every premier guest will want SD dining BUT going on the reservation debarked there seems to be enough who do to overwhelm the venues. 

[Teechur]

59 minutes ago, memoak said:

Questioning again what is meant 

by reserve suites. There is no designation like Sanctuary suites on non sphere class ships. There are Window, Vista, Penthouse , Grand and Owners suites and not all on every ship 

Sorry. I should have specified "reserve mini-suites".

[BlerkOne]

28 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

The same place they were sleeping before the pandemic when ships were fully staffed.

Like they are now?

[memoak]

1 minute ago, Teechur said:

Sorry. I should have specified "reserve mini-suites".

Since reserve minis are much cheaper than full suites why would they get the package and the full suites don’t 

[Teechur]

2 minutes ago, Teechur said:

Sorry. I should have specified "reserve collection mini-suites".

 

[Retired-N-Happy]

53 minutes ago, memoak said:

Would that be a different menu from dinner ?  I sure wouldn’t pay as much for a smaller menu but really don’t need to eat a big steak in the middle of the day. Plus what would keep this upgraded class of passengers from booking lunch and dinner for every day of a cruise ?

 

 

If they opened GC or Sabatini's for lunch on sea days, then those Premier purchasers that would enjoy lunch at either location would open up seats at Alfredo's or Gigi's for others.  It would also decrease the chance they would go back to the same venue for dinner.

 

On Royal Caribbean they have reduced choice menus at reduced prices on sea days at their steak house and Italian venues.

[memoak]

Just now, Retired-N-Happy said:

If they opened GC or Sabatini's for lunch on sea days, then those Premier purchasers that would enjoy lunch at either location would open up seats at Alfredo's or Gigi's for others.  It would also decrease the chance they would go back to the same venue for dinner.

 

On Royal Caribbean they have reduced choice menus at reduced prices on sea days at their steak house and Italian venues.

Well on the Grand they are using Crown Grill at lunch as the salty dog Gastropub and where are you going to put things MTG and Tuscan lunch 

[paddingtonbear]

9 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Like they are now?

Ther have been quite a few posts lately about understaffed ships since the restart. 

[BlerkOne]

4 minutes ago, paddingtonbear said:

Ther have been quite a few posts lately about understaffed ships since the restart. 

Yes. Just because someone doesn't have a dedicate staff of 10 in the dining room, doesn't mean the resources weren't reallocated somewhere else. In years gone by, I would often see some staff standing around with very little to nothing to do. It was very poor resource management.

[Retired-N-Happy]

58 minutes ago, memoak said:

$60 a day per person more than plus package is hard to find a value for me. My drinks all fit in the plus package sand if I eat more than a few specialty dinners per cruise would cause me to gain weight

First of all, it's 30 a day more.  And on more than one occasion you have stated that the 15.00 drink limit is OK with you, so obviously the Premier package doesn't bring you value.  But there are others that like higher end wines, which we don't, but there are many new drinks on the Sphere Class where we have 8 out of our next 10 cruises that are between 16-20 that we can now enjoy by purchasing Premier.  I'm forced to wait to purchase until we board in October because I have 400 in OBC to burn that I want to use towards our upgrade and Princess lets you spend it on an excursion pre-cruise, but not a package upgrade.

[paddingtonbear]

4 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Yes. Just because someone doesn't have a dedicate staff of 10 in the dining room, doesn't mean the resources weren't reallocated somewhere else. In years gone by, I would often see some staff standing around with very little to nothing to do. It was very poor resource management.

I guess. But experienced cruisers who know a few of the staff have commented that some ships don’t have their full complement of staff since the restart. And it’s noticeable. 
 

Edited August 18 by paddingtonbear

[BlerkOne]

2 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

First of all, it's 30 a day more.

For now...

[BlerkOne]

1 minute ago, paddingtonbear said:

I guess. But experienced cruisers who know a few of the staff have commented that some ships don’t have their full complement of staff since the restart. And it’s noticeable l. 

It would be a good question for whenever they have Q&A session with the hotel director present.

[Retired-N-Happy]

47 minutes ago, Thunderbird19 said:

We typically stay away from the any deep fried items and do dressing on the side.  You can definitely eat tasty and healthy at Buffet or RMD if you choose well.  Based on what my uncle (chef in a very upscale restaurant) shares with me - there are LOTS of hidden calories in upscale meals and desserts you’d find in specialty dining places ( tho I’ve never found those ship restaurants to routinely meet the standards of my local favorite fine dining spots)  which is why they taste so good. 🤭   
 

Remember who Jim Fixx was?  A long distance runner in great shape who died of a heart attack at 52.  

 

We're all gonna die and only the man upstairs knows when.  If I happen to go on a cruise with my DW because I'm on drink #10 after enjoying a meal at the Crown Grill, I'll die a happy man.

[paddingtonbear]

12 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

It would be a good question for whenever they have Q&A session with the hotel director present.

Ha ha! He/she wouldn’t tell you they are running understaffed!

I guess they might say “due to illness some cruises have a few staff unavailable” or some such obsfucation!  

I think the inside info from regular experienced cruisers is more reliable. It why these boards are so good and helpful.