Drink Package Price on Princess

Hello everyone,

I hope you day is going well.

I am hoping someone can help me here. I know Princess use to have a glitch with their Premium Drinks Package reservation and wondering if it is still a problem.

Went to order it today and found that instead of $86.99 AUD per day including the service charge it was $93.14 AUD. For an 8 day cruise that is a difference of $49.20.

So as asked earlier do they still have a problem or should I wait and get it on board?

Many thanks

Silly Sim.

Hello everyone,

 

I hope you day is going well.

 

I am hoping someone can help me here. I know Princess use to have a glitch with their Premium Drinks Package reservation and wondering if it is still a problem.

 

Went to order it today and found that instead of $86.99 AUD per day including the service charge it was $93.14 AUD. For an 8 day cruise that is a difference of $49.20.

 

So as asked earlier do they still have a problem or should I wait and get it on board?

 

Many thanks

 

Silly Sim.

The AUD price for the Premium Drinks Package on the Princess Australian based ships is based on the USD price. So if the AUD falls against the USD, which it has recently, then so the price is adjusted. That is the way I see it anyway.:( The package is of no value to us, don't drink enough, but appeals to some.

The AUD price for the Premium Drinks Package on the Princess Australian based ships is based on the USD price. So if the AUD falls against the USD, which it has recently, then so the price is adjusted. That is the way I see it anyway.:( The package is of no value to us, don't drink enough, but appeals to some.

No it's not based on the USD price, they have a set AUD price for Australian-based ships. It looks like the bug is still there so it's probably best to buy it onboard.

Edit - the easiest way to tell if the bug is still there is to look at the prices for OBC. If they aren't showing $25, $50 and $100 then the bug is still there - I just checked one of my bookings and I see $32.50, $65 and $130. Note the bug amount varies on different bookings, depending when the cruise was booked. It's the US exchange rate at that time which is applied erroneously to AUD prices.

No it's not based on the USD price, they have a set AUD price for Australian-based ships. It looks like the bug is still there so it's probably best to buy it onboard.

Confusing eh? I have 3 Princess cruises booked for next year, Sapphire x 2 and Royal x 1 ex Southampton. Now I just looked at on board reservations for each cruise and for me to buy the package from here through cruise personaliser it is AU$89.69 per day per person or on board in USD it is US$68.99.:rolleyes: Both prices include service charge of 15%.

OK, so just now I checked Terms and Conditions and for Australian based ships it is AU$86.99 per day, including service charge.

Confusing eh? I have 3 Princess cruises booked for next year, Sapphire x 2 and Royal x 1 ex Southampton. Now I just looked at on board reservations for each cruise and for me to buy the package from here through cruise personaliser it is AU$89.69 per day per person or on board in USD it is US$68.99.:rolleyes:

For those cruises there isn't a problem with the bug. It's only AUD cruises.

As mentioned above the way to determine the exchange rate that applies to your booking is to check the OBC prices in AUD. The example I gave was an exchange rate of .77, other cruises I have booked have and exchange rate of .80. Yours look like it might be .77. If you plan to buy the package monitor the actual exchange rate until close to when your cruise departs. If it stays below .77 buy online but if it goes above that and looks like it might stay there for the duration of your cruise then buy onboard.

For those cruises there isn't a problem with the bug. It's only AUD cruises.

 

As mentioned above the way to determine the exchange rate that applies to your booking is to check the OBC prices in AUD. The example I gave was an exchange rate of .77, other cruises I have booked have and exchange rate of .80. Yours look like it might be .77. If you plan to buy the package monitor the actual exchange rate until close to when your cruise departs. If it stays below .77 buy online but if it goes above that and looks like it might stay there for the duration of your cruise then buy onboard.

Thank you, my friend.:*

Thank you, my friend.:*

You're welcome! You've given me plenty of good advice since I joined Cruise Critic. :)

A cruise line's website with an issue, what a surprise. I am just so glad they run their cruises better than their websites. :)

A cruise line's website with an issue, what a surprise. I am just so glad they run their cruises better than their websites. :)

This one has been around for a couple of years. Princess may not want to fix it as many people who cruise don't realise there is a problem and probably just think that is the price, so Princess creams a bit of extra profit off the deal. :mad:

Thank you everyone. I think I will just buy it on board (maybe). Depends on hubby though.;p

Thank you everyone. I think I will just buy it on board (maybe). Depends on hubby though.;p

Maybe cheaper to buy as you go, price out what you may drink each day if over $180 per day per couple, then get the package, if not, well then buy as you need it.:hearteyes:

e.g. for us, half a bottle of wine with dinner (keep half for next night, they do that for you) say $US 30 a full bottle = $15 per night. Plus one pre dinner drink each at US$10, all up our booze budget is US$50 per day. Like next year 3 Princess cruises all in a row. USD. If we took the drinks package out for the 33 nights it would be just on US$3000, a little over budget for us. US$1650...33 days @ $50 sounds better.

Thank you everyone. I think I will just buy it on board (maybe). Depends on hubby though.;p

Do your homework first to see it it's cost effective for you. Take into account the itinerary - if there are a lot of port days you may not get value out of the package.

We've had it for three cruises when it was $59 but at $87 it is no longer cost effective for us so we won't be getting it on our next cruise.

This one has been around for a couple of years. Princess may not want to fix it as many people who cruise don't realise there is a problem and probably just think that is the price, so Princess creams a bit of extra profit off the deal. :mad:

Sounds cynical but you may be right.

Do your homework first to see it it's cost effective for you. Take into account the itinerary - if there are a lot of port days you may not get value out of the package.

 

We've had it for three cruises when it was $59 but at $87 it is no longer cost effective for us so we won't be getting it on our next cruise.

I like the convenience of a package but definitely do not want one at that price as I would want to get value out of it and I don't think my liver would cope with drinking that much everyday.

Sure Mic, a package would be convenient, but if they dropped the price they might sell more.:halo:

If I took the current package at todays price, I would end up in the ship's medical centre with alcohol poisoning.

Sure Mic, a package would be convenient, but if they dropped the price they might sell more.:halo:

 

If I took the current package at todays price, I would end up in the ship's medical centre with alcohol poisoning.

That is my worry, I could possibly drink 10 drinks over the whole day for one day, but certainly couldn't do it every day.:eek:

That is my worry, I could possibly drink 10 drinks over the whole day for one day, but certainly couldn't do it every day.:eek:

Same here, I would be in La La Land. :eek:

Same here, I would be in La La Land. :eek:

Doctor would crucify me and if I died, I definitely wouldn't be able to be cremated, there would be a bon fire..

Maybe cheaper to buy as you go, price out what you may drink each day if over $180 per day per couple, then get the package, if not, well then buy as you need it.:hearteyes:

 

e.g. for us, half a bottle of wine with dinner (keep half for next night, they do that for you) say $US 30 a full bottle = $15 per night. Plus one pre dinner drink each at US$10, all up our booze budget is US$50 per day. Like next year 3 Princess cruises all in a row. USD. If we took the drinks package out for the 33 nights it would be just on US$3000, a little over budget for us. US$1650...33 days @ $50 sounds better.

Remember on the USD cruises you can get the silver or gold wine packages which gives you savings on each bottle of wine. They are available for 7. 10 or 12 bottles.

Our drinks bill averaged AU $47pp per day on our Royal cruise in September. We didn't stint ourselves and even had a bottle of Dom Perignon on our wedding anniversary. We got the 12 bottle wine package for a 21 night cruise (we didn't use it for the Dom though) and had a balcony dinner one night and the Chefs Table another night, both of which included drinks.

Remember on the USD cruises you can get the silver or gold wine packages which gives you savings on each bottle of wine. They are available for 7. 10 or 12 bottles.

 

Our drinks bill averaged $47pp per day on our Royal cruise in September. We didn't stint ourselves and even had a bottle of Dom Perignon on our wedding anniversary. We got the 12 bottle wine package for a 21 night cruise (we didn't use it for the Dom though) and had a balcony dinner one night and the Chefs Table another night, both of which included drinks.

The silver wine package might be the go as we are big wine drinkers and not much else.:halo: I will have a look at it on my booking.:eek: I wonder if I could buy the 12 bottle deal and carry it over on the Sapphire B2B? If we have any left that is, we have the same cabin for both.

Thanks again.

The silver wine package might be the go as we are big wine drinkers and not much else.:halo: I will have a look at it on my booking.:eek: I wonder if I could buy the 12 bottle deal and carry it over on the Sapphire B2B? If we have any left that is, we have the same cabin for both.

 

Thanks again.

We found the gold package allowed a much better selection of wines. Better quality too. On the 12 bottle gold package you save up to $17 per bottle so very good value.

You should be able to carry the package over from one B2B cruise to the next. Our Royal cruise was operated as two shorter cruises, 11 and 10 nights, to make up the 21 night cruise we'd booked. I did point out that we were on the full 21 night cruise though when I bought the package in the MDR at lunch time. Take copies of your booking summaries to the MDR with you as proof, just to be on the safe side. On our cruise our cruise cards covered the full 21 nights so that was all the proof we needed.

We often had two bottles of wine on the go, a red and a white, so we had reasonable matches for what we were eating. We really enjoyed trying some of the European wines that Princess had.