Sky or Sun with Premium Plus Drink Package?

[S&DMOM]

Any recent cruisers with comments or reports on the SKY or SUN Premium Plus Drink package?  TIA

[laxgran2]

I am curious about the same thing.   I chose it for our trip in June and wondered about it.  I do like the water and coffee also the special wines and I understand that bottles of wine with dinner have a 40% discount and this is a good chance to try wines we have not had.

[crazy4cruzn]

We were just on the Sky with the Premium Plus beverage plan.  We would have been fine with the regular beverage plan.  When we ordered mixed drinks, we had tequila and vodka that was included  in the regular plan.  I am kind of picky about coffee, and I actually really liked the regular coffee after dinner in the dining room (not crazy about the buffet coffee...).   The only "premium" beverages that we had were one glass of wine at dinner one night and 2 bottles of water when we got off the ship in Havana.  Not a big deal,  but we did end up paying more in the charged gratuity than we gained by having the plan - we definitely were not making any effort to try to get "our money's worth" for this.  Next time I would probably not take this perk for us.  

Edited April 14, 2019 by crazy4cruzn

[myjillian]

7 hours ago, crazy4cruzn said:

We were just on the Sky with the Premium Plus beverage plan.  We would have been fine with the regular beverage plan.  When we ordered mixed drinks, we had tequila and vodka that was included  in the regular plan.  I am kind of picky about coffee, and I actually really liked the regular coffee after dinner in the dining room (not crazy about the buffet coffee...).   The only "premium" beverages that we had were one glass of wine at dinner one night and 2 bottles of water when we got off the ship in Havana.  Not a big deal,  but we did end up paying more in the charged gratuity than we gained by having the plan - we definitely were not making any effort to try to get "our money's worth" for this.  Next time I would probably not take this perk for us.  

Thank you, good to know.

[marti2282]

We were on the Sun to Cuba -- 5 days, April 6 to 11 -- with premium plus.  It cost less than $60 to upgrade from the free drink package they offer.  We upgraded when we booked the cruise so I'm not sure if the price is more once on board.

 

Everything by the glass was included. Specialty coffee in restaurants. Bottled still and sparkling water.  We would have been fine without it, but it was a nice treat for us.

 

DH is a bourbon drinker and picky about the brand -- at home drinks Makers Mark, Blantons, and other small batch bourbons.  The only bourbon in the free option was Jim Beam. They did have Bullet Rye, and he would have been okay with that.

 

With the PP package, Bookers Kentucky, Woodford Reserve and Whistle Pig were offered.  Tho is was on the menu in all bars, none had the Bookers available, so he bounced between Woodford and Whistle Pig. Can't remember what the up-charge for the Woodford was if you had the basic package, but it was a ridiculous $19.95 per drink for the Whistle Pig! 

 

I drink gin, and my usual Tanquary was on the basic pkg.  Got Tanquary 10 with PP.

 

And with the PP package, the bar staff almost always poured doubles. 

[RupanIII]

 

19 hours ago, marti2282 said:

We were on the Sun to Cuba -- 5 days, April 6 to 11 -- with premium plus.  It cost less than $60 to upgrade from the free drink package they offer.  We upgraded when we booked the cruise so I'm not sure if the price is more once on board.

 

Everything by the glass was included. Specialty coffee in restaurants. Bottled still and sparkling water.  We would have been fine without it, but it was a nice treat for us.

 

DH is a bourbon drinker and picky about the brand -- at home drinks Makers Mark, Blantons, and other small batch bourbons.  The only bourbon in the free option was Jim Beam. They did have Bullet Rye, and he would have been okay with that.

 

With the PP package, Bookers Kentucky, Woodford Reserve and Whistle Pig were offered.  Tho is was on the menu in all bars, none had the Bookers available, so he bounced between Woodford and Whistle Pig. Can't remember what the up-charge for the Woodford was if you had the basic package, but it was a ridiculous $19.95 per drink for the Whistle Pig! 

 

I drink gin, and my usual Tanquary was on the basic pkg.  Got Tanquary 10 with PP.

 

And with the PP package, the bar staff almost always poured doubles. 

 

Thank you very much. We took it because the gratuity charge wasn't too much and none of the other perks really interested us. We will definitely be getting our money worth out of this package. It will be very nice to order whatever we want and not worry about if there is going to be a charge. 

 

Requesting Patron in my margaritas will more than make it worth it. 🙂

[marti2282]

3 minutes ago, RupanIII said:

 

 

Thank you very much. We took it because the gratuity charge wasn't too much and none of the other perks really interested us. We will definitely be getting our money worth out of this package. It will be very nice to order whatever we want and not worry about if there is going to be a charge. 

 

Requesting Patron in my margaritas will more than make it worth it. 🙂

And cappuccinos at breakfast! ☕️

[S&DMOM]

Thank you for the replies.  Anyone try the specialty dining on board?  Any favorites? 

[marti2282]

On 4/15/2019 at 4:20 PM, S&DMOM said:

Thank you for the replies.  Anyone try the specialty dining on board?  Any favorites? 

We did all but Moderno.

— Los Lobos — neither DH or I liked our entrees.  He had swordfish and I had a pulled pork dish.  Will not eat there again.

— La Cucina — Loved it! Excellent tenderloin. Husband liked his soo buco. Our FAVORITE!

— la Bistro — I had good steak and my husband double cut lamb chops. Mushroom soup was amazing. Escargot tasted off.  Didn’t eat it. Comes in second.

— Carney’s — just okay. Food was under seasoned. Bland.

[jujubee11]

On 4/14/2019 at 11:29 AM, marti2282 said:

We were on the Sun to Cuba -- 5 days, April 6 to 11 -- with premium plus.  It cost less than $60 to upgrade from the free drink package they offer.  We upgraded when we booked the cruise so I'm not sure if the price is more once on board.

 

Everything by the glass was included. Specialty coffee in restaurants. Bottled still and sparkling water.  We would have been fine without it, but it was a nice treat for us.

 

DH is a bourbon drinker and picky about the brand -- at home drinks Makers Mark, Blantons, and other small batch bourbons.  The only bourbon in the free option was Jim Beam. They did have Bullet Rye, and he would have been okay with that.

 

With the PP package, Bookers Kentucky, Woodford Reserve and Whistle Pig were offered.  Tho is was on the menu in all bars, none had the Bookers available, so he bounced between Woodford and Whistle Pig. Can't remember what the up-charge for the Woodford was if you had the basic package, but it was a ridiculous $19.95 per drink for the Whistle Pig! 

 

I drink gin, and my usual Tanquary was on the basic pkg.  Got Tanquary 10 with PP.

 

And with the PP package, the bar staff almost always poured doubles. 

 

Do you remember if Jameson Whiskey was included in the open bar, or was that an upcharge?

[marti2282]

5 hours ago, jujubee11 said:

 

Do you remember if Jameson Whiskey was included in the open bar, or was that an upcharge?

 

Sorry, I don’t remember!

 

[YankeesFan4Life]

7 hours ago, jujubee11 said:

 

Do you remember if Jameson Whiskey was included in the open bar, or was that an upcharge?

Jameson almost has to be on the open bar, my wife is on the ship right now, waiting to hear from her tomorrow when she gets to GSC, I'll try to remember to ask her.  The one thing that really pissed her off about the PP is that they wanted to charge her gratuities on bottled water while in port in MIA until they left.  That was 5 hours.....She did say that there was fruit infused water around the ship that they just filled up their cups with.  Told her to order a bottle of Veuve Clicquot every night at dinner!

[C cruise]

this is the alcohol menus on the Sun without the premium package.. everything without a price is included in the free alcohol plan.. I hope this helps

[L1211]

This was super helpful!  Booked today and choose the app plan but wasn't sure what that bought. Thanks!!

[bobsfamily]

Up-charge on the Sun for PP was $53 for 4 night cruise in August... the water alone is worth the $53!

[laxgran2]

We just came off the Sun yesterday and of course instead of Cuba we went to the Bahamas.  Ship and staff were very nice.  No complaints.

We had the Premium Plus Beverage Package and it was great.  We had Vieuve Clicquot (sp) Champagne at the Champagne Bar.  Wonderful wines with dinner usually 1 bottle Chardonnay and 1 of Cabernet and another bottle or sometimes 2 to take with us.  All they had to do was open it and pour a little then you could take the bottle along.

We usually picked up bottles of water during the day and with meals we would get the large bottles of still and sparkling.  Also you could take one of them with you, so we always had wine back on the balcony and plenty water in the room.  There were 4 of us although my granddaughter was under age for alcohol but she was happy just to get waters.

Fresh squeezed OJ at the topsider bar.

It was definitely worth every penny.

 

 

 

[tallnthensome]

10 hours ago, laxgran2 said:

We just came off the Sun yesterday and of course instead of Cuba we went to the Bahamas.  Ship and staff were very nice.  No complaints.

We had the Premium Plus Beverage Package and it was great.  We had Vieuve Clicquot (sp) Champagne at the Champagne Bar.  Wonderful wines with dinner usually 1 bottle Chardonnay and 1 of Cabernet and another bottle or sometimes 2 to take with us.  All they had to do was open it and pour a little then you could take the bottle along.

We usually picked up bottles of water during the day and with meals we would get the large bottles of still and sparkling.  Also you could take one of them with you, so we always had wine back on the balcony and plenty water in the room.  There were 4 of us although my granddaughter was under age for alcohol but she was happy just to get waters.

Fresh squeezed OJ at the topsider bar.

It was definitely worth every penny.

 

 

 

I've been reading conflicting info from the website and on here, maybe you can help. What was the upcharge per person or even the total for two people to upgrade to premium aboard? Thanks 

[laxgran2]

When we booked our cruise this was one of the free options, which made it an upgrade from the premium (normal) package to the premium plus.   They said the retail value of the upgrade was $29 per person per day and we had to pay the gratuity of 20% which was $5.80 per day or $23.20 for the four days.   It was a no brainer.   According to my notes the premium (all inclusive package)was $99 per day and the Premium package was $128 an increase of $29 per day.   Depending on what offers they were giving you these amounts could change.

They made me get the package for my granddaughter even though she could not drink alcohol but she was in my cabin.  I just felt that it was worth it even getting it for her since it covered waters and fresh orange juice and for the $5.80per day gratuity.

My daughter, son in law and I definitely made up for it.

If you are drinking something on embarkation day in Cape Canaveral or presale in Key West they have to charge the local tax.

It really is not much, I think a glass of the real good champagne I paid $1.50 in tax and a bottle of wine at lunch on sailing day was $5.04.

Enjoy your cruise.

[clw1624]

13 hours ago, laxgran2 said:

We just came off the Sun yesterday and of course instead of Cuba we went to the Bahamas.  Ship and staff were very nice.  No complaints.

We had the Premium Plus Beverage Package and it was great.  We had Vieuve Clicquot (sp) Champagne at the Champagne Bar.  Wonderful wines with dinner usually 1 bottle Chardonnay and 1 of Cabernet and another bottle or sometimes 2 to take with us.  All they had to do was open it and pour a little then you could take the bottle along.

We usually picked up bottles of water during the day and with meals we would get the large bottles of still and sparkling.  Also you could take one of them with you, so we always had wine back on the balcony and plenty water in the room.  There were 4 of us although my granddaughter was under age for alcohol but she was happy just to get waters.

Fresh squeezed OJ at the topsider bar.

It was definitely worth every penny.

 

 

 

Is the Veuve Clicquot a bottle or glass? If a bottle, are you getting 40% off with the PPB? We were fine with the regular open bar but PPB was our “free” upgrade. Now I have something to look forward to.

[laxgran2]

We got it by the glass but had 2 glasses,  I heard a comment that you could get the bottle and probably like the wines we got and  took with us as long as they opened it.  If you want the bottle then Champagne bar is best and probably DR.  Be sure and put your card out so they can see that you have the PPBP.   A lady beside me wanted what I was having and they asked for her card and when they saw it commented that she would need to get the Sparkling Wine as she did not have the Premium.

 

 

[CruisingNole]

The DSC on Sun is already $20.50 (for non-suite guests) a day to compensate for the "free" beverages. So then to upgrade, there's the $30 difference between Sailaway vs IF rates (for the sailing I'm on) which gives me the "free" perk, and then there's an ADDITIONAL $5.80 added to the DSC, bringing the total to $26.30 a day per person in service charges.  So essentially, you're paying an ADDITIONAL $35.80/day to have the "upgraded" package.

 

Save your money folks. 

[tallnthensome]

1 hour ago, CruisingNole said:

The DSC on Sun is already $20.50 (for non-suite guests) a day to compensate for the "free" beverages. So then to upgrade, there's the $30 difference between Sailaway vs IF rates (for the sailing I'm on) which gives me the "free" perk, and then there's an ADDITIONAL $5.80 added to the DSC, bringing the total to $26.30 a day per person in service charges.  So essentially, you're paying an ADDITIONAL $35.80/day to have the "upgraded" package.

 

Save your money folks. 

Thanks! 

[laxgran2]

We did not have to pay for the upgrade it was one of the free perks.  The only thing we hadto pay was the $5.80 and just for the water it was worth it because if you did not have the Premium package you had to pay for any bottles of water you asked for at the bar or meals.  A liter of water in the mini bar was $5.50.

Everyone needs to think what they really want and just be happy with it.

 

[CruisingNole]

On 6/23/2019 at 5:47 PM, laxgran2 said:

We did not have to pay for the upgrade it was one of the free perks.  

 

 

But you paid for that "free" perk by way of an inflated fare.  😉

[bobsfamily]

23 minutes ago, CruisingNole said:

 

But you paid for that "free" perk by way of an inflated fare.  😉

Since the "open bar" is part of the cruise price the only thing you pay for with the upgrade is the gratuities for 4 days (x2 for a couple) which was $53... Water and bubbly will more than pay for that, plus a few drinks of top shelf rum/vodka!

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by bobsfamily