Upgrade just the drinks package to new Premier drinks package when you have Princess Plus

[Suite Susie]

We are trying to upgrade the drinks package element of our Princess Plus Package, but our TA is not coming up with any answers for us. We initially tried to change our Princess Plus Package to the Premier Package, but the price to do this in the UK was ridiculous. Therefore thought we would try to upgrade just the drinks portion. Has anybody else tried to do this and if so how did they get on. Our cruise is 22nd July and we are anticipating the bar prices rising before then. We are drinkers and like the premium brands. I don’t think Princess really know what they are doing and have not anticipated that those of us who purchased Princess Plus before this option was brought in would want to upgrade. Any input would be very much appreciated. 

[memoak]

1 minute ago, Suite Susie said:

We are trying to upgrade the drinks package element of our Princess Plus Package, but our TA is not coming up with any answers for us. We initially tried to change our Princess Plus Package to the Premier Package, but the price to do this in the UK was ridiculous. Therefore thought we would try to upgrade just the drinks portion. Has anybody else tried to do this and if so how did they get on. Our cruise is 22nd July and we are anticipating the bar prices rising before then. We are drinkers and like the premium brands. I don’t think Princess really know what they are doing and have not anticipated that those of us who purchased Princess Plus before this option was brought in would want to upgrade. Any input would be very much appreciated. 

They are sold and billed as packages not individual portions. You either get all or nothing. Unless you use multiple devices or like pictures or specialty dinners you are probably better off staying with the Plus package  and paying difference for the top shelf liquor

 

[prmssk]

10 minutes ago, memoak said:

They are sold and billed as packages not individual portions. You either get all or nothing. Unless you use multiple devices or like pictures or specialty dinners you are probably better off staying with the Plus package  and paying difference for the top shelf liquor

 

I don’t think this is true because you can go in the cruise planner and purchase just the Plus Beverage Package or just the Premier Beverage package. So anyone cruising on a no perks fare can add on either drink package without upgrading the whole fare. So it makes absolutely no sense that those with the Plus fare wouldn’t be able to upgrade just their drink package. 

[wowzz]

29 minutes ago, prmssk said:

I don’t think this is true because you can go in the cruise planner and purchase just the Plus Beverage Package or just the Premier Beverage package. So anyone cruising on a no perks fare can add on either drink package without upgrading the whole fare. So it makes absolutely no sense that those with the Plus fare wouldn’t be able to upgrade just their drink package. 

No, it's a package - you cannot unbundle it.

To the OP - just buy the basic PP package, and if you want a premium brand you will only pay the excess over $12,  +18%. 

[fpsphil]

Premiere seems like a waste unless you drink ALOT of top shell liquor

[memoak]

3 minutes ago, fpsphil said:

Premiere seems like a waste unless you drink ALOT of top shell liquor

Or more likely higher priced wine by the glass. There are not that many wines that sell for $12 or less. Or at least not that many that I would consider good wines whereas my preferred bourbon and vodka brands have always been covered by the plus package

[voljeep]

or 4 devices at a time instead of 1

or pictures

or whatever that game that is included

[MudderBear]

I did the math on this, and ended up doing the Premiere.  I don't drink alot, but with the two specialty dinners, the photos (I did not pose for any photos this pastr because I knew I wouldn't buy them), but in addition, I also got a $50 onboard credit each for me and hubby.  And, I'm curious as to the prizes....hopefully a thermal spa pass for even a day would be great.  I am presently booked on Greek Isle tour for next year, so we'll see!!!

 

[memoak]

46 minutes ago, MudderBear said:

I did the math on this, and ended up doing the Premiere.  I don't drink alot, but with the two specialty dinners, the photos (I did not pose for any photos this pastr because I knew I wouldn't buy them), but in addition, I also got a $50 onboard credit each for me and hubby.  And, I'm curious as to the prizes....hopefully a thermal spa pass for even a day would be great.  I am presently booked on Greek Isle tour for next year, so we'll see!!!

 

After 40+ cruises I do not pose for any pictures and haven’t for at least 10 years. I don’t see how this would benefit anyone who doesn’t drink expensive wines or wants a huge amount of digital pictures 

[NRWPA]

I wonder how well stocked the bars will be when Premier and the new Plus packages start on June 25. On my Caribbean Princess cruise that ended 6/4/2022 they were unable to do wine flights because they were out of 2 of the 3 wines from what I overheard the bartender say (I don't know what wines are included in the flight). They ran out of Chocolate Block and several others. I didn't care, as the wine I like was available all 21 days 🙂 Going again July 9th so I guess I'll find out - I have the Plus package for that one and that will probably be good enough for all my future cruises

[Steelers36]

17 hours ago, Suite Susie said:

We are trying to upgrade the drinks package element of our Princess Plus Package, but our TA is not coming up with any answers for us. We initially tried to change our Princess Plus Package to the Premier Package, but the price to do this in the UK was ridiculous. Therefore thought we would try to upgrade just the drinks portion. Has anybody else tried to do this and if so how did they get on. Our cruise is 22nd July and we are anticipating the bar prices rising before then. We are drinkers and like the premium brands. I don’t think Princess really know what they are doing and have not anticipated that those of us who purchased Princess Plus before this option was brought in would want to upgrade. Any input would be very much appreciated. 

Not sure what you  really want to do, but Princess has advertised that anyone with the PLUS fare package in existing booking when PREMIER was introduced can upgrade for $25/pp/day.  Of course both in the cabin have to upgrade.

[Sunset329]

We have onboard credit for our next cruise. We now have Princess Plus. Can we upgrade to the Premier Package using our OBC when we board the ship?

[LunaSeaRetreat]

44 minutes ago, Sunset329 said:

We have onboard credit for our next cruise. We now have Princess Plus. Can we upgrade to the Premier Package using our OBC when we board the ship?

Good question!  I hope someone on board will answer this before our August cruise.  I still have a lot of OBC and don't want to "buy" any more stuff or excursions.  

I'd also like to know if Princess is still letting you just pay the difference in wine cost if you have the + package.

Cynthia

[prmssk]

11 minutes ago, LunaSeaRetreat said:

 

I'd also like to know if Princess is still letting you just pay the difference in wine cost if you have the + package.

Cynthia

The Plus terms and conditions still clearly state that any drink over $12 will only cost the difference plus gratuity. So a $13 drink for some with Plus would cost $1.18. 

[bafinegan]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Not sure what you  really want to do, but Princess has advertised that anyone with the PLUS fare package in existing booking when PREMIER was introduced can upgrade for $25/pp/day.  Of course both in the cabin have to upgrade.

We upgraded last week.  We had booked under a promotion that also included 1 specialty dining.  WHen our PVP redid it to include the new premier package, it added 2 more specialty dining credits for a total of 3. Was a total of $75 each for our 7 day Alaska cruise for next May.  I cashed in some points for a $100 Princess gift card and used AARP to buy more gift cards at 10% discount.  SO the upgrade ended up (actually) costing $225.  We consider it well worth it because we like the top shelf and better wines.

 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Not sure what you  really want to do, but Princess has advertised that anyone with the PLUS fare package in existing booking when PREMIER was introduced can upgrade for $25/pp/day.  Of course both in the cabin have to upgrade.

What they want to do is pay more for the premiere alcohol package but not pay extra for the multiple device portion, the photo portion or the specialty dinner portion

[Steelers36]

5 minutes ago, memoak said:

What they want to do is pay more for the premiere alcohol package but not pay extra for the multiple device portion, the photo portion or the specialty dinner portion

GL with that, right?!

[Thrak]

We don't care about photos and the only time we eat in the specialty restaurants is if it's included. In general, the meal in those venues is too much food for us. My wife is happy with Lemontinis and I tend to drink Bulleit or sometimes Talisker - both of which are included with Plus. If I have a martini it's a Chairman of the Board which is also included. I do find it annoying that Bulleit Rye is either unavailable or, if it is, for some reason is not included with Plus but it's not like it's a major hardship. We used to drink the Spellbound Petite Sirah but they no longer offer it by the glass. Poop. Still, we seem to manage to find a wine we like that fits within the Plus package.

[smilesonfaces]

22 hours ago, Suite Susie said:

We are trying to upgrade the drinks package element of our Princess Plus Package, but our TA is not coming up with any answers for us. We initially tried to change our Princess Plus Package to the Premier Package, but the price to do this in the UK was ridiculous. Therefore thought we would try to upgrade just the drinks portion. Has anybody else tried to do this and if so how did they get on. Our cruise is 22nd July and we are anticipating the bar prices rising before then. We are drinkers and like the premium brands. I don’t think Princess really know what they are doing and have not anticipated that those of us who purchased Princess Plus before this option was brought in would want to upgrade. Any input would be very much appreciated. 

It’s either Princess Plus or Premier. There’s nothing in between. You can either pay the drinks price differences plus tax or upgrade. I would wait a little while.to upgrade until after 25/6 when passengers report of any price increases and post some new menus online. 

Edited June 14, 2022 by smilesonfaces

[LunaSeaRetreat]

4 hours ago, prmssk said:

The Plus terms and conditions still clearly state that any drink over $12 will only cost the difference plus gratuity. So a $13 drink for some with Plus would cost $1.18. 

Thanks, I wasn't sure if they changed it. 

[Suite Susie]

Thanks for your input everybody. Our TA finally heard back from Princess today. As a lot of you said, we cannot upgrade just the drinks package of Princess Plus. However, we have successfully now upgraded to Princess Premier for £20 per day per head; which is considerably less than we were quoted a couple of weeks ago.  Princess in the UK are now in line with what they are offering to guests in the US. It will be interesting how it works when we board Enchanted on 22 July. 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Suite Susie said:

Thanks for your input everybody. Our TA finally heard back from Princess today. As a lot of you said, we cannot upgrade just the drinks package of Princess Plus. However, we have successfully now upgraded to Princess Premier for £20 per day per head; which is considerably less than we were quoted a couple of weeks ago.  Princess in the UK are now in line with what they are offering to guests in the US. It will be interesting how it works when we board Enchanted on 22 July. 

I really don’t see  what that £20 is going to get you over the Plus package on drinks alone unless you are having at least 10 ultra priced liquors since with the Plus you only pay the difference on any drinks over $12

[Suite Susie]

Not everybody will get value from the Premier package, but It won’t be a problem for us. Cloudy Bay is a lovely wine, which we are particularly looking forward to and we love the look of the cocktails in Bellinis. We should also have a choice of 40 wines by the glass. It will be interesting to see when we Board if everything that they promise is available. If we only drank 5 or 6 alcoholic drinks a day, it may not be good value, but we will drink more than that. Don’t forget the other perks as well. 

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Suite Susie said:

We should also have a choice of 40 wines by the glass

I very much doubt that. From our cruise two weeks ago, there were probably no more than 15 wines costing more than $12 a glass.

At present, lots if wines are out of stock,  so don't expect too much.

 

[memoak]

5 minutes ago, Suite Susie said:

Not everybody will get value from the Premier package, but It won’t be a problem for us. Cloudy Bay is a lovely wine, which we are particularly looking forward to and we love the look of the cocktails in Bellinis. We should also have a choice of 40 wines by the glass. It will be interesting to see when we Board if everything that they promise is available. If we only drank 5 or 6 alcoholic drinks a day, it may not be good value, but we will drink more than that. Don’t forget the other perks as well. 

I had assumed that since you originally asked about only upgrading the drink package you didn’t plan to utilize the photo package. As for 40 wines available by the glass only Vines would have that many. Most bars have a very limited wine list