Our experience with the Princess Premier Package

[Boiler Cruiser]

My wife and I bought the Princess Premier Package on our recent 15-day cruise to Hawaii on the Royal Princess.  Before our cruise we heard much about the Premier Package, and I wanted to share my experiences and thoughts about it.

 

Overall, it had many benefits for my wife and I, and, in the end, we saved a lot more money than the added cost of the Package.

 

Here are my observations & experiences:

 

 

MedallionClass Experience

 

When we first got on the ship, the Medallion app had issues on each of phones.  Not the same issues, however.  We went to the Internet Café, and the personnel there were very helpful, and got the app on each of our phones running like clockwork. 

We were advised that the tech’s in the Internet Café, were finding that many of the issues guests were having with their Medallion app when they first got on the ship happened because they did not update their app after their last cruise.  Running the update on my wife’s phone was all she needed.

 

So, before our next cruise, we will run an update of our app’s and I expect all will be well.

 

 

Premier Beverage Package

 

This is the part of the Premier Package that everyone is interested in and seems to talk about most.

My wife and I appreciated having the Premier Beverage Package very much.  She and I each drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day, not including the Café Mocha or Cappuccino we enjoy from time to time.  We also drink a couple of beers with lunch, or a soda.

 

Where the Premier Beverage Package really paid off for us was for liquor and wine.  We enjoy a couple of drinks before dinner, and usually, we had a glass of wine with dinner.  We also had a drink of two during the evening, as well.

 

The Premier Beverage Package allowed us to get premium brands of bourbon, scotch and gin that we would not be able to get, even at home, otherwise.  The $20 and under allowance per drink helped with this very much.

 

This all worked for us, but if you are not a person who is looking to drink high-end cocktails, more than the average amount of coffee each day, specialty drinks from Good Spirits at Sea, the Premier Beverage Package may deserve a second thought.

 

By the way, the bar waiters and those at the International Cage and in the restaurants, all knew were had the Premier Package, just from “reading” our medallions.

 

 

Wifi

 

The Wifi allowance with the Premier Package was well worth it.  While we did not have 4 devices each, we did have 4 between us.  Having Wifi available 24 hours a day, was a convenience that paid for itself handsomely.

 

If you have more than 1 device each, or if you are a family traveling with kids, the Wifi portion will pay for itself.

 

 

Crew Appreciation

 

It goes without saying, I think, that not having to pay the per diem gratuity out of pocket is a definite plus.

 

 

2 Specialty Meals

 

We really enjoyed this feature.  My wife and I enjoy going to the Crown Grill or Sabatini’s (especially now with the new menu), so having 2 included was very nice.

 

By the way, on this last cruise (March, 2023), we learned that Sabatini’s had just rolled out it’s new menu.  It was a very nice improvement over the prior menu…a nice variety of entrees and choices for salads, sides and desserts.

 

 

The Photo Package

 

To be honest, the Photo Package was not anything to get excited about.  True, you were able to get 3 prints (we got 3 8x10’s), but the only plus was that we were able to download all the portrait photos of us taken on the cruise, which we will get printed ourselves (no need to wait for the photo staff to get around to doing it for us).

 

 

Princess Prizes

 

Princess Prizes was a bit of fun, but seemed gimmicky.  For me, it was like someone bought a number of lottery tickets for me, with the same long odds of winning anything.

 

 

Premium Desserts

 

It was nice to be able to get a dish of ice cream, or an ice cream sundae at Gelato’s, but the so-called Premium desserts where oversized, over decorated (with sugary décor), and over the top.  I saw one or two people get the big elaborate sundaes, but other than that, regular dishes of ice cream seemed most popular.

 

 

Reserved Theater Seating

 

In the “fine print”, they note that Reserved Theater Seating in the Princess Theater is only available for what they call production shows.  Since on our 15 day cruise, there were only 3 shows that fell into this category, Reserved Theater Seating was not the perk that Princess makes it out to be, IMHO.

 

 

Unlimited Juice Bar

 

I felt taken in by the Unlimited Juice Bar on the Princess Premier Package.  The juices offered were veggie juices and fruit/ grasses juices, which I would have only had an interest in if it were a dietary necessity.  I was expecting some premium juices, such as papaya, guava, or some special fruit blends, but no such luck.  I was very disappointed.

 

 

Fitness Classes

 

My wife and I did not participate in the fitness classes.

 

 

Final Thought

 

I do a spreadsheet budget for each cruise we go on.  So, knowing what we usually would spend on liquor, beer, coffee and other drinks, as well as knowing what we would have spent on the crew gratuity and Wifi, this plan was ideal for us.  On this cruise, we saved easily a few thousand dollars.

 

 

Do your own calculations, and see if it is right for you.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Boiler Cruiser

[cr8tiv1]

Very thorough review. Many have been waiting for someone like you to post real experiences. 
 

Thank You

[Bemidji Ty]

Thanks so much for your analysis.  Cheers.

[minniegidget]

Did you win any prizes? 

[SuzieQ521]

Thank you for your great review. We sail the Royal next month.

 

Did you utilize room service at all? Wondering if one is able to order a specialty coffee drink (i.e. Latte, Mocha, etc.) and a cocktail via Medallion that way.

[CruizinSusan70]

You mentioned that those who like to imbibe at Good Spirits at Sea should invest in the Premium.  We sailed on the Discovery for 14 days last April and enjoyed Good Spirits every evening enjoying their post 530PM menu.  Are you saying that the Plus package would no longer cover these drinks?

[nini]

Thank you for taking the time to convey your experience with the Premium Package. We enjoy the Plus Package as even that one is worth it for us, even though he does not drink alcohol.

However, he loves  hot cocoa and virgin Pina Coladas!

[nini]

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

You mentioned that those who like to imbibe at Good Spirits at Sea should invest in the Premium.  We sailed on the Discovery for 14 days last April and enjoyed Good Spirits every evening enjoying their post 530PM menu.  Are you saying that the Plus package would no longer cover these drinks?

 

Many drinks are covered at Good Spirits for the Plus Package. It may not cover higher priced wines or other higher priced alcohol.

[CruizinSusan70]

33 minutes ago, nini said:

 

Many drinks are covered at Good Spirits for the Plus Package. It may not cover higher priced wines or other higher priced alcohol.

Every drink was covered for us last year at Good Spirits.  We are not wine drinkers so unless the 530 PM specialty drinks at Good Spirits are now over 15 bucks, we are good to go.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

Wifi

 

 

The Wifi allowance with the Premier Package was well worth it.  While we did not have 4 devices each, we did have 4 between us.  Having Wifi available 24 hours a day, was a convenience that paid for itself handsomely.

 

 

How was the Internet speed?

 

Did you try streaming? If so, how well did it work?

 

 

4 hours ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

The Photo Package

 

 

To be honest, the Photo Package was not anything to get excited about.  True, you were able to get 3 prints (we got 3 8x10’s), but the only plus was that we were able to download all the portrait photos of us taken on the cruise, which we will get printed ourselves (no need to wait for the photo staff to get around to doing it for us).

 

Is it 3 prints/person with the package or 3 prints/cabin?

 

 

4 hours ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

Premium Desserts

 

It was nice to be able to get a dish of ice cream, or an ice cream sundae at Gelato’s, but the so-called Premium desserts where oversized, over decorated (with sugary décor), and over the top.  I saw one or two people get the big elaborate sundaes, but other than that, regular dishes of ice cream seemed most popular.

 

Were you able to get regular dishes with the package in place of the fancy ones?

 

 

4 hours ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

 

Reserved Theater Seating

 

In the “fine print”, they note that Reserved Theater Seating in the Princess Theater is only available for what they call production shows.  Since on our 15 day cruise, there were only 3 shows that fell into this category, Reserved Theater Seating was not the perk that Princess makes it out to be, IMHO.

 

Did you take advantage of this perk on those three evenings? If so, how early did you get to the show?

 

[Boiler Cruiser]

5 hours ago, SuzieQ521 said:

Thank you for your great review. We sail the Royal next month.

 

Did you utilize room service at all? Wondering if one is able to order a specialty coffee drink (i.e. Latte, Mocha, etc.) and a cocktail via Medallion that way.

Yes, indeed.  You can order a variety of food and drink.  The Medallion App is great for ordering room service.  My wife and I decided to have a "pizza and a movie" night, and so we ordered pizza.  The app not only confirmed our order, but gave us an ETA of 30 minutes.  The pizza arrived in approx. 30 minutes!

[Boiler Cruiser]

4 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

You mentioned that those who like to imbibe at Good Spirits at Sea should invest in the Premium.  We sailed on the Discovery for 14 days last April and enjoyed Good Spirits every evening enjoying their post 530PM menu.  Are you saying that the Plus package would no longer cover these drinks?

Not at all.  What I said was "if you are not a person who is looking to drink high-end cocktails, more than the average amount of coffee each day, specialty drinks from Good Spirits at Sea", then the Premium Package will likely not be for you.  The Premium Package will definitely cover drinks in Good Spirits at Sea that are $20 or less.

[Boiler Cruiser]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

How was the Internet speed?  It was slower than on land.  It was faster later in the day and at night than any other times of the day.

 

Did you try streaming? If so, how well did it work?  My wife and I were able to stream without difficulty.  Again, we were able to log on faster if it was later in the day, or in the evening.

 

 

 

Is it 3 prints/person with the package or 3 prints/cabin?  3 prints/ person

 

 

 

Were you able to get regular dishes with the package in place of the fancy ones?  There was no food that was available to Premium Package holders only.

 

 

 

Did you take advantage of this perk on those three evenings? If so, how early did you get to the show?  We took advantage of the Reserved Seating only once.  The other shows we went to were not classified as production shows.  To get the Reserved Seating you must be there more than 15 minutes early.

 

 

[CruizinSusan70]

7 minutes ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

Not at all.  What I said was "if you are not a person who is looking to drink high-end cocktails, more than the average amount of coffee each day, specialty drinks from Good Spirits at Sea", then the Premium Package will likely not be for you.  The Premium Package will definitely cover drinks in Good Spirits at Sea that are $20 or less.

Only concerned about the evening menu at Good Spirits and whether there are any drinks that are between 16-20 that would only be covered by the Premier package and not with the Plus package, which we have and tops out at 15.00.  We're not gonna be drinking JW Gold or Blue.

[suekel]

9 hours ago, SuzieQ521 said:

Thank you for your great review. We sail the Royal next month.

 

Did you utilize room service at all? Wondering if one is able to order a specialty coffee drink (i.e. Latte, Mocha, etc.) and a cocktail via Medallion that way.

Yes

[wrongwaywatson]

9 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

You mentioned that those who like to imbibe at Good Spirits at Sea should invest in the Premium.  We sailed on the Discovery for 14 days last April and enjoyed Good Spirits every evening enjoying their post 530PM menu.  Are you saying that the Plus package would no longer cover these drinks?

I think that they were saying that they buy the premium drinks there, they may be $20/per drink?   If you are drinking regular cocktails/beer/wine probably the Plus would work just fine!  It did for us.  And you can get all of the coffee you want on the Plus, also. 

Edited April 20, 2023 by wrongwaywatson

[jwattle]

Thank you for the thorough coverage; sounds like a great time was had by all and we appreciate the breakdown! 😄

 

[Cruise till you drop]

12 hours ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

Reserved Theater Seating

 

In the “fine print”, they note that Reserved Theater Seating in the Princess Theater is only available for what they call production shows.  Since on our 15 day cruise, there were only 3 shows that fell into this category, Reserved Theater Seating was not the perk that Princess makes it out to be, IMHO.

 

Are you saying we now have to book to go to the production shows?  When did that start?

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Are you saying we now have to book to go to the production shows?  When did that start?

No, I will imply that there is a roped off section of seats reserved for those that have the Premier package, occupying less than 5% of the seats, while everyone else as usual is seated on a first come basis.

[Happy2cruise]

13 hours ago, SuzieQ521 said:

Thank you for your great review. We sail the Royal next month.

 

Did you utilize room service at all? Wondering if one is able to order a specialty coffee drink (i.e. Latte, Mocha, etc.) and a cocktail via Medallion that way.

We were able to on the Enchanted.

[Momma Rene]

Can you upgrade when onboard from Plus to Premium when onboard?

[Boiler Cruiser]

36 minutes ago, Momma Rene said:

Can you upgrade when onboard from Plus to Premium when onboard?

I'm not sure if you can, but if it is like other on-board packages, if they let you, it will cost you a WHOLE LOT MORE to do so.

[Boiler Cruiser]

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

No, I will imply that there is a roped off section of seats reserved for those that have the Premier package, occupying less than 5% of the seats, while everyone else as usual is seated on a first come basis.

You just show up in the Princess Theater at least 15 minutes before showtime.  You'll find seats with blue Princess logo covers on the seats they've set aside.  Those are for Premier Package holders only.

 

Less than 15 minutes before showtime, they are open to everyone.

[SuzieQ521]

10 hours ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

Yes, indeed.  You can order a variety of food and drink.  The Medallion App is great for ordering room service.  My wife and I decided to have a "pizza and a movie" night, and so we ordered pizza.  The app not only confirmed our order, but gave us an ETA of 30 minutes.  The pizza arrived in approx. 30 minutes!

 

Great, thanks! Do you know if you can still order some breakfast items the night before ? (you used to be able to leave the paper with your continental breakfast order outside).

 

It would be great to keep my son entertained with a danish/muffin, etc. while we are getting ready in the morning.😀

[jhannah]

Thank you so very much for this very helpful review.