Regal Princess - two "different" packages to purchase

[beshears]

There are 8 of us that plan to cruise in February. One of the questions was, WHEN is the best time to purchase one of these packages?  I have been reading quite a few peoples comments, and several have been disappointed, after purchasing one of the packages, and one of the items that was on the package is NO longer. Do you think waiting until the end of December, or the first of January would be too late to order one of these packages, because of the changes that are going on?

[Rick&Jeannie]

Are you asking about Plus and Premier fare packages or a drink package?

[memoak]

21 minutes ago, beshears said:

There are 8 of us that plan to cruise in February. One of the questions was, WHEN is the best time to purchase one of these packages?  I have been reading quite a few peoples comments, and several have been disappointed, after purchasing one of the packages, and one of the items that was on the package is NO longer. Do you think waiting until the end of December, or the first of January would be too late to order one of these packages, because of the changes that are going on?

If packages change and prices go up you can always pay a little more for the new package. We always grt the package as soon as we book. We have 7 cruises booked for 2024 and 2025 all with the plus package 

[skynight]

What kind of packages are you referring?

Princess offers Standard, Plus and Premier Fares. Today the add on for the Plus fare is $60/pp/day and the Premier fare is $80/pp/day. You can purchase the full plus or premier fare when booking or there is an option to book the standard fare and purchase the plus or premier add on the first day of the cruise. I can not imagine that the additional cost of these packages would go down. The main three items in these fares are beverages,15 alcoholic and unlimited non alcoholic, daily gratuities which are $16,$17 or$18/pp/day, and unlimited wifi. Another kind of nice benefit is the casual dining. The break even point for these benefits is between 2 and 3 alcoholic beverages pp/day. All of these items are available on all ships, but casual dining does vary by ship. There are other benefits which to me don't seem to be very important. I don't consider them in my cost calculations. I don't know what item you refer to as no longer being available, but I can't imagine that it was very important to most passengers.

I have two 2024 cruises booked and four 2025 cruises booked. All have the Plus fare.  

[Stosh68]

There is no difference in the cost of any drink package, pre or post boarding.  The only benefit of waiting until onboard is if you have onboard credits that you want to use to pay for them.

[wallyj]

26 minutes ago, Stosh68 said:

There is no difference in the cost of any drink package, pre or post boarding.  The only benefit of waiting until onboard is if you have onboard credits that you want to use to pay for them.

Pre boarding cost will add to cost of Princess insurance. Friends on 32 day cruise waited to purchase Premier pkg on board as the increase insurance cost would have been a few hundred dollars and the sailing was soon so did not have to worry about possible increase in package price.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, beshears said:

There are 8 of us that plan to cruise in February. One of the questions was, WHEN is the best time to purchase one of these packages?  I have been reading quite a few peoples comments, and several have been disappointed, after purchasing one of the packages, and one of the items that was on the package is NO longer. Do you think waiting until the end of December, or the first of January would be too late to order one of these packages, because of the changes that are going on?

For a close date cruise like you have, I would consider waiting until on board so you can use OBC towards the cost and save on insurance.  You will also get a $10 rebate for the Medallion shipping by waiting because either you paid for it without the package or picked it up at the port and missed the benefit.

 

There aren't any current changes going on.  Have not been any for a while now.  I really doubt the next price increase is coming in middle of Winter season.  But it is possible.  Anything is possible, but when they announce an increase, you will have a window to buy the existing package if you choose to do so.

[SargassoPirate]

Put the pencil to it if you are Elite.  I am, and I have yet to buy the  Plus.  A la carte works better for me. My most recent cruise was three weeks ago and my daily tab was tips and a wee dram or two in the evening.  I gave the alcohol miniatures in my mini bar setup to a friend who wasn't yet Elite.

 

 

 

[memoak]

42 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Put the pencil to it if you are Elite.  I am, and I have yet to buy the  Plus.  A la carte works better for me. My most recent cruise was three weeks ago and my daily tab was tips and a wee dram or two in the evening.  I gave the alcohol miniatures in my mini bar setup to a friend who wasn't yet Elite.

 

 

 

Then you don’t drink 6-10 drinks like I do   For me it is obvious that I save much much money using the plus package 

[cr01s13r3]

If buying the Premier package onboard to pay for it with OBC, how does it work if you've already pre-paid for specialty dining reservations that are now covered by the package? Would you get a refund of/OBC for the pre-paid amounts?

[skynight]

Specialty Dining is not covered by the premier package. Casual dining is covered. Specialty dining and casual dining are different. Therefore, no refunds.

[cr01s13r3]

30 minutes ago, skynight said:

Specialty Dining is not covered by the premier package. Casual dining is covered. Specialty dining and casual dining are different. Therefore, no refunds.

Princess Premier includes two specialty dining meals per guest and unlimited casual dining. Princess Plus does not include any specialty dining and two casual dining. My question was in reference to the Princess Premier package.

Edited November 16, 2023 by cr01s13r3

[beshears]

Thank you ALL for your input on my question. I was just informed that in August they had just updated the two different packages, and more than likely, would not do that after the first of the year, so we would probably be alright to purchase them before February, without any changes, hopefully.

[SargassoPirate]

On 11/15/2023 at 6:11 PM, memoak said:

Then you don’t drink 6-10 drinks like I do   For me it is obvious that I save much much money using the plus package 

If I tried that many the Betty Ford van would be waiting for me when we docked. 😜