Buying Princess plus on board

[dakacz]

Can you buy the plus package once you are on board?

[startedwithamouse]

Yes, you can buy it on the app or see a crew member.

[wallyj]

15 minutes ago, dakacz said:

Can you buy the plus package once you are on board?

Believe you are limited to purchasing Plus or Premier on Day1 or 2 of your sailing.

 

My friends just did on recent 32 day sailing of Sapphire. They waited because if they purchased pre cruise, it would have added 8%(believe now 9%) because of the increase in Princess insurance which would have been a few hundred dollars.

 

When you buy on board, you are not charged for increased insurance, just the package fare times number of days.

[trin880]

28 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Believe you are limited to purchasing Plus or Premier on Day1 or 2 of your sailing.

 

My friends just did on recent 32 day sailing of Sapphire. They waited because if they purchased pre cruise, it would have added 8%(believe now 9%) because of the increase in Princess insurance which would have been a few hundred dollars.

 

When you buy on board, you are not charged for increased insurance, just the package fare times number of days.

That explains why for 10 days cruise for 2 people, it gave me upgrade estimate from Plus to Premier as $360. So it means that upgrade to Premier would kick in on the second day, right?

[beshears]

So in the long run, is it better to purchase one of these two packages (we are to cruise in February) before getting on the ship?

[Rick&Jeannie]

6 hours ago, trin880 said:

 So it means that upgrade to Premier would kick in on the second day, right?

It *should* be available to you immediately after purchase on board. The staff member will have an electronic tablet where they will update your account real time.

[trin880]

4 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

It *should* be available to you immediately after purchase on board. The staff member will have an electronic tablet where they will update your account real time.

Thank you, I would think so too, but curios why $360 instead of $400 for 10 days? I definitely won't be upgrading before cruising, but since I am a planner, I am just researching at this point. My husband likes his Cab, but the one with Plus package is undrinkable 😀, while the one with Premier should work and in fact he has tried before. Last time he just switched from wine to Hennessy VS, but he still prefers wine....of course paying for upgraded wine could be significantly cheaper 😄.

[sad549s]

If purchased on day 2 on a 7 day cruise do you just pay for 6 days?

[Rick&Jeannie]

Just now, trin880 said:

Thank you, I would think so too, but curios why $360 instead of $400 for 10 days? I definitely won't be upgrading before cruising, but since I am a planner, I am just researching at this point. My husband likes his Cab, but the one with Plus package is undrinkable 😀, while the one with Premier should work and in fact he has tried before. Last time he just switched from wine to Hennessy VS, but he still prefers wine....of course paying for upgraded wine could be significantly cheaper 😄.

If you purchase pre-cruise and you elected to have the insurance (very much recommended) your insurance premium will increase because your overall "fare" has increased and the insurance is based on the total cruise fare.

[Guest Michael4650]

37 minutes ago, trin880 said:

Thank you, I would think so too, but curios why $360 instead of $400 for 10 days? I definitely won't be upgrading before cruising, but since I am a planner, I am just researching at this point. My husband likes his Cab, but the one with Plus package is undrinkable 😀, while the one with Premier should work and in fact he has tried before. Last time he just switched from wine to Hennessy VS, but he still prefers wine....of course paying for upgraded wine could be significantly cheaper 😄.

If it is only a glass or 2 a day it may be better to keep plus and pay the overage. We can drink the Pinot Grigio on plus but not the reds.  On occasion we will have a glass of Old Vine Zinfandel and just pay the overage plus 18% but this is not an every day event. Also usually at Vines they will have some reds within the plus package that are much better than you can get in the MDR

[wheezedr]

Another benefit of purchasing on board is that you can use your OBC to pay some or all of the cost.  Of course that depends on how much OBC you have.

[SAKay]

Can you add the Princess insurance to your fare, without Princess Plus,  make your final payment ( thus saving the 6% difference) , then add the Princess Plus before leaving on the cruise ?  Hope that makes sense !  Would you end up saving the same amount as booking Plus on the ship ? 

[e71465]

If you purchase the Princess Plus package when you board, is it at the upgrade price of $60 per day?

[upsmanclt]

On 11/17/2023 at 9:11 PM, dakacz said:

Can you buy the plus package once you are on board?

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-deals-promotions/plus-premier-cruise-packages

 

11. Can I purchase Princess Plus or Princess Premier when I’m on board?
Yes. Princess Plus and Princess Premier are available for purchase on board. You may purchase or upgrade a package through the second day of your voyage.

[Tedferg]

1 hour ago, e71465 said:

If you purchase the Princess Plus package when you board, is it at the upgrade price of $60 per day?

Yes and, strangely, you each get a $10 refund to your account.

[ruimin]

The Classic Soda package, we don’t drink a lot of soda, so can we get bottles water instead? Thanks for the tip.

ruimin

[Cruise Raider]

We’ve done this several times and believe we can answer some of the questions asked.  
 

You can purchase the plus or premier packages onboard on day one or day two via the app or via one of the crew members selling it.  Someone mentioned to me that if you book it on day 2, it is prorated to exclude that first day.  I’m not sure as I always upgrade on day 1 if I haven’t purchased it ahead of time.  In my experience, it tends to be one of the sommeliers selling it but it could also be purchased through one of the bartenders, bar supervisors or even one of the bar waiters.  The crew members do get some type of reward for the most packages sold or upgraded.  
The current price onboard is $60 for the plus and $80 for the premier.  I’ve not seen a refund or discount when purchased onboard as someone else has indicated.  (I can only speak to my experience.). However, if you purchased the Princess Vacation Protection and book it before you board, you will be charged the extra insurance costs.  That can really add up if you are on a longer cruise.  
You can use your OBC if you book it while onboard.  

 

So, why not always book it while onboard?  I can think of only two things to consider.  
 

1) The price of the packages may go up in price by the time you board your cruise. There may be a warning period so you can book it at that point in time.  Maybe?  Maybe not?  
 

2) If you are lucky enough to get a move over offer and accept it, the packages will be included in that offer if you’ve booked it ahead of time.  This is a more rare occurrence but it does happen from time to time.  
 

 

 

 

 

[Tedferg]

6 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 I’ve not seen a refund or discount when purchased onboard as someone else has indicated.  

The $10 I referred to is a refund of Medallion shipping charge - even if you do not have it shipped.

[Cruise Raider]

2 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

The $10 I referred to is a refund of Medallion shipping charge - even if you do not have it shipped.

Aha!  That makes sense!  

[Incognito1]

On 11/17/2023 at 8:32 PM, wallyj said:

When you buy on board, you are not charged for increased insurance, just the package fare times number of days.

Smart!  I had not even considered that.  Thank you.

[BlerkOne]

4 hours ago, e71465 said:

If you purchase the Princess Plus package when you board, is it at the upgrade price of $60 per day?

Yes. I have done it twice this month.

[triple7tahoe]

We recently sailed Trans Pacific on the Royal and pre purchased the lower priced package. We were to stay on the ship for a couple more cruises and then transfer to the Majestic for two more. We waited until we arrived in Australian waters to buy packages. For the first (Australian) cruise of ten days, for some reason the pad the folks used said our price was $150AUD pp. I thought it was a mistake but jumped on it and waited for someone to catch the mistake. That didn't happen so we enjoyed the package for $10AUD pp for 10 days. After that, we added the package for $65AUD per person per day and realized that made the price around $47 US. It appears that the package doesn't include gratuities when in Australian waters. Not sure what happened but makes the package less expensive if you wait!

[J13C85]

Interesting thread. We are sailing on a 14D B2B in a full suite on Sky. We booked this very early (over 400 days out) and have Plus55. We are considering the upgrade to Premier $25 pp per day and that should be $700. We have $800 in OBC and are thinking of using that. My questions: 

Are we able to buy the upgrade in the Suite Concierge Lounge or do we need to find someone selling it?

We booked and prepaid for 3 specialty dining meals (embarkation night and two others). I would think Princess will refund all three (embarkation night is a suite perk and the other 2 would be covered by the package). Will we need to go to guest services for this or can it be handled in the Suite Concierge Lounge? Can the refund be in the form of an obc?

Any insight is appreciated.

[palolake]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:18 AM, SAKay said:

Can you add the Princess insurance to your fare, without Princess Plus,  make your final payment ( thus saving the 6% difference) , then add the Princess Plus before leaving on the cruise ?  Hope that makes sense !  Would you end up saving the same amount as booking Plus on the ship ? 

Yes you could do that.  But if you cancel the cruise, you will lose out on the money you paid for Princess Plus.  It makes no sense to me why they don't refund that part but they don't. And that's why it's included in insurance. 

[SAKay]

@palolake  I always wait until about 2 days before final payment date, to pay. I also don’t add the insurance until then. I’m trying not to lose any money by doing it that way  I’ve only ever had to cancel one cruise after final payment, and that was during Covid. I got all my money back, except the cost of the insurance, so it was worth it !