A Different Way of Looking at Plus/Premier

[EclipseChaser9]

17 hours ago, memoak said:

If you  struggle to make the plus package work for you then it is probably a service not designed for you. We will drink coffees, waters and a minimum of 6-8 alcoholic drinks a day each. It is designed for us

I only drink about two alcoholic beverages a day, but I ordered (usually) 3 or 4 specialty coffees a day, enjoyed the speciality desserts and the unlimited juice bar.
 

Juice would have been $8 per glass, smoothies $12, coffees $4, and my alcoholic beverages were $12 or $14 each.  
 

With the WiFi and paid gratuities Plus was a good value even though I only drank a few alcoholic beverages a day.

[555]

3 hours ago, EclipseChaser9 said:

I only drink about two alcoholic beverages a day, but I ordered (usually) 3 or 4 specialty coffees a day, enjoyed the speciality desserts and the unlimited juice bar.
 

Juice would have been $8 per glass, smoothies $12, coffees $4, and my alcoholic beverages were $12 or $14 each.  
 

With the WiFi and paid gratuities Plus was a good value even though I only drank a few alcoholic beverages a day.

And now that the internet has increased 65%, it's even a better value, right. 😑

[HMSDingy]

DW and I are Italian and we not only make our own wine. but usually have a bottle every night with dinner. We also enjoy an occasional pre-dinner cocktail. Besides the cocktails, I like the occasional beer at lunch and we DO love our cappuccino in the mornings. I decided to take the Plus package for our European cruise this summer because we will definitely be saving. Our cruise is for 20 days and if you factor in just the gratuities, wine with our meals and cocktails, my calculations gives me at least a $1000 savings. That's not including the wifi and casual restaurants. The cost of my Plus package is in CAD and had I not taken it, the same costs would be onboard in US.  

 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We are frugal, but by that I mean we weigh the cost/benefit.   We had been away from PCL for several years, before they had the plus program.  We looked at gratuities and our alcohol expenditures and decided it was a good deal for us and the sushi and pizza place was langniappe.  It’s nice to not worry about individual costs.  ie, if I’ve never tried a whatever drink I could order it, and if it was not to my liking, I could get something else.  That is a nice option, whereas otherwise you’ve paid the $10 plus cost of a drink you didn’t care for,   If yu are not a drinker, I’d say less than three drinks a day, this may not be to you ur advantage.  Only yu can judge its value.

Edited April 29 by MagnoliaBlossom

[Retired-N-Happy]

The Plus package is the best value at sea as far as I'm concerned.  It's the main reason why 11 out of our current 15 cruises that we have booked until February of 2026 are on Princess.  The only other cruise line that has a somewhat similar package is the upgraded package on HAL.  Since their fleet tops out at 99,500 K tons, it's too small compared to the ship sizes we cruise on. The packages on Celebrity and NCL don't compare to Princess and RCI and Carnival don't offer packages of any kind.  

As I mentioned in another thread, 90% of teetotalers should just stick with the basic fare while Plus should provide value to everybody else.  Even if you only drink 1 or 2 drinks per day, once you add in all of the other factors of the Plus package it should provide value.

  If you wish to add the two specialty meals, the unlimited casual meals, the photo package and the 20.00 per drink limit so you can imbibe with higher end wines and higher end craft cocktails then the extra 20 per day for Premier is worth it.

 

[Steelers36]

On 4/28/2024 at 12:08 PM, HMSDingy said:

The cost of my Plus package is in CAD and had I not taken it, the same costs would be onboard in US.

True but the package also costs 35% more in CAD.  It's all relative.

[PR-Texas]

We're sailing on a 20 day AU/NZ cruise tour in November.  The main reason we're getting the plus package is so we can "pay it and forget it".  It's probably a break even on cost but this is a once in a lifetime trip and I want to be able to surf the net at midnight or have sodas delivered to the room without worrying if I'm going overbudget.  The plus package fits in the same category as the direct flight from DFW to Sydney instead of the considerably cheaper flights connecting through LAX or SFO.  The key is this works best for us.  Others should do what works best for them.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

The Plus package is the best value at sea as far as I'm concerned.  It's the main reason why 11 out of our current 15 cruises that we have booked until February of 2026 are on Princess.  The only other cruise line that has a somewhat similar package is the upgraded package on HAL.  Since their fleet tops out at 99,500 K tons, it's too small compared to the ship sizes we cruise on. The packages on Celebrity and NCL don't compare to Princess and RCI and Carnival don't offer packages of any kind.  

As I mentioned in another thread, 90% of teetotalers should just stick with the basic fare while Plus should provide value to everybody else.  Even if you only drink 1 or 2 drinks per day, once you add in all of the other factors of the Plus package it should provide value.

  If you wish to add the two specialty meals, the unlimited casual meals, the photo package and the 20.00 per drink limit so you can imbibe with higher end wines and higher end craft cocktails then the extra 20 per day for Premier is worth it.

 

The premier plan does not work well on 16-21 day cruises. You are paying $20 a day more and still only getting 2 specialty dinners. My drinks are usually about $15 so plus plans works for us

[HMSDingy]

4 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

True but the package also costs 35% more in CAD.  It's all relative.

Wow, you really know how to burst someone's bubble. I did factor in the exchange rate and I paid my cruise in CAD dollars so, yes, it may be all relative but bottom line is that I saved over $1000 and that's what's important to me.  

[Retired-N-Happy]

On 4/12/2024 at 10:24 PM, etphonehome24 said:

My concern with getting Plus is that I'd be stressing during the cruise about making sure I get my money's worth. Our situation, plus the fact that half the days are in port (and will largely be off the ship), probably would not make it worth it. So, I'll just buy what I want when I want it, and not worry about whether I would have got a better deal if I had Plus. Not to say it isn't more of an obvious choice for a bigger drinker or one with lots of ship days, but I'm not going to stress about it. 

The port versus sea day doesn't hold water.  After factoring out tips and wifi, it's 29 per day.  On a port day, you'll still usually be back on the ship by 500 and even if you go to bed at 1100, that gives you 6 hours of time to imbibe.  If you drink two drinks a day on port days and only 3 on sea days, plus take some bottles of water ashore and have the occasional can of soda, specialty coffee or fresh juice at the juice bar, it's very easy to make the numbers, even in a port day.

The teetotalers think you need to drink like a fish in order to make it, when in fact you don't. If you drink a lot of soda, bottled water, specialty coffees or juices, that even further reduces the number of alcoholic drinks.  And also don't forget the peripheral items included in plus such as the two casual meals and the fancy cake or ice cream.

[Retired-N-Happy]

On 4/22/2024 at 7:33 PM, MacMadame said:

I thought I was the only one who didn't like coffee, wine, or beer!

Still leaves you with craft cocktails, bottled water, canned soda and the juice bar.

[Retired-N-Happy]

On 4/25/2024 at 3:18 PM, Krozulo said:

I've seen it said many times, some people get the package so they don't have to worry about a bill at the end of the cruise. They can order whatever they want whenever they want. There's some freedom with that, I get it. For me it would be the opposite.

 

When I look at the Plus package and subtract the things I would pay for (like gratuities), and ignore things I wouldn't pay for (like specialty desserts), I'm left with a balance that's all drinks. I made a list of drinks we would enjoy, with prices including gratuities, and I told my wife, "We're on vacation. Not driving anywhere. No plans tomorrow. What would you drink without reservation?" and we each could maybe make the package work each day. Add one drink before, with, or after dinner and Plus would make sense. But our 8 day cruise has 4 port days. We'd have to make up for those drinks on the sea days and I don't know that we can. 

 

So, for me, having the package would be stressful because I'd be counting drinks and dollars to make sure I come out ahead. I would rather get an $80 bill at the end knowing the package cost $100 extra than to pay the $100 and find out I missed out in $20 worth of drinks.

The port day versus sea day argument holds no water.  You're on board from the port at 500 and even if you go to bed at 1100, that gives you 6 hours to imbibe.  You can also take multiple bottles of water off the ship with you.

[Retired-N-Happy]

On 4/25/2024 at 4:07 PM, 555 said:

You're definitely not along in your thinking. Not everyone is such a heavy drinker, which is the main part of the charge in their packages.

Do you consider three drinks a day being a "heavy drinker"?

[Retired-N-Happy]

On 4/25/2024 at 5:48 PM, Krozulo said:

and it's not because it's such a great value to everyone. 

It's obviously a great value to the 75% of cruisers that have been reported as buying one of the packages.

[Retired-N-Happy]

On 4/25/2024 at 10:47 PM, Drew B 58 said:

 

Now if you WOULDN’T otherwise purchase the WiFi, then you’d have to get over $40 per day in value from the other benefits (drinks in particular), and that is considerably harder to do if you’re not a big drinker…

If you don't care about WiFi, don't drink specialty coffee, bottled water, canned soda or juice bar, then that leaves you with three 12.00 drinks plus 18% tip to be over your 40.00.  

Do you consider 3 drinks being a big drinker?  

[Retired-N-Happy]

6 hours ago, memoak said:

The premier plan does not work well on 16-21 day cruises. You are paying $20 a day more and still only getting 2 specialty dinners. My drinks are usually about $15 so plus plans works for us

There are many new drinks on the Sun that are in the 16-20 range that would only be covered by Premier.  The difference on our 14 day cruise is 560, but after reducing it by 250 in stock credit, it's now 310.  After the two specialty dinners each (184 with tip), that leaves us with 126.  

So for 126, or 9.00 per day we get the 20.00 drink limit, the unlimited casual meals and the photo package. So it looks like we may upgrade once on board from plus to premier.

Edit....on our 7 day Sun and Star cruises, the stock credit is reduced to 100 per or 200 total, costing us 50 extra.  But we pick up 184 by the additional two nights of specialty.  So 126 + 50 is 176 and by picking up 184, we are ahead of the game and premier is definitely the way to go after factoring in the extra specialty meals.

 

Edited April 30 by Retired-N-Happy

[HMSDingy]

6 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Was that savings CAD or USD?  😁 ............. I'm just fooling around here. 

 

(I know many guests save a lot with the packages and others do it for convenience or pleasure.  But there are those of us who wouldn't get the value and that's okay too).

I did it for both, Of course it's great to save but this way I can order drinks and stuff without getting a large bill at the end our cruise.

[JamieLogical]

I drink 1-2 drinks a day in my real life (still probably more than my doctor would prefer), but drink upwards of 10 on vacation. A few mimosas in the morning, a boat drink or two in the afternoons, a shot of Bailey's in my coffee, a pre-dinner drink, a few after dinner in the theater, casino, or a nice lounge listening to music... Pretty easy to get up around 10 without even really trying on a sea day.

[Drew B 58]

9 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

If you don't care about WiFi, don't drink specialty coffee, bottled water, canned soda or juice bar, then that leaves you with three 12.00 drinks plus 18% tip to be over your 40.00.  

Do you consider 3 drinks being a big drinker?  

It’s relative.  When I say it’s “considerably harder” if you don’t care about WiFi/coffee/water/soda/juice, I mean it is more than 3 times harder.  Without those things, you have to drink three alcoholic drinks (avg. price around $14) per day to break even; with those things, you likely break even after only one drink.  And even if you drink ZERO alcohol some days, you’re still pretty close to breaking even with the other perks.  I consider 3x harder to be considerably harder. 😀
 

You are correct, though, that even a light-to-moderate drinker can put away three drinks a day on vacation.

Edited April 30 by Drew B 58

[Esprit]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

Pretty easy to get up around 10 without even really trying on a sea day.

I can do pretty easy on port days too! 😂🍺🍷🥂

[memoak]

10 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

There are many new drinks on the Sun that are in the 16-20 range that would only be covered by Premier.  The difference on our 14 day cruise is 560, but after reducing it by 250 in stock credit, it's now 310.  After the two specialty dinners each (184 with tip), that leaves us with 126.  

So for 126, or 9.00 per day we get the 20.00 drink limit, the unlimited casual meals and the photo package. So it looks like we may upgrade once on board from plus to premier.

Edit....on our 7 day Sun and Star cruises, the stock credit is reduced to 100 per or 200 total, costing us 50 extra.  But we pick up 184 by the additional two nights of specialty.  So 126 + 50 is 176 and by picking up 184, we are ahead of the game and premier is definitely the way to go after factoring in the extra specialty meals.

 

Since I do not plan to sail the Sun and my preferred drinks are all under $15 I will pass on the premier plus I already get a free specialty dinner for being in a suite (upgraded from free casino balcony)

[Retired-N-Happy]

4 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

I drink 1-2 drinks a day in my real life (still probably more than my doctor would prefer), but drink upwards of 10 on vacation. A few mimosas in the morning, a boat drink or two in the afternoons, a shot of Bailey's in my coffee, a pre-dinner drink, a few after dinner in the theater, casino, or a nice lounge listening to music... Pretty easy to get up around 10 without even really trying on a sea day.

It really all depends upon when you like to drink.  Sometimes we don't start until after dinner and the early show, so that means our drinking is only from 8-1130, good enough for about six drinks.  If you start around lunchtime, much easier to hit double digits.  We rarely get off the ship while cruising the Caribbean so port days don't matter to us.  Over a 14 day cruise, we could hit 200 drinks or so, more if we find shot partners.

[Retired-N-Happy]

4 hours ago, Drew B 58 said:

It’s relative.  When I say it’s “considerably harder” if you don’t care about WiFi/coffee/water/soda/juice, I mean it is more than 3 times harder.  Without those things, you have to drink three alcoholic drinks (avg. price around $14) per day to break even; with those things, you likely break even after only one drink.  And even if you drink ZERO alcohol some days, you’re still pretty close to breaking even with the other perks.  I consider 3x harder to be considerably harder. 😀
 

You are correct, though, that even a light-to-moderate drinker can put away three drinks a day on vacation.

That's what I'm getting at.  Of course everybody had their own preconceived idea whether or not to get the package and many teetotalers think you need to drink like a fish in order to make out when in reality, depending upon your non alcoholic consumption, you can break even with 1-3 per day.  Obviously 75% of cruisers agree with me since it's been reported that that is the current percentage of cruisers that buy one of the packages.

Between a little Princess OBC and stock OBC, we're gonna use it to upgrade from Plus to Premier once we get onboard.  It'll cover 400/560 for the upgrade on our 14 day cruises and 150/280 on our 7 day cruises.

[Retired-N-Happy]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

Since I do not plan to sail the Sun and my preferred drinks are all under $15 I will pass on the premier plus I already get a free specialty dinner for being in a suite (upgraded from free casino balcony)

That's why they make vanilla and chocolate.  We have 4 cruises booked on the Sun and another 4 booked on the Star.  In general we wouldn't upgrade to Premier, but we have 400 in OBC to burn so we'll spend it on the upgrade since we don't gamble, don't do Caribbean excursions or buy overpriced items on board. And getting unlimited visits to O'Malley's and Alfredo's helps.

[Cruise Feen]

 I just read about a drawback of the premier package.  Today I used the Princess app to make reservations for the Crown Grill even before I fully paid for my Nov. cruise;  in another post on this website a Princess customer who has the premier package for an upcoming cruise, was unable to make a reservation on the app.  He/She called Princess, they said they wouldn't be able to make reservations (lwhich is included in the Premier Package) until the cruise is paid in full.  This person asked about the possibility a specialty restaurant being fully booked by the time they paid for the cruise, the Princess Rep replied they wouldn't be able to do anything about that.  If you have a premier package and want to make reservation at the Crown Grill now,  you might wabt to consider paying for the cruise in full before the due date.