New Unlimited Features Make Princess Cruises' Premier Package the Best Value in Cruising

[adamtoonarmy]

I know most are focussed on drinks/SD but in case anyone is interested…..
 

UK live chat just told me the new max wifi will be available on all packages not just the new premier. 

[So_Tweetie]

18 minutes ago, skynight said:

While I do enjoy a meal in some specialty restaurants, I can't imagine dining in them every evening. Imagine the calories and bloating feeling.

Good point - I have regretted purchasing the unlimited dining package on Royal Caribbean in the past due to this. I find that Princess does a better job with portion control in servings, though. We generally don’t leave specialty dining feeling too full.

[PacnGoNow]

3 minutes ago, adamtoonarmy said:

I know most are focussed on drinks/SD but in case anyone is interested…..
 

UK live chat just told me the new max wifi will be available on all packages not just the new premier. 

I assume you’re referring to Plus and Premier packages?  

[DCThunder]

 Nice 🎣 job, So_Tweetie.  You're getting a good haul of 🐟  for your efforts.

[JF - retired RRT]

4 hours ago, dog said:

Attracting families to the new Princess ships must not be working so well if they had to come up with this gimmick.  Really, how many use 8 devices? Fitness classes daily? Extra desserts more then once a day?

I understand some like a worry free no bill at the end of their cruise and it is nice to have a choice.

 

if Princess does away with Standard they will be losing us.

Already lost us.

[grimace95120]

I've been trying to upgrade to this since yesterday ( from the old Premier to the new Premier)... total runaround from 2 different Customer reps. 

Their logic : " your ship ( enchanted) does not make this active until Aug 31, therefore you cant buy it until then". My response " I don't want to USE the package now, I just want to BUY the package now", but no luck.

However, if you go onto my sailing, and do a dummy new booking there it is. So, someone who has already paid and wants to give MORE money, cant, but a last minute booking can go ahead and secure this??? This is my first trip with Princess, and I'm not overly impressed with their service levels so far 

Edited August 16 by grimace95120
spelling

[adamtoonarmy]

44 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I assume you’re referring to Plus and Premier packages?  

Im using their exact wording. I was asking about premier and thats the response I got. Sounds like both to me

[JimmyVWine]

I just checked on the App and when I go to the View Packages area, an "Upgrade" button now appears next to the "Princess Premier" title whereas yesterday it just had the latter.  (I already have Premier).  However, when I clicked on "Upgrade", nothing happened.  So it seems that they are getting there step by step.  That said, I looked at my itinerary (9 Days) and what our plans were for each day and came to the realization that if I were to upgrade to Unlimited Specialty Dining, realistically I would only add two more dinners at $45 each which is the exact same price as it would cost me to upgrade ($10 per day for 9 days).  So I just went ahead and booked (and paid for) two additional SD reservations to beat whatever crush there may be as people opt in to the upgraded Premier package.  I can always cancel up to 24 hours in advance if I want to.

[Proudwings]

Just called Princess to try to upgrade the premier package.  The agent was pleasant and helpful. She said that yesterday they were having problems with their IT for the upgrades (surprise, surprise)!  She tried to do the upgrade but apparently it's still not resolved and she couldn't do it. She advised me to call back in 12-24 hours. Not what I'd hoped but the agent was knowledgeable and tried to help.

[windsor08]

12 hours ago, cruise_critical said:

I have a 14 night cruise booked in December on Royal.

Pre-booked it with Premier ($95 AUD/day) months back.

 

Seems it has only gone up $5 AUD (like $3 USD) after this change to $100/day now.

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

At $5 per day, seems it's a no brainer as long as I can book a couple more SD.

 

BUT... According to the app/website right now, Crown Grill is fully booked out for every time slot / day of the cruise. But nearly every time slot of every day is available to book on Sabatinis. So this seems a bit odd.

 

Maybe they are doing something and blocked off from booking the Crown Grill temporarily? Would be amazing if they opened during lunches on sea day like on RCCL.

I too am on Royal in December, and have been struggling for two weeks to make SD reservations, including 3 calls to Ocean Ready help line. This morning I uninstalled the app on my phone, reinstalled it, went to dining reservations, and lo and behold Sabatinis was available for all days and most time slots. And it accepted my Premier package SD - allowing me to book without charge to my credit card.

 

Sadly, Crown Grill was showing as unavailable for all days and times. A few hours later I went in on the web version, and lo and behold, Crown Grill was showing as available all days and most times. Again it allowed me to use my second SD reservation from the (current) Premier package without charge to my credit card.

 

Is it just me, or does this statement from the Princess FAQs make perfect sense? 

 

This is from the Princess FAQs.

 

 

 

 

[MNCruiser1973]

The question I have is will there still be extra charges for room service for many food items?

 

[JGmf]

14 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Unlimited alcohol, even 15 drinks is just ridiculous.  No one wants to be around that.  I may have to look for a new line myself.  Doubling the price of some cruises now with packages.

 

I don't have the 30-50+ cruise experience like a lot of you, but having sailed on Princess 4 times in the last 12 months and NCL about 20 times before that, I can say I haven't seen any notable number of 'drunks' on any of my cruises.  Yeah, two or three, but that's on a ship with thousands of people....and some people can't handle two drinks without getting tipsy!

 

[canadarocks]

Just did a dummy booking for a cruise and the new Premier package details are there. Specifically says Reserved Seating for Production Shows only. 

[dog]

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

I just checked on the App and when I go to the View Packages area, an "Upgrade" button now appears next to the "Princess Premier" title whereas yesterday it just had the latter.  (I already have Premier).  However, when I clicked on "Upgrade", nothing happened.  So it seems that they are getting there step by step.  That said, I looked at my itinerary (9 Days) and what our plans were for each day and came to the realization that if I were to upgrade to Unlimited Specialty Dining, realistically I would only add two more dinners at $45 each which is the exact same price as it would cost me to upgrade ($10 per day for 9 days).  So I just went ahead and booked (and paid for) two additional SD reservations to beat whatever crush there may be as people opt in to the upgraded Premier package.  I can always cancel up to 24 hours in advance if I want to.

My vista suite on Star booked last week has that new upgrade button. Nothing happens yet.

[BamaVol]

My projection of increased benefits with the next Plus price increase:

 

Unlimited mega-desserts

16 drinks per day

2 device Wi-Fi

Party hats for everyone 

 

 

[JimmyVWine]

26 minutes ago, dog said:

My vista suite on Star booked last week has that new upgrade button. Nothing happens yet.

Did the Suite fare come with Premier built in, or did you have to purchase it as an add-on?  If it came built in, I find it very petty that they would make you upgrade.  The built-in price should include whatever iteration of Premier exists at the time you board the ship.  

[dog]

4 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Did the Suite fare come with Premier built in, or did you have to purchase it as an add-on?  If it came built in, I find it very petty that they would make you upgrade.  The built-in price should include whatever iteration of Premier exists at the time you board the ship.  

 I booked  last week so it had premier included.

 

i had a S9 booked previously for this 5 day, without any package.

last week I checked fares and a Vista S4 suite was $100 pp more then What I was paying for the standard fare S9.

 

so, my Vista suite includes the premier.

 

i did a mock booking today and the fare has gone up by $10 pp per day and it says new premier package.

[JimmyVWine]

3 minutes ago, dog said:

i did a mock booking today and the fare has gone up by $10 pp per day and it says new premier package.

That was going to be my next question!  

[suzyed]

My question is if you have already booked SD and then you upgrade to Premiere will you get refunded for what you already paid for as far as SD?
Also, will it be available for upgrade once we get onboard?  The upgrade for the Coral is first available the day we sail.

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, Proudwings said:

Just called Princess to try to upgrade the premier package.  The agent was pleasant and helpful. She said that yesterday they were having problems with their IT for the upgrades (surprise, surprise)!  She tried to do the upgrade but apparently it's still not resolved and she couldn't do it. She advised me to call back in 12-24 hours. Not what I'd hoped but the agent was knowledgeable and tried to help.

I sent an Email to our TA last evening asking her to upgrade our next trip, this October on the Sun, from the old to the new premier, and upgrade our other three booked trips from the old Plus to the new Premier. She was informed this morning by Princess that they were "...experiencing technical difficulties adding the new Premier Package to the already booked reservations. " She was asked to call back next Monday.

[Coffeeluvr05]

Oh Princess, what have you done? AND did you hire more CSRs to deal with all these calls and problems you created for yourself?  I bet not!  Because let's be real, you did this to yourself! 🤣

 

I foresee more changes coming.

 

Is it just me or is Princess incrementally alienating their base demographic.  For instance, the Sun Princess Park 19 being scrapped after the big changeover to Sanctuary Class.  Big money grabs left and right is what it looks like.  A little disappointing.  Just thinking out loud here.

[555]

1 hour ago, JGmf said:

 

I don't have the 30-50+ cruise experience like a lot of you, but having sailed on Princess 4 times in the last 12 months and NCL about 20 times before that, I can say I haven't seen any notable number of 'drunks' on any of my cruises.  Yeah, two or three, but that's on a ship with thousands of people....and some people can't handle two drinks without getting tipsy!

 

My wife was harassed by one guy last News Years eve at the deck party. 

[rheathslc]

12 minutes ago, suzyed said:

My question is if you have already booked SD and then you upgrade to Premiere will you get refunded for what you already paid for as far as SD?
Also, will it be available for upgrade once we get onboard?  The upgrade for the Coral is first available the day we sail.

In the past when I have upgraded from Plus to Premier after having paid for SD already, they gave me the money back as OBC. But I had to ask once I was onboard. It wasn't automatic.

Also, upgrading from Plus to Premier has been possible once onboard within the first two days of the sailing. I assume that will be the case with the enhanced Premier as well. I would be very surprised if they didn't allow that.

[555]

4 minutes ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

Is it just me or is Princess incrementally alienating their base demographic.  For instance, the Sun Princess Park 19 being scrapped after the big changeover to Sanctuary Class.  Big money grabs left and right is what it looks like.  A little disappointing.  Just thinking out loud here.

They're giving up on satisfying their loyal customers & catering to the almighty dollar. It's evident by the change in packages & designs of their newest ships.

Of course the old ships will be around for a while or at least until the old elites are phased out by attrition. 

[ian441672]

Hi

 

I have a 20 day Caribbean cruise in March 2026, booked 6 months ago with Premier, in one of the larger aft Penthouse type suites, so I was wondering if I would have to pay anything extra if I chose to upgrade?

 

With free SD for all then the first night suite perk in a SD would be worthless now! I better start booking even though I am 18 months out!!

 

Reading the below Q&A, I found the answer ambiguous, but reading the last sentence (as I booked it 6 months ago), I am not required to upgrade as the old plan will be honoured. Am I reading that right?

 

3. I purchased Princess Premier® before the recent update to the package, can I still receive the new added benefits?
   Yes! As of August 15, 2024 we have added more benefits and perks to our Princess Premier® package. If you have purchased Princess Premier® before this date, you can upgrade your package to receive all the added benefits for an additional £10 per day. However, anyone that booked Princess Premier® before August 15, 2024 is not required to upgrade to the £75/day plan, since the £65/day plan will still be honored.