We get the Plus package even though we aren’t drinkers. We like to get sodas and an occasion hot chocolate from the coffee bar. Mainly we just like the peace of mind knowing we won’t have a big bill before disembarkation.
I’ve been on Princess for my last five cruises and the next one in March 2025. We looked carefully at the plus package on a ten day cruise. We found the plus package was a winner for us and we don’t drink anywhere near the 15 drinks limit. We think it is a Best Buy.
We normally get the Plus package. We have enough OBC to cover specialty dining on a 2-week cruise. However, we just booked a 54-day cruise in 2026 and decided to upgrade to the Premier package. We priced it out and for us it works. We figured we would / could spend daily over the $90 a day easily. Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic! That will be a good long cruise for sure, is that a World Cruise segment you are doing? Smart to book Premier now for 2026, I'll bet the price goes up between now and then, you'll be locked in. Thanks for watching! Andrew
Thanks for the review. The table format, showing both the alcohol and non-alcohol comparisons was particularly helpful. If you include the casual dining costs, it makes it even more economical. What is better, is that you have priced in USD. In Australia, the plus package is $65 AUD per day which is about $45USD, so it is even better value. So, thanks for that, I will be adding Plus to my booking.
We had Primier on our 11-day cruise on the Ruby. We were very disappointed to recover there were no casual dining venues on the ship other than the Salty dog Gastropub at dinner time. ,not during noon. We felt it was a bate and switch. That was disappointing as we enjoy the casual dining unseasoned days at lunch ch.
We are also Princess Platinum members. Thanks for your review. We'll be on the Discovery in the future and have the Plus Package. We feel it's worth it.
Excellent! I thought it was important to differentiate what happens for people who have Platinum or Elite and show that in most cases it still makes sense. Enjoy the cruise and thanks for watching!
Great video ❤️ were doing our first Princess Cruise in may 2026 ❤️ it's just a 2 night cruise but really excited about it. We have purchased the Princess premier package We have never had a package like this before. Only ever purchased wifi, a non alcohol drink package and photos as separate add ons. So to have so many extra things that we can get included is fantastic to us ❤️ I might even have a cocktail or two both days. The package has almost made the cruise completely inclusive. I wish our cruise was a bit longer to enjoy these perks but it's a great little sample cruise ❤️
Fantastic! That will be a great little sample to try it out and see how you like it. The all-inclusive aspect is good. Make sure you watch the "Smart Princess Cruisers" series that we have coming out. The second part will be out October 19.
With the plus package, I wish they would change the casual dining to 2 per week. We sail on longer duration trips and feel this falls short. Could you 2 casual dining on a 33 day voyage in the South Pacific.
I 100% couldn't agree with you more! It does seem to not benefit long cruises as much, perhaps that's just another way they are pushing people to Premier. Thanks for watching!
We are getting Plus for our upcoming cruise on Discovery Princess. On my birthday, we are going to eat at the Crown Grill, $39 each. At the old pricing, that would be about 2 days worth of Premier. So I suppose if you really wanted to eat at a specialty restaurant 2 or 3 days, or more, during your cruise, you will spend the equivalent of 4 or 6 days worth of Premier pricing. If that's how you want to roll, Premier is probably worth it. As it so happens, I only get one birthday a year, so I don't think we're going Premier this time. Maybe next time.
Well, Happy Birthday! No better way to spend it than on a cruise. I can't see many people wanting to eat at a specialty every night and I'm concerned about what this is going to do to reservation availability. Again, like everything I go through in that video, it's all about doing the math. Some people can think that way, others just turn a blind eye! Thanks for watching and enjoy!
Very informative video. I have a Princess cruise booked and paid for in May 2025 with the Premier Package. So, if I keep the plan as is I will only get the 2 nights of specialty dining? I would have to pay the $10/day per person to get the unlimited specialty dining?
Yes, exactly. Your travel agent (if you used one) or Princess will be able to upgrade that for you if it makes sense. That's really the only difference, unlimited drinks instead of 15 per day each and unlimited specialty restaurants. I'd maybe have a look at reservation availability before you do the upgrade. Thanks for watching!
@@DonnaHolmes-js6hm I heard that, too. I wish they would just pay the staff better and jettison the gratuity. Then we could tip as we see fit - especially cabin stewards.
You are correct, it looks like as of August 15th, they raised them to $17 for Interior, Outside and Balcony, $18 for Mini-Suite and $19 for Suite. That information is from their Travel Professional site, it's still listing $16, $17 and $18 on other sections of their site. I haven't seen a press release yet on it though. Thanks for watching!
Not reservations per say, sometimes it's just a waiting list. Sun Princess provided pagers like a land based restaurant when things were busy at Alfredo's. The wait didn't seem very long. Thanks for watching!
You are correct, they do technically have the beverage package for sale, although I can't say why! From Princess: The Plus Beverage Package is US $64.99 per day plus 18% service charge (totaling $76.70 per day) for all itineraries except Australia. For all Australian-based vessels, the package is AUD $110.00 per day which includes a service charge. You will be charged the full amount for the complete voyage at the time of purchase. I'll update that section next time, but I'd think at some point they'll take that off completely. Thanks for watching!
@timtrek1701 Plus and Premier are Cruise Fare Packages. You get to choose the fare you want. The Cruise Fare Package ADDITION to the standard fare, at $60 or $90, is less expensive than booking the standard fare and then adding the Plus or Premier BEVERAGE ONLY package. I didn't mean that the entire fare was cheaper. It is just cheaper to do the fare package, and you get much more.
No, the plus package only includes two casual dining experiences. I have a few theories on what is going to happen next with Plus, that will be out in a new video later this week or early next week.
Yes! The specialty coffees are one of the things you can order with your package. Usually they are between $4 and $6 so if you are drinking a few, it would add up quickly without the package.
We booked a cruise on the Sun princess for December 2024 with the premier package, Can we pay the $10 difference for this cruise, or is the upgrade for cruises starting in 2025?
.I have cruised 31 times with Princess Cruises....the most recent was this summer of 2024 in Europe...Princess has now but one goal...the maximization of profits...it has cut out most of the benefits passengers use to enjoy. at no cost...( now you have to pay to get the benefits) it has less employees...the food was ordinary.....I felt like a squeezed lemon,....it will be my last cruise with Princess Cruises and with the Cruising industry in general...
Yes, and they aren't too shy to say it out loud either. See my video on "Why Cruises are so Expensive in 2025", we get deep into it. I've had a few people make the comment about them cutting the benefits that passengers had at no cost and making them pay for it. I've been cruising with Princess since 2004 and I can't think of something that I used to get for free that I have to pay for now. The only thing that comes to mind is no more chocolate on my pillow and no more soaps and shampoo containers since they are fixed to the shower now. You have almost double the number of sailings as me, what are you thinking of that I'm missing?
Just got back from princess cruise from Southampton . Hardly anything for kids compared to royal Caribbean . It took forever to get a drink . I mean ages . Group of ten so only managed to book about four sit down meals at 830 pm which was nightmare with younger kids . Buffet most nights great food but similar day to day . Balcony was lovely but when beds come down u have to crawl in between to access . Struggled to get a seat during the day . Only thing that was good was locating people using lanyard . Don’t bother ordering using it as u will wait even longer than the bar . Check your bill regular as lots people charged for stuff not purchased . Without kids or just small party be great as not loads kids running around . Good value for money . I prefer a set evening meal not booking times .
Some interesting points you bring up. What ship were you on? Yes, Princess isn't ideal for some kids, it's not really setup for it like RCL. However, I did take my three kids onboard three Princess cruises last fall (2023) with great success, but we knew exactly what to expect. The group dining is a pain right now, but the ships are converting to add traditional dining back as of September I believe. This change is being welcomed by the crew and passengers. This would have made things super easy for you I would imagine. I have two extensive videos about Prepping for Princess Cruising (ruclips.net/video/O_yAemlNFPM/видео.html) and one about Saving Money onboard (ruclips.net/video/vXQp3NU42uM/видео.html) where I bring up a few points around dining tips and checking you bill exactly as you mentioned. Hopefully helpful for someone. Thanks for watching! Andrew
Not sure what ship u was in but we was on in August and we was undated with children all seemed very happy. With kids clubs . And wait time was not a problem even on the app
@@SarahannWillis hi Sarah ok for young kids my boys are 12 and 15 . On other ships they had ice skating . Bumper cars , laser quest and dozens of gaming stations . We obviously looked into what was advertised before booking but the mini golf never had ball and was just some Astro turf . And the football slash basketball area was very often occupied by staff playing matches during there break . No cinemas . My kids were bored to be honest and the pools were tiny . But is what it is .
I think will buy the Premier package order 15 drinks a day and dump them out because I don’t drink. That way I’m taking full advantage of my package. I just wish Princess would be more fair to those of us that don’t drink alcoholic drinks. Just kidding, I really do wish Princess would realize there are a bunch of us that don’t drink alcohol.
@@whit0011 Just wondering because I do drink but what would you purchase on a day to day basis on a cruise? Coffee, soda, water? I'd love for someone who doesn't drink to do a bit of a listing like I have in the video for myself to show if the package is worth it for them even if they don't drink booze. I did try and do that in the latest version, but it's not for everyone. Just curious.
We get the Plus package even though we aren’t drinkers. We like to get sodas and an occasion hot chocolate from the coffee bar. Mainly we just like the peace of mind knowing we won’t have a big bill before disembarkation.
Absolutely, it really adds up on you and knowing it's taken care of is really nice. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I am the same way.
I’ve heard gratuities are no longer on the packages? My bro recently went on a Norway cruise with princess and had to pay it separately
@@wendynikkel6953 I haven’t seen that. I just checked 2026 cruises, and tips are still part of the package.
Wow! Isn’t it cheaper to just buy those things?
I’ve been on Princess for my last five cruises and the next one in March 2025. We looked carefully at the plus package on a ten day cruise. We found the plus package was a winner for us and we don’t drink anywhere near the 15 drinks limit. We think it is a Best Buy.
We normally get the Plus package. We have enough OBC to cover specialty dining on a 2-week cruise. However, we just booked a 54-day cruise in 2026 and decided to upgrade to the Premier package. We priced it out and for us it works. We figured we would / could spend daily over the $90 a day easily.
Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic! That will be a good long cruise for sure, is that a World Cruise segment you are doing? Smart to book Premier now for 2026, I'll bet the price goes up between now and then, you'll be locked in.
Thanks for watching!
Andrew
Thanks for the review. The table format, showing both the alcohol and non-alcohol comparisons was particularly helpful. If you include the casual dining costs, it makes it even more economical. What is better, is that you have priced in USD. In Australia, the plus package is $65 AUD per day which is about $45USD, so it is even better value. So, thanks for that, I will be adding Plus to my booking.
We had Primier on our 11-day cruise on the Ruby. We were very disappointed to recover there were no casual dining venues on the ship other than the Salty dog Gastropub at dinner time. ,not during noon. We felt it was a bate and switch. That was disappointing as we enjoy the casual dining unseasoned days at lunch ch.
We are also Princess Platinum members. Thanks for your review. We'll be on the Discovery in the future and have the Plus Package. We feel it's worth it.
Excellent! I thought it was important to differentiate what happens for people who have Platinum or Elite and show that in most cases it still makes sense. Enjoy the cruise and thanks for watching!
Great video ❤️ were doing our first Princess Cruise in may 2026 ❤️ it's just a 2 night cruise but really excited about it. We have purchased the Princess premier package
We have never had a package like this before. Only ever purchased wifi, a non alcohol drink package and photos as separate add ons. So to have so many extra things that we can get included is fantastic to us ❤️ I might even have a cocktail or two both days. The package has almost made the cruise completely inclusive. I wish our cruise was a bit longer to enjoy these perks but it's a great little sample cruise ❤️
Fantastic! That will be a great little sample to try it out and see how you like it. The all-inclusive aspect is good. Make sure you watch the "Smart Princess Cruisers" series that we have coming out. The second part will be out October 19.
Only 2 nights? I don’t like only 7, but can’t get my husband to stay longer.
I came across your channel and really like it ❤️ so I've subscribed to your channel, nice to be onboard ♥️
Welcome aboard! Happy to have you along for the ride!
With the plus package, I wish they would change the casual dining to 2 per week. We sail on longer duration trips and feel this falls short. Could you 2 casual dining on a 33 day voyage in the South Pacific.
I 100% couldn't agree with you more! It does seem to not benefit long cruises as much, perhaps that's just another way they are pushing people to Premier. Thanks for watching!
We are getting Plus for our upcoming cruise on Discovery Princess. On my birthday, we are going to eat at the Crown Grill, $39 each. At the old pricing, that would be about 2 days worth of Premier. So I suppose if you really wanted to eat at a specialty restaurant 2 or 3 days, or more, during your cruise, you will spend the equivalent of 4 or 6 days worth of Premier pricing. If that's how you want to roll, Premier is probably worth it.
As it so happens, I only get one birthday a year, so I don't think we're going Premier this time. Maybe next time.
Well, Happy Birthday! No better way to spend it than on a cruise. I can't see many people wanting to eat at a specialty every night and I'm concerned about what this is going to do to reservation availability. Again, like everything I go through in that video, it's all about doing the math. Some people can think that way, others just turn a blind eye! Thanks for watching and enjoy!
@@TidalHorizons thx! I already got my magnetic "Birthday Cruise" sticker for the cabin door, and the magnetic button that reads " *39 **_ish_* " !!
And as you mentioned bottle water is awesome for port days I bring 3 or 4 to port that alone saves you
Yes! That's something to take advantage of before you head ashore. Thanks for watching!
Love Princess Plus
Absolutely! Thanks for watching!
Very informative video. I have a Princess cruise booked and paid for in May 2025 with the Premier Package. So, if I keep the plan as is I will only get the 2 nights of specialty dining? I would have to pay the $10/day per person to get the unlimited specialty dining?
Yes, exactly. Your travel agent (if you used one) or Princess will be able to upgrade that for you if it makes sense. That's really the only difference, unlimited drinks instead of 15 per day each and unlimited specialty restaurants. I'd maybe have a look at reservation availability before you do the upgrade. Thanks for watching!
I heard the crew appreciation on Princess is going up.
@@DonnaHolmes-js6hm I heard that, too. I wish they would just pay the staff better and jettison the gratuity. Then we could tip as we see fit - especially cabin stewards.
You are correct, it looks like as of August 15th, they raised them to $17 for Interior, Outside and Balcony, $18 for Mini-Suite and $19 for Suite. That information is from their Travel Professional site, it's still listing $16, $17 and $18 on other sections of their site. I haven't seen a press release yet on it though. Thanks for watching!
Do you have to have reservations for casual dining or can you just walk up?
Usually not. But there can be a line for Alfredo’s. So be flexible and get your name on the maitre d’ list.
Not reservations per say, sometimes it's just a waiting list. Sun Princess provided pagers like a land based restaurant when things were busy at Alfredo's. The wait didn't seem very long. Thanks for watching!
Princess does offer beverage packages only. But both the plus and premier beverage packages are more than the cruise fare. So not a good choice.
You are correct, they do technically have the beverage package for sale, although I can't say why!
From Princess: The Plus Beverage Package is US $64.99 per day plus 18% service charge (totaling $76.70 per day) for all itineraries except Australia. For all Australian-based vessels, the package is AUD $110.00 per day which includes a service charge. You will be charged the full amount for the complete voyage at the time of purchase.
I'll update that section next time, but I'd think at some point they'll take that off completely. Thanks for watching!
The Premier is 90.00 a day. How is that more than the cruise fare? It is in addition to the fare.
@timtrek1701 Plus and Premier are Cruise Fare Packages. You get to choose the fare you want. The Cruise Fare Package ADDITION to the standard fare, at $60 or $90, is less expensive than booking the standard fare and then adding the Plus or Premier BEVERAGE ONLY package. I didn't mean that the entire fare was cheaper. It is just cheaper to do the fare package, and you get much more.
Wouldn’t sail Princess without the Plus.
They could use that as a slogan!
Does the Princess Plus package include any specialty dining?
No, the plus package only includes two casual dining experiences. I have a few theories on what is going to happen next with Plus, that will be out in a new video later this week or early next week.
A little unclear here but are specialty coffees included in Plus? Looking at a 10-14 day trip.
Yes! The specialty coffees are one of the things you can order with your package. Usually they are between $4 and $6 so if you are drinking a few, it would add up quickly without the package.
We booked a cruise on the Sun princess for December 2024 with the premier package, Can we pay the $10 difference for this cruise, or is the upgrade for cruises starting in 2025?
Yes, you can pay the upgrade to get the new package. Call Princess or your Travel Agent. Thanks for watching!
.I have cruised 31 times with Princess Cruises....the most recent was this summer of 2024 in Europe...Princess has now but one goal...the maximization of profits...it has cut out most of the benefits passengers use to enjoy. at no cost...( now you have to pay to get the benefits) it has less employees...the food was ordinary.....I felt like a squeezed lemon,....it will be my last cruise with Princess Cruises and with the Cruising industry in general...
Yes, and they aren't too shy to say it out loud either. See my video on "Why Cruises are so Expensive in 2025", we get deep into it.
I've had a few people make the comment about them cutting the benefits that passengers had at no cost and making them pay for it. I've been cruising with Princess since 2004 and I can't think of something that I used to get for free that I have to pay for now. The only thing that comes to mind is no more chocolate on my pillow and no more soaps and shampoo containers since they are fixed to the shower now. You have almost double the number of sailings as me, what are you thinking of that I'm missing?
Just got back from princess cruise from Southampton . Hardly anything for kids compared to royal Caribbean . It took forever to get a drink . I mean ages . Group of ten so only managed to book about four sit down meals at 830 pm which was nightmare with younger kids . Buffet most nights great food but similar day to day . Balcony was lovely but when beds come down u have to crawl in between to access . Struggled to get a seat during the day . Only thing that was good was locating people using lanyard . Don’t bother ordering using it as u will wait even longer than the bar . Check your bill regular as lots people charged for stuff not purchased . Without kids or just small party be great as not loads kids running around . Good value for money . I prefer a set evening meal not booking times .
Some interesting points you bring up. What ship were you on?
Yes, Princess isn't ideal for some kids, it's not really setup for it like RCL. However, I did take my three kids onboard three Princess cruises last fall (2023) with great success, but we knew exactly what to expect.
The group dining is a pain right now, but the ships are converting to add traditional dining back as of September I believe. This change is being welcomed by the crew and passengers. This would have made things super easy for you I would imagine.
I have two extensive videos about Prepping for Princess Cruising (ruclips.net/video/O_yAemlNFPM/видео.html) and one about Saving Money onboard (ruclips.net/video/vXQp3NU42uM/видео.html) where I bring up a few points around dining tips and checking you bill exactly as you mentioned. Hopefully helpful for someone.
Thanks for watching!
Andrew
Not sure what ship u was in but we was on in August and we was undated with children all seemed very happy. With kids clubs . And wait time was not a problem even on the app
@@SarahannWillis hi Sarah ok for young kids my boys are 12 and 15 . On other ships they had ice skating . Bumper cars , laser quest and dozens of gaming stations . We obviously looked into what was advertised before booking but the mini golf never had ball and was just some Astro turf . And the football slash basketball area was very often occupied by staff playing matches during there break . No cinemas . My kids were bored to be honest and the pools were tiny . But is what it is .
Kids fit in better on other cruise lines.
I agree
The premiere package now offers unlimited drinks and unlimited specialty dining.
Yes, I’m not sure who is going to drink more than 15 drinks a day but interesting change. Few other changes too. Thanks for watching.
I think will buy the Premier package order 15 drinks a day and dump them out because I don’t drink. That way I’m taking full advantage of my package. I just wish Princess would be more fair to those of us that don’t drink alcoholic drinks.
Just kidding, I really do wish Princess would realize there are a bunch of us that don’t drink alcohol.
@@whit0011 Just wondering because I do drink but what would you purchase on a day to day basis on a cruise? Coffee, soda, water? I'd love for someone who doesn't drink to do a bit of a listing like I have in the video for myself to show if the package is worth it for them even if they don't drink booze. I did try and do that in the latest version, but it's not for everyone. Just curious.