Donald BucoloTo offer more “all-inclusive” cruise vacations, Princess Cruises has rolled out its Princess Plus (and now Princess Premier) pricing. On our Alaska cruise, we opted for this upgraded package. Was it a good deal? Well, we crunched the numbers to determine if Princess Cruises’ Princess Plus is worth it.
Is the Princess Plus Package Worth it? (2023)
What’s included with Princess Cruises?
Like most contemporary cruise lines, Princess Cruises’ standard fare includes most onboard amenities. Still, there are additional services and amenities not covered in this cruise price.
When you sail with Princess Cruises, the base fare covers the costs of your accommodations. The type of stateroom category you select will be the main determinant of the total costs of your trip. The most economically priced cabins will be inside rooms or a “guaranteed cabin”. Suites are typically the most expensive stateroom categories on a cruise ship.
Regardless of the stateroom category you choose, you will have several dining options onboard that are complimentary. On most Princess Cruises ships, this will include a buffet that is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day of the cruise.
There are also other casual options like the 24-hour International Café, serving small bites and to-go items. Additional complimentary venues include poolside grills and pizza.
Yes, the cruise line does have a few specialty restaurants that are an up-charge. However, with the variety of complimentary dining options, you don’t have to pay to dine at one of these specialty venues if you don’t want to.
Along with food, basic beverages are included in the standard cruise fare. Coffee, iced water, lemonade, hot tea, and iced tea are among the drinks that are complimentary on Princess Cruises. Other beverages, such as soft drinks or alcoholic drinks, will cost extra.
In addition, the cruise fare covers almost all of the onboard activities. From trivia, to game shows, cruiser competitions, a fitness center, and a sports court, all these activities are complimentary during your trip.
Each evening, there is also live music in several venues and nightly entertainment in the Princess Theater with no cover charge. Of course, there are a few up-charge activities, classes, and experiences too.
What’s included in the Princess Plus Package?
While the Princess Cruises Standard fare is quite inclusive, it is basically a cruise only rate.
The Princess Plus pricing option provides additional services and amenities that many cruisers have come to expect from premium cruise lines. Guests can upgrade from the Princess Standard fare to the Princess Plus package for $60 per person, per day.
This package includes the crew incentive, also known as gratuities. This daily service charge is based on stateroom category. For Interior, Oceanview, and Balcony, it is $16 per person, per day; Mini-Suite and Reserve Collection $17; Suites $18.
From stateroom attendants to dining staff, this service charge is shared among all of the hard working crew.
Next, the Princess Plus package includes WiFi for one device per guest. For many, internet connectivity is now a must on a cruise. The days of “disconnecting” on vacation are long gone. Now, everyone wants WiFi to share on social media, check email, or gasp, even do some work.
On Princess Cruises, the single device WiFi package retails at $15 per day. With the Princess Plus fare, each individual gets unlimited WiFi for one device. If you need more devices connected during your trip, you can purchase an upgrade to a 4 device package. Platinum and Elite guests will automatically receive a 50% discount if they decide to upgrade WiFi.
In our experience, the internet worked well for most days of the cruise. Though, connectivity does depend on the region in which you are cruising.
Perhaps the most important perk for many is the Plus Beverage package. This drink package includes several upgraded non-alcoholic options. Among the additional selections are bottled water, specialty coffees, smoothies, and soft drinks. There is no limit on how many non-alcoholic premium beverages guests can consume.
When it comes to alcoholic beverages, the drink package includes all alcoholic beverages priced up to $15. This includes many cocktails, martinis, signature drinks, and spirits. This allotment also covers all beers and many wines by the glass. However, there is a drink limit of 15 alcoholic beverages per day with this plan.
The Plus Beverage package is priced at $64.99 a day per person plus an additional 18% gratuity.
New in 2023, the Princess Plus package also features new inclusions. Guests also get two premium desserts per day, two fitness classes per cruise, and an unlimited juice bar.
Premium desserts include gelato, candies, toppings, a pastry or cookie, and alcohol if desired. Depending on your ship, you will find these at the Gelato café, Swirls, Coffee & Cones, or the pastry shop at World Fresh Marketplace. Excludes SMiZE premium ice creams.
As part of Princess Cruises’ partnership with XPonential Fitness, there are 3 types of classes to choose from: StretchLab, Pure Barre, and YogaSix. Club Pilates, CycleBar, and STRIDE Fitness are coming soon as well. Guests can sign up at the fitness center for these classes.
The new Juice Bar features 4 juice blends and 2 power shots (ginger and turmeric). Each juice is a 6 oz serving and will be unlimited for guests with a package. They are also available a la carte for $6-$8 each for guests with no package.
Per Princess Cruises’ website, this Princess Plus package provides an overall savings of 54%.
Summary of what’s included in Princess Plus package:
- Princess® dining, accommodations and entertainment
- MedallionClass® experience
- Plus Beverage Package (drinks up to $15 each)
- Wi-Fi (1 device per guest)
- Crew appreciation
- Premium desserts (2 per day)
- Fitness classes (2 per cruise)
- Unlimited juice bar
SCORE BIG ON PRINCESS CRUISES!
What’s the difference between Princess Plus and Princess Premier?
To complicate things a bit, Princess has also added a third pricing option, Princess Premier. The Princess Premier package is the most inclusive offering and is $80 per person, per day to upgrade.
This package includes the Premier Beverage Package, WiFi for 4 devices per guest, Crew Appreciation, and two specialty dining meals per guest. The retail cost of the Premier Beverage package is $84.99 per day, and the cost of WiFi for four devices is $40 per day.
The Premier beverage package covers everything from the Plus Beverage Package as well as additional top-shelf premium beverages up to $20. Although, there is still a drink limit of 15 alcoholic beverages per day with this plan.
With this fare, guests also get a photo package, unlimited premium desserts, unlimited fitness classes, unlimited juice bar, a Medallion accessory, and reserved seating in the theater. Additionally, Premier guests have the chance to win Princess Prizes.
Princess advertises this package as an overall savings of 66%.
Summary of what’s included in Princess Premier package:
- Princess® dining, accommodations and entertainment
- MedallionClass® experience
- Premier Beverage Package (drinks up to $20 each)
- Wi-Fi (up to 4 devices per guest)
- Crew appreciation
- 2 specialty dining meals per guest
- Photo package (unlimited digital + 3 prints)
- Princess Prizes
- Premium desserts (unlimited)
- Fitness classes (unlimited)
- Unlimited juice bar
- Medallion accessory
- Reserved theater seating (for production shows only)
Which sailings feature Princess Plus fares?
Currently, Princess Cruises is offering these all-inclusive packages for all sailings. They are capacity controlled, so it is possible that these fares are “sold-out” on a particular cruise.
The Princess Plus and Princess Premier fares are also available for all stateroom categories, from suites to inside staterooms.
They are available for purchase pre-cruise or onboard during the first day of the cruise.
When upgrading to Princess Plus, both the first and second guest must select the same pricing option. Third and fourth guests are not required or defaulted to the package. If these guests want to opt in, they will need to contact Princess Cruises to have it applied to the booking.
Even if the 3rd and 4th guests do not have a package, certain items can be shared. For Princess Premier, the WiFi for 4 devices, two specialty dining meals, and the Photo Package are shareable.
Best of all, this pricing is combinable with other cruise deals and cruise line promotions. So, it is possible to combine these fares with other promotions or deals, such as onboard credit incentives.
Of note, if guest 2 on the reservation is under 21, he/she will receive the Zero-Alcohol Package. No refund is provided for the difference. This non-alcoholic plan includes a variety of beverages like mocktails and sports drinks.
What is not included in the Princess Plus package?
While the Princess Plus package does include several additional services and amenities, it does not cover everything on the ship.
Specialty dining is still an upcharge. Most of the specialty restaurants have an up-charge of $39 a person (a recent increase of $10 per person). Though, this is still a bargain compared to many other cruise lines.
Also, this fare does not include any shore excursions or onboard credit. For instance, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Free at Sea promotion does include a $50 credit per port to be used for shore excursions.
Of course, other add-ons like spa treatments, shopping, or the casino are not included either.
Is the Princess Plus Package Worth it?
When you calculate the cost for the 3 main benefits included in the Princess Plus package (drink package, gratuity, and WiFi), it works out to a total of $95.99 a day, per person value. So, this brings us back to our original question. Is the Princess Plus upgrade worth it?
If you will use all three of these benefits, this upgrade is an easy choice. If you are staying in a balcony cabin, gratuities will cost you $16 per day. The WiFi will cost you $15 per day. A Plus drink package is $64.99 per day.
Essentially, if you want to purchase an alcoholic drink package, it’s a no-brainer to upgrade. If just one person in the stateroom wants a drink package, or if the second guest is under 21 years old, it makes the decision a bit harder.
For us, we always purchase a WiFi plan, and gratuities are just a given.
When it comes to a drink package, this is where we have the most variability. Given we have no status with Princess Cruises (i.e. no free drinks), we would have purchased the alcoholic beverage package anyway.
So, for an upgrade price of just $60 per person, per day from the Princess Standard to the Princess Plus fare, we each saved $251.93 for a total of over $500 savings.
Now, what if you wouldn’t normally purchase all of these add-ons?
Well, if you pre-pay the crew incentive and plan to purchase the WiFi, the total for these two perks is $31. This means, you only need to spend an additional $29 a day on alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks to reach the total cost of the Princess Plus fare.
Even if you are not a big drinker, this would equate to around three alcoholic drinks per day. Not to mention, you also get non-alcoholic drinks, premium desserts, and fitness classes.
For many, this upgrade makes sense, as it certainly pays for itself after just a few drinks per day. Plus, you have the added convenience of not worrying about the tab at the end of your trip. Further, with the Medallion’s OceanNow technology, you can easily order drinks from anywhere on the ship. How’s that for convenience?
Even if you did not plan on purchasing the WiFi or the alcoholic drink package, but instead a Zero Alcohol package, that will still cost you $39.99 plus the $16 crew appreciation which puts you back at $55.99 a day. Or, just a $4 difference from the upgrade price.
The bottom line is will you spend $44 per day ($60 upgrade minus $16 crew appreciation) on some combination of drinks, WiFi, desserts, or exercise classes. If so, then upgrade to Princess Plus!
Of course, there is also the Princess Premier option to consider. Even if you planned to purchase just a Plus drink package, along with WiFi for multiple devices or specialty dining, you should consider this upgrade as it does include quite a bit more for only $80 per day.
Ultimately, when comparing inclusions on luxury cruise lines, like Viking Cruises, the Princess Plus (and Princess Premier) cruise fare offers a competitive upgrade. It’s no wonder more cruise lines are starting to offer similar packages. Celebrity Cruises’ All Included fare and Holland America’s Have It All fare are very comparable.
Comments
Is upgrading to Princess Plus worth it for you? Have you purchased this upgrade on a Princess cruise? Drop us an anchor below to share your experiences with this all-inclusive cruise fare.
8 comments
Paula
Although we have cruised other lines this Oct is our first Princess cruise. We never purchase an extra package deal. We seldom drink alcohol,I’m a water and coffee drinker and my husband will have one or two drinks on a cruise. We have always put our phones in the room safe as soon as we get on the ship unless we are taking pictures. We relax have fun and meet nice people.
GoodRoger
Plus package is nice, but it has it’s place. We are more or less social drinkers, my wife even less so. And when I have a drink package, I tend to try to justify it 😉
Reasons for no plus:
– When just the 2 of us are cruising, we really don’t drink much, so no package.
– Itineraries longer than 2 week — too much drinking and even the net $30/day really adds up (times 2).
– Too many port vs sea days. It’s nice to get a couple drinks at the beach, then I’m kinda done for the day
– Too many calories. I’m also a foodie
Reasons for yes plus:
– When a bigger group of friends, then its a party!
You should also mention that Platinum get 50% off wifi, which reduces the effective savings of going Plus.
Princess should provide some sort of drink voucher (besides unlimited for both people), so you could purchase a set number of drinks onto your shipboard account.
Of course, this all changes as the crew appreciation keeps increasing … now at $16
Carol
There is no extra service charger anything when you buy the princess parts $60 a day package. The whole and only charge is $60 per day
Michelle
Hi! We’re planning to go on our first cruise with Princess in May 2023 so thank you for the valuable information! Looks like the Princess Plus package is $60USD per person. Is there a service charge on top of that $60? (I see that the drink packages have an 18% applied – it wasn’t clear if there is an additional service charge on top of the Princess Plus). Thank you!
Carol
There is no extra service charger anything when you buy the princess parts $60 a day package. The whole and only charge is $60 per day
Jewell
If you have the Princess Plus fare, how much does it cost to upgrade wifi to four devices? If there are two in a cabin, can just one pax upgrade to four devices?
Michi
We sailed the first time with a Princess Plus Fare and are sure to book it again (as long as the price is not increasing dramatically). Our calculation was: regular cruise fare vs. Princess Plus fare: 440 EUR difference for 17 days -> that makes 25 EUR / day. This compared with the total of the single packages from over 1,400 EUR ( 17x (59,99+14,50+9,90) proofed our decision was right!
Cruise Mummy
I think that Princess Plus is almost always worth it! If you book online it seems as though you need to buy it for kids too, but you actually don’t and when I booked I was able to just get it for the adults.