Princess Cruises’ Premier Package Gets Rid of 15 Drink Limit

August 15, 2024 Randy Young

Last Updated on August 20, 2024

Princess Cruises allows guests to upgrade their cruise experience by purchasing packages of cruise essentials. These packages bundle items like wi-fi, beverages, dining, and daily gratuities at a discounted rate. Princess offers two packages, Princess Plus and Princess Premier. Today, they announced they’re enhancing the “Premier Package,” offering even more value (at a 12.5% price increase).

Enhanced Princess Premier Package Changes

The new Princess Premier Package will cost $90 per guest per day, up from $80. Guests will receive the following upgrades as part of that increase.

Truly Unlimited Beverage Package

Guests can now have unlimited top-shelf spirits, beer, glasses of wine, and craft cocktails. The package covers drinks up to $20 each. Previously, this was limited to 15 alcoholic drinks per day, and it’s the biggest change under this new plan.

In addition, guests will receive 25% off bottles of wine and unlimited soft drinks and premium Lavazza coffees.

Unlimited Specialty Dining

Guests who book the Princess Premier package can now enjoy unlimited specialty dining. Previously, this was limited to 2 specialty dining meals per sailing.

Specialty dining includes:

Crown Grill: A sophisticated steakhouse offering premium cuts of beef and fresh seafood.
Sabatini’s: An authentic Italian trattoria featuring handmade pasta and Italian specialties.
The Catch by Rudi: A seafood lover’s paradise created by award-winning Chef Rudi Sodamin.
Makoto Ocean: Sushi master Makoto Okuwa offers exquisitely presented dishes that pay homage to Japanese traditions.
Butcher’s Block by Dario Cecchini: In partnership with the world’s most famous butcher, guests experience a carnivore’s paradise at a shared, family-style table.

Guests can also enjoy unlimited casual dining aboard the ship at the pub or pizza place.

Unlimited Medallion Max Wi-fi

The Premier Package also now includes Princess’ new Medallion Max wi-fi for up to 4 devices per person. While internet was included under the previous Premier package, the enhanced package now offers Medallion Max. MedallionNet Max offers guests prioritized access to the highest quality and highest performance bandwidth on the ship. This service provides premium internet for texting, web browsing, and video streaming, typically through Starlink.

Previously Purchased Premier Packages Must Upgrade For Benefits

Guests who have already purchased a Princess Premier package for an upcoming sailing will have to call to upgrade to the new package for an additional $10 per day.

Princess Premier Still Includes Gratuities and Other Benefits

On top of these changes, the enhanced Princess Premier package still includes a lot of other benefits, including:

Daily gratuities (typically $16 – $18 per person, per day)
Unlimited digital professional photos (3 print)
Unlimited premium desserts
OceanNow delivery
Unlimited room service
Unlimited fitness classes
Reserved theater seating

Enhanced Princess Premier Roll-out Schedule

The enhanced Princess Premier will roll out across the fleet from the end of August to mid-October.

Caribbean Princess: September 12
Coral Princess: October 17
Crown Princess: September 2
Diamond Princess: September 26
Discovery Princess: September 7
Emerald Princess: September 7
Enchanted Princess: August 31
Grand Princess: September 4
Island Princess: September 25
Majestic Princess: September 1
Regal Princess: September 12
Royal Princess: September 14
Ruby Princess: September 3
Sapphire Princess: September 14
Sky Princess: September 1
Sun Princess: September 7

Our Take: A Surprisingly Good Value

Normally, I’m not a big fan of these add-on packages. I find they usually include “benefits” I never use, and it’s cheaper if I purchase things a la carte. But the enhanced Princess Premier package makes a lot of sense.

One thing that really helps is that the daily gratuities ($16 – $18 per person per day) are included in this package. Because of that, the value is even greater.

To see how this compares to the competition, we looked at an October sailing of Celebrity Beyond. Celebrity’s pricing is dynamic and changes for each sailing, but this is the pricing as of today.

Here are the daily prices to get a similar package to the Princess Premier.

Premium Drinks Package: $79.99 (only covers drinks up to $15)
Wi-fi Premium Access: $24.99 (1 device)
Unlimited Dining Package: $65
Tips: $18

That comes out to $187.98 per person per day and doesn’t include any of the extra benefits like priority seating, fitness classes, and photos. Princess Cruises’ package is half the price of what it would cost on Celebrity.