It is already difficult to get specialty restaurant reservations - unless you like to eat late- and I prefer early. I would love if Princess would open more specialty dining at lunch. I agree that eating my big meal early is my preference when I am home.
We just finished a cruise on the Island Princess. Sabatini’s was open at lunchtime under the name of Alfredo’s. They had the best pizza/salad/dessert. Also, The Bayou restaurant was also opened under a pub name. They served fish & chips. The pizza lunch was absolutely delicious. Hope the other ships adopt this lunch choice.
The outcome I expect is that the specialty dining venues will be at capacity for reservations for the cruise within a few hours after boarding. The extra value is there--only if you can actually get a reservation. There are going to be a lot of angry people who buy premier packages for the specialty dining who will never see the inside of one of these specialty restaurants on a 7 day cruise.
I agree, I mean what happens when someone gets on board and wants to make 7 or 14 specialty reservations, are they going to be told no? I have a feeling this will turn into a nightmare.
Allison, I so appreciate you staying on top of all things Princess Cruises. I am Elite status and like to keep up to date on all changes, etc. You make it so easy for me! Bless you ❤️
Had Premier for the first time last month on the Enchanted. Was a struggle to take advantage of the entire package. Waited on line plenty to take photos. Enjoyed the 3 print out per person. However, a la carte pricing was cheap if you didn't have a package. Never ordered more than 4 alcohol drinks per day and never finished them all. Ate 5 casual dining meals but never could finish a complete meal. Wouldn't mind paying a la carte or simply share a pizza at Gigis. 2 specialty dining was perfect spacing. The 4 devices worked well. Never took a fitness class but did go to the gym. Had 4 specialty desserts. Overall, I ate/drank more than I wanted because I wanted to maximize the package. With the price increase and the anticipated crowds in the specialty restaurants, I am more inclined to go with the standard package and pay ala carte, even for water. Thank you for creating a space where we can share anecdotes and opinions.
We did the Premier Package on our 14 day Alaska cruise. We had Alfredo's and Ocean Terrace just about every day. The plan included 1 sushi plate option that really needs to be expanded to make it worth it. Crown Grill and Sabatini's were ok but we preferred the MDR. We rarely did 5 drinks a day. Unlimited drinks and unlimited specialty is a wasted benefit to us.
Good comment, I think that the changes to increasing the price is of little benefit to the vast majority of all cruisers. Few people will go 15 drinks a day, let alone more than that. And there were already 2 specialty dining included in the old price which again is good for most people.
I agree with what you said about the $10 a day extra, it’s not that huge deal if you’re already spending $80 a day. But on the other hand on the ships that only have a couple specialty dining restaurants I don’t want to eat and those the whole week I want a variety of food so I don’t know that I would take advantage of it and I certainly will not be drinking more than 15 alcoholic beveragesa day I’d be lucky to drink two or three
I think the new Premier is good and bad. I have a problem with unlimited alcoholic drinks. I think 15 drinks is plenty. The unlimited speciality dining is great.
I have to wonder about the unlimited drinks...there will be some that abuse that for sure. Also the quality of the liquor choices must be on the low side?
With the addition of unlimited Specialty Dining to the premier package it makes it extremely important to book it early for anyone who would like it. Space is limited.
Viking passes out unlimited bottled water before every included shore excursion. I think if Princess wants to do this, they need to make a truely unlimited package, they are still nickel and diming in my opinion
There are so few specialty restaurants on some ships and on longer cruises the unlimited specialty dining may grow a bit old so not quite sure how I'll feel about this. Just my initial reaction....
The plus and premier packages have never made sense for me in terms of value. They make even less sense now. I get internet at 1/2 off and order soda in advance. My needs are met. Here is an example. I am headed on a Panama Canal Cruise in December. Internet cost me $200 for the cruise. 12 cans soda, $24, gratuities 224. Plus upcharge would be $840. I can use that $364 saved for some nice excursions.
wow! we buy the premiere package and this is huge! wish they included free laundry service, too! most excited about the unlimited specialty dining. Although hopefully people will not make reservations then not show up without canceling
For the premium desserts, you don't have to stick exactly to their menu. I have seen people swap the type of ice cream and/or tell them to leave off all the candies.
I hope they will let us substitute the regular gelato on the Royal, later this year. I have no desire to eat any of those sickly looking fancy desserts, especially since they are all vanilla based and I hate vanilla.
We have booked a Princess cruise to Hawaa omn Feb. 25th 20025. Each time we talk to a Princess agent, they give us different information. We paid for 2 Premium packages, and they applied themt to the basic fares. Streessful.
Thanks, Allison. I see so many people asking on message boards. What’s included in a package AFTER they have already purchased it. Videos like yours will really help them.
Good luck to you with Premier trying to get a specialty reservation. ESPECIALLY before your cruise, where the app tries to charge you when you try to make the reservation, and then you have to get OBC . NO thanks. Not excited. By the way, try the cakes in International Cafe as part of the plus special desserts.
Thanks for the update❤ Good luck getting drinks, reservations in specialty dining and fast WiFi after you already paid for it. I think it’s a smart idea to stay off phone and pay a la carte. Packages cost more in the end😮
Even though we are excited for unlimited Specialty Dining with the Premier Package, I agree that getting reasonable dining times will be more difficult. I like Allison's idea to start the dining early at 4pm.
I’m concerned with the unlimited alcohol but I love the specialty dining change. I agree $10 a day extra is a great deal BUT I do agree about how they are going to accommodate the extra diners. I don’t believe for a moment, they will add extra staff.
Had the premiere package on the cruise I took in July (2024) so without the new addition of unlimited specialty dining. Two specialty dining nights were plenty. The unlimited alcoholic drinks is just a marketing ploy as nobody with whom I interacted got anywhere close to having 15 alcoholic drinks. Oh, and I won $250 onboard credit through Princess Prizes (I was so excited!). And, I enjoyed the photo package more than I thought I would. Overall, I enjoyed the options of the Premiere Package but the new price does make a difference-especially as I really enjoy the food in the main dining room and don't feel the need to eat multiple times in the specialty restaurants. However, getting into the MDR was really difficult at times (we often had a 30 minute wait and, yes, we did have reservations for the same time every evening), so I think diverting more people to the specialty restaurants is a way to open up seating in the MDR.
Just a little side note on medallions getting mailed, the app only shows they are on order or being processed when you dig a little deeper. Not in the ocean ready section. And on our recent cruise I got emailed to say they were on the way 3 weeks before cruise and they showed up 8 days before cruise. Just have patience. The blue line at the port is always a option if they get lost in mail. JUST HAVE FUN AND DON'T SWEAT IT.
We are booked on the Love Boat trip too! I'm oddly excited about getting our wedding vows fake renewed! I'm actually buying fake wedding rings for the fake ceremony! We bought the premier package mainly for the wifi and specialty dining.
With more people going for the unlimited speciality dining option are we looking at there being an issue with table availability? I wouldn't be happy if I'd paid that much and couldn't get a table!! We're on Island Princess on 25 September.
We think it's a fair price, and based on other cruiseline packages, Princess continues to be the best value. We have cruised (last 2 years)on 5 other lines and experienced the difference re $$$ Unlimited specialty dining and better wifi are worth $10 per day (each). Agree with you 👍 The biggest concerns are getting additional reservations. We see this on Oceania. Causes lines outside specialty v MDR. 100% agree with you on this also 👍. Certainly, it doesn't seem worthwhile paying for reserve mini suites. This change has to influence this! Finally, quality has to be clearly defined from MDR. Otherwise, why pay twice for food that's similar Thanks, Allison. We will be upgrading all our future packages 👍
I think it will be hard to get reservations at some specialty restaurants when it becomes unlimited on Premier. I was unable to get a reservation for Rudi's on our last cruise so it will only get more difficult now.
I had a couple of thoughts on the changes. Some people had mentioned having Specialty Dining during the lunchtime hours. It might be a good option to have it even just on port days as there are some people that do not get off the ship or have been to certain locations numerous times and want to stay on the ship. I also have a concern about the Internet because I don’t know how they can split up the speeds . The other thing I would like to see is to have options for full pricing on different programs, which would include premier or plus. I think psychologically it’s just better to have the one price instead of having to have extras. This way you know how to budget right off the bat. I hope that makes sense. Probably the biggest thing is making sure that the app is working. This has to be a priority.
It would be nice if Princess discounted the plus and package prices for Platinum and Elite loyalty guests. The cost is the same for all but the purchase of internet for those loyalty groups is 50% off.
Also, apart from jacking up the price by Princess they didn't even have the decency to let it apply to those already booked on upcoming sailings that have already paid for the Premier package.
Great deal for short cruises, but I see more drunks onboard and people complaining about not being able to book specialty dining due to them being fully booked every night.
Good morning Allison and Gordon! Hoping all is well with you two. Sherry and I are fine. We have a trip planned with our other friends from Salt Lake, John and Melanie, in Oct. Three cruises but none on Princess this time. I'm going to comment on the package business. We don't consume enough alcohol (not even close) to justify paying for any package with anybody. However, and I know we're in the minority but, it just looks like packages, especially the unlimited ones, encourage excessive drinking. There's millions of people that do not need help with that activity. Lord help them and all others dealing with alcohol abuse and the ones affected by them. Maybe we'll see you two on a cruise again someday. Love from Dale and Sherry
Princess will need to come up with another tier for loyalty, don't you think? It was really easy getting to Elite. It only took us about 6 years to do that and that was way before this new promo.
Thank you for always keeping us on top of things! Regarding the photos, it has been years since we posed for, and purchased photos. I’ve noticed that there haven’t been as many people taking advantage of the photographers. On a fluke, we stopped to be photographed as we disembarked in a port on our last cruise. I was so surprised to find that, along with the posed shot, that I wasn’t interested in, was a candid shot taken at a different angle by another photographer. It made us look like celebrities in a press release! I bought it!😊
Very disappointed with the new changes since I wanted to book the premier package on my cruise in December. Now I need to decide on whether to pay another $140 or get the plus and go on no specially restaurants and only two casual. Another option is to not get any package since I don’t usually get any and lose the double loyalty points which would have made us platinum. Decisions Decesions, I’ll think this out. Ive had bad experiences with crown grill and since Regal Princess has limited specialty restaurants I wouldn’t want to eat them every night. I would never drink over 15 anyway. My first impression is this is not worth it on ships with limited specialty restaurants. Still lots to think about.
I may be in the minority but if a ship doesn't offer food in the buffet and main dining room I like and satisfy me I DON'T GO ON THAT SHIP - SO FAR I have been fine on Princess ships. But we all I am sure appreciate your information. Unfortunately Princess website is often out of date and the app is NOT intuitive either but I like their ships and LORD WILLING will be on Sun Princess from Ft Lauderdale in November. Thank you for your great information and clarifications.
Hi, Allison. Will the plus package have the new wi-fi? If yes, then I am thinking that if you have the plus package, then you would have priority after premium and before everyone else. Hope this makes sense. Thank you for everything you do!!!🤗
You cannot book any Specialty dining until you have paid in full. We needed to pay way in advance and a lot of the times were still already filled. Patti and Carl Miller
Thanks for the clear explanation. We have a 2026 cruise with Premier Pkg and we'll see if it works, but at this point we have one of our 2 speciality dinings booked. The app recognized our Premier Pkg and booked without charging us.
We used to get the plus program when it was $40 a day that just was Wi-Fi, gratuities and drinks. I believe that came out in 2018. As time went on, it expanded. We get the Plus because we get enough obc to cover any specialty dining that we might want. Thanks for sharing!
Princess elite cruiser….Premier pkg not available on our next booked cruise - Dec LA - Hawaii - LA. Also, we booked on our last cruise, plus pkg, the 2 desserts Day…not always available because they’ ‘ran out’. Personally, I think the packages are a huge money grab.
We never get the packages , still won’t! But we also have a hard time booking the specialty restaurants when we’re paying for it if not booked prior to our cruise. So unless you book ahead of time it’s not easy to get in. We are also early eaters😂.
On the Plus package, a fixed two free casual dining options per trip regardless of trip length makes long trip cruisers feel cheated. Are they kidding, two casual dining on a 7 day trip and two on a 30 day cruise. Would be an attractive perk if it was two casuals per week or do the impossible and go back to when unlimited free casuals were part of the standard options.
Totally agree. As the packages are sold on a daily rate those restricted items should be allocated on a weekly basis. Ridiculous that you could pay nearly $7000 for the Plus package on a world cruise and only get two free casual dining and two fitness classes over the entire trip.
Our 20 day cruise in the Mediterranean next May/June are already booked up for Specialty dining and we bought the Premium package. Pretty disappointing this far in advance. We can’t eat late dining due to health issues. Thank you for your insight and advice.
I think the premier is still good value for money. Unfortunately booking in advance often the app has you pay in advance for specialty dining & then get through money back later. Not happy having to pay for more dinners in advance and then get the cost back. We have 5 cruises booked into 2026 with Premier.
Question: booked for Sun princess August 2025. Offer was pay for plus package and get a free upgrade to premier package. This was offered in UK. What version of the premier package will i get?
We have used premier and plus packages. It is a worry free cruise because you can have a drink as many times during the day without worrying about what you are being charged. Usually all we have to pay for is what we spent in the shops.
The reserved seating for Premiere package guests in the theater is only for productions shows, but not all shows/events in the theater as of now. Is that changing to include all shows & presentations?
I did Sapphire December 2023 from LA to BA with 4 days in Antarctica! Antarctica is worth the cruise itself IMO. I highly recommend a few days before or after in Buenos Aires. The best city in South America and very European!
I am excited for the unlimited specialty dining. We have always enjoyed the Premier Package and I don’t mind spending $10 more. We will be on the Enchanted Princess in February for a 20 day cruise and will enjoy having 4 or 5 specialty dining meals.
Allison, I appreciate you keeping us informed on the changes - it is so helpful. We get the Plus package and it is worth it to me; however, the cost of the Premier package is not worth it to me, especially if you're on one of the smaller ships whose dining venues are very limited (like the Coral Princess and Island Princess), and the specialty restaurants just don't appeal to me when it's just steaks and seafood - I'd rather have chicken - so I can find whatever I need in the MDRs and the buffet. What concerns me the most though is Princess taking away the limit on the number of drinks - I believe that limit needs to be in place for some people, in order to insure a safer cruise ship.
Great Premier Package and price🎉 Love the unlimited SD. Last cruise I missed 1 of the 2 dinings. It was booked. Now I feel I have a chance to get at least 2 since everyone will not be trying to eat SD every night.
I always purchase the Premier Package. Even though I don't drink alcohol, it's still a good value. I'm excited to see that they are enhancing the package -- I'm up for it! It will be interesting to see how the internet updates work out. The speciality dining alone is worth the extra $$$. Thanks for your great RU-vid channel! I always enjoy your insights. BTW, can you please provide the method of booking directly with you? I usually just go with Princess direct. But, it's nice to have a travel agent that can assist with my vacations. Please let me know how to book with you......
This is ridiculous! The dinners are fine, but no one needs more than 15 drinks in a 24 hour period! IMO, 15 drinks is too much! I’m just envisioning a ship full of drunks! Not my idea of a relaxing cruise! 😢
For the photo package included in the premium price you get all the digitals plus 3 prints per person. If you want additional printed photos the cost is very inexpensive as well not the 30.00 per 8x10 portraits, for us the photo package it’s great as we love to take photos and my husband it’s a sucker for photos as well. Before this package was created as part of the premium price we used to spend too much money on the prints.
Interesting development well explained thanks Alison. While the non limited drinks feature wouldn't be of interest to me the specialty dining is a huge attraction.
We are on Ruby Nov 2 & Premier is $97 already... I haven't bought either package.. I do like the unlimited specialty dining options but looks like on Ruby only has 2 Specialty dining .. My 1st time Princess cruise can't wait!!
We buy the Premier package because we like fine wines and only a few glasses justify the price, and I want multiple devices on wifi. It makes sense for us. We're already booked on a 31 day cruise--I WON'T upgrade to the new premier for $620, because, on the Crown, my specialty choices are the Crown Grill and Sabatini's--and we could use that $620 to buy a few dinners, if desired. (Two specialty dinners per cruise, whether 7 day or 31 day, makes absolutely no sense.) I agree with the comments regarding getting seated in those restaurants. It will be tight.
Allison - you were reading my mind - truly how could one have unlimited alcoholic drinks and “walk” back to their cabin, even unfortunately, one might lose their balance and fall overboard. Very scarey, yet bottom line, drink responsibly. However, the Premiere pkg update does have some positive things, e.g., unlimited specialty dining. VERY INFORMATIVE video - thank you! @LetsGoTravelTips👌🏻🚢
Hi, after one experience on enchanted princess the special restaurants are not much better than the main dining rooms, if you get good staff it doesn't matter as food comes from the same kitchen. I love the princess dining at no extra cost , they try to push paying above the standard fare to boost their income and I won't fall for it again my lovlies 😊
Princess Plus, it's not worth it for me as on a 14-day cruise, me and my partner will only have 14 glasses of wine on the cruise, so it's better for us to buy the Wi-Fi and pay service charges and tips.
Thank you for the updates We are well traveled but fairly new to Princess and you are our go to for news and updates - so thank you so much 👍🏻 Not sure if this has been discussed or common knowledge. We booked a PH Suite on the SUN and I just looked at the deck plans for after Oct 14th and our suite has been renamed to be a VISTA Suite Any idea as to the methodology behind this. Wish I could drop screen shots of the difference Take a look at 15631 and both available deck plans for the SUN. Appreciate any feedback you can give on this.
I am booked on the sun princess sailing February1,2025 . I have the princess plus but I want to upgrade to the new Premier unlimited but it won't let me upgrade on both the app or through princess website..
I think it was bound to happen with the new WiFi. And yes it is definitely reasonable. We will be upgrading from our current Oremier for our cruise in September.
I have booked September 28th and on Royal Princess Plus package, and if this Premier package was upgraded, I would have upgraded. But my specialty reservation was very difficult.
Allison my wife and are cruising on the Sun Princess Oct 14 and we upgrade from our normal plus but for this cruise we have the premier. It’s only 5 day we are going to keep it the way it is, we have also booked Spellbound.
