It’s a common question should I buy a Princess drinks package for my cruise? To help solve the riddle, we’ve built a Princess Cruises drinks package calculator that will help you make an informed decision. Just select the options to see how many drinks it takes to break even each day (spoiler – far fewer than you think):
In many cases, you need to drink just two glasses of wine each day to make the package pay for itself.
Which package is right for you? Check out our Complete Guide to Princess Plus and Premier Drinks Packages
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Yes, you probably should buy a Princess Cruises drinks package
Interestingly, drinks packages work out fractionally better value for newer cruisers because of the WiFi element. Gold, Ruby and Platinum guests are charged $24.99 per day for WiFi, representing a significant chunk of the daily charge for the drinks package.
With their 50% Captain’s Circle discount, Elite guests pay $12.50 – so they must drink more to recoup their costs.
Anything else?
Remember that you must purchase a drinks package for every guest in your cabin stateroom. But given that WiFi and gratuities are charged per person the savings remain the same, even if the headline cost doubles.
Also bear in mind that the soda and non-alcoholic drinks packages do not include WiFi or gratuities. As such, they represent significantly worse value. In fact, as a non-drinking WiFi user, it makes more sense for me to buy the Princess Plus package anyway.
For simplicity, we have ignored some of the other perks included with the Princess drinks packages. The Plus package comes with ‘four casual dining experiences’ per cruise for instance, worth about $15 each. We’ve left this out because it’s hard to quantify what this perk equates to on a per day basis (assuming you even use all four credits – we never have).
How to maximise the value of your Princess drinks package
Make sure to purchase your Princess drinks package at least four days (96 hours) before boarding. If you wait until you’re onboard, the price increases by up to 20% per day.
On the plus side, you can book your cruise sans package and add it at a later date. We often book the cruise and pay the balance, then add Princess Plus closer to our sailing date.
And yes, you can use your onboard credit towards paying for a drinks package. However, you must wait until you board before making the purchase. But that means you will be gouged an extra 20% on the daily charge.
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