I’ve just returned from a spectacular seven nights on board Princess Cruises Ruby Princess. Whilst there are plenty of things I could tell you, there’s one thing I really want to talk about, and that is the all-inclusive Princess Premier Package. Trust me, I absolutely took full advantage of it.
The Princess Premier Package includes so many extras: shore excursion credit, unlimited drinks up to $20 per drink, OceanNow delivery, unlimited speciality and casual dining, room service delivery, reserved theatre dining, three complimentary prints of your professional photos and unlimited downloads of every moment captured by the onboard photographer.
So, what did that actually mean for my cruise? I left the ship with a bill of £0.00.
From the moment I stepped on board, every drink I had was included — from that all-important morning cup of tea to the many cocktails that followed throughout the day.
One of my favourite things was being able to order food and drinks straight to wherever I happened to be – the use of your magical Medallion device means staff can find your location after you’ve ordered something.
So, picture this… your child has been begging you for some pool time. You finally get settled on your sun lounger that has the best location, they’re happily swimming around… and then you realise you need a drink. Normally, one of you must get out of the pool or wrangle them out of the pool to come with you.
With OceanNow, you open the app, place your order, and within minutes, your drink magically appears.
Or perhaps your little one/hubby wants pizza while you fancy something completely different; again, it was no problem at all. You can order from the special menu and have exactly what you both want brought straight to you. For me, the simple things really mattered too.
I value my morning cup of tea, and being able to order one without an additional charge meant I could let everyone sleep for that extra half an hour while I enjoyed my tea on the balcony.
There’s also something incredibly liberating about not constantly watching your spending.
When the staff recommend a glass of wine to pair with your dinner, or you just want to try a new cocktail, you don’t have to weigh up whether it’s worth spending $15 to not like it or thinking you might be ordering a drink that is going to only be half-drunk because you’ve got somewhere else to be. You can simply enjoy your holiday.
The shore excursion credit also gave me the opportunity to experience two phenomenal excursions without having to pay anything extra. Then there was the speciality dining.
I could eat at the incredible speciality restaurants throughout the week, essentially enjoying some of the best meals on board every night. The cover charge for that alone was nearly the cost of the premier package for that day.
There are also the little moments that you probably wouldn’t think about when looking at whether it’s the right package for you. Sitting on a sun lounger at 9pm, watching a movie, with a bowl of loaded fries delivered straight to me. Was it necessary? Absolutely not. But knowing it was all free made it worth every penny. Perhaps the biggest benefit for me, though, was the freedom it gave me.