What Princess tells you
Princess Plus is a convenience bundle: prepaid crew appreciation, a drinks package, one-device Wi-Fi, casual dining allowances, OceanNow delivery and room service — all wrapped into one daily rate. The pitch is simple. Buy separately and it costs more. Bundle and relax.
Princess also tells you it represents 50% savings. Read the footnote: that figure is based on a 10-day cruise, purchased before sailing. Your sailing may look different.
On Sphere-class ships — Sun Princess and Star Princess — the same package costs more.
What they don't tell you
Princess Plus works brilliantly, mostly for Princess.
The package is built around the assumption that passengers hate friction more than they love arithmetic. Nobody likes signing receipts for every coffee or watching Wi-Fi charges stack up. I've seen this from the other side of the desk. Once you prepay, the spending feels done. You stop asking whether you're getting value.
Is it really all-inclusive?
Not quite. A few things to know before you commit:
- You're limited to 15 drinks per person per day, each capped at $15. Order a premium wine or a top-shelf cocktail above that ceiling and you pay the difference out of pocket.
- Specialty coffees and teas are unlimited and don't count toward your 15-drink limit. That's useful if you drink a lot of coffee, and easy to overlook.
- Wi-Fi covers one device only. Traveling as a couple and both want to be online? You're paying for a second connection separately — or using a local SIM or eSIM ashore, which is often cheaper.
- Crew appreciation, once bundled, cannot be removed, exchanged or refunded. That's not buried in the fine print — it's confirmed in their FAQ. You're committed.
The biggest thing to watch in the math is how crew appreciation is presented. Princess includes it as though it's a bonus. For most passengers it was always an unavoidable cost. Strip it out and the package looks considerably less generous.
The math
Princess Plus costs $65 per person per day on standard ships — provided you book at least 96 hours, or four days, before departure. Miss that window and the rate rises to $70. On Sphere-class ships the advance rate is $70, rising to $75 if you buy late or onboard.
The casual cruiser
- No alcohol
- A couple of coffees (unlimited — not counted against your drink allowance)
- No ship Wi-Fi
- No interest in casual dining extras
Daily value recovered: close to zero beyond the coffees. You're paying $65. On a seven-night sailing, that's a significant overspend before you've bought anything else.
The moderate package user
- Wi-Fi (one device): ~$25
- Coffees: covered, unlimited, no cost against the cap
- Two cocktails within the $15 ceiling: ~$24
Total: ~$49/day. You're just above break-even — but only if you use the package consistently, every single day of the cruise.
Sphere-class reality
- Same as Scenario 2 — but on Sun Princess or Star Princess
- Package rate: $70/day pre-booked
- After crew appreciation: $52/day to justify
That same moderate user is now behind from day one. On the newest ships, the package doesn't need to be a bargain. It just needs to feel easier than saying no.
Long cruises feel this differently
On a 14-night sailing, Princess Plus at $65 per person per day costs $1,820 per couple — before you've spent a cent on anything else. If your actual daily consumption only breaks even on good days, that cumulative total becomes harder to justify as the cruise goes on. The longer the sailing, the more the math matters.
The verdict
Princess Plus makes sense if you were already going to pay gratuities, you need daily Wi-Fi, and you drink regularly — within the $15 per-drink cap.
For everyone else, it's prepaid convenience sold at a premium. Reassuring at checkout. Less so when you do the arithmetic.
Book before the 96-hour cutoff or you're paying $5 per person per day extra for the same package.
Not sure which side of break-even you fall on?
Run your numbers before you commit.
All prices sourced directly from Princess Cruises, May 2026. Rates can change — verify at princess.com before booking.