Princess Plus vs Princess Premier: Is the Upgrade Worth It in 2026?

Every Princess booking comes with the same fork in the road. You can sail cruise-only, add Princess Plus, or add Princess Premier, and the line makes the packages easy to say yes to by folding gratuities and wifi into both. I have sailed Princess all three ways, and I price the packages for clients every week. This is the comparison I wish someone had handed me before my first Princess cruise.

Package prices shift once or twice a year, so check the current Princess Cruises offers for the live rate on your sailing. The numbers below are the 2026 rates.

Princess Plus vs Princess Premier Key Facts

Inclusion	Princess Plus	Princess Premier
Price per person, per day	$65 (or $70 on Sun Princess and Star Princess)	$100 (or $105 on Sun Princess and Star Princess)
Drinks	Cocktails, wine, and beer up to $15 each	Drinks up to $20 each, including premium spirits
Wifi	One device per guest	Four devices per guest
Crew appreciation	Included	Included
Specialty dining	Not included	Included, one specialty meal per mealtime
Casual dining	A set number of prix fixe meals per voyage	Unlimited prix fixe meals
Premium desserts and juice bar	Two desserts per day, juice bar included	Unlimited desserts, juice bar included
Fitness classes	Two per voyage	Unlimited
Photos	Not included	Unlimited digital downloads plus three prints
Shore excursion credit	None	$100 to $300 per person, depending on voyage length
Reserved theater seating	No	Yes, for production shows
Medallion delivery	One-time fee	One-time fee

Princess Plus: What $65 a Day Buys

Princess Plus is the package most of my clients end up with, and the reason is simple: crew appreciation alone runs $18 to $20 per person, per day, and wifi for one device would cost roughly $15 to $25 a day on its own. That puts the drinks portion of Plus at about $25 to $30 a day, which is less than two cocktails at the Good Spirits bar. If you drink a coffee in the morning, a beer by the pool, and a glass of wine at dinner, Plus pays for itself before the show starts.

The drink cap is $15 per beverage, which covers nearly every cocktail on the standard menu, most wines by the glass, and all the specialty coffees and sodas. If you order something above $15, you pay the difference plus gratuity. The two premium desserts a day and the juice bar are small extras, but the desserts at the Piazza are a genuine highlight on the newer ships.

Pro Tip: Plus includes wifi for one device. If you travel with a phone and a laptop, log the laptop out before you switch, or you will burn through the connection allowance arguing with the login page.

Princess Premier: What the Extra $35 a Day Adds

Premier raises the drink cap to $20, which opens up the premium spirits list, higher-end wines, and the champagne cocktails, and it adds four wifi devices, unlimited casual dining, and one specialty restaurant meal per mealtime. On a 7-night sailing that specialty dining piece alone is worth $200 to $300 per person if you would have paid the cover charges anyway. Crown Grill, Sabatini's, and the newer venues on Sun Princess and Star Princess such as The Catch by Rudi and Butcher's Block by Dario all fall under it.

The shore excursion credit is new for 2026 and ranges from $100 per person on short sailings to $300 on long ones. It can only be applied to Princess-run tours, so it is worth less to you if you book excursions independently. Unlimited photo downloads matter to families and to anyone celebrating a milestone; casual cruisers rarely use them.

Princess Plus vs Premier 7-Night Math

Line item	Cruise-only	Princess Plus	Princess Premier
Package cost, 7 nights	$0	$455	$700
Crew appreciation, balcony	$126	Included	Included
Wifi, one device	About $105 to $175	Included	Included (four devices)
Drinks, 3 to 4 per day	About $250 to $350	Included up to $15	Included up to $20
Two specialty dinners	About $90 to $120	About $90 to $120	Included
Approximate total	$570 to $770	$545 to $575	$700

The takeaway is that Plus beats cruise-only for almost anyone who drinks, uses wifi, and does not want to think about tipping. Premier only wins if you would have booked two or more specialty dinners, use the higher drink cap, or need wifi on several devices. For a couple who eats in the main dining room and drinks a modest amount, Premier is $490 more than Plus for the two of them, and that gap is hard to close.

Who Should Skip Both Princess Packages

Cruise-only still makes sense for a specific traveler. If you do not drink alcohol, do not need wifi, and are sailing a short 3 to 5 night itinerary, you can pay crew appreciation directly, buy a soda package or coffee card, and come out ahead. It also makes sense for Elite Captain's Circle members who already receive some of the perks, which I cover in my Princess loyalty guide. Everyone else should assume Plus and price up from there.

Five Tips I Give Every Client

• Decide on the package before final payment. Adding it later is possible, but the price at booking is the one that sticks.

• Count your drinks for a day at home. Three or more per person, per day makes Plus a clear win.

• Pick Premier only if specialty dining is part of your plan. That is where the value sits.

• On Sun Princess and Star Princess, the packages cost $5 a day more. The extra venues on those ships make Premier easier to justify.

• Check whether the current Princess Cruises offers bundle a package into the fare. When they do, price the sailing both ways before you commit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does everyone in the cabin need the same package? Yes. Princess requires all guests in a stateroom to purchase the same package, with exceptions for children on some sailings.

Can I upgrade from Plus to Premier on board? Usually, for the difference in price, though availability at the specialty restaurants is not guaranteed once you are sailing.

Are gratuities on drinks included? Yes, for beverages within the cap. You pay the difference plus gratuity on anything above it.

Is the drink cap per drink or per day? Per drink. There is no daily limit, though Princess enforces responsible service.

Final Thoughts on Princess Plus vs Premier

Plus is the sensible default for most Princess cruisers, and Premier earns its price for foodies and families who will use the specialty dining and the extra devices. Whichever you land on, buy it at booking rather than at the pier, and let me run the numbers for you if your group is split between the two. I price Princess packages every week and there is no charge for the quote.