Are Princess packages still the best value at sea, despite the price rises?

• Princess packages last week saw a 20 to 30 per cent rise.
• Many passengers expressed their frustration at the rises, while others argued that they’re still the best value at sea.
• Cruise Passenger crunched the numbers to see if this is still the case.

Last week Princess cruisers received a shock when they found out that the line’s package prices would be increasing.

Princess is known for its great value packages, that offer benefits such as WiFi and drinks packages at all-inclusive pricing, that until now has generally been considered the best value at sea.

While some are unhappy about the changes, others believe the packages are still the best value at sea.

As far the packages alone go, for WiFi and a drinks alone, you still can’t beat the price of Princess Plus, which is now $79 per day of sailing in Australia.

This though, holds value to cruisers that drink enough alcohol on their cruise to justify the package. If you only drink a few of drinks on your voyage, the price of drinks packages is not relevant to you.

Cruise Passenger has examined the value of the Princess packages in comparison to other cruise lines.

Analysis of the packages

While Princess’ packages offer great value, Celebrity Cruises‘ offering is just as good. We compare the most affordable way for you to get WiFi and a drinks package on an Australian sailing.

• Royal Caribbean drinks package averages about $125 per day and WiFi starts frm $30 per day. Total $155 per day.
• Carnival Cruises, drinks package is $111 per day and Wifi starts from $23 per day. Total, $134 per day.
• Princess Plus, which includes both a drinks package and Wifi starts from $79 per day.
• Celebrity Cruises ‘all-included pricing offers Wifi and a drinks package, prices vary per cruise but generally average about $100 per day.

Therefore, if you are convinced of getting a drinks package and WiFi on your Aussie cruise, a Princess package is still the best way to make this happen, coming in about $20 cheaper than Celebrity. 

Princess’s package prices are still considerably cheaper than Carnival or Royal Caribbean.

However, when we consider Princess’s steeper fares, do the better priced packages still hold up?

Analysis of fare prices and packages together

To compare between the major lines, we picked each lines best value New Zealand cruise for January or February 2026, and calculated the price of taking that cruise with an interior cabin, and getting the cheapest options for Wifi and a drinks package. 

Royal Caribbean 

• An 11-night cruise with Royal Caribbean to New Zealand in January 2026 starts from $2999, or $272 per day.
• Adding on the package price of $155 per day, this equals to $427 per day.

Carnival 

• An 11-night cruise to New Zealand with Carnival in February 2026 starts from just $1529, or $139 per day.
• Add on the package costs of $134 per day and this totals $273 per day. 

Princess Cruises 

• A 14-day New Zealand cruise with Princess in February 2026 starts from $4105, or $293 per day.
• Adding on the package price of $79 per day, this totals $372 per day.

Celebrity Cruises 

• A 13-night New Zealand cruise with Celebrity Cruises in January 2026 starts from $3438, or $264 per day.
• The quote for all-included pricing with drinks and wifi is $1284 extra per person, meaning a total of $4722 or $363 per day.

The main takeaways 

• Royal Caribbean’s fares are increasing, combined with the high cost for drinks packages and WiFi might be a deterrant for some cruisers. While Princess fares are still slightly higher, Royal Caribbean’s overall cost is coming out significantly higher than the other lines. This shows the evolution of Royal Caribbean from being known as a budget line, to a ‘premium family’ line.
• The overall cost of a Celebrity cruise can actually be cheaper than a Princess voyage. Celebrity is considered more upscale than Princess. This makes alternative as the fare is lower and even if you opt for the packages, the higher value of the Princess package isn’t enough to offset the fare difference.
• Carnival remains Australia’s top budget option. If you’re not looking to opt for a drinks package, Carnival can come out thousands of dollars cheaper than the other cruise lines. If you do opt for their Cheers package, you’ll still be sailing for much cheaper than you could with any other line. 

Do Princess packages still have the best value at sea?

If you want a drinks package and WiFi connection, then yes, Princess packages are the cheapest way. However, it’s worth considering that rising fares and package prices bring Princess more in-line price wise with a cruise line like Celebrity. 

More importantly, each cruiser has different individual preferences. 

An advantage of the wider variety of perks that Princess packages used to have, such as premium desserts, fitness classes, juice bar access and more, meant that Princess cruisers who weren’t big drinks could see more value in the other perks. However, given that the diversity of perks has decreased, the package is now more catered for those who will drink more alcohol, which isn’t always what a Princess cruiser wants.

Whether any cruise package is worth it to you will always depend on what you’re hoping to get out of your cruise, how much you think you want to spend and what you think you want to spend it on. 

Princess packages still provide great value for those who know they want to drink and have WiFi connectivity on their cruise.