What does Princess Standard fare include?

What does princess standard fare include? Core dining and stays

Learning what does princess standard fare include helps travelers manage vacation expectations and avoid unexpected onboard expenses before sailing. Knowing these baseline cruise provisions ensures seamless travel planning and protects individual holiday budgets effectively. Explore the fundamental package elements to make the best reservation decisions today.

Unpacking the Base Option: What Does Princess Standard Fare Include?

When booking a cruise, determining exactly what your baseline payment covers can feel like navigating a complex maze, as options usually vary significantly based on your package choice. The Princess Standard fare serves as the bare-bones entry point for your voyage, offering a traditional cruise experience where you pay only for the foundational elements of your vacation. While it avoids the upfront premium of bundled tiers, understanding its limits prevents unexpected surprises when your final onboard bill arrives.

At its core, this option includes your chosen stateroom accommodations, access to essential complimentary dining venues, basic beverages, nightly theater entertainment, and fundamental ship amenities like pools and fitness centers. It also provides every guest with OceanMedallion wearable technology to facilitate seamless boarding and hands-free ship navigation. However, almost everything else - from the internet to your daily crew appreciation tips - will require separate out-of-pocket payments.

Complimentary Dining Options on the Standard Cruise Fare

Is food included in Princess Standard fare? Yes, you certainly will not go hungry on the base fare, though your venue options are restricted to the ships complimentary locations. Your meals are fully covered in the Main Dining Room, where rotating multi-course menus are served each evening, as well as the casual Horizon Court or Market Café buffets. For round-the-clock snacks, the International Café provides complimentary light bites, pastries, and sandwiches, though specialty coffees and premium teas here will cost extra.

Casual poolside dining venues like Slice Pizzeria and the open-air burger grill are also completely free for standard guests. However, any venture into specialty restaurants or casual sit-down venues requires a cover charge, which typically incurs an automatic 20% service charge on optional food and beverage purchases.

I remember sitting at the Alfredos Pizzeria counter on my first standard voyage, entirely unaware that casual sit-down venues had shifted to a prix fixe cover charge model, leaving me with a small but annoying unexpected charge. Stick to the pool deck or the main buffet if you want to keep your dining expense at absolute zero.

What Basic Beverages and Activities Are Part of the Package?

Thirst-quenching options on the baseline fare are straightforward but strictly non-alcoholic and basic. Standard passengers receive complimentary access to tap water, ice water, hot tea, brewed drip coffee, milk, lemonade, and select juices during breakfast hours. Soda, bottled water, canned juices, and any form of beer, wine, or cocktails are billed individually to your stateroom account, alongside a mandatory 20% beverage gratuity added at the time of purchase.

On the entertainment front, the base fare treats you identically to upgraded guests. You can attend Broadway-style production shows in the main theater, catch comedy acts, listen to live musical sets across the lounges, participate in onboard trivia games, and enjoy Movies Under the Stars on the pool deck. Physical facilities like hot tubs, swimming pools, and the baseline fitness center are also completely open to you, though specialized fitness classes will require an extra transaction fee.

The Hidden Costs: Navigating Standard Exclusions and Extra Fees

Choosing the standard path means you must actively manage a list of out-of-pocket expenses that upgraded bundles normally absorb. The most significant hidden cost is the daily crew appreciation, an automatic daily gratuity added directly to your shipboard account that ranges depending on your stateroom category. Wi-Fi internet access is completely excluded from the base fare, meaning standard guests must buy standalone connectivity packages if they wish to check emails or stay connected while at sea.

Onboard delivery and room service have also become key areas where standard travelers face specific penalties or activation fees. If you place a room service order by calling down from your stateroom phone, a flat 5 USD delivery fee applies to each individual order.

Want food or drinks delivered directly to your current location on the ship using the app? Standard guests are hit with a one-time 14.99 USD OceanNow delivery access fee per person for the duration of the voyage just to activate the service, and that only covers the delivery fee, not the price of any non-complimentary items you order.

Look, this is not an easy financial puzzle to solve, and you should not let anyone convince you that the standard option is a bad choice. It just requires diligence. If you plan to order a handful of cocktails, check a couple of work messages, and enjoy breakfast in bed, the activation fees and individual item charges will quickly accumulate. The secret is knowing your own habits before you walk up the gangway.

Princess Standard Fare vs Plus and Premier Packages

Princess Standard

Included in the baseline cruise price

Only tap water, drip coffee, tea, and morning juices are covered

Excluded; standalone internet packages must be purchased separately

Not included; automatically billed daily to your onboard account

Requires a 5 USD fee per phone order or a 14.99 USD one-time app access fee

Princess Plus

An additional 65 USD per person, per day (70 USD on Sun and Star Princess)

Plus Beverage Package covers up to 15 daily drinks valued up to 15 USD each

Full MedallionNet Max coverage included for 1 device per guest

Daily crew appreciation is fully covered under the package cost

All OceanNow app delivery access fees and phone room service fees are waived

Princess Premier

An additional 100 USD per person, per day (105 USD on Sun and Star Princess)

Premier Beverage Package provides unlimited daily drinks valued up to 20 USD each

Highest tier MedallionNet Max coverage included for up to 4 devices per guest

All daily crew appreciation tips are fully included in the daily bundle fee

All stateroom phone orders and app-based location deliveries are completely free

The Balcony Breakfast Mistake: Mark and Ellen's Standard Experience

Mark and Ellen, a couple in their late forties from Chicago, decided to book a standard cruise fare on a seven-day Caribbean voyage to save money upfront. They intended to disconnect from work entirely and stick to a strict budget, assuming avoiding the beverage packages would guarantee low final expenses.

First attempt: On their second morning, Ellen decided she wanted a relaxing coffee and pastry breakfast delivered to their balcony. She used the stateroom phone to place a quick order, completely unaware of the standard delivery rules.

The breakthrough came when they checked their running account balance on the app that evening and noticed multiple 5 USD phone delivery charges accumulating. They realized that while the basic continental food items themselves were complimentary, the method of ordering was penalizing their lack of a package.

Adjusting their strategy, they switched to filling out the physical paper breakfast cards and hanging them outside their door before 11 PM, which allowed free morning stateroom delivery. They completed their trip with only 70 USD in total unexpected delivery and a-la-carte beverage fees, proving that standard fares can work if you learn the system rules.