Princess Cruises has made MAJOR changes for 2026 that every cruiser needs to know before booking. In this video, I break down all the new policies, price increases, fees, and package updates affecting your next Princess cruise this year.
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Here’s what I cover in this video:
PACKAGE PRICE INCREASES
Princess Plus jumped from $60 to $65 per day, and Princess Premier increased from $90 to $100 per day. On Sphere-class ships like Sun Princess and Star Princess, you’ll pay even more—$70 for Plus and $105 for Premier. I’ll explain what’s been added, what’s been removed, and whether these packages are still worth it in 2026.
NEW FEES YOU NEED TO KNOW
Specialty dining at Crown Grill and Sabatini’s increased 22-33% to $55-$60 per person. Alfredo’s Pizzeria now charges $14.99 for a meal—and here’s what most people don’t realize: the Tony Gemignani specialty pizzas cost an extra $12 EACH, even if you have a Plus or Premier package. I’ll also cover the new OceanNow delivery fee, room service charges, WiFi pricing changes, and Medallion shipping costs.
BEVERAGE PACKAGE ENFORCEMENT
Princess is cracking down on drink package “abuse.” Starting in 2026, the Plus package 15-drink daily limit now includes ALL beverages—not just alcohol. No more double shots of spirits. No sharing drinks with non-package guests. I’ll explain exactly what counts toward your limit and what doesn’t.
BOOKING POLICY CHANGES
As of October 2025, all new Princess bookings default to non-refundable deposits. This is a huge shift from their previous policy. I’ll explain what this means for your booking flexibility and how to get a refundable deposit if you need one.
STAR PRINCESS ALASKA 2026
The second Sphere-class ship is heading to Alaska this summer—the first time a Sphere-class vessel has sailed The Great Land. I’ve got all the details on her inaugural Alaska season departing from Seattle, plus what makes Star Princess different from Sun Princess.
VACATION PROTECTION CHANGES
Princess retired the Standard PVP option in December 2025. Now Platinum PVP is your only insurance choice at 12% of the cruise fare. Plus, the loyalty discount for Ruby, Platinum, and Elite members is gone. I’ll break down what this means for your cruise protection options.
Whether you’re a first-time Princess cruiser or a loyal Captain’s Circle member, these changes will affect your 2026 sailing. Watch until the end where I share my tips for getting the best value despite all these increases.
Planning a Princess cruise? Drop a comment below and let me know which ship and itinerary you’re considering. I read every comment and love helping cruisers plan their perfect vacation!
Princess Cruises Changes 2026: Everything You Need to Know
0:00 Princess Cruises Changes 2026: Everything You Need to Know
0:35 Princess Cruises No Longer Defaults to Non-Refundable Deposits
1:35 Final Payment Deadlines Have Been Moved Up on Princess Cruises
2:02 Princess Cruises Has a Brand New Ship Sailing in Alaska
3:14 BIG Changes to the Princess Plus & Premier Packages
4:50 Princess Has Removed Several Plus and Premier Package Benefits
6:40 Princess Plus Beverage Package Changes
8:30 Princess Has Discontinued Vacation Protection Plans
9:37 Specialty Dining Restaurants on Princess Ships Are Now More Expensive
12:04 Get Ready to Pay More on a Princess Cruise in 2026
—-TRENDING VIDEOS FROM EAT SLEEP CRUISE——
Why Cruising Doesn’t Feel The Same: https://youtu.be/dv59PuNlsGA
We Sailed on Princess Cruises Newest Ship: https://youtu.be/ty7O1eDvfXc
What It’s Really Like on Princess Alaska Cruise: https://youtu.be/rG7tsivcZjU
Best Cruises for Couples: https://youtu.be/fenNj5GmLdM
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Planning a Princess Cruise in 2026? This video breaks down some major changes you need to know before you book, as some could impact your cruising costs significantly. We’re covering every important new cruise rules and offering cruise advice to help you prepare. Make sure to watch for essential princess cruise line tips!
31 Comments
POSTS THIS VIDEO IN 2026😂 WTF lol diabolical don b
Now I understand why I was charged shipping for one but not the other medallion while I had the Plus package on both. One was booked back in 2025, the other not. In my long experience with Princess, both the Blue and Green lines seem to move at the same speed. Once the Green line was significantly longer! I canceled the home shipping-I never needed it anyway.
Star doesn’t do Glacier Bay
Don't cruise Princess, got it.
Just another cruise line I will never set foot on. Lump them in with carnival, RCL, and NCL as no go. I might be tempted to try celebrity if it were cheap enough and the itinerary was really good. Otherwise just small ships for us.
Hey Eat Sleep Cruise, less is not more when it comes to the changes to these Princess add-on packages. So, stop telling us what a great value they are. I’ll pass on Princess.
Honestly I never ate any of those gigantic desserts or took any of those fitness classes anyway. There are plenty of desserts everywhere else on the ship and the fitness classes on my last Princess cruises were always way too early in the morning so to me these changes are not a deal breaker when it comes to the Princess Plus Package. I’m actually excited about getting four casual dining meals instead of two like before. Now that’s definitely something I plan to take advantage of on my upcoming two week Western/Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Star Princess in October. I booked this cruise with my travel agent during their Black Friday sale last year and I got an amazing deal. I’m talking $550 onboard credit with a deluxe balcony for the first seven days then I decided to pamper myself and upgrade to a mini suite for the second half of the cruise! I personally think that Princess still is the best value at sea so I don’t know why people are complaining and boycotting. It seems like nonsense to me. All you need is a good travel agent, look for the big sales, find the cheapest time of the year to book and book early. It’s that simple. Happy cruising!!
Luckily I don’t drink
Hello Eat, Sleep Cruise,
I took three back to back on the Regal Princess. I had seen from other cruise bloogers that sodas were counted against the 15 beverages so I checked each week with guest services and they said sodas do not count, only alcohol so who is right. Very confusing right now.
Just got back from a Eastern Caribbean on the Star Princess beautiful ship but venues are way to small for the amount of people it holds Piazza very small compared to there older ships . My wife and l had to sit on the floor to play bingo at Princess live and in general the layout is terrible need to go though stateroom corridors to go to The Eatery. Would never go on that class again . We have a cruise in June on the Sky hoping that's better.
Did not like the Sun Princess at all… Do your research and decide for yourself.
The cruise industry has changed considerably since we started cruising in the 2000's. Taking a cruise always made you feel like you were pampered, with nightly turn downs, mints on our pillows and towel animals. Toss in the free room service and one could come away from their cruise feeling relaxed and pampered. Not anymore! We used to love to cruise and between the really large ships that always feel overcrowded in public spaces and the nickel and diming for everything, we are going to stick with land based vacations after our big legendary cruise we have booked for next year after my husband retires.
No more fancy desserts like in the past. Those deserts were great. We were able to enjoy those sky high gelato desserts on our two last voyages! 😋 we picked up our last medallion at the port, unlike the one before where they mailed it. I must say, the entertainment on Princess is pretty bad. A hodge podge of songs that have nothing to do with the previous or other songs. Just doesn’t make sense, the entertainers are gifted, I’ll give you that but the shows in my opinion are unwatchable. I guess cruise ships no longer have a roadway type shows as they have to pay royalties. ☹️
If you book a cruise with a non refundable deposit with a future cruise deposit and cancel. You lose the future cruise deposit and can’t move it to a new sailing
Soon, like the airlines, they'll start charging for the number of suitcases you bring onboard; by how much you weigh; etc. These changes, along with squeezing every nickel and dime, is getting out of hand. The basic cruise inclusions are more than enough to still get a great cruise holiday.
I’ve never sailed on a Princess ship. After hearing all of the changes I won’t ever sail on one. There are plenty of other lines out there.
We just booked our first Princess cruise on the Majestic for Spring Break. We booked very last minute and the rate was very good compared to other lines. We almost booked Star but it sold out just before the Majestic:( We have a mini suite and purchased Princess Plus. Interestingly enough Princess did not charge us for the Medallion shipping. Hope our first Princess cruise will be a great one. We normally cruise with Disney, and have also been on Royal and one Holland Rotterdam) which we also greatly enjoyed. We are looking for just a bit more excitement than Holland though;) Music by the pool, Zumba etc etc. We are early 40.s with an almost teen. Hope we made the right choice! Although there has never been a cruise or vacation we did not like 🙂
Princess trying hard to catch up with NCL with all the ridiculous Nickel & Diming….and they were trying to compete with Celebrity 🤣
LOL. We've booked March 2027 cruise. $AUD25pp non-refundable. The price dropped and the OBC went up a lot. Forfeited our $25pp and rebooked. Then it dropped again. So did the same.
Friends on the same cruise could not do the same, etc. They chose balcony and the whole deck they are on has sold out. So no price drop!
Can i book RC cruises with credit card points like flights?
Princess needs to up the quality of their food if they want to charge this much for it.
You know, you included a clip of Star of the Seas, not a Princess ship.
I wonder if they're removing things that people don't generally use. And maybe they're planing to remove some of those benefits and want the shock to be lower than just removing them.
So what is included lol
I normally really enjoy your videos but the narration on this one wasn't great and made this offering a bit frustrating. Choppy, weird pauses in sentences, one subject segueing into another on the same breath so that the two statements strung together were very confusing…just so many things sounding off-kilter. I kept thinking that this was very poor AI commentary.
Now the princess website shows Plus Package $84 per day and Premier Package $134 per day for Sun and Star Princess.
I better get some desserts. I bought before these changes
WHAT ABOUT SIGNATURE SUITES??!! No charge for specialty restaurants?
OMG, Eat Sleep Cruise just got a photo credit for an opening but by Stephen Colbert! On Thursday night's Late Show. A picture of a Carnival Cruise ship in a joke about all the Navy ships in the Middle East for an invasion of Iran!
So, this is good news? For the channel?
great info. Thank you. Will be sailing Princess in August; good to know what I am looking forward to with pricing
You missed one of the big changes to oceanow delivery – it's not available at most ship locations anymore. It was limited on Royal Princess to the staterooms, by the pools, the Piazza, and to a select few bar areas. You can no longer order your beverage online in the buffet areas, Princess Live, or the Vista Lounge. You can't even see the menu on your phone in those locations.