Open your cabin door, win a free cruise: Princess adds prize giveaways to new all-inclusive package

"Go to your room!" The universal expression of parental displeasure now has a different meaning for Princess Cruises passengers. As part of a new offering called Princess Prizes, guests who pay to enter or who purchase the line's new all-inclusive package could win free cruises, cash and other rewards simply by opening their cabin doors.

As the newest feature of the line's ever-evolving OceanMedallion technology, Princess Prizes randomly awards gifts to winning cruisers when they approach their cabins and use their Medallions to open their doors.

If they've won, the digital welcome screen next to their cabin will light up in celebration and tell them what their prize is.

Information about how to claim prizes — which include $100,000 in cash, a free cruise every year for 10 years, onboard credit, Chef's Table dining, wine tastings and other goodies — will be available to passengers on their MedallionClass Apps and in-cabin TVs.

Not everybody will win, but John Padgett, Princess Cruises' president, said on a call Wednesday that the odds are in each passenger's favor.

"A lot of people will win something," he said. "We do have a very broad, deep prize pool."

Children are ineligible to win, as prize awards are only triggered for Medallions belonging to passengers 18 and older. Adults who have not purchased an all-inclusive package can gain access to Princess Prizes by paying a $20 fee per cabin, per day, to enter.

Princess Prizes is available for free to Princess travelers who opt into the line's new for-fee Princess Premier all-inclusive add-on package. For $75 per person, per day, the package includes:

• Premium beverage package
• Unlimited MedallionNet Wi-Fi for up to four devices
• Crew gratuities
• Two specialty restaurant meals
• Photo package (digital copies of all photos taken by the ship's photographer, plus three prints)
• Princess Prizes eligibility

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Princess values these inclusions at $156 per day.

Princess Premier is a step up from the line's existing Princess Plus add-on package, which offers:

• Basic beverage package
• Unlimited MedallionNet Wi-Fi for one device
• Crew gratuities

Princess values these inclusions at $95 per day.

On May 25, 2022, the price for Princess Plus will increase from $40 per person, per day, to $50, so cruisers have about two weeks to lock in the lower daily pricing. Princess Premier will also become available for booking starting May 25 for use on sailings departing on or after June 25, 2022.

Cruisers who have already booked Princess Plus for use on voyages on or after June 25, 2022, will be able to upgrade to Princess Premier for an extra $25 per person, per day, beginning on May 25.

"Guests have overwhelmingly embraced the convenience and value offered in Princess Plus, so we are adding Princess Premier to take our inclusivity options to the next level," Padgett said in a statement. "Princess Premier is our most inclusive package."

If it seems like the premier package offers significantly more value than the plus package, that's because it does — and it's intentional, with the goal of enticing people who currently purchase Princess Plus.

"We specifically engineered Princess Premier to be disproportionately more valuable ... compared to Plus," Padgett said during the call. "That is, no doubt, by design."

Since 2020, following the industry-wide shutdown, lines like Princess, Norwegian Cruise Line and Holland America Line have been luring passengers to book by offering limited-time deals that roll more freebies — such as drinks, shore excursions, specialty dining, gratuities, Wi-Fi — into base fares.

But, cruisers don't always want more inclusions, particularly if they mean higher prices or less flexibility.

In 2021, Celebrity Cruises introduced its permanent Always Included fares, which provide cruisers with free basic Wi-Fi, a basic beverage package and crew tips. Although Always Included pricing is still available, the line later walked back its stance and resumed offering base fares that don't include the extras.

Earlier this year, Atlas Ocean Voyages also dialed back its inclusivity due to feedback from passengers who wanted more freedom to plan their own shore excursions and pre- and post-cruise itineraries.