Disloyalty Scheme

[daiB]

Perhaps their zimmers and scooters should be plated gold ;-)

 

I really do sympathise with you Blackrat.But even under the old Portunus Club rules you will lose your status if you do not Cruise regulary with P&O.I may be wrong about the exact details so forgive me but if I remember correctly if you have not cruised within 2 years your points total is reduced by 50% status even under the Portunus Club rules.:confused:

 

No that was stopped. But it was 3 years.

 

 

Gan canny

 

Dai

[balf]

Hi,

 

Will it stop me cruising with P&O? No, I like the ships and the staff and the places they go to and that makes it more frustrating, there is nothing I can do about it.

 

 

Blackrat

 

Don't big organisations love customers like you. They s... on you and you still come back for more. I have sailed with many different lines in the past, all have good points and bad. There's a big cruising world out there, why not try some of it.

 

David.

[daiB]

Don't big organisations love customers like you. They s... on you and you still come back for more. I have sailed with many different lines in the past, all have good points and bad. There's a big cruising world out there, why not try some of it.

 

David.

 

Why change when he likes the ships, staff and places they go to?

 

 

For one grade on a loyalty scheme with a little extra discount.

 

I think the expression is ' get real'

 

 

Gan canny

 

Dai

[Blackrat]

Hi Balf,

Yes I suppose you are at least partly right, if all the customers said we are not going to put up with this we are all going to Sunshine cruises then P&O would have a problem.

 

I like the ships, the people and the style of cruise that P&O supply, so by staying with them what will I lose?

 

Well I wont get the magazine (haven't seen one yet so no idea what cruising goodness I am missing)

5% discount from on-board purchases. That's more difficult to quantify because I don't know what I'm going to spend on my next cruise. I have a total of £425 on board spend which they have given me so if I spent another £500 that would be £25 I would have missed out on (5% of £500)

 

Oh and of course the special cruises.

 

So if all of this is about £25 and a magazine why on earth did I start this thread? Well quite simply because its not really about the benefits, its a principal. If you give me something for being loyal on one day but take it all back on the next it sends out a poor message and one that P&O should be ashamed of.

 

Will my next cruise be good? Yes it will probably be very good and the staff will look after me and I will have a great time. So what about the £25, the magazine and the principal. Well at the end of the day I will probably take it on the chin and have a good time.

 

P&O have gone down a peg in my estimation, not just because they have done this to me but because it is unfair. The bad publicity that is being generated, even if only by word of mouth may lose them much more than they are saving. A slight change to prevent existing customers losing out may be quickly forgotten but is soon remembered next time you are trying to choose between two companies to book for the next cruise (for some people)

 

Will I cut off my nose to spite my face? Why would I?

[Blackrat]

Grrrrr :mad:

[Brayman]

Grrrrr :mad:

 

Cheer up Christmas is coming :)

[Blackrat]

Cheer up Christmas is coming :)

 

I only wanted to bump the post to get a 1000 views. Can't take life too seriously. :D

[audal29]

The loyalty factor is irrelevant as far as I am concerned. We go where and when the itineraries and dates suit us. If this should qualify us for some benefit, all well and good, but it wouldn't inspire me to book with P&O over another cruise line, especially now they have devalued their own scheme.

 

The whole reward thing is a sham anyway: my parents attended the Portunus party on Adonia in June where my mum was the lucky winner in a draw of a crystal decanter. She duly had this presented by the Commodore and they later had to pay for the photograph.

 

The decanter was then taken off my mum by the staff who said they would post it to her as that would be easier. They were sailing from and returning to Southampton where they had left their car so carrying it home would not have been a problem, but the staff were adamant.

 

Needless to say they have still not received the decanter and numerous phone calls and e-mails have not elicited any response or explanation from P&O. No doubt the other passengers who attended the party are under the impression that my mum received her decanter in due course, and no-one is any the wiser.

 

My mum feels very aggrieved!

 

Carol x

We cruise with Princess quite a bit and their loyalty scheme is excellent, the best bit is getting 10% off drinks and free internet. P&O dont have free wi-fi for their passengers which woudnt cost them anything. Princess also give you loyalty points for p&O and Cunard who all come under the umbrella of Carnival. We are going on P&O at Christmas as they had a good deal from Southampton and that was more important than loyalty points

[BobTroll]

We cruise with Princess quite a bit and their loyalty scheme is excellent, the best bit is getting 10% off drinks and free internet. P&O dont have free wi-fi for their passengers which woudnt cost them anything. Princess also give you loyalty points for p&O and Cunard who all come under the umbrella of Carnival. We are going on P&O at Christmas as they had a good deal from Southampton and that was more important than loyalty points

 

The Princess loyalty scheme has always been better than any of the P&O schemes (present and future). However, some the above information is inacurate.

 

At present, P&O and Princess award loyalty points on a reciprocal basis. However, P&O will not recognise any Princess voyages, taken after April 2012. I don't know whether Princess will cease recognition of P&O cruises at the same time

 

P&O and Princess have never awarded loyalty points for Cunard voyages.

 

Benefits of the top (Elite) tier on Princess include:

 

Priority embarkation

Priority access to tenders at anchorage ports. No queuing for tender tickets or waiting until the ship's excursions have departed

A generous allowance of free Internet time

An initial supply of complimentary drinks in your refrigerator

10% discount on all purchases from the gift shops (but NOT on drinks or any other on-board expenditure)

Unlimited free laundry and dry cleaning

Complimentary shoe cleaning

Canapes delivered to your cabin on formal nights

Various receptions and Captain's Circle parties

An elite, lounge with canapes and discounted cocktails every evening.

Dedicated lounge for disembarkation

 

In addition, the captain hosts a special event for the 40 "most traveled" passengers on every voyage (usually a superb luncheon).

 

We love to return home without bags of dirty laundry - and my wife tells me that complimentary laundry service is an excellent reason to sail with Princess, in preference to P&O.

[Sutho]

I am currently in Portunus gold and will be in the top teir with the new club and will most often be pushed into Baltic.

 

I personally think they messed the scheme up a bit and it should have been left as is.

 

The new benefits are hardly an insentive to travel and not much of a reward.

 

I only go with P&O because of the itinerary and selection of cruises. I have always found P&O far superior to Princess and P&O have always been a cruise line visitng Sydney (my closest port for a cruise).

 

I think the changes have more to do with the fact that many P&O passengers on the World Cruise each year have made the club top heavy.

[dogfishdoug]

Economies of scale...too many people for the cocktail parties, hence reorganise 'club' to reduce cost.

 

Don't think many people - apart from the 'snobby' sad ones who will be in Ligurian tier - will be bothered at all.

[Blackrat]

We cruise with Princess quite a bit and their loyalty scheme is excellent, the best bit is getting 10% off drinks and free internet. P&O dont have free wi-fi for their passengers which woudnt cost them anything. Princess also give you loyalty points for p&O and Cunard who all come under the umbrella of Carnival. We are going on P&O at Christmas as they had a good deal from Southampton and that was more important than loyalty points

 

The free wifi would be worth having even it it was just a few minutes a day. I also like the idea of free laundry, perhaps more important on the longer cruises, much more useful and practical than priority boarding or dinner with an officer at the table (I'm sure they're very nice).

 

It just makes you think that they could have been more imaginative and saved money at the same time without getting people like me (a lot if the rumours are to be believed) grumpy and flooding them with letters.

 

Blackrat (now chilled)

[Beopthtuh]

The Princess loyalty scheme has always been better than any of the P&O schemes (present and future). However, some the above information is inacurate.

 

At present, P&O and Princess award loyalty points on a reciprocal basis. However, P&O will not recognise any Princess voyages, taken after April 2012. I don't know whether Princess will cease recognition of P&O cruises at the same time

 

P&O and Princess have never awarded loyalty points for Cunard voyages.

 

Benefits of the top (Elite) tier on Princess include:

 

Priority embarkation

Priority access to tenders at anchorage ports. No queuing for tender tickets or waiting until the ship's excursions have departed

A generous allowance of free Internet time

An initial supply of complimentary drinks in your refrigerator

10% discount on all purchases from the gift shops (but NOT on drinks or any other on-board expenditure)

Unlimited free laundry and dry cleaning

Complimentary shoe cleaning

Canapes delivered to your cabin on formal nights

Various receptions and Captain's Circle parties

An elite, lounge with canapes and discounted cocktails every evening.

Dedicated lounge for disembarkation

 

In addition, the captain hosts a special event for the 40 "most traveled" passengers on every voyage (usually a superb luncheon).

 

We love to return home without bags of dirty laundry - and my wife tells me that complimentary laundry service is an excellent reason to sail with Princess, in preference to P&O.

 

if everyone listened and read the posts the reason for the change was a lot of whinging gold members who didnt feel they were top of the tree and important 0n any cruise they sailed on. so everyone else was penilised .

we sail on aurora saturday and it will be the last cruise ever on p&o.

from january theyre stopping recognising our princess cruises taken ,so hopefully princess will do the same and stop the p&o cruises being taken into our better loyalty scheme.

better staff ,ships and itineries lot better loyalty scheme and not being watered down to satisfy a chosen few.

ps 250 sea days and only a lowly sapphire levell on p&o down to my princess cruises only being worth 1/2 points

[daiB]

Economies of scale...too many people for the cocktail parties, hence reorganise 'club' to reduce cost.

 

Don't think many people - apart from the 'snobby' sad ones who will be in Ligurian tier - will be bothered at all.

 

The numbers of people in the parties will hardley change at all.

 

How is it 'sad' that those who have cruised a lot are in Ligurian, and why should they be snobs?

 

How many cruises do you need to be 'sad' is it more than just a snob or do you arrive there at the same time.

 

Sorry this is pathetic.

 

There are very few people who will lose out at all and even then will soon get it back with a few more cruises.

 

 

 

Dai

[weatherman46]

I hope P&O are readng this thread.

I agree that the Princess scheme is better than P&O, especially with the free WIFI.

We like cruising with both companies for different reasons, but have been with others and usually choose our cruise on itinary and price.

The one thing I will say about P&O is that their drinks are much cheaper than Princess and with no 15% added.

[Blackrat]

I hope P&O are readng this thread.

I agree that the Princess scheme is better than P&O, especially with the free WIFI.

We like cruising with both companies for different reasons, but have been with others and usually choose our cruise on itinary and price.

The one thing I will say about P&O is that their drinks are much cheaper than Princess and with no 15% added.

 

Hi Weatherman, I'm with you on that one. Part of me hopes that they monitor these posts as they are generally only the tip of the iceberg :) with many more readers looking and agreeing/disagreeing but not posting.

Part of me hopes they're not reading these, as I may end up in steerage on a straw mattress on my next cruise, my Portunus medal (I don't really have one) ripped from my dinner jacket and the captain pointing towards the ships rail for me to jump.

 

If only I had spent one more night on board ship I could have got the 10 points I need so I don't get kicked out of the club :(

[daiB]

Interestingly up until a few years age the schemes for both lines were run out of the same office and before that Princess was a part of P&O, up until the Carnival merger.

 

I am sure they are quite aware of the differences between them. With regard to the free WiFi, I am sure that all of us who post on here would be very happy to have that but I suspect it would be of little interest to the majority of cruisers. This will change over time of course. The other thing is that the system is so slow I doubt it could cope with any extra users.

 

I see they have changed the way you pay. You pay by the amount used and not time so if it takes an hour to send an email you only pay for the email and not an hours usage.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

Dai

[daiB]

Hi Weatherman, I'm with you on that one. Part of me hopes that they monitor these posts as they are generally only the tip of the iceberg with many more readers looking and agreeing/disagreeing but not posting.

Part of me hopes they're not reading these, as I may end up in steerage on a straw mattress on my next cruise, my Portunus medal (I don't really have one) ripped from my dinner jacket and the captain pointing towards the ships rail for me to jump.

 

If only I had spent one more night on board ship I could have got the 10 points I need so I don't get kicked out of the club :(

 

 

Well it may well be too late already:(:eek::rolleyes::D

 

 

 

 

 

Gan canny

 

 

:cool:

 

Dai

[Denarius]

Still think that all this club business, tiers and all, is a waste of space. If P&O wanted to reward and encourage loyalty all they need do is credit a percentage of the cost of each cruise towards any future cruise taken within a given time. That would give people an incentive to book another P&O cruise and make them feel that their custom was appreciated.

[dsrdsrdsr]

I dare say quite a lot of people will be peeved that they have to pay £25 extra on a £3,000 holiday. But I reckon there'll be more who are mildly peeved but don't think it's worth posting on a message board, than there will be those who are so peeved that they'll never go on another cruise.

 

If the reactions on this thread really were representative of the passengers, this scheme would have been abolished long ago as far more trouble than it's worth.

[Denarius]

I dare say quite a lot of people will be peeved that they have to pay £25 extra on a £3,000 holiday. But I reckon there'll be more who are mildly peeved but don't think it's worth posting on a message board, than there will be those who are so peeved that they'll never go on another cruise.

 

If the reactions on this thread really were representative of the passengers, this scheme would have been abolished long ago as far more trouble than it's worth.

Sadly, for some P&O regulars its not the cost that matters, its the status. A bit like the famous John Cleese/Ronnie Barker/Ronie Corbett sketch on the Frost Report.For upper class, middle class and working class read gold, sapphire and ruby.

[Somerset Cruiser]

The one thing I will say about P&O is that their drinks are much cheaper than Princess and with no 15% added.

 

So what you save on drinks, and trips I believe, you can spend on Wifi and laundery. Swings and roundabout, vive la difference :)

[davecttr]

Sadly, for some P&O regulars its not the cost that matters, its the status. A bit like the famous John Cleese/Ronnie Barker/Ronie Corbett sketch on the Frost Report.For upper class, middle class and working class read gold, sapphire and ruby.

too right!

 

I understand some cruisers on american lines either have or would have different coloured cruise cards and badges so other people could tell how superior they feel :rolleyes:

Its all abound the social jostling for position in the real or imaginery pecking order. P&O understand that a simple previous cruisers discount is not so good PR as people can't display their superiority ;)