How can we help Princess save or make money?

[Matcodixon]

With what happened to our economy over the last few years, starting on late 2007, there is no wonder that everyone has been counting pennies more than ever. I just went to every cruise line's site to compare 7 night Caribbean prices from FLL or Port Canaveral. Almost all are extremely competitive in pricing with a few exceptions (Disney :eek:) and the small high end lines.

 

The cost per night is amazingly cheap especially considering what they include which explains why they are so popular.

With that said, fuel prices are up and cruise prices remain pretty much the same so what does a cruise line have to do to remain profitable and to even stay in business? They look at everything, analyze costs and make adjustments with the goal of retaining customers while still making a profit.

 

Which is more important to you? Free cappuccinos or low ticket pricing? There are still high end cruise lines that offer every perk "free" (like free alcohol) but charge quite a bit more per person for the cruise ticket.

[rugbypopsie]

There is no emoticon for a tongue in cheek post. :D

 

I love your sense of humour we can make you an honorary aussie.:)

 

Sue

[hubofhockey]

I love your sense of humour we can make you an honorary aussie.:)

 

Sue

 

Thanks, I take that as a high compliment, coming from an Aussie.

[NoGvmnt]

Do. Not. Touch. My. Pillow. Chocolates.

 

I won't touch your pillow, and don't call me "chocolate"!:eek::p:D

 

Jim

[rugbypopsie]

Thanks, I take that as a high compliment, coming from an Aussie.

 

Yep meant as a compliment we love a good sense of humour...lifes too short to take it too seriously and there are lots more important stuff to be concerned with.:)

 

Sue

[mr green]

 

Maybe stop the pillow chocolates and offer higher quality chocolates in the shop.

 

Pillow chocolates are very important!

A story from a few years ago, a couple came home from a long cruise, when guess what? Halloween came round.

They ran out of candy about two hours into the 'trick or treating', but, then remembered the 'Pillow Chocolates', so all was well!:cool:

 

john

[Hellie24]

PHOTOGRAPHY... cut the cost of photos .

I'm certain I would have bought at least 4 photos if they had been more reasonable price....If Tesco can charge 10p a print £1.30 for a 8x10 I'm sure there's profit somewhere. :rolleyes:

To be fair People were buying them & on our 1st cruise we did too but I can usually take a good photo of my friends myself ...

So yes cut cost of photos use a computer screen to view them & charge $5-10 dollars we dont all need 8x10 prints ....6x4 would be fine .I'm certain over all they would be more profit....

[paul929207]

PHOTOGRAPHY... cut the cost of photos .

I'm certain I would have bought at least 4 photos if they had been more reasonable price....If Tesco can charge 10p a print £1.30 for a 8x10 I'm sure there's profit somewhere. :rolleyes:

To be fair People were buying them & on our 1st cruise we did too but I can usually take a good photo of my friends myself ...

So yes cut cost of photos use a computer screen to view them & charge $5-10 dollars we dont all need 8x10 prints ....6x4 would be fine .I'm certain over all they would be more profit....

I would think that Princess & other cruise lines watch the sales of photos and feel that they are making a better profit with the current prices than they would if the dropped the prices and sold more.

[Matcodixon]

PHOTOGRAPHY... cut the cost of photos .

I'm certain I would have bought at least 4 photos if they had been more reasonable price....If Tesco can charge 10p a print £1.30 for a 8x10 I'm sure there's profit somewhere. :rolleyes:

To be fair People were buying them & on our 1st cruise we did too but I can usually take a good photo of my friends myself ...

So yes cut cost of photos use a computer screen to view them & charge $5-10 dollars we dont all need 8x10 prints ....6x4 would be fine .I'm certain over all they would be more profit....

 

And how much of the charge goes to pay the photographer? Anyone hired a wedding photographer lately?

[caribill]

PHOTOGRAPHY... cut the cost of photos .

I'm certain I would have bought at least 4 photos if they had been more reasonable price....If Tesco can charge 10p a print....

 

And Princess charges 35 cents a 4x6 print when you print your own photos.

 

I doubt Tesco has a photographer taking pictures of you as you embark into the store and then tries to sell it to you.

[paul929207]

And Princess charges 35 cents a 4x6 print when you print your own photos.

 

I doubt Tesco has a photographer taking pictures of you as you embark into the store and then tries to sell it to you.

Now that woule be a real collectors item. :)

[Iamcruzin]

Great list to which you could add:

• the closing of the MDR for lunch on port days
  
• the change in the coffee card policy
  
• the elimination mailing of travel documents and luggage tags
  
• the reduction of furniture on the Caribe balconies
  

However they have added soft-serve ice milk...for free.:)

 

· I don't even use the MDR for lunch on sea days

· The coffee card was never meant to become an unlimited free regular coffee card for the rest of your life and to be passed down to the next generation of cruisers as long as there was one punch left. Passengers abused it which is probably why they no longer have the buy one get one coupon in Travel Agent coupon book and they reworded the terms of the card.

· Emailing of travel documents and luggage tags was probably the biggest saving of all. No postage, No paper, No staff to pay to processes all of the paper work.

· I never book a Caribe deck balcony and certainly wouldn’t now so that doesn’t apply to me. However that was a big mistake on the part of Princess to down size the furniture.

[paul929207]

· I don't even use the MDR for lunch on sea days

· The coffee card was never meant to become an unlimited free regular coffee card for the rest of your life and to be passed down to the next generation of cruisers as long as there was one punch left. Passengers abused it which is probably why they no longer have the buy one get one coupon in Travel Agent coupon book and they reworded the terms of the card.

· Emailing of travel documents and luggage tags was probably the biggest saving of all. No postage, No paper, No staff to pay to processes all of the paper work.

· I never book a Caribe deck balcony and certainly wouldn’t now so that doesn’t apply to me. However that was a big mistake on the part of Princess to down size the furniture.

I am with Mike. The only thing on the list that affects me is the elimination of the mailing of docs. I can handle printing the boarding passes and luggage tags. I actually look forward to doing it.

[Renmar]

I am with Mike. The only thing on the list that affects me is the elimination of the mailing of docs. I can handle printing the boarding passes and luggage tags. I actually look forward to doing it.

 

Me too, gets you in the mood altough there is too much waiting time between printing and cruising.

 

Theo

[watergal]

I know. Why give them any ideas. But the ideas they are coming up with are very disturbing to me, especially the recent downgrade in balcony amenities. If they really are taking out the blue mats to save weight (fuel) this seems a bit desperate. I also wonder if they are making the balcony furniture less comfortable so we will leave the room more often and, maybe, buy drinks. This strategy won't work on us because we don't/can't drink much.

 

Just trying to brainstorm some better ideas for Princess.

 

I'm not sure why anyone should feel this is the passenger's burden to bear. The cruise lines are making obscene profits - at the passenger's expense - so why would anyone even think this is our problem???!!! They have departments top-heavy with think tanks as to how they can make even more obscene profits so no, I will not waste one brain cell on how I can help them. Sorry.

[NoGvmnt]

Princess can charge a surcharge for every beverage that a passenger brings onboard:

 

$10.00 for every pint of hard liquor,

 

$5.00 for every bottle of wine,

 

$1.00 for every can of beer,

 

$0.50 for every can of soda,

 

$0.25 for every bottle of water.

 

Jim

[hubofhockey]

Princess can charge a surcharge for every beverage that a passenger brings onboard:

 

$10.00 for every pint of hard liquor,

 

$5.00 for every bottle of wine,

 

$1.00 for every can of beer,

 

$0.50 for every can of soda,

 

$0.25 for every bottle of water.

 

Jim

 

$4.00 for an iPad with charger.

 

$0.50 surcharge for all chocolate items.

 

$.00823 for every potato chip.

[Dena]

I'm not sure why anyone should feel this is the passenger's burden to bear. The cruise lines are making obscene profits - at the passenger's expense - so why would anyone even think this is our problem???!!! They have departments top-heavy with think tanks as to how they can make even more obscene profits so no, I will not waste one brain cell on how I can help them. Sorry.

 

If your find their profits to be obscene, then don't further enrich them by cruising with them. Or buy some share in CCL so you can benefit. I don't believe an antagonistic relationship exists between Princess and it's customers, many of whom are also shareholders. It should be a win-win relationship. The price of fuel is going up and Princess must find a way to adjust. I would hope they can do so without chipping away at the product too much. Our feedback can only help them to keep providing a product that we enjoy.

[melodyina]

I feel Princess could turn a better profit in the photos by allowing us (somehow) to view/print our photos on demand. Not just the 8x10, other options like the on-line photoshops use... snapfish for example. Perhaps the photo cost ($25) is so high because we have to bear the costs of all those who have their photos taken with no intention of purchasing them.

 

I vote for an upgrade to digital photos -print on demand - with the options to continue to view/purchase photos up to a week (or a month?) after the cruise too.

 

:rolleyes:

[Iamcruzin]

I am with Mike. The only thing on the list that affects me is the elimination of the mailing of docs. I can handle printing the boarding passes and luggage tags. I actually look forward to doing it.

 

Me too, gets you in the mood altough there is too much waiting time between printing and cruising.

 

Theo

I actually don't mind either. I would rather read all the documentation on the computer screen and just print the boarding pass and luggage tags. I forward a copy of the boarding passes and itinerary to my wife and kids if they are traveling with us and we can all pull it up on our phones for a quick reference. I also like that I can print as many as I like to put in each checked bag at the airport. I do realize that there is a generation of seniors who are not computer savvy and this would be an inconvenience for them. I am sure that a TA or Princess would still send documents via snail mail if need be.

[eroller]

I'm not sure why anyone should feel this is the passenger's burden to bear. The cruise lines are making obscene profits - at the passenger's expense - so why would anyone even think this is our problem???!!! They have departments top-heavy with think tanks as to how they can make even more obscene profits so no, I will not waste one brain cell on how I can help them. Sorry.

 

 

I'm with you 100%. It's not my job to save Princess money. It's their job to appeal to me as a customer. That is usually the way a consumer/retailer relationship works. As for shareholders I'm not one and again it's not my job to increase shareholder value. That is not my concern and shouldn't be for other consumers either.

 

Ernie

[mr green]

Princess can charge a surcharge for every beverage that a passenger brings onboard:

 

$10.00 for every pint of hard liquor,

 

$5.00 for every bottle of wine,

 

$1.00 for every can of beer,

 

$0.50 for every can of soda,

 

$0.25 for every bottle of water.

 

Jim

 

Did you consider that if Princess charged us all reasonable prices, there would be no need for us to indulge in a few of the above listed 'luxuries'.

I have even been told that since Princess allows some of those items to be brought on board with no penalty, that many cruisers stay with Princess as opposed to the likes of X, or NCL.

 

john

[fishin' musician]

I'm not sure why anyone should feel this is the passenger's burden to bear. The cruise lines are making obscene profits - at the passenger's expense - so why would anyone even think this is our problem???!!! They have departments top-heavy with think tanks as to how they can make even more obscene profits so no, I will not waste one brain cell on how I can help them. Sorry.

 

I personally don't view profits as obscene. Profits are a requirement of any business and better businesses make better profits. It is Princess' job to separate us from our hard earned cash while making us feel ok about it. I think they are pretty good at it. I enjoy the vacation experience they provide. If a non-profit vacation is what you seek, backyard camping may be your only option.

[paul929207]

For the 12 months ending February 29, 2012, Carnival Corporation parent of Princess and others) had revenues of about US$16 Billion and a net income of US$1.62 Billion. They have about US$450 Million in cash.

[fishin' musician]

So there you go, 9 out of 10 dollars you give Princess go to operating costs.