Free Internet eliminated from all suites

[jeromep]

I am very happy with Princess and plan to continue to cruise Princess exclusively. But, I can see why Princess might not value us as much as a younger couple with only only one or two cruises. The younger couple doesn't get any perks and spends more money on board. We don't dine in specialty restaurants. We don't use the spa services. We don't buy pictures. We don't buy drinks or wine. We don't buy soda cards. We don't attend art auctions. We don't use the casino or play bingo. We seldom exceed our OBCs. We buy few souvenirs. As long as Princess continues with most of the perks and treats us the same as everyone else, I'll be happy whether Princess values my patronage or not.

I'd like to represent the younger couple that has recently cruised in a suite, albeit a VS suite, but a suite nonetheless.

 

My wife and I are pretty new to cruising. We are also younger, I'm 35 and she is 30. We did our first cruise with Princess about a year ago to Alaska, booked a mini-suite and had the time of our lives. On that cruise we did spent a lot on board. We purchased Ultimate Kids Package passes (we will continue to do so because we aren't big alcohol drinkers and we also know when we are paying too much for booze, plus we live in Washington wine country and are nearly swimming in wine), we purchased selected photos, especially from the formal nights because the pictures were actually good and I had rented a tux and looked dapper (my wife always looks great), and we also purchased shore excursions in nearly every port we visited. We also purchased 2 copies of the Princess cookbook, one was a gift for my mom. The cookbook is beautiful and the recipes are doable, if you have the time. And then at the end of the curse we decided to purchase for me a new watch duty free. I knew the prices I'd pay at home, and thought it a good deal. We also did a spa visit that was excellent.

 

Ok, so why details all of this? Well, because this is almost opposite of our second cruise that was in April. We had a unique and positive life event occur for us (that we worked very hard for) so we decided to celebrate with a nice Caribbean cruise. We also decided to book a suite. We wanted the larger balcony, especially in the beautiful Caribbean climate, we wanted the suite perks, and we wanted to feel special (and I wanted the double cruise credit for the Captain's Circle). We purchased a couple of shore excursions from the ship, we purchased our UKP stickers, and we had a dinner at each of the specialty restaurants. Looking at how much Alaska cost us in a lesser accommodation and adding our on-board purchases and then comparing that to the cost of the accommodation in the suite and then adding in the on-board purchases, the two vacations cost about the same. Our bill leaving the ship in April was less than 1/3 what we spent in Alaska. Why?

 

Shore excursions in the Caribbean ports are much less expensive than in Alaska. We also didn't purchase any photos. I didn't drag a tux with me on the April cruise, so we didn't sit for any formal photos and the impromptu photos from the dining rooms we didn't bother to purchase. We didn't order drinks in the bars, but we heavily used our mocktail privileges courtesy of the UKP and we used the bar setup in the suite for any nightcaps we wanted. We actually went into this cruse with every intention to not spend ourselves into oblivion, especially since we had booked such an expensive accommodation.

 

We used nearly all of the suite perks. We sent out 2 and sometimes 3 bags of laundry each day (we flew home with mostly clean clothing in our luggage). We used the Internet at night on the iPad to write email and keep up with family at home, plus some Facebook surfing and sending pictures of the view off the balcony and from the islands to my co-workers at the office. We used dining room menu room service at least once. We always sent out for canapes for each evening. We also visited the Captian's reception most evenings prior to dinner.

 

We didn't abuse the Internet and we made sure to log out when we were done. My wife used the Internet Cafe one sea day to catch up on some work stuff, but we tried to be good Internet citizens while at the same time we used a benefit we probably wouldn't have paid for if it weren't given to us for free.

 

I really want to book another suite with Princess. I'm highly disappointed that the Internet will not be included for free. I don't think we used more than 60 minutes of Internet, and even if my estimate is low, then no more than 120 minutes. We were on a cruise, not on a ship to use the Internet, so we weren't using the Internet for entertainment, only for communications, and frankly I don't see how 28 or so suites, on board each ship with 56 or so potential individual users is so taxing to the on board Internet resource. Nor can I see how choosing to eliminate this perk for so few individuals on each cruise as a make or break business proposition.

 

This is one of those business decisions that fits into the arena of negative marginal returns. The marginal return on not having free Internet access for suite passengers is probably not sufficiently positive to the bottom line at Princess to outweigh the negative feelings and loss of goodwill that they are experiencing.

 

So, as a younger suite passenger, I too am annoyed at the loss of free Internet. I also see that I'm actually not nearly as valuable to Princess anymore because we aren't big on board spenders. We made that "mistake" once and don't intend to repeat that. We've learned to have a great time on board with the right accommodations and the right attitude toward cruising.

 

Anyway, I sure hope that the negative feedback from the removal of Internet perks from suites will make Princess think again about that choice.

[cruisedreamer17]

Well just off the CB and we were in a Window Suite. I turned in two bags of laundry and received the credit and yes we did get the internet credit, we used the internet cafe. We LOVED the window suite, it was amazing. We had the free dinner And has a free dinner too in the specialty restaurant another night from our TA.

Laurie

[A&L_Ont]

On our 10 day Panama cruise on the Island Princess we must have sent it out 3 times but we also had our 5 year old with us too. We also only travelled with one suitcase each, 3 total, and 1 carry on.

 

Maybe they only had carry on?

 

We have never even come close to using up our platinum minutes when in a suite, in our last 4 Princess cruises, so it isn't a deal breaker for us. However, it is unfair of Princess to not honor those that have already booked the suite with unlimited Internet. Set the date in the future and go from there.

 

Kind of reminds me of the first time they ever tried to do the fuel surcharge, and had so many complaints that they had to pick a date in the future over trying to bill those getting on the ship tomorrow.

[Iamcruzin]

Does it really matter? The point is, Princess once AGAIN for the umpteenth time this year is whittling away yet another amenity/perk/entitlement to which its customers are accustomed to, which begs the question, if they're taking away so much with very little in return, what incentive is there to continue to stay with the line?

And yes, I have stayed in full suites, but no, never used one minute of our Internet BENEFIT.

If you read the other cruise line boards you will see that passengers have the same complaints about cost cutting in relation to food and services. A friend of mine just came back from an all inclusive resort that they have been going to the same week each year for the past 5 years. He also complained that they were now charging extra for the top brand liquor that has been included in the past. He also complained about the quality of the food. It seems that in this financial climate all inclusive vacations are being revamped on land and sea.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

If you read the other cruise line boards you will see that passengers have the same complaints about cost cutting in relation to food and services. A friend of mine just came back from an all inclusive resort that they have been going to the same week each year for the past 5 years. He also complained that they were now charging extra for the top brand liquor that has been included in the past. He also complained about the quality of the food. It seems that in this financial climate all inclusive vacations are being revamped on land and sea.

 

There has been plenty of complaining on the Carnival boards for the last few years. Most people say that they'd pay a bit more to keep some of the little things in place -- but often these are the same people who will book one cruise over another if it's $30 less pp, so... ;)

 

Tom

[dorisis]

And Princess no longer gives past passengers a small bottle of sparkling wine with 2 champagn flutes. No more free capaccino after dinner. i could list a lot more things but it is not my company and I don't make policy. If I don't like the policy, I certainly have a wide range of other cruise lines from which to choose.

~Doris~>Who will continue to cruise with Princess because of their generous perks.

[Cliftoncruz]

Actually, the removal of the fuel charge was not motivated by passengers’ complaints to the cruise companies.

 

The Florida's Office of the Attorney General Office, Case No:L08-3-1195, State of Florida v. Classic Cruises Holdings S. DE R.L. d/b/a Regent Seven Seas Cruises et al, decided that the cruise company's had violated Florida Law, thus causing the removal.

 

In most cases, corporations do not change a business model decision that is unpopular, unless it has legal implications, or they may modify the decision, but never rescind the change.

 

This is the situation I am faced with, booked an Alaskan Cruise/Land Tour in the Grand Suite on the Sapphire. The cruise was booked in March 2011, paid off in May 2012 with the understanding that free internet was part of the purchase promotion. This is our first cruise on Princess. However, this entire incident has left us with bad opinion about this company.

[Iamcruzin]

There has been plenty of complaining on the Carnival boards for the last few years. Most people say that they'd pay a bit more to keep some of the little things in place -- but often these are the same people who will book one cruise over another if it's $30 less pp, so... ;)

 

Tom

 

Yes, and see how fast all of these “I would rather pay more for my cruise" people are running to book the luxury lines that are truly all inclusive. Bottom line is as long as Princess allows them to combine all of their OBCs and allows TA's to discount they won't be going anywhere else. Like others have said cruise lines need passengers new to cruising. They do spend more on board and don't come loaded with $500 of OBCs. I certainly don't have many cruises under my belt but even I don't spend like I used to. I have $100s of dollars in pictures that purchased on cruises and I don't even know where they are. My wife does her own hair and has her nails done before we go. We mostly do our own excursions. The only thing we purchase are cocktails, maybe a specialty restaurant and the auto tip which isn't profit for the cruise line. As far as the loyalty program most of the perks are a lot about nothing, although Princess does have the best program for my needs.

 

I am not upset about the loss of the internet for suite passengers I just don't think it's far to those who booked before the change.

[skidroe]

I recieved a reply from PCL today.

"We will shortly be in touch with passengers who booked a suite prior to the change and plan to use the internet onboard".

 

I will let you know when PCL contacts me, as I have several suites already booked and paid for.

[Loonbeam]

As a few posters have given specific examples of, this is very true.

 

The value to Princess in repeat cruisers is in bulk. This is a dedicated base of people who will take up X percent of cabins at a smaller margins (because we know to check for price drops too!). I wish I could find a copy, there was a marketing white paper on this... But it was something along the lines of average incidental revenue per passenger drops 35% from first cruise to second cruise, and then another 30% over the next few, so that the average repeat customer after 7 or 8 cruises is providing 30 to 35% revenue per cruise versus when they started.

 

Repeat cruisers (statistically speaking, please don't post numerous examples of why YOUR behavior is different something on this list):

 

Usually buy less photos

Are far more likely to book their own excursions in ports (new cruisers are far more worried about 'getting back to the ship')

Are more likely to buy drink packages.

Bring/smuggle more alcohol on board

Check prices often for reductions or use a TA who does

Purchase insurance from other than the cruise line

Have a cruise line branded or other credit card providing OBC

Have other sources of OBC (TA etc)

Are less likely to shop in retail stores on ship (given how much stuff they already have)

Are less likely to join paid for special events (except see next one)

Are more likely to use specialty restaurants and premiere dining experiences (Chef's Table UBD)

 

Oddly enough, I recall that cabin selection and spa visits were generally independent of status and pay areas like the Sanctuary weren't mentioned.

 

Gambling was mentioned but I cannot remember the effect.

 

 

I am very happy with Princess and plan to continue to cruise Princess exclusively. But, I can see why Princess might not value us as much as a younger couple with only only one or two cruises. The younger couple doesn't get any perks and spends more money on board. We don't dine in specialty restaurants. We don't use the spa services. We don't buy pictures. We don't buy drinks or wine. We don't buy soda cards. We don't attend art auctions. We don't use the casino or play bingo. We seldom exceed our OBCs. We buy few souvenirs. As long as Princess continues with most of the perks and treats us the same as everyone else, I'll be happy whether Princess values my patronage or not.

[cellyml12]

Every time someone asks which is the best line to cruise with for this place or that place, people always say pick by itinerary, or dates that work for you, sometimes price. I never hear anyone say that you need to pick by which cruise line gives the best perks for a suite. Isn't the point of a cruise the places you'll be seeing & not a list of free stuff? Perks come & go, and again this is not in reference to people who already booked with internet, but happy memories and great pictures don't come from the free pair of slippers you get while surfing the net.

[caribill]

Every time someone asks which is the best line to cruise with for this place or that place, people always say pick by itinerary, or dates that work for you, sometimes price. I never hear anyone say that you need to pick by which cruise line gives the best perks for a suite. Isn't the point of a cruise the places you'll be seeing & not a list of free stuff? Perks come & go, and again this is not in reference to people who already booked with internet, but happy memories and great pictures don't come from the free pair of slippers you get while surfing the net.

 

Many people do cruise for the itineraries.

 

Many others just cruise to get away and enjoy life on a cruise ship. To them the itinerary is not as important. Witness those who take the same Caribbean itinerary year after year. Nobody is in love with visiting St. Thomas or Princess Cays that much.

[caribill]

The value to Princess in repeat cruisers is in bulk. This is a dedicated base of people who will take up X percent of cabins at a smaller margins (because we know to check for price drops too!).

 

I agree with needing the repeat passengers. On a recent cruise, only 21% of the passengers were first timers on a sold out voyage. 48.5% were platinum or elite.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...48.5% were platinum or elite.

 

WOW!

 

(Sounds like they'll need to raise the bar eventually) :eek:

 

Tom

[cellyml12]

Many people do cruise for the itineraries.

 

Many others just cruise to get away and enjoy life on a cruise ship. To them the itinerary is not as important. Witness those who take the same Caribbean itinerary year after year. Nobody is in love with visiting St. Thomas or Princess Cays that much.

 

I suppose. But doesn't it seem like a lot of cruise lines are doing cutbacks at this point (seems to be a popular topic of threads on the New Posts board). We do A LOT of vacations on land & to us it seems that cruising is a pretty good deal. I don't know how many regular cruisers do land, but we're excited that we're spending a lot less then we usually do, even without perks & having to get an internet package. Maybe I'm missing something.

[azbirdmom]

Every time someone asks which is the best line to cruise with for this place or that place, people always say pick by itinerary, or dates that work for you, sometimes price. I never hear anyone say that you need to pick by which cruise line gives the best perks for a suite. Isn't the point of a cruise the places you'll be seeing & not a list of free stuff? Perks come & go, and again this is not in reference to people who already booked with internet, but happy memories and great pictures don't come from the free pair of slippers you get while surfing the net.

 

That may be true for the more economical accommodations. But there is such a huge price increase for a suite that many (including me) look at the entire package of what is being offered to justify the higher cost. So it isn't a matter of whether or not we intend to use all of the benefits, it is more that we are no longer able to avail ourselves of certain benefits that were quietly taken away.

 

As for younger cruisers, Princess should be trying to attact younger clientele to ensure that it is an ongoing business. Internet is definitely an attraction for younger passengers, and it doesn't make sense for them to cut this.

 

I still believe that a better compromise would be for them to continue to offer the full list of amenities to passengers who are actually paying for the suite vs. those receiving a complementary upgrade. I've actually submitted that suggestion to them, but just like everyone else, I have not received a response.

[FamilyGuy1010]

I sent Princess a note about the change asking if it was true. I also told them I thought it was a valuable amenity that differentiated their product from other cruise lines. Here is the response I received.

 

"We apologize for any disappointment. We do periodically review our programs and determined that the benefit was not sustainable given the limited bandwidth available on the ship. Over the past few years we have increased suite benefits to offer new and innovative favorites such as the Sabatini's Suite Breakfast and dedicated line at the Passenger Services Desk. While we never want to remove benefits, we did recognize that the internet benefit could not continue and made this change at the end of June 2012. We have recently introduced new benefits, such as complimentary cover charges for a Speciality Dining Restaurant on embarkation day. We hope these suite benefits are enjoyed by our passengers booking the top accommodations.

 

We will shortly be in touch with passengers who booked a suite prior to the change and plan to use the internet onboard.

 

Regards,

 

Princess Cruises

Customer Relations Specialist"

[Iamcruzin]

I suppose. But doesn't it seem like a lot of cruise lines are doing cutbacks at this point (seems to be a popular topic of threads on the New Posts board). We do A LOT of vacations on land & to us it seems that cruising is a pretty good deal. I don't know how many regular cruisers do land, but we're excited that we're spending a lot less then we usually do, even without perks & having to get an internet package. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

You are not missing a thing and are correct that even without the perks cruising is still a good value. I am one of those who can sail the Caribbean 100 times and not get tired of it. It's all we can afford and yes even with the cut backs and the decline in food quality (which I haven't experienced yet) it is still less expensive than a land vacation even if you are staying local. For example a baseball game at Citifield with tickets, parking, food and drinks can run $75 a person for one night and Yankee Stadium will probably run you more. Two weeks ago we attended a wedding upstate New York and we had to book a hotel for one night. It was clean and they had a buffet breakfast in the morning. It cost $120 for the night through an online travel site. I have another wedding to go to next week in PA. $107 a night without meals. It can easily cost me $50 for my wife and I to have dinner at a chain restaurant. That's just one meal. The worst cruise food is still better than chain restaurant food. I live on Long Island so I am just a train ride from Manhattan. Two tickets to the theater, dinner plus train tickets or parking your car will probably cost almost as much as an interior room on a 7 day Caribbean cruise for one person. So yes cruising is still a better value even if I have to visit St Thomas a million times. I can think of worse places to be. The perks are just the icing on the cake and even Stevie Wonder can see that there will be cuts.

[cellyml12]

Sounds like prior bookings might catch a break. That would be nice. I agree that if you get an upgrade, you shouldn't get all the benefits of those who paid for a suite. What they should do is give the upgrade & then charge a little extra if you want the amenities that come with a suite.

[cellyml12]

You are not missing a thing and are correct that even without the perks cruising is still a good value. I am one of those who can sail the Caribbean 100 times and not get tired of it. It's all we can afford and yes even with the cut backs and the decline in food quality (which I haven't experienced yet) it is still less expensive than a land vacation even if you are staying local. For example a baseball game at Citifield with tickets, parking, food and drinks can run $75 a person for one night and Yankee Stadium will probably run you more. Two weeks ago we attended a wedding upstate New York and we had to book a hotel for one night. It was clean and they had a buffet breakfast in the morning. It cost $120 for the night through an online travel site. I have another wedding to go to next week in PA. $107 a night without meals. It can easily cost me $50 for my wife and I to have dinner at a chain restaurant. That's just one meal. The worst cruise food is still better than chain restaurant food. I live on Long Island so I am just a train ride from Manhattan. Two tickets to the theater, dinner plus train tickets or parking your car will probably cost almost as much as an interior room on a 7 day Caribbean cruise for one person. So yes cruising is still a better value even if I have to visit St Thomas a million times. I can think of worse places to be. The perks are just the icing on the cake and even Stevie Wonder can see that there will be cuts.

 

I know what you mean. We have a wedding we are going to in September, while it's local, it's not quite local enough for us to not have to get a hotel. It's turning into a 3 day event and the costs are adding up to about half the cost of one of our cruise fares for next year. I just feel like in this economy we're pretty lucky that cruise fares are what they are. Of course some perks are lost, but everyone, including companies have to what they can to cut costs. I feel like it would be wrong of me to complain when I'm lucky enough to even be able to take vacations, when others would feel lucky to be able to pay bills.

[Husky61]

Personally, I would like to compliment Princess for all of the suite perks rather than condemn them for removing a rather minor one. Just MHO.:):)

[DRPWDunIL]

An alternative argument is that if I have paid for the Internet access (which I did for business purposes), I should be able to expect that a wide portion of the bandwidth is not being consumed by non-payers. This is a nice perk, and I understand why one would want to keep it, but it is one of the few perks given that for every person given the perk someone else directly is harmed who PAID for that perk.

[pablo222]

Does it really matter?

 

I would say that yes, it matters.

 

Princess is in business to make money, not to appease all internet whiners.

 

All someone needs to post this this thread is a web browser and an internet connection. The only people princess needs to worry about are people

who might purchase a suite.

 

It really doesn't matter what all the other voices think. If they were

not going to purchase a suite with or without internet, they're not

important to the bottom line.

 

And, princess hardly needs this forum to see gauge the reaction to

the change. All they have to do is look at suite sales.

[compozer]

Many others just cruise to get away and enjoy life on a cruise ship. To them the itinerary is not as important. Witness those who take the same Caribbean itinerary year after year. Nobody is in love with visiting St. Thomas or Princess Cays that much.

 

 

So true. We have been to the Caribbean so many times that we don't care where we are as long as we are on the water. We spend most of our time in our cabin, especially the balcony. We go to relax and to us, it isn't sitting at the pool a foot away from other people and having to listen to their conversations. It's not like we never go anywhere on the ship but we do prefer the peace and quiet of our own space. We also enjoy having our new friends down to our cabin for cocktails before dinner. We prefer that to sitting at the crowded bar not being able to hear half of the conversation because it is so loud.

 

On our last Christmas cruise, we were cut off of the internet at 10 pm the last evening and could not purchase any minutes. No explanation from customer service and the Internet cafe manager left at 9:55. There were several people waiting to talk to him but he just got up and left for the evening. Customer service would not even call him to ask why we were cut off. This was very upsetting because I wanted to print our boarding passes and send several notes. As suite people, you don't get your elite minutes. It sure would have been nice to #1. have been told that they were going to do this so we could have planned ahead. #2. give us our elite minutes to use that evening and in the morning if we needed to.

 

Also, I think many people not in suites really could care less if we get minutes or not. But if Princess is doing this to save money, heck, why do just the highest paying customers have to take the hit. Some of us have worked hard all our lives and want to have some nice things now. Not all suite people are the super rich. And I also agree that upgrades to suites should not get all the perks. On the cruises that don't sell out, maybe they should start offering them at a discount, like the other cabins. And then there are the window suites. People talk all the time about getting them for the same price as a mini or even a balcony - that is where the losses are.

 

Some of you are getting by cheaper than the last few weddings we have gone to. We usually have to shell out around $179 a night.

[Cliftoncruz]

I am one of those who purchased a suite for an Alaskan Cruise in September 2012, in March 2012. The cruise was paid off in May 2012, well before due date and the effective date 6/27/12. When I booked, internet was an amenity. What really irritated me was how I was notified-NOT.

 

I learned about the change on CC. When I called Princess to confirm the customer service rep had no idea what I was talking about. I was placed on hold for about 10 minutes. The rep came back an apologized, and confirmed it was true. It was interesting that the agent added he was not aware of the change.

 

All I wanted was to be is treated fairly, with respect, and received what I had paid for in my cruise contract. nothing more, nothing less. By the way I am not interested in the specialty dinner fee waiver.

 

It may not be important to others and I can accept that. But what other changes are looming, and how they going to effect you? Also, how are you going to find out-remember only a few cruise passengers read CC.

 

Jim