Princess To Drop Bridge Games

[mr green]

This is what I just sent. Use your own words, but please do let Princess know what you think.

 

to customerrelati.

Attn:

Adrian Fischer, vice president entertainment

 

Dear Mr. Fischer,

- I request that you reconsider the recent decision by Princess Cruise Line's recent decision to eliminate duplicate bridge directors from cruises (other than world cruises).

- Organized duplicate bridge lectures and duplicate play is THE key component of my at sea entertainment.

- Lack of sanctioned, hosted duplicate bridge is a deal breaker for me, especially for longer cruises such as transatlantic, repositioning, and longer adventure cruises. .

- Currently on the Crown Princess South American Grand Adventure (49 days) we are running 22 tables of duplicate and 3-5 tables of party bridge most sea days. While not huge numbers, this is respectable, and shows that there is demand for duplicate, especially on cruises with 5 or more sea days.

- I believe that the decision to eliminate bridge directors drastically underestimates the fierce dedication that bridge players have for the game and thus the negative customer reactions.

- I propose a modification of the new policy whereby bridge directors are provided for cruises that have 4 or more sea days.

 

--

Kindest regards,

<your name>

 

I second these remarks!!!!

 

john

[shredie]

I second these remarks!!!!

 

john

 

Ditto!

[PLW0520]

This is what I just sent. Use your own words, but please do let Princess know what you think.

 

to customerrelati.

Attn:

Adrian Fischer, vice president entertainment

 

Dear Mr. Fischer,

- I request that you reconsider the recent decision by Princess Cruise Line's recent decision to eliminate duplicate bridge directors from cruises (other than world cruises).

- Organized duplicate bridge lectures and duplicate play is THE key component of my at sea entertainment.

- Lack of sanctioned, hosted duplicate bridge is a deal breaker for me, especially for longer cruises such as transatlantic, repositioning, and longer adventure cruises. .

- Currently on the Crown Princess South American Grand Adventure (49 days) we are running 22 tables of duplicate and 3-5 tables of party bridge most sea days. While not huge numbers, this is respectable, and shows that there is demand for duplicate, especially on cruises with 5 or more sea days.

- I believe that the decision to eliminate bridge directors drastically underestimates the fierce dedication that bridge players have for the game and thus the negative customer reactions.

- I propose a modification of the new policy whereby bridge directors are provided for cruises that have 4 or more sea days.

 

--

Kindest regards,

<your name>

 

 

Ditto here too!

 

BTW we enjoyed our group bridge cruise on NCL very much. I liked the size of the Sun and the nightly entertainment. I feel the food on Princess is better in the main dining room and the buffet but the steakhouse and the Italian restaurant on the Sun were outstanding. There was bridge on sea days at 10:00AM and 2:00PM with lectures at 1:30. On port days there was just one game at 2:00PM and there was also a lecture at 1:30. We only played 18 boards at each session. The person who hosted the group did try Princess but found them hard to deal with.

[Colo Cruiser]

Triple ditto.

[Putterdude]

I wish you every bit of good luck but seldom are decisions like this reversed; one only needs to look at printing your own luggage tags and the closing of the MDR for lunch on port days. Sadly 50 or even 100 bridge players on a cruise are not likely to turn Princess's or any other cruise line's corporate head.

[Cruise2End]

That's a shame. We have been trying to convince my mother to take a Hawaii cruise with us and one of the "convincing" factors was the ability to play bridge and go to bridge lectures on the sea days! ............ oh well, guess we need to check out other cruise lines.

[JEH]

DW announced at her bridge club that Princess was droping Duplicate Bridge and the reaction from members was anger and dismay. Many members who had cruised Princess said they would begin to search for alternative cruise lines. Two Elite cruisers said they start their research imediately and were thinking of cancelling future cruises. It appears that this decision by Princess is a deal breaker for many.

[kobecat]

Well goodbye Princess.

 

We are Elite on both Princess and Celebrity and I have always preferred Princess for longer cruises because of bridge. Celebrity does not 'do' bridge although on a cruise with lots of sea days they will allocate an area for self organised play.

 

With no bridge on Princess, there goes my reason for cruising with them.

 

Beryl

[Loonbeam]

And remember, its not the 50-100 players, its how many of those 50-100 will make a decision to leave behind elite benefits, etc and not cruise...

 

I wish you every bit of good luck but seldom are decisions like this reversed; one only needs to look at printing your own luggage tags and the closing of the MDR for lunch on port days. Sadly 50 or even 100 bridge players on a cruise are not likely to turn Princess's or any other cruise line's corporate head.

[BridgeMates]

This is the response I got from Princess today re duplicate bridge.

 

Mr. and Mrs xxxxxxxxx,

 

Many thanks for your message. While we know we have dedicated duplicated bridge players as loyal Princess cruisers, unfortunately we have seen the numbers decline in recent years. As we look across the full range of our operation we have determined that the bridge instructors can no longer be the priority they once were. Of course we very much hope that duplicate bridge players will continue to sail with us and we will continue to provide facilities for you to play.

Sincerely,

 

Princess Cruises

Customer Relations Specialist

customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

 

 

[Loonbeam]

That's pretty much exactly in line with what I was told, the number of players on average has dropped below critical mass.

 

This is the response I got from Princess today re duplicate bridge.

 

Mr. and Mrs xxxxxxxxx,

 

Many thanks for your message. While we know we have dedicated duplicated bridge players as loyal Princess cruisers, unfortunately we have seen the numbers decline in recent years. As we look across the full range of our operation we have determined that the bridge instructors can no longer be the priority they once were. Of course we very much hope that duplicate bridge players will continue to sail with us and we will continue to provide facilities for you to play.

Sincerely,

 

Princess Cruises

Customer Relations Specialist

customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

 

 

[pablo222]

And remember, its not the 50-100 players, its how many of those 50-100 will make a decision to leave behind elite benefits, etc and not cruise...

 

And be replaced by others who may spend more on board.

 

As I have said before, princess behaves as if it has an infinite

pool of potential customers waiting to book.

 

Why should this be any different?

[Loonbeam]

Doing the math, lets assume they give the bridge instructor a lesser OV cabin on a 7 day carribean. Assuming normal occupancy of 2 at current rates for Sept 2014, that's $1700 in revenue given up for the cabin (plus a little more onboard revenue). And since they are still feeding and servicing the cabin, etc, there is minimal cost reduction.

 

If there are 20 people who would not cruise as a result of no bridge masters (which is what counts), the cost to retain that passenger is $85 per person. which doesn't sound like much, but is actually a lot because they do have a lot of first time cruisers who can be marketed to at a lot less than $85 per.

 

And personally, I think the number of people who would not cruise is even less than that. (Note that doesn't mean people are happy about it)

 

And be replaced by others who may spend more on board.

 

As I have said before, princess behaves as if it has an infinite

pool of potential customers waiting to book.

 

Why should this be any different?

[paul929207]

My wife and I play duplicate bridge nearly all sea days and we have about 50 sea days a year. We will miss the duplicate games. We will probably try to find a couple to play with some days. Other days we will go to some of the lectures.

 

We will keep sailing Princess

[mr green]

Its a sad day for bridge players on Princess, finding other couples to play with is not the same as organized play.

With the other cuts that Princess has made, I can see us going back to HAL on a permanent basis.

In a couple of weeks time the 'non' future cruise person on Golden will get a ear full!!!

 

john

[Texas Parents]

Princess recently announced that as of the end of May, 2014 they will no longer be providing bridge lecturers/directors for any cruises (other than world cruises). This means that they will only provide an unhosted room for party bridge players. For those of us who are duplicate bridge players, this is absolutely unacceptable. One of the best parts of sea days is playing duplicate bridge in a directed game, so this new policy should encourage bridge players to look elsewhere for cruises of more than a few days. Please take this opportunity to let Princess know what you think of this new policy and how it will affect your loyalty to their cruise line. If you are Platinum or Elite, let them know that, too.

[Loonbeam]

See the extended discussion above. I am certain that Princess did the math and realized the number of people they would actually lose is small enough to be offset by whatever they have planned in other areas.

 

Unless the outcry is huge (and it has not been), they rarely go back on things like this.

 

Princess recently announced that as of the end of May, 2014 they will no longer be providing bridge lecturers/directors for any cruises (other than world cruises). This means that they will only provide an unhosted room for party bridge players. For those of us who are duplicate bridge players, this is absolutely unacceptable. One of the best parts of sea days is playing duplicate bridge in a directed game, so this new policy should encourage bridge players to look elsewhere for cruises of more than a few days. Please take this opportunity to let Princess know what you think of this new policy and how it will affect your loyalty to their cruise line. If you are Platinum or Elite, let them know that, too.

[pablo222]

I

In a couple of weeks time the 'non' future cruise person on Golden will get a ear full!!!

 

Why? Do you think they were the one who made the decision?

Or, do you think they are in a position to act on your complaint?

[catlady1]

The main reason we chose P over X for cruises with lots of sea days is because Marie plays duplicate bridge. She doesn't attend the moring bridge lectures but she is there every afternoon for the game We did a transatlantic on X a couple of years ago. The ship was beautiful but we never went back because of the dup bridge situation. On our Emerald cruise last fall she and her partner won the ship's championship.

Unfortunately we will now have to reconsider.

Mike

[kobecat]

And remember, its not the 50-100 players, its how many of those 50-100 will make a decision to leave behind elite benefits, etc and not cruise...

 

Good point but we are elite on both Celebrity and Princess, so it's not about electing not to cruise, just who to go with. Overall, apart from the bridge, I think I prefer Celebrity so we now have no further reason (except itinerary) to favor P over X.

Edited April 3, 2014 by kobecat

[BruceMuzz]

We have always looked forward to the "directed" bridge lesson and play. Hate to hear that Princess isn't going to do it any more. We have had some excellent, hard working bridge instructors over the years (Armond and Paula come to mind).

Altho Princess has been my 1st choice, I'll have to think harder about Holland America, which hopefully will still have organized bridge on the 14+ day cruises. I can understand why they don't do it on short cruises but one little inside cabin for a few hundred dollars seems pretty short sighted to me.

 

HAL has also just stopped bridge instructors on all cruises shorter than 30 days. Selected cruises (not all) over 30 days will still have bridge instructors onboard. Most of the other mass market lines have stopped bridge instructors completely.

 

Although the instructors are not paid, the free cabins they get are worth quite a bit of money. On an average 7 day cruise, if that cabin is sold instead of given away, the company gets an additional $3,000 or so in revenue. That's an additional $150,000 per year per ship. For the Princess fleet, that comes to an additional $2 Million or so per year.

 

1. Bridge players don't spend money on ships.

2. Most ships have no staff who know how to play bridge.

3. Many former bridge players have already expired and many more are nearly there.

[kobecat]

This is the response I got from Princess today re duplicate bridge.

 

Mr. and Mrs xxxxxxxxx,

 

Many thanks for your message. While we know we have dedicated duplicated bridge players as loyal Princess cruisers, unfortunately we have seen the numbers decline in recent years. As we look across the full range of our operation we have determined that the bridge instructors can no longer be the priority they once were. Of course we very much hope that duplicate bridge players will continue to sail with us and we will continue to provide facilities for you to play.

Sincerely,

 

Princess Cruises

Customer Relations Specialist

customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Sandy, now where can we play bridge!

 

Beryl

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Loonbeam]

Was talking to my TA - she had someone ask for bridge on board and she was unable to find ANY mass market line that would commit to having organized bridge on board for short or medium range cruises. Supposedly she called them all, but she didn't make notes as to who said what,,

[Joe-Neth]

I'm a regular duplicate bridge player at home. I won't miss having bridge directors on cruises. Even when they've had one, I've skipped out on the lessons because they're usually rudimentary and played infrequently in the organized games.

 

The lessons are usually rudimentary indeed. Partly because many TD's can hardly play a decent game themselves. But also because the level of many players is the level of an already-40-years-playing-beginner who never got a real good instruction and whose first goal is not to learn bridge play anymore but to be entertained.

 

I read here that bridge directors get a free cruise. That's not true. They pay fares from 60 dollar a day or more for an inside cabin (not the best ones; sometimes just above the engine) to the agencies or directly to the cruise lines who don't work with an agency.

 

Cruise companies need more money every day. They skip all what they think they can skip. Comments like "the Cruise Director's staff will continue to support passenger non-hosted bridge play onboard" are rather unfair. A CD knows very wel that non hosted bridge play atttracts far less people than a nicely organized tournament. And how will the CD organize the unhosted lessons??

Up to now, you can have dinner served in the MDR. Maybe to morrow the CD will tell us: "the Cruise Director's staff will continue to support passenger non-hosted cooking and dining onboard"

 

Another cruiseline does not like bridge directors to give hand outs at the bridge lessons. They say because of wasting paper and to save the climate. It does not stop them to provide you with invitations for money making bingo and "offers" about jewelry or pictures almost every day. And ofcourse a bridge player can't play bingo at the same moment. Oops.

 

Cruise companies have three reasons to drop attendance where they can:

1. money.

2. money.

3. money.

[Loonbeam]

I can't speak to bridge directors specifically but one of my friends does scientific lectures for several cruiselines. When she does Princess, they give her an OceanView (sometimes obstructed) in a less than optimal location, she only pays port fees.

 

The lessons are usually rudimentary indeed. Partly because many TD's can hardly play a decent game themselves. But also because the level of many players is the level of an already-40-years-playing-beginner who never got a real good instruction and whose first goal is not to learn bridge play anymore but to be entertained.

 

I read here that bridge directors get a free cruise. That's not true. They pay fares from 60 dollar a day or more for an inside cabin (not the best ones; sometimes just above the engine) to the agencies or directly to the cruise lines who don't work with an agency.

 

Cruise companies need more money every day. They skip all what they think they can skip. Comments like "the Cruise Director's staff will continue to support passenger non-hosted bridge play onboard" are rather unfair. A CD knows very wel that non hosted bridge play atttracts far less people than a nicely organized tournament. And how will the CD organize the unhosted lessons??

Up to now, you can have dinner served in the MDR. Maybe to morrow the CD will tell us: "the Cruise Director's staff will continue to support passenger non-hosted cooking and dining onboard"

 

Another cruiseline does not like bridge directors to give hand outs at the bridge lessons. They say because of wasting paper and to save the climate. It does not stop them to provide you with invitations for money making bingo and "offers" about jewelry or pictures almost every day. And ofcourse a bridge player can't play bingo at the same moment. Oops.

 

Cruise companies have three reasons to drop attendance where they can:

1. money.

2. money.

3. money.