Platinum to Elite is a Huge Leap

[cruisequeen10]

I have cruised with Princess 14 times (total sea days 120) which makes me Platinum. After my next cruise in September, I will finally be Elite.

 

I have spent thousands of dollars on cruising since 1980 and would not like to have any one rock the boat to have a different level between Platinum and Elite until I have reached Elite.

[shepp]

Sorry, but I am not bothered by it. Princess has sold 15 cruises to passenger B. Princess is happy and they make the rules.

 

Understood that it's Princess' call. As far as I'm concerned, they have the right to declare that starboard cabins are worth twice as many credits as port ones. And I'm really not "bothered" as much as abstractly wondering why, since we're discussing this, that insofar as CC status has any real worth, days on longer cruises are, de facto devalued.

[abbydancer2003]

Understood that it's Princess' call. As far as I'm concerned, they have the right to declare that starboard cabins are worth twice as many credits as port ones. And I'm really not "bothered" as much as abstractly wondering why, since we're discussing this, that insofar as CC status has any real worth, days on longer cruises are, de facto devalued.

 

At least now they give them some value. When I started it was only number of cruises. BTW, until a couple of years ago, the only time they had the short cruises were May & September, with a few one ups here and there. We have retired friends who cruise about 60 -80 days a year, so they could do the Elite by days much faster. It took us about 6 years to make Elite.

[shepp]

I'm ok with it. Passenger A possibly has the resources to take a long cruise regularly, so would probably attain elite in 2 or 3 years. Those 3 day cruises are usually repositioning, so it might take passenger B 5-10 years. Its Princess's program and I glad they have it. Whether it is fair depends on how many bookings result from it.

 

Hey, I'm fine with Princess doing well; someday I'd like my CCL stock to go back to being worth what I paid for it. I'm just not one to automatically equate "corporate profit" with "fairness to customers." And - to be accurate - just between now and the end of this year, there are 17 three and four day roundtrip cruises out of LA.

 

Passenger B might also be a multi-millionaire who lives 20 minutes away from San Pedro, A a scrimp-and-save retiree in Iowa who has to fly open-jaw to L.A. and back from Rio on his own dime. But this is an "all other things being equal" hypothetical.

[Cruise Junky]

So answer me this, folks who think the current set-up is fair. Hypothetical: Passenger A takes a 31-day around South America and a 14-day rt to Hawaii, and for that 45 days is still at least another cruise away from mere Platinum. Passenger B takes 15 3-day quickies and for that 45 days becomes Elite. Does that in any way make some sort of sense?

 

 

Have you actually done the math on this? I just did. Inside. No taxes just a quick look. 31 SA $3279. 15 day Hawaii 1499 total $4778. 15 x $299 for a three day cruise equals. $4485. Do you really think Princess cares which you take?

 

Princess needs to fill its ships. Not everyone can be on a 31 day cruise. Repos need to be filled. Jeez who cares how someone else did it. There are always ways to speed it up if you want to

 

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Edited July 23, 2014 by Cruise Junky
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[PescadoAmarillo]

So answer me this, folks who think the current set-up is fair. Hypothetical: Passenger A takes a 31-day around South America and a 14-day rt to Hawaii, and for that 45 days is still at least another cruise away from mere Platinum. Passenger B takes 15 3-day quickies and for that 45 days becomes Elite. Does that in any way make some sort of sense?

 

We WERE Passenger A, with 31- and 29- and 14-night cruises in our first 5 Princess cruises. By the time we made Platinum, we had 94 days (before it was days or cruises). We survived. And I still have no issue with the way it is now. Princess makes the rules; my choice is to live with them or cruise elsewhere.

[gertz]

I 2nd it.

[paul929207]

We WERE Passenger A, with 31- and 29- and 14-night cruises in our first 5 Princess cruises. By the time we made Platinum, we had 94 days (before it was days or cruises). We survived. And I still have no issue with the way it is now. Princess makes the rules; my choice is to live with them or cruise elsewhere.

Too many important things to concentrate on. i will not waste my time worrying about how people qualify for Platinum or Elite

[cdngrl]

I agree that it seemed to take a long time to get to elite from platinum.

it seemed odd to me that princess added a ruby category in between gold and platinum.

[FritzG]

We WERE Passenger A, with 31- and 29- and 14-night cruises in our first 5 Princess cruises. By the time we made Platinum, we had 94 days (before it was days or cruises). We survived. And I still have no issue with the way it is now. Princess makes the rules; my choice is to live with them or cruise elsewhere.

 

I agree! We will be Elite after our TA in September. It will be our 15 cruise, and we will have 152 days so we qualify on both counts. It took a while to get there, but we prefer longer cruises. We have no complaints--longer cruises were our choice. We're just glad that Princess offers such a great past passenger program.

[Dreamer333]

I'm grateful for any extra benefits/rewards Princess gives us, and I don't give a sh%# how anyone else "earns" them. They're a gift.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

That Elite status doesn't mean as much as it used to. ;) Longer lines at the pass service desk, more crowded embarkation lounges, longer waits for laundry, slower internet, having to report for tender tickets, etc. and this will only get worse in future years as they add more people to the rolls.

 

Perhaps they will eventually add another tier above Elite, and give those pax priority over Elite and below?

[Skai]

Perhaps they will eventually add another tier above Elite, and give those pax priority over Elite and below?

 

So what ought it be called? How does one top "elite"?

 

Apotheosis?

 

Paragon??

 

Quintessence???

[Thrak]

Perhaps they will eventually add another tier above Elite, and give those pax priority over Elite and below?

 

So what ought it be called? How does one top "elite"?

 

Apotheosis?

 

Paragon??

 

Quintessence???

 

I vote for: Albondigas!

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I vote for: Albondigas!

 

Do they serve that in the MDR ;)?

[SoCal Cruiser78]

So what ought it be called? How does one top "elite"?

 

Apotheosis?

 

Paragon??

 

Quintessence???

 

Hyancith Bucket on the QE2 comes to mind with this topic. She would probably suggest "Superior".

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I vote for: Albondigas!

 

Yummers! That's my fav! :D

[Wehwalt]

Originally Posted by Thrak View Post

I vote for: Albondigas!

Do they serve that in the MDR ;)?

 

Only on the last formal night, if they are not serving lobster.

[cruisequeen10]

Hyancith Bucket on the QE2 comes to mind with this topic. She would probably suggest "Superior".

 

I would love to see Hyancith Bucket on the QM2. It would be hilarious.

[caribill]

Have you actually done the math on this? I just did. Inside. No taxes just a quick look. 31 SA $3279. 15 day Hawaii 1499 total $4778. 15 x $299 for a three day cruise equals. $4485. Do you really think Princess cares which you take?

 

 

Considering that this past winter Princess was giving away many of the 3 and 4 day cruises (fares less taxes could be applied to a later 7 day voyage), one could reach elite by taking a number of those cruises with the net fares being far less than $4485.

 

In fact, the suites "sold" out real fast, so someone could get double credits and only take eight 3-day "free" cruises to make elite.

[Cruise Junky]

Considering that this past winter Princess was giving away many of the 3 and 4 day cruises (fares less taxes could be applied to a later 7 day voyage), one could reach elite by taking a number of those cruises with the net fares being far less than $4485.

 

In fact, the suites "sold" out real fast, so someone could get double credits and only take eight 3-day "free" cruises to make elite.

 

Princess instituted the sale. Princess isn't stupid (most of the time). I'm sure they are very well aware of their elite stats including age. If a large percentage of your loyal base is 70+ they need to start adding to that

[Ethel5]

Do they serve that in the MDR ;)?

 

Actually, Yes!

[redtogo]

Well....I am not going to exercise caution or be intimidated by someone else's point of view that does not agree with mine and I think OBC's are more motivating for encouraging people to cruise then Captain Circle program....

 

I think the Captain Circle program rewards are weak compared to hotel, car, and airline reward programs.

 

I would rather have them give a free upgrade to next level of cabin, let's say after 5 cruises, or even a free 7 day cruise, let's say after completing 70 cruise days then free laundry which probably costs $20.00 max to do on your own on a 7 day cruise. :);):cool:

Those are very god suggestions. I would like to see Princess establish Loyalty Points that could be used anyway the passenger chooses. I may use mine for a cabin upgrade, or to reduce my cruise fare, or for purchases in the ship' shops. Or toward shore excursions.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

The laundry overload issue was one of the subjects of the first episode of the The Cruise Ship, which has been airing on ITV. It wasn't that big an issue for us other than worrying if we were going to get everything back before disembarkation. We stopped sending stuff out about a week before the end of the cruise, because it was taking so long to get it back. My wife did a couple loads at the token laundry down the hall, which worked well. I washed my gym shirt and socks in the bathroom sink and sat them out on the balcony to dry.

 

I'm not surprised it was the subject of the first episode:D It was the talk of the cruise for 18 days:eek::eek:

We never had a problem, we sent 2 small bags the entire cruise as I don't send the majority of my stuff and prefer DH doing it in the laundry machines ourselves.

[Pam in CA]

Princess instituted the sale. Princess isn't stupid (most of the time). I'm sure they are very well aware of their elite stats including age. If a large percentage of your loyal base is 70+ they need to start adding to that

Any time they aren't making some money on a cabin it's a bad thing for Princess. The sale was great for passengers but awful for Princess. I was very surprised that there more 3-4 day cruises added given the fact that Princess couldn't give the cabins away.

 

I agree that at some point, Princess is going to have to modify the Captain's Circle loyalty program due to the large numbers and subsequent diluting of perk advantages. Chances are we're not going to like the changes.