Is the Penninsular Club worth your loyalty?

[john watson]

Yes, but look how long you have to wait for your laundry to be done now with so many 'phoney elite' members!!!!!

 

So what exactly is a "phoney" Elite member?

 

Regards John

[balf]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would leave instructions with reception that after 6.00pm they had the flexibility to offer first a 25% and then a 50% discount to 'chance' callers. Lets say on average that was then £54.00 we took whereas otherwise those rooms would not have generated anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fair comment, but you didn't have to feed them 24/7, entertain them, transport them to interesting locations and provide all the other facilities of a large cruise ship.

 

So yes I would sail with empty cabins if I had to pay people to occupy them.

 

David.

[daiB]

So what exactly is a "phoney" Elite member?

 

 

 

Regards John

 

 

Me me me I am one. :)

 

I have seen a Princess ship, once. :)

 

But I am Elite.

[Dorset Cruiser]

I was heading towards Elite with Princess due to my cruising history with them but it was a long slog. Then I did 47 days with P&O and 'bingo' - I was at Elite 😄

 

 

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[terrierjohn]

Fair comment, but you didn't have to feed them 24/7, entertain them, transport them to interesting locations and provide all the other facilities of a large cruise ship.

 

So yes I would sail with empty cabins if I had to pay people to occupy them.

 

David.

David, I have already answered these comments, food quantity is fixed for each turnround, cooking for an extra few hundred is hardly likely to cost anything as wages are already paid and energy costs are at worst a few pence per head, same for all the other costs you mention, they are fixed regardless of passenger numbers. So all the cheap offers go straight onto the bottom line, either increasing the profits or reducing the loss, which if you check Carnival's results is generally a profit.

So stop worying and just accept that the cruise line management know how to run their business.

[john watson]

Me me me I am one. :)

 

I have seen a Princess ship, once. :)

 

But I am Elite.

 

Dai, under the rules being a cruise ship gricer is not the reason you are Elite it's the P&O cruises you have done. You can get points for P&O, Ocean Village and Sitmar and they count as does the number of cruise days. These are the rules the Princess Cruise Line has formulated. If people do not like them or disrespect them they need to contact the cruise line to complain or alternatively find another cruise line. In this respect I should recommend P&O as a good alternative.

 

Regards John

Edited August 7, 2015 by john watson

[balf]

David, I have already answered these comments, food quantity is fixed for each turnround, cooking for an extra few hundred is hardly likely to cost anything as wages are already paid and energy costs are at worst a few pence per head, same for all the other costs you mention, they are fixed regardless of passenger numbers. So all the cheap offers go straight onto the bottom line, either increasing the profits or reducing the loss, which if you check Carnival's results is generally a profit.

 

So stop worying and just accept that the cruise line management know how to run their business.

 

 

Re stocking isn't done on a cruise to cruise basis, it's a rolling process. Your theory would only be valid if all the unused food at the end of a cruise was dumped and the ship completely re stocked for the next cruise.

 

Obviously this doesn't happen given that the ship has temperature controlled and co2 padded storage rooms as well as freezers. There is very little actual fresh food served aboard a modern cruise ship.

 

So yes there is a cost in feeding everyone on board whatever rate they have paid.

 

David.

[Somerset Cruiser]

Re stocking isn't done on a cruise to cruise basis, it's a rolling process. Your theory would only be valid if all the unused food at the end of a cruise was dumped and the ship completely re stocked for the next cruise.

 

Obviously this doesn't happen given that the ship has temperature controlled and co2 padded storage rooms as well as freezers. There is very little actual fresh food served aboard a modern cruise ship.

 

So yes there is a cost in feeding everyone on board whatever rate they have paid.

 

David.

 

I agree with you, but what is the cost of feeding a passenger? £10 a day will probably cover the cost of one persons food, when in the context of one passenger amongst 2-3000.

 

I would have thought the profit from 2-3 drinks a day will cover the cost of food so that the previously mentioned £54 a day is then mainly profit.

[terrierjohn]

Re stocking isn't done on a cruise to cruise basis, it's a rolling process. Your theory would only be valid if all the unused food at the end of a cruise was dumped and the ship completely re stocked for the next cruise.

 

Obviously this doesn't happen given that the ship has temperature controlled and co2 padded storage rooms as well as freezers. There is very little actual fresh food served aboard a modern cruise ship.

 

So yes there is a cost in feeding everyone on board whatever rate they have paid.

 

David.

You may have a minor point about food cost, but I do know from talking with the Eclipse catering manager that they have a fixed replenishment order for every turnround in Southampton, but of course they do intend to sail full.

However even the full cost of food is well below the £50pppd that Jenny paid, and all the other wage costs are fixed anyway, so to operate with empty cabins would be very detrimental to a cruise ships overall profit, I trust you are unable to accept this logical explanation.

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

Dai, under the rules being a cruise ship gricer is not the reason you are Elite it's the P&O cruises you have done. You can get points for P&O, Ocean Village and Sitmar and they count as does the number of cruise days. These are the rules the Princess Cruise Line has formulated. If people do not like them or disrespect them they need to contact the cruise line to complain or alternatively find another cruise line. In this respect I should recommend P&O as a good alternative.

 

Regards John

 

 

Yes, you are right, a complaint is in order. Princess should stop recognising cruises for other cruise lines. Loyalty is about being loyal to that cruise line, not any Tom, dick or Harry, who after years with Another cruise line decides to claim all the perks for free! I don't understand your comment "in this respect I should recommend P&O as a good alternative".......to what???

[ScotsTravelady]

I think they should bring back priority baggage to cabins for the higher tiers and also still have the separate baggage are in Southampton. Fed up of P&O dumbing things down, especially the dress code.

 

 

The dumbing down dress code comes back to P&O wanting to attract new passengers, many who do not want to do formal. Personally, I have to be formal several times a week business entertaining & I have no desire to dress up while on holiday, so I don't. I also avoid 'formal areas' on formal nights as this suits me. I'm happy to chill in a less formal area then head back to my cabin. This way I do not offend those who think I'm being rude. I'm not a tramp, but just don't do formal. I'm far from unique and as long as I pay big bucks for our suite and have a big bill P&O will not bother. Even been told by the Captain to wear what I want. That's how it works - they are revenue driven. Even Cunard are dumbing down their dress-code as their strategy is to attract younger professionals who don't want formal every night.

 

I understand your point of view, but the cruising industry is changing fast and fighting hard to win new business and they know they will not attract younger passengers who will spend a lot if they impose strict dress codes. They need a unique selling point & I see them moving more towards country casual after hours.

 

 

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[ScotsTravelady]

Yes, you are right, a complaint is in order. Princess should stop recognising cruises for other cruise lines. Loyalty is about being loyal to that cruise line, not any Tom, dick or Harry, who after years with Another cruise line decides to claim all the perks for free! I don't understand your comment "in this respect I should recommend P&O as a good alternative".......to what???

 

 

A lot of Travel corporations match Loyalty. Indeed airlines & hotel groups do this all the time. American companies very much so. Example, I have a BA gold loyalty and numerous Airlines match that loyalty - not all part of the One World partnership. Similarly, I have earned top tier loyalty with a couple of large Hotel groups but, by simply asking ,every other major hotel group I have stayed with has provided me with same as they want to attract my business.

 

I know that may sound unfair to many, but Princess wants to attract and retain customers and if this is a way of doing so then they will. In all fairness to Princess, it's really easy to reach Elite. There's more high end loyalty passengers on a Princess cruise than there are low end. It's all about making a passenger think they are special. Last Princess cruise I was on a passenger tried to barge past a long queue shouting she was Elite - everyone in the queue was the same[emoji4]

 

 

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[john watson]

Yes, you are right, a complaint is in order. Princess should stop recognising cruises for other cruise lines. Loyalty is about being loyal to that cruise line, not any Tom, dick or Harry, who after years with Another cruise line decides to claim all the perks for free! I don't understand your comment "in this respect I should recommend P&O as a good alternative".......to what???

 

Princess merely recognises loyalty to passengers of cruise lines which formed part of Princess or predecessors from which the modern Princess Cruise Line has evolved. The Captain's Circle is run by Princess Cruise Line and has devised these rules. You do not seem to like them and anyone not respecting the rules should complain or find an alternative cruise line on which to travel. I have suggested P&O Cruise Line in this context.

 

Regards John

[daiB]

Princess merely recognises loyalty to passengers of cruise lines which formed part of Princess or predecessors from which the modern Princess Cruise Line has evolved. The Captain's Circle is run by Princess Cruise Line and has devised these rules. You do not seem to like them and anyone not respecting the rules should complain or find an alternative cruise line on which to travel. I have suggested P&O Cruise Line in this context.

 

 

 

Regards John

 

 

Like. :) :)

[Florry]

A lot of Travel corporations match Loyalty. Indeed airlines & hotel groups do this all the time. American companies very much so. Example, I have a BA gold loyalty and numerous Airlines match that loyalty - not all part of the One World partnership. Similarly, I have earned top tier loyalty with a couple of large Hotel groups but, by simply asking ,every other major hotel group I have stayed with has provided me with same as they want to attract my business.

 

I know that may sound unfair to many, but Princess wants to attract and retain customers and if this is a way of doing so then they will. In all fairness to Princess, it's really easy to reach Elite. There's more high end loyalty passengers on a Princess cruise than there are low end. It's all about making a passenger think they are special. Last Princess cruise I was on a passenger tried to barge past a long queue shouting she was Elite - everyone in the queue was the same[emoji4]

 

 

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I found this comment particularly interesting, in terms of the observation that Princess are happy to welcome people into Elite and make people feel special. The cost to the bottom line probably isn't that great, which brings me back to some of the initial posts on the thread regarding P&O strategy: it's a competitive environment and I believe rather than just concentrating on cost cutting and selling extras, by giving customers the 'Princess Feel' this could contribute to sustaining future growth and market share by differentiating them from the competition. Demographic trends are changing and whilst X-gen and older might return simply for tea and coffee in the cabin I think Y & Z - gen will be less bothered. Just saying if I was in the board room I think I'd be thinking hard about this sort of thing.

[Florry]

I don't mind who else gets to Elite or how they do it, just as long as I am at that level - and I am [emoji1]

 

 

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That's the attitude I take about such things, I think it helps you live longer [emoji6]

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

Isn't it funny how people's attitudes change to suit themselves. A few years ago P&O posh club (or whatever it was called) complained that there were too many people on the top tier and P&O had to do something about it. As a result the peninsula club was formed and Baltic and liguarian tiers invented. It also stopped other cruise line cruises being counted. Mark my words, intruders are spoiling it for Princess cruises now and they will shortly have to take similar measures. This will be a shame as apart from 10% discount on your bill, P&O benefits are non existent!!!

[bee-ess]

Isn't it funny how people's attitudes change to suit themselves. A few years ago P&O posh club (or whatever it was called) complained that there were too many people on the top tier and P&O had to do something about it. As a result the peninsula club was formed and Baltic and liguarian tiers invented. It also stopped other cruise line cruises being counted. Mark my words, intruders are spoiling it for Princess cruises now and they will shortly have to take similar measures. This will be a shame as apart from 10% discount on your bill, P&O benefits are non existent!!!

How are us 'intruders' spoiling it for Princess. I recently went on Princess because comparing the cruise to a similar one with another company the perks for being Elite tipped the balance. Hence, a booking for Princess that they would not have got.

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

How are us 'intruders' spoiling it for Princess. I recently went on Princess because comparing the cruise to a similar one with another company the perks for being Elite tipped the balance. Hence, a booking for Princess that they would not have got.

 

 

You hit the nail on the head!!! The perks tipped the balance!!! If your Elite status was earned by your number of Princess cruises, fair enough. If not, imo you should not be given the perks until you have sailed with Princess enough times to qualify.

[bee-ess]

I agree to a point, but from Princess's viewpoint they are happy to give this perk because they are picking up business from P&O. Also if you do it once you may stay with them as many on here have. We honestly thought that there was little difference from P&O and neither being as good as Celebrity.

Edited August 9, 2015 by bee-ess

[Florry]

Isn't it funny how people's attitudes change to suit themselves. A few years ago P&O posh club (or whatever it was called) complained that there were too many people on the top tier and P&O had to do something about it. As a result the peninsula club was formed and Baltic and liguarian tiers invented. It also stopped other cruise line cruises being counted. Mark my words, intruders are spoiling it for Princess cruises now and they will shortly have to take similar measures. This will be a shame as apart from 10% discount on your bill, P&O benefits are non existent!!!

 

 

I think the change from Portunus to Peninsular really only benefited P&O's short term and questionable reward strategy. Although your remarks are mostly about Princess it does highlight importance of reward in gaining competitive advantage. So irrespective of where the points came from; was it a mistake for P&O to create a system that has no real benefits to attracting customers (the 10% is often obliterated by the OBC) when it is probably expensive to run? As far as Princess go, it seems to me their strategy is bang on point, attract more pax, make them feel special, get repeat custom, make more profit. It's important to realise that no reward scheme is designed specifically for the customer, it all about how to realise a larger profit for their investment. IMO Princess get the balance right P&O don't. I wouldn't care if P&O had a similar system of points share to Princess, the more happy people on my cruise the better! Reminds me of the Chinese Proverb about the chopsticks in heaven and hell [emoji572]️

[john watson]

Isn't it funny how people's attitudes change to suit themselves. A few years ago P&O posh club (or whatever it was called) complained that there were too many people on the top tier and P&O had to do something about it. As a result the peninsula club was formed and Baltic and liguarian tiers invented. It also stopped other cruise line cruises being counted. Mark my words, intruders are spoiling it for Princess cruises now and they will shortly have to take similar measures. This will be a shame as apart from 10% discount on your bill, P&O benefits are non existent!!!

 

A few years back P&O had problems with too many people being at the top level of their loyalty scheme. The same problem exists now with the Princess scheme; there are large numbers of passengers at the Elite level. Logically everybody cannot be "Elite".

 

P&O solved their problem by eliminating ancient cruise history and introducing a pair of ultra-high levels requiring both a high level of cruises completed; counted by days and a level of recency. P&O have a clientele of almost exclusively British cruisers who generally cruise ex-Southampton and to a lesser extent Caribbean cruises.

 

Princess' problems of the loyalty club being top heavy manifest themselves with mainly Caribbean cruises from the US mainland and also cruises to Alaska and Hawaii. British people with a cruising history with P&O and being loyalty scheme members are an extremely small proportion of these passengers. If you cruise on a Princess cruise in the Far East, Asia etc. the excessive Elite members problem does not exist. Remember Princess is a market leading multi national cruise line with many ships and seeking out new markets wherever in the world. P&O is an essentially British brand marketed at the UK in general.

 

To solve the problem Princess Cruises has, by deciding to eliminate P&O, Ocean Village, Sitmar cruisers is totally pointless as they contribute very little to the problem but you might eliminate their business revenue contribution as quite often the "higher status than on P&O" can clinch the deal. To put it crudely there may be a high number of British "Elite" passengers; most of whom are unaware that they are in this category, but you wont see large numbers of them on Princess Cruises in the Caribbean, Alaska or Hawaii even if they knew their status!

 

More pertinent for Princess to sort out the problem is to introduce a higher than Elite status and award benefits that lead to the wide spread disruption of the cruise like embarking 3,000 passenger in Fort Lauderdale and then day one 2,000 put in for a full load of free laundry services. If you think this type of problem is caused by large numbers of long standing P&O passengers booking the cruise, you have got to be off your trolley.

 

Regards John

Edited August 9, 2015 by john watson